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He Walks Alone

Somewhere at the edge of the forest, a Badger Lord was returning to Mossflower, having buried all the hares in his army who had recently been slain. Somewhere deep within the forest, a pirate who enjoyed flaying his victims alive was scourging the woods in search for an MSB camp so he and all his crew members could slay them all. And in nowhere in particular, a young rat was wandering around the woods carrying nothing but a sling, with a cutlass awkwardly placed in his waistsash. He was walking along the ground very slowly, not caring which direction he was heading. The rat should've been playing, should've been training to wield a sword properly with his father, or even his mother. It was sunny out, albeit very humid; today seemed like a perfect day to be active. But the rat couldn't take pleasure in the joyous weather, in large part because he was alone, and his family had been slaughtered less than two weeks ago. Tegast wasn't crying or even lamenting over their deaths. He was just trying to find someplace to go to. But where? All he saw were trees and plants and flowers and dirt and grass...

Tegast huffed and walked beside a tree. Then he sat down with his back pressed against the bark and began to rest. He stared forward blankly, almost as if he wanted to say or do something. He looked to his left and saw dark green moss scattered across the ground and around the tree he sat against. He looked down to his right and saw a caterpillar slowly inching its way across the ground. Tegast blinked and stared at it arbitrarily. He didn't know why the caterpillar fascinated him, but it did. By the time it reached his right footpaw, the young rat had become distracted by a bird chirping up in the trees. He started to breathe slowly, his breath coming out in short puffs. Tegast gasped when he heard something rustling in a bush several yards away. The rat closed his eyes and exhaled as he rubbed his head. He finally understood what was wrong with him. Silence. He had no father yelling at him to go catch fish, no mother warning him to take care of Danik and to make sure he didn't get lost, and no annoying younger brother tugging on his shorts and whining to go play with him.

He was all by himself. He could hear everything, even his own breathing. Tegast needed noise; a ferret belching the alphabet, a rat peeing on the ground, a group of foxes chewing as they messily ate food, a drunken ferret puking all over himself. He just needed something to hear. All this silence only made him paranoid and reminded him of how alone he was. Tegast let out a soft whimpering noise as he looked around the woods. Still nobeast around. Even the caterpillar so interested in his footpaw had turned away and was hiding somewhere. The young rat shivered and whimpered again. Why does it have to be this quiet? he asked himself. Tegast slowly slouched over and lied down on his side, still shivering like he was cold.

"Wait...just wait," he told himself. "They'll...they'll-they'll come. Somebeast will find you and-and you'll be safe. Yes...s-somebeast. Then you won't be alone anymore."

Tegast kept whispering to himself as he lied there, hoping somebeast would find him sooner or later. And in the process of lying down, he wound up losing consciousness.

---

The day passed quicker than he thought. By the time night came, it was raining hard, and thundering. Tegast was just lucky enough to find a cave to sleep in. The light gray rat had shivered at first due to the rain making it nippy outside, but he and his family had been nomads for quite a few seasons now, so his body adjusted to the cold night air pretty quickly. He managed to fall asleep not long afterwards, and grew accustomed to the sound of the thunder booming every now and again. He twitched in his sleep, grunting or mumbling as he tried to have a pleasant dream. Tegast was still young, and so was Danik, but they had both been trained to use weapons. He, Danik, and his father were all having a spear-throwing contest by the river to see which beast could catch the most fish. There was no screaming, no condescending remarks (besides the little jabs from Danik), and everybeast from the tribe was having fun and laughing and applauding Tegast and his family whenever they caught more fish. Even Tegast's father was smiling and laughing, something he hadn't heard him do in seasons.

But Tegast's subconscious knew it was just a dream, and he wound up opening his eyes to discover that he was still alone, and stuck inside the dank cave. Or so he thought. After waking up, Tegast felt something brushing against his right footpaw and blinked.

"Brother?"

Tegast gasped and looked down to his right. Danik was sitting right there, looking up at him with a depressed glare on his face. Tegast let out a quiet whimper before his eyes started to fill with tears. He wasn't going to lose him this time. No matter what happened, he couldn't lose him. So he grabbed Danik and scooped him up into his arms. He pressed his brother's body against his chest so hard that Danik could hardly breathe. Tegast let out a wail as he hugged his brother as tightly as possible.

"Brother...yer hurting me," said Danik with a muffled voice.

Tegast loosened his grip as he looked down at Danik and started to let out shaky breaths.

"Where the hell 'ave you been?! Wot...how'd you find me?! Did-did you see...never mind. Jus'-jus' never mind! I can't believe yore still alive!"

Before Danik had the chance to say anything, Tegast lowered his head and planted his lips on his brother's forehead. Danik shut his eyes and grunted before his brother eventually took his mouth away.

"Ewww, I dun wan' no nasty kissies!"

Tegast couldn't help but laugh. Even now, after everything he had been through and probably seen back at camp, he still acted like a typical obnoxious little brother. But Tegast didn't care. He was just happy to see him again, and glad that he wasn't alone anymore. The whimpering Tegast smiled as a few tears began to run down his face.

"Yore...yore safe now, Brother...jus' the two of us. We'll-we'll find a new family, see? And-and...and everythin' will be fine, okay? An' if we don't find anybeast...all we need is each other, right?"

