Scout's POV

"Stop again for a second!!" I squeaked as I hopped down from Alexi's shoulders again. Tillow bounced back and forth on his feet, nervous energy radiating off of him.

"Be quick okay? We don't know if they have patrols through here or not..." he whimpered, eyes darting around the hall. I rolled my eyes at the same message he'd given at every turn I had to sniff out, trying to find the raccoon's distinctive musky scent among all of the others in the hall.

"At the next branch take a right," I decided, looking back to Alexi. "We should be getting close now."

"Good," Tillow interjected, shoving past in his haste to lead us. As I stumbled Alexi rolled her eyes, crouching down for me to hop up onto her back again.

"He was the one who just told us to be careful, right??" she scoffed, shaking her head with a sigh.

We both started at a shout from the direction Tillow had run, followed by the scrabbling of claws against stone and more shouts mixed in with growls and yelps. Unsure of what to do we just stood there and glanced at each other, nervous and confused. Before long Tillow came walking back unharmed, the only sound left being the clicking of his toes on the floor. He rolled his eyes at our startled looks and raised an eyebrow. "So I was right about the patrols, but where were you two? You could've been caught from behind, y'know," he chirped before skipping back down the way he had come.

Alexi huffed crossly and followed the overenthusiastic otter, setting after him at a fast trot. I inhaled sharply as we rounded the bend, finding at least three fox guards lying unconscious. One was bleeding openly from several tooth and claw scratches while the other two appeared widely unharmed other than having extremely ruffled pelts and a few scrapes from the stone floor. At the next turn there was only one path, and Tillow was waiting for us, webbed paws twisting together in nervous excitement. "There's a window nearby; the first taste of fresh air I've had in moons!!" he exclaimed in wonder, smiling so his eyes closed at the invigorating relief after the stuffy air of the cells. "We must be close to the exit now!!"

"Exit?" I squeaked, tilting my head slightly. "I only know the way back to the tower where we met with the head guard, the wall there was all a daze."

Tillow stares at me blankly as Alexi, not having any input for the time being, quietly stood. "Well of course that could be a problem..." Tillow replied, eyebrows furrowed as he stared away at the cobbled wall.

I twitched guiltily on Alexi, looking down into her dense scruff. "Should I have mentioned that earlier? I'm sorry, we won't have anything to do once we get there," I squeaked ruefully.
Alexi reached around to gently lap my head in reassurance.

"No, even the amount you can remember is so important. Remember, you're the one who broke us out in the first place too," she yipped, a slight smile on her face. "You're doing a lot for us; we'll figure out what to do once we get there."

Smiling at her words, I shuffled in slight embarrassment and lifted my gaze to meet Tillow's once again. Said otter was pacing in thought, tail lightly whipping over the floor. "We can likely get a grasp on where we are from whatever window is ahead, but we'll have to be careful not to be spotted," he murmured before facing us. "This is where you in particular will come in handy, Alexi."

Said fox turned her head to face him as her brows knit in confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, to put it simply you're a fox!" Tillow squeaked, his pacing halting as he explained. "The patrols seem to be groups of foxes mainly, so if Scout and I maneuver one of the foxes from the patrol beside you it'll look like you're just making rounds. You can look out of the window as you pass and hopefully give us an idea of where we are on the grounds."

"What do I look for?" Alexi asked, the idea growing on her.

"Oh, just comparatively where we are to the other parts of the castle," Tillow replied eagerly, ready to race back and bring one of the unconscious guards over. "Distinguishable features like the castle wall, the gate, and other towers would be helpful."

Alexi nodded as she let me down, my claws briefly scrabbling against the stone as I landed. The chill after her warmth caused me to shiver involuntarily, shutting my eyes for a moment and taking in the newer scents filtering through the clearer air. When I opened them again Tillow had already run off back the way we had come, leaving Alexi and I briefly on our own. "I still don't completely trust him," I admitted nervously, shifting on my feet. "He still must have ulterior motives for helping us."

Alexi merely dipped her head in agreement, shutting her own eyes wearily. "At least he seems to know what he's doing..."

Tillow returned at that moment, effortlessly hauling one of the slightly ruffled foxes over to us. "Okay, we won't have long to stay around while we pass to make this look legit," he huffed, making room for me beside him as I scurried over and stood ready under one of the guard's large paws. "We'll set our pace as fast as this one can go, and you'll follow behind us to have more time. Let's go."

Not having time to agree, we quickly started walking as fast as I could waddle slightly in front of Tillow and the fox. I almost started as I glanced back to see the guard with open Amber eyes staring ahead, paws swaying and tail lightly flicking as if it were awake. My eyes wide, I couldn't understand how it didn't notice what was going on and protest. I uncertainly continued as fast as I could, hoping uncertainly that the guard would remain oblivious and silent. Tillow and Alexi kept up well, and I saw the window growing nearer. It was impossible to see past the apparently wooden frame, so I set my focus on listening and sniffing for anything unusual along with keeping up the pace. Just as Tillow and I neared the other side, giving Alexi her first glimpse outside, an odd whizzing noise filled the air as some object shot through the window, narrowly missing the unconscious guard. Tillow immediately dropped the body and crouched in alarm, Alexi following suit in wide-eyed alarm as horns began to sound in alarm against a steady thrumming of more of the objects, arrows.

Tillow turned to Alexi, keeping low under the sill of the window. "Alexi, I need to know right now what you saw," he hissed, flat against the floor.

Alexi stared at him, panic making her eyes shimmer with her spiked pelt. "We never made it past the outer wall," she announced in a whimper, amber eyes darting between us.

Long time no see how ya been?
-Cavy
(6/3/18)