Volke simply stared at the Sforza ambassador, trying to gauge the man. Despite Volke's skill in battle, he was never good at forming meaningful conversation. Seeing no harm in talking about himself, the Auditore lieutenant sat upon the staircase leading into the throne room. "Well... I guess I'll start at the beginning." started the soldier, "I grew up in the small mining town of Claudia, just off the mountain ranges north of here. I was poor and homeless, but I did alright. I think I was... twelve? Yeah, twelve, when an Auditore recruiter came marching into town. I didn't want any part of that. As I'm sure you know, Auditore conscripts heavily." Rudolf nodded his acknowledgment of this well known fact and Volke continued. "So, I'm hiding in a basket when one of the recruiters tips it over and I spill out. Avoiding conscription is treason, so they were all ready to execute me on the spot... And that's when a beige bunny with bright purple hair came running in and saved my hide. Sheryl had so much more emotion back then..."

      Volke stopped, finding reverie within his memories. But then his face turned cold as he remembered where Sheryl was at this very moment.

______________________________________________________________________________

      The two were dead silent for a very long time, neither one betraying the emotions that hid behind their countenance's. It seemed as if time stood still, the world reeling away in fear of what was to come. Then, out from the silence came a voice, like a bellow from the depths of the underworld. Fredrick spoke. "Explain yourself..." It was a simple question, yet with enough force to make one quiver. The rabbit general didn't understand, however.

      "Explain, what, Your Highness?" replied Invidia, nearly giving in to the sudden wave of fear that she felt. As far as she knew, she hadn't done anything wrong.

      "I have in my possession a startling report..." the Primarch commented, "In here, it states that you have done a great many thing, equated to... treason..." At the word treason, Sheryl's blood ran cold and she was no longer able to keep herself in check. Her eyes were filled with horror, her pulse quickened, and her limbs shook. A traitor? She didn't understand.

Aurelia looked at the newcomers and hesitated. Why so many people were running loose in the keep was inexplicable to her; she would have figured it would be the last place to go in a conquered city.

"Hold; who are you? Messengers?" she asked. As her back was to him, Aurelia did not notice the flicker of alert that crossed Ale's face upon seeing Alexis.

Alexis looked at the others, focusing on Toby and Kieran. She had an intuitive sense one of the two of them had been injured by Ale. Ari, slightly irked by the pause, moved to fill in some gaps.

"My contractor associates with all of these people, except for them," the vixen said while indicating Toby, Kieran, and Joey. Aurelia brushed some strands of hair away from her face.

"This is all news to me," she said quietly. Then, she rallied herself and added, "We don't have much time. I don't know why the guards have all found something more important to do than guard us, but it can't keep them. Once we are at the gates, I hope you can direct me to your contractor. Let us move as fast as we can. By the way, I'm Aurelia."

She wondered what sort of carnival troupe had suddenly arrived in her hour of imprisonment. Where the heck was Hector?

"OH YEAH! WHO WANTS SOME OF THIS?" Hector roared, far too enthusiastically. While this demonstration kept the Auditores at bay enough not to engage him in any reckless encounter, Arc had scrambled up onto the roof of one of the buildings. He was putting all of his might into shoving over some crates from atop the roof. When one of the crates gave and clattered to the ground, Hector turned for a moment.

"Use these as stairs and get up here!" Arccy urged. "I'm worried we may run out of time!"

Hector grabbed his axe. "Your thing better work!"

Volke nodded firmly, coming out of his state. "Oh, yeah...she insisted we waste no possible good set of hands to carry a spear and sword. Against the usual judgment, I was spared and dragged along. Sheryl made sure to keep an eye on me. I guess it was because defying the usual process meant she had a special interest in making sure I succeeded. And after something like that, how could I not want to make sure I pleased her?"

Rudolf gave him a "would-you-like-to-rephrase-that?" look. The penny dropped about a second later at the errant double entendre. Volke hastened to amend his statement.

"What I mean is, um, that I'd been given a second chance at life, all thanks to her kindness. I didn't want her good judgment to be second guessed because of any shortcomings on my part."

"General Invidia? Kind?" Rudolf said. The archly taunting tone he used struck a nerve.

"Sheryl has a lot more warmth and...and...and...you just don't know what kind of a person she is! All you know of her is this shut-off, cold-as-ice trooper. But she wasn't always like that. She has a real concern and caring for those around her and under her."

Rudolf theatrically looked up into the air, as if in cogitation. "Refresh my memory for me: how long has Fredrick stood as Primarch of the House of Auditore? That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a change in personality on her part, would it?"

|Rosa|

"I don't think any of us wants more death on hand, but war is a creed that decides to take things inevitably." Vetus spoke clearly as he heard the god king's empathic tone from his response. "But I am not going to charge into the battlefield needlessly, understand that. If I can help your-- our own goals more discretely and simply, I so will try."

As the two diplomatic individuals spoke Servus kept his eyes on the rixa female, probably the most joy he got out of this entire trip was her or at least that was it so far. He then noticed his wine was empty and as much as he didn't fancy it asking for a refill would grasp her attention once more and while Vetus spoke of politics he wanted to be able to have some joy out of this entire passage. He smirked lightly as he tapped his glass for a refill, but more importantly the female's presence.

|Gallia|

As if the female fox cared for such formalities at this point, her eyes keeping focused and prepared-- though any combat she would see would surely be softened by Ale and the other furs among herself. Though one had just been the equivalent of a glaring, whiny child. She had more strength then the... actually, Ari couldn't place what the beaten and whiny creature was; which was to say a new thing to her. He had traits of a veluchi, but he was all so much more than that. Ari decided to leave the thoughts at the back of her mind as she continued to fcus guarding the noble as she guided her to more accessible escape routes.

"If you wish for formalities, you may call me Ari." she spoke apathetically. Her voice spoke again, but more in sight of Ale. "Ale." she began, "Why did you decide to join us in the dungeons, if I recall you had more ideal business in the city."

       Sicarius turned toward the empty room, leaning back on the bar. "What do you see in this room?"

       The fox didn't quite follow. "A mostly empty bar."

       "This was once the most thriving tavern in Rosarius. People lined up outside just to get in. Nobles and commoners, saints and sinners, all coming for one thing. A place to get away from the differences of culture and practice."

       "Now, it wasn't all that grand, lad." stated a modest Tanuki, "The nobles were runaways and the saints were more than a little tarnished."

       Sicarius laughed heartily. "You would say that." commented the rebellious king, "Always turning my complements into something else."

       "Better to avoid the eyes of the unsavory, than fame and fortune acquire." quipped the old rixa, "Bah, I'm not ashamed to be the one swept under the floorboards, old boy. It's the young's time to shine. Old stories like mine are better left to gather the dust." He looked out to his daughter, who was now approaching Servus with a fresh mug of wine. "If only her mother had survived the pox, maybe she'd learn to stop searching so much."

       Sicarius looked to his possible ally, hoping that he had understood. He didn't want to bring up old memories for anyone, and Tanuki had seen the worst of the old revolution that had freed the furs from slavery.

_____________________________________________________________________________

       "I finished early." stated the fox quickly and to the point. The shadows of the castle corridors mostly hid his new, formal attire. The red tunic he wore was that of his mentor, Magnus Anguis. He had felt that it would be viewed as the uniform of a Royal Messenger, and it had duped many of the guards. However, the fact was, that he had still been discovered and thus the main entrance to the dungeons had been sealed.

       He wrapped his new cloak around himself and looked about. Something had been bothering him for a while now. It was true that Hector had probably created a brilliant distraction. He almost chuckled at the thought of the giant oaf charging through ranks of Auditore soldiers and sending them flying like bowling pins. However, the thought that all of the soldiers were gone from the castle didn't sit well with him. This rescue had gone far to well. It was to easy.

_____________________________________________________________________________

      Fredrick snapped his fingers and a bunny maid approached him with a goblet filled with a bluish liquid. Foxtail whiskey. A brew that carried enough kick to make the tyrant single it out as his drink of choice. He swirled the liquid within the cup, staring into it with a hateful glare. He stood from his chair, taking a single sip of the beverage. "I give you one chance to save yourself. I will remove the stain from your esteemed record... only... if you agree to become my queen." The Royal Auditore guard pointed their weapons at the rabbit general.

      Sheryl poured over her memories, trying to find what she had done to deserve this charge of treason. She could find nothing. Either she just couldn't remember, or the charge was fraudulent. Either way, she knew it was a ploy of Fredrick's to finally claim his prize. She couldn't stay anymore. She would have to leave. She would be branded a traitor, and shame her family line, but it was far better than becoming a slave to the tyrant. She turned and ran for the throne room door. The guards didn't follow her. Fredrick sat back down upon his throne, pouring his whiskey across the cobblestones. "What a shame..."

________________________________________________________________________________

       Volke began to answer when Sheryl burst through the door, running out of the castle and into the streets. Her lieutenant followed her out, shouting after her. "Sir Invidia! What's wrong!?" he cried. She didn't hear him. She was panicked and distraught. She leapt atop her steed and galloped for the city gates. Volke couldn't understand it. He had never seen her look like that, such distress. He looked back toward the castle, a vision of it wreathed in flame burned into his mind. He mounted his own horse and chased after his commanding officer.

