Willful Wishes

[Prankster101]

"Who says?"

As Danju jounced the limb, he used the momentum to launch himself into the branch next to it. He then unceremoniously smacked into the limb he was aiming for; hey! at least he was still in the tree!

After dignifying himself, by adjusting himself on the limb, he watched the fox make a lucky jump off the vibrating limb to the branch above. Danju inwardly cursed himself. Of course he would do that! He thought to himself.

The fox then pulled out it's saber and tried stabbing down at Danju. Danju easily flattened himself, avoiding the blade, by falling flat on the branch. He then smacked the blade away with his dirk. The fox wasn't giving up, Danju thought to himself, but if this fox was going to stay in the tree, it was surely dead. Danju then rolled off the limb, keeping his rudder wrapped around it and hung upside down, just to flaunt in the eyes of the fox and prove to him, trees were his territory.

" Get out of there Danju NOW!"

Danju had rocked himself forward, latched on to another branch. let go with his rudder, and pulled himself on to this new branch when he heard Rorgus yell at him. Rorgus really wanted Danju to stop fighting the fox. Why? Danju thought to him self, but he didn't have alot of time to think as the fox unceremoniously jumped from it's perch with a howl.

Danju watched, laing over the side of the branch as the fox took a varied fall from the tree, and landing on the ground on it's hind feet. Danju raised his eyebrows at the fox. Not a professional fall, but creative enough to keep him alive, at the least.

"Well, this is a right mess I've gotten myself into."

The fox commented to it's self as Danju came down from the tree. Danju gently leaped form branch to branch like stair steps, until he was on the branch the fox had fallen from. He then jumped to the ground as well, landing on all four paws with a jolt.

Ouch he thought to himself as he stood up properly. His limbs were rather numb and his paws were covered in splinters. he hated it when he did that. Pulling out his dirk with aching paws, Danju watched the fox fall to it's knees and Rorgus with his bow out. Danjus circled the fox from behind, in case it decided to do anything funny, waiting for Rorgus to make the first move.....

[Rorgus]

Rorgus stood thinking a moment with his bow pointed at the fox, he so wanted to kill him but he knew he shouldn,t. He knew they would need him. He lowered his bow and unstrung the arrow.

"No funny stuff or I'll slice you open with my dirk! Tie him up Danju."

He then went to check on Saigon to see if he had heard the noise. He hadn't! He was delighted that his plan was going as planned. He went back and saw Anubis tied to a tree so he couldn't get undone.

"Come on Danju. Lets go deal with Saigon!" He disappeared into the woods. He went over to the fire Saigon had made and looked around it he then began gathering dried grass and twigs, he didn't want a big fire, just enough to scare the fox.

As soon as he was ready he got a branch out of the fire and began lighting the grass. He put some near the fox so the heat would wake him up. Once they had lit it all they waited a little while. Then they heard him scream. They saw him run for the water as fast as he could, his cloak was on fire. His plan had worked! He went to inspect the ground where Saigon was sleeping. The pouch was not there!

Rorgus waited for a while. He had an idea that if the fox grabbed the pouch and dashed for the stream the he wouldn't have bothered to let go of it, which meant he would have lost it in the water because the fox was not a very swimmer and Rorgus knew he would have to use both paws to swim. And in the dark he would not be able to find it again. So Rorgus would wait for morning and then dive in and get the pouch.

He walked back to where Anubis was tied up and laid down to sleep saying "You want to take first watch Danju?"

[dyrisk]

The tree-climbing otter had leapt down from the pine with agile skill and was now circling Anubis, holding up a pointed dirk. The dust-furred canid sighed. If he'd had the smarts to actually take his time and get down, he wouldn't be in this predicament. He sheathed his saber - it wasn't going to do him any favors now.

No funny stuff or I'll slice you open with my dirk! Tie him up Danju.

Knowing if he struggled he would just end up dead, the Fox allowed Danju to tie him to a tree. Taking advantage of the respite, the canid clawed up a pawful of soft grass and, leaning back to the cape which had been placed over his shoulder, tore off a piece with his teeth. It was hard enough to reach over to the cape - he knew he wouldn't be able to gnaw out of the bonds.

