Interlude: Hope Still Flies

[Opal]

?I still can't believe it,? Pyracantha said grimly.

She and Flax trudged through the snow, heading due south to the best of their estimation, back towards Yew. After finding no sign of other survivors, Flax had said that they had no choice but to head back and get help from the Guard. Perhaps, with a proper search party, they might find some survivors. Or, at the very least, they might be able to give the dead a proper burial.

?There's not a lot we can do for them. It's not our fault,? Flax told her.

?I didn't say it was.? Pyracantha's reply gave the ice all around them a run for its money.

Grunting, the vole pulled a bottle of brandy from his haversack and took a longer pull than necessary. When he lowered the bottle he saw the vixen glaring at him. It was becoming an all-too-familiar sight.

?What??

?That's not helping.?

?What's not?? Flax said, taking another swig.

?If you get drunk and fall down a crevasse, I'm not saving you.? Pyracantha's lips twitched into the slightest of smiles as the snow crunched under her paws. ?And I'll go back to Yew and tell them all about it.?

Flax had to laugh at that. ?I'd like to see you make it back without me. I've got all the supplies.?

?What?? It was Pyracantha's turn to laugh. ?You don't have supplies. I found the supplies. All you've got is four bottles of bad decisions, you dunce.?

?You know, for a vixen, you're rather prudish.?

Pyracantha raised an eyebrow and smirked. ?Oh hon, I'd love to tell you just how 'prudish' I am, but it'd probably take all of your alcohol for you to try and forget it.?

Flax chuckled. ?Well, then don't tell me what I can and can't do.? He took another drink.

Pyracantha was rapidly losing patience with him. ?You idiot! You're going to be of no use to me if I have to carry you back to Yew. You should know better than me that these mountains are hardly safe for two lone travelers.?

Flax's patience was running just as thin. ?Look, I'm not getting drunk, all right?? He shoved the bottle back into his haversack, muttering as he did, ?I'm just drinking enough to make you sound less like a nagging shrike...?

?What was that?? the vixen snapped.

?I said...?

Flax didn't have time to think of a clever malapropism. He was more concerned with the giant boulder hurtling down the mountainside to his left, coming straight for the pair of them. Before he could move, Pyracantha launched herself at him, the pair of them falling roughly to the ground as the boulder crashed by, finally coming to rest at the trunk of a massive pine. The tree gave an almighty shudder, showering the pair of them with needles.

The vixen stood and offered Flax her paw. He took it, and the pair of them brushed pine needles out of their fur and clothing in stunned silence.

?You okay?? Pyracantha finally asked.

?Yes, fine. You??

?Never better!? the vixen chirped, though her paws were shaking visibly.

?Now you look like you really could use a drink,? Flax joked.

?Don't you even start!?

?Oh, rela?ow! Felldoh's sainted aunt!?

Flax clutched at his left shoulder where a sling stone had come out of nowhere and struck it. It was his turn to push Pyracantha, the pair of them slipping and scrambling to the safety of the boulder as a volley of sling stones followed them. They crouched behind what had mere minutes ago been even more deadly to them than the stones now bouncing off it, now grateful for its protection.

?I'm starting to think this boulder wasn't a coincidence,? Pyracantha gasped, clutching at a bruised footpaw.

?You think?? Flax growled, trying to ignore the deep stinging pain shooting through his shoulder. ?There's something out there that doesn't want us to be here. Must have entered their territory without knowing it.?

?How many do you think there are?? Pyracantha asked, drawing her?or rather, his?dagger.

?No idea. Could be a few, could be scores. I think they were hiding out in those bushes ahead of us. They have the element of surprise, too. A frontal assault would be suicide.?

It felt good to be back in his element for once. Sure, his head was a little fuzzy from the brandy, but still. He lived for this. If only he had a good squad of Yew Guards with him, instead of one impudent, flabby vixen...

?What do you think we should do?? said vixen asked.

?Now you're interested in my opinion??

Pyracantha gave him a look of great long-suffering. ?Of course I am, you great numpty. You're the skirmish expert here, not me. I'd be a fool not to take your advice.?

?Oh.? Flax opened and shut his mouth a few times, thinking. ?Well. I think the best thing to do in this situation is to remember the better part of valor.?

Pyracantha considered his words for a moment. ?So...we're running away??

?Do you have a better idea?? the vole snapped.

