Chapter Text
It has been a week since Silas said his goodbyes to his Mouse friend. He often wondered if he would ever see Tilo again.
The Mouse is surely dead by now, he would think to himself. This isn’t one of the stories a minstrel like Tilo would sing about. It was foolish to believe in happy endings.
Perhaps I am a fool. Despite everything, Silas still had hope for his friend. But he couldn’t focus on the Mouse anymore. He had more pressing matters. He had to think of a plan to get the Red Paw to believe that the Green Flame is a returning threat. They had evidence, Otto’s chest with the shattered crystals. Still, Silas worried it wasn’t enough. They’re weakened from the explosions but they still work. It was strange, every time Otto checks on them they seem to have less cracks than they did before. Silas turned back to look at the chest, although he couldn’t see it. It was on a hand cart being pulled by Kerold. The Frog’s captain, Otto, had covered the chest with assorted items as a disguise. The Rat was trailing behind the cart making sure nobody went near it. The two Mouse thieves were having a lot of fun getting on Otto’s nerves by seeing how close they could get to it and then running away. Silas was leading the way. His role was to keep an eye out for any creature that may try to search them. Faustus, a Rat that was almost as strange as Kerold, was walking next to him, investigating a map.
Faustus snapped Silas out of his thoughts, he was tracing the paper with his pointer claw. “We’re running low on supplies.” The strange Rat tapped a spot on the map twice. “Port Scarn is the closest city to us, we should stop by there.”
“That would put us back another week at least,” complained Silas.
“Well we didn’t have much to begin with. We all left Dwindling heights rather abruptly and there are quite a few of us. We’re lucky we made it this far.”
We’d have made it farther if you didn’t decide to follow us, Silas thought bitterly. Instead of leaving Dwindling heights immediately, Otto had to gather his belongings .
Belongings, hah! All he went back for was that mad Frog. When Otto Powderkeg went to get Kerold, he ran into the masked Rat. From what Silas heard, Faustus insisted on joining them almost immediately. Silas was certain he would have been murdered had he not brought up the fact that he knew Tilo. Otto had grown fond of that brave Mouse just like Silas had.
And now we’re stuck with two insane creatures. At least the Frog is useful. While Kerold was able to gather sticks for fire, or drag the cart, Faustus was simply above such tasks . He was able to identify some edible mushrooms, but it wasn’t enough to impact their dwindling food supply.
“Alright,” Silas sighed, “Port Scarn it is. Make sure the others know. Can you at least do that?”
Faustus raised a paw to his chest and scoffed. “I can do anything,” he replied before slowing down to allow the others to catch up.
Silas was glad to be left alone again. It was difficult to deal with his company without a bottle or two. He didn’t pack any alcohol. He swore he’d never drink a drop again. I’m getting soused the second I step foot in that city.
Over the next few days, the six of them only stopped moving in order to sleep, much to the disapproval of the Mice and Faustus. There were many complaints and complaints about the complaints. Food was running out quicker than expected. They were only two days from Port Scarn so nobody was going to starve to death, but Silas was not looking forward to seeing any of these creatures hungry. They already got on his nerves as it was, the added tension of hunger was unnecessary. Silas was walking in front once again when he heard a commotion behind him.
“Ferret’s balls! Mousey, what's wrong with you?” Kerold exclaimed. Silas turned around to see the cart tipped over. The chest was not open but it was knocked off along with most of their supplies. Silas watched as Kerold ran after the rascal siblings. The two Mice escaped into the tall grass next to the road, laughing the whole time. Otto shouted many colorful profanities at them before crouching down by the chest. Silas rushed towards the cart while Faustus just observed.
“Those tail dragging, flee magnet scrunts,” Otto mumbled as he tried to heave the chest upright.
“How did they even do this?” Silas questioned as he grabbed onto the chest and helped turn it rightside up.
“Damn Mice took a running start and threw themselves at the cart. Awfully surprised when they actually managed to tip it too.” Otto kicked the cart upright and with the brown Rat’s help, they placed the chest back inside.
“Very lively duo those ones.” Faustus now decided to help out and started picking up the lighter supplies that had spilled out. It seemed neither Silas nor Otto wanted to have a conversation with the beaked Rat right now. Otto turned towards the tall grass and whistled loud enough to hurt Silas’s ears.
“Maybe they’ll run into some spider traps out there. That’d be nice,” remarked Otto.
“I doubt there will be any spider traps so far from civilization,” Faustus pointed out.
“And if there was, what if Kerold stumbled into one?” Silas added.