The squirrel grimaced at the carnage but yelped back, "It will,  but we gotta get outta sight first." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trio looked terrible, it didn't matter how strong the eldest rabbit was he had both a child and a younger man slowing him down.  The scrawny beaten up young man still hiding the injured side of his face, the boy staring blankly, and now even the older rabbit looked strained trying to hold it all together to the point of his right shoulder visibly drooping from some injury, whether is was related to the damage to his arm wasn't clear.  He gave both women a determined look and spoke up,   "We came to rescue my son, nothing more.  I can't tell you why he's here, I don't know myself.  We only want to collect the person that brought us here and leave."

|Rosa|

Servus smiled as she was once again upon his table. "About time, there." he commented as Vetus and Sicarius continued their discussion, but Servus couldn't care in the least. He was just here to make sure Vetus didn't end up in a box or as a rug, so his role in this idle and timid tavern was pretty fine for the moment, especially with the rixa female in front of him. "I was thinking you ran away." the spearman chuckled as he eyed the female in front of him.

As the one track mind Servus did such, Vetus nodded to Sicarius. "If only we could get away from such things without grapes and hops." he mused as he listened on to the rixa go on some more, when he was finished Sicarius glanced back to Vetus and Vetus let out a nod.

|Gallia|

Ari nodded, if briefly. "Is that all? Because you don't really have any obligation to the human who sired my contract, no?"

       Sicarius sighed, remembering the stories that Tanuki had told him when he was younger. "Soldiers are something that the resistance has far to much of. They wish to fight in wars, but they leave their families unguarded. If you could at least protect the people who live in these ruins of old Rosarius, then my mind would be better at ease." The weight of leadership hung heavily upon the god king's shoulders. His eyes looked tired beyond their years, and yet still shown with the determination of a rebel leader.

       Lance leaned back in his chair, wishing that he could drink something with a little more punch than water. He eyed the two foxes suspiciously, never having seen either of them before. He watched silently, chocking down the watery beverage.

       Meanwhile, after Dalia handed Servus his mug, she brushed her hand along the fox's shoulder, and across his chin. "So, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, hon?" Dressed in a gown you would normally expect to see someone of her field of work wearing, she was slim and graceful with all the style of a practiced courtesan. Her emerald eyes stared into those of the Kitsune with desire. Tanuki, however, glared daggers at the two, nearly polishing the glass he was holding into oblivion.

___________________________________________________________________

       Ale thought for a moment about what he was doing. Other than the obvious reasons, those being that he could use this to acquire the aide of Hector in his journey to Rosarius or money for a reward, there were no other reasons. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt an actual need to rescue the oaf's family. He moved to talk, but just then, a small glowing light caught his attention. It was that child again. It was standing next to a wall in the direction opposite the way they had been going previously.

       He moved toward the child, and it disappeared in reaction. Deciding to just give in to the creature, he pushed on the wall it had been standing next to. With very little effort, the wall moved. There was the sound of gears and the flow of water from somewhere. However, this wasn't on any maps of the castle that he had ever seen and it reminded him far to much of his refuge in the sewers. "I think I found an exit. I hear water, though..." he informed the others.

(OOC: No! I can't be losing interest in this already...)

IC:

"So Mr. Closet."

Cody tensed. She knew he was in there. He scrambled for the hole. He was halfway through it when the next thing she said made him pause.

"...You should steal better, kinda sloppy."

That meant she knew he had stolen something...but she wasn't immediately running off to report him to the authorities. Despite himself, this made him curious. He backed out of his escape-hole and crept to the doorway, peeking out. He made no reply however, still tense and prepared to dive back into his bolt-hole.

TBC

|Infleci|

The young female tilted her head inquisitively as Codeo emerged slightly from the closet as her thoughts moved around in her head. 'Yay! I was right, he was in the closet!' She blinked afterward, "Okay hi, it was fun following you, now it's kinda boring again." she frowned. "Eyes and ears is boring." she repeated, stating her lack of enthusiasm for what her role was, even if in a way that wouldn't make much sense out of context.

"But hi, um I'm Caeca or something." she introduced herself, sort of as she let her left leg sway a little from her lack of attention, or what seemed like as such.

|Rosa|

Vetus nodded, "I understand that completely. If that's what you need me to arrange bodies for, then I think my message home will be a short one." the diplomatic kitsune smiled as he took another drink from the wine before him, finishing off the liquid.

As for Servus, the gray kitsune just kept himself content, though enjoying the rixa's touch all the same as he spoke. "Myself? Not much to say beyond I play bodyguard for all sorts of boring. Today? Just another expectation." his eyes kept focused however, "Though maybe I could be something a little better if my brood gets what politics he can into place. I'd like to be more than a hiresword, afterall. But it has it's strengths."

Inartfully, Hector scrambled atop the crates and heaved himself onto the roof. He grabbed Arc by the scruff and took off at a hasty jog, clanking noisily over the city in his armour. Seeing Hector flee emboldened some of the Auditores, who gave chase. At one point, Hector stumbled and almost dropped Arc, who scampered up onto his shoulder. The squirrel pointed excitedly.

"Uh oh! Uh oh!" he cried, waving his other hand frantically. Hector could see a gap in the rooftops; a building razed by the previous night's assault broke the continuous path. Hector shook his head.

"We gotta jump. Hold on tight!"

Arc's mouth fell open at the prospect, but clung tightly to Hector nonetheless. He shut his eyes and felt the wondrous suspension of mid-air flight. Then, gravity interrupted and he felt himself going down. The world rattled noisily around him for a moment, and only then did he dare open his eyes again. Hector was below him, coughing. They were in some kind of exquisite sanctum. An elaborate mosaic was on the floor. Arc looked up at the hole Hector had blasted through the ceiling before inspecting his surroundings further. He could hear something babbling.

"Where are we?" the squirrel asked.

Hector struggled to raise himself. "Bath house."

Arc dug his heels into Hector's side and shouted, "Yah!"

Hector turned and looked at him grimly. "Exactly how much dignity am I going to lose before this is done?"

"Don't worry. You don't have a lot left."

She trailed off when Ale opened the passage in the wall. Her brow furrowed at this discovery. Ale was already peering into the darkness beyond and trying to assess what he could. Aurelia shook her head.

"I've never seen that before."

"First time for everything, sister," Ale responded quickly without looking at her.

Aurelia looked at Ari. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather go my route. At least I know where I'm going that way."

The noblewoman glanced at Alexis and Taltae before heading in the direction she had suggested earlier.

"I seem to have lost my tour guide," he said. Fredrick looked over in his direction.

"Your presence won't be needed here any more, boy."

"I think you spilled something," Rudolf said, looking at the floor.

"Did I stutter? I told you to leave."

"I rode many miles to open negotiations with you. I wouldn't have if someone didn't think it was in both of our interests to come to this agreement. Of course, it's entirely your decision if you wish to say 'no side' and make us both fools. You would be wasting an opportunity to have some security, especially as it seems you have a whiff of dissent amongst your ranks."

Rudolf looked down and started playing with his fingers idly. He was curious as to how the Auditore Primarch would now react.

"It's ok though!  We're outta sight.  Just walk slow now and don't act like you're in a city surrounded by people that wanna kill us."  The squirrel said cheerfully slapping a jolly roger shaped metal pin to some of the cloth attached to Hector's armor, "It's an Optometric filter and Sonancy Fragmenter!"  He piped up brimming with pride.  Hector sneered at the techno babble once again spewing from the rodent.  Arccy cocked his head, looking hurt.  "I made it myself.  Long as we don't seem out of place, their eyes won't register us as out of place!  Plus any noise we make will sound like's coming from elsewhere!"  The large human looked almost relieved for the moment, until the youth got overly proud, folding arms and beaming for a moment before announcing.  "And we have a whole 5 minutes to get to the castle!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ale could feel eyes on him, Tobias's, the rabbit's glare had not abated even now.  He spoke with a low tone, "You plan on letting her leave like that?"

      Fredrick's stare was cold and detached. Nothing showed upon his face, save for his diplomatic scowl. "Whether this is or is not, is no longer any of your concern." growled the Primarch, "You would do best to leave here now, lest my patience wear thin." The Auditore glared daggers at the upstart ambassador. He sat back in his throne and snapped his fingers once, the sound echoing through the chamber. Not long afterwords and bunny maid appeared with a new goblet for the would be king. He took a sip of the liquid before looking once more and the Sforza boy. He found the noble's presence repulsive.

__________________________________________________________________________

      The god king stood from his seat, looking throughout the nearly empty bar. The celebrating outside had seemed to have died down for the most part. The streets would be nearly empty now. He looked down to his new found ally. "Why don't I give you a tour, now that the streets have cleared of revelers?" he offered, waving his hand toward the door. This drew a raised eyebrow from the raccoon behind the counter, but he otherwise remained silent.

      Meanwhile, Darla pressed herself into the grey fox's back, placing her arms over his shoulders. "That sounds oh, so interesting." she said in a sultry tone, "You may say it's boring, but it does sound more interesting than washing tables every day." She grinned lustfully behind the Kitsune's head. The man had caught her attention, regardless of having just met him. "Do tell me more."

___________________________________________________________________________

      Ale didn't even look at the rabbit. "She can take care of herself." he responded, "My concern lies outside of the castle. There's a little boy out there in a very dangerous situation that I aim to get him out of." He glared back at Toby, determination in his eyes. "If saving a child is unacceptable to you, then you may as well kill me." He was referring to Arc. He hadn't known the boy long, but in the small time they had been together, Ale had grown fond of the boy. Seeing him along like that, seemingly without a family to call his own, reminded him of his days with Magnus. If anything, he at least wanted to find him a home.

