The Story before the Mask: Fool's Gold

[FayeleneFyre]

Genre:
Action/Adventure/Fantasy.
This story has a T rating for violence and gore and suggestive humor/content.

In a time long forgotten, there was once a world connected to Hyrule… These days are now tales in the pages of history books and fairytales. These were the days of kings, demons, and deities. A time when the Light Spirits were revered and loved by the people, and a time when the great deity, Lunereas, watched high in the sky from his lunar home. This ancient world is known as Termina.
While Hyrule was in its young stages at war, Termina appeared to be a fine land. Overlaying the kingdom seemed to be unity and harmony among the people. Devision was not a thing known by these civilizations. Human or not, one would think that conflict was something unknown. This amazing land was lead by the great king, Igos Du Ikana. Under his rule at the Kingdom of Ikana, his law stood firm. But underneath this golden harmony was a darkness… Prejudice, pleasure, greed… Termina was not without its sin. And the monsters knew this well. Looking close, the country was falling apart at the seams and unity was shattering. And it would not be long before war was waged against the kingdom by monsters… That is when the world's blood came to the surface and the shadows were truly seen.

Underneath the earth of this bleeding world, a gang of thieving outcasts survived and made names for themselves through greed and bloodshed. The tale follows their adventures through Termina in its shattering days. This gang were the lowest of the low, and of kinds eyes glared down to and faces snarled upon. Lead by Midas Leavance- a rogue tunnel scrub, and his brother Kaiser- a rogue royal scrub, this gang of five were out to make people fear them. If they were dubbed as monsters, then monsters they'll be. Midas and his family of picked up outcasts became well-known outlaws. They had rupees to their names for murder and theft. And with all this, Midas did not seem to show any shame or guilt. Outwardly, he felt pride for being more than objects to kick and animals to skin- they were far more. And one day, he'd have the king himself bowing at his feet… At least, he dreamed. King Midas… Had a good ring to it. His people and the other monsters would no longer quiver in fear of swords and arrows. Even if he had to kill… One day, he'd walk into that throne room, and take everything.

Of course, one acid spitter deku from Hyrule began standing in his way. No, not for a noble cause… Not for bragging rights… Not even for his rupees! She was just always there to ruin everything… Between the trouble she causes, the money on his name, and the kingdom's war- Midas, his brother, and the rest of his family would eventually find themselves changing the game… And maybe, somewhere along his paving path, he'll find the gold he's desperately longed for. But first, he'll have to fight for it- and survive trying.


The history of Termina begins here.
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Chapter 1
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A Fool's Errand
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Termina... This ancient land is a parallel to the land of Hyrule. Lead by the great king, Igos Du Ikana, Termina seemingly prospered in peace and togetherness- whereas Hyrule- the golden land, was currently in the middle of a warring crisis with demons and monsters. Termina and Hyrule are connected, and often do people travel between worlds. Those from the supposed golden land will easily say that Termina is a land with few monsters... Of course, this isn't exactly true... Every land has its monsters. And some monsters travel in packs... And regardless of how they may look- they can be lead by something as simple as greed, desire, or vengeance...

High up the velvet sky, the moon blessed the earth in it's ethereal veil. The stars glittered the sky- like spirits shining brightly to guide those lost on their voyage in the celestial ocean. Many people all across the land loved to stare up at these stars. Many would seek council from these souls, or even the great god, The Moon. There are still those however who do not look for guidance. Rather, they like to be the one guiding. Currently, the only guiding the celestial body was doing was via their light across the grassy prairies of Termina's mainland.

The grass weaved and danced tall and green with the push of the breeze. Much like the sky, it was its own ocean. For countless miles, you could see the tiny lights of settlements over or behind the hills. One in particular was nearby our scene... The main settlement of the prairie consisted of farmers and ranchers, raising cattle and poultry for the kingdom further east. Others in the village grew crops and made weapons and armer. The settlements all gave something for Ikana, but this... This was the big place- the Town of Thymeria. What else made Thymeria so important was the massive temple and sanctuary they had at the back. This temple was located at the very center of the giant field. It was the most magnificent and advanced structure in all the land, adorned with the world's first real clock on it's crown.

Deafening through the silence of the night, sounds of shouting and terror filled Thymeria's streets. Town guards were surrounding one of the larger and nicer houses of the settlement. This was Thymeria's mayor's house- the authority of the town. But as guards attempted to get into the facility and the crowds fell silent, a furry creature came flying off the roof and into the pack of warriors, slicing and growling at them viciously. The canine-monster's strength and speed was one to fear. This caused more ruckus and villagers went running to safety.

"Halt! Put down your weapon and surrender!" the leader of the village guard demanded. This dark-red fox cut across one of the warriors, before pushing them down to the ground and stood across their chest. The monster stood at four feet and three inches. The beast snarled and growled with its sword at the ready. It was scarred across the body and missing most of its right ear. It had a golden earring on its left. The ears both would be tipped in black if both were there. On the face, it had white-dotted eyebrows and slender orange and red eyes with a X-shaped marking on the forehead. Adorning the neck was a fluffy white collar of fur, with a braid on the back of the head. The fox had four black-tipped tails and a belt that held the sword's sheath on the left side.

The monster opened its mouth to reveal a surprisingly wide maw with many, many tiny razor-sharp teeth, hissing a small screech. It lunged off the fallen guard and onto more, tearing through them like a wild animal.
As the town's guard was distracted, the crashing of glass rang from the area- but the sound was hard to spot for those in the middle of the monster fight.

From the side of the building, another fox came jumping out the window. It looked much like the one fighting and stood at the exact same height, but the only difference was that its dominant body color was a gray-blue. It had a heavily damaged left ear and a silver earring on the right. It's fur collar was a little smaller and it had a small ponytail rather than a braid. The left side of its face was scarred up badly. And the sword sheath was on its right hip rather than the left. It as well had four tails tipped in black, and the ears were just as much so. Other than the different features, the beast looked exactly like the other.
The creature scanned the area to make sure no one was around. It then made a small, hard-to-hear yip.

Popping out of the window from behind were two deku scrubs holding sacks of jingling items among some other rarities. One scrub was peculiar for its type. It was an armless vined-scrub. It had a thick grassy mane from the head and all the way down the back. If it laid down, it would look like a patch of grass. The scrub was just an inch below two feet tall. And to make up for being armless, it had long-stretching vines where the shoulders would be. Right now, they were covered in thorns. The tiny scrub had itty-bitty feet and short legs, and a delicately shaped thin snout. But the most strange thing about them? Were their four sharp eyes! It struggled out of the window and was first to start running.

Behind it was a much taller scrub, significantly taller than the first. It was of a rare body type, which was far more humanoid than the norm, and the scrub stood at three feet and seven inches. The deku had blond leaves that had a tiny hint of green to them. They wore very aged and worn pants, the legs of them having all kinds of tears. On their left waist was a patch of plants that were pinned to the side of its pants' waist. Centering them was a particular triangular pin, making the shape were three smaller triangles. They were black and all upside-down. People from Hyrule would know of this as the Triforce, though normally it is gold and right-side up. It was unknown why it was portrayed upside-down by some people, but it is said to be a form of disrespect towards the gods of the Triforce. The scrub was barefoot and had a scythe-shaped leaf on the ends of both its feet. The deku also had pointed leaves on the top of its wrists and had five fingers. This deku scrub's signature pieces were their use of scythes and their one scarred eye on the right- therefore, making them only one-sighted.

After the first two scrubs had ditched the window, the final one out was a scrub much like the last one mentioned. Tied to its belt- which held small sheathes, were sacks. And tucked into the belt were pieces of paper. However, this one deku had a particular species that it could be identified as; a tunnel scrub. The scrub stood at three feet and one inch. They had long, thick, strong legs and large cloven feet. The lower legs were covered in dark red leaves, while the upper half, up, and below the chest was bare. On the chest, the scrub displayed a collar of green leaves proudly. They were thin and made little noise. It had a strong build and large arms with green leaves hanging from the elbows, with huge four-fingered hands made specifically for digging. However, in these strong hands, they wielded sharp twin serrated daggers. With these daggers and immense arm strength, this scrub was incredibly dangerous. The large build was typical for its species given that they are a laboring type of deku scrub, built for building things and digging tunnels, as well as for traveling. They have lots of stamina. This made them a strong variant of deku, and deadly if crossed wrong.

The defining feature of this one type of deku were their sensitive leaves, which work as whiskers. And the defining feature of this one deku's family bloodline were their particular main-whisker leaves, which normally sat somewhere on the front or side of the head. They were shaped slanted and sharp, almost looking like daggers. This deku scrub had pale green leaves that were long and thick that went just a little passed the back. This deku was easily recognized by its serious sharp eyes, the dagger-leaves, and the double-sideburns on each cheek.

With all four outside, it did not take them long to chase after the smaller of the group. Their presence was quickly made known by those who had heard the shattering window, and unoccupied guards were hot on their trail. And the fox fighting had slain one last guard before giving chase after his partners. During the run, he slashed at those he ran by, in hopes of slowing them down.
Upon running, the smallest of the group had dropped a sack they had been carrying. The tunnel scrub was quick to usher them forward whilst he turned back toward the dark biped fox. "Ichiro, hurry!" the tunnel scrub ordered. "Get the others out of here!"
The beast was already ahead of him at that point, given the tunnel scrub had been running back.
"Leave it Midas! We have enough!" Ichiro growled. Midas didn't listen however, he continued running for the dropped loot, toward two close guards. The fox growled, proceeding to call the tunnel scrub a moron under his breath. But he did as ordered and lead the rest of the group away off into the grassy fields.

