“Wake up,” Cal said as he opened the door to the room they had turned into a prison chamber for the former Third Smasher of the squirrel leader.
“Why have you come to surrender and allow us to begin rebuilding our empire?” Questioned Third Smasher in return.
“No, but also yes. The squirrels are rebuilding as we speak without the control of your piece of shit leader. Most of the mutated squirrels are rejoining their groves and families, and now, together, they are building up an even stronger community, but that isn’t what I’m here for. We are going on a journey, just you and me.” Cal answered, smiling. He tossed a backpack at the squirrel.
“And me!” declared Sleek as she popped into view in the room.
“Ah yes, and Sleek, can’t forget her,” Cal added, his smile grew bigger. He liked her constant enthusiasm. It was a good counterbalance to his more recent moods.
“What kind of leash will I be on during this journey?” Third Smasher asked as he picked up the backup and started rummaging through it.
“None, but any betrayal of me or running away means you won’t get to meet the world spirit of Pluto and probably miss out on all kinds of crazy fights on the way. Plus, I was hoping to do some sparring with you. Sure, I’m out of your league on raw power, but I want to learn some of your techniques.” Cal answered again. He hoped the promise of fighting would be enough. He really did want to learn some of the squirrel’s fighting skills.
“I will come. It does me no good to be locked away in this room for the rest of my existence, and while I still consider you my foe, for now, I will walk alongside you. I wish to see this world spirit you speak of.” Third Smasher’s expression changed from what Cal thought was anger into curiosity. So it wasn’t the fighting he wanted, but the world spirit. Cal didn’t really care as long as something had tempted him.
“Good, let’s go then, I want to slip out before the squirrels get to work this morning. Follow me.” Cal attached a note to Third Smasher’s door telling the others he had taken the prisoner, and they made their way towards the tunnel that Sleek said would lead them deep into Pluto.
***
“Miss Sleek, may I speak with you?” This was the first time since they left the grove that Third Smasher had spoken up. Other than Sleek’s occasional directions, they had spent the day in silence, navigating tunnel after tunnel. According to the mental map Cal had, thanks to Sleek, they should be passing through a grove in a week, but that was to be the last one on their journey.
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“Yes, Third Smasher, what can I do for you?” The little spirit shimmered into view.
“Why did you choose this human and not a squirrel? I don’t understand. The great leader had unified us all together in a way we had never been before. You could have been part of our great empire.” Third, Smasher asked. He seemed genuinely bewildered that Sleek hadn’t chosen to bond with a squirrel.
“I don’t want to be part of some slave empire. That just tells me how I was likely to be treated. Besides, your leader wanted to try to find a way to work with the Gryalth, and that would just get you all killed anyway. They are doing horrible things to every mana pool they can find here. Cal, on the other hand, wants to stop them. It’s a pretty easy choice.” Sleek answered.
Third Smasher grunted and returned to his continued silence. Even once they arrived at the grove, he continued to keep quiet. He had sparred with Cal twice at Cal’s request but gave no actual advice; he just fought until Cal had taken him down both times. Cal found the attitude annoying but not overly surprising.
It was two days since they left the grove when he finally spoke up again. “There’s something off in the chamber ahead of us. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it.”
“Yeah, I had picked up something a couple of hours ago. I felt something a bit similar on Mars, so I’ve got an idea as to what it might be. You should be prepared for a fight.” Cal responded. He hadn’t brought it up partially because he was curious if Third Smasher would sense anything and partially because he wasn’t certain what it was. It reminded him somewhat of the way the Abyssal beasts felt on Mars, but it didn’t seem like a perfect match.
“What is it?” Third Smasher asked.
“Likely some kind of monsters, but I don’t think we will know for sure until we get into the next chamber. Keep your guard up,” Cal instructed.
“Why would it ever be down?” The squirrel asked with complete seriousness. Cal stifled a laugh.
Slowly, they made their way down the passageway and into the next chamber, carefully looking for any sign of the source. If these were Abyssal beasts, they could be walking into anything, and Cal didn’t want to be ambushed. He carefully snuck a look into the chamber beyond and spotted the exact thing he had been worried about. It was like what they had encountered on Mars, but worse. It was those hellmoose things that had been a big part of the end of that loop. There were only two of them, though, and he was a lot stronger than he was then.
“We’ve got two hellmoose, and the last time we fought one, it didn’t go well. I don’t really see a way around them, so we are going to have to go through them.” Before Cal could continue onto some possible tactics, Third Smasher had already run into the room to attack one of the beasts.
“Dammit,” was all Cal could get out before charging after him. He didn’t want to leave the idiot to die alone. Briefly, he wondered if this was what it was like when Andy was trying to give him orders and decided it was best to ignore that thought as he started preparing a few lightning explosions.