Darting along the game trail, Zen slowed his pace as he sniffed about. Once off the trail, he waved a paw and shouted to the two following behind them. "Hey! Over here... Heheh, here's my burrow." With that, the mouse seemed to disappear, darting into the burrow with his tail quickly following behind. Echoing softly, Zen yet again shouted back. "And don't chew on the pillows!"

Kaelin cautiously bounds along the game trail behind Zen, flicking his tail as he watches Zen disappear inside the burrow ahead. He pokes his head into the burrow entrance shortly after the mouse, his black eyes adjusting to the darkness. "Smells funny in here. Hey, do you like nuts?" he chitters, then blinks a few times, "Uh.. whatsa pillow?" he asks, backing his head out of the narrow entrance with a grunt. "I'mma have to stay out here. Hole too small."

Belumine sprints so fast past the burrow that he must skid to a halt, toppling head-over-heels before gaining his bearing again. He shakes it off, following Kaelin. He nearly runs into the squirrel in his hurry to enter the burrow, having to once again adjust his bearings. "Hey hey, watcha where ya goin'! I gotta get in here!" he says quickly, darting into the burrow a moment later. "Ooo, nice and safe here! Hey, what's that?" he squeaks immediately, pointing at random objects around the room with obvious fascination. "You got some coooool stuffs in here!"

Timothy has been trying to keep himself awake; he doesn't think it'd be a good idea to fall asleep in a stranger's home, kind as he is... and he's a bit worried about the bump to his head he'd gotten earlier. Hearing a bit of commotion outside, his ears perk up; /finally/, he thinks. /Been running out of things to think about.../ Still, he's a bit worried; he doesn't recognize any of the voices.

Zen smiles as he looks back at Kaelin, then nods his head. "Oh, ok! Uh, me and Belumine can help move Tim out safely so you can help us! Then from there I don't think it's too far awa... uh... Belumine?" He finds himself distracted as he watches Belumine zip back and forth as he points at objects! "Uh, I think that's a table... Those rocks work as chairs... and... uh... that's an injured mouse... Ooh, that's a pillow! I love my pillow! Not only is it perfect for resting on, it feels /WONDERFULL/ on your teeth! Ooh, I chew on... er... wait! Injured mouse? Might need to take care of that... Uh... OH, right! Tim!" Making his way over to Tim. "Hey you... Darn... that rat really hurt you... Your side was bleeding so I wrapped my shirt around you to help! Now I got friends to help you to the colony, yes!"

Kaelin chits in surprise as Belumine nearly runs into him, sitting on his haunches near the entrance to the burrow and peering around. His tail flicks again, restlessly. "Got it!" he chitters into the burrow, before looking up in the sky, oddly. "Do ya think I'm big enough to carry the mouse on my back, Xan? I did it once before.. but that was jus' a -little- mouse."

Belumine hops to attention, ceasing his incessant questioning as Zen brings the injured mouse to his attention. He runs up to him, though very carefully; even he can sense this mouse is not well. He sniffs around his body, halting abruptly as his nose reaches the makeshift bandage of the wound. "Eeee, he smells different, too! Also another kind of funny...bad kind of funny! Wha's wrong with him? I can help carry him, yes yes!" he says, craning his head back towards Kaelin. "Ooo, you's a -big- mousie! You run fasta then me! He'd be a good carry-mouse, yes!" he breathes in deeply, looking over to Zen as he rubs his paws together. "Whatcha need me to do?"

Timothy blinks, rather nonplussed as the strange mouse begins appraising Zen's decor. He'd been hoping for one of the medics, or maybe a guard at least. Still, it's better than nothing, he supposes. "Um, hello," he mumbles to Belumine. He's obviously battered, though he seems more or less intact and the bleeding from the wound on his side has stopped. "Thanks, Zen," he replies with a weak smile.

Zen's ears perk as he listens to Kaelin for a moment. Yet again hearing Xan, he can't help but look around. Darting back to the burrow hole, he looks up into the skye with his ears perked forward. "Darn, did I miss Xan again?" Shrugging, he goes back into the burrow as he smiles at Belumine. "Ah, yes! Ok, we need to both very, very, very, very, very, VERY... carefully move this mouse outside where we can let Kaelin help us! SO we help him out of here so Kaelin can help us help him... Er... yes." After explaining and most likely trying to figure out a basic plan of operations, he goes over to Timothy and slips both his arms under Tim's, holding his paws tightly over Tim's chest. "Ok, I can lift him from in front... All you need to do Belumine is pick up his feet and guide me where to go! Easy, yes! Just say if you feel hurt Tim and we'll set you down, yes?"