Just as Midas attempted to snatch the dropped loot, a sensation in his leaves caused him to freeze. Air pressure was tight and he heard whooshing. Something was moving at a fast pace toward his head! He ducked to the ground to avoid a steel-toe boot to the head and he rolled. The warrior whom had attempted the kick ended up having the backside of one of his legs thwacked roughly by the backside of Midas' hand and dagger, knocking them down to his level. And with this, he stabbed his attacker in the chest. The injured man fell to the ground in agony, and Midas used him as a stepping-stool to reach higher ground.

Once his second closest pursuer was near, Midas lunged at the standing warrior, only to latch onto the man's arm and climb up. The tunnel scrub was cut along the side by a bladed weapon as he made the jump, but he'd tend to his wound later.
The scrub made a quick kill-slash at the man's neck, leaping off as the towering beast fell. Midas landed flat on his cloven feet, snatched up the loot, and ran. The human whom had been stabbed was still alive, however was in too much pain to move. He watched the deku scrub escape, and soon many other guards from Thymeria ran by. A few others stopped to help their fallen comrades, of course.

In the midst of his escape, Midas checked the sack to make sure he hadn't lost any loot. A few arrows then whizzed by him, causing him to put his attention back on the road! He stuck his leaves out erect, going into sensing mode. It helped him read the air better. He could hear angry humans behind him, and he growled. The run went on for a while, until the town became a speck. His companions were nowhere to be seen, though this wasn't a concern to him. He just kept running. A part of him became scared, hearing the angry shouts of his hunters with the image of no one but himself running. It strung a sour cord for him, but he'd never voice it. On the outside, he kept cool and glued his sharp eyes ahead.

"Midas!" called a familiar voice. The tunnel scrub looked around, before spotting the tallest of the deku scrubs crouched into the grass ahead. Not much else was needn't be said, and Midas made a run for his partner. Once they were side-by-side, they both stood to where they could be seen above the grass. The guards and warriors from the village pursued heavier now that two scrubs had been found.
"Did everybody make it alright?" Midas asked quickly without taking his eyes off the humans.
The other answered, "Yes, they are fine."
"Very well. Well brother, let's end this run, shall we?" Midas replied with a confident glint in his eye.
With a curt nod, the two scrubs inhaled deeply before firing two shots of deku nuts to cause bright flashes all around. The guards stopped in their tracks to shield their eyes. And once the flash was gone, so were the plant creatures!

"They disappeared again!" one guard exclaimed. "Split up and search the area! We mustn't let Midas escape!"
"Sir!" replied many others. Like that, the humans split up to search the area for their thieves. They spread across the southern part of the fields, searching for quite some time. Low and behold, no one had found any sign of any of the monsters that attacked the mayor that night. As the search moved further away from the area, all fell quiet. Little did they know, that there were ears beneath the ground listening in on the surface.

Nearby where Midas and his brother had vanished, there was an area in the tall grass by a large tree. Using a piece of the tree's bark- which was significantly larger than a typical piece, there was a hole hidden beneath it. In this hole was a large den and tunnel, only lit by bio-lunamescent bulbous plants growing throughout. The group of robbers stayed silent as mice as they listened. Midas and his brother especially stayed near the entrance to make sure they weren't about to be found out. But from the sound of it, the voices were getting further away. Midas' leaves shifted and flicked and he focused on the world above. Before long, he had a feeling that they were all alone once again.

With a small chuckle, he finally moved away from the exit and practically slid down into the den with the others. His brother was not far behind, though casually walking down rather than an excited slide.
"It appears we have lost our pursuers." Midas spoke, though still talking low to be safe. He then turned to his supposed brother and smirked at him. "Nifty idea, robbing the mayor. When you control the authority, you can get away with just about anything. You made a good decision, Kaiser."
Kaiser looked to the sack of loot in his hand as he answered. "If we are to get to the king, practice working against lower authority is a must."
Midas tossed the sack that he had retrieved to the smallest of the group, speaking as he did. "Here Pyne, this is all yours."
"Thank you, sir!" The vine-arm answered. By the sound of their voice, it was evident they were female, though they certainly weren't by looks.

The tunnel scrub was about to say more, but he was interrupted by the frustrated growl of the red keaton. The fox got down in Midas' face, pointing. "We could have lived with one missing sack! You got reckless tonight Leavance, you could've been killed! You imbecile!"

Midas wasn't phased by the barking. He kept a cool straight posture with a hand rested on the hilt of a sheathed dagger. The other hand still held the bloody dagger he'd used to stab and slay those two humans. "It would be wise to get your muzzle out of my face, Ichiro."
"I risked my hide for all o' you to escape. I almost became a rug! Jiro, what is the demand for keaton pelts nowadays?"
The grayish-blue keaton twiddled with his hands, not wanting to get involved. He respected Midas more than Ichiro- his brother, did... Clearly. "Erm... They are of high-demand."

Midas walked around Ichiro, tearing off a piece of the sack around his waist. It was only a piece of the sack's lip, so nothing lost. He spat on the cloth and wiped the blood off his dagger. He made mental note to thoroughly clean it later when he had some water... "You seem to be ignoring the fact that none of us were killed. And no sign of that acid spitter anywhere, so tonight was to our benefit."
The tunnel scrub was clearly more chipper than usual. He sheathed his dagger and tossed down the cloth piece. "I'd say tonight was one of our best robberies in a while! Uninterrupted and thorough."
The tunnel scrub paused to feel of his side. It was bleeding a dark orange sap, though not heavily.

Midas examined the walls to see how the place was holding up, quickly ignoring his scrape at the moment. He gave a small hum at the secure structure of the den. "I'm glad I built these tunnels. They work well to our advantage, don't you think? This one in particular has always been my favored of the hideaways. Under the shade of a large, cool tree..." he was absent mindedly speaking, so he didn't direct the question at anyone in particular. Ichiro grumbled over how quickly Midas had dismissed his complaints. If the fox was honest, he felt Midas was doing it on purpose. It was then the leader of the group leaned on the wall next to Kaiser and proceeded with tearing more pieces off of a few sacks that he could temporarily wrap around his side. Kaiser himself was surprised to see Midas in such high spirits. He normally wasn't. But, it was the result of a successful heist, and that was good enough to lift anyone's mood.

"So no sign of Lyn at all?" Midas asked Ichiro. He figured Ichiro would know since he was on guard duty.
The keaton gave a soft grumble before answering. "Not tonight, no."
"Good... I'm still trying to figure out how she normally knows where we're going to be next... Guess she had plans tonight." Midas replied, scoffing as he did. "Good riddance."
Kaiser leaned on the wall casually, thinking back on past encounters with the character. "Useless female..."
"Excuse me, might I remind you that you are in the same room with a female???" Pyne hissed. Kaiser rose his brow at her, and she added- "Oh, that's right! I don't count as one... Sure, yeah... Guess that makes me better, because I'm not pretty and dainty... Clearly, I'm not a female." she was clearly being sour and sarcastic. Kaiser was silent, and the thoughts on his mind were a little hard to read by his facial expression. Midas sighed and shook his head... Typical arguments among his group. But as usual, Kaiser was not bothered by Pyne's sourness.

"So what about the Ikana mission? Do you have plans for when we are to begin that?" Kaiser questioned plainly, changing the subject. Meanwhile, Pyne was off on the side ranting.
Midas found himself directing his attention to Kaiser whilst wrapping his side. "I have put thought into it, but we are not ready for it... Regardless of how well tonight went, it was still sloppy."
Pyne rolled her eyes. There's the typical Midas. She had a feeling he'd have something to nitpick about. The tunnel scrub continued after finishing up the wrap on his wound.

"Pyne, you need to work on your grip and dexterity. I understand that it is a little hard for you, but we can't have you dropping everything all the time. You also need to work on keeping the silence... Especially..." Midas finished lowly, insinuating that Pyne never shut up. He then added onto his critiquing. "Jiro, you are too soft. That is why I always send your brother out on guard duty, but he cannot do it all the time, it is not fair to him... And Ichiro..." he glared at the red fox, and the fox grunted. "You need to learn how to follow orders... And not test me. I saved your skin years ago- you best be showing your respects. This alpha complex of yours is a real hindrance sometimes, and we can't afford any setbacks."

"Whatever." Ichiro growled. Jiro lowered his head into his fur collar, as if he were just whipped. However, part of it was because of Ichiro's grouchy behavior. The two were twins, but clearly different. Midas turned to Kaiser, trying to think of things to point out on him... However, him and Kaiser seemed to think on similar wavelengths. Half the time, Kaiser was the most cooperative. He never had any issues normally, aside from his limited sight. But Midas had no place calling Kaiser out on that, since it was something that couldn't be helped. Midas remained silent, still thinking... This gave Pyne the chance to bark a reply.

She gave Midas a slanty-eyed expression and spoke. "I do not hear you calling out your faults. What about your aim with deku nuts? You need to work on that!"
Midas laughed at her poke, not taking it to heart in the slightest. "Why would I need those useless wooden nuts when I have these stainless-steel gals here?" He patted the sheathes of his daggers with a cocky smirk in the eyes. This expression made it clear just how good of a mood he was in. So much so, he was jesting! He chuckled before his face went straight with his leafy green eyebrows raised. "Speaking of ladies... I have a rendezvous with a female tomorrow... It slipped my mind..."
This response made Pyne roll her many eyes again and Kaiser curtly shook his head. It was a small motion, so it went unnoticed by Midas. His brother replied lowly, "I hope you're not be bringing this one back..."
"That all depends." the tunnel scrub replied with a small shrug and the typical sharpness back to his eyes, making himself look serious- though he was in no way being strict or harsh. Thus the curse of a neutrally sharp set of eyes.
Pyne gave a low groan. "So much for planning our next actions."

