Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Later that night, while the fish were roasting, almost everyone was sitting around the firepit. There was a cool breeze, and things were still damp from the rain, making the fire even more comforting than usual. One creature however, was not with the group. Ruben had seen two red cardinals in the clearing earlier, and they'd been squabling. He was trying to find where their fight had taken place, hoping they'd left feathers behind. Not only would those feathers be useful for making arrows, but he thought the bright red would also look impressive in the new quiver he'd made.

Without meaning to he'd ended up very near the line, and when he realized where he was, he stopped. Ruben took a final glance around, and seeing that it was getting dark, decided that the search could wait until morning. He was just about to head back to the firepit, when he saw movement through the evergreen branches. He froze and watched, but didn't want to raise the alarm. He thought it was possibly Arkadi, and the dog was simply patroling once before coming in.

Then a pair of large amber eyes, found a hole in the evergreen, and locked on Ruben. For a second, he thought it was Quinn, but then he remembered that Quinn was by the firepit. The creature lunged forward, pushing it's way into the clearing, and Ruben moved out of it's path. He was only slightly uneasy, when he realized he knew the raccoon.

“Well, good evening, Liam,” Ruben said, hopeful that he was still on friendly terms.

“Is it? Can't say I care for the rain, myself,” the raccon grumbled.

“I think it's nice to see you, but... you're not hunting are you?”

“In a way. I've been looking for you.”

Ruben was taken aback, of the all the replies he thought he might get, he hadn't expected to hear that Liam was looking for him, specifically. He asked what he could do for his vistor.

“Actually, first and foremost, I'd like to thank you. I ran into that brute of a dog who tried to kill me before, and he said he wouldn't try hunting me again... something about making a deal with a squirrel. I couldn't think of another squirrel who was fond of raccoons, so assumed he meant you. Is he a new friend of yours?”

“Yes, he is. I didn't realize Arkadi was the dog you fought with. I'm surprised you lived.” Ruben shook his head and cleared his thoughts, “Would you like come over by the fire? I'm sure there's food to spare. You wouldn't hurt anyone, I suppose.”

“No killing any squirrels, raccoons or dogs... that's what I was told, and I can obide by that.”

Ruben was satisfied with the raccoon's response, and lead him over to the group. The squirrels who didn't know who he was, were leery of the newcomer. The others were mostly surprised. Vincent however was quite honestly worried, and practically clung to Quinn for protection. But he was included in introductions, and Liam was just as friendly to him, as to the others.

“It's always nice to see you,” Quinn said, as the introductions ended, “But what are you doing out here?”

“It started when this strange rumor began spreading. They say this forest is overrun with dogs. Huge, viscious beasts, that are killing and eating every creature they encounter. It's not safe, so the rumors say, and only gets more dangerous, the closer you get to the clearing. I heard the rumor from a pine martin, but he said the creatures who started it, were ermines.

“I came to see for myself what was going on, and the only dog I ran into was your friend. He might be monstrous in size, but he was very civil. This time. I remembered the squirrels were having trouble with the ermines, and thought the whole mess might have something to do with your friend... oh, I'm sorry, I meant your brother.”

“Spreading rumors about the dogs? That's an odd move for the enemy to make,” Ruben said, thoughtfully.

“No it's not,” Vincent sighed, “If no creatures, from mice to deer want to come on the territory, what has the enemy done?”

It was Malaki who understood first, “They've taken away the dogs prey,” he answered.

“That's exactly right. They'll have to travel further away to hunt, and the longer they're be gone, the longer we'll be open to an attack. I'll have to talk to Arkadi about this. The puppies are starting come now, so maybe Niki could bring them here, and stay in the clearing while he's off hunting. And I doubt the enemy knows about the puppies, the captain probably thinks he made up the bit about there being lots of dogs... but in another season or two, there really will be.”

“I don't suppose you'd be interested in staying, Liam?” Ruben asked, “We can use all the help we can get.”

“I don't mind visiting from time to time, but the hunting is most likely going to get very thin. I think it would be best if I didn't stay permanantly. I might get tempted to break the rules, and then that dog would break me. But I'll see what I can do about slowing down the rumor.”