Danik smiled slowly before he leaned forward and rested his head on Tegast's chest. He wrapped his arms around his older brother's abdomen as Tegast's tears fell onto his head as though it were warm rain.

"Each other..."

Tegast calmed down, sniffling as he hugged his brother and rocked back and forth slightly. He couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't know why. He didn't know how. He didn't care. He still had family. There was still somebeast out there who loved him and could keep him company. And now... A very large bolt of lightning struck the ground not far from the cave. The subsequent thunder was so loud that it made Tegast yelp, and he almost dropped his brother. He panted several times and expected for his brother to start whimpering, maybe even crying. But he hadn't said a word.

"It-it's okay, Brother! It's only thun...Danik?"

Tegast looked down and frowned. He wasn't holding Danik. He was holding a very large stone, almost the size of a small boulder. Tegast just stared at it, the realization slowly coming in. Then he started to shake his head and whimpered, gritting his teeth with rage. This was a trick. He knew it was. Danik was right there. He was in his lap. He could feel his body heat, he could smell his body odor, and he saw him move. He even heard him talk. How could this possibly not be Danik? How could he... Tegast blinked and stared forward blankly. He remembered finding his brother's body back at camp. Some savage beast had snapped his neck, and all Tegast could do was hold his body and cry. Tegast let out a soft sob before he dropped the stone on the cave floor. His brother was dead. And in a brief fit of delirium, he had imagined that he was alive and well and had somehow found him inside the cave. But that was all a lie. He knew that now. Tegast started to shake uncontrollably as he let out a vociferous wail and started to weep again. The hot tears running down his face were of sadness, not of joy over finding his brother safe and sound.

Tegast had been counting how many days he had went without sobbing. He was at four, but now he could plainly see that he'd have to start all over again. Tegast leaned over and lied down on the cave floor, sobbing and sniffling constantly as he cursed the world for playing such a cruel trick on him. He kicked the stone out of the cave in frustration before he went back to sobbing. Once again, Tegast was back to realizing that there was only one beast who could possibly help him anymore.

Himself.

---

A whole day had passed since the cave incident. It was sunny again, although today it was a little breezy. But Tegast wasn't too concerned about the weather right now. He was more concerned about getting this confounded fire started. Not too long ago, Tegast found a flint just lying around and a few twigs that were going to be used for tinder. There was some blood nearby, and what looked like a tent, but Tegast ignored it. Clearly whoever was there either died or was wounded and needed to leave in a hurry. Either way, the beast didn't need the flint and tinder anymore. So now Tegast was on his knees, grunting as he scratched the flint against the wood and dry pine needles. But nothing was working. Tegast stopped so he could put a paw on his stomach as it growled deeply at him, longing for food. He hadn't eaten anything all day, and the only food he had last night were a few pawfuls of berries. He needed something heavy to sit in his stomach; something meaty and rife with flesh. Tegast exhaled with frustration and stopped rubbing the flint against the tinder. Obviously he wasn't doing this right.

The steel, Tegast suddenly heard. Use yer fuckin' steel!

But...that doesn't make sense, Dad. How could--

Just do wot I fuckin' say!

Tegast shook his head, remembering his father's words the day he taught him how to build a fire. Tegast picked up the flint before he reached to his left and removed the cutlass from his waistsash. He placed both objects just above the tinder and blinked. Then he struck the sword against the flint, causing sparks to fly. They landed on the tinder like tiny orange dust particles, and a flame emerged only seconds later. Tegast huffed and put the flint and sword down, feeling like an idiot after spending so long trying to make the fire. He lowered his head and blew on the flames, making sure the fire grew bigger so he could roast his meat properly. Tegast almost smiled as he stared at the flames. But then he looked around the ground and forgot one important ingredient: meat. Tegast frowned. He had spent so much time trying to build a fire and trying to get the flint to work, that he failed to find actual food to eat. Tegast's stomach growled again, and the young rat exhaled as he desperately started to look around the area for food. No birds were nearby, and he wasn't by any lakes or other large bodies of water, so he couldn't catch shrimp or fish either.

It was just him. Just Tegast and his fleshy body. The young rat heard his stomach growling again and started to breathe heavily as he looked all around the woods. The sun was shining brightly today, and a majority of the area was teeming with trees and foliage. Tegast looked at some of the roots planted firmly into the soil and tried to snatch a few of them out of the dirt. But nothing worked. He scratched his head and suddenly glanced at his arm. Then he looked at the fire, and back down at his arm again. Sure, it was his arm, and maybe the fur was a bit dirty. But it was meat. And Tegast was hungry. The rodent opened his mouth and planted his teeth on his right arm before he stopped. He didn't bite down--not yet. He nibbled his arm a little, sucking on it, wondering if he really should consider tearing away a chunk of his own flesh. The fire was still burning brightly, waiting to char something. Tegast's belly rumbled again. He knew this was a bad idea, but he was out of options. Tegast was physically tired from not eating anything to fill his stomach.