"Hey, I think all of us are deserving of a break anyway. Tomorrow, it's free-for-all! Do as one wishes, I'll be out. My only request is that I am not to be bothered." Midas finished, tying up the wrap around his side. He proceeded to take a rupee out of a sack and flipped it on his fingers. "Oh, and no one mess with the back tunnel... I still need to pad in the walls. If I return and find it caved in, it'll be on someone's head."

Pyne and Jiro replied with "Sir!", as Ichiro just grunted. Kaiser didn't have to say a thing, because he'd already been made aware of the back tunnel's weak walls. Midas continued to flip the rupee around and spoke once more. "As usual, any earnings you made and hold currently remains yours unless otherwise decided. Good job fellas! Now, if we are all done here, let us be heading back. Just keep a sharp eye out there..."

He waited to see if anyone had any objections, but none were given. Upon waiting a couple seconds more, he finally made the call, "Alright, let's get on the road and move out!" and he lead the pack outside- after observing the area first. By now, search parties were nowhere near the southern most parts of the great field. Midas inhaled the scents of the air... Any human scent was faint and distant. He peered southward, and no one was in sight. He grabbed a dagger just in case, before motioning everyone out behind him. He stayed crouched into the grass as he ran along the fields. Kaiser did the same, but Pyne was short enough that she didn't have to crouch. Ichiro and Jiro dropped to all fours and ran ahead of the scrubs to keep an eye out.



The trek was silent and the night grew further, and they finally entered the southern woods of Termina. They were nearing the safe point, given that a good mile into these woods were considered wildlands territory. The deku scrub settlements in the south had never been seen by human eyes, because the journey was too dangerous for said race. The animals and monsters however? This place was a haven. Beyond that mile point, the only thing one had to worry about was a hostile wild animal or monster. And not too far into the southern wildlands was the swamp. Reaching the swamp was the official land of the deku scrubs. Territorial creatures they were, and they protected this land fiercely.

Twists and turns, around trees and vines, through muck and mud- the journey was nothing new. The swamplands were heaven to the scrubs. Midas especially found peace in this tree-canopied world. They passed through the swamp, passing by the southern falls, and hooked a south-eastern turn. This lead them off into what would look like uncharted territory, but Midas knew something about this direction that most southerners did not. Built by him, there was a shortcut tunnel system within this area. This would allow them travel without notice. This eventually lead out into more wildlands wilderness... But a few minutes of walking from here would lead you to a hard-to-find hidden clearing. It was walled by bushes to hide it's location, but anyone in Midas' gang knew the way around.

Midas lead them to another underground hidey-hole that went under the thick bush wall and came back out in the clearing. If one looked closely, most of these bushes were thorned, making them a pain to walk through... Thus why, the secret entrance. Yes, Midas made sure that this place was hidden and under lock all the time... Given his little family had bounty on their heads, they had to stay as far away from others as possible and had to be sure that everything would be a challenge to find. Even so, the clearing itself looked empty and useless, but it was actually the roof of a very large burrow. The clearing had a couple of small trees and a large rock off on the side- plus a small hillside covered in soft bushes nearing the center of the clearing. Behind these bushes was a hatch door placed into the side of the hill.

To the untrained eye, Midas had disappeared into the bushes on the hillside and he was promptly followed by the others. Thus, marking the official success of their escape with their loot.
First thing Midas did was toss down his sack of goodies on a stump at left of the room once he was underground. The area was large and oval. The walls and ceilings were secured by metal poles and wooden beams, padded in with tough clay and other strong materials. The den floor was merely earth. And all throughout the den were assorted bio luminescent plants- among a few non-glowing fungi and other species like it. Glowing fungi and some of the previous mentioned hanging bulbs were also here. The den was definitely home to more than just one individual, seeing as how large it was. There was a large stump table at the far right of the den. It had a map of Termina sitting on it, so it can be assumed that this is where plans are made and meetings are brought together. On the other side of the den was a large couch-like object made of wood and animal skins. There were things littering the wall, most of each were clearly used as target practice.

There were tools and items strewn out across the den, including some of Midas' digging tools. It was clear he had used some of his hard-stolen dough to have his pickaxes and other supplies upgraded with expensive ores. Where would he find such a business? The gorons of course! Their land wasn't a part of Termina over in the north, so they didn't get involved in Termina's affairs. If Midas and his crew wanted to buy something from them, then by all means! Whether the gorons are aware of who he and his family are or not... Well... Is probably not relevant right now.

Ichiro walked through, kicking the handle of one of Midas' pickaxes out of the way whilst he made his way through the den and to the hall straight through. It appeared the pickaxe had been leaned against the wall before it fell over. It was probably knocked over during their haste in leaving earlier that day.
Jiro seated himself on the pelt-cusioned couch, tossing his earnings on the small table in front of it. He proceeded to kick his legs up onto the table and stretch the toes of his teeny-tiny paw-feet. Pyne stood across from him and began counting her treasures. Jiro gave a soft purr as he watched, but his eyes widened upon seeing something peculiar in her stash...

"Pyne... Are those... Utensils?" the fox chirped.
The scrub brought her four eyes up to focus on Jiro before looking to her pile. In it consisted of some rupees, random metal decorative objects, and... Spoons and forks... Mostly spoons. One however, looked like a spoon AND a fork! There were some pins and one box of bottle caps. A lot of this would be considered junk, but apparently not to Pyne.

"Oo-ten-what now?" Pyne questioned. She held up a fork and continued- "Does this look like something that came out of a human's throat?"
Midas was across the room hearing them speak... The reply caused him to lightly roll his eyes and chuckle... He called out, filing through some papers he'd nabbed at the mayor's house. "He didn't say tonsils, he said utensils. They are those silver or wooden things that races with actual mouths use to eat with. We have spoons for soup around here, that is a type of utensil... Those other things with the teeth are forks, used for stabbing and picking up food."

"Ohhhh, okay... Hmm...." Pyne raised a brow, before quickly jabbing a fork lightly to one of Jiro's feet. The fox gave a sharp, startled yelp before flying up onto the back of the couch on all fours. Upon realizing what had happened, the keaton growled.
"What reason do you have for jabbing me with that silver piece of garbage!?"
"Haha! Midas! It makes for a good weapon!" Pyne responded. Jiro gave a throaty growl, jumping back down onto his seat and swatting the fork out of her vine-hand.

Kaiser sat down across from Midas at the meeting table and sighed. Midas grunted, glaring momentarily off to the side at the two. "Pyne, please conclude your jabbing. I wont justify any arguments between the two of you if you cause a fight."
"Alright, alright... But don't come running to me if you need one of these fork things later..." Pyne grunted. She then held up the spoon-fork thing, "Look, I found half-and-half! A, erm... It's an, erm... A Foon!"
Jiro scoffed and rested an arm behind the chair. "That is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard..."

"So what are these?" Kaiser questioned, grabbing one of the pieces of paper. He found himself beginning to read when Midas responded.
"Apparently it's a private parcel from Igos to the Thymeria Mayor. From what I gathered, he has sent parcels to each of the field settlements in search of fresh meat- new soldiers to train. He doesn't say why, but it sounds urgent."
"... Clearly." Kaiser answered while reading. "What about those other papers?"
The tunnel scrub held up another paper. "Give this one a look when you're done... It contains information on that Hyrule place that everyone's been talking about. Apparently more homes are being built soon in Thymeria due to people moving to Termina. Seems hostile monster counts are at a constant high in Hyrule."
"More people?" Kaiser muttered.
Standing from his seat, Midas pulled down a wooden cup from a nearby cupboard. The inside was stained red, and it looked to be used often. He set the carved cup down and reached into a compartment under the table. He pulled out a recently stolen bottle of red liquid- a bottle of wine. He looked to it, muttering, "I've been wanting to try this one..." before pouring a small portion of the drink into his cup. He replied as he did.

"Yup, more people. And you know what that means? More people for Igos to focus on down here in the fields. If we focus our work toward those settlements, he'll be focusing his protection down here." Midas answered. He took a swig of his drink. His eyes widened and he hummed at the cup. Obviously, it was to his liking.
Kaiser placed the paper down. "That means they wont be as protected up near the kingdom?"
"Precisely... Monsters are getting brave down here, and we're some of them. And our acts are inspiring others it seems. Before long, he'll need more guards with the commoners. If he neglects his people outside the canyons, then the settlements will slowly fall. And no settlements mean no farms. No farms mean no produce and other supplies. So he'd probably do his best to get rid of the pests here if he truly cares for them... Mice in the kitchen is the worst place to have them."

"Hmm... Anything else?" His brother queried. Midas sat his cap down and leaned forward to look at one piece of paper. He had a cocky smirk in his eyes, and Kaiser knew that was a "Yes". Midas rummaged through his findings and held out a rolled up paper. "Take a gander at this one..."
With the offer, Kaiser unrolled the paper and looked over it. His eye grew wide and he studied the thing. "... Is this a...?"
"We finally found one... A detailed map for the road to Ikana... Including secret passages. It was in the mayor's safe." He took a victorious drink of his wine and giving a small laugh. "We're one-step closer to the kingdom!"
"What is this?" Kaiser laid the page down and pointed. There were markings on the paper, shaped like a crying eye. It seemed to mark the locations of something... Midas himself hadn't noticed them till Kaiser pointed them out. The tunnel scrub looked closely, but he couldn't find names... He snorted and quickly burned a mental image of the symbol into his mind, in case it was ever relevant later.

