The journey of a thousand steps starts with one miss step. Part 2

continuation from http://rwmuck.limitless.org/rwmuck/content/journey-thousand-steps-starts-one-miss-step-part-1

Velth awakens to a dangerous foe and possibly a new ally. Will Velth's journey end before it even begins?

It is night when the wagon arrives at the cottage. It's a ramshackle affair, a shanti shack in the middle of a snow covered clearing surrounded by a thicket of trees. A river can be heard to the north but it is still too far to easily see from the wagon approaching from the south.

Following a small foot path Slade pushes his wagon of ill-gotten loot, one fox and various petty items left by the merchant, and his squirrely companion Fox. He whistles an unrecognizable tune as he pulls the wagon through the snow covered path towards the shack. He peers intently at the sight of smoke coming from the shacks chimney. "Fox, go tell the otehrs were back. I'll take care of the fox..."

Velth regains consciousness enough to be aware of his splitting headache. His mind is hazy, dim, desiring little more than to just fall back asleep, but his head won't let him. It screams in his ears in a familiar voice, and with the sensation of being caught in a frigid rip tide he's drawn back, down, into the waking world. His eyes open, ears still rining, and stops himself rolling over to take stock of his situation. He's in the cart; still moving. That's good. He tries subtly shifting his hands and feet, testing for binds.

And bound he is! Enough to make the fox snug with out damaging him...or his precious fur. Inside the cart are several wicker baskets, broken peices of pottery, and scraps of cloth.

The cart comes to a stop and a massive badger paw reaches over to grab the fox by the scruff of his neck, "Alright mate. Rise and shine!"

Velth does his best to support himself with his arms and legs to keep the stress off his neck. "I'm up!" He says, trying to wriggle free from the uncomfortable hold. "I'll walk." He offers.

"Fine, then walk." The badger says as he tosses the fox roughly into the snow covered grass. The fox is about ten meters away from the door to the cabin. Light shines through the windows and the cracks between the boards of the wall. "A little fresh air and a good walk never hurt any beast. Especially after coming from Redwall and their fancy dishes and foods, right?" The badger jokes, mostly with himself.

Velth stumbles a bit, understandably, but manages to catch himself with his arms in a kneeling position. He uneasily gets back to his feet, his head giving him more than a bit of trouble. He stares at the door, commenting, "Slavery, then? You certainly wouldn't rob someone like me."

The badger's yellow smile widens, "Oh, you /wish/ it was slavery." he chuckles as he ushers the beast along, opening the door for him to see the inside of the cabin, "Or at least, you will."

The cabin is sparsly decorated, made to be more of a work shop than living space. The floor is made of dirt with doors leading to bedrooms and a basement. A lanky ferret hunches over a stew pot set in the fire place, cooking up something tasty.

All of this however does nothing to distract one from seeing the animal hides. Hanging from hooks from the ceiling, linning the tables, beast hides of every caliber. Minks, otters, fox...

The badgers laughter practically rocks the shanti. He tries to give the fox a light nudge to push him inside. "Glad you can understand. It's nothing personal. It's just buis-i-ness. You actually seem like a decent fellow but, alas, beasts are willing to pay a pretty penny for an arctic fox." He gestures to the ferret, "Take him and put him with the others."

The ferret rolls his eyes but does as he is told, setting the stew laddle away he moves for the fox.

Velth grudgingly takes a step forward as he's pushed, and he stalls, rather than going directly with the ferret. "Perhaps you'd like to hear a deal then." He offers, his voice getting increasingly rappid and urgent, though he does his best to control it, "Not for my life, but something more valuable."

The badger holds a paw up and the ferret pauses. "You wouldn't be the first person to try and bargin their way out of their fate lad. Although admitedly they do so with more pleading and whining. You're different though." The badger smiles, "Maybe you already know I don't have enough heart left to appeal to. I appreciate that." The badger, setting his wide brimmed hat on a near by table runs his paws through his head fur. He draws a serrated knife from his belt, using it to clean his claws, "You have five minutes. I do su-gest you use them wisely."

