Trilling was finally located, being fairly well known in town even though he chose to live the life of a hermit for the most part. He is an odd-looking Kiriga with mud-green scales and brownish feathers instead of fur or hair. He also seems to be immensely old and heavy on the crotchety side.

Half the trouble wasn't in locating him, but convincing him to talk at all. Every little askance for help launched him into a long tirade about having to pay taxes and his time spent in the Nagai Army and how his feet were paining him and anything else he could come up with. It was only after he'd worn himself out on that tirade that he agreed to let the trio of animal hunters inside, and only under the condition that they not take up too much of his time, nor that they disturb him from his "hard work". He also insisted that they speak with him inside, and more time was wasted finding a way to clamber into the stilted house without use of a ladder.

The feathered Kiriga ruffles himself a bit, and Korv-like wing-hands slowly and meticulously work on assembling something like looks like a fishing lure made from twine and feathers (perhaps even some of his own). "Now shen, I've already told shose shnobby Imperialsh everyshing I know about she whishpa. What do you wansh from me?" The Kiriga pauses to take a sip of fishy-smelling broth from a bowl resting on his workbench. Half of the stuff dribbles down his chin instead of making its way into his stomach.

Lakshmi smiles quietly at the old Kiriga. "The problem with Imperial questioners is that they're not animal hunters, and thus might miss important information you'd given them – simply because they don't realize its importance in tracking down whispa. I was wondering if you could tell us how and where you found the whispa… and if there was any information that you've thought of since then?

Lakshmi has Mandy on a "walk to coil," and is seated carefully so there's space for Mandy to sit also.

"Sssssst!" the fisherman hisses, pricking his thumb on the lure. "Noshing comesh to mind. I wash out shecking she trapsh and looking for mudfish when I shaw shis peculiar-looking glow. There wash a Bromshen hog shtuck in a quickshand pit up to itsh neck and a little glowy thing in itsh moush."

As directed, the canine, currently in her humanoid form, walks over to the left of Lakshmi and sits down upon her knees behind her. Her tail wags slowly and she smiles as she glances around the room, inspecting this and that with her eyes. For now she seems content with this and doesn't speak.

Lakshmi nods thoughtfully. "Interesting. What time of day was this, please? What was the whispa doing? Struggling to get free, biting, something else? Could you direct me to this location?"

Standing quietly a pace behind his employer, Skye listens close, his little ears perked. His hat, he holds in his hands, every now and then combing out its long turquoise feathers. As Master Trilling speaks, he nods, his long muzzle ducking. His question is spoken in simple Imperial. "Mudfish and quicksand? Are t'ey found paw in paw?"

The avian-like Kiriga looks between Lakshmi and Skye before focusing his beady eyes on the Naga. "A few hoursh after shunshet. She Whishpa wash trying to wiggle loosh, but by she time I got there, she hog had completely shunk and she Whishpa wash half shunk ash well. If I had been shere a few shecondsh later it would have been gone. I can show you the shpot on a map… but be careful of the pitsh." He glances back at Skye. "Mudfish are found on the fringesh of the pitsh. Shey can't shwim in it ash far ash I know." He takes another sloppy gulp of broth and then spits into the fire pit, causing the stones to hiss and sputter.

Lakshmi nods quietly, rubbing Mandy's ears as she thinks. She looks up at Skye. "Do you think you could find the place if you were shown the map, Skye?"

Skye nods sharply. "T'at and a few landmarks to key, an' I s'all get yi t'ere. T'at would be good, Master Trilling. Master Trilling, at night, near t'ese pits … " Skye pauses in mid-sentence. He then continues, returning to Imperial. "Thank yi, Master Trilling. These … pits. Do folks say, t'ey see lights t'ere at night?"

As usual, the canid girl leans her head over towards her master's hand, using a hand to balance and keep from falling over towards Lakshmi. She wags her tail a little more now, but a second later it freezes. "Uhh… uhh… " Her nose wrinkles some and her free hand reaches to cup it before she lurches forward in a sneeze.

The fisherman shrugs. "Shwamp gash, glow bugsh, eyesh of huntersh, shome fish glow too."

The Skreek considers, his fingers trailing along the edge of a feather. "Master Trilling – How long? How long since W'ispa?"