"I'm not quite sure... But, I will do what I can to find out. It may be important- especially if it is marked on the map... For now though, we should worry about it later and relax..." Midas finished off his wine. The taste made him bristle his leaves and he placed the cup down.
"I'm heading in early... Keep an eye on the others. And Jiro!"
The blue keaton was playing with that strange spoon-fork thing when Midas called. The fox stuttered and dropped the thing on the table, trying to make himself look more stern. "Y-yes sir?"
Midas rolled his eyes before adding, "... You start on guard duty tonight. Just as always, shift with your brother at midnight, and make sure no one followed us, alright? And especially, keep an open eye out for that acid spitter."

"Sir." Jiro answered, sitting up straight. Midas proceeded down the hall at the back of the den. Passing through this earthy corridor, there were rooms on each side. Kaiser's room, which was next to Pyne's and across from Midas'. Ichiro and Jiro's were next to Pyne's. Any room's next to Midas' were either storage or being built still. He peered into Ichiro's room and spotted the red fox counting his rupees by himself. When he felt staring, the beast turned to look at Midas. He gave a soft growl, before pulling the leaf-curtain door shut on the nesting room. Midas gave a stern, gruff snort before turning into his own nesting room. It was a downward-slanted walk into a large round room. He pulled the leaf curtain shut and sighed.

Upon staring at his room for a moment, he undid his belt with his dagger sheathes still attached and he hung them on a nail sticking into the earthy wall. Now that he was comfortable, he sat down on his bed and ran a hand across his forehead. The bed was a nest which consisted of blankets, leaves, grass, and other soft materials. He rested there for a while before laying down, just staring at the ceiling. However, he looked pleased with himself. He gave a soft chuckle, before resting his hands behind his head and shutting his eyes in thought...

"Now if only every day was this nice..." he muttered whilst kicking a leg up to rest over his other knee. He was pondering about the information he'd gathered today and how he would put it to use... After tomorrow's little vacation day, he'd continue planning their next actions. However, his mind kept falling on tomorrow... He's been waiting for a day to unwind! That in itself was a good sign that he needed to take a break from work. He just hoped the burrow wasn't going to be upside-down when he returned home...





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To Be Continued...


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Kaiser belongs to HolIiewood on DeviantART. http://holiiewood.deviantart.com​

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[FayeleneFyre]

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Chapter 2
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Hard to Get
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Off in the deep swamplands in this early morning, the wild heart of the woods beat active with the rush of woodland monsters and animals. It was a daily routine of survival and living. The deku scrubs ruled this swamp land as one of the most prominent of the wild southern monsters. Though, definitely not the strongest. Besides, there were beasties much larger and more powerful. Dire wolfos, dekydras, among other swamp dangers. The older and the wiser were those that survived. The deku tribe of the south was very wide spread and not too close-knit. Their most active place of operation? Why, the hidden swamp grove in the wild south. This was a meeting place for most scrubs- mad and docile. And currently, the work space of the tunnel scrub colony.

The area was round and walled by large swamp oak trees, big enough to use as homes. And many were! Mad scrubs wildly scurried through the grove in a frenzy to avoid interaction, and the docile hung around for many reasons. Errands, foraging, water, searching for mates. If a scrub was looking for something, this was normally the place. Females especially liked to flock here in hopes that they could score a partnership with one of the tunnel workers... Them arms, y'know? However, it is rare for such a chance.

Above the work space of a couple tunnelers, there sat in a twisted tree above, was a lurker. She was not hard to spot if you didn't mind looking straight up. Unlike most of the swamp scrubs, her wooden skin was a very, very pale tan- almost white, with darker tan feet, chest, and belly. Her forehead was nearly black, making her cat-sharp eyes stick off her face. These eyes were angled and intense and always shining like the pits of a forest fire.

From where she was sitting, she was veiled by the shadows casted by the canopy. Her eyes burned toward the ground as she watched the silent bustle of hectic scrubs. She was tossing berries in her snout as she did so, finding amusement by how trivial and sidetracked the swamp deku were sometimes. She herself did not care about anything... And I mean anything. Never in a hurry and never worried. She then wiped her delicate, tiny, mouse-nose snout and she grunted upon realizing that her lunch was gone.
Her voice began- soft as silk but fine as a fox- "Pitty. Berries always do vanish fast when you're not paying mind."
She got to her tiny, delicate feet on the branch she reclined upon most of the morning. Her body was fit and shapely, much like that of a tunnel scrub- as were her arms and legs. It was possible she was a cousin of the species, but certainly not the same. This was indicated by her long, cone-shaped head and three giant fingers. It was clear she was more along the lines of a predatory deku scrub.

The female leapt and swung down to a lower branch and laid on her stomach once she found a suitable perch. This startled some nearby scrubs and they scurried away. Meanwhile, the tunnelers working here just looked up to make sure they weren't about to be snatched by some large monster, then proceeded to work...
"Mind if I ask you fine workers a favor, hm?" the oddly colored female asked. One of the tunnelers looked up, moving her leaves away from her face.
"We are working on a tunnel system, Danda-Lyn. Can it perhaps be elapsed to a later time?" the female tunnel scrub answered while wiping her face.
Danda-Lyn flipped upside-down and hung off the branch by her legs to get closer to the tunnel scrubs. Her actions made nearby scrubs growl, considering it was very un-deku-like. She rather enjoyed the reactions, however.

"I highly recommend that you don't call me Danda-Lyn again... Lyn, as you kow. I was just going to query whether you had a snack to share or not." she honestly began. "Berries, other fruit... Any kind of small meat?"
A male worker laughed- briefly examining her bright colored blue-green and purple leaves. "I think you forget that we don't typically keep meat on our person. It would probably disturb nearby scrubs, and we prefer fruit and water."
"Alright, so...?" Lyn pressed.
The female tunneler showed Lyn a near-empty sack. "Sorry, I only have a few berries left. We need our food for work, so you best go look someplace else."
This strange deku pulled herself back up on the branch and sat on it on all fours while looking down. "Could you perhaps tell me where to restock then...?"
The male worker scoffed, leaning on his little wood, rope and stone pickax. "Do you think we're ignorant? You may be close with our chief, but we can't go around sharing our only food sources in public. Besides, if you knew, you would be stealing from our supply. And may I remind you that you are not in any way actually a part of our community?"
"Pish-posh, I may not squander the chance for food, but I would never steal you scrubs dry. Not after all you have gone out of your way to do for me. Why must you view me to a thief's level? I have been trying to help after all..."

The female tunneler smiled lightly at Lyn and giggled. "Do not go buttering us up with flatter, gratitude, or guilt-trips, you know it shan't work. If you really look for permission, ask Valeela."
Lyn melted onto her stomach on the branch and sighed. "Ah, but your colony is such a long way away... Today is my break, and you want me to travel all the way over there for such permission? I shall pass. I have been far too busy chasing big bad guys for weeks... It is such tiring work, don't you know? Why, I am too famished..."

The male worker jabbed his pickax at the ground as he answered- "You speak as if you do not have fun doing it. We all know how much you enjoy getting on their nerves and toying with his mind. So spare us all your pity-party."

Danda-Lyn just chuckled to herself and rested her head in her hands. "What must an acid spitter to do to get some grub around here?"
"How about work for it? Or hunt for it? Besides, that's what your kind does anyway." the male answered with a grumpy huff.
"I suppose. When a lady feels lazy however, a lady will laze. At least that rule applies to me." she said softly.

She grew quiet, allowing the tunnelers to get back to work. The tunnel scrubs interested her greatly, for they certainly weren't native to Termina- or Ikana? What WAS this country's true name? She let her mind wander. Hyrule kingdom named their country Hyrule, so why was Termina any different? This thought was quickly lost however- for it did not concern her much. The acid spitter rested her head down in her arms and watched the tunnel scrubs and relaxed. She began to purr while laying on the branch and shut her eyes. She was focusing on the sounds around herself, unintentionally eavesdropping on those nearby. She had nothing better to do, after all. Mad scrub chatter? Too erratic. Desperate females ogling over the working tunneler males? Hopeless and old-hat. However, it was still quite funny... Swamp gossip? Normally about who ever died to a monster last... Scrubs and other small, weak forest folk dropped like flies daily in the woods, but it's the circle of life. Somewhere, there's another runt popping out of a flower somewhere, so no loss in numbers. That was just how it is.

In the middle of her relaxing, she turned herself over like a well-cooked egg and was laying across the branch back-down with her head hanging off. More chitter and chatter, animal noises in the distance, leaves dancing to wind, and water flowing nearby. It was then a particular name was mentioned in the current of gossip below that one of her eyes slid open. She twitched a leaf, turned over, and looked down to see a group of females packed together a bit of distance from her tree. Some odd scrubs trying too hard to look like tribe regality, and some who were plain and armless. Granted, all of them were just like most of the swamp tribe deku- very simple in some form or way. Or maybe they seemed so simple and boring because Lyn came from such a crazy, tropical clan herself? Her people were known to be carefree party animals, after all. These scrubs here? They always had a one-track mind and craved high-class, with pollination, sprouts, and families on their minds. And maybe a good strong mate who could do what they themselves could not... They are predictable.