Velth nods gravely, "Perhaps the others thought they had a way to bargain for their lives; I've none. You've taken all I had, I'm far from home, and the crew that brought me here, if they've not left again, would never pay my ransom." He uses his bound paws to awkwardly lift up the copper amulet he wears round his neck to Slade, "This is all I have to offer, and I'd never dare bargain with it for my life." He pauses a moment, checking to see if he has Slade's attention or interest, "Do you know anything about the gods?"

The badger chuckles, this is by far a first. "I know that I've probibly offended every diety between here and the western shore by now." The badger laughs and the ferret joins in.

The laughter is cut short as Slade steps forward, "So yer saying you got nothing left to barter with and no one to rasom you off to? You must be new to this sort of thing. But do go on..."

Velth shakes his head, seeming unconcerned, "Why bother pleading for my life when the gods themselves put me into your paws?" He inquires. "No, you see, all this was meant to be. These are not the meek gods of timid woodlanders; these are vermin gods. They're strong and cunning, and demand the same of me." His ears droop, "But, alas, I'm weak and stupid, unfit to carry their symbol, and so they brought me here, to you, to die. They must enjoy seeing woodlanders, and a badger no less, practicing the old ways." He pauses, and clears his throat, realizing he should get to the point before his time runs out. "So listen to me: it was not mere chance that I roamed so far from home, only to end my life here. You're to take this amulet from me, and end my miserable life. I only ask, before I go, that you let me show you the way to win their favor. Perhaps that will sooth their anger, so I don't go to their judgement when they're still in fury."

Velth room-pages, "The words! I have written many, but I kept trying to trim it down to fewer; I've been thinking this speech over for some time, so there was a lot of thoughts to get out.".

Slade smirks, "Vermin gods..." The badger taps his teeth with the knife. He was by far the least religious creature in the mossflower woods. It didn't help his business of kidnapping beasts for their pelts to have concience to bother. If nothing else he found the fox entertaining. "I think you should worry about my fury when your little charade stops bein entertainin foxy. But far be it from me to interupt the last words of beast on deaths door." He reaches for the amulet.

Velth nods thankfully, "You don't have to worry; at the end of the day you'll have my pelt, and if you do as I say, my god's blessings as well." He inclines his head to let the badger take the amulet from his neck. It's a flat, plain disk, etched with a plus and a pair of semi-circles apexing at the crux. "Can you get fresh cut bark, still with the sap, a bit of water, and clear a space on the floor?" He inquires, trying to keep the list short, and to things he knows to be within easy reach or walking distance.

"I see..." The badger rubs his chin, "And prey tell what is supposed to happen after I get all these...ingredients?"

As he talks Fox returns to the room munching on a loaf of bread. She gestures with a nod of her head to Slade. "Oh? Velth here was about to show us how to gain the favor of the /gods/."

The squirrel lets out an angry chitter and the badger rolls his eyes, "No, I know our deal about summoning eldrich abominations inside the cabin, I didn't plan to..." The badger turns to Velth, "This plan is abomination free, right?"

Velth blinks at the question, opens his mouth, closes it again, thinks for a moment, then says, "Of couse; we're just appeasing the gods by showing respect. We spread the things out, like..." He tries gesturing with his tied paws, then realizes he can't do it properly and instead says, "It's like a blood eagle. We lay the bark out, pour the water around it, scatter some embers for good measure, and say the prayer."

