"You said the patrol never checked these caves yet, Taye?" Darklett approaches the big cave, which at the very /least/ looks like a good bit of shade, even if not the right place, on this blistering summer day. And poor Dark, with his namesake charcoal black fur, is getting fried.

Taye looks around the large cave, craning his head and looking all about at the same time. Oh, and he also shakes his head. "No, sah. I guess we must've missed 'em." While his fur is considerably less prone to baking him, Taye's brow is damp with sweat. Sweat which is rapidly chilling and making him feel shivery, in fact.

Having been lagging behind the other two, for his own reasons, Seven moves towards the caves as both his ears perk with interest. Actually, the buck is fully in uniform - save for the fact that his tunic is open from the heat - which tends to be an odd occurrence with him nowadays. Without a word, he follows in after Taye, paw trailing the rock wall and seeming to be breathing just a bit heavier than normal.

While it took a bit longer for the absence of direct sunlight and presence of the shade to cool down Darklett's sun-baked fur, it did eventually happen, and he was able to at least relax a little. The sea breeze seemed to wind-tunnel through the walls of the cave, creating a stronger wind than had been felt before entering. Darklett's voice lowers from the shouting of outside to quiet and even subtle. "Keep your eyes peeled. Seven, bow at the ready, and stay at the rear." The hare rattles off the orders briefly, and walks towards one of the passageways that lead from the large entrance.

Knowing Seven to be the better shot on any day, Taye lays his paws on other weapons - a short sword and a dagger. His fingers twitch on the hilts, ears training forward to alertness at Darklett's orders. He sends only one glance back to the buck behind him before devoting himself entirely to the task at hand.

Seven nods, about to say something, but he cuts himself off by just nodding again. The sniper stays where he is, taking the long bow out of its holder and stringing it rather quickly by using the ground and pushing his footpaw down against the bend of the wood. This takes perhaps a second - practice makes perfect - before it is held across his chest, ears flickering up into an attentive position as he seems to expect something from Darklett now.

Darklett stops off to the side of the entrance to the cave, looking back to the other two hares. Seeing both are at the ready, he nods. "I know, this's probably gettin' old hearing this every time we look someplace, but keep alert." After he says this, he takes out two throwing knives, holding them in the ready to throw position, and nodding to Taye and Seven, stepping down the rock

"Yessah," is Taye's only reply. He peers after Darklett and down the corridor and, taking in a deep breath, plunges in after him. Here goes.

A glance and a smirk had been sent to Taye. Now if the other buck had seen him or not, Seven doesn't know or perhaps care. He pauses until he goes into the corridor as well, before setting an arrow into his bow and continuing after the other hares.

Darklett comes to a fork in the caves, and hesitates, looking back over his shoulder. "Taye, Seven... You take the left, I go right. We meet up outside after we've searched everywhere." Without looking again, he takes the right branch, and disappears quickly behind a bend.

Sees it or senses it. Either way, Taye's head gives the slightest of turns as if he /wants/ to look around. But in the end he doesn't. Not until Darklett disappears around a bend. He blinks and /does/ look around at Seven, then, with a shrug. Whisper. "... Guess I'll stick in the lead, then." Heh? He looks at Sev for a few seconds longer, blinks, and turns around, continuing forward into the left branch of the cave.

Seven shifts closer to Taye. "Isn' this kinda..." He trails off and sighs, just looking towards Dark. Or more like where Dark just was, because the older buck is already gone. For a moment he is torn as to who he should seriously be backing up, but just goes after Taye as he was instructed, arrow still held loose in the longbow and ears tipped back.

"... Kinda like the officah leavin' the screw-up privates to fend fer themselves? Yeah. It is." Except... Darklett's not an officer anymore. Taye rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Mutter. "... C'mon." He continues forward, his fingers itching at the hilt of his short sword and dagger.

Bouncing forward to catch up, Seven gives Taye a sharp look. "Yeah righ'. More like I though' 'e needed more 'elp than ye did." He might not have liked the screw-up comment. Perhaps he just feels a bit more confident in his abilities than the other runner does. All of this is done quietly though, to not be detected.

Taye is surprised into a slight faltering of his step. He glances back and to the side at Sev, eyebrows slightly up. But rather than respond directly to what the buck has said, he shrugs and looks away, back into the depth of the cave. "... Not like we're gonna find anything anyway. We nevah do."

"I think yer more pessimistic than me... didn' know tha' was possible.." Seven mumbles this from behind Taye now, just following the other runner along and keeping more to stealth mode as he does. He doesn't seem to care if he's heard or not either.