"I heard talk that he is coming to the swamp grove today. Perhaps he's feelin' a bit lonely, hm? Coming by looking to court one of us finally?" an excited armless scrub said.
"I heard he is already going to show up with someone. Apparently they met last week... He made arrangements with her to meet somewhere private." another taller, rounder scrub answered.
Another armless stamped her foot on the ground. "I had hope this time around. He is the only tunnel scrub you can even hope to spend just a day with. I always hear good things about him from others who have been with him."
Lyn gave a cocky quirk of a brow and chuckled at this hen talk of theirs. How amusing...
The round one sighed. "Not only does he get rid of hunters, but I bet he is good with work and protection. And oh, those arms! If he ever approached me, I would not be able to keep myself together. It is too bad he never makes anything long-term. One day, one of us lucky ladies will have him running back to them!"

Lyn finally poked her head into the conversation, chuckling as she did. "You ladies always aim too high."
The round one huffed at the outsider. "What do you know, pale-skin?"
"We are speaking of one of the swamp's most dangerous deku scrubs- slayer of humans... And apparently, ladykiller. He is not going to want some helpless female who has no chance of surviving outside these woods constantly begging for his attention when he has better things to be doing. Half of you only want him because he is strong and capable of providing for a family you fantasize having. That is an instant turn-off for guys like him, so good luck with that. You best be settling for someone more... Simple. Like that guy over there."
Lyn motioned her head toward a mad scrub scurrying through the area, and this seemed to offend these, "Higher class" deku scrubs.

"You have no place in this conversation. As a matter of fact, you have no place in this swamp. You don't even look like a deku, you look more like a ghost with that color. He'd snarl at you in disgust and toss you out before you could even speak. He'd never consider a gangly marshmallow such as yourself."
"Ha! Yeah, if he could even catch me." she chuckled. "It is silly how highly you hold him. I personally see it to be a little rude to one-time a lady then never see her again. That is why I look down on you all for still praising him for his curt partings, shameful really. Sure, the lonely dream of him, but is he really worth it?"

"Thus the pot calls the kettle black. Do not think we haven't heard you brag about your chances." One of the armless said, shaking her leaves frustratedly.
Lyn leaned over from her branch, laughing. "I thirst for adventure, and he is adventure. I do it because I love danger. I love challenges. But I am also street smart and I know how to stay alive outside these forest walls. Your rebuttal is invalid. Go about your petty gossip, I have better things to attend to." Lyn finished, standing from her branch. She twisted around with a smug look in her eyes and disappeared into the trees... The group of ladies fussed and argued about Lyn, but the acid spitter held no care what so ever.


As she climbed into the high-canopies, she scanned the meeting grove below... She gave a devilish grin in her eyes as she looked for her gaudy target. Now she had plans for today! "I guess I'm not the only one taking a break today..." Lyn chuckled. "Knowing Midas, he'll be taking the more obscured route. If I had a mixed reputation like that, I would too."- as if she'd care. "Now where are you, ol' Gold Touch..."

She scanned and scanned, but he wasn't easy to miss from where she was. She watched all hard-to-see areas for him, and surely enough, after a long wait, he showed up. There he was, leaf-legs himself making his way down a path behind the greenery walls around the grove- undetected by most on the ground. But the direction he was going, he seemed to know exactly where the location was. Lyn snapped her fingers and followed like a silent cat. She was going to have fun with this!

On the ground and on a mission, Midas made his way around the grove and through the greenery. He took a moment to make sure that he hadn't been seen, then continued his path. Easing through bushes, traveling through ditches, across swamp water. It was a twisty path, enough for even Lyn to get slightly confused by. Unknown to Midas, this was beneficial for him. Normally his senses would pick up on someone being around, but he was a bit too dead-set on his journey. Plus, the thick woods he was traveling through really obstructed a lot for his leaves and hearing. This made him more wary for things that are on the ground- which Lyn was not.

He had his leaves pinned back as he traveled through a wall of bush and vine. Once on the other side, he shook his head and puffed out his foliage in discomfort, before moving on. The scrub was silent and calm on the outside, which was not surprising. He still had his daggers on his person and what looked to be a bag tied to his belt. What was in it, was unknown.

Midas emerged from another wall of vines to face a tiny little grove of his own. It was filled with streams and was covered in unique plants and vines. The key features to this little green paradise were the young pale purple weeping willows growing throughout the area. This area seemed to be a meeting place for him a lot, probably for the fact that it was so hard to find and secluded. And when not meeting with anyone? Hey, it was nice to just go out and take a nap and think at. The guy brushed himself off to get rid of any dirt or loose leaves then proceeded to walk into the area. Underneath one of the weeping willows and looking around was another scrub. She was short, standing at about two feet, and she had little delicate arms, little delicate feet, a cute round body, and a short-bridged petite ring snout- slightly heart shaped. Her eyes were slightly more yellow than normal and small and round.

He moved under the weeping willow and spotted her. Midas offered a charming smile in the eyes, and she jumped to her feet in surprise.
"Oh! I am so terribly sorry, did I show up too early? I was expecting you to be here earlier." she worried.
He waved his hand at her and walked over. "Not at all. What is important is that you find the right place. Good thing you remembered the way. You did not tell anyone, did you?"
"I would never." she answered with a giggle. "Ah, I finally get to see you in the sunlight! That night I bumped into you at the swamp oak grove, you were hard to make out."
"Well, I must be careful traveling in the day. I am a wanted man after all." he finished. He approached her and took her by the hand. This made her want to jump for joy! He was more gentle than she expected and he placed a hand under the chin of her snout and looked her in the eyes. "You have a unique soul, my lady. Eyes like the sun, they are..." he complemented. Her leaves shook and she turned away shyly and giggled- "O-oh my..."
He lead them both to the base of the tree and he offered her a seat between him and a showing root of the tree. He placed the bag that was tied to his belt on the root, before unlatching his belt from around himself to put down his daggers. "I mustn't be rude and remain armed in such a place. We're safe here, so I do not need my daggers."

His very voice made her want to squeak excitedly, but she held her excitement back. Rather poorly... He had such a smooth, squeakless voice. To her, it was as if he'd stolen the voice of an angel. For him? Having a controlled voice was pretty normal for his kind, so he didn't see anything special about it. He did tend to forget that swamp scrubs have a bit more rough squeak in their regular speaking voices, so it was a given that they were in awe of any scrub that has a fluent tone.
Midas leaned back before his sharp, relaxed gaze fell on her again. "Are you hungry Folene? I brought some berries for the occasion." he motioned toward the little sack on the root. He opened it, and it was filled with a variety. "Freshly stolen yesterday from a human market..."
"Have you really been to human settlements??" she queried.
The tunnel scrub gave a nod. "I have. They are far larger than any of the swamp deku packs, and dangerous in number. But their markets carry some of the greatest items in Termina. For one, these berries are unable to grow in the swamp. I prefer these for how rich and full of taste they are."
She melted in her seat and disappeared into her shoulder foliage. "Wow... You're just as brave as they say. And you hunt and slay these monsters?"
"For a living, yes. Impressive?" he asked with a glint in his eye.
"Oh, most definitely!"

Lyn had just arrived, finally finding where Midas had gone. She silently slipped into a nearby tree and listened. She rested there, trying to figure out what to do. She cockily rolled her eyes at the scene. Look at Midas, trying to get himself a girl today. Looked like he was doing a good job... Let's see how long that lasts.


Meanwhile, back at Midas' Burrow...

It had been a quiet morning for Kaiser. He and Midas were the first one's up aside from Ichiro- whom had ended the night of guard duty. At the moment, it was the waking hour for Pyne and Jiro. Kaiser himself was in the den studying their finds from last night, taking what information he can to learn more about Ikana and what they can do to set the plan in motion. He hadn't found much aside from what Midas and him discussed last night, and this lead to more blocks in the road. The scrub narrowed his one good eye at the map, finding himself staring at the crying eye symbols all over it. Perhaps that should be their next plan is to figure out the importance of this symbol and what it means? Kaiser has seen public-baught maps, and none of them have these eyes on them- nor were the locations of these eyes highlighted.

Pyne approached Kaiser as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. She looked over the paper, staring at his current target, before speaking. "What is that?"
"I don't know." Kaiser replied plainly. "That's what I've been trying to figure out. They're not labeled, but they highlight hidden areas all over Termina." He looked over next to him, where he'd unrolled a typical traveler's map of Termina... He compared the two, and the traveler's map wasn't even whole. And the places where the eyes would be were blank and didn't even show that anything was there. Meanwhile, on the stolen map, it had a detailed area for Ikana, new settlements not named, and what may be top-secret training places for royal guards. One place that caught his eye was the clear image of a small settlement south-west on the map. It was inside the woods it seemed. This location was completely covered in forest on the traveler's map.
"All that is obvious is that this map from the mayor's safe is a private map probably only meant for authority's eyes. There are many locations here that I am assuming is strictly forbidden to most people. They are not even present on the common map..."
Pyne looked through some papers, skimming them quickly. She had a hard time reading, but Kaiser had actually been helping her learn somewhat. "Do you think we may be onto something huge?"

Kaiser gave a small grunt as he placed the mayor's map down. "Appears so. Midas left our next case up to me, and I already have an idea as to where we should go next. One of those parcels from last night mention that the king is searching for new soldiers. One that I read this morning was one of those parcels requesting some of Thymeria's finest guards. But it mentioned something intriguing..."
"Oh?" Pyne questioned, looking to Kaiser. The half-blind scrub continued.

