Discoveries

[Zevka]

Zevka woke with a start from a dream about helping Mekad, Istvan and Pyracantha Dewhurst paint a house with the help of magical singing apple trees, splashing some of the hot springwater around as she did so. After Poko and Takis had left, the marten had succumbed to the temptation to go back into the bath rather than cede it to the males. She had told herself it would be only a short dip, but the warm water and the low lighting had lulled Zevka to sleep.

Apparently, neither Nyika nor Nessa had been as tired as she had been, because both of them were gone. Poko was nowhere to be found, either, but that was to be expected -- Zevka couldn't help but smile at the memory of watching Poko and Takis dash off together. Poko had been through more than any kit should ever have to go through in such a short time, and seeing her act like a carefree, happy sprite with a normal life warmed the marten's heart.

'Gates...I really have gone soft here, haven't I?

The marten grimaced at the fact that she really did have too much to do to sit here any longer.

Just a few more minutes? a voice inside her whined.

"No," Zevka muttered aloud, forcing herself to exit the pool. Moving to where she had stowed her clothing, Zevka shook herself to try to rid her fur of excess water, then used a spare cloak she had found on the doomed expedition as a makeshift towel. She dressed quickly, wincing at the chill in the air. As she shouldered her rucksack, she heard a metallic rattling that gave her pause. The marteness suddenly realized something she had forgotten to do: find out what was in those flasks and bottles she had taken off of the frozen bodies of the doomed expedition.

Putting her bag back down, she pulled out four bottles and examined them. One was a short, thin, elongated bottle that gave off a bitter, acrid smell that made the marten's eyes water. She quickly stopped the bottle and put it back. The contents of the wide, round bottle were equally unpleasant -- the marteness scowled as the sour, salty, rancid smell of seaweed grog assaulted her olfactory senses. The two were both identical tall wooden flasks. Zevka opened one. What she found made her smile.

Of all the places to find some mead! I've got to show Ness--oh. The marten's good mood crashed to the ground and burst into flames as she remembered both what had happened the last time they had drank together, and the fact that that might really have been the last time. She grimaced at the reminder of Nessa, who had spent most of the time since the incident with Gypsumfur pointedly not looking at her.

Dammit, Nessa! Either one of us could die out here at any moment! There isn't any time for this! The marteness had wanted to scream at the otter. I'm sorry about Gypsumfur, I'm sorry about what I said about culling the moles, I'm sorry about all of it! Will you please just be my friend again?

But of course, if she had said those things, the otter would have just said something cruel back to her and made it hurt even worse. So Zevka had said nothing.

Zevka snapped her mind back to the present and replaced the bottles in the bag. She walked around the corner of the large rock behind which Istvan and Noonahootin had been waiting patiently for the females to finish.

"Err, sorry that took so long. All yours, you two!" Zevka said.

"Thank you," Istvan said, evidently too polite to complain about her procrastination.

Zevka suddenly frowned as she realized that she had no idea where Nyika was. The wildcat had been acting strangely (even by her standards) ever since they had arrived, and a sudden disappearance did not bode well, especially after the traumatic events that had happened earlier.

"Hey!" Zevka said loudly as the owl and the otter walked towards the baths. "Has anybeast seen Nyika?"

"The Bless-- Nyika went out that way." Istvan said, looking slightly sheepish at the verbal slip. "That was a while ago, though. I'm not sure where she is now."

"Thanks. I just want to make sure she's alright," Zevka said, walking off in the direction Istvan had indicated. She passed out of the bathing chamber and into a short tunnel that eventually led outdoors.

Zevka headed towards a short hallway that led back outside. She found Nyika outdoors in the snow. The young wildcat had Risk's knife in her paw, the blade hovering close to her face. Zevka's pulse spiked.

"Nyika! No!" Zevka rushed over and grasped the wildcat's wrist, jerking the knife and casting a shallow cut in the groove of her ear. The wildcat jumped in surprise, but the look Nyika gave her as she realized what had happened bespoke confusion, not madness.

"Zevka, what are you...oh. No, no, I wasn't doing anything like that. I was just...I just wanted to see if it fit."

"Fit? What do you mean?" Comprehension dawned on the marteness. "Oh. The nick in your ear."

Nyika nodded. "Aye. I've grown, so it's not perfect ? but it's enough."

Zevka's tail, which had bottlebrushed, started to slim back down. "I just thought you might be...doing another sacrifice. I wish you hadn't done that, and I really don't want you doing it again. Look, Istvan's a decent enough beast when you get to know him, but that doesn't make his All Mother real! Certainly not real enough to give blood for! Don't sacrifice any more of it!"

Nyika frowned at Zevka. "I wasn't. Besides, what does it matter to you? You let Istvan bleed when he wants to."

"Because you're my friend, Nyika, and I'm worried about you."