“If Kerold walks into a trap, all he’ll need is a new peg leg. Or another peg leg, but I doubt that will affect him… and then we’d have more food,” said Otto. Silas wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. Kerold stepped out of the tall grass.
“I’ll get em someday Captain!” Kerold hobbled back. “They're slippery, but they’ll mess up soon enough.”
“I’m sure you will,” Powderkeg humored. The four of them kept walking. Eventually the two Mice reappeared from the grass.
That was nice while it lasted, Silas thought. The siblings didn’t mess with the cart for the rest of the day. When the sun started to set, they veered off the road and into the grass. It made a good enough hiding spot. They found a clearing and decided to set up camp for the night. Fatale had first lookout so Silas did his best to fall asleep quickly. He didn’t want to spend the next day both hungry and tired.
Silas could hear something in his half asleep state. The sound of a door? The chest being opened. Why would Otto be opening the chest? Silas questioned. He drifted back off to sleep, intending to ask about it in the morning. By the time morning came, all memories of waking up in the night were forgotten.
Luckily, the rest of the way to Port Scarn was not as irritating as Silas was anticipating. The Mice weren’t hungry like the rest of them, so they weren’t any more of a nuisance than they usually were. Faustus managed to scrounge up some mushrooms for them. It was the kind that only Mice could eat, the ones that had an hysterical effect on other creatures. The siblings were running ahead. They had more energy than the rest of the creatures. Silas had traded places with Faustus. The mask made him a terrible lookout, but Silas figured the thieves were at least smart enough to run back and warn them if someone was approaching. With the three most annoying ones away from him, Silas got more peace than he’s gotten since he began this journey. The green hooded Rat was walking near Otto and Kerold, who was once again pulling the cart. He felt like trailing behind the group to get some alone time, but listening to them was far too entertaining.
“You sure you ain’t hungry Captain?” Kerold repeated for the fourth time this hour. “My leg’s aged to perfection. I’m sure it’d taste even juicier than my other one did.”
“No.” Otto was in no mood for Kerold’s antics.
“I bet I can catch one of those Mouses, they’d make a decent meal!”
“What did we talk about, Froggy?”
“No resorting to cannibalismness til we’ve been starvin’ for at least a week.”
Silas snorted, “A week is still a bit quick don’t you think?”
“Last time he only waited two hours before sautering his leg.”
“Sautéing?” Silas corrected.
“That’s what I said,” confirmed the captain.
“I don’t… I don’t think you know what sautéing means.”
“How dare you assume my Captain doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He knows more than you, Scrunt.” Kerold stopped pulling the cart to get ready for a fight.
Otto raised his paw towards Kerold and kept walking. Kerold seemed to immediately forget he was ever angry.
At least I’m not stuck with that Frog for the rest of my life. Silas was thankful his time with this group was almost over. Port Scarn was the last stop before they headed to Pesa, and then he never had to see any of these creatures ever again.
There are a lot of soldiers here. Was the first thing Silas noticed when they arrived at the port city. It was unusual to see so many.
Is there an event that I wasn’t aware of? Silas wondered. They were lucky they managed to slip past the guards in charge of searching new arrivals. Gusto and Fatale arrived first and the guards seemed much more suspicious of Mice than of Frogs or other Rats. Silas figured the thieves would be able to catch up as long as they were not arrested. They both carried knives on them, which was illegal for Mice, but they weren’t confiscated at Dwindling Heights so Silas assumed they could hide contraband well enough.
Silas began, “So we need enough supplies to last for—”
“Food first, we can figure out the rest later,” insisted Otto. After a bit of searching, the four of them found some market stalls. Otto took the hand cart from Kerold. The pirate Rat looked underdressed without his captain’s hat. He stuffed it in the cart before arriving at the port to attract as little attention as possible.
“Go find me some food. Edible food,” ordered the older Rat. “I’m keeping an eye on the cart.” Kerold made a gesture, Silas assumed it was a salute but he couldn’t quite tell.
“Does he even have any florins? Actually nevermind. I know that doesn’t matter. Faustus do you at least have florins? Faustus?” The green hooded Rat looked around.
“Oh he walked away a while ago,” stated the pirate. Silas sighed and searched the market until he found a stall that looked like it contained food that would last. He approached. It was being run by a younger Rat doe.
“Hello friend, what would you like today?” queried the doe.
“I need a good amount of food that won’t spoil quickly.” The buck placed a fair amount of florins in front of the trader. He had plenty of florins saved up so he wasn’t worried about wasting them or running low any time soon. The doe’s eyes went wide when she saw all the gold florins.