Swoosh! A sudden sack of flour explodes in the corridor, sending a white cloud everywhere before two daggers fly towards the leader; one towards the shoulder and the other towards the thigh.

... Swoosh? Swoosh?! Things do not go swoosh when Taye is walking in dark caves! His pupils immediately dilate to the size of dimes and he jerks down with a surprised grunt, tensing and hunching his shoulders as he starts to draw his short sword. And though he has thereby saved his shoulder, the dagger finds its mark soundly in his thigh. Rather than cry out, though, he drops with a soundless grunt - more a clicking of his throat than anything - and falls to a knee. He draws the short sword the rest of the way, looking every possible direction at once while he clamps his other paw around the hilt of the dagger and pulls. "Ssssssss!" is the only sound he lets escape.

Yeah, that noise is never good, and Seven's reflexes save him from more than one thing. The sniper has ducked into a darkened place against the wall, with his back flat against the stones and breath catching in his throat. Because Taye ducked down, the dagger aimed for his shoulder would have gotten the other runner in a more dangerous place, but nothing. A scared glance immediately goes to the other, to make sure he is alright, but it is dark and the cloud of flour has spread so that all he knows is that his friend is wounded and on the floor. His jaw tightens, crushing back further and gripping the arrow head so it'll be hidden from /any/ source of dismal light. 'Please don't get up. Please don't look towards me... Taye.. Oh God.' This isn't spoken, just thought, trying to will the injured hare to stay down. He's waiting for a clear shot either way. Arrows will do no good in the current conditions and he doesn't want to hit what could be Audri.

*****************************************************************************

The soft sound of coughing resonates through the abandoned room, seeming to come from somewhere above. Having been swept away to a new location, Audri lies on the cool floor, body doubled over from her coughing fit as a few drops of blood tumble down her chin. As her coughs subside, she pushes herself up on her elbows, leaning down to begin hitting the shackle chain once again, a dull clunk echoing from the room.

Darklett's ears flick, following the sound of coughing through the caverns... He stealthily slinks against the walls, the knives still clutched in his paws. Peeking into the room, he peers into the very very dark room, making out the form of... somebeast. Running into the room, he raises his knives, ready to throw should there anybeast waiting... But it's just him and the coughing beast, who or whatever it is. Getting closer, he kneels down next to the beast. "...Audri?"

Oo. Audri's ears perk up, her efforts pausing as she hears somebeast close by. Her eyes squint, staring towards the approaching figure before she sits upright. "Da!" Erk. After her scream, she quickly covers her mouth, mumbling now. "How'd ya get past the others?"

Dark looks up and around at the loud greeting, making sure he's not been discovered. "...Keep it down, Aud... I'm gonna get ya outta here." He goes to hug around the squirrelmaid and goes to pick her up, hearing the metal clank and pausing. "...Oh... I didn't see anybeast on the way in... Who's got the key?"

"Sorry. I just got a bit excited." Audri murmurs, returning his hug before going into another fit of coughs. She draws back slightly, paw gripping her chest as she tries to get a breath before mumbling again. "..I don't know. I was tryin' to break the chain, but its stronger than I thought."

Darklett's ears pin back as he tries to listen for any movement... "I didn't run into anybeast on the way in..." He looks around the floor, and grabs a sizeable rock that's nearby. "Hold your ears," he warns, just seconds before the rock slams into the chain, making a loud clang, once, twice, three, four, five, six times, regripping it and slamming the rock's sharper edge into the chain again. "C'mon..."

Audri nods, clamping her paws over her ears. "A'right. Maybe he went to the boat then.." A tiny squeak drifts past her lips, before she sinks her teeth into her lower lip, trying to keep her footpaw still as he works. The link begins to twist under the force of the rock, slowly beginning to pull away from the shackle.

Darklett lets out a low, fierce growl as he pounds away at the chain with the heavy rock, gritting his teeth as his arm starts to weary... Almost three minutes of constant striking against the chain pass, and Audri is still not free. "The boat?" He asks, taking a pause. "How many are there?"

Audri tries to keep her squeaks at bay, watching the buck work silently. She hms, lowering her paws for a moment in thought. "Umm..2 that I've seen. But the ship's gonna be here tomorrow mornin'. 'n there's a bunch of 'em on it."

"Ears," Darklett mutters with a nod, and goes back to clanging the rock hard against the chains... He breathes through his mouth and lets out a grunt of exertion every time his arm lowers, his paw vibrating with the connection between stone and metal.