Nyika seemed lost for words for a moment, as though she wasn't quite used to the idea. Zevka took the opportunity to take Nyika's paw in her own. The marteness gently uncurled the wildcat's claws from around the knife, and placed it in its sheath.

Zevka was quiet for a bit. "You know...I never thought to ask you this. Maybe I didn't believe you could answer, or maybe I just didn't want to know the answer...just how horrible are the things that are following me?"

Nyika frowned in confusion. "Why would anything horrible be haunting you, Zevka?"

Zevka had trouble meeting the cat's gaze for a moment. "Some of the things that Nessa and Istvan think of me are true. I've been into battle, but I've also killed some beasts who never had a chance to defend themselves." The marteness paused for a moment, then continued.

"Oh, they weren't innocents, mind you. Brigands, a captain who got too big for his boots and started plotting, that sort of thing. But let me tell you, slashing the throat of a beast whose on his knees, with his paws behind his back, or poisoning a bottle of wine so that its owner dies when you're not even in the room -- that feels very different than stabbing somebeast who's actually trying to kill you. I had to do it, but I'm not proud of it, and it's something I definitely want to leave behind me."

Nyika didn't look as shocked at the revelations as Zevka had feared. Instead, the wildcat looked thoughtful. "You know, I've wondered from time to time...why do you have so few haunts? Your life has been anything but quiet and peaceful, but there really aren't many of them at all."

Zevka blinked. "There...aren't?"

"No."

Is Nyika right? Is she just trying to spare my feelings? Or is the problem that she doesn't know anything about the beasts I've killed, so she can't imagine any of them? An idea came into the marten's head.

"There was one in particular that I was worried about. This...hare brigand was robbing all of our supply caravans, until I finally helped catch him by filling a cart full of empty barrels with hordebeasts hiding in them. They took him back to Bayguard, and that's where I killed him. I'll never forget the look in his eyes. If I had to guess, he's the one I'd be afraid of haunting me."

If not for the fact that he was actually a squirrel in real life. Let's see if Nyika starts seeing a hare or a squirrel...

Nyika, however, gave the marten an odd look, followed by a rather uninformative response to Zevka's story.

"What? There's no haunt like that following you. Stop worrying about it."

The marteness kicked the snow a bit with her footpaw. The story might have been contrived, but what she said next was not. "With all of this talk from you and Istvan about ghosts and afterlives, it has crossed my mind to be...concerned about what does happen to me if I die on this journey. About what's waiting for me afterwards. I've heard you talking about Risk's haunts -- how much they hated him. I'm glad there aren't too many following me."

This is silly. I have absolutely no evidence that anybeast is being haunted, let alone me.

"Well," Nyika said, interrupting her thoughts. "There may be one?"

"One?"

"She comes and goes ? never lingering long, but she always comes back. I can't tell who she is, or what she looks like. She doesn't want me to look at her and she keeps her distance, but when she's here she's always watching you."

Zevka's ears perked up in excitement, and before a more rational part of her mind could stop her, she blurted out "Who is it? Is it a really brawny stoat jill? Another pine marten? Or...could it be an elderly vixen? Please tell me, Nyika!" She winced a bit as she realized what she had done.

Dammit, Zevka! Now you've given her all of this information! How will you know if she's really seeing them?

Nyika frowned. "I'm not sure, but she has always given me the sense of a rufescent wisp." Zevka's ears twitched and Nyika continued. "But as I said, she keeps her distance, and she does not like it when I try to look at her." She narrowed her eyes off in the distance, and smiled. "She could be a fox, with a big bushy tail?"

Zevka's eyes twinkled, and Nyika continued. "Is she an old friend? One who may have taken care of you?"

Zevka smiled a bit in spite of herself. "Well, maybe not me, exactly...after Mekad's mother died, the beast who raised him was an old vixen healer named Levandra who worked for his father. She was like a grandmother to Mekad -- taught him to read, patched him up when he was sick or hurt, let him him hide when his father was angry. When Mekad's father died, his sister -- Mekad's aunt -- moved into the fortress. Mekad's father wasn't a nice beast, but his sister was the real murderous maniac in the family. Everybeast thought it was a matter of time until she killed Mekad."

"So why didn't she?" Nyika asked.

"Because Levandra got together a group of hordebeasts and a bunch of gold -- enough to pay for Mekad's entire youth -- and sent them and Mekad to Stevat Academy, because she knew he would be safe there. She was right -- Madame Stevat always offered absolute protection to her students. As long as Mekad was there, it would be very, very hard for his aunt to hurt him. Unfortunately, Levandra was too old and sickly to make the trip with them. Which means that she was the beast who had to face Mekad's aunt when she found out what had happened."

"Oh."Nyika said, a look of understanding crossing her face.

"Mekad never saw her again -- alive anyways," Zevka continued. "But he often said that he had dreams that she was still watching over him. I never paid much attention to this -- always thought it was wishful thinking. But maybe Mekad was onto something."

