Eris closed her eyes and took a breath. "No need for worry," said I. "Rawzom and the others will most likely be discovered by Equila, and shortly thereafter escorted from the castle." Razar blinked. "What he said." Eris opened her eyes and looked to Ewar. "We'll be leaving now," she said, "So if you want to take anything, go get it now." "I've already got it." Ewar whipped out a spyglass (earning odd looks from everyone except me). "Right," said Laval. "Rizzo's got our supply of Chi on him, Eris, you have our map.... What'll we do for food?" "Forage, of course," said I, being used to doing such things. "Well, not at first..." Eris shook her head. "I've packed up stores of food to last for a week, at least." Laval grimaced, but did not make comment.
The sun had only just risen above the horizon when we got down to the landing pad. Eris pointed to five eagle drone fighters (small scout vehicles built to carry two). "These drone fighters," said Laval. "Can we ride them the whole way?" "Most certainly not," I said. "After all"-- "We're only riding these as far as the crocs' hideout," said Eris, cutting me off. I finished to myself, "Our supply of Chi is limited." Laval jumped onto one of the drone fighters. "I say visit the gorillas first," he said. "They're closer." Eris mounted a drone fighter as well, shaking her head slowly, as if reluctant to disagree with Laval. "I think we should visit the wolves first," said she. "It'll be hard to convince one of them to go with us..." "So you wanna get it out of the way, I see," Laval said. I frowned as Ewar, Razar, and I each mounted a fighter drone and raised off the ground. "But how," continued Laval, "Can getting a wolf be harder than getting a croc?! Man, they'll be trouble!" I felt my frown deepen. It troubled and frustrated me to think about how Laval was prejudiced against any tribe that opposed him in any way. Our war would not end soon if Laval, and others like him, continued on their current line of thinking.
After departing the eagles' castle, we flew above the treetops in silence. No one seemed to want to speak up. This was ideal for me, however, because it allowed me time with my own thoughts. Things had been happening at a rapid pace at the castle, without giving a chance to accept the change. I was still rather shocked about the ravens' swift departure. That hadn't seemed to bother anyone else, yet it struck me now, leaving me strangely saddened. The ravens had most definitely not been my friends, but I had grown up with them, and thus felt a sort of connection to them. And now they were gone...except, of course-- "Are we there yet?" asked Razar. The silence had been broken at last. Eris sighed. "Kind of," she said vaguely. Razar sniffed slightly. "We're probably nowhere near." "Well..." Eris stared straight ahead, and in following her line of sight, I caught sight of the wolf encampment. It was not long before the others noticed it as well. "Let me do the talking," said Laval. Ewar made a sound of protest, angling his drone fighter with the rest of us to begin the landing procedures. "That might not work out..." At this, Laval slanted his eyes. "I mean," Ewar continued, speaking quickly, "The wolves probably don't have very good memories of you...and they hold grudges." Everyone stared at him, and his expression turned miserable. "Alright, do whatever"-- "No, that makes sense," said Eris. "Would you like to do the explaining?" Ewar looked as if he wanted to say no, but he couldn't at the moment, for he (and the rest of us, for that matter) was concentrating on landing smoothly. The drone fighters settled onto the ground, and I relaxed my grip on the controls. We had not landed in the encampment, or even directly next to it; but the walk to it would not take long. After dismounting drone fighters, we started off. However, we had taken all of eight steps ere a wolf ran into us. "If you're warning us about flowers," he said, "well, you're too late!"