Lakshmi gives Mandara a faintly amused glance, her tongue flickering, but doesn't intercede, since Mandy seems to be able to contain the sneeze well enough. She glances at Trilling, "Very well then… if you could show Skye the location on a map, we will leave you in peace, Trilling." She adds with pleasure, "Many thanks for your assistance in this matter. Please feel free to call upon me, should you be in Nagai City sometime."

"A few weeksh. I don't keepsh time sho good here. Just keep track of the shesonsh." Trilling measures out a length of bluish thread and starts tying it around the lure. "I shuggesht you finish your whishpa hunting shoon. Winter will be here in another couple of weeksh." He bites off the thread and creakily hobbles over to a pile of muddy papers. "Mapsh… mapsh… "

Lakshmi nods quietly at the comment about winter, gazing a little worriedly out the door.

Mandara pulls back the arm that was supporting her and sits up to rub her nose with her hands. "Oww," she whines softly before turning to Lakshmi and asking her a question while the man searches, "Winter. You be okay?"

There has been a slight chill to the winds over the past few days, although the waters have remained somewhat warm. Who's to say how long that will last, though?

Lakshmi smiles. "We'll be fine, Mandy."

Skye silently pads after Master Trilling, taking a close look at the offered map and directions. "How far, these pits? The landmarks, Master Trilling?"

The Kiriga shrugs. "A few milesh inwardsh." He scribbles on a water-soaked parchment. "There ish a river here." He marks off a spot. "And a fungush garden here." Another spot.

Skye quietly chitters, "A garden? Someone has a garden there? Or just a place where lots of fungus be? And thank yi, Master Trilling. Out of your way we shall be now."

"You can show yourshelves out," the fisherman grunts out, wandering back to the fire pit and pouring himself another bowl of broth.

Lakshmi chuckles quietly, then nods politely as she rises. "A good day to you, honorable Trilling." She slithers quietly out of the room. At the high door she uses her tail to lower first Skye, then Mandy to the ground, then pours her own length carefully down one stilt leg.

Upon the ground, Skye first rolls up his hat and then taps his hat back upon his head. He spares one glance back up the fisherman's shack … Good bye, nice and dry … and then looks out across the village, gauging their first direction against Master Trilling' instructions. With a smile, the Skreek points inland, through the flooded plains. "Boss'Laks'mi, t'ere t'ere be W'ispas."

Mandara takes a moment to rub her nose a little more after she is on the ground again. Once she seems satisfied she didn't break it, she glances back towards the Kiriga's house and waves a hand to it before walking to Lakshmi's side. "We go!" she exclaims excitedly.

Gathering up the serendip's leads, Skye hands Lakshmi's hers. As he carefully mounts his particular beast, taking care … I am not a serendip snack … to keep his tail far from the hungry critter's attention, he smoothes his whiskers and turns to Lakshmi. "Laks'mi, it's been just a pawful of days, yes? An t'e critter I saw, was muc' smaller t'an Master Uriah's description. If it was a kit, do yi t'ink its kin will still be looking for it?"

Lakshmi hisses softly, "I have no idea, Skye, but I'd think a couple of weeks would be more than enough time for another whispa to have moved into an open territory. Mandy, if you wish to swim, feel free. Otherwise just hop up behind me." She smiles wryly. "Lead on, Skye… I am quite ready to have this search done with, so we can get back to dry land."

Instead of mounting a serendip, the slave simply follows Lakshmi and stands at her side once she gets on her mount. The canid looks up to check that she has seated herself before she drops to all fours and creaks into her quadruped form.

With the slightest tap of the borrowed crop, Skye urges his serendip forward with a nod and a splash – eastwards, inland, along the edge of water-soaked levees and tall marsh-grass. A few miles, an easy ride, pointing out a few minor details along the way – "See t'at, t'at's quicksand, yes?" – until they wade past the mouth of a wide river, the current swooshing them quite a bit out of their way, also thoroughly dousing one black rat. Skye is still wringing the water from his hat when they pass the scattered expanse of fungus and 'shrooms. Here, sandy beaches peek out from the cattails and the buzz of insects and the chattering of small animals supplements the continual whisper of water.

Drawing up on the reins, Skye lets Lakshmi and Mandara catch up. "T'ere … t'ere, if I was quicksand, t'ere I'd be hiding. Somew'ere here, Master Trilling didn't get his mudfis'."