He spat the piece of green fabric out next to the grass he'd uprooted. There was no way he was going to get the stuff on his fingers so he settled himself with watching Rorgus alertly as he walked back in to camp.

Come on Danju. Lets go deal with Saigon!

The duo headed off and Anubis took the chance to catch up on some sleep. The Fox didn't even wake when Saigon's scream rang through the woods, but only to the soft footsteps that filtered into his ears when the otters returned.

You want to take first watch Danju?

Okay. A whole night to figure something out. Still acting as though he was asleep, the canine ran through ways to escape in his head.

And then he came upon an idea. His gray orbs flicked open - in the dark night, nobody would see what he was doing. He pressed his back to the tree and sunk down, pushing the quiver of arrows up to show over his shoulder. Reaching backwards, Anubis picked an arrow out with his teeth.

Holding it tightly by the feathers, he plunged it into the ropes holding him, snapping them efficiently. The canine flexed his still-throbbing arms and, on all fours, crawled off, abandoning the arrow, grass and strip of cape he'd torn off.

[Prankster101]

Danju circled the fox, waiting. Rorgus had his bow up and pointed at the fox. You could see the hatred in Rorgus's eyes and how dearly he wanted to kill it, but he didn't. Instead he lowered his bow and unstrung the arrow.

"No funny stuff or I'll slice you open with my dirk! Tie him up Danju."

Danju nodded importantly and ran over to his pack which had come off his back when he fell out of the tree. Upon opening the sack, he found some old rope he had snitched off a vermin gang a while back. Danju tested the strength of the rope with his paws. It was sturdy enough to do the job!

The fox did not fight Danju as he tied him smartly to the tree. Strange for a vermin not to fight, Danju thought to himself, but he quickly forgot about it when Rorgus came back into the glade looking very proud with himself.

"Come on Danju. Lets go deal with Saigon!"

"Alrighty!" Danju said cheerfully. This was going to be fun, he thought to himself has he had his own plan along with Rorgus's. After giving a non-trusting look to the tied up fox, Danju silently followed Rorgus to the tree to where this Saigon character was sleeping.

Rorgus began busying himself with setting the fire while Danju also readied himself for after the fire. The plan was that the fox would accidentally leave the pouch behind as he ran to escape the flames. Danju, having some experience with vermin, thought that it might or might not happen. Foxes were tricky characters and they had to be treated as such.

So as Rorgus set the fire, Danju hid among the ferns on the other side of the fox, waiting for him to wake-up. Eventuality the small fire began to burn and the fox, smelling the smoke and feeling the burn of the fire upon his cloak screamed and ran for the river , only a few feet away.

As Saigon ran for the water, Danju silently rolled out of the brush and ran behind the fox, matching pace with him as he sprinted toward the water. After all, he was the Prince of Thieves, Danju smartly thought to himself. He reached steadily out toward the fox's belt, when Danju slipped on the wet bedrock of the river and hit the ground, his hip landing on something hard.

Danju immediately looked up, after his fall to watch the fox jump into the river. Shoot! Danju thought to himself as he pounded the gravel under his fist. He almost had him! As he sat up, Danju reached under him to find what his hip fell on, because what ever it was, it smarts!

Pulling the object out from under him and raising it into the light, Danju could clearly see it was a sling-stone pouch. The fox must have dropped it as he ran, he thought to himself. Was it the one Rorgus was looking for? Danju questioned, looking back toward the campfire, but Rorgus was not there. He must have put the fire out and gone back to camp, Danju thought. Picking himself up, Danju gingerly headed back to camp with the pouch in hand.

When he got back to their little glade, the fox was still tied to the tree, and Rorgus was settling back down to sleep.

"You want to take first watch Danju?"

"Sure matey, if ye want." Danju said as he sat down, his back to an old oak tree. He rubbed his hip where he landed on the pouch as he continued to talk. "So, Rorgus. You were looking for a sling-stone pouch right mate?" Danju asked holding up the pouch. "Cause I found one." Danju smiled as he winced at the bruise on his hip. "The hard way.."

Unknown to Danju while he talked to Rorgus, the fox was making his escape with an arrow to cut his bonds, trying to cleverly sneak away....

[Rorgus]

"So, Rorgus. You were looking for a sling-stone pouch right mate?"

"Yes that's right I am."

"Cause I found one."