"Mm," Nyika mused. "Perhaps that's why you don't have any haunts."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, not all haunts are bad. They just sound that way because ? that's what I call them. 'Haunts.' But some view themselves as protectors?Guardians, if you will?keeping themselves from passing their gate until they know their ward is safe and cared for."

"But I never actually met Levandra," Zevka said with a frown.

"Maybe you spent so much time with Mekad that she got attached to you, too," Nyika suggested.

Zevka nodded, her brow furrowed in thought.

"I know what you're afraid of," Nyika said. "but ? I think Mekad is still alive. If Levandra comes and goes as she has been, then she could be watching over the both of you. If Mekad were dead ? you would be her only ward left."

Nyika...I don't know if you're right or not...but damn, I certainly understand why so many beasts believe in you...

Both beasts were quiet for a bit. Finally, Zevka spoke again.

"So...why exactly did you want to see if the knife fit in your ear?"

"Because it's proof that Risk was telling the truth," Nyika said bitterly. "You know, Risk was the first beast to ever care for me. Even after he killed my mother ? and ripped open her stomach ? and took me out of her. He mutilated her body and ran away, leaving her abandoned for the buzzards to feed on her corpse. He used this," she said, holding the knife aloft, "and nicked my ear in the process. And it fits. It's true. All of it."

Zevka froze in place at Nyika's words, a memory bursting to the forefront of her mind. Her jaw dropped. Suddenly, the marteness stepped closer to Nyika, staring intently at the young wildcat, and going over her from multiple different angles at close range. The marteness started sniffing, not caring as she invaded Nyika's personal space in a way that made the wildcat pull back in typical feline fashion, ears backed against her head.

That was when Zevka started laughing hysterically. Nyika just gawked at her for a moment, before muttering "And beasts say that I'm crazy?" and starting to walk off before Zevka stopped her.

"HAHAHAHA...Oh, Fates, I can't believe this! Nyika! Nyika, I...I think...I think that you have a brother."

"What are you talking about? I don't have a brother?"

"Actually, I think that you do! 'Gates, I'm slow...how did I not figure this out earlier! Your fur is so similar, you smell similar...and what you just told me clinches it." Zevka suddenly sobered up. She put her paw on Nyika's shoulder and looked her right in the eyes.

"Nyika...I think Mekad is your brother."

Nyika pulled back. "Mekad? No. He's not. Why would you say something like that?"

Zevka frowned slightly, her mirth completely vanishing. "I'm not playing at anything. You just reminded me of something that Mekad told me about himself. It all happened when we were kits..."

"Mekad? Are you up here, Mekad?" Zevka poked her face in through the window of the old bell tower. The fifteen year old marteness was standing on a tree limb that came close enough to the window to provide a way around the locked tower door whose key had been lost seasons ago.

"Zevka? No. Don't come in here, please!"

Zevka clambered in through the window anyway. "What are you doing up here, Mekad? Everybeast has been looking for you since yesterday. What happened? Why did you run off like that? It was just a public anatomy, Mekad -- you missed a good time, actually."

The marteness grinned in a rather unsettling fashion. "I had no idea that bad alcohol could do that to your liver -- I think I'm going to watch what I drink. And the heart looked nothing like --" Her smiled faded as she saw Mekad's face, the fur matted with dried tears.

"Mekad? What's wrong?"

"Zevka...my mother...she...she..." The young wildcat could barely choke the words. Zevka wrapped her arms around him and just sat there holding him, feeling his body shake with sobs. Finally, he looked up at her again.

"My mother died when I was a kit. She went out in the woods alone, and somebeast killed her. But they didn't just kill her, they tore her apart. Cut her guts out of her and left them strewn across the ground. I never saw her body -- Father wouldn't let me. But then they had that anatomy yesterday, and I saw what entrails actually look like, and now...I can't get the thought of what she would have looked like out of my head. Every time I close my eyes, I see her. I see the beast who killed her ripping everything out of her, and I can't make it stop! I can't not see it!"

"'Gates, Mekad...I'm sorry." Zevka couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's not even the worst of it. She was with kitten when she died -- the birth was due any day. I was going to have a brother or sister. Another kitten, somebeast to play with, somebeast I could help raise." Mekad's voice turned to ice. "But whoever killed Mother...they took her kitten. They took her kitten with them."

Nyika's eyes widened as Zevka finished relating her story. Suddenly, Nyika turned sharply so that she was looking past Zevka rather than at her. "Did you put her up to this?" She growled.

"Who are--"

Nyika totally ignored Zevka, engrossed as she was in her conversation with the unseen beast. "Aye? Mekad? You've heard that name before? So what does that mean?" For just a moment, Nyika's face lit up, but the moment passed, and her smile collapsed. "No, it doesn't mean anything."

Zevka tilted her head. "You don't believe me?"