The badger nods his head as he listens, wrapping a paw around the fox's shoulders, "Aye, and then after we gain the approval of the gods we spend the rest of the night drinkin ale until we are silly and drunk enough for you to slip away into the night. It sounds like a lovely idea!" His grip tightens as he leads the fox towards the door in the far corner leading down to the basement. "But don't you worry, we will make sure the gods are appeased while you are all secure and locked up. Because, if nothing else, you were right about one thing." Slade chuckles darkly as he tries to lead him down stairs, "I will have your hide /tonight!/"

Velth shrugs his shoulders, realizing that his far fetched plan has probably just gone the way of a ship split in half, "Don't blame me; getting drunk was your idea. Though I whole heartedly approve if you'd like to do so." He doesn't bother resisting at this point, and simply goes where he's lead, "I suppose if you change your mind you'll call for me."

"Cheeky little vermin..." The badger growls. The ferret watches them leave he turns to the squirrel, "The nerve, rigth? Gaining the favor of the gods, heh, what nonsense, right?" The squirel raises an eyebrow but says nothing else.

"Right...I...I'm just going to head out then. Grabing some...fire wood. Yeah. Yeah." The ferret backs away from the squirrel until he reaches the exit. His eyes dart nervously about as the squirrel gives him a bewieldered look. Shaking her head she turns back for the back room she came from leaving the ferret to his own devices.

All he needed to do was find a bucket...

The down stairs basement is about as pleasent as the upstairs, if even less so. A shallow, windowless basement with morter walls. Supplies are kept here in crates and barrels and the cabins 'other guest.'

( A white furred vixen leans against the far wall picking the leg of a wood pigeon clean. Her red cloth vest and tan trousers are surprisingly clean despite the fact that her leg is shackled to a chain leading to a bolt in the floor. )

The vixen looks up in shock as the badger leads Velth toward her. "Don't get attached to this one. The gods appearently demand I turn him into a vest soon." Slade chuckles as he shackles Velth's leg to a chain leading to the same bolt in the floor.

Velth ruefully grins, "It's not the first time." He explains.

"Might be the last." The vixen replies, she strips the flesh from the avian's bone and tosses it across the room. "You are getting better at cooking bird by the way. Needs just a dash more of pepper though."

The badger growls as he finishes shackling an iron band around Velth's left ankle. The two foxes are now tied to the same iron bolt in the floor. "Maybe you should talk to her about yer gods boy. She will need to make peace with them soon as well." The badger stands. The sound of his foot steps up the steps marks his departure from the room.

The vixen smirks as he leaves, stretching out along the wall with a wide tooth yawn. She looks like an average white fox, save for some excess weight around her exposed middle. The fox also has a black cresent moon tattoo wrapping around her left eye.

"So, were you lured here with the promis of a job too or did you come just because you like the badgers charming personality?"

Velth glances sideways, he's ears folding back a bit, "Let's call it the latter and leave my pride intact." He says, settling down into a half kneeling position, his back against the wall. "You seem at home here." He comments, "I didn't think they'd even have a storage room."

The vixen nods her head in agreement, "I'm here because my wealthy father in Tussock is willing to pay an extravigant ammount of gold for my safe return." The fox picks up an empty bowl of half eaten wood pidgeon parts, "At least until Slades runner returns from Tussock with the news that I don't have any family there at all." She picks up another leg bone and begins to chew on it, "In the mean time these idiots seem content on fattening me up for my hide and I see no reason to pass up free food. call it a mutual understanding."

The fox begins to pick her teeth with the bone, "I'm Elena, what's your name?"

"Velth." He replies, stretching out his legs, already a bit uncomfortable with the fetter. "I'm surprised they bought that. I didn't bother trying myself; might as well be today as tomorrow." He glances over at her, his stomach rumbling a bit to remind him that he's been neglecting it again, "Got any other ideas?"

Finishing her task, the vixen tosses the bone away, "Slade fancies himself as a clever creature. In the two weeks I've been here and had the 'pleasure' of knowing him, I've found him to be a very shrewd, very coniving, very crafty creature, but thankfully for us he is also very /cheap/." The vixen lifts her shackled paw in the air, pulling the chain with it. The chain lifts the bolt halfway out of the floor." She lets her paw rest and the bolt falls back into its hole with a small clatter.