"Flowers--what--how do you--" Eris could not find the right words for a moment. "Hah!" said the wolf. "You want me to explain, right? I will, but follow me first." He then shoved past us and ran the direction opposite the way we were facing. I made a split-second decision and ran after the wolf, dragging Razar with me as I passed by the drone fighters. The others, I was certain, were shrugging and continuing on their way, dismissing what I had done as typical raven behavior (and dismissing the wolf as insane). But something told me the wolf was telling the truth and that I had to follow him. I had almost lost sight of him, not being able to run quickly enough, so I spread my wings and flew after the wolf (leaving Razar behind). Then the wolf disappeared, vanishing without a trace. I did not know much about tracking, but even if I had, I would have found nothing to follow. Beginning to grow fearful, I wondered: had I stumbled upon a ghost? A chuckle sounded from somewhere off to my left. Turning to look, I saw the wolf's head poking out of a bush. Now that I could get a closer look at him, I realized it was Worriz. "You didn't know where I was!" said he, chuckling again. "I bet you thought I'd disappeared. Birdbrain!" "Er, why exactly have you brought me here?" I asked, looking around. Worriz stopped chuckling. "I had to find a place to hide." I narrowed my eye. "Hide from what?" "I'll explain." Worriz sighed. "At noon, some lion showed up with a flower, said 'e wanted to see the tribe elder. So we let 'im see Wakz. Y'know, the tribe leader...? Anyway, after the furbag left, Wakz came outta his tent, with red eyes, holdin' a flower. An' once the other wolves sniffed it, they got red eyes too, an' they started talking nonsense about controllin' the other tribes an' destroying some travel party..."
I turned my back on Worriz momentarily, not wanting him to see what effect his words had upon me. Closing my eye, I tried not to think about what would happen if Loradus gained control of all the tribes. "...Then," continued Worriz, "When me an' some of my friends figured it was the flower causing the problem, we ran away, all in different directions. Are you listening to me?!" In truth, I was not. Assuming we were the "travel party" the mind-controlled wolves talked about "destroying", I had left the others in a very dangerous position. Afraid of what I might find if I went back, I said, "Worriz, come with me." And leaving him with no explanation, in the hopes that he would decide to do as I said, I turned and flew to the drone fighters. It was eerily quiet in the clearing where we had landed, and there was no one in sight. I shifted my gaze constantly to avoid letting someone take me by surprise. Eventually, a rustling sound came from up ahead, then Laval stepped out from the shadows, obviously under the Anti-Chi's spell once more. He advanced on me, and just when it seemed he would spring forwards in an attack, Ewar, Eris, and Razar jumped out of nearby bushes and held him in place. I stared on, unsure of what to do, or even what was happening, exactly. Razar grunted. "Rizzo!" said he. "Get over here and do something!" I started to move in, but by that time, Laval had already thrown off Eris and Razar, and Ewar was barely holding on. And so I did the only thing I could think of. "Laval!" I shouted. "We must get to the Chi fountain and-- and-- save your father--" Laval froze, his expression turning from angry to confused. In that moment, Worriz entered the clearing, out of breath.
No one knew quite what to say. Eris and Razar slowly stood up, staring at Worriz. Laval looked as if he was about to draw his Valious, but I locked eyes with him and shook my head, frowning deeply. "So," said Eris finally. "About the flower. Worriz, are you talking about an ugly, mind-controlling"-- "Yes, I told this raven here all about it." Worriz cut her off impatiently. Then his voice softened slightly, something I would not have thought possible, considering what I knew of him. "I--Is there any way you c'n reverse what it did? And--and"-- "How many are under the 'spell' of the flower?" asked Eris, her expression warming to a helpful, if a bit weary, smile. Worriz looked at the ground, one arm by his side, the other moving about aimlessly. "Almost all of 'em, I think," said he. Eris sighed. "Well, we're trying to find something that can reverse the effects of the flower ourselves. But we need a wolf with us." She looked pointedly at Worriz, who began to look even more uncomfortable. "I don't know," he said. "I'd have to"-- "You have no pack to return to," I put in, trying to be helpful. "Meanwhile, we have need of you." "I can tell you more if you wanna come with us," said Eris. Worriz shifted his weight, massaged his temples, growled, and finally said, "Alright, I'll come, 'cause..." he gulped and closed his eyes. "I'll come," he repeated. A small cheer was let up, that is, Razar shouted in false joy and patted himself on the shoulder. Everyone ignored him. "Let us be on our way," I said, mounting one of the drone fighters. "For if Loradus wants control of all the tribes, he may be assaulting the ones we have yet to visit." Worriz appeared confused, saying, "Loradus?" "I'll tell you when we're in the air," said Eris, gesturing to the drone fighters. "Wait," I said, remembering something. "Eris, what happened after I left you to follow Worriz?" Eris mounted another drone fighter. "I'll tell you that after everything else has been explained."