"No, that's not it. It's just that ? I can't be certain. My mother ? she changed, but ghosts don't change. If she's false, if she's been false all along, then I can't trust her. Nor can I trust Risk, or ? anybeast, for that matter. He might be saying so because ?" Nyika looked into Zevka's eyes, clearly caught between hope and pessimism. "Because I want it."

Zevka looked around, trying to follow where Nyika had been looking. "Risk? If you can hear -- Scat, if you even exist, then tell her! Mekad's mother's name was Freya. His father was Tesver Mayvery. Do those names ring a bell?"

Nyika stared at where she saw Risk, her eyes widening. Suddenly, she snarled.

"Oh! So now it comes out! You tell me everything! How you were ordered to kill her, how you stalked her, cut her open, and drew me out! Never once did you tell me her name! But now? now it comes out." She put her head in her paw shaking with silent sobs. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Zevka..."

Zevka hugged her, taking care not to squeeze the wildcat's injured arm.

"Nyika...we probably can't ever find out for certain. You don't know your mother's name, except from the ghosts telling you, and Mekad doesn't know a lot of things about how his mother died -- there's a lot his father never told him. Being cut out of your mother is rare, but it's not as though it has never happened to anybeast else. Bottom line is, I can't show you any absolute proof either way. The idea makes sense, but everybeast who really knew what actually happened that day is dead. But...this would mean that you aren't alone. And I know Mekad really wants family, too."

Zevka took her sleeve and dabbed around Nyika's eyes.

"So...at the end of the day, I think you just have to decide: do you want it to be true?"

Nyika nodded. "I do, Zevka. I do want it to be true."

"Then...let's just decide that it is. I know Mekad won't have any problem accepting this. He's a good beast, Mekad. Better than me. You've got a good brother, Nyika."

There was a moment of silence, and then Zevka's tail bottlebrushed.

"Nyika...does this mean that Risk was watching me bathe?"

Nyika looked sheepish. "I wasn't going to say anything about it, but...aye."

"GRAAAH!!!" Zevka threw up her paws in disgust. She looked around at the air. "I hope you enjoyed the show, you creeper, because next time you do that, I'll...I'll.." Zevka frowned, realizing the utter futility of threatening a ghost. "Do absolutely nothing at all. Dammit, Risk!"

Nyika looked like she was struggling to not crack a rib laughing.

Zevka growled, albeit with a playful undertone. "Oh, sure, it's all very funny when it's happening to me..." The marteness let her comments trail off as the sound of running footpaws reached her ears. She turned towards it, her paw on the hilt of her saber as she stepped in between Nyika and the sound.

The paws' owner came into view from around the corner. It was Takis. The young stoat was winded, but still coherent.

"Hey! You're that pine marten who was with Poko earlier!"

"What is it, Takis? Where's Poko?"

"Our healer had to amputate one of her toes because it had gone bad."

Zevka exchanged a glance with Nyika, and then looked back at the stoat, tail bottlebrushing and alarm etched on her face.

"Is she alright? Where is she?"

Did your healer actually know what he or she was doing?

"I tried to carry her back to your group, but I couldn't find you again -- there was nobeast at the baths. I put her in a side chamber that nobody was using. I can take you to her."

Zevka looked back at Nyika. "Nyika, go and find the others and tell them where I've gone. I'll try to come and find you after I've checked in on Poko."

"Be careful." Nyika said, her eyes meeting Zevka's.

So you're worried it might be a trap? That makes two of us. Zevka thought. But I can't not go see Poko.

"Alright, I'll go with you," Zevka said.

The stoat turned around, and an idea suddenly struck Zevka.

"Oh, before we go, is there somebeast among you with some things to trade? I think I have something here you might like..."

"They won't want to trade with an outsider," Takis replied.

Zevka frowned. "Well, that's unfortunate..." She thought for a moment, and then opened her bag.

"Normally I wouldn't do this, but you seem to really care about Poko. I was thinking of using these to try to get something for her as a get-well present."

"Like what?"

Zevka thought for a moment, then snapped her claws as a perfect item came to mind. "I think I know just the things, Takis. Do you know if you could find a..."

Takis nodded excitedly as Zevka described the desired item.

"I know just where to get one! You can count on me!" The stoat started to go, but then stopped.

"Err, right, need to take you to Poko first!"
--
It didn't take long to reach the temple chamber. Takis had wrapped Poko in a blanket that the sprite was still using. Poko was awake, and although she looked rather morose when the pair first entered, she quickly perked up a bit when she saw who it was.

"Zevka! Takis! You're back!"

"Yes, we are, Poko." Zevka paused and turned back to Takis. "Can you go get it now? I'd like to give it to her soon, assuming you can find it."

Takis gave her a cheeky salute. "I won't be long!"

"You're going somewhere else?" Poko asked with a hint of disappointment.

"Just for a short while. I'll come back soon!" Takis waved, and then turned to go. Even burdened with the flasks of mead, he moved quite quickly.