"Unfortunetly the walls aren't nearly as easy to dig out..."

Velth chuckles, "Well, we could always just make a run for it and see how far we get." He thinks for a moment, and his grin only gets larger, "Or we could strangle him with the chain when he comes back." He laughs at his own ideas, and shakes his head, "Frankly, I've only got one good idea, and it's disgusting."

"Good!" Elena says happily, "I would rather have a violent warrior type shackled to me than some pacifist hobo. What's this 'disgusting' idea you got rollin around yer head?"

"Velth's grin and laugh turn a bit nervous as he mentions a 'violent warrior type'. "Oh, uh... well... He's after us for our skins, and he only wants those for sale. You'd know him better than I, but perhaps it'd save our lives if our pelts were... unsellable." He gets back up, glancing around the room to see if he can spot the key component of his heist, "I figure they've got a chamber pot down here, rather than let us out every time we have to go." He leaves it at that, and lets her figure out the rest.".

The vixen doesn't take long to figure out what his plan is. She has a dirty mind. "You mean take a quick bath in the lou. And when Slade comes to get us he can be all like, 'rawr! these pelts are unsellable now! Kill them for the trouble they caused!' Is that what you mean?" It seems the fox has thought this plan through as well. Then again, if she has been shackled here for a few weeks then she has had plenty of time to think up of a plan to escape between meals. Good or bad.

The fox begins to laugh, "Not the worst idea actually...and it does give me one. Tell me Velth, if you don't mind gettin yer paws that dirty then how do you feel about digging? Think you can dig a hole? Doesn't have to be very deep...just deep enough to /look/ like a very deep hole from the stairs."

Velth laughs, "I figured he might, though as I said, you know him best." He scuffs his foot on the floor, scraping at the edge of a few cobblestones. "But a hole like that... that'd be easy. You'd barely need to scratch the surface, if you used one of those crates or barrels to cover the rest of it; it's easy for a jumpy mind to imagine there's a hole when they see a bit of loose earth beneath a moved object."

Leaning forward to pull the bolt out of the floor the vixen weighs it in her paw. The chain runs through it, connecting the fox's together. It also has a spike on one end. She uses it to mark a big solid X on the floor. "Alright then Mr. Velth. Let's see if you have some mole in your blood..."

Velth glances over at his new comrade as he kneels down to get to work, "And you'll what? Watch to make sure I'm saving us fast enough?"

Leaning back with her legs and arms crossed, "Hey, I did half the work of getting the bolt out of the floor. Only fair you do the rest! It's only a little hole!" She claps her paws, "Go on then. Chop chop."

Velth blinks at her, then gets to work on the floor, murmuring to his amulet, "You punish me, but send her the cavalry?" Never the less, he works diligently and with a good deal of speed, carving out the loose earth between the stones until he can wiggle them free. He clears a decent space, large enough to make it look feasible for them to have crawled out using the whole, all the while piling up the discarded cobblestones in a not-so-subtle pile nearby. He scrapes out a bit of earth as well, making sure to leave obvious marks of digging around the edge of the hole, and enough loose earth to both appear that a tunnel really was dug, and that there was some effort to conceal it. Then, to finish the process, he drags overa box as quietly as he can to cover the hole. It perfectly leaves some dark gaps where the hole appears to go deeper.

The vixen smiles as she glances about the room. The crates just under the stairs should prove to be an excelent hiding place. Yes...just perfect...

The door upstairs opens as slade steps inside, a fresh wood pigeon in his free paw. He takes a step inside and lifts his head and pauses staring at the sight before him.

On the wooden floor of the cabin Farris the Ferret is halfway done drawing a giant eagle across the floor, following the fox's instruction. For reasons only known to him the ferret is also wearing a leather loin cloth that hangs down to his knees and little else, unless a bed vest and pidgeon feathers tied to his tail count as clothing.

