With the Chaos going around, it became hard just to get one moment of silence to one’s self. this being the case, the first chance Ratuk got, he snuck out, and away from any 'travel buddy'. 'I don't need a babysitter, jeeze! I can handle myself!' he grumbled under his breath. he needed some head-space and with someone always being around- he was growing quite irritable. he loved people! but did have his limitations on how long he could spend with them before  being completely drained. This drained disposition is what drove Tuk to make the bad decision to trek off into the forest on his own. he continued to grumble under his breath as he went along- a bit oblivious to his surroundings. as he stepped through some bushes, he felt a rope tighten around his food. "what the?!" he only managed to mumble before he was yanked upside down- smacking his head as he fell back down. "agh……" he grumbled. it was only after the ringing in his ears subsided that he heard metal clanging. squinting- he looked up to see that he was trapped, and the metal can's were telling anyone who could hear 'hey!! come murder me! i'm trapped!'. 'goddammit….really?' he grumbled in his head.

Hasani had ventured into the forest aways. Not too far of course lest he get over run by those terrible swamp folks. He was only planning to head to his  old hut but hearing the sound of clinking metal  was hard to ignore. He'd heard the traps made noises to alert it's creators that they'd caught something. And he simply couldn't ignore that if there was a chance someone might be hurt or worse. Ignoring his own instincts of self preservation she traveled towards the source and soon came to a small opening and spotted a familiar tiger who was obviously trapped. "Oh dear." He muttered stepping out a little. His ears up and fanned out to catch as many sounds as he possibly could. "Ratuk right?" He asked hesitantly making his way closer his intelligent green eyes scanning the area trying to figure out how best to release the poor tiger.

As the meerkat came into the clearing, he would have come upon the strange sight. Ratuk was strung up by his foot, his shoulders and upper back still on the ground (luckily), and his arm stretched outwards towards the halberd he had flung when he was yanked upwards. he tried to move his leg as little as possible as he stretched out to grab his weapon, but it was obviously useless as the jangling of cans continued. hearing the voice  caught the tiger's attention and he ceased reaching for his blade to look over. "oh…..hey" he said. he felt a bit bad that the man remembered his name- but he couldn't remember his. "yup! thats me…. just….hangin around….. whats up?" he said, giving a nervous, toothy smile. he didn't think the man was an enemy, of course.

Hasani chuckled a little at his response. "I can see that. But maybe you should- uh stop moving so much. Wouldn't want our nice forest friends to hear their alarm and come running." He inched closer, trying to make sure there was nothing else laying around to snatch him up as well. Seeing nothing of the sort. He lowered himself, walking flat once more, but his tail remained raised for balance. "I heard all that racket and figured someone had gotten into trouble. I'm glad I came otherwise well... I think those bees from last time might have seemed preferable." He tried to keep his tone light as he looked around for something to cut the rope with before spotting the weapon Tuk had droped earlier. "Ah here we go." he said as he hefted the item up and walked over. As he moved into to cut him loose something underneath the ground shuddered and then he was falling, right into what looked like a hole full of man made wooden stakes. The tiger was tied to the tree so he ran no risk of impalement. The meerkat on the other hand was a 6 foot drop away from assured death.

"ah… yeah…. seems any tiny movement jiggles the cord…" Ratuk mentioned, watching the man walk over. "heh thanks I- ….um…." he stopped as he began to feel the 'earth' under his shoulders rumbling. "WAH!" he yelped, being bungied a bit by the sudden downward motion. the can rattled loudly, and didn't help his mind clouding as it began to scramble with panic. "whoa- ah- nn-" he stammered, his arms flailing in any attempt to try and catch the boy. his tail, his arm, torso, wrist, ear, the staff of the halberd (were he still holding onto it). but whatever he did manage to grab onto he gripped on tight. though he didn't know Hasani very well, he thought it was safe to assume he didn't exactly deserve to die, and not only that- he knew he'd be sick to his stomach staring down at an impaled body.

Not for the first time Hasani's life flashed before his eyes as he plummeted to what he feared would be his death. A short one but it was still  death and therefore highly unwanted. His rapid descent was halted and he realized he'd been caught, a vice like grip holding him up from impalement by his left leg. His eyes snapped open to stare at a stake less than a foot away. "P-please... don't let go of me." He whispered looking up slowly at the tiger. He was afraid to move at the moment and possibly break the tigers hold on him. But evnetually something had to happen. Those metal parts kept clanking and if they didn't get loose soon the ones who'd set it might come back.