After Worriz chose to ride with Ewar (apparently deeming him to be the least argumentative of us all), we took to the skies again. "Which tribe next?" asked Laval to no one in particular. "I believe"-- I began, but Eris cut me off. "Let's go to the gorillas," said she (I frowned, for that was exactly what I had been about to say). "Now: Worriz, tell me what you told Rizzo back there, about the flower." Worriz complied, explaining what had happened in the tribe earlier (Laval scowled like thunder at the words Worriz used to describe the flower-carrying lion). And when he had finished, he said, "I've told you what you wanted to know, so now it's your turn. Why're you picking up members o' different tribes?" Eris nodded with approval, and launched into the story of what had happened at the lion temple and beyond. I was rather sick of hearing it, for it reminded me all too painfully of the temple's destruction, but I sat through it all the same. And when she was done (and Worriz appeared satisfied), I raised my voice and said, "I should like to know what happened after I left to hear Worriz." "Oh," said Eris, taking a deep breath. "Well, we actually started to follow you, but red-eyed wolves came from the direction of the encampment, and the Anti-Chi inside Laval acted up. The rest of us quickly jumped into the bushes and waited; and eventually, since they couldn't find us, the wolves left, and Laval hid to ambush whoever entered the clearing. Then, well..." She turned to look at me, inclining her head. "You know the rest." She took an even deeper breath, then let it out very slowly. "I'm tired of giving all the answers. Laval, you explain to the gorillas and crocs why we need them." Laval smiled nervously at this. "Well...I guess..." The others went on talking, but I sighed and focused inward... and slightly ahead.
We arrived at the gorilla tribe's hanging-houses just after the sun had reached its highest point. True to his previous agreement, Laval explained everything to the gorillas, and, at length, Gorzan volunteered to join us. It was only after we left the hanging-houses that I realized there had been no further reports concerning the flower. "So," said Eris, maneuvering her drone fighter into position beside Laval's. "Now we all we have to do is"-- "Pick up a croc," said Laval, his eyes slit. "I know." We flew on just above the treetops. No one seemed to want to speak. And I knew I would fail in trying to start a conversation. Thus, all I could do was watch the sun start to sink down on the horizon, thinking about how we couldn't possibly make it to the crocodiles' lodging before dark. Eventually, Laval yawned, trying to disguise it as a growl, but fooling nobody. "We should probably make camp for the night," said Eris, her eyes half-closed. "Totally," said Gorzan in his deep, relaxed voice. "I"-- "No!" Laval forced his eyes open and bared his teeth. "We gotta get this over with!" Worriz chuckled. "You're not much good to us asleep," said he. "I say we stop for the night." Laval shook his head furiously and kept his eyes focused forwards. "We're almost there," he growled. "All the more reason to set down," I said. "In the morning, we can easily proceed to the lodging on foot." Ewar pulled up beside Laval as well. "Do you really want to be dealing with the crocs when you're half-asleep?" he asked reasonably. "'M not half-asleep!" returned Laval. "Keep going...." he put his head in his hands. "OK, OK, let's land and make camp!" I sighed with relief, for I did not want to negotiate with the crocodiles long into the night. We then landed the drone fighters, and, surrounded by trees and (sometimes damp) jungle growths, we set up camp.