Zevka crossed over to where Poko lay, lifted the blankets and examined Poko's bandaged footpaw. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the stoats' healer apparently knew what they were doing. The bandages were clean, and had been wrapped skillfully around the wound.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been here with you when they did this, Poko. But I'll bet you were damn brave for a beast who was getting a toe cut off."

Poko didn't say anything. Zevka just put her arm around her shoulder.

Poko and Zevka sat for a few moments before Poko spoke again. "Thanks for being here, Zevka. And for...saving me from the owl. I...I really did think it was going to eat me."

Zevka smiled at Poko. "I know. That's why I did what I did." Her smile faded just a bit. "You're worth a dozen moles, Poko, and I've never forgotten that, even if..." The smile was gone completely now. "Even if Nessa might have."

To her surprise, Poko looked away, as though in guilt. "Poko? What's wrong?"

"I...I'm glad that you saved me. I love being alive. But...but...I don't know if I could have done what you did and been alright with it afterwards."

Zevka's heart sank. She didn't feel angry, like she had with Nessa, just sad. "Poko, there was no other way. I don't regret what I did -- I can't regret it -- and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If saving you means killing some moles, then that's what I'll do."

Poko sighed. "I know there wasn't any other way, Zevka. And I wouldn't want you to have let the owl kill me. But I just can't forget Gypsumfur being hit by the owl, can't forget all the blood."

"He was a mole, Poko."

Poko sat bolt upright. "You can't just say it's alright because he's a mole, Zevka! Say you had to do it to save me, or that there wasn't another way, or that you care about me more than him, but not that it's alright because of who he was! There are too many beasts in this world who think that already -- that's one of the things my Papa couldn't stand." Poko suddenly looked thoughtful. "Did I ever tell you that my Papa was raised by a magic hare?"

Zevka blinked, the topic of Gypsumfur temporarily forgotten. "A...hare? How did that happen?"

"A magic hare." Poko smiled like a beast handling a treasured possession. "When he was younger than me, my Papa lived on the street, stealing food and picking pockets to stay alive. One day he tried to pick the pocket of a hare he ran across in the market. The hare turned around and pulled the coin he stole right back out of his ear! My Papa was so amazed that he begged for the hare to show him more tricks. That hare's name was Major Tolliver Feferington the Fourth, and for the next few years, he treated my Papa like his own, teaching him how to perform magic tricks and slight-of-paw." The warmth in Poko's voice filled the room.

"Tolly had run away from his badger lord. He?d been in a lot of battles and won lots of ribbons, but one day, he just got tired of it all. Decided he wanted to own himself rather than serving anybeast else. So he started walking one day, and he never, ever stopped. He took my Papa with him, and one thing my Papa learned was that everybeast has a story." The ferret smiled. "He also learned that you don't let beasts boss you around. One of Tolly's favorite things to say was 'stick it to the big badger.' Guess what my Papa taught me to say when I could barely walk?"

Zevka had to chuckle at the image. But then her smile faded, and she sighed.

"You know, Poko...being around you makes me realize how long it's been since I've seen my own family -- not since I was only a little older than Nyika is now."

"You...you haven't seen your mati since you were that young? Or your papa?" Poko looked surprised and more than a little sad.

Zevka swallowed, suddenly conscious of a lump in her throat. "My parents were both advisers to a very successful northern warlord. Very, very busy pair of beasts, with way too many kits -- I was the third of six. I know they both loved us -- and with six kits, they clearly never fell out of love with each other -- but I often felt like they didn't really have time for me."

"What could have been so important that they didn't have time for you?" Poko asked.

Zevka shook her head sadly. "Thing about warlords, Poko, is that they're not stupid at all -- they can be damn clever when they're on campaign -- but a lot of them don't really have the patience for what comes after that. That's where Mum and Dad came in, and that's why they were always busy. There always has to be somebeast to make sure the roads and bridges get built, the brigands get kept at bay and the taxes get collected."

Poko still looked deeply troubled by Zevka's words.

Zevka sighed. "Anyways, they sent me away to Stevat Academy when I was 12, and after that I didn't see much of them. Oh, I went home to visit a few times, but it was a long, difficult journey, and even then, they were usually busy. Then Mekad and I went off to Bayguard together, and I could only write. Sometimes my letters got through, sometimes they didn't."

The marten's voice was suddenly shaking a bit. "If I die out here...I wonder if they'll ever know about it."

Poko reached out and placed a comforting paw on Zevka's shoulder. The marteness suddenly pulled the sprite into a hug.

"Poko, please don't ever change. The world has more than enough beasts like me in it. It could use more like you."

"What do you mean?" Poko asked.

"What I mean is that I've spent a lot of my life trying to be some kind of big power player -- either the adviser to a major warlord, or a rich puller of strings. And if that meant a life full of plotting and violence, then so be it." The marteness looked pensive for a bit. "But being out here, where any of us could die at any moment, is making me realize that maybe that's not what I really want out of life after all. I'm sick of beasts trying to kill me -- I don't intend to get out of this mess only to have some future rival stick a knife between my ribs over the fact that he wants to be on top of the hill, and I'm in the way."