Ratuk could feel his heart pounding like mad against his rib-cage. the sound flooded his ears so much he had barely heard what the man said! either that or the blood starting to rush to his head faster than before. his breathing was paced and he looked down with a frown. "I won't" he assured him- his voice strained. it could be assumed that this trap was meant for prey, not necessarily an enemy to whomever laid it- and to this fact, was causing some complications. the Sumatran could already feel his paw began to tingle with the blood circulation being cut- and with the extra weight of not only he, but now the meerkat as well, the cord was tempted to try and slip. the tiger bared his teeth a bit in discomfort, and his tail whipped about. "okay, look- you better climb up quick, cause i don't think this rope is gonna hold us both- agh;" he said- his voice still strained and his breath tense. now that they were just dangling- the metal cans weren't as alarming, but they made an occasional jingle as they moved back and forth.

Hasani was still afraid of being dropped regardless of the tigers promise to not do so. His green eyes took stock of the trap holding them there. It didn't look completely sound. And maybe that was on purpose. So whoever was ensnared would drop free and feel a moment of relief only to come crashing into this dastardly trap below them. His head nodded furiously a few times as the one eyed man insisted he climb up. It was an awkward angle to do so but he took a breath and heaved his torso up, grabbing his arms as there wasn't much else to use. The meerkat was aware he didn't look like much but years of skirmeshes, wars and digging had left him quite capable and in a minute or so he'd climbed up the tiger and was now hooking his arms around his legs and his on legs were awkwardly clasped around Tuk's torso. he was immensely glad they were alone because this had  to look so awkward. Now the only thing keeping them from escaping was the width of the hole. "I can't jump this." he said, clearing his throat as he tried to factor the distance. "We need to swing a little if we can and I can hop off and get you down. I'd climb up the rope but it's wetted with something slick." He added in case he asked. These swamp people were abhorrently cruel.

As the Meerkat climbed up, Ratuk reared his head back some as his tail was now in his face. his nose wiggled and he gave a light cough only after to give a relatively annoyed expression. hearing now that he still needed work to do he gave a heavy sigh. "if my foot comes loose in all this- I will personally hunt you down and haunt you for the rest of your life" he grumbled- obvious sounds of annoyance in his tone. really he was masking the fear of plunging head-first into a pit of spikes. it was sort of his fault for getting trapped in the first place!…..but he tried not to think of that now. taking a breath he leaned back and then curled forwards. the process was a little slow- and very painful for the Tiger, but eventually they got swinging. "you better jump quick, I think i'm about to be sick!" he mentioned as he reached a hand up and covered his mouth. he was already very disoriented, and the combination of swinging with all the blood rushing to his head…. he was starting to get nauseous.

"If your foot comes loose you won't have to haunt me, I'll be down there with you." Hasani retorted quickly. He knew the tiger wasn't being malicious on purpose. Nerves and staring at one's potential demise would put any sane soul on edge. Together they achieved a decent swinging motion and the meerkat took  moment to judge the distance. He had one shot. Just one. And if he missed they were both dead. The warning of being sick made his ears flick up and back in alarm and any hesitation he'd had was shoved down. At the last possible moment he launched himself off of the tiger and to the lip of the hole. He was surprised when his hands and torso connected with the ground rather than the stakes. And he scrambled up with little trouble and darted off to the  traps source and grabbed the extra rope that laid not to far away. It could've been longer but he'd make do with what he had. "Ratuk, hey I'm gonna throw this at you, grab it and I'll pull you over so I can cut you down." He instructed quickly, his voice raised in pitch as the metal pieces continued to clank, alerting anyone in the vicinity that they were trapped like rats here.

As Hasani used Ratuk to leap off of, it pushed the momentum of his swinging a bit faster. at this point he covered his mouth with both hands and closed his eye as tightly as he could. the tiger attempted to angle his paw that it might slow the swinging, but all he could really do was wait for it to slow to a gentle sway. by that time- he looked just about green in the face. he let out a displeased moan as he looked up in a dizzy fashion to the now upside-down meerkat. "ngh……okay" he said. he clenched his eyes tight for a moment before opening them and attempting to focus on the rope. he hoped there wasn't just one shot at this, it was hard to focus in his current condition.

Hasani moved quickly knowing time was of the essence. He had no weapon to speak of and if those deplorable swamp people showed up he'd be outmatched with the way they fought. Not for the first time since he'd come to Arhzung he wished he'd had a sword. But he'd made a pact to never use one against people after leaving the remains of his home. Shaking his head he to bring himself back he tried to judge the distance as fast as possible. If he overshot Tuk it would take some time bringing the rope back in. Time they didn't have. He also didn't have time to second guess himself and so he took a deep breath, said a silent prayer and launched the rope at him. He'd knotted up one end tightly so it had some weight and would hopefully make it harder for Tuk to lose it. It was aimed dead at his torso and so it was now up to Tuk to catch it. His ears flicked up, hearing something approaching in the distance. The alarm of metal objects had finally alerted it's guards. Time was almost up.