     The fox looked away, the emotions running rampant within his mind. He could feel it in his gut, something ominous. Their escape from the castle was going for to easily. Regardless of Hector's distraction, there should have been more guards within the castle. Where had they all gone? This, coupled with the fact that the only person from the group that he had any real desire to keep from harm was out in the middle of enemy territory, and he hadn't the slightest clue of his health.

Taltae leaned over and grasped his aching knee, and took a deep breath. He was seriously beginning to regret ever tagging along on this trip. He looked over at Ale who was standing before his new-found exit, then back in the direction Aurelia went. "I don't know about you, but I would much rather go with a sure bet," He spoke up referring to the noblewoman's path, "I mean does anyone actually knows where this route leads? For all we know we could be marching right into an enemy stronghold."
"Fine suit yourself," Ale said, "Just so you know her path isn't all that sure either. If she knows of another path out of here, then there is a good chance the enemy has already found it. Whichever you choose you still face some sort of risk."
"Regardless, I'd feel safer being with someone who knows where they are heading. Knows the layout I mean."
Ale just shrugged as Taltae looked over at Alexis. The treasure hunter could tell she was trying to decide on her next course of action as well. With his mind already made up, he took a couple of steps back staring on at the group before he finally turned and took off in hopes of catching up with Aurelia.

Hector shuffled into a standing position. He wanted to ask why Arc had not used the device while being chased, but he did not expect that the answer was going to be satisfactory, helpful, or anything else positive. He jogged through the frigidarium and out into the street. Auditores were running helter-skelter through the town. Though apprehensive, Hector moved with cautious but continuous motion. Even as he moved, he whispered from the corner of his mouth, "'Zit just me, or are there a damn awful lot of these boys on the prowl?"

Arc puzzled over the observation. "Maybe, but for now, there's not a lot we can do about that."

Hector glanced over his shoulder without moving his head. "Uh huh."

He started moving a bit faster, hoping that the device would redirect any noise he made. There was no more time to expend in frivolity.

Fredrick grumbled something under his breath that held no interest for the Sforza youth, who briskly headed out of the castle. He wagged a finger at one of his coachmen and said, "I've seen a furball and a boy ride out of here on horseback, probably leaving the city. We're following them."

"Right away, Your Grace!" said the coachman. Rudolf clambered into the seat of his transport and smirked as it took off swiftly. He hoped to catch up to Sheryl and make her an offer she could not refuse...

|Rosa|

Vetus thought for a moment before responding to the man, "To better know the condition, I suppose it would be ideal."

Servus raised a brow, though he supposed she was right. Bartending did seem much more menial, if that was the right word for it. He didn't know. All he knew is at times he would of liked to just sit down and do something simple without raising his sword to a human, veluchi, rixa, whatever's neck that wasn't kitsune. Though there were times where he did take down many a bandit of his own brood. He never liked it, but he wasn't an idealist like the other two branches of his bloodline were. He was never a Vetus and in a way he was glad for it. He wasn't good with words, so he'd probably be horrid at such tasks.

He sighed, albeit lightly, "Washing tables would be a fine break, from my perspective." he commented, chuckling lightly as he said so. He was a little relieved upon the physical contact between her and him, he hadn't ever been too grand in his experiences with females. Though the last female he went after was an alienage serf, servant, whatever. It didn't end well, so her interest in him mutually was something that made him feel right in his bones.

"But you want to know more about what I do, not what I'd like. If we were speaking there, maybe the topic wouldn't skirt from you." he smirked. "I've been hired to deal with bandits, thief folk, enemy soldiers. These bodyguard opts are much more relaxing then playing soldier for human lords." he added.

"My name is Servus, by the way, if you didn't catch Vetus yelling it across the empty room per chance..."

|Gallia|

"We did not speak of any length periods of I would be aiding him as we had more pressing matters at the time, but we both agreed on double the standard plus resupply upon the ending of such a charter." Ari responded blankly as she followed the female human closely. "I do not know what forethought he put into this opt." she added as her eyes kept on any corner, any entry point a soldier could come swooping from the depths at them. In all honesty, though; through the questions, Ari thought simply of them. 'I feel like I should say I don't care either, but no need to break toes unnecessarily; human or no.'

"All I know is I was to let him know if you were in the dungeons on this current path, but I decided aiding you in escape would be far more appreciated one."

The rabbit watched the other group recede and sighed, "I suppose you know their efficiency better than I do.  Though I trust when you find this kid you don't do to them what you did the last defenseless creature you found."  Inside the rabbit was boiling, Arc was lost and this jackass that seemed to be responsible for Kieran's injuries was talking to him about saving innocents. 

           Sheryl stopped nearly five kilometers outside of Venetzia's main gate. She turned to see that Volke had followed her the whole way, a look of concern in his eyes. "Why are you following me?" sh shouted, tears nearly welling up within her eyes. Volke had never seen her like this before. It was almost as if this was a different person entirely, as if the Sheryl he knew wasn't the one before him. He drew his horse closer to hers and placed his hand on her shoulder. He pulled her to him and she leaned into his chest, beginning to weep. "I've been labeled a traitor, Volke..." she said weakly, not wanting to admit what she had been told.

           The soldier couldn't believe what he had heard, Sheryl a traitor? Never, it wasn't possible. After all she had done for the Auditore, and even staving off Fredrick's advances without causing course for action... Fredrick... It had to have been his doing. The Primarch had probably fabricated false evidence in an effort to force Sheryl into his hands. Obviously it had backfired. He ran his hand through her violet hair before pushing away from her. "We need to get out of here." said the soldier, his usual demeanor not present, "Auditore land is no longer safe for us." Sheryl glared at her former subordinate, an air of disbelief in her eyes.

           "Us?" she said angrily, "No. You still have your life ahead of you!" She looked up into the sky. Rainclouds were beginning to form, signaling the coming of the rainy season. "I don't know what I was thinking, running like that. I should return and take my place on the headsman's block."

_________________________________________________________________________

           The white fox simply stared at the rabbit. He still couldn't quite gauge the newcomer, and it ate at his nerves. "I don't expect forgiveness for harming your friend, although I will admit that some of that was from him tripping... twice." he paused, taking time to think, "So if you want to take revenge then do it now. I don't have the time to wait for you. Unless you'd like to pick this up later?" Ale made a motion for the stone shoot that had opened up. Water was pouring down it from what looked like some sort of aqueduct underneath the stone floor.

__________________________________________________________________________

           The god king walked to the door of the tavern and swung it open. "Will you're escort be joining us?" asked the rebel leader, "This may be the resistance headquarters, but that doesn't make it any safer than the other cities." Sicarius placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, the leather wrapping a bright red against his silverish armor. He had a smile on his face that showed that he would enjoy the walk.

           Although, at that point, another boy with blonde hair, followed by a short feline walked through the door and into the tavern. The boy bowed to the god king and the two of them proceeded to the table where Lance had sat. They seemed to know each other, as the brown haired boy suddenly shouted, "What in the blazes do you want!?"

           "First of all I would like for you to use your indoor voice." quipped a bemused Lezare, "Shouting is unbecoming of one with such promise."

           While Darla retrieved a chair and placed it next to the grey fox, leaning into him and wrapping her arm around his. "So you don't like the noble families either, hon?" she said, grinning slightly as she looked up at him. She was a fair bit shorter than he was.

|Rosa|

"Servus is more a reassurance, a formality; rather than a necessity." Vetus replied to Sicarius. "I may not be an combat archer, but I'm able if the need suggested it." he said, the bow that was upon his back was hardly as battleworn as Servus' polearm and as far as Gnaeus went, there was never one under-prepared. The diplomatic fox only smiled through his last comment as he took upon the god king's lead-- the more he knew about Rosa and Sicarius' progressive militia, the better.

Servus shrugged to the rixa female. "Some are okay, most are predictable. But as for human caste systems go, not huge on them, nor the brown nosers among my race who subject themselves to such nobles." he replied, taking notice on the new entries of the bar and catching a little of Vetus comment inbetween all of it. It was Vetus' call, not his and he respected that; or at least understood such things. "We'd be better off as a race, generally; any of us non-humans, if we'd just go back to our roots and build our own civilizations back from the ground up as far as I'm concerned."

He was not exactly Solid Snake, but Hector did an admirable job sneaking into the nearly wholly unguarded Castellum del Gallia and prowling through the vacant halls toward the dungeon. Silence seemed to reign throughout the corridors. Silently, Hector considered that no commander would permit such a thing to happen; an entire garrison would not be turned out to seek out a few renegades. He wondered who, if indeed anyone, was in charge of the Auditores. For reassurance, he kept his axe at the ready.

Along the way, he leaned over and peered down a set of stairs. He could not see anything, but he could hear a faint moaning. Hector ignored it and pressed forward. "So, this thing you felt...am I getting closer to it or not?"

"The initiative is appreciated," she said to the vixen. "You do know where he is, don't you?"

"I expect he will be where we agreed to meet: at the gates," Ari responded.

The woman nodded and then asked, "So, what's with the rest of them back there? I take it you don't find a need to have many associates doing whatever it is you have to do. Was your contractor planning on some foolhardy attempt to retake this city with a handful of near-strangers?"

"That, I cannot claim for certain, though I question it."

"What about you, then? What made you into a sellsword?" Aurelia inquired.

"I am still your commanding officer, Lieutenant, and I will not tolerate your disobedience!" she snapped, causing him to twitch to attention involuntarily. He came to his senses and looked deeply into her eyes.