Audri bobs her head, paws returning to their place once more. With the continued efforts, the link begins to bend under the rock, a faint snap following. The link bends further down and away, slowly making an opening to slip away from the shackle.

"Audri... Your tail..." Darklett stops what he was doing, falling backwards as he suddenly notices the lack of the brush behind his daughter's back. "They... cut it off, didn't they?" He makes fists and heaves a shaky sigh, definitely angered. He lifts the rock a few more times and slams the shackle, making sure it's bent enough for Audri to safely slip her ankle out. "You're free," he murmurs, dropping the rock and holding the shackle still.

Cue sniffling. Audri doesn't answer at first, trying to keep her emotions in check as she bobs her head in a small nod. "..yea." Is her quiet reply, waiting for him to finish, slipping her ankle free. Feeling for the wall, she rests her paw against it, slowing rising to her footpaws shakily. She manages to stand for a moment before her knees buckle and she plops back down. "There any others with ya?"

Biting his lip, Dark goes to help Audri stand, catching her as she's about to fall and holding her upright. "Yeah. Taye and Seven came with me, they're right down the other corridor. Here, let me..." He goes to pick Audri up. "Hold on, let's go get them, and get our fur outta here."

Audri wraps her arms about her waist as she's scooped up, resting her head against the buck's shoulder. "A'right. Hopefully Daemon 'n that tod have left." She mumbles, a few coughs popping up again.

Darklett nods, just understanding that they must be the vermin that were here with her. "Let's just hope..." He rushes out, turning down the hall and rushing through the corridors, working his way from memory. "It's gonna be alright, we'll be back at Salamandastron soon."

Audri gives a faint nod, curling up in his arms, keeping her eyes on her lap. "I know. 'm glad ya found me." She mumbles, chancing a glance towards one of the corridors with a frown.

******************************************************************************

Haha! That's what Daemon thinks to himself as he hears someone fall, drawing his axe from his belt. He gives a curt nod to his associate, a large tod with a scimitar. Keeping close to the walls, the two begin to move towards the fallen, weapons held infront of them.

Taye isn't looking at Seven. He's... looking at everything. In a sort-of-kind-of terrified way, actually. Terrified and exhilarated, about a gallon of adrenaline having dumped itself into his system. He gives a final frantic look all around the surrounding area, though it affords him no clearer of a view, before near-dropping the short sword beside his right hip in a frenzy as he rips the hole in his pants a little wider. Squinting, then swiping his paws furiously at his eyes to get the flour out of them, he gives the bleeding wound the longest look-over that he can afford. Grimacing, he snatches up his sword and picks up the bloody dagger, holding it like a throwing knife as he turns his eyes in the direction that the daggers flew.

As he has not been in a long time, Seven is scared. Scared of what this situation could become, and how it could fall so easily out of his control. With a glance sent downward, the sniper backs down the corridor a little, to be not so close, just watching for any stray pebbles as the floor is more easily viewable at the moment anyway. When he is back into a more hollowed out area, Sev pauses and closes his eyes tightly, away from the dust cloud and just listening intently to what is happening ahead of him, regulating his breathing as he does. The buck thinks he can hear movement, but he's not sure if it's Taye or not. Slowly his green eyes open halfway and he peers into the fogged darkness, gripping the arrow head further. Just wait. And hope.

Daemon spies Taye's frantic movements through the cloud, a sneer crossing his lips. He motions back towards Franz, who gives a nod and disappears from the corridor. The hob slinks closer to Taye, edging up to his footpaw before the axe lowers to about his knee area. "Move 'n 'll axe yer leg." He hisses, eyes squinting off down the corridor.

Taye's ears give a sharp twitch and flatten back at the hissing voice. Oh, hell. But his first reaction /isn't/ to sit there and take it. With a silent grimace of preparation and playing on the hope that it'll take Daemon longer to raise and lower the axe than it will for him to 'get away, he ducks into a forward roll, almost throwing himself from the ferret hob. Finally he /does/ cry out but this time as he twists around, falling back and throwing the already-bloody dagger at Daemon's abdomen region.

The silence seems to be all enveloping and rattling as well, and Seven stares forward with an intense expression, ears pinned back once more. He just hopes that nothing else has gone wrong. Suddenly, though, Daemon's hiss reaches his ears and they snap to attention, all focus going to that location. The sniper jerks the long bow up with a smooth movement and draws the arrow back to sight down it. But.. that does him no good. Instead he just closes his eyes, all this in a split second and fires off towards where he heard the voice, because of Taye's cry, which just helped in his judgment. Fear, adrenaline.. uncertainty. Terror. Hopefully all his training and good aim will pay off in this instance. Oh Lord, he hopes so, for he's shooting blind and he knows it.