Kaelin chirps, looking back to Zen. "Maybe. He's pretty fast!" The squirrel waits outside, keeping an ear tilted toward the burrow to listen to what's going on inside while he scans the area for signs of danger, his nose twitching furiously.

Belumine does as he is told...more or less. He grabs Timothy by the ankles, copying whatever movements Zen makes. He's very sloppy with his balance, though, not at all used to walking on his hindpaws. "This issa bit hard, why's this mouse so heavy, huh? Hope Kaelin can carry em!" he squeaks, fidgeting in place as he tries to keep his half of Timothy aloft. "Eeee, les get him outta here, Imma gettin' tired already!"

Timothy nods a little to Zen and braces himself. He stifles a squeak and grits his teeth as he's picked up, his body complaining a fair bit, but not enough for him to ask them to stop. For his part, he does his best to keep out of the way, holding his tail in a deathgrip across his chest.

Zen nods his head a bit and in a steady manor, starts to head towards the burrow exit. Not looking behind him, he finds himself rather focused on keeping Tim up as well. HE wasn't too heavy, it was just rather hard to balance, which made Tim seem to weigh quite a bit more than expected! Shouting behind him to Kaelin, he chuckles a bit and smiles. "Ok, almost there! Uh... Once we're outside, we'll set him down on the ground and go from there, yes!" It wasn't too long at all before he and Belumine were outside the burrow. "Ok! There, yes! Set the mouse down and take a break!"

Kaelin chitters softly, watching as the three mice emerge from the burrow. "Oooh.. that mousie doesn't look so good." he chirps, standing up on his hind paws to look around, before suddenly blinking and looking back to the injured Timothy again. "Wh.. huh.. I think I seen this mousie before." He looks up at the sky, chattering up at it. "Xan!? We've seen this mousie, have we? I think we have..." He leans down carefully, nose atwitch, to see if he recognizes Timothy's scent.

Belumine huffs and pants, blinking the sun out of his eyes. "You's can carry the mousie, cantha, Kaetlin? We's got a loooooong way to go if we's goin' to the big house!" he says, brow perking as he looks around for Xan. "Who's Xan? Is he another mousie? We could use another mousie!" He breathes a sigh of relief at Zen's words, carefully setting Timothy down on the ground. He scurries around on all fours, darting around the three gathered rodents. "When're we going? huh? I wanna see the big house!"

Timothy pants a little, feeling a bit dizzy and sore even from that short trip. He tries to maintain a neutral expression, though; wouldn't do to have them worrying needlessly. Another squeak and a blink as he spots the somewhat familiar face of the squirrel standing near him... K-something? He's not good with names at the best of times, though the squirrel's energy does bring a small smile to his muzzle, and he turns his head to look at him when he begins sniffing at him.

Zen tilts his head a bit at Kaelin once he sets Timothy down. Sitting on his haunches where he's at, he bites his lower lip. "You know him too? I know him! Uh... uh.. oh no!" Looking back to Timothy, he tilts his head and squeaks. "Are you holding up ok? Uh, need any snacks or water or anything?" Looking up into the sky, his whiskers twitch as his ears perk. "Nope... still no sign of Xan... hrmm..." One thing he did notice though was the mouse darting circles around them. "Oh, uh... well, depending on how we figure out doing this, hopefully soon, yes!" He smiles, getting up on all fours as he stretches a bit. "And hehe.. we'll be the body gaurds Belumine! I love being the body guard... I heard a lot of girl mice are fond of guard mice!"

Kaelin's ears perk up, "Yup! I know him.." he chitters, matter-o-factly, then gets down on all fours, peering around the area quickly. "Ohh.. Xan's -invisible-.. and he's a catfish. Or so he's told me." the squirrel says while waiting for the others to decide what to do next.

Belumine scritches an ear with his paw, sniffing around the air as Zen runs all around. He brings both paws down his muzzle, flattening his fur in the process. "Ooo, guards! Always wanted to be a guard! They gets all the foods, too! he replies to Zen, suddenly sprinting right up to Kaelin. "Whatsa catfish? Cats are mean, is Xan mean?" he inquires, looking back at Timothy with a jerk of his head. "We's gotta get the mousie that's not feeling so good to the big house, right right? We's gonna get him on your back, right Kaelin? You can go fast! Fasta than mousies!" He sprints back over to Timothy, lifting one arm and starting to tug a bit on it.

Timothy looks over to Zen and opens his mouth to talk, and lets out a bit of a groan. "Ankles hurt... a little. I'll be okay... I... water?" He squeaks softly as he's tugged up to a sit, feeling dizzy again.