“I’ll fill you a sack.” She turned and started shifting through her inventory. Silas watched as she put a generous amount of dried bugs, grain, acorns, and other long lasting foods into a large sack. When she was finished, she heaved the sack on the counter.
“Thank you.” Silas lifted the sack into his arms before adding, “Oh, why are there so many Red Paw soldiers here?”
“You haven’t heard? The baron’s ship is in harbor.”
Well don’t I feel stupid. Silas wished he had asked before he bought such a large supply of food. Silas rushed back to where he last saw Otto to give the good news. Said Rat was leaning against the cart with a paper in his paws.
“Otto, a baron is here!” Silas exclaimed as he tossed the sack into the cart.
“That makes sense,” replied the grey Rat. “You got a plan yet?”
“No, no. But I have to try, don’t I?”
“No, you don’t. Are you even sure this is a good idea? Revealing to creatures that are known to want power and control, that this powerful, dangerous, and very much magical threat exists?”
“They’re not idiots and they at least won’t let it run rampant.” Silas looked at what Otto was holding. “What’s that?”
Otto handed Silas the paper. The brown Rat gasped when he saw what was on it. It was a drawing of an aggressive looking Mouse holding a dagger in one paw and a lute in the other. The Mouse was wearing a very familiar minstrels hood.
“Tilo?”
“Shh,” Otto shushed sharply. “We don’t know him. We already have enough problems.” Otto yanked the wanted poster from Silas’s paws and stuffed it into a pocket. “Besides, that Mouse isn’t going to be running into any creatures that could turn him in any time soon. Worry about the big problem right now.” The pirate jerked his thumb back towards the cart.
“You’re right. I can’t get distracted now.” Silas went and leaned against the cart next to Otto.
“The Mice were here, but they left on a supply run .”
Silas snorted. “At least someone cares about supplies.” Silas watched the crowd. He could see a sundercrab carrying cargo away from a stall. He watched as creatures bartered. And then there was Fatale? The Mouse was being chased by an angry stall owner. Otto chuckled. A deep and rare noise.
She’ll be fine. Silas assured himself. He looked in the direction they came and saw Gusto at a stall that had no stallholder. Ah, she was a distraction? No, they’re not smart enough for that. Despite his chaotic surroundings, Silas almost felt peaceful. He rested his eyes.
“Rodrik?” faltered the baron.
Silas wasn’t really sure what happened. It was all such a blur. One moment it seemed like his journey was coming to an end, and the next he was running from a ship’s worth of Red Paw soldiers. Silas was at the docks with the soldiers close behind him. He heard a whistle. Turning to his right was a boat. It wasn’t fancy by any means but it wasn’t very small or shabby either. Otto was on it, hanging over the edge holding onto a mast rope.
When did he get a boat? Silas had little time to question it. He ran up the ramp of the boat with Tilo close behind. Tilo, who was now here instead of Periclave, or drowned in the ocean, or anywhere else in Pangia, was right behind Silas.. Not only that but his wife, Merra, was here too. The couple followed Silas up into the boat and helped the Rats pull the ramp up after him.
“This ship won’t be able to get away quick enough!” Otto exclaimed. The Rat soldiers were quickly approaching the boat. Suddenly, there was an explosion. An area of the docks splintered into tiny pieces. Silas turned towards the upper half of the ship.
“Good throw, Mouse!” Faustus complimented. “Here, throw this one too.” Faustus handed Fatale something. Silas couldn’t make out what it was but it didn’t look like a pinecone. Fatale tossed it right near the soldiers. The blast was strong enough to launch them into the water. That must have scared the rest of the soldiers because they all stopped their pursuit, giving the ship just enough time to drift out of reach.
“We actually got away,” Otto marveled. The older Rat stepped away from the edge and headed towards the helm of the ship.
“No we didn’t! They could hop on any ship there and chase after us,” Silas retorted.
Otto pointed towards the horizon as he kept walking away. “Storm. They won’t risk it. Unless they're stupid. But if they're stupid then we can easily get away from them again.”
Silas let out a breath and slumped against the taffrail of the boat, allowing his eyes to rest. He heard a creature join him by his side. He opened one eye to see who it was, though he already knew.
“Tilo,” sighed Silas.
“I didn’t think we’d see each other again so soon,” Tilo commented. Silas let out a laugh that sounded more like another sigh.
“You found your wife,” Silas observed. She was on the other side of the ship, giving the two bucks space.
“Yeah, long story. I’ll fill you in later.” The two of them reunited while they were being chased, so it was still a shock to be seeing each other.
Tilo continued, “Why were the Red Paw after you?”
“Long story, I’ll fill you in later,” Silas joked before his smile fell and he once again became serious. “He recognized me. Well, not me, my father. The others are going to start asking questions soon.