Oh, not smart. The tod that had disappeared, reappears right where the buck rolls too, slamming his scimitar down on his side. "Bad move boy." He grumbles, removing his blade to plant his foot on the buck. Daemon dodges the dagger, only to end up with an arrow in his shoulder. Argh. The hob shakes it off though, moving over towards the buck and tod. "Stay here, I'll get the other one."

Further down the caves, Darklett is hearing the sounds of struggle, and the flour has started to work towards its natural ventilated exit... Which is, unfortunately, towards him. He's blinded by the flour, trying to wave his paw but unable to get a clear view. But, he stays quiet, whispering to Audri. "Stay here." At this, he sets her down against the wall, creeping through the floury mist, his melee fight daggers out and gripped tightly in his paws.

Audri has been to tense up, realizing that her captors aren't in the boat. She begins to open her mouth, but closes it when set down. She gives a slight nod, watching him as he goes off into the floury cloud of doom.

I'm free! I did it! I got away! I- "Hurk!" Fingers splaying in reflex action, his short sword clattering uselessly to his side, Taye /feels/ that blade go in, the tip burying itself a bit further than the rest of the length. And he /feels/ it being levered out, as well. He's in the process of curling inward when the foot plants itself on his hip, just close enough to the side wound to push a screamy breath from the buck's mouth. On self-preservation instinct alone he grabs at the ankle, trying to yank it away and off balance. "Uh!"

What?! They're still talking?! That sucks! Seven breathes in a gasp, allowing himself that, but then again, he knows Daemon is heading towards him. And, right now, the sniper isn't quite sure he'll be able to keep himself alive long enough in a close battle with whatever is coming for him. An arrow is tugged from one of his quivers and he holds it firmly at his side, ready to ditch the long bow. One footpaw is pressed back against the wall, ready to use it as a launch pad to take the other by surprise, trying to block out what could possibly be happening ahead.

Franz snickers, finding the buck's attempt rather amusing, shaking of the paw while his boot grinds into the hip. "Sit still runt." Grunt. Now, Daemon has yanked the arrow free, throwing it to the ground as he retrieves his other dagger. Twirling it against fingers, he pauses to sniff the air, his smirk returning. Readying his axe, he shifts directions, staying close to the wall as he advances.

Dark hears the pained cry from Taye, and... Rushes. Where he'd been trying to be stealthy before, he throws caution to the wind, and all but charges into the unknown in front of him. "Eulaliaaaa!" he cries out... Anything to get their attention off the other two. The first thing he sees when he enters the area is a silhouette of a fallen beast, and another of a larger standing one. Instinct... Bum rush. He uses the element of surprise, hopefully, to tackle down the tod, his daggers extended as he lunges, bulling his head down and ramming him with his shoulder, his daggers going to hug around the fox and stab into his back.

Sit still? He's starting to see black, and that's not just from the darkness of the cave. A groan is forced out of Taye as his paw scrabbles uselessly on the stone floor, trying to find the short sword and return the attack still. Unfortunately, there's not much chance of that. Especially since the short sword's on his other side.

Seven's ears flutter about wildly in response to the noises. His fist tightens further around the arrow shaft before he gives another quick breath and just drops his quivers to spring away from the wall towards the other side of the corridor. It's a good thing that he's a runner, for his strategy takes him into a skidding crouch, which he turns and launches from, aiming to slam into Daemon and ram the arrow point at an upward angle under his rib cage. The cry from Darklett just makes this an even more courageous move, urged on by it. Seven may be small.. but he's intense. And a little nuts.

Erk. Franz has enough time to turn before being pushed back a few steps by the sudden attack, freeing the buck for a moment. A deep growl escapes his throat from the stabs before he brings his fists around in attempts to stun Dark. Daemon is momentarily caught off guard as someone suddenly rushes past him, but Franz can deal with the crazy hare. XD But then he's suddenly presented with a flying hare. o.o He oofs, slamming back into the wall from the assault. His arm, luckily is shielding his chest, taking the arrow with a painful growl. Gripping his axe tighter, the hob goes to slam it back into Sev's shoulder blade.