Liam did stay for a meal, but left shortly after, and the group started discussing possible plans.

Everyone realized that cutting off the dogs food supply, also meant the raccoons resources would be limited again. They would be left with foraging and fish, which they could make work, but it wasn't ideal, especially as the winter grew colder. It was obvious that the rumor wouldn't cause the other animals to flee overnight, but no one could be sure how slow, quick or complete the process might be.

Cavan pointed out that the birds were likely to keep coming. Dogs don't catch birds very often... but there were now three creatures with bow and arrows in the clearing, they could catch birds all day long.

“What about storage?” Kalah asked, “Is there any way to store food for the dogs?”

“Right now, I can only think of two possibilities,” Quinn replied, “One is that we find a way to keep food in the stream so it won't spoil, but I'm not sure how to manage that. The other is to get some of that funny dry stuff they were fed on the farm... honestly, I'm not sure how to manage that either. But it is winter, and if we get a decent amout of snow, we can make a cash in a snow bank later.”

“And that might be a good thing to do, but only if there's still prey for you all when the snow arrives. We can't really plan on much of anything, can we?” Ruben groaned.

“We could leave the clearing,” Jacob said, “Let the villains have it, and we could find another place to live.”

“But then the enemy would only grow, and who knows what that might mean for us, and for other creatures, later on,” said Ruben. “We can't just ignore the evil and hope it goes away.”

“What if we could find out where they're living now?” Malaki asked. “Couldn't we ask Arkadi and Niki to just go get rid of them?”

“Not a bad thought,” said Vincent, “But they'll rebuild and keep going, like they did last time. Unless, that is, you can take out the leaders. Forget the underlings, if you can get rid of captain Rembrant, and any other captains that might still be there, the rest of the group will fall apart.”

No one knew how to find and target the ermine leaders. Ruben was wishing he would've shot captain Rembrant with an arrow, back when he'd first seen the weasel. He hadn't realized how important, and dangerous, that creature was at the time. Vincent insisted it wouldn't have made much difference, chances were, one of the other captains would've taken command if Rembrant had been killed.

The discussion was still going off and on when Arkadi came to patrol. He was a bit surprised that none of the younger creatures were running and playing, and went to the firepit to see if anything was wrong. When they told him about Liam, and the news he'd brought, he seemed just as confused as the others.

“Well, it's a good thing the rules exist, or I might've eaten him,” Arkadi confessed. “Then we might never have heard about the rumors. It would've seemed like the prey was just moving on. I'm not sure what we can do about it though.”

When the rain came back with a vengance, the group was forced to end their conversation. Everyone said hurried “good nights” and dashed off to their homes. Everyone except Arkadi, who was some distance from his home, and Malaki, who couldn't hurry in the rain. The young squirrel was crouched between the great fore paws, unsure of where to go. There was a flash, a crack, and a rumble. The huge muzzle came down, and Malaki was suddenly, half in the dog's jaws. Arkadi trotted briskly through a gap in the brush wall, and over to a large fallen tree. He had dug a place underneath the wide trunk long before. He would sometimes rest there during the day, if he was worried about his friends in the clearing. It was dry and warm when he crawled inside, and Malaki was promptly placed between his paws again.

The squirrel took a moment to shake off, then looked around, “I didn't know there was another den here... Oh, and thank you, for not leaving me in the storm.”

“It's not much of a den, but it's dry.”

Malaki curled up beside one of the paws, and the dog rested it's head beside him. He couldn't resist patting the big black nose, and was licked for his insolence. He remembered, that he had wanted to ask Arkadi the same question he'd ask Quinn, and tried to think of how to start.

“Arkadi, I wanted to tell you something. I wanted to say, that it's an honor, to have you for a friend.”

The dog didnt need to hear the question, his instant reply was, “I'm honored to know you, too.”

If another creature had been so quick to respond with such a blunt answer, Malaki might have thought he was only being humored. He knew Arkadi better than that... if he said something, he meant it. So, with a contented sigh, the squirrel curled up again and soon drifted off to sleep.