Once the others finished making up the leaf beds, I gathered up wood for a fire. But as I crouched down to set the woodpile alight, Laval rushed over and pulled me away. "No!" said he. "What're you doing?! A fire would call the crocs to us!" I had already considered this possibility, but I feigned thoughtfulness for his sake. "It is probably for the best," I said. "The fire will let them know we are here, thus, the crocodiles shall be prepared to meet us on the morrow." Laval's mouth twitched. I frowned and pushed past him towards the woodpile, and soon we were sitting around a warming fire. I am certain that everyone was thankful for the warmth, whether they expressed it or not, for a cold wind began to sweep through our camp, causing the flames to lean away and the trees to bend their heads towards us. "Eris," I said, "May I have a look at the papers you had from the encyclopedia?" "Oh--sure"-- Eris reached back and retrieved a scroll, which she handed to me. I unrolled it and found that it was two-sided: one side had a map; the other instructions of what to do in specific locations if one ran into trouble. Looking more closely, I found a section that detailed why one could not fly directly to Mount Cavora. Making a mental note to examine the scroll very carefully at some point, I rolled it up again and passed it back to Eris. Now, I felt, it was time to rest. Taking a dagger Razar had brought, I pushed the stones surrounding the fire inward slightly, then left it to die down on its own. Worriz and Gorzan settled back, staring into space. Ewar polished his spyglass. Eris pulled out a book and began reading. Razar counted his coins. "Hey, you!" I shook myself and turned to Laval, fairly certain that he was addressing me (I was right). "You get first watch," he said. "Wake us if any crocs come." I sighed, then nodded and walked around the circle of the camp as the others drifted off to sleep.
I continued to circle the camp, keeping a sharp lookout for any intruders. The fire had all but gone out, leaving me in near darkness. Something rustled, and I tensed, turning about. But the sound simply turned out to be Laval rolling over in his sleep. Yawning, I wondered when my watch would be over. Laval had failed to mention whom I should wake for the second watch, and when. I sat down, blinking slowly. I was just about to wake Laval when I heard something that made me stop. "Hey!" a voice whispered from the shadows before me. Taking Razar's dagger (and hoping I should not have to use it), I whispered, "Identify yourself!" "Put the knife down, please!" said the voice. "It's Cragger." My beak dropped open. Instantly I turned and started to shout, "Wake up!" but only got as far as, "Wwnn!" For Cragger had his hand clamped over my mouth. "That's enough!" said he. "I'll take my hand away if you behave, OK?" I went limp and nodded, but as soon as he stepped back, I shouted, "One and all, AWAKE!" Cragger backed off further, looking disappointed. Everyone in the camp groaned. Laval opened his eyes and looked at Cragger, then stood up, drew his Valious, and growled. I had expected to flee if our camp was discovered, therefore Laval's display of aggression was somewhat startling. "Laval, no!" I said, stepping betwixt him and Cragger. Laval glared at me. "Get out of the way, raven," he said. "I'm only giving him what he deserves!" I took a deep, calming breath. Cragger might have done bad things, but Laval was being unreasonable. "Can you not simply forgive"-- "No!" snarled Laval. "I mean"-- "Laval." Eris stood up and walked over. "This is what we wanted. Cragger to join us, I mean...." Cragger looked at the ground, then back up again. "Let me guess," he said. "You wanted to pick up a croc like me so you could unlock Mount Cavora and find the Chi fountain."