Darklett twists the knives as soon as they enter the fox, the hare trying to push the fox over to his back to pin him down... He feels the fists collide with his head, and stumbles with a groan of pain, falling to his knees... Thinking quickly, he grabs two throwing knives from his belt and tries to stab the fox in both of his ankles, simultaneously slamming his body forward into the tod's knees.

The free'd buck rolls promptly over onto his side and then his stomach, coughing chokingly into the stone. There's no blood spraying the ground, at least. With a shallow gasp and all at once, he does what looks like a shaky push-up, getting one knee up underneath himself, and then one paw, flattened against the stone, which he presses against. Shakily he pushes up, turning his head sluggishly one way and then the other, until his eyes settle upon the abandoned short sword. Sucking in a gaspy breath, he reaches. And closes his fingers around the hilt, drawing it to him scrapingly along the stone. Slow to rise, if at all.

There is a dull, sickening sound as the axe blade imbeds itself into Seven's shoulder blade, and he opens his mouth in a silent scream of pain, fangs showing quite clearly. This winds up just going off into an odd rasped noise as he rams his head upward to strike against the ferret's chin. Try and stun him, using the grip he has upon Daemon and the arrow to have leverage into this move. The runner's arm has been shaken and numbed from the weapons attack, and has perhaps even injured the bone. So.. for now.. Sev is thinking he may have just lost his arm. Odd. Damn hare. Franz growls, slamming his fist down again against the hare's skull as he stumbles back against the wall. His fingers curl around his scimitar, bringing the blade around towards Dark's side. Daemon has a moment to smirk before he's seeing stars. The hob stumbles under the buck, paw falling away from the axe as his eyelids begin to flutter.

Darklett takes another strike to the head, the fox's paw making his vision blur for a second... But adrenalin has him going. He's not about to lose any hares, on or off duty. Feeling the fox slam in to the wall, the hare moves one of his paws up, a throwing knife deflecting the strike to his side so it only slices shallowly into his side, however making the throwing knife skid out of his paw. After this, his other paw shoots to grab Franz's wrist as it's still toward his body, the hare twisting the paw as he rises to his feet, twisting Franz's body away from the wall so he's facing the other direction from Darklett... the buck's now free paw slamming into the dull end of the scimitar to move its point into the fox's gut, and pushes his body forward against Franz's back, nudging him forward enough to impale him almost all the way through on the point of his own weapon. Letting go of the fox, he lets him fall over with a gurgle of blood and a final breath.

Haha! Triumphant! Seven goes to slam his full weight into Daemon again, then toss him unceremoniously onto the ground to the side, which would also succeed in tearing his weapon back out of his opponent's arm. Bwahahaha-OW! Pain! That equals an enraged sniper and he quickly drops to his knee to use this momentum to try and slam the head of the arrow as deep into the ferret's eye as possible. No mercy there. His injured arm just rests against his inner thigh.

Whelp, seems things have gone horribly wrong for the duo since the third hare's appearance. Daemon, unfortunately, is still seeing stars as he's slammed to the ground. Oof. He has enough time to blink before the arrow goes through his eye and into his brain. x.x

Darklett watches the dead body of the fox momentarily, before hearing another form collapse to the ground. Looking over, he spots whatever is still standing, and notices the long ears. When he looks at Taye, he suddenly feels very ill. The flour is starting to clear out, and he can see the doubled over runner. "Taye," he almost whispers, staring in shock at the blatant injury in his side. And he looks at Seven afterwards, who... Seems fine. "We need to get out of here. I found Audri. She says there're more coming. Seven, help Taye walk. We can take care of him once we're hidden outside. I'll take care of Audri." Somehow, Dark manages to stay together after that, picking up the two throwing blades he used off the ground as he heads out, wiping them off on his clothes and sheathing them in his belt. "Audri!" He calls out down the hall, quickly disappearing down it.

Now, while listening to the struggles of her da and friends, Audri has gone into a slight panic, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Her eyes remained locked on the cloud, almost fearful of who she'll see first. Her ears perk, sitting up straighter as Dark appears, breathing a sigh until the blood is spotted. Her eyes drift to his side, the wound seeming to be the breaking point of the squirrel's nerves. Her body begins to shake before tears come, coursing down her cheeks as her chest heaves up and down.

In his endeavor to stand, the two vermin have... exited this plane of existence. He unsurprisingly doesn't notice, one thought and one thought only going through his head. "Get up!" he screams. Or tries. No sound comes out, save for a whispery expelling of air. He doesn't even really seem to register Darklett's words at first, but eventually the commanding tone breaks through. He grows still, then turns his head - presumably in Seven's direction. And waits for assistance. He doesn't even know what sort of shape Seven is in.