Ratuk was still very disoriented by being upside-down. were he right-side-up, he might have more precision in catching the rope, but this angle was unfamiliar to him- making it significantly harder. however, Hasani's smart decision to make a knot paid off well. as it was thrown, the Sumatran scrambled to grab it- being rather unsuccessful until the knot hit him in the ribs. with fast reflexes he caught it against himself, holding it in place until he was sure he could grab onto it like an anchor. taking a breath he sighed it out. "alright. I think i hear something, better hurry" he mentioned. while he was sure the meerkat too heard the distant scuffles and voices- he was in a state of great caution. not only were the sounds starting to concern him, but he could feel his foot slipping even more. if he didn't hurry- he hoped to the gods Hasani had a good grip- or down into the pit he'd go.  however, he was now so focused on the task of helping to pull himself to the edge, he didn't notice that Luck was just not on his side today. not only was the wire slick with something slippery on his furred appendage, but it had began to cut into his ankle- and the blood made it just that much more slippery. "wha-!" he muttered just seconds before his foot was liberated. he let out a scream- horrified that he was about to die. as he swung down- balled up as tightly as he could- he slammed against the wall of the pit, smacking his head something fierce. he had never felt this disoriented in his life. he fought with all he had to keep his consciousness, despite the ringing in his ears, and the darkening of his vision. he knew that if he reached a paw down, he could touch one of the spikes. "h-hurry!" he called in a strained voice. not only was he fighting to stay awake, but with his paw in the condition it was, he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to climb his way out. it was not looking good for them…

The relief on Hasani's face and person was visible immediately when Tuk got a hold of the rope finally. He began the process of pulling him to the edge when the unthinkable happened. He heard the sound of his sliding and looked up in time to see him falling. But he couldn't spazz, he didn't have the time. The poor meerkat only had a moment to brace himself for the weight he was going to have to pull up. So much weight. He dug, his feet almost clinging to the dirt and nearly fell on his face as the impact about pulled him to the ground. But he found his center somehow and held him there. He could smell the blood and for a moment was afraid he'd hit the spikes. But the tension and the fluctuation of movement followed by the plea that he hurry let him know he was still alive. "H-hold on Tuk!" He groaned out as he began the arduous process of pulling him up. He'd pull back and step, pull back and step, making his way to the nearest tree and continued to pull, using it as a pulley kind of. His arms screamed with the effort. He wasn't a fragile thing by any means but this much weight alone and the stress of the situation. He leaned back, putting all his weight into it. He couldn't let him die here. he couldn't. The only way it would happen was over his own dead body. "C-can you climb up?" He asked gripping the rope tightly. His hands were rubbed raw by now as well and his shoulder felt like they were going to pop out of his sockets. He was gonna be pretty worthless for a while after this. The clanging weapons and voices in the distance were coming closer with every breath. If this kept up they'd have to fight them in this state.

Ratuk was petrified. for the most part he merely clung to the rope, culled into as tight a ball as he could manage. his heart was pounding, and he was still half-convinced he was dead. he may have helped more were it not for the fear and what could only be assumed as a cracked skull. he could hardly think straight. hearing the inquiry to whether or not he could climb up he gulped- giving a nervous nod until he realized it couldn't be seen. "ah-…s-sure" he said. he managed to turn himself around, pressing his paws into the dirt and trying to walk up the wall while holding onto the rope. his voice squeaked at the obvious discomfort, but he didn't have time to take it easy. despite trying to put more pressure on his uninjured paw- the pressure still encouraged a stronger, faster blood-flow. his legs wobbled with weakness, but luckily- he was close enough where he was able to throw himself up onto solid ground. "ah!….ahhh….." he panted as he laid there for a second, catching his panicked breath. he as just about ready to pass out right there- but there would be no point to getting out of there if he let these monsters kill him. "can you… help me up" he asked between heavy panting, pushing his upper-half up with wobbly arms.

Hasani hadn't even realized the tiger wasn't dangling any longer. His arms hadn't sensed the shift in weight at all. But when he wa scalled  to help him up he dashed over and reached down to gab a hand and pulled as hard as he could still manage to. He was running on pure adrenaline now. And it was never fun. finally he pulled the injured tiger over the lip of the hoel and finally they were both free from the trap. The swampes were minutes away. "Tuk, can you walk?" he asked looking worried. If he couldn't then they were going to have to fight them. Hiding was a possiblity but only if the tiger could make it to a place to hide.