The marteness pulled a wry face. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not looking to run off and become a farmer anytime soon. If there's one thing I've learned about this world, it's that you can never take it for granted that nobeast is going to try to kill you, or take what belongs to you and yours, and if you aren't strong enough to stop them, then you have to just suffer through it. But...I think there's something to be said for caring more about being happy than being the strongest or the most powerful.

Poko smiled. "That's how my Pa always tried to live. He was happy. Had lots of beasts who cared about him. Of course, my Mati always thought he was too carefree. Didn't worry enough about how we were going to eat, and so she always had to. But you know what? He lived a pretty good life."

Zevka nodded. "Sounds like he did." She looked closely at the young ferret's face. "And you're still so young. I hope -- I think that you still have an amazing life ahead of you, Poko. And I mean what I said. Don't ever change."

The two mustelids just sat there for a while, simply enjoying the silence together. Poko leaned against Zevka's arm, and seemed to have almost dozed off until she suddenly sat up straight again, apparently remembering something.

The ferret's ear twitched, and she suddenly changed topics. "Hey Zevka, I forgot to tell you -- Nessa and I solved one of the riddle puzzles we found earlier!"

Zevka frowned in confusion for a moment, before remembering.

"Oh, those? What was it actually talking about?"

"It was all about the little torches in the lock - they had to be lit in a certain order. It was really hard to figure out until I realized there were a different number of words in each line and there were seven lines and seven torches. Takis was so excited - he's been trying to figure it out for ages, but he doesn't know how to read. Can you believe that? No wonder he couldn't figure it out..."

Zevka looked pensive. "Hmm. Normally I would deem solving riddles when we're in the middle of a situation like this to be a waste of time, but it sounds like you might have actually discovered something here...maybe I'll take a crack at that second door, since we can't leave here immediately anyways. Not until you get some rest."

Zevka almost asked Poko for more information on the puzzles, but it was at that moment that Takis stuck his head in the door.

"I got it!"

"Hold on a second, Poko." Zevka got up and went out to meet Takis, grinning as the stoat produced the item she had asked him to find.

Zevka walked back into the alcove with her paws behind her back. "So, it turns out that a couple of flasks of good mead go a long way around here. Takis and I got you a present -- something for when you're up and about."

"Oh?" Poko said, leaning forward.

Zevka produced the gift. It was a scaled-down version of the crossbows that the grown ermine carried, and a small quiver full of bolts. She carried them over to Poko and handed them to the young ferret.

"I figured you wouldn't want to be knife fighting with your footpaw hurt, and it's been a real nuisance to not have anybeast in this whole group who can use a ranged weapon. My eyes aren't much good at a distance, Istvan only uses his knife, and Nessa won't use weapons at all. So that leaves you, Poko."

Poko grinned ear to ear. "Thanks, Zevka!" She started to try to get up, but winced as she put too much weight on her footpaw, and sat back down. "Err, I'd like to shoot it..."

Zevka pulled a flask out of her bag and walked over to a pile of rocks some distance away from Poko. She set the flask up on top of the pile of rocks.

"Try doing it while sitting down. Use this as a target -- this one's just grog. It deserves to be shot."

"Hey, what's wrong with grog?" Takis asked.

"It is a blasphemous heresy against the true and holy faith of alcohol, Takis," Zevka said with mock sternness as she walked back over to Poko. "Seriously, though -- it really isn't good for anything except target practice. Can't stand the stuff."

"I'd never have guessed," Poko said dryly.

Zevka placed the nose of the crossbow on the floor and cocked it, then nocked a bolt and handed the weapon to Poko.

Poko spent a few moments adjusting her grip on the crossbow, figuring out exactly how to hold it. She took aim at the flask, then fired. The bolt pierced the flask, which proceeded to bleed grog all over the rocks. Takis whooped and Zevka reached out and ruffled the fur on Poko's head.

The ferret grinned. "Hey, I think I'm pretty good at this..."

Zevka got up and stretched. "I think I'll leave you two kits alone to get acquainted with the crossbow -- but if you feel tired, Poko, just go to sleep. You need your rest."

"Aww. Where are you going?" Poko asked, although she did not look too disappointed at the chance of spending more time with Takis.

Zevka cracked her knuckles. "I think I'm going to go try out one of those puzzles..."

--
Zevka spent a few minutes just staring at the veritable thicket of metal pipes that had been built into the walls and ledges of the chamber in which she, Nyika, Vanessa and Istvan stood. The other three members of the group, even Nessa, had readily agreed to take a crack at the next puzzle, given the lack of much else to do around the ruins.