The spot Trilling indicated is a little more than a mile inland with very few paths. Cageroot trees are in abundance and water flows freely here. Some of the larger trees have snarls of plant matter and debris in their roots.

There is land here, but who knows how safe that is? A mud-covered Bromthen skull juts out of the earth on one such patch of land. All around the noises of the swamp chatter and hiss in a chorus of night noises. Whispa or no, the three hunters are not alone.

Lakshmi draws rein, looking around carefully, "My… goodness. We are going to have to be very careful here… I don't want anyone lost in quicksand. All right, first things first. Skye or Mandy, can you scout out a spot of dry land for us to camp on, that's nearby? Be careful."

Partially submerged, the girl dog paddles her way through the water. Bits of debris have managed to catch on various points of her body. Her ears now trail a long line of water weed in fact. "I go! I fight, Skye not fight," barks the water logged dog.

Skye dryly chitters, "It also means one of us doesn't ever go w'ere t'e other two cannot hear. T'at's important, especially for yi, Mandy. As for a camp… " Skye looks about. "T'at Bromt'en had to come from somew'ere. So hopefully t'at skull marks w'ere's t'ere's solid ground near t'e quicksand. I'll go take a look see in t'at direction … "

Lakshmi nods, but stays on the serendip, quietly coiling up a rope line… just in case.

A loud chattering and screeching jangles out from a pile of rubbish trapped in a cageroot. Rodent-like chattering can be heard as well as a few squeals of anger.

Since Skye also volunteered, Mandara lets him go and instead moves over next to Lakshmi's serendip. Here her soggy head pops out of the water and she grins wetly at her master with her tongue lolling out.

There are a few patches of land here and there, although "dry" is a rather loose term for it all.

Nudging his serendip forward, Skye approaches the cageroot brambles with care, and when reached, he abandons his serendip. Tying the reins off on a longish root, Skye reaches into the tangle, to pull out a smallish rock or bit of swamp clutter. Tucking it into his belt, he begins to climb through the trees, to find a spot of solid, and not treacherous, ground.

Lakshmi glances over. "Skye, be careful checking it out." She looks down at Mandara, gets a startled look, then laughs, "Mandy, I must say that water-weed decoration on your ear is quite stylish… but probably not very long-lived?"

The canine tilts her head a little and turns her eyes to look up her forehead towards the greenery now decorating her cap. "Is slimy, not make good wear," she tells her master before paddling after her towards the land.

Lakshmi covers a grin at Mandara's comment.

Skye calls out, "If'n yi don't mind a bit of mud, t'ere's a small spot just up here. Two cageroots and a bit of turf. Not unlike Tannery Row in Rep'idim after a t'understorm. Or two. Or t'ree, or … "

"SQUEEEEEEEEEE!" something shrieks from the tree basket, about where Skye's hand is…

Lakshmi thinks a moment… then gently nudges her serendip a little closer, so she can more easily toss something to Skye if necessary. "Mud washes off, Skye… be careful you don't get bit!"

The Skreek freezes. He suddenly becomes absolutely still, ears up, eyes wide.

"SQUEEEEEEE – " and then suddenly it stops.

Lakshmi crosses her fingers, muttering to herself, "Great Serpent, let it be a female with more than three young!"

From the cageroot comes absolute silence. If there's anything to see, the sable Skreek does not see it. His eyes are closed. And then, a soft whispered muttering. "Bloodycritterlingwhyisiteverylittlelivingthingbeneathskyandstarsthinksthatonethisskreekmustbenamedlunch! khakhaikhaikhaikhaiyourdamwas a SQUIBBIT!" Slowly Skye opens his eyes to see who is feasting upon Skreek paw!

Dangling from Skye's hand is a little ball of reddish fluff with two beady black eyes, a long naked tail, and a little yellow beak clamped tenaciously to the Skreek's finger.

Lakshmi grins as she tosses the lead-rope to Mandara. "Mandy, keep the serendips from wandering, please?" She pats a few pouches to be sure she's got bribes, useful tools, whatever, to hand, then slithers silently down the serendip's side, into the water with scarcely a ripple. Keeping her head low and moving stealthily, she slides up behind Skye to see what he's found.

A very strained voice calls whispers out from the brambles. "Boss'Laks'mi. I've caught a red bird. Kind of."

