A line of cubs and kits in nicely-pressed uniforms make their way down the central corridor of the Temple, led by a female adult Jupani, and followed by a male adult at the rear. The cubs and kits all march in step, even though they vary greatly in size (some of that due to species, some to age).

Down the other side of the corridor, a harried-looking cheetah-morph with a bright green collar and faded green work-clothes nearly dashes through the crowd, clutching a scroll-case to his chest. Nobody seems the least bit disturbed by his antics, as if this is a perfectly normal thing in day-to-day Temple business.

Standing off to one side, what look to be armored felines with what might be female proportions just watch the crowds go by. Their armor is gleaming white, offset by bright magenta capes.

Baddock looks around, quite impressed by the Temple's construction and design. Making his way down the corridor, he watches all kinds people go by as he tries to figure out who to speak with in regards to his plans. Looking off to one side of the hallway, he sees the armored felines standing there. Smiling and nodding to himself, he makes his way through the crowd to meet them.

One of the armored and masked felines turns to regard the youth as he walks up to them. Their faces are completely covered in masks of the same gleaming white material as their armor, and here and there are bits of enameled ornamentation that suggest patterns of roses and thorns. One of their number seems to have more elaborate decor than the rest of her group. All five of them have what appear to be sword hilts poking up from behind their backs.

Leaning against a wall and keeping more or less out of the way, a piebald Lapi is writing – or perhaps drawing – into a small leather-bound book. From the way he keeps looking towards them, it would seem that the armored felines are the subject of his interest.

The young boy smiles and bows his head politely as he greets the felines. "Hi! Do you work here?"

The armored feline who might be the leader just looks down at Baddock, nodding her head slightly.

Another feline in the group steps forward. Her voice is muffled by the mask, naturally, as she says, "Good day, Citizen. Are you lost?"

Raising one of his long ears, Aaron the Lapi tries to catch the Templar's voice through the general din, while watching the smaller human talk to her.

Another feline in the group looks across the great corridor in the direction of the Lapi … or maybe she doesn't. Hard to say, with those shadowed eye-holes.

Baddock shakes his head slightly, "Oh, no… Actually, I came here for training. I was told that this was the best place for it." He smiles.

"What sort of training do you seek, Citizen?" asks the same feline. Alas, but if only the cats had numbers on their armor to help tell them all apart…

Aaron switches his attention to the human now, and turns to a new page to take notes.

It looks like Baddock may have found someone who can help him. He tries to suppress his excitement as he explains the type of training he seeks. Trying to word his reply as well as possible, he speaks. "I want to become stronger, and learn the arts of fighting."

"Why do you wish to fight, Citizen?" asks the armored feline.

Baddock smiles, "Well, it's not so much the actual fighting, I guess… It's the learning."

Aaron sidles along the wall, and pretends to examine a directory while trying to get a better look at the human.

"If you wish," responds the feline, "you may join the Temple Scouts. There are many opportunities there." She points after the retreating line of cubs. "They could tell you more. Provided you meet the requirements, you will need little more than signed permission from your parents or legal guardian."

Baddock looks back in the direction the feline points, then turns back to her. "Ahh, gotcha! Thanks!" He bows politely, then dashes off.

The Lapi makes another note in his book, and then goes back to watching the Magenta Lancers and trying to draw their armor.

The marching cubs are easily caught up with, as Baddock heads after them. An adult Jupani in a Temple Guard uniform notices the human boy's approach, and turns about. For a moment, it looks like he's about to say something … but then he snaps his muzzle shut and just nods to the boy.

Aaron stares at his sketch for a moment, then quickly closes the book and walks towards the street, rubbing his chin in thought.

Stopping hard in his tracks, the boy nods back to the Temple Guard. He smiles and speaks enthusiastically, "Excuse me, sir? I'd like to join the Temple Scouts."

The Guard looks down at Baddock, smirking. "Oh, really? What's your name, boy?" He keeps marching along after the line of cubs, and casts a reproving eye at a spotted cub that curiously glances back for just a moment at the human.

Baddock walks along next to the marching Guard. "My name is Baddock Shen, sir." He looks back at the line of cubs and waves, smiling.

The Guard nods. "Joining the Temple Scouts is a serious commitment. It will require most of your free time. You won't have as much time to play, and you'll be expected to study diligently. Your parents will be expected to make sure you don't slack in your duties, as well."

After seeing the reaction he got from the musician at the Bazaar when he explained about he parents, Baddock decides that it would be best if he didn't say anything about them. He smiles and nods to the Guard. "I understand, sir."

The Guard simply nods in return, as the cubs continue marching ahead. It looks like they're heading into a larger chamber, past gargantuan doors. Beyond is a sanctuary of some sort.