He was seconds away from ripping off his own flesh when he lowered his arm and heard eerie whispering in the air. Tegast stood up and looked around the woods as the wind began to blow through the trees. The whispering filled his ears again. Tegast's left ear wiggled, and he slowly crouched down and picked up the cutlass, with his sling still tucked in the waistsash. Now the rodent could hear something moving on the ground and slowly traversing through the foliage. The whispering grew louder, and Tegast suddenly recognized a raspy, hissing voice. Tegast crouched down even more and pressed his back to the tree. Whatever was nearby was moments away from finding him.

"Krassssssak...almighty one..."

Tegast swore quietly. It was a snake. The scaly creature moved along the fresh soil and plants until he approached the fire. The light gray rodent watched as the multi-colored snake crept towards the fire, his body mostly concealed by the foliage.

"I sssssee you, rodent."

Tegast watched as the snake lifted his head off the ground and revealed himself. He hissed again, showing off his forked black tongue. Then he slowly went back onto the ground and started to slither around Tegast and the tree.

"Do you know who I am, rodent?"

Tegast blinked and watched the snake's body slowly move around the soil. He was nowhere near his head; he could make it if he started to run. Tegast stood up, leaped forward, and began to sprint. He only made it two steps before the snake was right behind him hissing in his left ear. The rat froze. He could actually feel the snake's breath on the back of his head.

"Hasssslarr! Ssssay it, vermin!"

Tegast took a few deep breaths before he closed his eyes and exhaled. "...Hasslarr."

The snake hissed so loudly that Tegast thought he went deaf in his left ear for a few seconds. The male snake slithered around Tegast's footpaws, intimidating his prey.

"Krassssak Ralfur will be pleassssed! A yummy, plump rat! Now tell me, vermin...where are the othersssss? No rat like you travelssss on hissss own."

Tegast didn't say anything. He looked down at the snake's body and examined his red, yellow, and black scales. After a brief moment of silence, the snake hissed and lifted his head. He slowly edged towards Tegast and hissed again.

"You will tell me, vermin. Tell me now, or I shall plunge my poisssonoussss fangssss into your sssskull!"

Tegast still kept quiet. The snake was bluffing. Tegast knew he was. The snake opened his mouth wide, exposing his massive fangs as he released his stale breath in Tegast's face. Hasslarr closed his mouth and hissed so close to Tegast that his tongue touched his nose.

"Ansssswer me now, vermin! Where are the other--"

Tegast's stomach growled so loudly that Hasslarr heard it. Tegast smirked at the snake, and then swiftly struck him with his cutlass. All it took was one swipe, and then the snake was lying on the ground. Tegast made sure the cutlass dug deep into the flesh; he almost decapitated the snake with one quick slash. The young rat watched as the snake writhed around on the ground and promptly stomped on Hasslarr with his right footpaw. Tegast stared at Hasslarr and shook his head.

"Don't you milk snakes know you can't hide yer true colors?"

Tegast removed the cutlass from Hasslarr's neck and watched as the snake gurgled, with blood gushing out the wound. Then Tegast swung the cutlass down and chopped off Hasslarr's head. He had seen this before back in the Northlands. Sometimes harmless milk snakes pretended to be coral snakes just to bully somebeast or scare them away. But even Tegast knew that a snake with red scales touching black scales meant that it was nothing more than a nuisance. After Tegast chopped off the head, he was surprised to see that Hasslarr's body was still flopping around like a wet noodle. He was even more shocked when he saw Hasslarr's eyes move and his jaw snap, as though he wanted to bite Tegast before he entered the Hellgates. The young rat waited for the body to stop moving and started to grab it. But everytime he touched it, the body would still flop around for a brief moment.

"Wot the hell--"

Tegast squealed when he got close to Hasslarr's head, at which point it jerked upwards and tried to bite the rat on the muzzle. The vermin quickly grabbed his cutlass and immediately stabbed the head over and over again, to the point where the jaw had been severed from the reptile's cranium. Panting, Tegast looked at the headless body and noticed that it wasn't flailing as much as before. The fire was still burning, and Tegast was still hungry. So the rat grabbed the snake's corpse and proceeded to skin it. He took his cutlass and started to cut down the center of the headless snake's body, ignoring all the times the body jerked around from being touched. Once the hide had been cut in half, Tegast walked over to the top of the body and grabbed the area where the head had been sliced off. He used his claws to stretch out the skin so he could expose the membrane. Once he saw it, he scratched at it with his claws and began to tug on the meat. After part of the meat was out, Tegast used his right paw to grab the snake skin, and from that point, he managed to peel the snake skin off with ease.

Tegast's mouth began to water as he heard the snake skin being peeled off. The pale flesh was exposed, the blood and guts still simmering within the center of the milk snake's body. By the time Tegast reached the snake tail, he dropped the body, picked up his cutlass, and hacked the tail off, along with the last amount of skin hanging from the meat. The rat rubbed some of the drool from his maw before he rolled over the snake body and looked at all the intestines and guts. His father taught him how to gut fish after he caught them; gutting a snake seemed pretty similar. Tegast used his claws to scrape against the intestines, exposing some of the organs. Then he grabbed the guts and started to pull on them like he was tugging on a stretchy, bloody, meat-covered rope. He ripped out the snake's organs in only a matter of seconds and tossed the disgusting sludge on the ground. Tegast licked his lips as he stared at the skinless, gutted milk snake. He had never eaten a snake before, although his father told him that all meat tasted the same unless you seasoned it differently.