Seven stays crouched there, after tugging the arrow from Daemon's eye, not seeming to hear Darklett so much. He coughs, then snorts settled flour off of his muzzle as he stares dully down at his arm uselessly laying against his thigh, concentrating on /trying/ to waggle his fingers. However this isn't working out so well and he realizes that.. there's an axe still protruding from his shoulder blade. Well, Darklett seems to have missed that bit of information. He whimpers and makes himself stand, gripping the handle of the weapon and stumbling towards where he knows the others are. For now, he can't tug the axe out himself and is reeling from the pain that his shifting, injured arm is causing him. He may throw up. X_X "Taye?" Or.. maybe he /doesn't/ know which direction they are in. It's only Taye's sudden form that gets him hurrying towards the other, trying to snap out of his dazed state.

Darklett is just glad to see that Audri's still there, and goes to hug her close to him. "Shh... It's alright... I need you to be grown up for me right now, and stop crying, Audri." He kisses at her forehead, nuzzling her before continuing. "It's hard, I know," he speaks softly, "But please... Be a big girl, Aud. I really need you to right now." Pulling away from the hug, as he's a busy hare, he walks towards the area of the conflict, wondering what's taking Sev and Taye so long... And he stops at the door, his face creasing in horror at the axe jutting out of Seven's back. Trying to keep himself together, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath through his nose, taking in a lot of flour, but holding back coughs as he lets it all out. "We... /really/ need to get out of here..." He clenches his fists, gritting his teeth. "We need to leave, and get hidden. Or we die." He emphasizes the last word, and stands, waiting for the other two bucks... But finally turning away, unable to watch.

Audri clings to her father, having trouble stopping her inital tears but finally manages a nod. Drawing back, she wiping her eyes on her sleeve, murmuring a soft okay. She remains planted to the ground, her legs protesting any types of movement at the moment until hearing the next words. Not wishing to be a hassle, she attempts to stand again, paws griping the wall as her legs shake under her.

"... Sev?" Taye shifts backward, drawing himself back slowly - so slowly - towards and onto his knees. His arms are clasped around his side and he finally manages the task, staring with slitted eyes toward the approaching Seven. There is... something wrong. Something very, very wrong. About Sev. About Seven. Taye suddenly feels his gorge rise up as he realizes what it is. "Oh, babe..." he wheezes out, barely audible likely even to Seven. His ears flick distractedly at Darklett's distant words, but it has the desired effect. He shifts one knee and places his boot against the ground and starts wobbling up, his paws still clasped firmly to his side and basically doubling over as he rises.

Darklett dips his head, closing his eyes and biting his lip... feeling blood trickle as his teeth puncture the inside skin. He grits his teeth against the feeling inside him, and goes to help both Seven and Taye. "Let me help," he mutters, placing an arm around either and trying to support at least a /little/ of the weight from both. "I'm sorry about this... Thank you both."

Seven stumbles forward when he sees Taye seem to heave, going to drop to his knees in front of the other, but he is already rising. With a sharp yelp of pain, because of instinctively trying to support his friend with both arms, Seven slumps into Taye, going to curl the useful arm around the younger runner and he shudders. "Could... could ya.. ge' this outta m'back." But then Dark appears again to rest an arm about him and he jerks in surprise. "Some'un.." His ears have twisted back. No acknowledgment to the thanks.

Audri kind of just stands against the wall, listening to the talk between the three. Hm. Biting her lip, she attempts a tentative step only to have her knee buckle once again. Grumbling, Aud moves back against the wall, waiting for the others.

The slump almost takes Taye down, but he maintains. Darklett's support doesn't hurt, either. With a cry, Taye removes his arms from where they press at his side and brings them over Sev's head, catching hold of the axe's handle. And he yanks. It is the almightiest yank he can manage, and it almost brings him back to his knees. But the axe dislodges, and he kind of drop-tosses it clear of the jumble of bleeding beasts. "Got it," he rasps. "That's yer one free weapon removin', Sev. Next time I... I charge." And he laughs, a short and painful one, before looking toward Darklett. Where to, sah?

Scream. That's the only way to explain the gruff noise that emits from Seven as the axe is jerked from his back. So, in fact it seems to have caused him more pain than actually going in and the working paw grips tight into Taye's tunic, before loosening and going to pull out of the huddle. "Gotta... weapons.. an' all.." If that made sense. He heads for where he had previously been to get his quivers and bow.