Lakshmi pulls a treat out from a pouch, then murmurs, almost crooning, "Well helloo there, little squee… Bet this would taste better than a Skreek to you, mm?" She slips a hand quick and quiet behind the squee's head, proffering the treat – It must release Skye to take the treat.

Lakshmi is leaning completely over Skye at this point, careful not to lean on him.

Mandara takes up the lead-rope with her jaws and paddles the rest of the way to shore before shifting and standing upright once again. The lead-rope is transferred to her left hand while her right hand digs under her soaked ha'clohi to produce a chitin edged boomerang. She inspects this before turning to watch the others.

One paw gripping the cageroot tree, Skye stands quiet. His ears are flat, his eyes narrowed, his long incisors caught upon his lower lip.

Irritated chattering can be heard from inside the cageroot. The "squee" looks down at the hand it's clomped upon, up at Lakshmi, down again.

Three more of the puffy things poke out to watch the spectacle. "Squee?"

Lakshmi smiles, and gently presses with her fingers at the hinge of the squee's jaw, carefully forcing it open. Her voice is calming and low, "Now now, no fair being mean to poor Skye… especially since he's being so nice to you… there, Skye, you can move now – I've got it. Here, little beastie, have a treat." She nudges the treat gently into its mouth with a fingertip (conveniently filling its mouth so it won't bite again), then releases it carefully.

Skye stays still, whispering dryly. "T'at's right. Mot'er Laks'mi, from all good treats come … " He waits, as the bird loosens its grip, for it to be enough to snare his paw back.

Snaring back his paw like lightning, Skye holds it close, rolling back away from the chattering to collapse upon the tangle roots and rising tree, ducking his muzzle as he wraps his paw in the folds of his tunic.

The lead-line holder meanwhile giggles at all the baby talk. "You sound silly," she calls out to the others, "like parents!"

The bird seems to prefer having a treat in its beak as opposed to the Skreek's hand. It hops down from Skye's hand and floats back into the nest. More screeching noises can be heard as the squee's family members squabble over the newfound bit of food.

Lakshmi grins at Skye at the "treats" comment, but simply pulls her medkit open. "Let's clean that finger before we go on, Skye. I must say, you have excellent self control – it's very hard not to just shake your hand madly when one of those latches on – which, of course is the worst thing you can do, at least as far as reducing the damage… " She looks up at Mandara and smiles. "Well, most animals prefer low, calm tones, Mandy. Force of habit, I suppose. Let me fix up your hand, Skye."

Looks like the Skreek got pinched rather hard, but no sign of a cut. In the swamp that's a very good thing.

The noises in the swamp seem to suddenly become more active as a Bromthen shrieks noisily from somewhere father ahead.

Lakshmi looks very pleased at the lack of any broken skin. "Oh good – no cut! Well then… let's set up a camp – preferably not on the squee's nest." She gets a curious look, glancing up towards where the Bromthen is shrieking. "Goodness… that's… rather unusual, to scream like that… for a Bromthen?"

Skye only reluctantly lifts his paw to Lakshmi, silently unfolding his fingers, letting out a slow breath when he sees it's not bleeding. "Home, t'at would have got me deader faster t'an t'e critterling. It's not broke, is it?"

Lakshmi shakes her head at Skye. "It's not broken, Skye… squees don't have enough … um… force or torque in their jaws to do that."

Skye looks back to Lakshmi, muttering low. "T'ats not how it felt at all … "

Lakshmi looks up again, her attention caught by the Bromthen, "Skye… I'd like to check that Bromthen out. Would you be willing to travel a bit? We can set up camp in a few minutes, yes? Since it's still early in the day?"

The girl walks over to a nearby tree that looks strong enough to hold an animal and carefully ties the lead-rope to a solid branch. Once done with this, she walks over to Lakshmi and points towards the sound. "I look? May be gone we wait!" she asks her.

Skye looks to Lakshmi, returning his hurt paw close to him again. "If it's a Bromt'en in quicksand, could be better to look and see, if Dors'all was right and t'e w'ispas use t'e quicksand for trapping prey."

"Squeeee!" one of the little critters squawks out at Skye before popping back into the burrow.

Skye narrows his eyes and just gives the burrow a look.