"That is... correct," I found myself saying. Laval, looking slightly ashamed, stood down, adopting a much less threatening posture. "How'd you know?" asked he. Cragger's head jerked about as he looked at each of us in turn, then at the surrounding jungle. "I barely managed to get away. I--we might not be safe here." "Got away from what?" asked Laval. "And how d'you know about the Chi fountain??" "Alright, alright, I'll explain," said Cragger. Ewar, Razar, Worriz, and Gorzan by now had gathered around as well, wide awake. "See, I just ran away from my own tribe. They don't know I'm gone yet... well, Crooler might." He shuddered. "Anyway, about a week ago, I couldn't sleep at night. I tried all the remedies I could think of, but sleep wouldn't come. Then I heard a weird noise, so I got up to check it out. Turns out, my sister, Crooler, was sneaking away. I wanted to see what she was up to, so I followed her as she left our hideout. She stopped at a clearing surrounded by bushes, so I hid behind one and watched as a--a lion came out of the shadows. At first I thought it was you Laval, 'cause he had red hair and was about your age, but then I saw his eyes. Or, eye. He had only one, just like--" Cragger gulped. "Just like me." It felt as if an icy hand had gripped my heart and squeezed, for I knew who the lion was--but that was not all. If he was missing the same eye as Cragger, that meant he was missing the same eye as me--or, the one I had pretended to lose. "Loradus," said Ewar. "It has to be." Cragger nodded. "Yeah. I listened to him and Crooler talk about sorcery and Anti-Chi. Then Crooler went back to the hideout; I followed, and when I got back to my room, I went to sleep instantly."
I rested my talons against my eye covering as Cragger continued: "Crooler was sneaking out every night, so I followed her every night. Soon I learned that she and Loradus had been meeting for a long time, planning to--to use me to separate the tribes." "How?" asked Eris, motioning for him to go on. Cragger took a rattling breath. "I attacked the lions and eagles, almost drowned you"--he looked at Laval--"Because Crooler was controlling me with a flo-- the Anti-Chi. I--" His voice broke. "I'm sorry to anyone I hurt," croaked he. Laval narrowed his eyes. "This could still be a trick," he said. "Eris, check the surrounding area for crocs." Eris slowly shook her head, waiting for Cragger to say more. "Eris?" said Laval. "They could be waiting to ambush us right now! Go and--" "Carry on, Cragger," said I, with a hard look at Laval. "Your words are the truth, that I know." Laval threw up his hands. "I didn't say they weren't--!" "Well," said Cragger, "Once I learned that, I wanted to run away instantly. But then I heard them mention a traveling party to Mount Cavora, said they'd need a croc to 'open the gateway'... and that Laval was a part of it." He went on to detail Loradus' and Crooler's plan involving the Anti-Chi, mostly stating information we already knew. Meanwhile, I turned his previous words over in my mind. I had always suspected that Crooler was somehow behind the war, but I never would have guessed that Loradus and the Anti-Chi were also involved. This changed my perspective of things tremendously. When Cragger finished speaking, I said, "We shall have to reexamine our theories regarding Loradus and the Anti-Chi. But"-- "Not right now," Laval finished for me. He raised an eyebrow at Cragger and returned his blade to his back. I rolled my eye and began to pace. "If he's telling the truth," said Ewar, "We've wasted enough time here." "I agree," said I. "We must settle our differences and be off." Laval grimaced. "Oh, OK," he relented.
God darn, the archive site is convoluted. I literally can't even tell whether this story is on there in its entirety or not. Looks like pages 1-73 and page 85 are on there, so a large chunk's missing (though page 85 just contains discussion posts from after the story ended), but there may be "captures" of other pages on other dates. I'll keep trying my best to get as much of these stories as I can on here.
God darn, the archive site is convoluted. I literally can't even tell whether this story is on there in its entirety or not. Looks like pages 1-73 and page 85 are on there, so a large chunk's missing (though page 85 just contains discussion posts from after the story ended), but there may be "captures" of other pages on other dates. I'll keep trying my best to get as much of these stories as I can on here.
God darn, the archive site is convoluted. I literally can't even tell whether this story is on there in its entirety or not. Looks like pages 1-73 and page 85 are on there, so a large chunk's missing (though page 85 just contains discussion posts from after the story ended), but there may be "captures" of other pages on other dates. I'll keep trying my best to get as much of these stories as I can on here.
Looks like pages 1-73 and page 85 are on there, so a large chunk's missing (though page 85 just contains discussion posts from after the story ended), but there may be "captures" of other pages on other dates. I'll keep trying my best to get as much of these stories as I can on here. 
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![[y]](http://storage2.proboards.com/6672327/images/WYWPH2VRo26pOFDid7QZ.png)