"That's it!" Rorgus took the pouch and examined it. "Yep that's the one! Though I will have to examine it tomorrow, because there's not enough light."Rorgus fell asleep as soon as he lay down. He hadn't gotten any sleep for two days.

A while later. He heard a sound and woke up. "What was that?" He asked and looked around, then he saw the tree where the fox was tied. " Where's the fox? He must have escaped!We'll have to watch for him, because he will try to steal the pouch. I'll take next watch mate. You get some sleep."

[dyrisk]

So, Rorgus. You were looking for a sling-stone pouch right mate? Cause I found one.

As he crawled into the darkness of the forest, he heard the voices. A glimpse went the direction of the river. So they had the slingshot pouch. No matter - it was a damned emerald, and the canine didn't even care about it. Not even for all of its powers. If he could have gotten it, that would have been great, but ah well.

That's it! Yep that's the one! Though I will have to examine it tomorrow, because there's not enough light.

With an inaudible sigh, the injured Fox crawled a little deeper into the woods, placed his green cape over his form, and closed his eyes to take a quick rest. He woke up an hour or two later and set about fixing his fingers.

Grabbing a pawful of damp, rotted leaves and moss from the forest floor, he placed the goop on his fingers and secured them with strips of bark he ripped off the trees. It would make a reasonable splint for a while until he could get some real help.

What was that? Where's the fox? He must have escaped!We'll have to watch for him, because he will try to steal the pouch. I'll take next watch mate. You get some sleep.

Wincing, Anubis stood and limped deeper into the forest. He wasn't going to be able to fire his bow for a while now...worst luck, and he needed something to eat and drink. Walking farther, he took water from the river and then sat at the bank.

Saber poised, the canid watched for any fish he could find in the water. After a while, he took a stab and was rewarded with a a nice-sized perch. Grimacing, Anubis knew it was too dangerous to make fire, and he'd have to eat it raw.

Opening his jaws, he bit into the fish. Blood and guts filled his jaws and he almost spit it out, but forced it down and continued to eat. When he was done, he examined the skeleton, washing the crimson blood from his mouth and teeth in the river and trying to spit out the fishy taste.

[Prankster101]

"That's it! Yep that's the one! Though I will have to examine it tomorrow, because there's not enough light."

Danju felt happy that he had done something good for Rorgus. He was about to reply to Rorgus, but he noticed that Rorgus had fallen to sleep. Poor mate, Danju thought to himself. He looks like he hasn't slept for days!

Deciding that Rorgus needed his sleep, Danju pulled his brown cloak around his shoulders and settled down in front of the oak. He had to keep watch, so he forced himself not to doze off as he looked up at the stars. They were so pretty at night. Leaning on his back, watching the stars, Danju did not hear the fox they had tied up, quietly sneaking away.....

_________________________________________________

Danju still gazing up at the stars didn't notice that Rorgus had awoken a while later and started looking around. It was only when he talked did Danju notice anything.

"What was that? Where's the fox? He must have escaped! We'll have to watch for him, because he will try to steal the pouch. I'll take next watch mate. You get some sleep."

Danju jerked out of his trance as Rorgus spoke. It was only then that he remembered that they had tied up the fox, and looking over to the tree....He wasn't there! Oh no! Danju thought to himself. The fox had escaped! And on his watch! Rorgus was going to be very angry with him........

But Rorgus didn't appear angry, he was cautious though as he told Danju to get some sleep. Danju did as he was told, not wanting to anger Rorgus, but this time he decided to curl up on the ground amid the roots of the old oak instead of it's branches, not wanting to fall out of another tree waking up again........

[Rorgus]

Rorgus wasn't angry at Danju. He knew it would have happened to either of them, and he knew the fox would have escaped eventually. He went to the outer rim of the trees so he could watch for the fox. He knew that he would come back for the Emerald and Rorgus wanted to catch him once and for all.

He watched Danju curl up at the trunk of a tree, he wondered what kind of life he had lived. He looked at him with sympathetic eyes and could not help wondering if he had any parents.

He decided not to question him. He didn't want to bring back any bad memories.

Rorgus saw a moment nearby and crouched ready for whoever or whatever it was. He had an arrow notched to his bow and pointed it at where he saw something move. He didn't dare wake up Danju.