"My whole life will be pulled apart without..." he trailed off, stopping himself. He hesitated to finish that sentence, aware of the heavy consequences that could befall him if he did. Sheryl huffed and straightened herself atop her mount.

"Lieutenant, there are duties and burdens placed on us because of our position. It isn't enough to wear the dress uniform; we must also wear the combat uniform. One is the symbol of our order among civilians, and one is the symbol of our might and responsibilities. We cannot ignore those responsibilities, else we are not soldiers, but common refuse that contributes nothing and means nothing."

"That's not true," Volke said quietly. "We don't becoming nothing when we stop fighting. Shouldn't what we fight for count for something? You want to talk about responsibility...well, isn't refusing bad orders the responsible thing to do? We're nothing right now when we only know how to listen to someone else's commands. And we're treated like nothing, too. How am I supposed to stand by quietly and let you, the most upright soldier in the Auditore army, get called a traitor? Fredrick treats you like nothing but his own personal toy."

"You will not say such things about the Primarch!" she ordered.

"No, I will, because it's true! He does..." the young man began, choking, "...terrible things to you. All for his amusement. He does it for the power of knowing you won't resist. And if you give in to him now, he'll destroy everything that ever meant anything in my life. I owe everything to you."

Sheryl wordlessly turned her horse about and started off back toward Venetzia. Volke cried, "Sheryl, please!"

At first, he thought his plea had stopped her. Glancing back, however, he realised she was looking at the coach that was rattling up the road.

|Gallia|

"What about you, then? What made you into a sellsword?" the noblewoman had inquired, although Ari couldn't help but be curious and partially amused about the inquiry, was this the human knack for smalltalk; or perhaps this was honest conversation? Ari blinked as she thought for a brief moment, though not losing her wits in such dire times. "Natural conditioning." Ari stated, before adding to the comment. "It is a far more honest life then kissing the heels of nobles, from my experience-- with how we wasted away in alienages as glorified serfs or beggars. But you may call the combat path of a personal or bloodline effect." Ari strongly stated as she was not exactly the most comfortable sharing much to humans; who in her experience saw her as a bandit, a thief, a beggar, a whore and other such things. She had only felt respect from the community that were glorified slaves to the human culture; so it plainly made her a lot more... skeptical and distant from any human relationships she could of made in the past and the present.

"But it's also the effect of the human perspective." she issued no sympathy for the nobles race in her last comment as she kept focus as she did so.

         Sicarius strode out of the door, Vetus tagging along close behind. The lanterns overhead had been lit in the absence of the festive fire. The tunnels were dark, offering plenty of hiding spots for bandits and assassins. The corridor was lined on both sides by huts, houses, and shops, all lit up in the darkness. "Living the way you do, one wonders how you escape the eyes of the Wisps and other unsavories." commented the fox in the dim light of the tunnel.

        The god king nodded. It was true that an assassin could make a move for his life at any time from anywhere, and they had on numerous occasions. However, each time his followers had ratted out the would-be stealer of life, or jumped to the god king's aide. "I have my ways of dealing with such villains." replied the rebellious king, the words bringing a pain to his gut. They soon passed a run down home where children were playing in the dark. "This is our orphanage. It is far to full for my liking, but if you wish to create a base of operations within the city, they also offer a daycare for the soldiers."

_______________________________________________________________

      Lance kept his eyes on Servus and Darla as they spoke, half ignoring his friend. Growing impatient with his friend, Lezare grabbed the boy's chin and forced him to face him. "Have you been listening to a word I've said?" belted out the blonde boy with a glare, "We want to hold a party for the kids at the orphanage."

      "What does that have to do with me!?" shouted Lance in return. Upon hearing their plee for the parentless children, Tanuki approached the table. He placed the glass he was polishing atop the table and sat in the remaining chair.

     "A party you say?" offered the raccoon, "I think I can help with that."

     Meanwhile, Darla placed her hand on the grey fox's lap, running her hand across his thigh. "Maybe you'd like to start sooner better than later?" she suggested, giving a coy smile. Upon hearing this, her father's fur stood on end.

__________________________________________________________________

      The two watched silently as the carriage approached them. Volke eyed his commanding officer weakly. He felt helpless, social interaction not being something he was good at and now strained under these circumstances. He was lost while Sheryl looked resolute, even in the face of defamation and execution. Her story would be told to children to silence them into sleep.

      The carriage stopped and the Sforza Ambassador looked out of the window at them. "Hello again, old boy." he said to Volke, before turning to Sheryl, "'Sir' Invidia." He used the proper title as if showing respect, but the two could see that there was something hidden behind the politeness, just not what.

      "Good day, Ambassador." said the former Auditore General, shining the same political smile as before. This above all else unsettled Volke. He turned to face Rudolf. "Could I ask a favor of you, Ambassador?" he interrupted as the Sforza boy seemed ready to talk. Rudolf raised his eyebrow as if in interest. Without a word of warning, Volke clubbed Sheryl in the back of the head. He hadn't had time to react, and fell limp on her horse. The soldier picked her up and moved her to his own horse. "Could you offer us refuge?"

__________________________________________________________________

       Fredrick drank from his goblet, rage filling his mind. At the Sforza, at the Medichi, at Sheryl who had run from him, and at the plans he had set in motion that were working to his favor. Working very well. In his other hand he spun the scroll that he had shown to his General. Written upon the seal was the name Volke Krensler.

Alexis hadn't been especially thrilled by the sudden division of the party into two groups. Better by far if they'd stuck together! Still, she supposed she could understand the reasoning behind it. Alexis, like Aurelia, was familiar with the layout of the castle, even if her familiarity with it was somewhat more academic than practical. It made good sense for Aurelia to choose the route she was familiar with rather than entrust herself and her infant child into the hands of strangers and thereafter a strange tunnel. That said, there was something that nettled Alexis about the whole situation. The rescue and escape attempt had been running entirely too smoothly so far. Even allowing for the soldiers who had rushed out of the castle in response to Hector's diversion, there were still too few inside the confines of the castle itself? Where were all the others? Were they even now being lined up to execute some strategy that would put paid to all plans of escape? Had they been pulled out of fallen Gallia almost instantly to attend to an unforeseen threat? Or were, for some reason, leaderless and in disarray, much as the Medichi troops had been when Hector left the front lines to pursue a Wisp?

Alexis had none of the answers to any of those questions, but at least one question was answered as soon as Aurelia began to head along her chosen route. Although she favoured the odds of the tunnel- unknown as it was- over the odds of leaving by any gate in the city, Aurelia and her child were the ones Alexis had come to help- in addition to Taltae's friend. Besides, for all that she was one of the black sheep of the Medichi family, Hector and Aurelia had always had the grace to add friendship to civility whenever they had met before. They were family and- as much as Alexis often resented the fact where many other members of the Medichi family were concerned- blood was indeed thicker than water. In addition to that, it would be an ill-advised course of action to go into a dark tunnel with a Wisp in the shape of his last mark. Pausing only long enough to commit the spot where the tunnel was hidden to memory, Alexis went to join Aurelia and the others.

        Standing just outside of the castle's main gate was a man dressed in the Auditore's military garb. Armed with sword and shield, he watched to main gate, watching through the closed portcullis for something specific. A certain Medichi General was his mark. Seeing the would-be messenger near the entrance to the dungeons had caused him to believe that this was the better place to wait. The soldiers running about the streets of Gallia were simply the net. All he had to do now was wait.

       Something was bothering him, however. Why was that fox the one to approach the dungeon? He had assumed that Hector himself would be the one to storm the castle, but he had sent another. He would have to correct the psychological profile he had gathered on the Medichi noble.

Aurelia glanced over her shoulder at Ari's last remark. "I bet you don't harbour as much resentment for humans as you're suggesting."

The vixen said nothing, though her expression indicated a passing interest in elaboration on the thought. Aurelia held a hand up as they came to a set of stairs.

"Will you look to see if anyone is up there first?" she asked.

"Hmph," Ari said.

"Time to continue taking your initiative," Aurelia commented. "You don't dislike humans enough to deny taking a contract with them, at least."

Volke looked pained. "Please, Ambassador!"

Rudolf took a deep breath and considered the plea. "There are two things I must obtain from you. One is your renouncement of fealty to the House of Auditore. I cannot very well accept foreign soldiers into Ocinius without good cause. The second is an answer to this question: what are you planning to do now, old boy? Much as I am moved by your plight, I would not needlessly jeopardise my family and their domain because I gave shelter to two stateless aliens. I simply do not have that kind of authority."

He paused, and then folded his arms. A sense that Volke's thoughts, never always up to match Rudolf's levels, may have been more scattershot at that particular instant, inspired the Sforza youth to prompt Volke with a hint about an adequate answer. "Of course, it would be quite beneficial to every party here involved if, perhaps, you might find a place in the rank and file of the Sforza military. We may lack the frustratingly democratic sense of meritocracy one might find among the Auditores, but but we may be able to negotiate something for you that puts you in a more comfortable position. After all, you seem to be at a loss for pragmatic options right now."

|Rosa|

'Oh, the little minx.' Servus had to wonder if the female was just egging him on for the sure entertainment out of making a man usually melt by her touch. Servus, wasn't too different, sure; but the kitsune had seen his handful of females in his past and flirtation? Not an obscure effect, indeed. A smirk rose to the spearmen's face as he thought short about his reply. "I guess I would not mind sooner rather than later.", the kitsune wasn't totally sure if it was the definitive response in this situation but he spared the rixa with only replies of which were plain and truthful in at least one way.

