Time to get your paws dirty!
There's not time to lose, as the epidemic advances, Sarah Tod and Christopher get into the sewers through hostile rat territory in search of the mysterious sewer mice who might hold the key for the cure of the epidemic.
They won't be alone for long though ;)

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A drip of water breaks the inky silence of the sewer. The air is musty, rank
with God only knows what stench. The sound of a car rumbling along the
road overhead echoes through the enormous pipe, and fades. Then a hint of
movement, the scuffle of a bare foot on concrete, then another and another.
Then silence. A pair of eyes peer around the edge of an adjoining pipe,
followed by a large, cylindrical object. The object scans with the eyes, then
disappears. A few moments later a mouse materializes out of the pipe. Not a
normal mouse, by any stretch, he's dressed in a heavy leather and gortex vest
arrayed with pockets and loops, and carrying a similar pack. Tod checks his
weapon. It's quiet, too quiet. But as long as it's quiet, they're safe, for now.
He turns back and waves his companions to come forward, still not sure how
they talked himself into this.

"Look at the mess you're into now..." Sarah thinks to herself while walking
along with Chris to join to where Tod beckons them. Everything was so wet,
the smells so confusing and echoing sounds coming from everywhere... yes
she's back in the sewers, and she's having a hard time trying to not remember
the horrors she and her mother had to pass through when they first stepped
here from the forest. Without notice, she comes closer to Christopher,
placing a paw over his shoulder. "S-Smells like rat... everywhere." she
whispers

Christopher brings up the rear, wearing an outfit that looks like it might've
been borrowed from the guards, though it is simpler, without armor. He has a
gas mask looped loosely below his neck; while it smells bad, it seems the
mask doesn't do much against it. He nods to her, giving her paw a squeeze.
"We'll be okay..." he says, trying to sound reassuring.

Anne was following a little distance from the small group. Earlier that day
she was going to talk to Sarah about a list of supplies she was needing for
the First Aid kits that was located in her class room and around the school.
Upon entering the Medical complex the nurse that was on duty told her that
Sarah had gone off with some companions. Anne hurried out in the direction
the nurse told her and she soon saw the group ahead. *What's this? they
look like their heading to the sewers* she thought to herself "What are they
up to?" she quietly asked herself and continued to follow the small group at a
distance. As she followed them she was passing pipe after pipe.
Unfortunately for the older mouse just as she passed beneath one particular
pipe her ears heard a sudden rushing noise she paused to look into the pipe
when she was struck by a rush of rancid water that washed her half way
across the main pipe. She screamed as the water struck her and after the flow
was done she stood up waist deep in the nasty fluid retching and crying "Oh
my dress is really ruined now!" she half yelled and cried.

Tod chuckles a bit at Christopher, "I told you those things don't help," and
starts forward, noticing the odd sound one of the side vents makes when it
'gets flushed.' Almost like a scream. Nobody else should be here, though, so
Tod doesn't really pay it a second heed. He is too concentrated on the task at
hand. No one else knows they're out here, so if anything happens, there
won't be a rescue. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the
responsability of bringing them all back alive is purely on Tod's shoulders,
and he /really/ doesn't want anything else to think about right now...

Sarah nods to Chris and grins "Thank you, I'm sure I'm not the bravest
mouse ever ^.^;" She was about to add something more when her ears perk at
some particular sound she manages to distinguish between the metallic
echoes of the pipes. "W...What's that... It sounds like someone's crying..."
she turns to Chris "Did you hear that? I think I'm not crazy enough yet to
start hearing voices in my head but I could swear I heard Mrs. Anne
crying..." she whispers.

Christopher shrugs a bit to Tod. "Might come in handy for something else,"
he remarks, just a tad ominously. His ears perk up and he looks around at the
cry, nodding a little to Sarah. "I hear it... Mrs. Who?" he replies in a whisper.

Anne started wading back to the side of the pipe looking around found she
lost track of the small group. "Oh great, Now I've lost the others aside from
my dress being ruined." she mumbles to herself as she sat on her haunches.
she tried wiping the rancid fluid from her face and wipe her eyes but there
was not a single bit of dry clean cloth to do it with. she sniffled and reached
for the list she was going to give Sarah but the list was also ruined the ink ran
and it was unreadable. She quietly cried to herself and started searching for
the group again going in the general direction she last saw them.

Tod stops, turning to the other two, "Who? And why would anyone be out
here?" giving a sigh of annoyance. He /really/ doesn't want to go back for
/anything/, let alone to look for some straggler who followed them out here.
Bad enough he has two to look after, but a third? "Oh-kaay." he turns to
Sarah, "Are you /sure/ you heard someone?"

"You know, Elder William's wife... I think I heard her like crying just a
moment ago..." says Sarah and nods at Tod to catch his attention "Tod wait,
I think... no I'm fairly sure I just heard someone crying behind us, we better
go back a bit and check it out, please." she says while sniffing the air in
search of the source of the cries, but she's not well used to the sewers's
smells and can't distinguish Anne's from so many strong scents, so she relies
on her ears. "H-Hello? Who's t-there?" she says at loud just before noticing
that it wouldn't be a good idea to draw the attention to them, especially when
they're near rat territory, she quickly puts both paws on her muzzle looking at
Chris and Tod a bit ashamed ^.^;

Christopher nods to Sarah; he hears it too, if faintly. "Yeah, someone's back
there, I'm pretty sure." He stays next to Sarah, peering out into the dimness.
He blinks a little at Sarah's shout, though he gives her a small grin to
hopefully reassure her.