"The parcel asking for guards mentioned that on the next new moon, one of Igos' shadow warriors will arrive at each of the main settlements to pick up the new guards." He finished this with a hum of thought in his tone.
Pyne's eyes widened a slight and she tilted her head. "Shadow warriors? The heck is that?"
"That is what I want to know. This is the first I've heard of such warriors. The king doesn't go sharing the information publicly, so clearly it is something he intends to keep secret... I need to run it by Midas beforehand, but I believe we should head out to Pastrene Village and try to get some information out of this shadow warrior..." Kaiser straightened out the map and sat Midas' used cup from last night on one edge to keep it from curling up.

Pyne appeared to be unsure of the plan... "Um... You are aware that we have NO idea who this guy is, right? They are secret guards. I may be just an incompetent bush, but even I know that they cannot be your typical Ikana knight, not if Igos sends them out on special missions. And why not go to Thymeria? It is closest and probably the first town that will be visited! Pastrene Village is on the far north of the field, it'll take ages to get there."
Kaiser leaned back in his seat a slight and he brought his attention to Pyne with that sharp, plain look on his face. "Thymeria is already in a ruckus because of us last night. If we go again soon, we're sure to have a bad time. Besides, if the whole night goes well for this warrior of Igos, they wont be expecting an ambush at their final stop. We can catch them off-guard that way. I am sure he wouldn't expect a bunch of deku scrubs to be bold enough regardless, and this makes our chances of surprise higher."

"If he was sent to fetch warriors, won't he be accompanied by all these said warriors?" Pyne spoke, as if she'd just stated a solid fact. "Yeah, you didn't think about that, huh?"
Kaiser brought a letter close to look at it in the middle of his reply. "He is merely there to bring them their personal passes. From how it sounds, he wont be the one escorting them."
The vine-armed scrub huffed. "I still see holes in this plan."
"Thus why I will discuss it with Midas tonight..." he paused to sigh and he narrowed his eye at the paper. "... If we even see him tonight."
"Puh, that's a big if." Pyne replied lowly.

Sounds from the entrance of the tunnel caused the two to stop talking and bring their attention to the doorway tunnel. Upon realizing it was Ichiro, they went back to the map again. The red keaton walked in on all fours on his tiny, dainty paws while holding a dead guay in his maw. Now that he was in the safety of the burrow, he laid down on the floor and dropped the guay, preparing to eat it. Pyne groaned in disgust.
"Didn't Midas tell you not to eat your kills in the den unless it is cooked?" Pyne said with a tone of disturbance. The red fox growled as he looked to Pyne.

"Oh shut it, you four-eyed bush. What Midas wont know wont kill him. I was out all morning without a thing to eat, so leave me." he replied before proceeding to tear feathers off. Kaiser glared sidelong before looking directly.
"He will know once he finds the feathers that you so lazily forget to clean up."
Ichiro dropped the bird again, with feathers between his teeth. "You ain't leader..."
This made Kaiser glare and he moved a paper off to the side. "I am when Midas isn't present... You tend to forget whose home this was before you showed up."

Ichiro slammed his paw down and he got to his back legs. "I am getting sick of you trees ordering me around. I don't get the respect I deserve, not for all I do around here...!"
Kaiser pinned a few leaves back in silent frustration. "Who was the one who found you and your brother in that skinning camp, might I ask? You were nearly a fur coat and skin and bones when we found you. I am surprised that Midas keeps his patience with you, for you are blind."
"Says you. At least I don't have to have a piece of paper on one side of my face to properly read..." Ichiro grunted. Pyne squeaked when Kaiser slammed the parcel in his hand down. Kaiser whipped his head toward Ichiro and he growled lowly, managing to keep his voice down.
"We best have left you there at that skinning camp. However, it would have also cost your brother's life. And he did not deserve that. You, on the other hand, overstep your welcome. If you have any wish to stay under this roof and out of the dangers of these woods, you best not cross me. I have lived here far longer than you."

He took a deep breath and stared Ichiro in the eye. "Take your meal to your nesting room. I am sure your brother would appreciate some of that..."
The red fox snarled his face and growled. He grabbed the bird and went about through the den. Kaiser turned back toward the table, returning to the map in pure silence... He had not a single word to say after. The vine-arm scrub before him was afraid to speak, in fear that she'd make the situation worse.
"... You, uh... You alright?" Pyne questioned.
Kaiser didn't look to her, but he answered. "I am fine." was all he had to say.
Pyne slinked down onto her chair and hid her face behind a parcel, reading it to try and not speak.

As Ichiro moved on through the room, he ended up stepping on Midas' pickax that was still laying out in the den from yesterday. The handle flew up and smacked him in the knee, causing a sharp yelp to pierce the burrow. This caused Pyne to jump off her chair in shock, and Kaiser looked up in surprise. Even Jiro popped his head out of the nesting room and into the den.
"Brother, are you okay? I heard you yelp!" Jiro asked in soft concern.
Ichiro dropped the guay and grabbed his knee and whined. Upon seeing the cause of his pain, his faced wrinkled into a deep snarl and he roared out.
"Son of a-!!"
As he yelled and cursed the digging object, Pyne and Kaiser simply watched. Jiro's ears flattened against his head and he crept out into the den. Even so, Ichiro proceeded to scream and yell profanity before easing into Keaton tongue- still shouting unkind words. He grabbed the pickax and looked at it in anger.
"Calm down brother, I'm sure you'll be okay." Jiro softly spoke.
"I am fed up with him leaving his crap laying around!! These clunky digging tools, of all things! I could have stabbed my foot! That careless philandering fool has no place running this pack!!"

The keaton angrily chucked the pickax down the hall, causing a loud clanking smack. Kaiser was preparing to run from his seat to stop Ichiro, but he was far too late. The pickax hit the back-tunnel wall, and the next thing they knew, the whole burrow was filled with a thundering quake and tremble. Like dominoes, the back tunnel began to cave in and earth filled the new walkway. Ichiro's slanted eyes bugged out in horror, having no intention to cause THAT kind of damage... His fur stood out and he jolted with each loud thud. Once it was over, the hall was filled with barreling dust...
The crew all walked to the hall entrance, staring at the damage through the dark dust... Kaiser slowly brought his hand to his face and he shook his head. Pyne patted Ichiro's side and she spoke.
"Good job fluffy. It was nice knowing you."
Jiro's mouth was agape before he bit his lip and looked to his brother. "... Midas is going to kill us... He's been working on that tunnel for weeks."
Kaiser walked back toward the table. "Pyne, you may want to tell Midas what happened..."
"Why me!?" She blurted. She then pointed to Ichiro. "It was his doing!"
"Because if Ichiro does it, a fight will more than likely break out..." Kaiser replied lowly.

"I don't even know where he is!" she whined.
"Then go find him. It's better he knows on the way back rather than finding out when he arrives home." Kaiser finished.
Pyne groaned... She wasted no time and left, leaving the guys all there alone. Kaiser looked to Ichiro and said one last thing. "You are digging his pickax out of that debris. As said by Pyne, it was your doing. Best you can do is get his pickax out for him. Then maybe he wont be so mad..."


Currently, back with Midas...

"So tell me Midas, do you live nearby?" Folene asked. She had moved closer to Midas at this point and was leaning against his side, and he gave her berries as she did. Lyn was still lurking- as rude as that was. She didn't care! She was eager to hear if Midas would spill the beans on where he lived or not.
Midas waited for a moment, before cooly replying. "I am afraid I cannot tell you that, m'dear."
"Aw, you can trust me..." she cooed at him. "I would not tell a soul..."
He chuckled and placed his hand to her face to gently lead her view to him. "I am sure you wouldn't, but I simply cannot tell you."
Lyn made a face that said she was mocking Folene very silently. She leaned against him, practically resting over his arms. "Are you... Perhaps... Good with tending to plants and such?"
He froze for a moment, unsure of how to answer that question. Lyn was trying to not laugh and she placed her hand to her snout. He finally replied, placing the sack of berries down. "Why do you ask...?"
"Just a curious question..." she giggled. "I know you most likely have a good sense of knowing good soil, yes?"
The questions were starting to inwardly make him uncomfortable. He gave a small, "Uhh..." before clearing his throat. "Of course I do. I have spot on senses that know only the finest of dirt. I know the exact places to plant things for healthy growth, if I were into that sort of thing."
Lyn placed her hand to her face. The intention of the question was going right over Midas' head. Either that, or he wasn't acknowledging the truth here. Lyn saw that the berries were out of his line of sight, and she smirked... It was time to start toying with him.

He quickly tried to play it cool, running a hand under the chin of her snout. "I am, however, good with flowers..."
"Oh Midas, you stop that..." Folene chuckled shyly. "So I have heard!"
Lyn quietly crept across the trees out of sight. Luckily, it was a little breezy, so any noise she made blended right in with the shaky limbs. She used a stick and slowly poked it through a hole in the sack and lifted it carefully out of Midas' reach. She was thinking, "There's my lunch refill!" as she scurried back up into the trees to watch. Midas continued playing it cool as he slowly reached for the sack- only to grab grass. His head whipped sideways and he muttered- "What the-?" before looking forward again. He could have sworn he sat it there!
"Midas, is everything okay?" Folene questioned. He slicked his hand across his head and he responded with- "Yes, yes, everything is fine. I just, ah... It seems we are, uh... Out of berries."
"I am so sorry! Was it my doing? I am so sorry!"

"No, I assume that I just did not store as many as I... Thought..." he looked around, trying to see if an animal had scampered off with his bag or not. The tunnel scrub made a confused face as he hastily looked around, but found nothing. Meanwhile, Lyn was popping berries into her snout. This was funny!