"You are awfully interested in me, I'm sorry if I don't think I'm of worth to such things."

-

Vetus nodded his head, as the god king showed what he needed to show Vetus. Vetus, would of preferred other perspectives of the city other than the weak, defenseless and easily relative one. The fox decided to speak after a moment of thought upon the silence, well the silence between the two; the sounds of the orphanage children was audible, clearly. "In between needing defenses, it seems you also need carpenters and stonesmith." he commented, before adding to it. "But I have only seen so little of the city, so the decision and effects of who I try to summon; bless the wind, will be so much more if I had more of a handle then a orphanage, tavern and backalleys."

"I'm sure you understand such things."

|Gallia|

"It's either this or be on my hands and knees...." the female muttered, albeit with some air of discontent.

Ari had stayed quiet, but she was still pretty much harboring a complete quizzical thought process. Why were they going through a longer and more extravagant route? Ari was pretty sure they would be on their ways into the mess hall by now if she had simply backtraced her steps which was simple enough to do for the fox. The whole timewasting experience with the rabbit did not help, though, for all any of them knew the mess hall path could of been guarded-- maybe the noble wasn't as useless and stupid like most females of her caste. Ari shrugged as she thought as such.

The corridor was clear enough outside from one guard, overlooking a room at the edge of it-- between her training and experience, it was plain as day to her. The human however was not watching over the stairway she had been riding and instead was looking over something, was he upon a balcony? That seemed right from what Ari had remember about human architecture. The fox was no dusk nor a wisp, but she was quiet and careful as she moved forward, keeping her sense about her. She retrieved a short blade from her wrist as she moved her bow with her other hand to her shoulder, in standby. With this she would then approach the guard and with little remorse struck it across his neck with her other hand firmly upon his mouth, though this always still bothered her-- the height difference. When the guard had stopped breathing she moved him to a ceramic barrel-- pot; whatever it was, it was in the corner and large enough to stuff the body if she curled it and placed it right. She put the top of the pottery firmly on and it was almost like the guard was not there, though eventually the smell of decay would be noticeable. She shrugged as she considered a better hideaway or whatever, when her eyes caught the Great Hall below and only smirked in response to her previous thoughts about the suspicions that the guard detail had thickened.

There was six or so of them down in the hall, with another of them finishing urinating upon a statue that Ari thought could resemble the noble who bought her for a charter. She shook her head, more humanity-- and mediocre humanity at that. She came down to the female noble who had been waiting.

"It is clear in the corridor above, now. I would advise you to be quiet, though; as the balcony that overlooks a great room below has a sizeable group of enemy soldiers."

        The soldier hadn't bothered to listen, more focused on Sheryl than anything else. "I'll do anything I can. Just... Save Sheryl." he cried, his voice cracking from using a tone he had never used before. He was shaking, his bloodstream flooding with raw adrenaline. Violent thoughts ran through his mind, of the Auditore who had originally forced him into service, of the Primarch, and the slavery that he wished to force upon the person he respected most. It was all becoming to much for him.

        Sheryl laid in his arms limply. He could already imagine what she would say when she came to. "I'll train your troops, I'll fight in your army, I'll even be your bodyguard if you want..." He slumped down in defeat.

____________________________________________________________________

        The Rixa leaned in, her face very close to that of the fox. "That, I am, hon." she said, hovering ever closer to Servus. She smelled of lilacs in Springtime. Her hair brushed against his face, soft as silk. She was tempted to just throw caution to the side and kiss him, but she knew how her father would react.

        And just as she had thought, Tanuki was watching the two out of the corner of his eye. The experience reminded him somewhat of himself and the way he had flirted with his late wife. Fond memories ran through his mind. Deciding to just let her do as she wished, he reached into his apron and pulled forth a small pipe, sprinkling tobacco into the open end and lighting it. He took a brief puff, breathing out the smoke into a large circle.

_____________________________________________________________________

        The god king nodded his understanding and they continued along through the dark tunnels. Houses and stores lined the walls everywhere they went. They eventually took a left turn and were facing a large stairway. "This is the northern exit of town, or what's left of it, anyhow. There is another on the opposing side, but other than that, the only other entrances have been sealed over by the ruins above, either by overgrowth or rubble." Sicarius paused, giving the fox a chance to look over the massive doorless gateway. Without a way to block the entrance to town, it was a severe weakness to Rosarius' defenses.

        Sicarius continued, walking out into the sunlight. The city above was a lifeless maze of buildings and towers, walls and structures. The only movement topside was that of the random wildlife of the planet and the few guards who performed the daywatch. "It may not look like much, but in here, my people are stronger than any army that would flood the streets of Rosarius." said the rebel with pride. It was true, from these positions, the rebel forces could strike an ambush from literally anywhere. No one lived in the topside ruins anymore, so they were safe to use in times of assault.

       After the god king had spoke, a figure in a large sand colored cloak came into view not far away. The sun showed bandages wrapped around the creature's face and body where the cloak didn't cover. Sicarius looked at the man, wondering what could cause such injuries that a person would have to wrap their entire body in bandages.

The squirrel looked confused speaking lowly, "I dunno, only happened once.  Head for the dungeon thing.  He was there, so my friend's is gonna be there."   The squirrel opened his mouth to say more about the subject, but paused as if he suddenly thought that idea turned sour in his sour.  Then looked around stating, "Going to have to be careful, the filter wore off almost five minutes ago."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Self righteous bastard."  The deer hissed under his breath still refusing to look at the rabbit.  Tobias rubbed his forehead as if a sudden headache hit him, his passenger fixed his gaze on Ale for a moment, then looked down to the older rabbit and watched him for a few moments.  Watching the rabbit appearing trouble he turned his head to one side and looked back up and Ale from the man's shoulders,  "Father, I'm confused.  Please explain if this was form of apology or instigation."     Tobias grunted, then let out a half laugh, "Both actually, I'll explain later."  He walked over and examined the shoot, wrinkling his nose, "This isn't gonna be, Kaybee."

Hector had only crossed the threshold of the front entrance to the castle when Arc made that announcement. Bewildered by the news, Hector cried aloud, "WHAT?"

Arc waved his hands frantically. "Shhh!"

"You could've at least told me I wasn't hidden anymore!" Hector grumbled, readying his axe again.

This commotion did not go unnoticed.

Another commotion that did not go unnoticed.

He pushed open the door to his carriage and shuffled over, allowing Volke to dismount and climb in next to Rudolf. Volke was about to lay the unconscious Sheryl down beside the Sforza noble, but Rudolf vehemently pointed at her like she was a pathogen.

"No, no, no! You're between me and the March Hare! Get that creature on the other side!"

Volke resented the judgmental comment, but as he was essentially at Rudolf's mercy, he obliged the boy. Rudolf folded his arms and crossed his legs, looking put upon by the circumstances.

"Off we go, driver," he called. Then, looking sideways at Volke, he said, "I am amused by your offer of personal security services, but I prefer my bodyguards not to have a target on their backs." When Volke failed to respond, Rudolf continued with a sigh, "We will have much time between here and Ocinius. I recommend you rest, but before you do, at least process and answer this much for me: how much have you thought this through? What will you do when Sheryl awakens? I hope you have a good answer, if not for me, then at least for her."

       Ale jumped into the shoot, feeling the wet sensation of the water coursing over him. The other three followed suit, albeit, reluctantly. There was the sensation of being pulled up, down, and every-which way very quickly. And then there was the feeling of the chilled morning air as the four of them were flung out of one of the castle's fountain shoots and into the main courtyard. Ale and Tobias landed with ease, while the deer didn't. Crying out as pain shot through his leg.

      The soldier that had been waiting there turned to see the newcomers, instantly recognizing the fox from before. He grit his teeth in frustration as he had more important things to deal with. He faced the approaching nobleman. With the portcullis shut, he would have to find an inventive way to get through the gates. In the meantime, maybe he would deal with those who were interrupting. He turned toward the newcomers once more, drawing his sword. "I had hoped to fell the mighty General Hector di Medichi, but I guess you'll have to serve as a warm up." He pointed his blade at the two who were standing on their own power.

________________________________________________________________

       Volke was silent for a long time, running his mind over possible ways to keep the woman from submitting herself to the headsman's block. She was devout to her country to the point of valiantly sacrificing herself. "I'll... have to lock her away somewhere where she can't take her own life." he finally stated with trepidation. He knew in his mind that he was doing something that would result in the same slavery minded nonsense that had been done away with years ago. He felt no better than Fredrick, but at least she would be alive. That was all that mattered to him.

       "Perhaps a tower, or a room with a bolt lock." replied the man, staring at the unconscious woman. He might have thought she was sleeping, had he not been the one to have struck her.

OOC: This goes so fast!  I'm getting left behind! D: And I'm not really sure what to do. *shrug*

IC:

He ducked back inside when she spoke, and there was a long pause before he replied.  ".......Cody." The coati stated as gruffly as he could...but it probably wasn't very convincing. 'Eyes and ears is boring?' What does that mean?  "Um...." An awkward pause followed. "Ireallydon'wannastealbutIgottaeat."  Great. Now he was blabbering.  She probably thought he was an idiot now...So what? What did he care if she thought he was an idiot.  She was just a GIRL.  He made a face from within the closet.