The pine marten struggled to imagine what kind of ironworks it would have taken to produce so many lengths of pipe and then force them into the tangled mess that confronted the three of them now. The pipes were dotted at numerous points with wheels, buttons and other devices of unknown function and effect. At the end of the chamber, past the pipes, stood what had clearly once been an ornately decorated door.

Nyika spoke first. "So, um...what exactly are we supposed to do here?"

Zevka frowned as she stepped forward to inspect the pipes. She gingerly tested one with her paw, and quickly jerked it back at the unexpected heat. Tracing the pipe with her eyes as it looped around and through other pipes, she quickly spotted where the pipe ran into the ground. The marteness knelt down and examined the pipe. She put her paw close to it, but didn't actually touch the pipe. She could feel the heat even without touching it.

The marteness took out her sword and tapped the pipe. There was no sloshing sound, only a hollow pinging sound.

Zevka gave a pensive frown. "So...I think there must be some kind of steam or something coming up from the ground, like we saw outside. The steam goes into the pipes, and then does...something. I'm not sure I understand what we're supposed to do with it."

Nessa, meanwhile, had spotted something that interested her more than the pipes: a small circle of bone pillars in the far corner of the room. The otter approached the circle and examined the pillars, which were significantly shorter than their outdoor counterparts. The otter, who towered over them, stepped inside the circle and stood in its center

"Ah wonder wha--aaaahhh!" Nessa's look of curiosity changed to one alarm as the floor beneath her began to crumble away, and then vanished out from under her altogether. The otter plunged downwards, as a cloud of steam billowed up from the hole in the ground.

"NESSA!" Zevka shouted, ears flat against her head. The marteness felt an icy claw of panic grip her heart and squeeze. For a brief moment, the marteness was paralyzed by fear, but then she began to sprint towards the hole, dropping to her knees just outside it and yelling for the otter.

She needn't have bothered. The otter stepped out of the steam cloud beside her, looking very slightly rattled, but certainly not injured. The otter gave a cocky grin.

"Twill take more than a wee bit o' steam to put paid tae me!" The otter's smile suddenly slid off of her face as she saw Zevka, and she started to walk back to Nyika and Istvan.

She hadn't gotten far when Zevka rushed up behind her and threw her arms around the brawny guardsbeast. The marten's entire body was tense, and her breathing ragged and uneven.

"Nessa, are you alright? I thought...I thought you might have died, and...and that we would never get a chance to make up, or be friends again or...or--"

The otter shrugged, pushing Zevka away, and then rounded angrily at the pine marten.

"Ah dinnae let kit-murdering fraudsters hug me, Zevka!"

Zevka's ears and tail dropped visibly. "Nessa..." she said, not trying to conceal the pleading in her voice. It had no effect.

"Ah reckon Ah need some fresh air." Without another word, Nessa stormed out of the chamber, leaving a visibly crestfallen Zevka behind her.

Nyika walked up next to Zevka and put a paw on her arm, giving it a slight squeeze.

"I'm sorry," the wildcat said. "I know how much that must have hurt."

Zevka gave a sad, weary sigh, and was quiet for a bit. "I'm not sure you do, but thanks for saying it, anyways."

The marteness attempted to put on her game face. "I guess there isn't much for us to do other than try to solve that riddle and not fall through the floor in the process. What was that poem again, Nyika?"

Nyika recited the verse they had come across earlier.

First ye must the copper bryte,
Turn half left then quarter ryte,
Midway lift the gleaming steel,
Half turn wynd the quadro wheel,
Left spin stone thryce, once for quartz,
Reset all by west-east course.

Zevka frowned. "Alright, but what does that actually mean in practice? What are we trying to do here?"

Nyika pointed to a large ceramic cube perched on top of a high ledge next to the door. Several pipes fused into the side of the cube, on which had been painted a light blue key shape.

"Zevka, I think we're supposed to somehow turn the water into steam and then move it into that box. Maybe there's something in there that opens the door -- like a water wheel, but for steam."

Zevka thought about this for a moment. "Well, unless somebeast has a better idea, that seems like as good an explanation as we're likely to get. What do you think, Istvan?"

The otter was inspecting a particularly tangled point in the pipes. "I think that the beasts who lived here must have been truly blessed by the Mother to have so much iron as to use it to create something as ostentatious as this."

Zevka shrugged. "Yeah, I can't say I think too much of that decision, either."

The three continued to stare at the intricate mechanism for a while, before Zevka finally stepped towards it.

The trio set to work trying to redirect the steam into the ceramic cube. Things started sanely enough, with the three trying to find the various components referenced in the riddle. The writer, however, had clearly been looking at a different device than the one the three beasts were trying to figure out now. Rust, tarnish and the ravages of time had taken their toll on the machine. It didn't help that there were places where it appeared that something or somebeast had removed components.

By the end of the first hour, the effort to solve the puzzle soon devolved into a total disaster as the three beasts struggled to coordinate their activities in some semblance of a rational manner.