Lakshmi nods quickly, "True. Skye, rest a moment, all right? Mandy, let's go take a quick peek. Remember, be very careful about quicksand." She takes a long coil of rope from the saddle of her serendip and fastens it to her harness as she speaks.

Skye slowly gathers himself up and stands, with a slight slip and splash. "I'll follow yi two. May'aps just not as fast."

"Yep!" barks Mandara before she takes off running towards the sound. Her land speed being considerably higher than Lakshmi's, the young canine quickly widens the gap between her and her master.

Lakshmi hisses softly, "Mandy, don't get too far ahead – You don't want to scare anything, and I want to keep you in sight!" She slithers quickly after Mandara. "Make sure the serendips are tied, Skye!""

As he sees Mandara leap forward, Skye does call out. "Laks'mi, keep a s'arp eye out for t'e lassie."

The Bromthen's screams ring out louder as the canine vanishes over a hill…

It would seem Mandara's capacity to hear speed does not equal her speed. Thus she covers the hill and heads on to who knows where alone.

Lakshmi mutters something about a leash as she hastens after Mandara.

"Found critter!" yells Mandara from the other side of the hill.

Lakshmi shakes her head. "So much for stealth… " She slithers over the hill.

One breath, two, and then Skye sloughs back into the water, to retrieve the serendips. The pain in his fingers making him even more conscious of a certain serendip's carskreekterous tendencies, he stays at the far end of the leads, making sure they are securely anchored to the cageroot trees. Then a second pause, as he adjusts his hat, before he makes his way after Lakshmi and Mandara. His path is not as swift as usual, an odd Skreekish three pawed gait, his hurt forepaw still held close.

Upon hearing Mandara call out, Skye simply winces.

The screams of the Bromthen get weaker as Lakshmi crests a hill. The canine slave can be seen standing in a patch of mud while further ahead of her is a sinking Bromthen hog in some mud.

Lakshmi looks around carefully to see if there are any tracks leading away from the drowning hog… Could something small have been scared away by Mandy's precipitous arrival perhaps?

No tracks in the immediate vicinity, no. Of course with the pig's thrashing, it could have blotted them out.

Lakshmi calls down, "Mandara, check carefully around the hog and see if there are any tracks leading away." She slithers carefully down the hill, then anchors the rope to a firm tree root. She eyes the hog thoughtfully… Could a lasso be tossed around it, to pull it out? Is it young enough that it could be trained?

Nodding, the girl walks lightly over towards the sinking hog, stopping when she feels the mud is becoming too easy to sink in to. She searches for signs of tracks, or any clues for that matter, as she moves.

Silently, but slowly, Skye moves up – each step deliberate, each hand hold a bit more carefully set. I don't have more paws to lose.. Finally he stands, oddly balanced, having stepped out from behind an exceptionally gnarled cageroot next to Lakshmi.

Lakshmi nods quietly to Skye.

The hog is now up to its neck in quicksand. In another few moments it will probably be completely submerged.

Lakshmi studies the quicksand pool to see how wide it is.

Skye whispers, very very very softly, "If t'ey are scavengers, t'ey might be waiting for t'e Bromthen to die … an' t'en walk across t'e quicksand like Master Uriah spoke? If'n, of course, Mandara hasn't disturbed t'eir dinner plans."

From where she is standing, Mandara leans forward to peer carefully at some mud, and then the Bromthen's head. Testing, she reaches forward towards where the pig is and pokes her boomerang into the mud as deep as it will go and wiggles it.

Lakshmi whispers quietly back with a smile, "If you were a clever scavenger, would you return to a food site that had loud, large folks hanging around it? You might follow and try to pick up some scraps later though… and that's what I want this hog to do for us – be bait." She ties the other end of the rope into a loop, puts it over her arm, then carefully slides out, laying as flat as possible so her greater length works to her advantage here, spreading her weight. She ends up lying behind the Bromthen's head, to loop the rope around its forequarters under the mud. As she moves, she softly murmurs, "What is it that you've found, Mandy?"

After some testing, the girl removes her weapon and then waves her hands at the others. Once their attention is gotten she holds her hands out wide and calls, "Big stick, need!"

Lakshmi murmurs quietly, "Mandy, remember to move slowly and keep your voice down, please… I don't want to frighten the Bromthen. What do you need the stick for?" She continues working her length carefully out towards the Bromthen, from the edge of the quicksand closest to it.

