Tunnel Rat

Charlotte was annoyed. This was one of her three main emotions. Annoyed, frustrated, and arrogance vied for the number one emotion. A few other emotions kept trying to enter the mix, but a few like empathy and sympathy had packed their bags and left long ago. She assumed that by now she knew almost everything about everything the clan could teach her, so she was annoyed that somehow her grandfather could make a door that trapped all sound. She'd been trying to eavses drop on the meeting going on between her grandfather and Tallsqueak, but could hear nothing at all through the thin wooden door.

It was obvious Tallsqueak had found something that pertained to the clan. Grandfather was excited and that could mean bad news for her. The old man was always testing her: setting her up to fight opponents in the arena, holding a competition for best skulker, who could kill the most spiderlings or drink the most bottles of poisoned fruit juice. It was endless and tiring, always with the threat of 'To lead a clan, you must be the best at everything. And you aren't ready.' It should be obvious to him that she would be the best clan leader, and not one of her idiot cousins. And now he had a new challenger for her to compete against.

At least it was a serious challenge. Tallsqueak actually had talent, despite his feral manners. She was curious what type of competition the old rat would give the two of them. Hopefully something dangerous so she could make sure that he didn't come back this time. Being an outsider, Tallsqueak had none of the protections of the clan. So many things could happen to him. She'd have to arrange a few. It was a shame, since he was better at combat than most of her cousins. But no one cracked her skull with a spanner and got to live. No one.

The door opened, and a smiling Tallsqueak nodded to her before he left the room and moved down the hall and left the clan's home. Her grandfather called from inside. "Ah, fresh tea. I knew I could count on you, Charlotte."

"Make friends with Larry? Have you lost your mind!!"

Her grandfather looked around at the floor, and in his pockets. "No, I'm pretty sure I have it somewhere, thank you for asking, and say 'Hi' to Larry for me."

Charlotte stared at the old rat. "I won't do it. I hate Fiends and I hate him. How many of our family were killed by rogue Fiends from other Hollows when we fought the spiders? My own mother was torn apart by one. I want nothing to do with Larry or any other Fiend unless it means putting a knife through their brains."

Her grandfather sat and said nothing, pondering something. Finally, after a minute he spoke. "No, that won't do it. A knife to the brain would kill most people, I'm sure. But a Fiend would keep fighting. Most Cheese Fiends have a secondary brain at the end of their spine, you might have to use two knives. Luckily, Larry seems to have more brain power than most. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy he is to talk to."

"But I don't want to talk to a Cheese Fiend!"

Her grandfather leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his belly. "Then I suggest you quit thinking of Larry as a Fiend. I understand your anger. The attack upon our camp that night was a horrible thing. Our family alone lost 14 people. Most of the generation between us was lost, and no clan was unscathed. We may never know how the spiders drove the Cheese Fiends insane like that. I know what has happened, but it is time to take your own feelings and put them behind you for the good of the clan."

Charlotte couldn't believe he was serious. "But why? How can becoming friends with Larry be good for our clan? I don't understand. There can't be any other reason for it other than one of your stupid tests." Her grandfather had given her odd tasks before, but this was beyond strange. He paused, started to talk, then changed his mind. "It is something that must happen before I send you on an important mission. VERY important. Please, I need you to do this. Tallsqueak will tell you why once he judges that Larry trusts you."

"Tallsqueak? What does he have to do with this?" What had he found that he could make these demands?

"Everything. As I'm sure you have guessed from seeing his 'magic pants', he found secrets of our clan. He has offered to share them, but to do so he requires you be friends with Larry. Think of it as gaining Tallsqueak's trust. He has little reason to trust you right now, and that was your own doing. But he did offer you some help. Larry likes cookies and treats, he loves dancing, singing silly songs, telling stories and having them told to him. No cheese, of course. Eating meals with Larry was suggested. And not dressing like a Shadow Skulker. You don't want Larry to think of you as a 'Sneaky Guy'. They are the bad guys in his stories.

Charlotte stood and looked at her grandfather, trying to judge if he was serious about this, or if senility had set in early. In the end, she decided to call his bluff. She didn't know what Tallsqueak had found, but she had a good idea of where to look. As for Tallsqueak and Larry, it was time for them to go. Limburger Hollow shouldn't be harboring a Cheese Fiend. Lots of other people felt that way. If Larry disappeared, very few people would ask questions.

"I won't do it. Larry isn't Clan. Tallsqueak isn't Clan. I don't have to work with them. And if they know secrets, I'll find them out and bring them to the clan myself." She turned to go, slamming the door and striding down the hallways, fuming.

Her mood and departure didn't go unnoticed. Two younger clan members were getting a snack after their failed mission to play surprise, and impromptu lesson in 'How to not be eaten by Larry'. Ringtail and Tweedle had already told their story to most of the other young skulkers, embellishing the details to include a small battle with Tallsqueak on the roof, and lurid descriptions of Larry's claws and teeth. They also emphasized how fast he was. That was new information. They had been truly terrified when he was chasing them, and very grateful that he was polite enough to knock before entering.

Ringtail watched as Char stormed by. "Wow, princess twistytail is really pissed!"

Tweedle agreed. "Tallsqueak is beating her on points, and grandfather keeps reminding her about it."

"She needs to learn to relax."

"I don't know if she can."

"Remember when we invited her swimming...

"...and she put poison in the pool to score points on all of us. Yeah, no more swim parties for PrissyPrincess.!"

"I heard something about a mission."

"I too heard that."

"And she thinks she's too good to do it."

"As usual. She needs some humility."

"She needs so many, many things."

"And never takes our advice."

"I bet it's a mission any idiot could do."

"I think so too, probably something even we could handle."

"Grandfather does say we are idiots. So, we're qualified."

"She's going to be so pissed."

"Very pissed. We may have to sleep elsewhere for a long time."

"Worth it."

"Let's go see grandfather.

Old Healer was just finishing his first cup of tea when Ringtail and Tweedle knocked on his door and entered. They saluted like they were in the army. He sighed. Of all his grandchildren, besides Charlotte, the twins were the two he felt had the most potential to become the best of their generation. Partly because they had used so little of that potential.

"Clan scout Tweedle, reporting for duty."

"Clan scout Ringtail, ready for important missions, no matter how dangerous.

Their grandfather sighed. "Let me guess, Charlotte still mumbles to herself loudly when she is angry."

Both scouts nodded and ringtail added. "Wind her up good and you can find out all kind of interesting things."

"Like secret missions."

"Which you now need us for."

"Good choice on your part."

They weren't expecting their grandfather to actually give them the mission with so little arm twisting. He simply smiled at them, with all of his teeth showing. "Excellent. You two will do nicely. Tallsqueak has a secret mission, but you have to prove yourselves to him by getting to be friends with Larry so he trusts you."

The two looked at each other, and nodded.

"We can do that."

"No problem. It will be fun.

"Maybe he can show us how to do the hopping thing he does. It must give big experience in Agility."

"Yeah, he got so fast, so quick! Very cool."

"Larry's pretty cool all around. Those claws? Insane."

The two saluted again, and ran off to plan "Operation Larry". Step one was several plates of cookies.