Terra Incognita

[Rexim]

Rexim rubbed his chin and paced back and forth. The other six beasts watch him with apprehension.

Let?s see? the river curves over there, and the swamp starts after the curve to the? east? No, west. That?s got to be it.

?All right, we should be headeeng thees way.? He pointed at a spot in the distant treeline.

"An' wot makes ya so sure o' that?" asked Rousseau.

?I surveyed every eench of thees bloody woodland for seasons before you lot eveen got here. I know where theengs are.? With that he set off, and the rest followed reluctantly.

Mossflower in winter was as beautiful as a distant female and as treacherous as a near one, Rexim discovered. Every patch of snow concealed a tree root or patch of ice, and naturally the beast with the most injuries was the first to discover them.

?I have about had eet weeth thees woodland,? said the fox, his voice slightly muffled by a snowdrift. He grabbed Alan?s proffered paw and stood up, then shook his fist at the silent trees.

?You know what I?m goeeng to do? Cut all of you down and put some beeldings een here! How do you like that?!?

Having chastised nature to his satisfaction, he continued walking.

?You said that you?ve been here for seasons?? asked Clutus. ?Funny, because I would characterize your actions as those of a kit who?s never been outside before.?

?Where I come from, we eat theengs like you,? shot back Rexim.

?He has a point,? said Tobias. ?Why aren?t we letting one of the woodlanders lead? They probably know the area better than you.?

?Ah? I do not know. They deed not offer their serveeces.? He glared at Rallentando and Chokk in turn. The rabbit shrank back, but the beaver stared him down until he felt uncomfortable and looked away.

Alan turned to Chokk. ?Well? Do you know where these rats live??

The beaver treated the mink to a glower that would have incinerated a lesser beast, then answered, ?My family had no dealings with these vermin. I have no idea of where they live, nor do I particularly relish the idea of meeting them. If this fox knows, that?s his business.?

?About that?? said Rexim. ?I must admeet, I am not one hundred perceent sure as to the curreent location of the rats. Eet?s kind of a funny theeng??

"You might've been leadin' us in the complete wrong direction, an' ya didn't mention this before?" asked Rousseau, throwing up her paws.

?Well, eet?s notheeng so easy as that. These rats, they move around all the time. Eet?s one of the reasons eet was so bloody hard for the wolves to deal weeth theem the first time; wheenever you thought that they were gone, they turned out to have moved their veellage to the other side of the swamp. I know where the swamp ees, but theen we?re on our own.?

Clutus took the opportunity of the brief stop to preen the dirt from his wings. ?Speaking of which, how far away from this swamp are we? A noble beast of the air such as myself is not built for trekking through mud like this.?

Rexim shrugged. ?About halfway, maybe. Maybe eef somebeast hadn?t decided that we had to leave as early as posseeble, I might have had some time to go to my room and get a map. I am workeeng from memory right now, and eet looked far deeffereent wheen I surveyed eet een the summer.?

"Well forgive me for disobeying orders and getting us out of there before we were stopped." said Alan, squaring up to the fox. "Now can you get us there or are you limited to useless directions and whining?"  

?I do not see you offereeng eeny help at all, captain. Your brother ees rolleeng on hees slab because of what you are doeeng weeth hees poseetion.?

The mink?s paw shot to his sword, and the rest of the party stepped back. ?What I do with my brother's position is none of your affair.  I'll thank you to not mention it again or we'll see if you're as ugly inside as you are outside.? he warned.

Rexim answered by showing Alan all the claws on his right paw. The mink snarled and started forward, but jerked to a stop. Tobias was holding on to his collar.

?Be quiet, you two!? shouted the mink.

The shocked pair complied, and Tobias released his captive.

?Good. Now just stop and listen for a moment. We?re all tired, and the importance of our mission is going to put stress on everybeast, but we need to cooperate. Remember what?s at stake here. Rexim, I know you don?t want to see Kotir be destroyed, and Alan, do you want Konner to have been injured for nothing? We do not need any more beasts dead before we even meet the enemy.?

Rexim stepped back and held up his paws. ?I apologize. That was een bad taste. But please, Blackteep, do not doubt me een the future. I know what I am doeeng.?

There was a tense silence, then Alan removed his paw from his swordhilt. ?Yes well, don?t do it again.?

A collective sigh of relief erupted from the four not involved in the argument. Rallentando whispered to Chokk, ?Is this going to keep happening, the fighting??

The beaver shrugged. ?I hope not. We have enough problems without the vermin being at each others? throats constantly.?

For the sake of diplomacy, Alan and Rexim both pretended not to hear the woodlander. After the fox got his bearings again, the group set off.

The rabbit might be right, thought Rexim as they continued their march. If Vulpuz wanted to pick a group to fail, he did a pretty good job. And if Luka is any indication, some of us are going to die before this is over.

On the other paw? if we succeed, I?ll finally get a chance to thank those rats for cutting off my claws.

Heh. Some stakes: painful death or petty revenge. Wars have been fought over less, I suppose.

The fox pulled out of his reverie and looked around. He noticed that the ground level vegetation was thickening and the ground was becoming reluctant to give up his boots.

?Welcome to the swamp, everybeast. Eet?s not much to look at, but I assure you that the rats weell be somewhere in here,? said Rexim, spreading his paws wide.

?Maybe closer ?n that,? said Rousseau. ?I see smoke comin? up from behind those bushes.?

Tobias pushed the plants in question aside, and revealed a clearing containing a copious crepitating cornucopia of constructions. These structures were all some variation on the theme of 'tent,' ranging from simple sticks and cloth to a large, glyph-inscribed monstrosity that towered over its lesser brethren. A fleet of boats was moored on the bank of a large marsh opposite the bush. The rat inhabitants of the village were chatting, fishing, mending nets, cooking, and additional domestic things. Oddly enough, there was a distinct lack of beasts making spears, fletching arrows, sharpening weapons, or any other martial type pursuits.

Rexim grinned smugly. ?See? I told you the I could find eet.?

?Good of you. Now do you have any suggestions as to what to do now?? asked Clutus.

?I told you that I could find the rats. You want meeleetary strategy, ask some other beast.?

Tobias peered at the village. ?They don?t look very hostile. Do you think perhaps we could reason with them??

?Yes, you do that. We?ll be sure to give what?s left of you a nice burial.? Alan drew his sword and swiped at a hanging creeper.

?So you just plan to charge in there and start killing? That?s exactly what I?d expect from you,? said Chokk.

?Do you have a better suggestion??

?Mr. Blacktip, Mr. Wulgar, please listen.? Rallentando quailed when the eyes of the entire group swiveled in her direction, but rallied. ?Perhaps we could spy on them and get some useful information. We don?t know much about these beasts, and we don?t want to do something wrong and end up like Mr. Graves.?

Rousseau shrugged. ?She has a point.?

?Eet might work,? said Rexim. ?I don?t theenk we could keell all of theem ourselves eenyway.?

Alan scratched his head, and sighed. ?All right, all right. I?ll go along with this, but if things go south I?ll have my sword close to paw.?

?That would be wise. We don?t know what kind of beast we?re dealing with here,? said Clutus.

?Actually, Meester Bird, I know just enough about what kind of beast we have here to be very, very nervous. Alan ees wise to keep hees blade ready.? Rexim shivered and pulled his coat closer.