Pyrrhic skidded around a corner with a whoop. His nails scrabbled for purchase on the stone floor and once they had it he propelled himself down the dark hallway. Several feet in front of him ran a weasel whose movements he mirrored. It was the weasel who'd originally careened around the corner, whose nails had scrabbled on the stone floor and who now bounded first down the hallway. The day the Empire had arrived at their new home Pyrrhic had discovered the plethora of weasels that inhabited the castle. With his father's blessing he'd made it his mission to eradicate them. The hall ended in a vine covered window. The weasel, seeing no other escape, leapt for the window and was in the middle of a mad upwards scrabble when Pyrrhic crashed into it. It shrieked as it was enveloped by his jaws and continued shrieking as he shook it, only falling silent once death was upon it. Satisfied, Pyrrhic dropped its small body and beamed up the window where Benkos, the weird monkey with the bright red butt, sat watching him. The mandrill had been following him almost since the day they'd arrived and Pyrrhic wasn't sure what to make of him yet, but if his dad was happy to have Pascal follow him around, then Pyrrhic thought he could get used to Benkos. "Three down, like a bazillion more to go!" "Pyrrhic" "Benkos"

speech Thought You

Rain had seen the streak of cream and black hurtle down the hall and found himself smiling to himself. Pyrrhic. Since joining he had been meaning to speak to the boy in the hopes that he could learn more about the Abraxas and their ways, but at the moment it seemed he was distracted. Rain followed the telltale signs of a chase at an eased pace, following the striated jumble of paw prints to the end of the hall. He chuckled as the boy savaged the small creature he had been chasing and greeted him still smiling.

“Seems you’re in a good mood today.” Not that he had ever seen the boy in a bad mood, but the friendly intent was there.  “You know…Weasels can hold grudges.” He said playfully. “You’d better get them all before his brother comes for you while you’re asleep.” He added, gesturing to the crumpled weasel at the boy’s paws with a quirked brow. He of course had no real idea if weasels could hold grudges, but he couldn't help but tease the boy just a bit while he was young enough to still heed the words of adults. "Not that he did the first time you met him." He reminded himself sourly, but shrugged the thought aside internally. He wanted to enjoy himself for once.

A voice in the corridor alerted him to the presence of another. Pyrrhic recognized it immediately. He turned around with a grin and was surprised to find that he was now eye to eye with the Rain, the yearling who he'd "helped" escape Wraith's Woods. At six months of age he was growing by leaps and bounds and in no time at all he'd reach his full height. The rapid growth wasn't without its pitfalls, though. He was, quite literally, all height. He had a build that hinted at a sturdy physique in the making, but it was all but hidden by the rapid changes his body was going through. So while his chest was wide and his paws huge, his sides were hollow and his legs were comically spindly. He looked like a mix between a spider and a greyhound. “You’d better get them all before his brother comes for you while you’re asleep.” At this Pyrrhic snorted a laugh and said, "Oh, I will, don't you worry." Benkos, uninterested in observing the conversation, leaned out the window and then climbed out of sight. He would be back later to see what the boy was up to, but it was about time he saw to his troops. With his back to Benkos, Pyrrhic was unaware the mandrill had left. He smirked at Rain, then offered, "You know, if you're concerned for my safety, you could always help me get rid of the rest of them. There's only oh, I'd say, a hundred or so left." "Pyrrhic" "Benkos"

“I don’t know, if it’s only a hundred it might be too easy for us.” He said with a teasing smirk, his tail flicking playfully as he did. “Show me where they are.” He said and dropped low in a playful and excited bow. He and his father had hunted when they traveled and he had often remarked that he had the skills of his uncle cloud, but that had been before they joined Ruina and his father had grown dissatisfied with him. He of course would never have the strength or size to take down large game but weasels he could handle, especially if he could use the techniques his father had taught him, perhaps Pyrrhic might even learn something from him. speaking Thinking   You

Rain's comment caused Pyrrhic to snort a good-natured laugh. He'd been killing weasels for the better part of a morning so he had a fair amount of experience at this point. If they managed to make a dent in the weasels' numbers before exhausting themselves it would be a miracle. Seeing how enthusiastic Rain was about joining in the fun renewed Pyrrhic's spirits. He was glad to have help with his mission. It seemed only fair since until now it had been one against one hundred. "Okay, this way." With that Pyrrhic brushed by Rain and trotted down the corridor. He explained how he'd found the spot they were going to as they walked. "Earlier I managed to bite the tail off one of them, right? But it got away and I went after another. I get a couple and then I notice this bob-tailed one running along a ledge. Won't get close to me or anything; the tail thing made it wary. So I'd chase it and it'd disappear and then it'd pop up again and I'd chase it and it'd disappear, and so on." He turned a corner and then kept talking. "Then I got to paying attention and I noticed it disappeared in about the same place every time." Pyrrhic shot a sly look in Rain's direction. "So I dug around and discovered..." Pyrrhic motioned for Rain to be quiet and then peeked around another corner. He then motioned for Rain to take a look before whispering, "See that hole at the bottom of the steps? I bet dozens of 'em have come out of there in the last hour." "Pyrrhic" "Benkos"

Rain peeked around the corner and narrowed his eyes as he thought of their best strategy. He could smell the stink of weasel urine even from a distance and he momentarily wrinkled his nose before returning his attention to Pyrrhic. “Well. We’ll never catch them all if we try to go after them, we’ll have to make them come to us." He looked at the rooms surrounding them and quickly inspected the doors. Many of them had rotted away but one in particular had remained undamaged through the years and smelled distinctly of cedar. He tested the door’s mobility with his paw, gently pushing it back and forth, with a contemplative expression. The hinges creaked horrendously, but the door itself moved quickly enough. “Do you know if there’s any snakes in the food stores? I'll need one, preferably a big one” He asked distractedly, his bicolored eyes now inspecting the room itself. There was one window several feet above the floor, too far for even Rain to reach if he stood on his hind legs. The room also held several chairs and desk pushed up against the stone wall. It wasn’t as bare as he would have liked but it would have to do. speaking Thinking   You