"Mud deep, whispa eat hog. Track go nowhere. Think whispa in mud use stick make bite pull out," she calls back to Lakshmi as quietly as she can given the distance.

Lakshmi abruptly switches her attention from the hog to Mandy. "You think there's a whispa down there in front of the hog?!"

Wide eyes follow Lakshmi and Mandara's movements as the hog continues to sink. Half of its face is submerged now. Lakshmi sinks a little as well, but spreading her weight out has kept that down to nothing more than an inch or so.

Skye crouches down, rubbing his muzzle with his good paw. His sharp eyes dart, specifically noting the canopy of cageroot branches above the Bromthen – to see if any arc out over the drowning hog.

The slave waves her hands in the air and replies, "Think so. Need stick fast, or whispa get full. Hide."

A few branches do touch down around the quicksand pit as well as some trailing vines… but the trees are empty at the moment.

Lakshmi doesn't hesitate for a moment – She rolls over in the mud (smearing herself liberally, with the casual disregard for appearances of the dedicated scientist – or fanatic) so that she can reach down in front of the hog, and shoves one hand down, working it into the mud, feeling around for the whispa.

Mandara steps back a bit as Lakshmi slithers forward and dives in for the hog. Her ears flatten, and she blinks wide eyes. "Master work too, like stick," she comments.

Lakshmi blinks, realizing she's face to face with the hog. She mutters softly, almost absently, "You helped… " and with her free hand pushes mud away from its face, to give it a few more moments.

Skye dryly chitters, "Laks'mi has a certain hands-on approach to matters, Mandy."

Lakshmi continues groping slowly and carefully through the mud in front of the hog, a focused expression on her face.

The Bromthen's front hooves can be felt in the mood as well as a few sticks and bits of debris… but no whispa.

Lakshmi frowns, continuing to check as she says to Mandy, "Did you say it was on the hog, Mandy?"

"I say think, not know. Why need stick," replies Mandara as she wades over towards where she spotted the tracks ending at.

Skye leans forward, resting upon three paws. The Skreek considers, his whiskers twitching. Skye speaks then, not loud, but definitely not a whisper. "Laks'mi. T'ink. Master Uriah said w'ispas not just smart but smarter t'an yi t'ink t'ey are. Yi got a Naga and a Mandy pawing after yi. Yi are smart enough to keep secret for years. W'at would yi do?"

Lakshmi hisses softly, "Mmm." She sighs. "Well… we may have lost it. Mandy, don't come in, please – you and Skye may have to help me pull." She straightens, pulling her arm slowly free, and works the rope around the Bromthen hog's body. "Guess this is your lucky day, little beastie… Maybe next time you'll be more careful about quicksand, eh?" She grabs the scruff of its neck and gives one short, quick heave so its head is a little more clear of the clinging mud… "All right, guys… I need you both to pull on the rope, and I'll pull here. If we're lucky, the whispa is still clinging to the hog… but I'm guessing it's not, now."

The hog lets out an ear-piercing scream at the treatment. Not a very grateful little bugger, but at least it can breathe again.

The canine nears a pool of water she seems to have wandered to and promptly steps into it carefully, before sinking her entire body into it and disappearing completely into the pool.

Lakshmi winces at the shriek going off next to her head… but then just flips her tail securely around a tree base, and continues slowly pulling on the hog.

"MANDY!"

Lakshmi winces again, "Skye, must there be all this shrieking?!" She's not seen Mandy disappear, being focused on the hog.

Skye bolts forwards to the edges of the muck, untying his long zolk belt as he does. He skitters, slides, tarrying only long enough to tie the belt off upon a root. Trailing it behind him, he leaps after Mandara! The Skreek doesn't think, he just does, vanishing beneath the horrid surface …

Lakshmi watches this display with a faintly startled look… then, glancing around, realizes Mandara's nowhere to be seen. She rears up abruptly, with a horrified, "Oh my stars!" and causing part of herself to sink slightly in the quicksand.

Skye sputters up, looking down at the submerged Mandy.

Skye gives Mandara a look.

Lakshmi glances at the hog. "Sorry, little one… friends come first." She takes several deep breaths, then slides part of her length into the water, feeling for her friends.