TBC

|Infleci|

Caeca blinked. "Well, duh, yeah." she remarked, tilting her head as she looked on at the closet. "We all do, right?" the kitsune wasn't sure where to continue, "Especially with how all those non-furs treat us and stuff."

"It's okay though, we are smarter."

|Rosa|

Vetus nodded, "So, my initial understanding of stonesmith, carpenters and soldiers is what you and I need to seal this alliance and prepare then. Hm."

-

Servus nodded lightly, how close the flirtatious rixa was could of put his hair on end, but thanks to years of conditioning he was far more stable then such primal weaknesses. Servus on the other hand, had no mind of her father at the moment and with a flirtatious, attractive rixa in front of him and motioning to such things-- he threw caution to the wind, then again being a soldier he tended to be prone to such anyway. He moved one of his hands to the back of her head. He did not know if this was to spite her father a few tables over or if it was genuine, but at this point the kitsune soldier grinned before he went to kiss the rixa himself.

Toby took an instinctive step in front of his friends, his arm was worse now and Kieran was nearly incapacitated so options were beginning to run low.  Even if they found Archibald at this point it was unlikely they'd be able to leave so soon after arriving here, and it wasn't like the quixotic Sibken would anyone unless he felt like it.  He didn't want to have to fight, or worse, but this world had already held Joey hostage and injured Kieran so his normally stalwart stance on meddling was beginning to wane and he could feel the old teaching start to leak out.  Capping them again he stared down yet another threat and spoke slowly with an muffled air of frustration, "Is it really necessary to stab everything in sight?  We've got two injured and one child, why are you going to attack us?" 

Behind the young rabbit slowly rang out his clothes, slowly and methodically.  He didn't much care for the water, and it showed, even his emotionless demeanor was ebbed with a disgruntled twist to his mouth. Tobias's word gave him pause, and he trained his eyes on the soldier, squinting again to try to give detail to the man.  The boy's mind worked quickly, with both of them injured things were not looking good.  He slowly patted his damp shirt and moved to the older rabbit's side, looking at the soldier not with fear, but with curiosity.

        The Auditore took a stance, moving his shield forward and his blade at his side. "My name is Robert Schneider." the man introduced himself, "Fourth General of the Auditore militant army. Surrender now and I will let you live." He solidified his stance, bracing for the beginning of combat. His face was only partially visible, his helmet showing the gruff facial hair of his jaw.

        Ale wasn't about to surrender to this man, drawing his scimitar and waiting for the soldier to make the first move. The fact that the man had been waiting for them confirmed his theories about the guards in the castle. They had obviously been planning something. From the way things had planned out, he could only assume that Hector had to have been their target. The fox nearly shrugged as the thought crossed his mind. The nobleman could take care of himself. He was more concerned for Arc, who probably wouldn't be able to fend for himself. And then his mind wandered to the child standing next to him and the yellow rabbit. The weight of consequence suddenly hit him. He had inadvertently put a child in harms way. "You, take the kid and run." commanded the fox as he turned to his would be companion, "I'll hold this blighter back while you make your escape."

        Schneider scoffed. "Yes, flee. I'll simply track you down later. Unless you have the will to face me like a man and die with honor!" the Auditore general yelled at the otherworldly rabbit.

________________________________________________________________

        The god king sighed heavily. "Indeed. We have masons of our own, but we are dangerously low on supplies such as stone and mortar." confirmed Sicarius, "It would be wonderful if would could fend for ourselves in obtaining such things, but the merchants do not run their caravans this way any longer. Ever since the fall of the royal family, this city has been left to rot." The man in the sand colored cloak was now within earshot of their conversation, stopping next to the remains of a butchery. He simply stared at the god king and his compatriot.

_________________________________________________________________

        The rixa returned the affection with more passion than one would expect in light of their chance meeting just a couple of minutes ago. Tanuki stood up and latched his hand onto the girl's shoulder, pulling her away, a look of shock and annoyance on her face. "What's the big idea, father!?" she shouted, angered by the old man's interference. The old raccoon simply shook his head, disappointed that he had had to step in at all.

       "You are far to young to be playing the harlot, Darla." said the old rixa, his countenance turning into a scowl, "You're only twenty years of age, and you flirt with nearly every man who enters the bar! I'm glad most of them have the sense not to flirt back!"

       Darla simple slapped her father's hand away and ran up the stairway in the rear of the tavern and into the living quarters. The old raccoon sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Blast it, what am I going to do with her..." He then eyed Servus, not with anger, but more a look of curiosity. He sat down at the table and continued to stare, eyebrow raised, not saying a word.

Aurelia said, rather quietly, "Run."

Tightening the hold she had on her child, she trotted as fast as she comfortably could. It was about to get ugly.

Volke gave this some thought. "What do you mean? I should give up?"

Rudolf tittered to himself as he inspected his fingernails. "Well, struggling against the most impossible of adversaries is the mark of humanity. I'm not advocating any position; I'm merely saying that Sheryl won't be unconscious for all time. A bird cannot be caged forever. When she comes to, she will be cross at you for acting out of turn, to put it mildly, and I suggest that if you cannot credibly justify your actions with words of logic, you must advance words of love instead."

The ex-Auditore soldier blanched. Rudolf twiddled his thumbs.

"Emotion is what drives humans to do unreasonable things, and love is the most absurd of them all. I feel we are all capable in this vehicle to admit openly that there is more than mere superior-subordinate respect that passes between the two of you, whether you are acutely conscious of it or not."

"It isn't like knocking on a door," Arc pointed out.

"Locked out of my own keep. Isn't this something?" Hector complained. Frustrated by this impediment, he shouted through the portcullis, "Anyone home?"

Arc pulled on the human's ear. "What about this makes you think it's a good idea?"

"It'd be downright rude to ignore a caller, wouldn't it?"

Arc gave him a look. Hector sighed and turned around to assess his situation. Finally, he hit upon an idea. "Shorty, jump off. I'm going to need all the speed I can get."

"Why? You want to try running into the gate to break it down?"

"Of course not. That would be stupid."

"Oh," said Arc, hopping off Hector's shoulders. The squirrel watched Hector approach the big statue in the square before the castle and hoist it off its pedestal. The nobleman hefted it in his hands.

"I'm going to run into the gate with this to break it down." With that, he launched himself forward with the statue as his battering ram. If nothing else, Arc reckoned, Hector certainly had a fanciful imagination for problem-solving.

Alexis sighed inwardly as the group began to run. She rather wished they could have taken the tunnel discovered lower down than risk an exit of the castle gates in broad daylight, but at the same time she understood why Aurelia had favoured an escape route she knew from experience. She did, after all, have a newborn child to worry about. It would be nice, she mused inwardly, if the infant in question reciprocated the sentiment. Though it was anyone's guess as to if or when she was likely to find herself in a situation like this again- on the assumption that she survived this time around- Alexis inwardly vowed that next time she would speak up in favour of the secret tunnel sooner. But that option being out of the window for now, there were other problems to consider.

Of those she was with at that moment, only Taltae knew her true identity. Although Aurelia had on occasion met Alexis before and knew that she was Wisp-trained, Alexis was presently wearing the form of Artimia del Cordua, a Royal Messenger about five years younger than herself. Without actually giving herself away to everyone, she couldn't reveal her true identity to Aurelia and to complicate the issue, if they were going to fight, she would have to be careful about the extent to which she allowed her skills to show. Royal Messengers were trained in combat as a necessity- for self defence while travelling long distances to deliver information- but not to the extent Wisps were. It would draw attention if she proved too competent in battle. On the other hand, if anyone got near Aurelia's child, all bets were off. There was a steely glint in the eyes of the Shifter as they ran along the corridor. One way or another things were about to get ugly indeed.  

The rabbit nodded and turned away grumbling, "Ain't
gotta tell me twice." Then walked to Kieran and knelt down.  Both the
child and deer gave him an odd look, but said nothing.  He held a hand out
to the younger man "Can you walk?"   Kieran winced and attempted,
but fell back on his rump panting heavily, "No go man...  Just get
Joe outta here."  The rabbit smiled, "KB, you gotta glove on
ya?"  The deer's pants stopped suddenly, he painfully felt his
pockets and pulled a small black glove with oddly cartoonish blue lightning
bolts on it and tossed it weakly to the rabbit.  Toby caught it without
moving from blocking the whole exchange from view, clumsily forcing it unto his
left hand via the slung right hand.   

Ale and the soldier began their stare-down, short though it
was about to become.  The fur on the back
of the Schneider’s neck began to prickle and he heard a voice, Tobias, smartly
firing off.  “Hey Deuce.”  The man gave the rabbit a sideways glance to
see him smirking. He lifted his hand and pointed his finger at the Soldier.  His gloved hand shaped like a gun, bright
blue rubber lightning bolts pointing at him down the top of it.  The smirk peaked and he spoke one word.

“Bang.”

As if in answer a massive spike of energy connected the two
men for a moment before a blast of thunder rocked the area in reaction to the
immense energy transference that had just happened.  Tobias felt his body literally shut down for
that moment as he pulled the required energy in from the void-like space that
was Their dimension.  Using it to
forcibly create a lighting strike between himself and the soldier who seemed so
dangerous.

He relaxed and let himself fall to one knee, shaking the
melted rubber off the finger closest to the energy point.  He winced and flexed his left arm, testing it
for injury from the attack and smarting off, 
“I hate monologueing narcissists, it’s like they’ve heard one too many
stories or something.”