Darklett has a little trouble supporting Taye and Seven, so... When Seven walks off on his own accord, he's doubly grateful. "Let's go, Taye." He comments to the side, hunching over to level himself more with Taye as he holds him up, walking alongside him, slow but steady. "Audri, can you walk?" he asks, a bit of concern adding to his already stressed mind. "And... Seven, what about you? Can you manage to walk by yourself for long?"

Audri's eyes begin to fill up again at all these painful sounds from the trio. She shakes them off though, trying once again to take a step down the corridor, only to fall with a squeak. "Uhh...not..really." She replies, giving a punching to her legs. Grr.

"... Stop," Taye murmurs, and shoves at Darklett's arm with what strength he has left. And whether Darklett stops or not, he does, his eyes seeking out Audri. "I'll... I'll bandage m'self up, n Sev, n we'll... we'll make it out. Just..." And hear he gathers himself and some breath, "Bloody damned well get Audri out!" And he gives another shove, trying to propel himself away from Dark and the older buck toward Audri. "It's what... what we came for! So /go/!"

Dazed. Woo. Lightheaded. "Yeah. Yeah. Gonna be good." Seven somehow gets the quivers and longbow back in place, before glancing to Audri and heading her way. He shakes his head rapidly. "'Ad worse. 'M tough." The buck goes to help the squirrel up instead. Maybe that's better. "An' dizzy. C'mon ... a'for m passin ou'.. yeah..?" This is somehow making him just that much more vermin-like and not understandable in his accent too. However, suddenly Darklett is being shoved in his direction. He blinks towards Taye, ears splaying back, then perking, then he just.. steadies himself. "Wait.. Wot?"

Darklett is shoved, and looks back at Taye, wide-eyed. W...what?! He's shoved again, and he takes a step backwards to compensate for it, staring dumbly at Taye for a moment, before his brow furrows. "No. If you stay back, you'll be taken, maybe even slain, by the vermin. I'm not leaving this cave without you!" He steps toward Taye and goes to help him walk again, an arm supporting the runner, urgency in his voice. "Now, don't argue, and let's get /out/ of here. All of us together."

"Taye, shut up." Audri shouts from her spot, attempting to spy the runner. Oo. She blinks, as she's suddenly lifted up, staring at Sev. "Ya sound..not so good." She murmurs, wrapping her arms about his waist while her eyes glance over his shoulder. Undoing one of her paws, she tears her already tattered shirt, getting a bit of cloth before attempting to wrap Sev's shoulder. "'m sorry bout all this."

Oh, bloody hell. Taye looks from one to the other, admittedly not thinking too clearly. With a still stubborn grunt, he allows himself to be helped forward. Not much choice, is there? He stumbles slightly but maintains his footing somehow. He places as much of his arms against his side as he can and doubles forward, walking awkwardly but moving forward nonetheless.

Seven leans down and /wiinnnccesss/ when he does so, allowing the cloth to be wrapped around his shoulder. His eyes close, going to keep her in place by the one arm rested around her in response. "Yeah.. I's alrigh' though. 'M'a live. Always do.. 'ad worse." He manages a dazed smirk. "C'mon." As Taye and Darklett start off, he is trying to escort Audri forward. Heck, he'll pick her up with the good arm if he has to.

Slowly but surely, the four make their way out of the caves, leaving the two vermin behind. Darklett looks with concern at Taye... But doesn't say anything, just helping the runner limp along, thanking his lucky stars that Taye is a lightweight runner and not some huge fighter he has to help.

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Darklett continues to help Taye along... They'd put quite a distance between themselves and the caves now, and it looks as if they'd be safe, if not a little off track. Darklett had barely been paying attention to the environment as they trekked along, but he suddenly looks around in recognition. "...Wait a second. Let's go a little farther up this stream," he says, almost rushing with Taye as he keeps his eyes fixed on a bump in the rocky landscape only thirty or so paces away from the party.

Oh no no no, rushing is /not/ a good idea... Silly Darklett. Taye somehow continues to stumble along, his head down but his feet still moving. "... Yeah. Jus' a little..." But he doesn't finish the statement, his ears giving an absent twitch. Twitch.

Following behind the two, and not appearing to be in the mood for rushing, is Seven. His head is dipped a little with a scowl as he pants somewhat from having to walk this distance. As well, for a little bit he's been carrying Audri in his good arm nearly balancing her there on his hip like he would a smaller child. The good news is, his injured arm has shifted enough to rest against the squirrel's footpaw. The bad news? That wrapping wouldn't work so well enough, and blood has coursed down his side. He grunts, hurrying up in his following of Darklett. He keeps telling himself that he's had worse and he'll be alright.