Splashing through the quicksand, Skye ricochets into the stream, a wet and disoriented Skreek. What he does see, as he spins in the water, is a tail. A familiar tail. A familiar tail heading off completely wrong. Kicking his hind paws, Skye struggles to snare Mandara's retreating form, grabbing whatever pawful of fur comes first. Absobloodylutely no sense of direction!

With a final long and almost desperate stretch, Skye reaches out, his good paw closing around Mandara's tail …

Lakshmi spots both half-seen forms, and gets a look of relief on her face. She grabs both of them firmly, then yanks back towards herself and dry land. She doesn't know what's going on, but she's not letting anyone drown.

With a yank the canine girl gets pulled out of the mud and flops into the mud. She mumbles something about a trail as the fish she seems to have caught squirms in her paw.

Lakshmi yanks Skye up and out of the water, in her worry almost flinging him. She recovers and sets him down gently, then turns and grabs at Mandara's collar.

Skye's black eyes go wide as he is lifted from the water, reaching down with his other paw to hold Mandara's tail with all his Skreekly might, so as not to lose her again.

Lakshmi straightens and lifts Mandara up so their eyes are level. Lakshmi's eyes are glittering with anger, and she hisses in a tightly controlled voice, "Mandara Canid. Perhaps you'd care to tell me why you deliberately disobeyed every command I've given you in the last few minutes?!"

Skye splashes to ground, a now very, very wet trail guide, looking exactly like a drowned … well … rat. He slowly retrieves his belt, looping it about his waist as he finds a root to sit upon. Then he just drips.

With a yelp, the canine gets dragged up and into the air by her collar and reaches for her neck with her free hand. The angry words of Lakshmi cause the girl to wince and pull her head back as far as she can from her master as she struggles to inhale. Slowly though, as she struggles, she offers Lakshmi the fish she caught.

Lakshmi takes a few deep breaths, almost shaking with anger, then slowly lowers Mandy so her feet are touching the ground again. Without releasing the collar, she studies the fish she's being offered, then snaps, "What is this? In what way does this… fish excuse your behavior?"

A bubble pops up from the quicksand pool where the Bromthen rests. By now it's probably gone.

Skye blinks, and walks to the edge of the stream, wades in a bit, and retrieves his hat. His ears, however, are turned, to follow Boss'Lakshmi's speech.

Another fish seems to have taken a liking to the Skreek's hat as a chew toy. Maybe those eep feathers taste good. Either way, it quickly drops off the moment the hat is pulled out.

The girl slumps a bit in Lakshmi's grasp as she pants heavily to catch her breath for a moment. "T-t-t-t-racks, st-t-t-ream g-go. T-t-t-try b-be s-silent, t-track whispa and find h-home before g-gone," she whimpers pathetically to Lakshmi, head lower and tail tucked, eyes averted.

Giving Mandara a long, long sideways glance, Skye carefully checks the eep feathers to make sure they are in one piece. The hat he can replace.

Lakshmi hisses sharply, "Did I not specifically say that we must all maintain eye contact and not wander off without warning?! Because we are in quicksand country?!" She whirls away, releasing the collar, obviously still very angry. "I will deal with you later!" She takes the rope and starts pulling it up, hand over hand, strongly. She doesn't want to lose it, even though the poor Bromthen is possibly deceased by now.

… and… it gives her some way to use up her furious energy. She was obviously extremely worried.

Lakshmi snaps over her shoulder, "Skye, check for any further tracks… I doubt we'll be so lucky after this fiasco, but we might as well be thorough."

The rope goes tight as the hog is slowly hauled from the pit. Finally it emerges and is dragged onto the bank. It's quite dead… More quicksand dribbles from its mouth and nose hinting that it might not have held its breath all that well in the panic.

The slave drops to the ground where she is released and props herself up with an arm. She sniffles once before dropping into the mud and curling into it once she changes to her quadruped form. In this way she can curl up and hide somewhat from Lakshmi while she peers out at what she is doing.

He nods silently, and shakes, once, trying to get the worst of the water out of his ears. Skye looks in the direction Mandara was swimming, and then turns, to begin his search on the opposite side of the quicksand pit. If that was the direction I would have wanted a pursuer to go, then it's away from where I wouldn't want a pursuer to go …

At sight of the dead hog, Lakshmi sighs wearily, all the anger leaking out of her. She slumps to lean against the tree her tail's been curled around all this time, and looks up at Mandara. "Mandy, come here."