Anne earperks as she thought she heard a voice *Did I just hear someone?*
she thought and quickened her pace in the general direction she heard the
voice. She didn't know if she should call back or not. As she walked she still
absentmindedly tried wiping the fetid waters off her dress and fur but she has
stopped crying, however with no clean cloth to wipe the tears away her
vision was still blurred

Tod's shoulders drop, and he gives a very annoyed scowl. "Great. Just
great," Tod whispers to himself, "I'm out here with Mother Teresa and
Mahatma Ghandi..." he trails off ranting and goes back to watching the
mainline of the sewer, hoping like hell that no one in the area, rat wise, heard
Sarah. "Tell me again why you agreed to this?" Tod rants to himself. "Wait,
it was /your/ idea."

Sarah can't help but chuckling a bit at Tod's ranting, he has /just/ the same
look as someone she knows very well ;) Following him she goes on her fours
and sniffs the air searching for a rake, then her whiskers tilt when she
recognizes a familiar scent... "Ah I... I can smell her! She's near... there!" she
points to an intersection and to the right pipe in front of them. "C'mon follow
me this way!" she says and darts to where the smell comes, but on her race
she doesn't notice a shadowy figure that was following her just above and at
her left from an upper pipe.

Christopher seems a bit sheepish; he is a bit worried that the shout might've
attracted undue attention too, but if someone's hurt... He blinks as Sarah
starts dashing and runs after her. "Sarah, wait! Slow down!"

Anne's ears perk some more "Sarah?" she asks as she hears the voice. She
then starts hurrying to where the voice came from in her haste she actually
manages to trip on a crack in the pipe scraping her footpaw on the edge. She
hit the floor gasping and biting her lip as she reached for her injured foot
tears streaming anew.

Tod turns, slightly surprised, then sighs, "Great. Just great," staying where
he is for a few moments. The hint of motion catches his eye, and he looks up,
more annoyed than anything else. This is just going from bad to worse. Tod
takes the safety off of his gun and ducks into the shadows of the pipe,
disappearing from anyone and anything's view.

Sarah barely hears Christopher calling her "She's over here c'mon! We're
almost there I... I see her!" From the shadows she can recognize a mouse
figure, then a bit closer both smell and sight confirms that is Anne. "Mrs.
Anne over here!" she shouts as she hastes her rush. "Don't worry
everything will be all right just let m..." Then suddenly a huge black figure
jumps from above and gets between Sarah and Anne! Sarah can't stop and
knocks herself against the creature, bouncing back without even moving a
millimeter the huge mass in front of her despite the speed she crashed against
him with. She blinks twice at the shock and rises her glance waaaaaay up to
see the fearful glare of the creature shinning in the darkness. It's a rat, and it's
hungry.

Christopher skids to a halt, blinking at the huge creature before them.
"Sarah! Run!" He fumbles a little with the small needle pistol he'd been
equipped with, pointing it (a little shakily) at the rat, above where Sarah is
presently.

Anne started to get up to meet Sarah when the rat jumped between them.
She immediately sat back down ad started scooting away from the huge
creature. "Wha?" she squeaks in surprise and continues scooting away from
the rat.

And at the moment when he's needed most, Tod is...is...missing.

Sarah hears Christopher but she can't move a muscle, she's there, lying on
the floor over her back totally paralyzed of pure terror. Knowing that, the rat
bends over her, his scarred muzzle going down over her's, almost touching
her and his strong breath blowing her headfur. "Well now, what do we have
here, the dinner's served to the room... how convenient." the rat says with a
hideous smirk showing his fangs pouring in saliva. "Ah but wait, the girl has
a hero there ready to save the day huh?" he glances at Christopher "I wonder
what's faster, my claws or that little toy of yours..."

Christopher growls angrily at the rat, his fear being surpressed by his anger
at the rat threatening Sarah. "If you do, I will pump your hide full of needles.
So, unless you want this meal to be your last, /get back/," he snarls, still
holding the pistol out in front of him, moving his claw to just barely touch the
trigger.

Anne watched the Rat a few seconds hasn't the rat saw her yet? he seemed
too intent on Sarah maybe he hasn't seen her. She quietly stood up biting her
lip to keep from calling out as a wave of sharp pain shot through her footpaw.
She frantically started looking for something to try to save the young
mousette, then she see's a chunk of wood floating nearby she silently fished
the wood from the rancid water and prepared to strike the rat with it if it called
for it.

There's a series of muffled clicks from somewhere, anywhere, but at once
nowhere, then silence. A few seconds later, an even softer, click, followed by
the PWANG of a tiny spring. Then nothing...and still no sign of Tod.