Over to the side, a poodle is yapping at a cheetah. The cheetah is wearing humble-looking work clothes, while the poodle is dressed in finery befitting a noble. The poodle occasionally slaps the cheetah about the ears while chastising him over who-knows-what cause.

A family of raccoons heads past the cubs, moving at a swifter pace and not bothering to keep in step. The younger raccoons in the group look in awe at the towering statues … statues that look vaguely human, but with such worn features – especially about the face – that it's hard to tell for sure.

A figure in a cowled cloak stands in the shadow of one of these statues, glittering eyes peeking out at the passing people in the crowd.

Baddock smiles and walks along with the Guard as they head through the doors. He looks around at the large chamber they've just entered.

Just as Baddock passes the threshold of the doors, he feels a hand slap down on his shoulder. "You!" hisses a wheezy-sounding voice from behind.

Baddock stops right in mid-step, one foot still high in the air. He stumbles a bit before catching his balance and spinning around.

It's that creepy cowled and cloaked figure that was standing by one of the statues. "You are the one! I can see it in your stance. That grin of yours. You must be the one!"

A puzzled look crosses the boy's face as he looks at the cloaked stranger. Hesitating for a moment, he smiles shyly. "I beg your pardon?"

The bewhiskered snout of an old Skreek pokes through the cowl. "You are a warrior, are you not? A child, yet tempered like the finest of steel!"

Baddock smiles and shrugs, not accustomed to such praise and feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well, I'd like to be… "

The Temple Scouts head on in, leaving Baddock behind, unless he cares to break away and hurry to catch up. The old Skreek, however, doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned about the departing cubs. "Ah! Good! So you recognize there is more to learn, do you not? The first step, that is!" He pats Baddock on the shoulder.

Baddock smiles happily, his attention no longer on the cubs as they march off. "Oh, thanks! I like to think I try my best… "

"Try? Never try. To do your best is what is required!" chides the Skreek. "Those who only try shall never succeed." He looks Baddock up and down. "Yes, the makings of a warrior have you. But have you the patience and determination, I wonder? Hmm?"

The boy is quite surprised to hear this, but figures the creature must know what he's talking about. It seems wise enough. "Well, I guess that's something that I have to find out for myself, huh?"

"Of course! But find out all the faster you will, if you have someone older and more experienced to teach you!" says the Skreek. "I am Master Whiptail." He bows.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Baddock Shen." He politely returns the bow. "Are you offering to teach me, sir?"

"Only if you are willing to learn, young Shen!" says the Skreek in return.

Baddock smiles and nods. "Well, sure! My parents always told me that I should never stop learning."

"Splendid! Splendid!" says the Skreek with a raspy laugh. "Have you the time to show an old Skreek what you're made of?" He looks one way and then the other. "Of course … not here, of course. The Guard might take issue."

The boy smiles and adjusts his cap. "All right, lead the way."

The Skreek leads the way to, oddly enough, a building on the fringes of the city that looks as if it's made of concrete. He heads inside, and stands on an odd circular formation set into the floor – a series of chitin (or some other material) panels set in the floor that are wound together in a way that suggests a camera lens. He reaches up to hold one end of a chain suspended above the "lens". "Ready, boy?"

Baddock takes off his jacket and tosses it to the side. He takes a looks up at the chain, and drops into a fighting stance, just in case. "Ready!" He nods.

"Good!" With that, the Skreek yanks the chain … and the lens beneath them spreads outward in a snap … causing both rat and human to drop into the resulting hole … then hit what feels like a slick slide that sends them slipping and hurtling through pitch black darkness, the sounds of their descent echoing off of unseen walls!

"Wha-?! EEYAHHH!!" Baddock quickly folds his knees into his chest and wraps his arms around them, curling into a ball as he descends.

The Skreek cackles as he rolls as well, and the whole world spins as Baddock goes down and down, round and round … until, at last, he lands on something soft, squishy, and earthy-smelling, like a bed of very thick moss. The air smells positively wretched down here … as if Baddock has somehow descended into a sewer of cavernous proportions.

And it's still pitch black.

Baddock picks himself up off the ground. Looking around and seeing only darkness, he returns to his battle stance, trying to clear his mind.

Eerie noises emit from the darkness around Baddock. There's no sign of the Skreek. As his mind fills in the blanks, he can pick up more subtle details. The dripping of water. The grinding of machinery. The sloshing of something that's liquid, but not quite water. Not pure, anyway. Of course, the smells take no time at all to notice.

Skittering of claws on stone. Slithering of something swimming through the murk.