"Close that valve, Zevka!" Istvan snapped at the marten. The otter was clearly not in good spirits after struggling in vain with the heavy wheels controlling the flow of steam through the pipes. Some of these wheels had clearly not been oiled regularly.

"What do you think I'm doing, Istv--no, sorry, I turned the wheel. Think I was supposed to push the button."

"Shouldn't we be trying to connect them to this -- MEEEEOOOOOOWWWW!!!"

"Nyika, are you okay?"

"Sorry, my tail touched one of the pipes," Nyika said with a scowl.

"Why isn't there any heat coming through this pipe, Zevka? Did you open that valve?"

"Open it? You just told me to close it!"

"It's supposed to be 'Left spin stone thryce, once for quartz.' That should mean four times total, right?" The otter reasoned.

"Or there could be a a quartz thing that we are supposed to be spinning once to the left...but I can't tell for sure."

The trio's efforts to solve the puzzle proceeded in this fashion for quite some time, during which they succeeded only in making themselves tired and sore from clambering over jagged rock ledges intermingled with hot metal pipes. The door remained completely unmoved, silently mocking their futile efforts to master it. It was still firmly shut when Zevka, Istvan and Nyika gave up their efforts and sprawled out together on the floor of the chamber, all looking rather demoralized.

"Graah...who wants to open some stupid fancy door, anyways?" Zevka grumbled halfheartedly. As though her fatigue and embarassment was not enough, the room was stiflingly hot.

"We still don't have any idea how this works, do we?" Nyika asked.

"At this rate, we may simply wish to consider physically destroying the door in order to go through," Istvan opined.

"With what?" Zevka asked.

Istvan had no immediate answer. The three beasts were silent for a moment. Zevka looked at the tattooed otter, and decided on the spot to tell him what she had been hiding.

"Istvan...in case you were wondering, there was once a time when I was actually thinking up ways to kill you if I had to."

The otter turned towards her, his face difficult to read. "Why are you telling me this?"

Zevka met his gaze. "Because things have changed so much since then. I thought that you were going to try to hurt Poko -- seriously, permanently hurt her. And I thought that you were an unstable religious maniac who might murder us all in our sleep at any moment."

"And now?"

"And now I know that none of that is true. Whatever else you are, Istvan, you're not crazy. You're a beast who went deep underground to rescue a stranger and a beast you couldn't stand from a terrible fate. You tackled an owl out of the air to save your commander. You obviously care for Nyika a great deal. I don't believe in your All-Mother, Istvan, but I can believe in you. And that's why I'm being honest with you about earlier. And why I want to apologize for it."

Istvan took the news that Zevka had contemplated killing him far more gracefully than most beasts would have.

"I...I'm glad that you have changed your mind about me. I have known many beasts who have called me mad. I have known far fewer who have taken it back."

Zevka smiled at the otter, but then suddenly sat bolt upright, clapping her paw to her forehead. "'Gates, I just realized that we're all a bunch of idiots. We're making the mistake of trying to play by the rules here, when the rules were written by a bunch of total strangers who died a long time ago."

Nyika tilted her head quizzically. "What do you mean?"

Zevka climbed to her feet, wandered over to a pile of rocks, and selected a particularly sharp one. "What I mean is that I think I have another way of solving this."

Suddenly much more upbeat, Zevka made her way over to her bag, where she pulled out the tunic she had taken from the doomed expedition's baggage. She began tearing strips off of the garment and wrapping them around her paws, then walked over to a particularly gnarled section of the pipe configuration.

Flexing her claws, Zevka began climbing over them, making use of skills that had evolved to carry her kind through tree limbs. The marteness made good progress, until one terrifying moment when she lost her grip on an unexpectedly hot pipe and fell.

Her shout of alarm was cut off when she landed squarely in Istvan's arms. The otter had caught her, a feat that seemed to surprise him as much as it surprised Zevka, who Istvan was now holding well off of the floor, his paws situated in a way that could only be described as 'awkward'. The two blinked at each other.

"You know, I think we might want to just pretend this didn't happen," Zevka said after a moment.

"Yes. Let's." The otter set the marteness down. Nyika snickered in the background.

Zevka made another attempt to climb the pipes. This time, she met with more success, finally making it up to the ledge on which the cube sat.

"Zevka, what are you going to--"

The marteness drowned out and answered Nyika's question by seizing a rock from the ledge and smashed it repeatedly into the cube, whose sides began to buckle under the assault. Eventually, broken ceramic shards began raining down from the ledge, and Zevka gave a shout of triumph. The marteness reached into the cube.

"You were right, Nyika. It's like a water wheel, but I think I can turn it by paw."

Zevka proceeded to do just that, and the door at the end of the chamber proceeded to open up slowly. When it was wide enough to easily admit at least two beasts standing side by side, Zevka abandoned her efforts and climbed down the pipes.

"So Nyika, how do we solve puzzles in this group?" Zevka asked with a grin. "We cheat, that's how."