Skye kneels down, letting his fingers drum upon the damp ground.

Skye dryly chitters, "T'ey skittered off t'is way, Boss'Laks'mi. An into t'e water to lose t'e trail, cause t'ey knew a Skreek was coming t'e look for 'em."

A whine emanates from the direction of Mandara as her eyes dart to where Lakshmi has moved. She slowly picks herself up out of the mud and trots across the mud with her head lowered – lowered so far that it traces a line in the mud, in fact.

Lakshmi hisses softly, "Sit down here, Mandy." She pats the ground next to her, gently urging Mandy to lie down. "See this hog, Mandy? Bromthen hogs are not social creatures. They tend to run alone… and that is why this hog is dead… and we are not. We are sentients. We do not run alone… and thereby we create civilization – because we understand how to work together. When you do not follow orders, Mandy, things break down. We, the three of us, are a team. If we do not work together, I'm afraid that someday it won't be a pig I'm pulling out of the quicksand… I'm afraid it will be you." She gazes at Mandy, making sure Mandy's looking back. "I don't give orders without a reason, Mandy. I need you to follow the orders I give… or this team will break down, and someone may get killed by accident. Do you understand, Mandara?"

Mandara settles down at the spot indicated and lays her head on her paws to face Lakshmi. She is near completely covered in mud and pieces of swamp muck making her look like some sort of mud made dog. A whimper comes from her muzzle after she listens, and she bobs her head slightly to Lakshmi.

Lakshmi looks up at Skye. "Can you scent track? Or would you rather try walking the stream's edge for tracks? It must come out of the water eventually, after all."

Skye shakes his head. "I can try. But it's not my best. More importantly, Laks'mi, I think I s'ould rescue t'e serendips and get t'e gear set up. Me an' Mandy, remember, we are warm blooded. We'll dry in time. However, as yi look out for Mandy, someone's got to be looking out for yi, correct?

Lakshmi sighs and nods. "You're right, Skye." She looks at Mandara again. "Now… will you please follow orders, Mandara? I'll do my best to be a good master, but you have to meet me halfway here… You have to do your part too. Are we agreed?"

"Yep," replies the canine quietly, her voice partially muffled by mud.

With a squish-squish pace, Skye disappears into the brambles, heading back towards their first flooded landfall.

Lakshmi sighs softly in relief. "All right. Let's get back to the serendips then, and set up camp. Skye, how's your paw? Mandy, you're not injured anywhere, are you?" She unkinks her tail from around the tree's base with a faint wince – the muscles are tired – then picks up the hog and slings it over her shoulder. "Might as well make sure you both eat well tonight… Mandy, if you're all right, would you coil up that rope and bring it, please?"

From ahead, in the cageroot tangles, comes a pragmatic answer for Lakshmi. "It's still at t'e end o' my forearm."

With a crackling of shifting bones Mandara reverts back to her humanoid form and reaches a hand for the nearby rope. She begins coiling it once she sits up before replying to Lakshmi, "Not hurt.".

Lakshmi snorts softly in amusement, then sighs, "All right… let's get back, get cleaned up, camp set up, and feed ourselves… and we can try again tomorrow."

When the other two arrive at camp, the Skreek already has most of the gear set out, the packs hung from cageroot branches, and a hammock strung. A place for a fire has been cleared, and the cooking pots are set near it. Skye haunts the perimeter of the camp, collecting scrub for the fire … and a growing collection of smaller stones and pebbles. And when he returns, he sets both wood and stones down next to each other. "Tis not a big tavern rock, but I figure if we get enough of t'ese pebbles an stones warm we can shovel them into one of t'e leat'er sacks. A mite to keep yi from being caught by a cold, yes Laks'mi?"

Lakshmi looks touched. "Skye! How thoughtful of you. Thank you… that's very sweet." She grins through the liberal mud smears drying all over her face and body, and lets down the dead hog. "I brought dinner. Let's eat well tonight, to make up for today, eh?"

Trailing after Lakshmi with the robe in one hand and a dead fish in the other, Mandara walks up and offers both her paws. "Got robe, bring fish," she tells everyone with a slight wag of her tail.

Skye shrugs quietly, managing a wry smile, "T'ats my job. Jus' anot'er fine night in t'e Bromt'en Plains… :