Unable to see anything, Baddock relies on his other senses. He focuses and listens carefully to everything around him…

The clattering and scraping of claws on stone grows closer. Baddock's keen ears do him credit … something is approaching, about half Baddock's size … and judging by the sounds of the scraping, it probably has pretty sharp claws, and probably a chitinous hide … perhaps like a giant centipede. Then, it grows quiet … perhaps it is rising up … perhaps readying to strike?

The sudden quiet is almost louder in Baddock's mind than the actual noise. He quickly leaps backwards and away from it, drawing his sword upon landing.

A whistling of air is the only further warning as the unseen creature strikes! Baddock's defensive reaction saves him surely from the brunt of the blow, but he is still a bit out of his element, and the spiny creature knocks him sprawling backward. It doesn't seem that he's suffered any damage, but this isn't a friendly creature to be sure.

Baddock picks himself up off the ground, clutching his sword and listening intently as he waits for the creature to reveal its location. He prepares to react upon the first noise he hears.

A clue presents itself, in another little scrape of claws on stone. Baddock's sword swings … and … connects! He hears a high-pitched shriek from the creature, and the snap of a blade cutting through chitin. Two halves of the whole can be heard thrashing about on the mossy floor about Baddock's feet. Several more scurrying noises can be heard, retreating into the darkness.

Baddock remains in a ready stance, still listening hard for any further sounds.

Something wet and fast launches out of the water, but Baddock hasn't let his guard drop, and he is able to deftly dodge aside. It's a tentacle, it seems, attached to something down in the water … the water that must surround some sort of moss-covered stone platform that Baddock is currently standing on.

Upon dodging the tentacle's strike, Baddock reflexively swings his sword in a wide swath, aimed in the tentacle's general direction.

It's a good swing … but it appears that the tentacle must have been reaching out more on the horizontal than rising up like a standing opponent, and Baddock's attack only cuts through the air.

The tentacle, on the other appendage, slaps into Baddock's midsection, and several suction cups make loud slurping noises as they quickly adhere to his clothing. The tentacle seems to be wrapping about him, though it hasn't gotten a firm grip just yet.

Baddock no longer has to guess where the tentacle is. He reaches out with his sword and slices right at it.

The attack connects … and evidently this tentacle wasn't made for grabbing prey that might have a sword to swing back with. There' s a wet sound as the tentacle is sliced cleanly apart, and a splash as the remaining stump retreats into the water. The severed tentacle hangs limply, though it still will take a bit of prying to pull it free from Baddock's clothes.

The odd sound of applause echoes through the chamber. "Ah! Good! Good!"

Baddock's attention is suddenly pulled away from the disembodied tentacle by the sound of clapping hands and a cheer of praise. He looks around, trying to discern where the voice came from as he wrestles with the stubborn suction cups.

With a loud series of pops, the rest of the cups are pried off. There's the sound of something striking against stone, and then a spark appears in the air … suddenly followed by a ball of flame!

Baddock blinks and looks up at the ball of flame, hoping it's not his next opponent…

The heat rushes past Baddock … but it's quickly gone, along with the ball of flame. The Skreek is now visible, holding a torch in one hand. "You adjust well to the unexpected … and your skill, it is evident!" He nods approvingly.

The Skreek once again visible, Baddock looks a bit surprised at first, but then laughs and smiles, pleased with the creature's evaluation. "Thanks!"

The Skreek nods. "In Rephidim, not many fights will you find … unless you seek them out. This is good! Good for learning, for if you should find yourself not ready for the lesson, safety is not far away." He points up. "Here, in the Sewers, there are many nasties. Many opponents to test different skills! And, as you've learned, ample opportunity to learn to use other senses than just your eyes … for the creatures here often have none to begin with!"

Baddock is happy to have found such an enthusiastic and wise teacher. He nods to the Skreek and smiles. "That's great!" He then thinks for a second and nods to himself. He takes his bo staff and his sword, both in their sheaths, and hands them to the Skreek. "Here, can you hang on to these for me? I want to learn how to fight without having to rely on weapons."

The Skreek carefully takes the weapons, and nods approvingly. He points with a bony claw in the direction of a side tunnel marked "Maintenance Access #42". "There, you should find a worthy foe… "

Baddock looks down the tunnel, and nods. He turns back to the Skreek and bows deeply. "Thank you!" With that, the boy heads off toward the tunnel.

At first, the tunnel grows dark, as Baddock walks further away from the Skreek and his torch … but then his eyes adjust to a very dim light coming from further down the tunnel. He has to navigate his way through accumulated refuse and debris, but at last comes into a dome-shaped stone chamber, small enough that he has to watch against bumping his head if he stands too close to the sides. In the center of the chamber is a pit … and an eerie glow radiates up from its center.