The two beasts exchange a rather long, awkward silence.

"Don't judge." Ferris hisses. Holding his paws up and setting the logs by the door Slade begins to side step around the room, "Hey, it's cool. It's cool. Although I don't remember Velth mentioning tri-"

"I said don't judge!"

"Riiiiight, anyway. I'm going to just head down stairs, and check on the prisoners, ok?" He reaches the stairs, shaking his head as his foot steps announce his presence. "I need to start hiring better work mates..."

Velth finishes his works, and glances over at Elena, idly digging dirt out from his claws, "Alright... now what? Wait and show Slade what good prop-artists we are?"

The vixen's shivers as the wood creeks above them under the weight of the badger. She holds up a paw to her lips as if Velth needs to be told to be quiet with such a warning. The two beasts are under the stairs behind a pair of un used crates.

"Well I hope you made use of the time I gave you to make peace with your creator Velth, because..." The badger stops in mid sentence. Elena only wishes she could see his face, the shock of finding his prize missing.

( Elena covers her ears. Never has she heard such profanity nor uttered so loudly. Poor Ferris upstairs jumps when he hears his name associated with it. "B-bu-b-but boss! They havn't come up here, I swear I grk!" It's impossible to tell exactly how Slade shuts up the quivering ferret but the badgers own reply is quick and too the point. "Get your measily tail out there and find them or I. Will. Feed it too you. Go on, get! FOX! FOX where are you! The fox's have escaped, they couldn't have gone far! We need to move quickly before they-" his voice cuts off as the beast moves outside the cabin. )

It seems their plan worked!

Velth is grinning ear to ear, and even has to stiffle a bit of laughter at Slade's tirade. He quickly motions for them to begin their escape as soon as he's sure they're out the door. "Do they have any weapons?" He asks as he moves out of their cover.

"No idea." The fox states flatly as she ascends the stairs. Now in the thick of their escape plot her own charm and wit seems to have drained away. "I don't want to stay here looking for them either..." The top room doesn't have any visible weapons, at least things designed to be a weapon. A few knives and tools hang from the walls.

Dare they take a moment to search for something better?

Velth following along, he deftly snatches the first sharp, bladed object that comes to hand, without breaking step. He hands the knife to Elena by the hilt, and heft the spike in their chain as his own weapon, "Right, let's go. I figure we'll need something before this is over."

"Just try to keep up." The vixen holds the knife like she has used one before, and not for its intended purpose. With the chain making more noise than she would like Elena dashes out into the cold winter night. It's snowing lightly but not enough to be a problem for beasts made for the arctic.

The light of a lanter marks Ferris in the distance, searching the road to the south that leads to the cabin. He is too far away to see and hear them. The badger and the squirel are no where to be found.

Velth murmurs, "Odds are they're not together. We could rush him and make a clean getaway if we're not spotted. Which way to help?"

The vixen twitches an ear to the sound of the distant river to the north. "Ferrival is along the river to our east. If we go that way we might make it there by morning..." She glances at the ferret as his light becomes frantic. Ferris knows full well what will happen to him if the foxes get away. "And one less beast to search for us never hurts...it's your call." The vixen slinks along the grass as she talks, one paw holding the knife, the other holding the chain above the ground. That's all they need, to trip over that thing dangling between them.

Velth watches the light moving in the distance, and takes a moment to raise his amulet to his lips using his still bound hands. "He's not in our way... but the others probably are." He says, keeping up behind Elena, craddling as much extra chain as he can to keep it silent. "Let's go for him. I'd rather face the weakest alone when we have the drop on them, then let the strongest hunt us as a pair."

The vixen nods. She plunges the knife suddenly towards his bound hand, jerking the blade upward at the last moment, cutting the bonds free. "If he let's out a warning, we are done for." She says as more of a fact than complaint. She moves quickly as the snow permits.