Pyracantha bit back a response, shaking her head.

?We'll just have to try and get out of their territory and find another path south.?

The pair of them made a run for it, slipping into the cover of the pine forest. They carried on west for a time, doing their best to cover their tracks with a switch of pine, and after a time they found another way south.

No sooner had they broken the tree line than a volley of sling stones sent them scrambling back into the safety of the forest.

?Damn it!? Flax barked. ?How can this still be their territory? Do they own this entire valley??

?I think...? Pyracantha leaned her head back against the tree behind which she was hiding, looking like she was trying hard to remember something. ?I think this might not be their territory. I think they might just not want us to go south.?

?Why wouldn't they? They don't know who we are...Wait, do they??

Pyracantha shrugged. ?I don't know. The Yew Guard uniform is not exactly inconspicuous, though. They could be from Carrigul.?

?And this close to Yew without us knowing? Please,? Flax snorted. ?This must still be their territory. Let's go a bit farther and see.?

So they did. And after running from a third volley of stones, Flax knew he'd been wrong.

?Well. I think we're not heading back to Yew,? Pyracantha said, after they'd gone a safe distance back into the forest.

Flax snapped their track covering branch over his knee and hurled it as hard as he could. ?Damn their hides!?

?Well,? Pyracantha began calmly, ?what can we??

?What can we do?? Flax yelled. ?We can either starve to death or get stoned to death! Those are our options, Miss Dewhurst!?

His anger ebbed away, leaving an overwhelming feeling of despair. The vole slumped against a tree and slid into a sitting position, paying no mind to the sap that got all over his cloak as he did so. ?You were wrong to listen to this 'skirmish expert,' Pyracantha. I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do. We're going to die out here.?

He was going to die. His family might never know. Kela would wait, time slowly cauterizing the wound in her heart. Netta would grow up without him, probably find a mate of her own one day. Flax felt a heat rising behind his eyes and quickly rubbed at them. He felt Pyracantha's paw settle on his shoulder and, after a bit more rubbing, dared to look up into her face. Her expression was hard to read, but there was a light in her eyes, something akin to an older sister looking after a younger sibling.

?It's okay,? she said softly.

Anger coursed through him again. She was patronizing him. She enjoyed this. But he was too tired and cold to respond.

?We could always try to get to Carrigul, you know,? Pyracantha offered.

?What, just the two of us?? Flax gave her an incredulous look.

?I have connections there. You could be hidden away. As I'd imagine your head would fetch a pretty coin.?

?And then what??

?We could send Aster a message. Find a carrier bird, pay the right price, and then...?

?Then what??

?Well,? Pyracantha said simply, ?then I don't really know. But it's better than dying out here, isn't it??

Flax considered her half-cocked plan for a moment, then sighed. ?Well, I suppose since the odds of us dying well before we reach Carrigul anyway are fairly great, we might as well try.?

The vole stood. ?Let's retrace our steps. I know there was that cave a little farther on from the slide. If we keep a good pace, we should just make it by nightfall. How is your paw? Can you climb??

Pyracantha put some weight on it, grimacing slightly. ?It aches, but I don't think it's broken.?

?Good. Come on, then. Keep up, soldier.?

If they were going to die, he figured he might as well die with some decorum.

~

They reached the base of the landslide with little event, just as the sun was dipping below the treeline, the temperatures dipping along with it. Flax drew his cloak tighter about himself, and Pyracantha snuggled into her jade green shawl.

?Hang on.? Flax halted Pyracantha with a paw on her shoulder.

?What is?? The vixen's question dissolved into a startled shriek. She had nearly tripped over the body of a weasel, his throat slit, a frozen crimson pond spreading out into the snow around his corpse.

?Here's another, and another!? Flax gasped, pointing at body after disfigured body. ?I didn't notice these before. Since when does a landslide slit your throat??

?Do you think...it was whoever attacked us earlier?? Pyracantha's eyes widened, and she whirled around, as if looking for some hidden assailants.

?Maybe...? Flax said vaguely, closing his eyes. No, it couldn't be...They would have found him if he were still alive, surely...

?Well, then...shouldn't we perhaps...shift our tails? They could be using this as a distraction or something.?

?Hmm. Fair point. Let's go.?