“Then we may as well fill them in now. Get it over with.”
Silas looked back towards the docks. They drifted a good distance but they could still hear all the commotion.
“Let's wait until we’re far enough away that it would be more of a burden to go back and turn me in.”
“Silas, what good would turning you in do for them? They’re all criminals and the Red Paw now knows. Otto and Kerold stole a ship, and the other three blew up the docks. They’re accomplices.”
“They could bargain for a better sentence… but then again, those Mice aren’t smart enough to think of that, and Otto has more to lose that way,” Silas paused, “Alright. I’ll tell them.”
“You should have more faith in them. They aren’t that bad.”
“I think I know them well enough now to form my own opinions on them. A few hours ago, I was glad because I thought I was finally getting rid of them. Now I’m stuck with them for the unforeseeable future and I don’t know if I have the patience to deal with them.”
“What about me?”
“What?”
“Do you have the patience to deal with me? Will being stuck with me be agony for you as well?”
Silas smiled, “My friend, I’ve been wanting to see you again since you left. I am so happy you found what you were looking for…” his smile dropped. “Tilo, does Merra know..?”
“Shhh, we can talk about him later,” insisted the Mouse. Silas stared at Tilo’s wife. He was nervous to properly meet her. His ears pricked up as distant thunder sounded.
“I guess we’ll have this conversation in the cabin.”
“I’ll go gather everyone.” Tilo stood and walked across the ship to where Merra waited for him. Silas waited a few minutes. He watched as Tilo ran around the ship like he would in Dwindling Heights. Most of the creatures headed into the cabin. Kerold stayed at the wheel. Silas assumed the Frog wouldn’t mind a little rain. The Rat didn’t know where Faustus went off to. He decided it was time to join the others. Standing up the prince headed to the captain’s cabin.
The cabin wasn’t anything too fancy, an expensive looking desk and chair, but other than that it had regular looking furniture. The ex pirate captain looked right at home sitting in the one fancy chair. His legs were propped up on the desk and he was adjusting his pirate hat. Silas assumed he put it back on the first chance he had. The thieves were sharing one of the less comfortable looking chairs and the couple was in the other. The two Rats locked eyes. Otto had a look on his face that Silas couldn’t place. The hooded Rat didn’t like it. The Mice were in an enthusiastic conversation. Fatale was clearly happy to see Tilo again and was throwing constant questions at both Tilo and Merra without giving either a chance to respond before asking another question. Gusto seemed to be eyeing Merra’s earrings. Tilo gave Merra a sheepish smile and she giggled. Silas stood in front of the door, he cleared his throat to get their attention.
“You’re probably all wondering what went wrong,” Silas Began.
“Wrong? It went better than I was expecting,” remarked Otto.
“But it did go wrong quicker than expected,” added Gusto.
“Yes, the baron was very adamant that you were caught,” commented Otto, “How’d you mess up that bad?”
Silas took a breath. No better time than the present . “They’re after me because I look like my father… Rodrik.” There was a severe lack of reaction. Perhaps they’re not educated enough to know who he is? But Otto should be old enough to remember his reign…
“The last Rat king?” Silas added reluctantly. Tilo already knew, so his lack of reaction was understandable, and Silas assumed that he told Merra given that she wasn’t shocked. However, the three criminals confused the coward’s prince. Otto simply began examining his claws while Fatale nudged Gusto a few times.
“See? See?” Fatale nudged Gusto a bit harder. He scoffed.
“Yeah, yeah. You were right.”
“Right about what? Did you know?” exclaimed the brown Rat.
“Otto looked through your things the first chance he got. You were sleeping. I was still awake. He found the letter and I read it. I didn’t get it but he said it meant you were the coward’s son. Gusto didn’t believe me cause he’s an idiot,” Fatale explained. Gusto hit her elbow. Silas looked at Otto and he shrugged.
“I needed to know you better and I wasn’t going to do that through conversations… Kerold doesn’t know. Faustus doesn’t either. Didn’t trust those two enough. Don’t trust these two either,” Otto said as he gestured to the siblings, “But she just happened to be there. Told her not to tell anyone.”
“I don’t take orders from you!” Fatale snapped.
“I…” Silas was at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved or angry. He was used to getting disrespected by these creatures but this was a new low. He decided to continue his explanation.
“They’re going to be after me. The baron looked at me like he saw a ghost. He was… afraid. Even more so when he saw the green flame, not at the crystals but at me. I think he thought I intended to assassinate him.” Silas stared at the wooden boards under his boots.
This is bad.