The ferret is quite obviously shivering while dressed in only his cerimonial tribal garb, which looks more like a costume than actual tribal garb. The broad sword he carries offsets his commedic appearence though. He hoists a lanter in his free paw high above and behind him to shine a light upon the frozen road way with out blinding himself.

The vixen realizes that he is searching for tracks in the snow which will make them much more easy to find. Oh well, he won't be searching for long. Gripping the chain tighter the vixen points for Velth to go to the ferret's left as she rushes for his right.

She tries to hold the chain at knee level...

Velth helps pull the chain tight, or at least tight enough, mirroring her fairly well. He grips the spike in his offhand, his main one busy hanging onto the chain as they charge forward as silently as they can.

The chain catches Ferris by the legs tossing him onto his rump with a muffled squeek. His eyes bulge with shock and fear as confusion over comes him. Still sitting on the ground he tries to lash out at Elena with his sword. She leans back as it cuts through the air.

The ferret turns to scurry away, catching his feet once again on the chain and falling face first into the snow.

Velth staggers a bit from their initial impact, having forgotten that he blow on the chain might jar his foot. By the time Ferris has begun to scurry away though, he's back in action, and with a grim look on his face he bounds forward, spike clasped in one paw, while the other seeks out the ferrets neck to strangle him out and hold him in place.

Ferris can't bring his sword arm to bare in time as the fox's paw wraps around his neck, he half turns, glancing upward towards Velth with a terrified wail, "Wait! Don't!"

Velth digs his knee into Ferris' sword arm, making sure to pin it, and tightens his grip on the ferrets throat until his knuckles are as white as his fur, fear of having the alarm raised compelling him to great strength. He levels the spike a hair's breadth from the ferret's eye, and leans in close to his ear so he doesn't have to shout, "Listen to me; if you ever want to draw another breath, you'll be calm and quiet. Now drop your weapon..."

The ferret let's out a muffled squeak, trying to move as far away from the spike as the snow behind him allows. This is usually the part where he would begin to plead, beg, and mention all the little ferret dibbuns he would be leaving behind if he died but for right now he is too afriad to do any thing but drop the sword. Elena is quick to pick up the blade, casting a warry glance about the quiet woodland area for signs of more trouble.

Velth lets up on the ferret's neck enough to make sure he can breath, and takes a steadying breath himself, "That's good. Now..." He tries to think fast, "The gods are giving you a chance." He says, latching onto the first bit of incentive he can think of, "A chance to escape with your life. Your comrades will surely kill you when they discover we've bested you. In a moment, I'm going to let you up, and when I do..." He leans in close, to whisper in the ferret's ear, "You run."

The ferret's pupils dialate as he nervously begins to shiver. He doesn't nod, he doesn't speak. He just cringes and cowers. "Ah...ah...AHHAHHAHAH!" Fuel by pure fear he worms his way out of the fox's grasp and runs, just runs off into the night as fast as his ferret legs can take him. He never looks back.

The vixen whistles low. "Remind me to never make you angry." She hesitates before offering him the sword, "I trust you know how to use one of these things?" She offers a nervous smile to her very, very scary counterpart.

Velth completely collapses face first in the snow, mumbling, "Thanks. Can we die now?" He pulls his face out of the dirt and snow and looks over, blinking at the weapon before he pushes himself back up and takes it from her. "Yeah. Pointy end goes in the other person, right?" He says, jokingly, sounding more than a bit worn out. He picks up as much of the chain as he can, "Let's just get out of here. I'm out of tricks for one day."

The vixen chuckles, letting Velth take the blade. It's a good, simple broad sword. Heavy, sharp. Good stabbing beasts. "My dear sir, I will take your empty bag of tricks over a cat's nine lives any day of the week." She pauses, sniffing the air, "Come on. I know a beast in Ferrevale who can help us..." With out further adue she takes off.

It seems Slade wasn't going to be cashing in on fox hide anytime soon...