He shrugged his shoulders, before turning to Folene and recovering quickly. However, that missing bag was going to bug him all day probably... "I think we can manage without them..."
"I am happy just as I am, hehe." she purred. Midas brought his arm around her, running a hand through her beautiful, colorful leaves.
"So long as you are enjoying yourself, then everything is perfect." he uttered to her. Her leaves bristled and she giggled. This made Lyn point her finger to her snout and make an, "Ugh" face. How pathetic!
He moved his snout near to hers and he purred without shame. This surprised Folene, and she shrugged into her shoulder leaves and she just couldn't contain herself- he was so charming! Lyn however, thought he was trying way too hard to appeal to this shallow babe. She reached over and tore off a shelf mushroom growing from the branch she was sitting on to get it out of her way.

"Has anyone ever told you how alluring and colorful your leaves are?" Midas complemented with the tip of his snout against hers.
"W-why, I d-don't believe anyone has~" Folene murmured.
He gave a soft chuckle, and this made her melt! He nudged his snout to her forehead and nestled against her leaves, and Lyn decided that he was getting just a bit too close. "Nuh-uh, back off sugar...~" she whispered. She looked away with an, "Ooops!" look on her face and dropped the shelf mushroom she'd picked off and it hit Midas in the head. She was quick to disappear behind the tree on another branch just before he could look up.
The object hitting his sensitive leaves made him jolt and squeak- much to his embarrassment. Folene pulled away in surprise, before looking to the mysteriously loosed shelf mushroom that was now on the ground. Midas grunted and looked up to see what had loosened it, but he didn't see a thing. Had he looked a little closer however, he'd had seen Danda-Lyn's hanging leaves behind the tree. But, they were of a similar color as the willow leaves, so easily missed.

"Maybe there is a squirrel in the tree?" Folene questioned. She found herself chuckling at his squeak earlier. He rubbed his head and tried not to be more embarrassed than he already was.
"Maybe..." he growled. He was no longer relaxed and purring, that's for sure. "Now, um... Where were we?"
"I believe you left off at... My beautiful leaves?" she smiled.
He nodded, "Ah, yes." before continuing. "You have such a lovely color combination... I assume your blossoms are just as vibrant?"
"Hmhm, they are white daisies, if you must know." she laughed and looked at him sidelong. "How about you?"
"Red, gold-spotted roses." he answered cooly.
She sighed and leaned close. "They sound quite lovely! Perhaps I could see them?"

Lyn mocked in a whisper- "Perhaps I could see them??"
Midas' head perked up... Did he just hear an echo...? He slowly rubbed the back of his head and he smiled at his lovely lady. "I don't see why not~"
The acid spitter picked off a small stick, having it land on Folene's head. She gasped and moved away, and Midas finally groaned at the interruptions.
"I am terribly sorry, it seems whatever lives in this tree is... Quite active..." Midas said with his hand in his face.
"What an inconvenience..." Folene murmured. Lyn chuckled to herself. She was dead-bent on keeping these two from getting too close.
Seeing as the mood kept being ruined, Midas turned away and looked up into the tree with a second attempt at finding what was interrupting his "date".

He glared and he squinted, feeling as if there had been something rather large above him. The scrub's eyes widened when he noticed a small strange-shaped leaf poking off one of the branches... It looked a shade bluer and was curled- clearly not the same species of plant as the tree. He was slowly coming to a stand and was close to just up and climbing the tree or maybe throwing something. However, Folene grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit back down, much to his frustration.
"Do not let it worry you. It's okay, really." she spoke.
Midas grumbled before looking back to her. "I apologize, that is bothering me."
"No, no, no- just ignore the thing." she finished before popping a question with a giddy tone. "So, um... Tell me... What all can you carry with those strong arms of yours, hm?"

He felt a little conflicted. Should he feel flattered or concerned by the question? He subconsciously rubbed one of his arms before clearing his throat. He was trying hard not to focus on the tree... Midas sat up slightly straighter before answering. "Well... I... Can carry a whole lot of... Rupees, and such..." he finished with uncertainty.
"Oh, I meant like, perhaps... Wood for fencing maybe? Or equipment? I can bet that you have a lot of experience with such devices..." She finished with a curious gaze.
Mide raised his head with a quirked brow. If he had an actual mouth, it'd be in the shape of an "n". Was making him do work really all she could think about??
"I'd sure love to show you my garden sometime! Would you perhaps like to see it?" she added on. Midas didn't like the direction of this conversation. He knew where she was going with that and pretended it went over his head, and smoothly shifted the topic to something else.
"Before we get to that, perhaps we should worry about ourselves. We still have a lovely, cool morning to enjoy. It is not a time to dawdle over useless information, rather just enjoying each other's company. Do you not agree?" Midas replied softly. There was a tiny purr at the end of his "agree", and this made Folene giggle and blush. He grabbed her hands and nudged his snout to the top of one. Shortly after, he shared gazes with her and smiled charmingly through his sharp, lantern eyes. "It is only you and I alone- I do believe we mustn't waste this morning, no?"
"Of course~" She chuckled lowly. It was quiet, for she was lost in his eyes. Midas reached over and began nestling his snout against her leaves in a soft cuddle, and she rather liked it.

Lyn rolled her eyes. Clearly, Midas and Folene were on the same wavelength here for TOTALLY different reasons... She didn't even care about him! She just wanted to take advantage of what he had to offer as a permanent mate, while he only wanted a one-time thing. This made Lyn chuckle to herself as she tossed one more barry in her snout. The sack was now empty and she looked to it in disappointment. It was then she had the idea of discarding the bag. She looked down, seeing that Midas and Folene were enjoying a quiet moment. Much to Midas' relief- he was getting tired of the personal questions. At this point, he'd actually been contemplating whether this rendezvous was even worth it. Midas had his arm gently around her and they drew close to one another. Lyn pulled her head back and her eyes went wide for a few seconds before she gave a look that said- "Oh what a lovely moment you have going here! Would be bad if something ruined it!"

She reached over and dropped the empty sack over them, and it landed right over the bridge of Midas' snout and slightly over the ring of his snout. He pulled away, snorting from the tickle of the bag. Folene moved away from him, finally giving a frustrated grunt of her own.
"That's it! That's it, I'm going after it!!" Midas roared. He got to his feet, growling and pulling the sack off his face. He looked to it, before he heard what sounded to be the sounds of fluttering. The tunnel scrub looked up to see quivering branches and the lack of animal presence... The fluttering sounded as if it had moved far away, and his shoulders tensed down. He grunted and reached for his belt, angrily tying the sack onto his belt before clicking the belt together around himself. "Must have been a guay... I have always loathed those things."

Lyn had jumped to another tree and was laughing silently to herself. She'd made the fluttering sounds herself to imitate flapping wings. It was good enough that the two fell for it.
Midas ruffled his leaves before groaning. "I am growing frustrated. I think we should go..."
"If it is not too much trouble, I have a good, private place we could meet up at. I think you may like it~" Folene suggested. Lyn stopped chuckling and looked over to her. She then looked to Midas to wait for his response.
Midas sighed, resting his hands on his daggers. He was tempted to just politely tell her he was tired and ready to leave, but he figured he might as well not be rude and ditch her. With some thought, he finally replied. "If you insist. Lead the way."

"Will do~" she cutely bounced, all of her leaves bouncing with her. She scurried out of the meeting place with Midas following cut-eyed. Lyn's eyes went wide... Once they were out of the area, she placed her hand to her face.
"What a moron." Lyn uttered with a small laugh. "Why is he even bothering anymore??"
She finally decided to follow them again. However, she waited for them to get a little further ahead so that no one would notice her.


As they traveled through the area, Lyn found that they were nearing the grove again. It had been quite the travel. And even as Folene and Midas made their way down more wild greenery paths, the acid spitter tried to stay behind. However, the presence of another of his gang members caused her to stop and stare. From her current tree, she saw the smaller of the gang- the little grass-backed vine armed scrub roaming around the grove, as if she was looking for something... Lyn constantly pulled her attention back and forth from the trail Midas was on to Pyne... She finally waved her hand at Midas, deciding that she'd ruined his morning enough. Besides, if her instincts were correct, his morning probably wouldn't last much longer for Midas. Lyn hopped away back to the grove in hopes of maybe toying with Pyne a little...

As the time passed, Midas had found himself being lead down a rather delightful looking forest path. Swamp water ran through areas here and there and swamp trees sprung high into the air, creating a canopy. The sun blotted through the canopy nicely, giving a soft, relaxing lighting to the ground. He hummed to himself, admitting that it was a nice little private place. Folene was holding his hand as she lead him. But she came to stop and motioned her other tiny free hand forward to show him the area before them.

It was a patch of land with a single fallen tree on it. The fallen tree had a hole in it, so it was assumed by Midas that she either lived here or used it for something. The patch of property was round and surrounded by shallow swamp water. The fallen tree was covered in vines and moss, and the property had squares on each side on the ground. One side had some flowers in it, and looked quite nice actually. She walked over to examine the flowers, and he slowly let his hand slip from hers and followed... Slowly.
"This is my home. You're welcome to do as you please. I don't have much here, but it's nice. Excuse my gardens... I seem to be having trouble keeping some of them alive, and the earth is very hard to turn over." Folene's squeaky voice chirped. Midas had his eyebrows creased a tad and his eyes angled in a slight uncomfortable manner. When she said a private place, he wasn't expecting her to bring him to her home... Normally, that wasn't much a bad thing, but given how... Prying, she can be, this arose some red flags that she was trying to long-term court him, and he didn't quite like this. She certainly was trying hard to get him interested in her personal life...