"P-Please d-don't hurt... him p-lease I beg of you please d-don't" says Sarah
to the rat with just a trembling whisper "Ah I see, so he's important to you.
What a shame would be if something happens to him don't you think? Huh?"
the rat smirks and stands slowly, watching at Christopher all the time. "If I
were you, I'd run as fast as I can you terrific mouse with a stick behind me,
however I like it better when they run... hehe" he advances one step at time
towards Chris, slowly, one, two, three... "CHRISTOPHER NO!" Sarah shouts
but it's too late and the rat already jumps over Chris in a sudden, fangs and
claws shinning ready to tear apart him!

Christopher's ears swivel slightly at the noises, but he doesn't dare tear his
eyes away from the rat hovering over Sarah... He gulps, steeling himself as
the rat begins advancing towards him, stepping back. As soon as the rat
pounces, he pulls the trigger, aiming at the rat's chest, letting out a growl as
the rat falls on top of him!.

Anne never backed down nor ran, but she did continue to advance in him.
She gasped as the rat pounced at Christopher, and hobbled as fast as she
could on her injured footpaw to try to reach them. She paused momentarily to
try to help Sarah up before continuing to try to assist Christopher.

There's a glimmer of reflection, golden in color, from nearby, then nothing. A
pause, hesitation if you will, but not unjust by the mouse who's finger is on
the trigger. Tod's waiting for a reason. He's not shooting, and has absolutely
no intention of doing so. Never did. Not that he can't, as far as Tod's
concerned, the rat's already dead, it just hasn't realized it yet. Though maybe
next time they'll listen to him when he tells them something.

The huge rat lies over Christopher, it doesn't move. Sarah starts moving
towards Christopher "Chris! CHRIS! Are you ok? My God that was..."
Suddenly the beast opens the eyes and lifts a claw over Christopher's head!
"Is that all you got??? You'll never get away from here alive!" growls the rat.
Almost like by reflex Sarah stands on her fours and jumps over the rat! "Let
him go you beast!" and bites viciously the rat's back paw! The creature
growls and kicks her sending her flying against a wall.

Christopher tries to squirm out from under the rat... but the rat seems to be
holding him down. "I--" he replies to Sarah, gulping and wincing as he sees
the rat bring his paw up towards his head! "Sarah!" he cries as the rat kicks
her. He tries to push up against the rat; he'd unfortunately lost his gun in the
pounce.

Anne approached the Rat and tries to strike it and even manages to break
the stick across the creatures back. she then releases the broken stick and
then attempts to bite the tail of the rat "Leave him alone you freak!" she
screamed at the rat.

Tod sighs. He /really/ didn't want to get involved in this fight. In his
annoyed, nonchalant state of mind, Tod lowers his gun, drops the clip out of
it and retrieves one dart. just one. because one is all it takes. Then again,
what Tod's holding isn't a solid hunk of iron with a pointy tip, rather, it looks
much more like a syringe. (referred to as an 'impact delivery dart') Leaving
his weapon behind, and his pack, The slim, gray mouse steps quietly into the
light. He doesn't say anything, and he makes no move for the rat. He simply
reveals his presence, calmly whirling the dart through the digits of his
forepaw, taking care not to stick himself with the business end of it.

The rat growls as he feels his tail bitted by Anne and releases Christopher
for a second, turning insanely fast to Anne "How you dare you pest!" he
was about to slash her when from the glimpse of the eye he notices Tod
coming slowly coming at him. He quickly turns throwing a whipslash with his
tail at Anne and facing Tod "What you gonna do huh? Bite me with those
baby teeth of yours? I'll teach you all freaking stinger mice to not come to
MY territory again, after sending your bones all the way back to your colony
of psychos!" he runs on his four directly towards Tod like a raging bull!

Christopher wastes no time and scrabbles out of the way, feeling lucky that
he escaped with only some bruising... But the rat doesn't concern him, now
that Tod's returned. He rushes back over to Sarah. "Sarah, are you okay?"

Anne felt the whiplash from the rats tail and was thrown almost a foot back
up the pipe before she lands in a heap completely stunned.

Tod stands, relaxed (perhaps a bit too much so?) like a matador in an arena.
Matter of fact, he's not even looking at the rat, but rather taking a moment to
examine his 'weapon of choice'. Not exactly how he wanted to prove a point,
but if he must, then he must. Tod flips the dart up an inch or so in the air,
perfectly vertical like you would a pen or flashlight, and watches it spin in
front of his face, tipping his head curiously as he examines its 'path of flight.'

Sarah lays with her back against the pipe wall, stunned by the hit "W-Wha...
What... Um my head..." her eyes widen when she sees the beast knocking
Anne "Mrs. Anne!" she reaches her with one paw "Mrs. Anne! Oh my God
please answer to me!" Christopher's voice reassures her "What? C-Chris?
Where's... Y-yes I think I'm... TOD WATCH OUT!" The time seems to stop,
all going like in slow motion. The rat is already in the air, his claws
extended at Tod's throat, almost there... almost...

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"Dream! What you dare to dream.
Go! To where you want to go.
Be! What you want to be.
Live!" R. Bach