It wasn't long before the snake meat was roasting over the fire. Tegast was so hungry that he didn't bother cooking the meat all the way through; the aroma of the frying snake was teasing him too much. He chewed on the snake ravenously, smacking his lips, licking his fingers, and swallowing so hard that he gulped audibly. The snake didn't taste as good as he thought it would, but Tegast wasn't picky. He was just glad he was eating meat after waiting for so long. He could see the snake head still lying on the ground, the eyes still open and staring at him. Tegast didn't know if the head was still sentient or not. But it didn't matter now, since it would be dead permanently in the next several minutes, at most hours. Tegast bit down into the snake meat, ripping off a huge chunk of it, before he started to chew noisily and began to ponder.

Who was this Krassak Ralfur?

---

Tegast felt a lot more confident that day, if not cocky. After all, he managed to kill, skin, gut, and eat a snake all by himself. Sure, it was a harmless, non-venomous snake, but it was still quite an achievement for somebeast his age. He didn't find any more snakes that day, even though he was craving snake meat by the time the sun was setting. He settled for stuffing his belly with as many blackberries as he could, and the rat wound up walking away with a distended stomach and a sweet and tart aftertaste in his mouth. As the rat roamed around the land, he noticed that the forest around him was very muggy and dank, the air thick and humid. The trees didn't look inviting anymore; their branches were thin and had grayish, curly moss hanging from them. The tree barks were festering with hornworts, liverworts, and other forms of moss. All the flowers sprouting from the ground were oddly colored blue or violet, which seemed incongruent compared to how grimy the area was. The ground was soggy and sticky, like Tegast was trudging through an endless trail of wet, moldy bread.

The further along Tegast walked, the worse it got. Sometimes he'd run across trees that were more green than brown. Sometimes he would walk through greenish-black sludge that went all the way up to his waist. The whole area reeked of decay, the noisome odor irritating Tegast's nostrils. The rat had to swat the air multiple times as midges began to buzz around his head and tried to bite his ears. It was obvious that Tegast had stumbled upon the swamps of Mossflower, and he was going further into the nasty area and getting more gunk around him. The only upside was that there were no hostile snakes nearby, or any other ravenous predators. The rodent didn't see why anybeast would even try to live in this ghastly place; it only seemed fit for toads and lizards. Tegast walked through more waist-high sludge, grunting with effort as he struggled to reach the driest stretch of land he could find. Once he did, he shook some of the slop off his footpaws and flared his nostrils. A fire was burning nearby, and Tegast could hear a couple of beasts chattering amongst themselves. The rodent couldn't help but smile slightly. Maybe he'd run into somebeast a bit more friendly than that snake.

The two vermin saw him before he had the chance to say hello. Both of them were foxes; one was mostly brown and the other had black paws, footpaws, and tail-tip. They were both dressed in the same type of clothing: a standard tunic and trousers. Tegast could tell that both of them had been in the swamp for a while just by how much sludge was coated all over them. The reddish-brown fox with black paws spotted the rodent first and grinned.

"Lookie here, Markwin! Company!"

Tegast blinked as he slowly approached the two foxes and the campfire they built. Whatever they were roasting had been charred, the skin completely black and flaky. The vulpine with his back to Tegast looked over his shoulder and grinned. He quickly stood up so he could greet the rodent too.

"Now what's a young thing like you doin' in these parts? You lost little rat?"

"I'm not little! I'm fourteen seasons old!" Tegast blurted out.

Markwin walked over to Tegast and grinned as he stood in front of him. The rat had to look up at the tall fox just so he could see him looking down at him. Markwin snickered as he raised a paw and planted it firmly on Tegast's skull, as if he were trying to push him onto the ground.

"You seem little."

Tegast snarled and backed away as he swatted the fox's paw away. The two foxes chuckled after seeing how annoyed the rat was. Tegast ignored them and walked towards the small fire the vulpines had built before he sat down.

"So wot's that you have roastin' on the fire?"

The other fox deflected the question. "You didn't answer Markwin's question. How'd you end up here?"

Tegast didn't feel like going into too much detail. "I, err...my family got slain. I've jus' been wanderin' 'round for a while now."

"Aww, that's so sad. Darktail over there lost his family too. Got their throats slit right before his very eyes!" said Markwin.

At least somebeast knows wot I'm goin' through, thought Tegast. "That's terrible. So you've been on yer own for a while too?"

Markwin walked behind Tegast and patted his head like he was some kind of pet. Tegast frowned and raised an eyebrow questionably as Markwin gently ran his paw back and forth.

"Nope! Darktail and I have been roaming around Mossflower fer seasons now, livin' off the land and such. It's a good thing you found us mate. I despise seeing young vermin like you suffering an' being all alone."

"Um...okay then."

Markwin walked over to the campfire and sat down not far from Darktail. Tegast couldn't help but look at both vulpines and notice that they were both still looking at him with strange grins, Markwin especially. There was an awkward silence that followed, and the only thing the trio heard was the swamp ooze bubbling and the fire crackling as it continued to char the meat.

"So how you been surviving after all this time?" asked Markwin.

Tegast shrugged. "Just...y'know, livin' off the land an' such," he said, mimicking Markwin. "Picking berries, nuts, eating snakes, that sort of thing."