        The lightning slammed into the man's shield. The wood and metal shattered violently and Robert went flying into the far wall. The stone cracked as he collided with the mortar work. A look of shock came over the man's face as he stared at the yellow rabbit, consciousness fading from him. He slumped to the ground, no longer able to put strength into his limbs.

        Ale sheathed his scimitar and glanced at his would-be companion with a raised eyebrow. He nearly commented on the sheer force being overkill, but then remembered the state that he, himself, had put the deer in. "We should wait for the others, or maybe backtrack and help them." he offered, wrapping his tan cloak around himself, "I don't like what that man's presence implies."

_____________________________________________________________

        Volke was quiet, in a defeated silence. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't just let her go back to Venetzia, knowing full well that she would submit herself to death. He also knew that she was likely to attempt to take her own life, unable to live in the shame of being labeled a traitor. The words of the smaller man ran through his mind. Love? Did he love her? He didn't know. That was not a question that he could answer, even if he knew, what could he have done? She was his commanding officer, traitor or not.

       "What should I do?" he asked, placing his head in his hands. Sheryl would now hate him, and he knew that, but he had no idea how to deal with that. What should he do?

The rabbit nodded, and stood with a pained grunt staring over to Kieran when he notice the boy had vanished.  A quick glance afforded his location by the fallen soldier, the boy stood looking at him for a moment before speaking, "He is still alive."  Then he seemed to begin concentrating on the limp form, furrowing his brow and narrowing his reddish eyes.  A sudden panicked look formed on the older rabbit's face as if he'd just been stabbed, then stated loudly and sternly, "Joseph.  No."  The small rabbit broke his focus and looked at the rabbit curiously but said nothing and started to return to the others.

       Ale raised his eyebrow once more, noting the rabbit's tension at whatever the younger one had been up to. "I think you floored the general, right and proper. No need to yell at the child for investigating, is there?" It was then that he heard a pounding sound coming from the portcullis. Beyond the bars he could see Hector, and a small figure darting about. "Arc!" cried the fox with relief. He hurried to the gate, half ignoring the angry rabbit for the time being. "I'm glad to so you're no worse for wear." he stated with a pleased smile. He had little time to cover his new garb with his cloak as he noted Hector staring at him with an odd expression.

       "Where did you get such fine clothes as those?" questioned the nobleman, finding it suspicious.

       Ale rolled his eyes and sighed. "I stopped by my home for a quick change. those old dirty clothes that the tanner had given me were beginning to itch." The statement wasn't far from the truth, but it was still a lie. "Now if you don't mind, metal butt, I would like to talk to Arc."

OOC: Consider this as happening after Rapid's post.

KABLANG!

With that odd sound, the portcullis crumpled in on itself. A portion of it near to the ground collapsed and clattered to the stones. It left a hole that was somewhat small and narrow, but only for someone of Hector's build. Satisfied with his handiwork, Hector expressed a big grin and sat the statue on the ground. He pointed at the opening in the partially crushed portcullis.

"The winch to open this is on the left side once you go up the little set of stairs. Get along."

The Sibken hung his head and crawled through the meticulously crafted opening. Meanwhile, Hector squinted past the portcullis. He thought he could see some people moving just out of his line of sight around a wall, but he could not be sure. He wondered who would still be in the castle at a time like this.

"Did you feel that?" Arc called.

"Feel what?"

Arc looked around once he was on the other side. "Something big..."

She pulled open a door that, for all intents and purposes, melted into the background of the wall. Though it seemed obvious that it was a door when ajar, it did not stand out when shut. She darted inside and waited for the others to follow. She took the moment to catch her breath.

"Down this way...this passage is a clear run to the city walls. After that, we're free, with any luck."

Ari, Taltae, and Alexis peered past her. It was a narrow and rather dark corridor. Short though it was, the running across the upper floor had at least exhausted Aurelia sufficiently that she was not going to take this at full tilt. She looked at the others.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I shall tell you what you should do. First, you should rest. We have time between here and Ocinius, and you require the utmost of your capacities for your arrival there. If Sheryl awakens while you are napping, I will take care of that myself. When we come to the city, we shall discuss what further actions you will take, once we address one minor concern."

Volke looked up inquiringly. Rudolf looked out of his window.

"I will have to bring you before the head of the Sforza family. No matter your plight, a stateless alien cannot be permitted to wander freely without cause. You will have to beg your case before him."

       The soldier nodded, glancing at his new-found charge, before closing his eyes and drifting off into sleep. He dreamed of the days that he had spent, training under Sheryl's guiding hand. Of the first time he had held a real weapon. Of the first time he had met Fredrick, and the way he had looked at Sheryl, staring at her as if she were some simple piece of meat. He then dreamed of one day stealing the throne of the Auditore from the tyrant and placing Sheryl upon it as Venetzia's queen.

       He reopened his eyes, seeing that not much time had passed. This was going to be a long trip. He glanced once more at the sleeping general, before slipping into slumber once more. He knew in his mind and in his heart that she would make a much better ruler than Fredrick had ever been.

|Rosa|

Vetus nodded. "In time, I'm sure more knowledge will come... but perhaps this is not the best place to speak our minds openly."

-

Servus sighed as he boringly went back to doing nothing, the female was an open distraction-- and really she wasn't the typical bore that spoke with him. But maybe it was the fact she was a rixa? The kitsune shrugged, unsure. He was pretty oblivious to other cultures outside of outlined knowledge given to him by other kitsune. He wasn't a Veritas or Vito brand of Gnaeus, he was simply and purely-- Bestia. He sighed out of boredom, not paying much mind to the elder rixa.

"...hope Vetus hurries up already." he muttered.

|Gallia|

"What are you waiting for?"

Ari blinked at the female nobles query and only responded with a directive. "My priority is to ensure you and the child escape, you need not worry about us hireswords-- if we are not behind you, do not shed your hair in frustration as we are not worth it."

A smile flashed across the older rabbit's face at the sound of the name.  Noone else would have that ridiculous nickname, but thinking back it did make sense this man was refering to Arc as his child in distress.  The things that Archibald was second and third best at were acting helpless and getting people to trust him, that left his number one attribute being his uncanny ability to get himself and everyone with him into trouble.  His rationalization was broken up as it seemed Kieran had also made the connection, as well it seemed he was starting to get a grip on himself as instead of a pelting series of yelps his reaction was to lowly growl out, "When we get back to Odyssey I am so going to kill that rodent." 

Seeing the rabbit the squirrel grinned and put his hands on his hips, "Jeez Tobe you look like a drowned rat... that fell through a garbage disposal.  Wow, ta think the man that defeated the legendary Richard Underwood couldn't even handle a backwater planet having a little civil war."  He winced and looked around, "No offense to anyone or anything eh hehe-"  "I'll make YOU a drowned rat if you don't stop chit chatting and  OPEN THE GATE,"  Came a gruff snarl from Hector, already irritated with the youth's inability to focus on anything.  Arc jerked and darted up the short flight of stairs and attempted to winch the gate open, however it seemed his large companion had forgotten to factor in the required strength to raise the gate and his rate of success was only a few inches even with him pulling with all his might.  Toby sighed and shook his head, he thought about moving to assist but with one arm slung and the other still numb from knocking the guard out there was little he could hope to accomplish.

        "Perhaps you are right." Sicarius responded, "It a town filled
with shadows, the walls have far to many ears." He motioned once more
toward the entrance to the town. The two proceeded within, followed
shortly after by the cloaked man. They soon came to a great square
within the city's underworks. Many people were still wandering about,
some pointing or waving at their god king. The rebel leader nearly
blanched at the unwanted attention, but instead waved back, smiling
warmly. There was a statue within the center of the large space of a man
that no one recognized. It had been there for a very long time, maybe
even before the city itself was founded. There were several rumors about
it, such as that it was an idol for some old god, or a hero from before
the first era. No one knew for sure. but that never stopped fishwives
from telling old tales.

        Sicarius looked up at the statue as he approached it, his face
instinctively disfiguring into a scowl. He turned away to face his
companion, returning the good grace to his countenance. "This is the...
well I suppose you could call it the undersquare."

_____________________________________________________________________

        Tanuki stared daggers at the grey fox, almost as if gauging him.
He reached up and blew a ring of smoke from his pipe. "Let's talk,
boy." he offered, rather bluntly, "That lass may be more than you
bargain for. So I'll start by asking you this..." He took his pipe in
hand and sat back in his chair. "Just how serious do you plan to be?"

_____________________________________________________________________

         Ale ignored the hulk of a man as soon as he saw Arc moving
about unharmed. "You have a special knack for causing me to worry about
you, kid." he said, smiling as he moved to aide the squirrel in his
task. "After we get out of this royal stew that iron-butt has gotten us
into, you and I need to have a chat." He pulled hard on the singed rope,
adding his strength to the child's, but it wasn't enough to fully open
the gate. If Hector still intended to get in this way, he would have to
crawl, and he would have to do so quickly. The two wouldn't be able to
hold up the iron fixture for long.

|Rosa|

Vetus nodded, his ears twitching; there was something off and he didn't know quite what.

-

Servus looked to the older raccoon, his comments seemed.. expected. "How serious I plan to be is how serious she plans to be." he said bluntly. "But if you suggest I will discard her, do understand I was raised better than such."

Aurelia deliberated for a moment, and then made a decision. "Thanks, but you need to move first. No time to question it; just go."

Alexis gave her a questioning look. "But you're not armed."

"And if someone's awaiting us at the other end, I should be first out to meet their blades, right? Go!" Aurelia insisted. "I owe this to you, hired blade or not."