Stepping further into the dome, Baddock takes a look all around. Following the Skreek's advice, he pays attention to what all of his senses tell him… what his eyes see, what his ears can hear, what his nose can smell and the sensation of the ground underneath his feet…

A musty smell comes from the pit … something similar to the tentacle-thing that attacked earlier … something alive … and patient. Stagnant.

There's a faint tremor … something is moving, restless, inside the pit. Sliding, scraping noises can be heard, slowly, patiently, working up the pit … coming upward.

Baddock stands a few yards from the edge of the pit, watching, listening, waiting… Remembering that he no longer has his weapons, he just stands there, patiently.

A shambling form can be seen, making its way upward, silhouetted against the pale green of the walls – the moss on the walls is luminescent, it seems, providing the odd lighting in this chamber.

As the form makes its way up, pulling itself up with long, lanky arms, a misshapen head – vaguely reptilian, with two oversized orb-like eyes – turns up to peer at Baddock. Its mouth opens, and a long tongue uncurls, whipping about the air. It's almost to the top.

Baddock takes a step back, into a fighting stance. He watches the creature carefully, but can't help wondering if it's intelligent… if it sees him as an opponent, a threat… or just an unlikely snack…

The lumbering creature pulls itself out of the pit, looking for all the world like some sort of slimy, reptilian gorilla. It waddles about in similar fashion, then flails its arms wildly through the air, as its throat inflates like a sac, then deflates as the creature makes several throaty bellows!

The boy can't help but smile at this. The creature, whatever the heck it is, appears to be a strong opponent indeed. Baddock only hopes it isn't too strong…

That little introduction done, the creature gets down to business. It waddles up to Baddock … and lets swing with a big meaty paw that approximates a fist.

Seeing the swing come at him, Baddock leaps at the creature, attempting to get inside the strike and counterattack the creature with a punch to the face.

The monster's roundhouse punch is wide and slow, and the far more nimble and agile human manages to get inside as planned. The creature's nose bobs up and down from the force of the impact, and his eyes bug out for an instant. The monster bellows, staggering back, then shakes his head and looks about for its prey again.

Baddock wastes no time in setting up a follow-up attack. He leaps again, spinning and throwing a kick at the side of the creature's head.

The creature is caught off guard, obviously, as a foot imbeds itself in the side of its semi-flexible head. Its right eye bugs out grotesquely, and its tongue shoots out to one side, as it makes a raspberry noise upon impact.

Deciding the creature is now disoriented enough, Baddock falls to the ground after the kick connects, presses off of one foot and drives a hard elbow right into the creature's midsection.

The blow almost misses, as the creature seems to be leaving a trail of slime in its wake, and the boy's footing is almost lost as he steps on a thin film of the disagreeable gunk. Still, his relentless onslaught leaves the monster no quarter, no opportunity to recover and fight back, and the elbow to the midsection is rewarded by another raspberry sound, as the chest collapses inward like some sort of rubber toy, rather than a solid creature.

The monster's stumbling steps have taken it closer to the pit it came from, as it wobbles on the lip.

Baddock has no intention of letting the creature have an opening. This isn't a brawl with some Kavi punks in an alleyway; he's here to prove himself. He leaps into the air, preparing to strike once more at the creature's chest with a hard, thrusting kick.

The kick connects, making a wet sound as Baddock's foot drives deep into the monster's rubbery chest. The monster is knocked off balance, and the boy's foot is … well … stuck to it, as the creature falls backward, flailing as it goes into the pit!

"Gyaaaaah!!" Baddock cries out in horror as he realizes he's being pulled into the pit with the monster. He quickly reaches and tries to grab at the edge.

Fortunately, Baddock does have good reflexes … and as he flails about for the edge, he manages to find purchase on a hanging outcrop, though the impact against his ribcage knocks the breath out of him. With a pulling, sucking sound, the creature's chest pops back out to its normal shape … and, fortunately, this means that Baddock's foot pops free as well.

The creature continues to fall … landing with a wet splat somewhere far below.

Baddock, thankfully, does not.

Panting heavily, Baddock clutches the cold ground as his short life finally stops flashing before his eyes… He pulls himself up and gets to his feet, looking around.

The Skreek stands at the entrance to the dome. "Ah! Well done, well done!" He applauds again, his claps filling the chamber. "A very good beginning! Now, then, let us really begin your training!" With that, he turns about on his heel and heads down the tunnel, his segmented ratty tail bobbing behind him.

Baddock takes one last look down the pit, but he can't see the creature anymore. He quickly takes off after the Skreek, following him back into the tunnel.