Darktail laughed as he removed the spit with the chunk of charred meat pierced through the center of it. He blew on it a few times to cool it down before he bit into the flesh and spoke with his mouth full.

"Gotta hand it to ya, that's quite impressive! Ain't been a big fan of snake meat, and it's a hassle tryin' to kill one without getting slain yourself."

Tegast smirked. "It was nothin' mate! Jus' some stupid milk snake tryin' to scare me."

Markwin rubbed his chin as he slowly licked his choppers. "So you say yore fourteen seasons, yeah?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Markwin didn't reply. He just nodded his head slowly and muttered "good" to himself. Darktail took another bite of his charred meat before swallowing hard and looking at the sling and cutlass hanging from Tegast's waistsash.

"S'a lovely sword ya got there! Where'd you get it?"

"I found it."

"Where?"

Tegast scowled. "On the ground."

"Where on the ground?"

"The soil," said Tegast, defensively.

"D'you know how to wield it?"

"Does it fuckin' matter?"

Something was off about these two foxes. They were being nice to him, but asking way too many questions. And Markwin was still staring at him with that disturbing grin. Darktail chuckled as he bit into more meat.

"All right mate! No need to be so crass! So...you figured out a plan? On where you wanna go I mean. You can't keep walkin' around like this; yer gonna end up dead, or become a slave to some marauding pirate."

Tegast blinked and looked down. He never thought about that before, but now that it was brought up to question, he didn't know what to say. The young rat rubbed his right ear before he looked back up at Darktail and shook his head.

"I'm just...I need to find another group, a tribe maybe. I figure once that happens, they could take me in...I could have my own li'l family again."

"How often do you choke that cock of yores?"

Darktail stopped chewing and looked at Markwin with wide eyes. Tegast did the same, staring at the dark brown fox after he asked the random, lewd question. Darktail flicked his eyes at Tegast and Markwin, quickly moving them back and forth constantly, already knowing that this wasn't going to end well for either of them. Markwin rephrased his question so Tegast could understand.

"Masturbate. How often do you tug one out?"

"W...why?" Tegast asked, feeling very uncomfortable.

Markwin shrugged. "Just curious."

"I...I don't do...that."

Markwin chuckled. "Oh, so I bet you wake up wet, don't you? Yesss...I remember bein' yore age too, all those nights where I would writhe around and have such pleasant dreams...next thing I know, there's cum all over my pants!"

"Markwin, don't do this shit again," complained Darktail.

"Do...do wot again?" asked Tegast.

Markwin took a deep breath as a strand of drool ran down his chin and dripped onto the ground. The fox giggled and started to wag his tail merrily. "Yore balls must be heavy then, filled to the brim with all that cum! Gotta get rid of it somehow, pup."

Markwin licked his lips as he scooted a little closer to Tegast. The rodent started to breathe heavily and scooted backwards.

"Do you wanna be my friend, rat?"

Tegast looked down at Markwin's trousers and whimpered quietly. There was a bulge. Tegast quickly stood up and started to walk away, but Markwin quickly got to his footpaws, ran past Tegast, and stood directly in front of him. Tegast gasped and looked up at the grinning vulpine.

"Where you goin'?"

"To take a piss."

"No need for that mate! Just go right here; we won't look!"

"No."

"Markwin--"

"Shut up, Darktail!"

Tegast began to breathe heavily. He slowly backed away from Markwin, but the fox slowly took a step forward.

"Don't you want to be my friend?"

"Fuck you!"

Markwin ignored his swearing. He reached forward and tried to touch Tegast's head, but the rat quickly swatted his paw away. Markwin attempted to touch him a second time, and was met with similar response. On the third time, Tegast went for his cutlass. But Markwin anticipated this, so he immediately sprinted forward, grabbed Tegast's arm with his left paw, and punched the young rat in the face with his right one. Tegast shouted and tried to raise his right paw, but Markwin had a firm grip on it. The fox squeezed Tegast's wrist until he shouted and loosened his grip on the cutlass. It fell to the ground, and the fox quickly bent down and picked it up with his right paw.

"GIVE IT BACK!"

Markwin responded by tossing the cutlass into a pool of foul-smelling black fluids. The cutlass seemed to float on the surface, but then the pool bubbled, and the cutlass slowly sank into the sludge.

"Now that there is a bog. Whatever goes in there don't come back out!"

Tegast whimpered before he reached forward and clawed at Markwin's chest with his left paw. He shoved him aside and began to run away, but somehow, the fox still caught up to him. This time he grabbed Tegast roughly from behind, causing Tegast to scream and flail his legs around.

"You need to settle down now, pup! It won't hurt so long as you stop fighting me!"

Tegast responded by jerking his head backwards and slamming it into Markwin's jaw. Before the fox could release him, Markwin took a dagger out of his waistsash and planted the blade at Tegast's throat. The rodent whimpered again as his eyes became watery and he felt the cold tip of the weapon under his chin.

"Are you done playin' around?! You said you were gonna stop doin' this!" shouted Darktail.

"I lied. I tend to do that."

"HELP!! SOMEBEAST HELP ME!!"

Markwin laughed. "We're in a swamp, little rat! What can anybeast possibly do to help you?!"