"Hey, things were going just fine until you let this place go to hell. Now here I am, walking around with a bunch of weirdos I've never seen before," Ale said, ostensibly meaning Kieran, Joey, and Toby, but also thinking about the glowing child.

"Aw, quit your whining," Hector muttered.

"Remember, you owe me for all this," Ale said, straining to keep the portcullis open.

"You nag more than my wife. Bah!" Hector heaved the portcullis upward slightly to allow himself better access, and then extracted himself on the other side. Arc and Ale released the winch in relief.

"So, it's time we had a little chat," Ale spoke to Arc. Hector stood up and regarded Toby, Kieran, and Joey momentarily, and then said, "Since when have you taken an interest in Shorty?"

"None of your business," Ale said quickly.

"And who's this?" Hector asked, marching up to the unconscious form of Robert Schneider.

"Damn, you're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Ale irritably responded.

Hector looked over his shoulder at the fox. "Cut me some slack, fox boy. It's felt like I've had the whole Auditore army following me all night."

Ale nodded slowly. "Yeah, well, I guess that's not far from the truth."

"What about the others?" Hector inquired. "You at least seen them?"

There was also the little matter of Volke and Sheryl. It was no great concern of Rudolf's what happened to these two. As he had said, he had no decision-making power when it came to establishing them in Ocinius. He also did not care that much. Now that they were no longer serving one rival, that was to the Sforzas' benefit. He would hesitate to guess if the two would find acceptance in Sforza society, and while he would hate to see them serve another rival, they were not precisely aces up the sleeve.

Rudolf took another look at Volke and Sheryl. Volke was a ball of tension. Rudolf could understand it, given the situation, but it was such an undignified way to proceed. Sheryl...yuck, all that fur made Rudolf want to retch. He turned away from her. On the other hand, all that fur probably covered a soft, yielding underbelly of tender flesh. He could delight in that. Her screams would be a symphony. It would be marvellous.

He was shaken from his reverie when the convoy approached the city gates. The youth leaned over and whispered in Volke's ear, "Arise, soldier. Your next battle begins."

         Sicarius turned as he stopped, beginning to motion toward a local shop. Just as he did, something whisked past his face and slammed into a nearby lamp post. It was a small crossbow bolt. The god king drew his sword, pulling a dagger from his belt into his off hand. The figure in the cloak was already upon him, the rebel almost receiving a knife to his neck. Sicarius pushed the assassin back with the flat of his blade, delivering a kick to the man's gut as he followed through.

         Soon after the assault of the first assassin, another burst out a a crate that had been sitting nearby and swung a scimitar at Vetus' legs. The fox dodged the attack, drawing his own weapon.

____________________________________________________________________

         Tanuki leaned back, placing one leg over the other. "I see." he said, taking his pipe in hand, "Then I suppose I have little to fret about. I simply worry about the lass. She's trying to grow up to fast." He stroked his chin fur, thinking, a frown upon his face. "If you continue to pursue, old boy, just be careful. Darla can be a cranky one." He looked toward the stairs, sighing, knowing that she was probably going to give him an earful about this later.

_____________________________________________________________________

         Ale knelt down in front of Arc, a concerned look upon his face. "Are you ok, lad? No one hurt you, did they?"

         "No one touched him." grunted Hector, interrupting the squirrel. In response to this, Ale stood up and glared at the nobleman. However, he said nothing. He had to thank the Medichi general for protecting the boy, but couldn't bring himself to say such words, instead, patting the soldier on the shoulder and walked toward the portcullis.

         "This gate is barred to us. We'll have to find another way out." He looked around, seeing no immediate way out, he spotted a staircase leading up one of the walls. "We could backtrack all the way into the castle, or climb the walls. You're choice, iron-rump."

_______________________________________________________________________

          The streets of Ocinius were overly crowded, filled with shopkeepers, vintners, and the odd guard spread about. Volke looked down at Sheryl's limp body. She was still unconscious. The soldier raised an eyebrow, thinking that she should have woken up by now. The carriage stopped in front of a large house, much like the estate of the Primarch. "Welcome to my humble abode." quipped Rudolf, noting the perplexed look upon the former Auditore's features.

          "You live here!?" he shouted in surprise, "I've never seen such a beautiful home..." The Sforza were the family with the most artistic artisans, though perhaps that was as much bane as boon. Such houses looked gorgeous, but only an Auditore home could take a direct hit from a catapult.

|Rosa|

Vetus went silent in a instant, his eyes narrowed and his shortbow drawn. Thoughts of chuckling outwardly and saying perhaps Servus should of come was upon his mind as the kitsune jumped back as the assassins regained what little composure they had. It wasn't the easiest to place, but Vetus gauged the assassins being somewat competent. As he began gauging and preparing his bow; he commented.

"So, I take it this is not something we expected, then?" Vetus let out a chuckle afterward as he fired an arrow at his individual assassin.

-

Servus nodded, albeit reluctantly at the aged rixa. "I hear you. Now, do you have something that isn't fancy but hits you like a good shield bash to the face? Can't say the wine does anything for me."

|Gallia|

Ari groaned, glancing to Alexis. "Then just do what the lady says and guard her front while I guard her flank, already. We don't have time to dawdle!"

Alexis bit back the acerbic remark that threatened to rise to her lips in response to Ari's words- that would be out of character for Artimia. Simply nodding, she loped down the short narrow corridor towards its exit, carefully checking beyond the threshold before signalling and 'all-clear' to the others. Even as they moved forwards, even with her senses on alert for any enemies, Alexis allowed a part of her mind to dwell on Artimia's memories, and to continue to unlock them. She knew the girl's birthday now, and what her favourite food had been. The other memories though remained cryptic and obscure, locked away within layer upon layer of subtle and shifting meanings. There was however, a scene which Alexis now felt herself on the cusp of understanding.

In the strange memory-scape she saw Artimia surrounded by nebulous shadows that might have been people or something else entirely. Within the shadows that surrounded her half-formed shapes and images briefly flashed, ever-changing. Then Artimia was moving- moving with wings attached to her feet and a fearful yet determined expression on her face while behind her a miasma of dark and malevolent mist drifted, shifting now and then to briefly form a mantle of shadows out of which looked a bandage-wrapped skull with leering, empty eyes, and teeth that were too pronounced and sharp. Artimia sped onwards, her course leading her towards two figures- Oustvichre and Flavian. Another figure stood between them, with an outstretched and beckoning hand. Artimia sped faster, her own hand now holding tightly to something that glowed brightly, desperately outrunning that baleful, intangible apparition behind her and straining towards the distant figure- a figure Alexis now saw was standing on a clock, telling the time in years, months and days, as well as hours and minutes. Within two feet of the shadowy figure Artimia opened her hand, revealing a glowing royal crest, but at the same time the terrible mist suddenly billowed closer, swallowing the scene with a ghastly grin.

Part of the vision was easy enough to interpret. Artimia was obviously a literal representation of herself. What of the rest though? Alexis considered the shadows she had been in the company of, shadows that shifted and changed. Shadows often represented secrecy, and shapes possible motivations. Artimia had been in the company of some clandestine individuals- the group clearly represented more than one- whose true identities she had not known, or perhaps had only guessed at. Similarly, she had either been uncertain of their motives, or unsure as to their true motivations. In all probablility, those she had met had deemed it important to only give her specific information. Probably they believed it to be in both their own best interests and hers- she couldn't tell what she didn't know. The wings on the feet had been easy enough- Artimia had been charged with an urgent matter and had travelled fast. Where the sinister mist was concerned it seemed that some ominous and hostile intelligence- a person or maybe an organisation or secret society- had known her movements. And the skull with the bandages and deadly fangs indicated that either an agent of death or the suspicion of death and impending doom had actively hunted and hounded her as she travelled. The destination seemed to be- given the presence of the two High Kings of old and what Alexis knew of Artimia's final movements- Gallia itself. But there was more, Alexis realised as she concentrated on the final aspects of the memory. The shadowy figure with the outstretched hand had stood upon a clock. A clock stopped at the precise month and day that Gallia had fallen at a certain hour of the evening. With those details in mind, suddenly the memory became clear: Artimia had been sent with whatever vital information was enclosed in the letter Alexis now carried to meet someone unknown to her- or perhaps whose identity she closely guarded- on the very night Gallia had fallen. She had arrived as fast as possible, but with death on her heels- death that had overtaken her when the message was almost delivered.

Well, Alexis mused, that told her something new and important, but it raised as many questions as it answered. Who had sent Artimia? To whom had she been sent? Who had been so determined to stop her? Why? What vital information did the letter contain? If it had reached its intended recipient what would have been set in motion? Was the intended recipient still alive? Before she could dwell on those matters, her ears picked up the sounds of familiar voices coming from somewhere. Putting the insight just gleaned to one side for the moment, Alexis returned all her attention to the present moment.      

(OOC: Why do I have no idea where to go with this? *Sigh*)

IC:

Was...was she actually AGREEing with him? Albeit obliquely. He poked his head out again.  "You...you're not gonna turn me in?" Something else the fox had said had gotten his attention. "How they treat us?  What d'ya mean?" Sure, he'd been on the street most of his life, so he was used to avoiding contemptuous kicks aimed in his direction.  However...it was just as often other furs that were brushing him off as it was humans.  He hadn't really noticed any discriminating treatment.  EVERYBODY treated him like refuse...regardless of species.

TBC