~

After a long and arduous climb, they finally reached the road. Darkness threatened to envelop them, and they needed the small amount of wood they'd gathered as firewood. Gasping, shivering, and often stumbling on the slippery path, they eventually made it to the cave. It was a welcome sight. They hurried inside and set about making a fire. After some unsuccessful strikes of his flint and tinder, Flax finally got a small blaze going.

And then, by the dim glow, Pyracantha saw it: the remnants of another campfire.

?Flax,? Pyracantha said as she nudged Flax, undertones of joy and relief in her voice, ?do you know what this means? There are others!?

Flax gave her a look that said clearly that she was crazy. ?Hate to break it to you, Miss Dewhurst, but beasts use this cave all the time. You're just delirious from the cold.?

?No!? the vixen barked. ?You're wrong. This campfire...it isn't old. Can't you smell it? There were other beasts here. I smell...?

Leaving Flax to his fire tending, she followed the faint scent of something...She didn't know what, exactly, but it tanged in her nostrils. The vixen's nose was naturally sharp, but she had become accustomed to foraging in her younger and poorer days. Once she locked on to a scent, she didn't give up on it until she found its source.

She made her way to the back of the cave, where a long, dark crack loomed like some great, stone cat's eye. The scent got stronger. There! About halfway down the crack on one side, just a faint smear, but it was unmistakeably?

?Blood!? she cried. ?It's dried now, but I can still smell it.? She leaned down and lightly lapped at the smear, ignoring the dirt and grit mixed in with the metallic substance. ?Mustelid. It was a ferret, definitely.?

She turned to look at Flax triumphantly, but the vole was eyeing her with disgust. ?Did you really just lick dried blood off a cave wall??

?Yes, to be sure it's blood, you plum.?

?But. Hang on...? Flax seemed to be having trouble finding the appropriate words. ?Does this mean you've tasted ferret blood before??

?What? Oh, no, of course not!?

?Then how...?

Pyracantha smirked and held up a long hair. ?Found this caught in a small crack near the blood. It's a ferret hair, definitely. A ferret squeezed through here, recently enough for his scent to be here still. Faintly, but it's here.?

?His??

?Oh, or hers, I suppose.? Pyracantha had spoken without thinking. She drew the hair to her nose and inhaled deeply again, to be sure. It smelled so familiar. But no, it couldn't be him. No, it could have. If the stories were true, it would be an even bigger shock to her if he'd let a little thing like a mountain pass collapsing defeat him.

?Huh.? Flax shrugged. ?Well, I guess we're not alone.?

They looked at each other for a while, then both of their mouths broke into grins, and suddenly, Pyracantha didn't know why, but she was hurrying towards him and enveloping him in a tight hug.

?Steady on!? the vole gasped, flushing scarlet beneath his fur, though he did not push her away.

?Do you know what this means?? Pyracantha said breathlessly, finally releasing a rather ruffled looking Flax. ?We're not alone. There are other survivors. Now all we have to do is find them. We might stand a chance in Carrigul after all!?

Flax was a hard beast to read sometimes, but it was clear he looked a lot more relieved. After a string of bad luck, tragedy, and near death experiences, finally they had a clear road ahead of them, a mission.

Pyracantha dove for his haversack and rummaged around. ?Oy!? he snapped. ?I already said I wasn't going to...?

?No,? the vixen said, taking a draught of the brandy and beaming. ?Flax, dear, there is a right time and a wrong time for alcohol. This is most definitely a right time for alcohol.? Flax took the bottle back from her as she coughed. ?Packs a wallop, though.?

?Damn right it does. Hopfit's is the best.? The vole winked at her and took a long pull himself. Pyracantha impatiently snatched the bottle away from him to take another drink, and he chuckled. ?You know, I actually kind of like you like this, Miss Dewhurst. You should drink more often.?

?Oh, I used to. Probably could drink you and that one otter you had with you under the table if I tried. It just got old after a while, and besides, I had family to look after.?

?You and your 'family,'? Flax chuckled, adding more kindling to the fire.

Pyracantha's ears pricked up. ?What's that??

?What's what??

?That sound. Sounds like it's coming from outside the cave. A scrabbling or something.?

The brief cheery atmosphere had died completely. Pyracantha set the bottle aside and Flax drew his spear from the straps across his back.

?Be careful!? Pyracantha whispered.

She watched Flax disappear from the mouth of the cave. For a few moments there was silence, save for the crepitating fire.

Then she heard Flax's strangled yell.