The fox quickly removed one arm from Tegast so he could grab the waistband of his trousers. He undid them as swiftly as possible before he let them fall to the ground, his privates exposed and pointed at Tegast.

"Please don't..."

"Shhhh, just relax...let's get these shorts down first. Then we can finally be best friends!"

No more. He had it. Tegast looked down at Markwin's right paw. The dagger's tip was pointed at his chin, but Markwin's paw was still exposed. Tegast grabbed the fox's paw and quickly opened his mouth. The fox tried to struggle, but Tegast moved swiftly. He chomped on Markwin's paw, biting him so hard that he drew blood. Markwin howled in pain as he loosened his grip on the dagger. It landed on the soggy ground with a soft plop, and Tegast immediately elbowed Markwin so hard he nearly broke one of his ribs. Markwin was only stunned for a few seconds, but that was all Tegast needed. The young rat quickly crouched down, picked up the dagger, and turned around. He knew Markwin was about to grab him, so he ducked and evaded the fox's paws. After ducking, the rat shouted with fury as he stabbed Markwin in the exposed groin. Markwin proceeded to start howling in a voice so high-pitched somebeast might've mistaken him for being female. Blood flowed from the fox's groin, and Markwin quickly collapsed and fell on his back, still screaming as the crimson gushed from his scrotum.

Tegast sniffled as a few tears ran down his face. Furious, he got on his knees, shouted, and stabbed Markwin in the groin again, this time making sure he mutilated the penis. Tegast didn't think somebeast could ever scream so horribly. He was almost sorry he stabbed the fox in such a sensitive area. Almost. But the sick beast did try to rape him only a minute ago, so the rat got over it fairly quickly. As Markwin moaned, bled out and sobbed, the whimpering Tegast stood up and pointed the dagger at Darktail.

"GET UP!!" he shrieked.

Darktail did as he said and raised his paws. "Hey now, I'm-I'm not like Markwin, all right? I don't fuck beasts your age. 'Sides, I'm more into somebeast who's a bit more...feminine."

"SHUT UP! ...Where's yore food? Give it to me; I know you 'ave yore own stash of food somewhere!"

"Okay, pup, all right...just relax."

Neither Tegast nor Darktail seemed to notice Markwin anymore, even though he was a sobbing wreck lying on the ground and trying to stop himself from bleeding out. Darktail slowly walked over to a nearby tree hollow, crouched down, and pulled out a tan sack that was filled with food and beverages the fox duo had purloined over the past several days. He tossed it over to Tegast, and the young rat quickly crouched down and picked it up, hauling it onto his back. The young rodent started to back away, sniffling as his paw shook.

"If...if I see either of you again...I'll kill you. You fucking understand me?!"

Darktail couldn't help but grin smugly. "Where you gonna go, pup? Ya got no family, remember? Gonna camp out in the swamps, get fat offa flies an' liverworts?"

"You heard wot I said! Nev...never again. I don't wanna see either of you ever again!"

Tegast slowly backed away from the fox before he looked down at Markwin. He wasn't screaming anymore, in large part because he was losing a lot of blood and growing weaker. He could only moan and shudder as his wound began to fester and his body started to get cold. The young rat didn't know whether to apologize or to finish him off. But for some reason, Tegast couldn't bring himself to slay the fox while he was paralyzed and helpless. He didn't know why, but it seemed wrong. So the rat stuffed the dagger into his waistsash, and then turned around and began to run away, disappearing into the misty swamp. Darktail lowered his paws and exhaled as he walked over to Markwin. The dark brown vulpine whimpered as he looked up to Darktail for some assistance.

"Help...help me," he pleaded softly.

Darktail rubbed his chin with his black left paw. "Y'know...I never did like you, mate. Or your little 'fondness' for young beasts."

What happened next seemed nonchalant. Darktail grinned widely and planted his left footpaw on Markwin's throat firmly. Then he pressed down very slowly, applying too much pressure on the fox's windpipe. Markwin started to cough and choke, desperately shaking his head as he tried to flail his arms around. But he was already weak from being stabbed in the groin; he couldn't do much. He couldn't do anything but make gurgling, choking sounds as Darktail choked him with his bare footpaw. The fox pushed his footpaw down harder, to the point where only quiet whimpers escaped from Markwin's throat. Markwin's eyes became bloodshot in only seconds, and the fox's struggling waned little by little. Eventually, it all ended with a soft whimper and a faint gurgle. But Darktail kept his footpaw on Markwin's throat for another minute anyway, just to make sure his "friend" wasn't faking his death. He wasn't. Darktail removed his footpaw from Markwin's throat and sighed. Afterwards, Darktail picked up the spit with the chunk of burnt meat stuck to it, sat down, and resumed his feast.

"Sorry, Markwin, but I doubt you're still hungry!" laughed Darktail, glad that he no longer had to share his food.