Zen blinks a bit at Kaelin. Did his ears deceive him? "A catfish? An inver... in... versibleh... invierbleh catfish?" He pauses for a moment with quite a blank look, then grins happily. "Well, nice to meet you Xan the Catfish!" It was apparent that he honestly wanted to see Xan! "You'll have to tell me more about him! Such an interesting fellow, yes!" Finding himself reminded that there IS a wounded mouse near by, he looks at Belumine as his jaw drops. "E... er, wait! Uh, don't tug, don't tug! Here, I'll help you get him up on Kaelin... erm... then we get water, yes!" With that, he settled himself in front of him as he scooped up the mouse's legs.

Kaelin's ears splay a bit, but he smiles anyway. "Xan's not mean, nope!" he says, then chirps softly, crouching as low to the ground as he can. "I wish Xan wasn't invisible sometimes.. but then the nut fiends would eat him."

Belumine ceases his tugging on Timothy's arm, at Zen's insistence. "Okie, jus' gotta get the mousie on Kaelin!" he says, waiting for Zen to help him lift the injured mouse up. "Xan's not bad...but he's a cat-fish? Howsa cat not mean?" he asks, earnestly searching around for him. "And whassa nut fiend? Theys sound baaaad! Theys don't take food, do they?" He flattens his ears against his head, looking around again. "Eeee, les' get to the big house fasta...I dun have a good feeling..."

Timothy's mind is in a state that Kaelin almost seems to make sense. He meeps a little at being picked up, though it isn't painful, really. He really hopes that there aren't any Staggs nearby, either...

Zen blinks at Kaelin as he gently tugs on Tim's feet. Of course, he was doing it slowly, wishing not to hurt the mouse. "Nut fiends? Oooh... they sound scary!" Looking towards Belumine, he puffs up his chest a bit. "Well, if they try to steal my nuts, they'll be in for a surprise! Those... those thieving nut fiends! Wait..." He bites his lip. "Why are the nut fiends after Xan?" Of course, he doesn't forget about the task at hand... but... how could he ignore this!?!? A fellow friend in danger of a nut fiend?

Kaelin chirps again, still crouching, though his nose twitches and he looks around a bit. "The nut fiends will eat anything.. and anyone." he says, the fur on his back bristling for a moment. He peers at Timothy again, ears splaying.

Belumine carefully pads along, holding Timothy's paws in his own as Zen carries his legs. "Eeee...nut fiends bad... bad bad bad bad!" he says, his ears remaining flat against his head. "I hope Kaelin knows the way...I's gettin' hungry, and there's a lot of really mean, really big mousies deep off in the forest. They don' like us at all." He fidgets a little, though his grip on Timothy's arms remain firm. "Eeee, Zen? There's no mean big mousies at the big house, is there? Only nice big mousies like the others say, right?"

Timothy groans a little as he's moved, but he tries not to interfere with them either. He can't help but give a small but delirious giggle at the thought of nut-fiends.

Zen gets a quick chill down his spine at the new threat of these 'nut fiends'... "An... anyone?!? Th... they got to be stopped! That's horrible!" Following Kaelin's glance, he looks at Tim and lets out a sigh of relief. "Maybe... that's what was really chasing you... It wanted to eat you! Oh boy did we ever get to you in time!" He looks around, moving Tim beside Kaelin with the help of Belumine. "Oh, very nice big mousi... er.... rats, yes, rats! My mate's even there, yes!" He grins a bit, then turns back to Tim. "I think his family is there too... That's why we got to get him back! They must be worried sick.." That's when it hits him. Maybe... no, maybe... "Tim! Were you going out to fight the nut fiends with no one to help you!?! Wow... This is the bravest mouse I've ever seen... It's going to take a lot more than just one mouse to do that though..."

Belumine, with a fair bit of effort, manages to hoist Timothy onto Kaelin's back, panting a bit (he's not a very strong mouse, after all!) afterwards. "Phew...oooo I hopes there isn't any nut fiends on the way...if he went off to fight em' all, maybe he did it for us! Mebe he decided to help all the ferals, yeah!" he says, sprinting all around Kaelin and Zen excitedely after having hoisted Timothy upon him. He brings himself around to the squirrel's back, deciding to climb aboard. "Yous don' mind us up here, do ya? I's not gonna be bur...bur...burdeen, am I?"

Timothy giggles and blushes at being called brave, grunting a little as Belumine hoists him onto Kaelin. He clings to his fur as tightly as he can... which isn't very tightly at all, at the moment, but he does manage to wrap his forepaws around Kaelin at least. He squeaks slightly when Belumine hops up too.