Audri is having issues. Between the emotional stress of her friends' injuries and the fact her legs won't work, the squirrel has broken into tears again, sniffling quietly as Sev carries her along. She chances a glance, nose crinkling as she watches the sudden speed of the pair ahead.

Soon enough, the four weary beasts come across... Well, a hill. But the hill is special, as Darklett soon shows, gently keeping support of Taye while reaching out with his other paw to grasp and rub the hill, finally grabbing onto something and pulling... Part of the hill lifts, showing an oak door on the other side, creating an entry. Dark smiles to himself, then looks to Taye. "Stay with us," he murmurs at the sudden stop in speech, and... Well, with a grunt, Darklett swings his paw under Taye's knees, and carries him, walking sideways down the wide opening, and going down the steps there, careful not to bump Taye into any walls... Under the ground here seems to be a bit of a home, and it's surprisingly well-furnished and intact for its apparent abandonedness. Darklett takes a quick right at the bottom of the steps, and carries the other hare into what looks like an old bedroom, and lays him down on the mattress there. "Here we are..."

Taye's feels himself being lifted and feels a mixture of immediate relief and quickly following pain. His breath goes out in a woosh but he doesn't complain, his tucking forward against his chest and... Darklett's chest. 0.o He kind of slithers onto the mattress, a seemingly boneless mess of Taye. His eyes blink once, and then again, as he looks up at Darklett. A handful of seconds tick by in this manner before Taye's eyelashes flutter, his pupils roll back into his head, and his head tilts over and sags, his eyes slipping shut.

Seven actually makes it to the hill in one piece and sidles into the opening, resting the uninjured side of his back against the doorframe as he glances about at the home. Hmm. Grunt. The sniper gives a reassuring sort of deep breath to himself and slowly goes down the descending steps. "Dark?" He croaks out.

Audri's tears actually stop, eyes staring as the hill becomes a door. Oo. Her eyes squint, studying the curious little house as Sev carries her, staying quiet for now though her ears are perked.

Darklett looks back to Taye after he lays him down, a pitiful sort of smile crossing his face as he does so... It takes the runner's eyes shutting and the other's voice to utter his name to break the trance, and he stands from where he was kneeling, turning to walk out of the door. "Sev. You can take this room." He gestures to the one across the hall from where he is, walking past him to disappear around the corner, his voice heard whispering, "Yes!" to himself, coming around the corner, holding rolls of real bandages, as well as a towel. "We need to get your wounds cleaned and wrapped," he says, still sounding slightly authoritative. "Audri... Take Audri with you. Lay down and try to relax, I'm gonna work on Taye... He needs it most, I think." At that, he tosses a roll of bandaging into Taye's room, and another into the one he's expecting Seven to go into. "I'll be right back," he holds up the rag and steps up to head outside to the river.

Seven kind of half moves towards Darklett with a nauseated look crossing his features as the other buck reappears. However, his gesture of trying to hand Audri off to her father is.. unnoticed as the older hare begins into his authoritative commands so he vaguely nods his head and heads for that room. Somehow, his body knows when it doesn't have to support himself and someone else's weight anymore, and he collapses beside this bed, rolling Audri onto it with this movement. Whoozy.

Audri attempts to get a glance of the runner, before Dark draws her attention. She gives a mumbled reply and a nod, looking off towards the room. She squeaks, face scrunching up in a wince before she scoots farther back onto the bed. Aud looks hesitant about lying down, glancing to Sev worriedly before curling up on the mattress with a sniffle.

Realizing he's just about in over his head right now, Darklett sighs, taking one moment to just be still and collect himself after he wets the rag outside, stepping back into the home and shutting the door behind him... He peers into Seven's room, and smiles at Audri. "...Everything's gonna be alright, Aud." He grins as hopefully as he possibly can at the squirrelmaid, then looks at the runner laid on the floor. He'll... have to fix that later. As for now? He steps into Taye's room, and begins to work on cleaning him up. It's gonna be a long night.

Seven grips the fabric covering the mattress with his good arm, the other just randomly flexing, and forces himself up onto the bed. "Yeah.. Ope ye don min'.. m no dyin'. Jus'.. gonna pass ou' fer a little.. Righ'." After he gives his dull reassurances to Audri.. the runner does just that, collapsing onto his side on the bed, curled towards the squirrel and ears limply folding back. He is, indeed, a fully unconscious hare.