---

Most of the food was gone the following night. There wasn't much that was appetizing in the sack anyway. The milk was good, the bread was soft, but Tegast wasn't a fan of vegetables, so he had to force himself to stuff the leeks, carrots, and radishes down his throat. There was an apple in the sack too, but it was covered in the muck from the swamp, so Tegast tossed it out. He ate most of the food the next day for breakfast, and consumed the "nasty" vegetables late in the afternoon. But now it was the middle of the night, and the rat only had his clothes, flint, dagger, sling, and an empty sack with him. He was lucky enough to find another snake--a small grass snake--and after he killed it, he skinned and gutted it before placing it over a fire he built. Tegast was sitting down, staring at the roasting, half-eaten snake he punctured with a sharp stick. The rat looked down at his dagger and wiped some of the snake blood off the blade. And then he started to shake, his body shuddering as the rodent tried to stay calm.

He could still hear him. Somewhere out there, Markwin was still screaming and crying, probably trying to heal himself before he reached the Hellgates. At least, that's what Tegast thought. He had no idea that Markwin had been choked to death by his "best friend" Darktail. Tegast shut his eyes and took a deep breath, telling himself that he was thinking too much. ...But what else could he do? Eat more snake meat? No, his stomach was actually full tonight. Tegast shook his head violently and slammed his paw against his head a few times, like he was trying to knock water out of his ears. But once the screaming stopped, the silence overwhelmed him. Tegast looked all around the forest and saw nothing but darkness. His only light source was the orange fire and stars, and the thin crescent moon. All Tegast could hear were the various insects chirping or buzzing around the forest, and the fire crackling as it burned the wood. The young rat stared into the fire before he lowered his head and sighed softly.

Was this it? Was this really what the rest of his life was going to be like? Eating snakes, being alone, and forcing himself not to go crazy over all the silence? Tegast wasn't sure anymore; he just wanted some form of company. He needed somebeast, anybeast nearby to just talk to him, to make him feel safe again and not so exposed. He needed... Tegast blinked and lifted his head. A horrendous odor filled his nostrils and made him scowl. It wasn't the scent of snakes; their odor was relatively tame compared to this. Tegast heard faint whispering and his left ear twitched. The rat turned around, but saw nothing and heard nothing. Tegast took a few breaths before a strong gust of wind blew through all the trees, causing some of them to groan and a few branches to crack. Tegast blinked and heard more whispering, only it was more voluminous now. The stench was so bad that he could almost taste it. It smelled like an entire army of vermin were coming right towards him, but this odor was different. It was more...feral, and reptilian. Something was very wrong.

"Just...calm down, Tegast. Prob'ly some scrawny lizards is all."

Tegast turned back around and reached for the roasting snake. And then he heard a loud crunch. His animal instincts kicked in, and the first thing Tegast did was turn around so he could kick and claw a large amount of dirt over the fire. The fire went out in only a matter of seconds, and Tegast found himself in the darkness. For once, Tegast was actually glad that he was surrounded by the pitch-black environment. He just wished he could see a lot better; his eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the darkness yet. The rat was starting to take back everything he said. He wanted to be alone. Alone was good. Alone meant he was safe. He didn't know what beast was out here, but it didn't seem friendly. Tegast crouched down and quietly crept along the ground, hoping he didn't step on a twig or any crunchy leaves. Tegast heard harsh whispering, followed by creepy, deep-toned laughter.

"I know you're there," the voice growled.

That was the cue for Tegast to swear and start running in the other direction. He sprinted as hard as he could, but the other beast who spotted him snarled and started to run too. Tegast took a sharp left and shouted as he tripped over a beech stump he didn't see. He rolled down a short hill and immediately hid behind the closest tree he could find. Tegast heard a loud thud, followed by leaves rustling and a beast hissing.

"We know you're there! You can't hide from uz!"

We?, thought Tegast. Fer fuck's sake, there's more than one?! Now the rat was really in danger. Panicked, he lied flat on the ground and didn't move a single muscle in his body. As he lied there, he heard more whispering in the woods, followed by the sound of a few branches rustling. One of the beasts was in the trees hopping from branch to branch. The stench of the creatures was almost making Tegast gag; he knew they were close by. The creature with a deep voice hissed so fiercely the rat thought he was right beside him.

"I can zmell you ztinky ratz! COME OUT!!"

Now Tegast was beginning to understand. There were other rats in the area too; these creatures were probably hunting them for food, or just because they felt like it. It was Tegast's sorry luck that he got caught up in the middle of it. The rodent blinked a few times and looked forward now that his eyes had adjusted. There was a very large dark figure looking up into the trees and roaming around the area. Another, skinnier figure was up in the trees, crouched down on a branch. Tegast didn't risk walking or even crouching. He crawled his way over to a nearby bush, pushed aside some leaves and branches as quietly as possible, and hid inside. The rat even made sure that he dragged his tail into the bush as well, just in case anybeast wound up stepping on it by mistake. As the rat lied on the ground breathing softly, he heard more footsteps and twigs crunching nearby. Tegast almost gasped when he heard somebeast walk right past the bush. Another one stopped in front of the shrubs and hissed, opening his mouth and flicking out his tongue.

"Ztinky rat...show yourzelf! Make it much eazier for uz!"

Tegast took a risk and slowly pushed some leaves and twigs aside. He immediately wished he hadn't once he saw a pair of reptilian footpaws mere inches away from the leaves. The rat heard deep footsteps before a second pair of footpaws appeared right next to the first pair.

"Have you found more?" asked the creature.