He looked down to the blank square on one side of the yard, and his tunneling instincts began to kick him in the butt. At the moment, he despised it. He snarled at the dirt before reaching down to touch it. It was dry with little to offer for any poor plant put to bed here. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even tilled. It was horrible quality. He then looked to the other garden and saw that parts of it were tilled, but parts were dead and dry, and the earth was hard.
"You have poor quality earth here. I can see why it is hard to turn over, it is very hard." he jabbed his hand into the dirt to see if it was any better below the surface. He really had to put some strength into it to actually break apart the dried, crusty dirt. But below, his hand met some finer soils that made his OCD sigh in relief. He himself kept a straight face the whole time however.

"You see, I am just not strong enough to till this ground... I've been needing someone's help around here. I've been wanting to plant my flowers here, but it was just too hard..." Folene replied as she walked over to him. Once he realized what he was doing, he quickly got to his feet and wiped his hands off on himself before standing up straight.
"W-well, I gave you a, erm... A good starting place. Just work from there, moisten the earth, and it shouldn't give you too much trouble." he suggested, trying to keep himself out of the tilling business. He had better things to be doing.
Folene beamed a look of delight simply at him giving advice. In truth, he was doing it to benefit himself and get himself out of a hole he nearly dug himself into. Unfortunately, he just made the hole bigger.
"You know... You are just the type I have been searching for. Would you, perhaps, like to stay a while? Maybe get to know each other a little better...?"
He leaned back, looking down to her in surprise. "That was the intention today, yes... But, I..."
"Are you, perhaps, good with seedlings?" she chirped.

"Okay, so you meant that you were wanting to raise those kind of flowers here..." he grunted. He moved away by taking a single step back. He pretended as if he had just figured it out, but he had been catching on for a while. Midas was clearly uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his head before resting his hands on his dagger hilts. "I apologize, but I think you have the wrong idea. I-I am not looking for anything long term. You see, I would not make a suitable mate for you..."
"Oh don't be so modest, Midas~ I saw you trying to interest me earlier today."
Midas kicked himself internally before clearing his throat. He kept his cool on the outside, but he was officially done with today's little "date". He looked up to the sky before looking back to Folene... He grabbed her hand and nudged his snout to it gently before going to stand.
"I must be going, I am terribly sorry... I just remembered that I need to drop my daggers off to have them sharpened for an upcoming case. I bid you farewell. Again, I am sorry for my rude parting... I wish you goodluck with your gardening, this has been a lovely morning...~" he then started to leave, leaving Folene standing there confused.

Folene brought her little hands together, disappointed that he was leaving so soon. She was completely oblivious to just how serious he was being NOT becoming a permanent mate. "Oh, alright... Well... Thank you for the wonderful time, regardless. Be safe out there!"
He turned shortly to nod. "Not to worry, for I am hard to get."
Folene just gave a disheartened sigh and gave a dreamy smile. "Tell me about it."

He politely turned away, leaving hastily. Upon reaching the path he took to get here, he continued onward and never looked back. That was far too close for comfort, even for him. Midas walked and walked until he heard the bustle of the meeting grove draw near. It was also here that he bumped right into Pyne- seeing as she had just walked onto the path.
"Oh, Midas!" Pyne squeaked.
Midas moved back in horror, paranoid that maybe he was being followed. He was quickly made aware though that it was just Pyne herself... She could tell he was clearly flustered and he groaned.
"What are you doing here!?" he growled. "Have you been following me??"
The vine-arm scrub hastily brought her vines up and waved them. "No, no! I have been looking for you for a while! I talked to some other female in a tree back in the grove and she told me she saw you coming down this way, and-"
There it was, the record screech and his eyes grew wide. Midas cut her off with- "Stop, stop! Who was this female that you spoke with? Did she say her name? If she had one..."
Pyne did a small shifty eye, thus remembering that she never got the lass' name. "Aw shoot, I never got her name... I didn't get to see her either, she wouldn't show me what she looked like. I think she was just really tired, you know? She was reclining on a branch. She wanted to know if I was lost or something, and I told her that I was looking for you and if she'd seen you walk through here today... She was actually really funny, haha!"

He found that alone to be pretty suspicious... And frustrating... He internally thought to himself how sad it was that Pyne- one of his professional thieves, did not pick up on how weird all of that sounded. Midas pinched the bridge of his snout and he uttered a guttural growl. "Alright, just... Why are you here?"
It was then Pyne took to a stiff pose and her four eyes darted to everything around them- except Midas. His eyelids slowly fell into a cut expression, knowing very well that when she did that, that she had bad news. "Spit it out, Pyne. It cannot possibly be as bad as that one time that Jiro brought a hunted live skunk into the burrow..."
The small scrub inhaled deeply before sighing... "... Thebacktunnelcollapsed."

Immediately, he pounded his hand to his forehead, looked up, and gave a solid "Ughh!" before bringing his sharp angry eyes down to look at Pyne. "What did I tell you all about that blasted back tunnel!? This is the third time I have had to repair it!"
Pyne flinched and jumped back, squeaking as she did. "I-I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault! It w-was Ichiro!"
"What did he do!?" he roared. "What crap must I clean up whence I return home!?"
"He... Kind of stepped on your pickax, a-and it hit him in the leg, and t-then he just... Angrily... Chucked it... Into the tunnel..... And it fell." Pyne replied lowly with a nervous grin in her many eyes.
The tunnel scrub began pacing forward straight around the grove with Pyne scurrying behind him. He glared at his path and queried- "My pickax... Is it...?"
"It is buried under the tunnel, sir...." Pyne mumbled. This caused Midas to lowly grunt a swear from under his breath before snorting.
"Kaiser is making him dig out the pickax, at least... So... You do not have to, haha..."

"Good... Because I was going to make him do it anyway." Midas replied. "Was anyone in the tunnel when it collapsed? Is everyone alright in the burrow?"
Pyne gave a swift nod. "Yesir! Aside from Ichiro's hurt knee, but hey, whatcha gonna do?"
"Skin his hide, that's what..." he finished.

After a few moments of silence, Pyne hesitantly start conversation. "So... Uh... How did that, erm... Meeting with the dame go? Did you have a good time? You certainly are back early..."
Midas flicked a leaf, having a low tone as he answered. "It was... Fine."
"You and I both know that when you say that, that it means it didn't go well."
He glanced down at her with a quirked brow, before adding. "That crazy scrub was prying for all kinds of info from me. Where I live, what all I can lift, how good are my senses..."
Pyne layered her eyes forward and hummed. "I don't know, just sounded like an interested lady to me. I think you may just be stresse-"
"She asked me if I was good with tending to plants. She outright took me back to her home, and expected me to sit down and raise a bunch of seedlings with her!"
All of Pyne's eyes went wide and she laughed a little. "OKAY. Yeah, it is good you got out of there. Yikes... I keep tell'n ya Midas, these females only want one thing from ya, but do you listen?"
His leaves pinned back and he looked down to her. "Silence, Pyne." he nipped
"Yesir." she replied before quickly going silent.


Time passed and they made it back to the burrow. When Midas walked in, he found Kaiser lounging on the chair at the side of the den, taking a small rest. Which was understandable, he was up studying those papers for a while. He'd had to ask him later if he figured anything out or if he made any plans. Jiro was at the back of the hall helping Ichiro dig out dirt from what was the tunnel. Simply seeing the damage made Midas groan... He worked so long on the tunnel. The tunnel scrub made his way back there, and Jiro noticed this. Upon this notice, he lowered his head, ears, and tail and crouched. Midas made a small gesture toward him however that let him know he wasn't in trouble.
"Ichiro..." Midas growled.
The red fox stiffened his form before turning to Midas with one side of his muzzle snarled. He had nothing to say however, rather he just looked Midas in the eyes. The tunnel scrub approached the wall of dirt, placing his hand on the mound before looking back up to Ichiro. "You better have my pickax out of there before tonight, or you wont even be present for the next job, you understand me?

Ichiro grunted and turned from the wall, clenching his tiny fists. "It was an accident!" he then glared at Pyne and hissed- "You snitch! You had to tell him everything, didn't you?"
Midas got in front of Ichiro to block him of Pyne's view and he stood up completely straight with all of his leaves pinned out to show that he was not afraid of Ichiro in any way. It was the closest he could get to a show of dominance, and he knew Ichiro would respond due to him being a wild fox, respectively. "You leave Pyne out of this. You created this mess, and she has every right to let me know when my home is being destroyed. I built this burrow from the entry to the farthest room with my bare-hands and a few tools. Now, do you expect me to let you off the hook after you have demolished part the shelter that I have given to you?"
Ichiro remained quiet, glaring at the ground. Midas then repeated himself with a surprisingly gruff bark. "Do you!?"- and this caused Ichiro to flinch and continue growling.
"No." the red fox begrudgingly answered.
Midas kept a straight, stern expression and his stern position as he finished. "I'll make sure you have guard duty for the next five days if I must. I have half a mind to make you dig out this whole tunnel. If you have my pickax out by tonight, I'll mark down your guard duty to two days. That is as far down as I will go."

While the tunnel scrub turned to leave the hall, he spoke to Jiro on the way. "Stop helping your brother. This is his mess to clean up."
"B-but, I'd like to help him..." Jiro whined.
"No, Jiro. He wont learn a thing if he has the easy way out. I am telling you to leave him alone."
The blue fox gave a curt nod and began into his and Ichiro's nesting room. "O-okay..."




To Be Continued...