The other creature shook his head and hissed. "No. Krazzak will be dizpleazed! We Monitorz muzt kill all the ratz before it'z too late!"

"Mayhapz we should capture one...queztion him! Torture him with Gila'z toxic mouth!"

"Yez! I bet Gila the Putrid would love to join uz! Now where iz he?"

Tegast heard more twigs snapping and backed away. He could see something thick lying on the ground in front of him; one of the creatures' tails had flopped about and was now partially inside the bush. Tegast was about to move when he heard something snap, followed by a nightmarish hiss.

"RAT!"

Tegast didn't see what happened next. He could only hear it. Various beasts were running across the ground; somebeast was panting heavily as he tried to run away from the reptilian beasts. Then Tegast heard another thud right in front of the bush, followed by somebeast groaning as another beast punctured his flesh with a blade. Tegast was more than familiar with that sound. Somebeast had just been stabbed. The young rat heard two more meaty puncturing sounds before the beast lying on the ground gurgled, and his killer hissed joyously. Suddenly, Tegast heard rapid panting, followed by the sound of a beast tearing flesh apart with his teeth. He was slurping and chomping fiercely, gulping down the red meat without even chewing properly. The reptilian beast snarled before he resumed biting into more meat. There was a second set of footsteps, followed by more hissing and a second series of meat being torn apart with teeth. The disgusting noise grew louder and louder; at one point, it sounded like one of the creatures was sucking up fluids. Tegast felt something warm and watery flowing under his footpaws and swore that he just piddled himself. But the odor of the warm fluids wasn't urine.

It was blood. Tegast whimpered as he backed away from the pool of blood edging towards his footpaws. The rat almost gagged. Whoever these creatures were, they had no problem eating the beasts they had slain. Tegast couldn't stay here anymore; he was too close to the reptiles. He slowly moved to his left and stepped out of the bush. He didn't care if he made too much noise; the reptiles were too busy munching away on their slain prey anyway. When Tegast was out, he briefly glanced at the predators and gagged. Whoever--or whatever--they were, they were huge, had thick tails, and were crouched down and ripping a fresh corpse apart with their bare teeth. Tegast quickly walked away from the lizard-like abominations, unaware that one of the lizards was still in the trees.

"Raaaaaaat..."

Tegast swore in a high-pitched voice and broke out into a sprint. He didn't know if there were more lizards in the area, but he needed to find a better hiding spot. The rat grunted as he tripped over a few roots and flicked his eyes to the left. There was a tree a couple of feet away with a massive hollow big enough for him to fit inside. Tegast crawled into it and hid, pressing his back against the inside of the tree bark. His heart was beating fast and he was panting louder than normal. Tegast closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He forced himself to stop panting so vocally and to calm down; the predators would hear him if he didn't. The rat heard a faint hiss moments before one of the lizards ran past the tree he was hiding in. But Tegast didn't leave just yet. He could still smell the reptiles; at least two of them were still in the vicinity. The rat brushed a paw along his waistsash and slowly pulled out his dagger. Something told him that he was going to need it. The rat heard another set of footsteps and subtle hissing. The footsteps increased in volume until Tegast looked down and could see scaly legs and footpaws right in front of the hollow.

"Where are you, ztinky ratz?"

Tegast lifted his paw and heard a deep growl only a couple of feet away. The beast outside got on his knees, and then put his paws on the ground. Tegast's heart was beating so fast he thought he was having a panic attack. He kept moving backwards, thinking the tree would shift itself in reverse and move away from the lizard. But it didn't. Tegast forced himself to stay quiet when the lizard lowered his head and stuck it inside the tree hollow slowly. The lizard had a burly head and neck, and his body was much too thick to be a normal lizard's. Tegast remembered what that other beast said and realized that the beast in front of him wasn't just a scrawny, normal lizard. He was a monitor lizard. The beast's tongue flicked out his mouth a few times; Tegast knew the lizard caught his scent. There was no way he could escape now. The beast opened his mouth as he hissed and exhaled. Tegast covered his nose and nearly retched as the monitor lizard's foul breath flowed into his olfactory system. It reeked of blood and rotten flesh, as if the monitor lizard had corpses festering inside his mouth.

The lizard still hadn't attacked yet. He was still hissing and releasing his nasty breath in Tegast's face as he moved his head around the hollow. The rat was shivering as he held the dagger. Maybe the lizard's blind, thought Tegast. May-maybe he can't see me; maybe it's too dark for lizard eyes. The lizard's tongue flicked out again. His head was so close to the rodent's muzzle that his nose nearly touched the lizard's snout. That's when the monitor lizard started to grin. It wasn't until Tegast looked up that he noticed the lizard's dark yellow eyes shining like a lantern in the darkness. Oh, fuck, thought Tegast. He's looking right at me. This whole time, the lizard was just toying with him. He knew Tegast was in the hollow the moment he stopped in front of the tree. Tegast was hoping the lizard would leave the hollow so he could slink away. But as he saw the lizard's devilish grin widen, he knew what he was going to have to do next. And yet, as Tegast prepared to plunge the dagger into the lizard's neck, he froze, paralyzed with fear. The reptile blinked and growled at Tegast, his mouth watering at the thought of tearing the young rodent to pieces.

"Hello there, little rat..."