Ratuk continued to cling to Hasani, holding onto his shoulder to let him know he couldn't quite stand on both feet. he tested the paw for a moment, but the wound was currently just too raw to even attempt to run on it. his eye grew wide in an over-whelmed fashion as he cocked his head to the side in uneasiness. "I'll give you a hobble" he admitted. if Hasani jogged, the tiger could probably keep up by using him as a crutch, and leaping, but attempting to run on his own he was almost certain he'd fall flat on his face.

Hasani nodded fearing as much. "Alright then here we go." He said wasting no time as he broke into a light jog. It was awkward and hard but they had to get away. Sadly he glanced backto see they were leaving a trail. "We're leaving a trail Tuk.... I think we're gonna have to fight them." The voices in the background became more and more distinct as they got closer. "We could hide and hopefully ambush them maybe... if we work together." He offered. "Or I could lead them away. My legs are fine. I coudl lead them on a wild chase through the forest and you can get away at least." Something needed to be done. And the last thing he wanted was to be caught as they were now.

looking back as a trail was mentioned, Ratuk looked back with a grimace. "shit…" he grumbled under his breath between clenched teeth. he looked briefly to the approaching sounds then back to the meerkat. "lets try and ambush them. i may not be in a condition to fight, but i'm not going to let you die for helping me" he stated. he looked forwards and took a breath. "lets get behind the brush there- then move right. lets try and get to the opposite side of this clearing by the time they follow the trail" he said. the trail would be more easily disguised under the brush.  his head was aching, and he could barely walk on his own- but he couldn't let someone else get punished for his stupid mistakes

"I won't die as easily as you'd think." Hasani replied, an amused tne coloring his tired voice. Meerkats didn't just survive on their own for years and live to tell the tale. The fact that he had was still such a surprise, even to himself. So despite how perilous the situation was he knew this wasn't going to be the end. "Sure." he said agreeing with the strategy. He helped the tiger to hsiposition and then move to hsi own, grabbing a nice stick thathe began quietly srtipping off pieces of limbs with hsi dagger to make it as smooth as possible. His back rested against a tree he looked to Tuk and managed a wry grin. "You ready?" he asked as the footsteps loomed closer. He could hear them stopping at the trap, making noise as theyall chattered at once making it hard to distinguish their number. But it was obvious they'd found the blood trail and would soon arrive. "Also, if there's any snakes? Leave 'em to me. Venom immunity and all that."

a tooth flashed in a smirk as Tuk gave a quiet chuckle at the man's comment. of course he hadn't meant to imply that he was weak- but that was neither here, nor there, being that there was no time to fuddle over details. he did his best to help move them along. once they got to their hiding place, he laid heavily against the tree, trying to keep his panting quiet. he felt stupid for not taking him up on the offer to get away…. but his morals got in the way. he had NO clue how he was going to fight these people when he himself was on the brink of passing out- having a splitting headache that forced his thoughts to jamble. he hoped maybe he could just toss them into the pit… but he'd see once they got out there. as Hasani spoke he let out a breath. "nope. but oh well" he mentioned. he nodded to Hasani's mention of leaving the snakes to him….that was fine by the tiger. he waited until it was time before throwing himself around the tree, and despite the emence pain in his ankle, running forwards to ambush the group. while they were definitely alarmed, they noticed much sooner that Ratuk had hoped and he was tackled to the group, having to act fast to hold a knife from cutting him.

Hasani smiled and let out a soft huff at the chuckle. it was nice to know he supposed that he wasn't being written off as swampie bait for a change. His stick was as smooth as it would get in the time allotted as he waited patiently for their enemies to catch on to their presence. Or the remnants of it anyhow. Tuk rushed forward as well as could be managed with his injuries, meanwhile he ran around the other side planning to ambush the others enough to give the tiger some time. But as he got into position he spotted his comrade on the ground and fighting off a blade he switched gears. He darted out of the underbrush, moving fast and pulled his arms back in preparation of swinging. His long stick connected with Ratuk's attacker, slamming into his temple hard and sent him reeling in pain and disorientation as he fell over. A rat came running at him and was side stepped and then swatted once in the face and then twice at his knees with the stick before he too hit the ground.  All the meerkat was doing was focusing on the weakest points of a body. Everyone had them and everyone reacted about the same. Gripping his stick he turned to the one left in the area as the sounds of a couple more running to see what the noise was about became clearer. "Come on Ratuk, on your feet." he commanded firmly staring down the now approaching swamp person. He just hoped these were the biggest ones.

Ratuk looked up as the creature he was fighting was beat off of him. he looked up with an appreciative smile- but had no time for vocal recognition… he’d say that later when he was sure he still had a head to call his own.  as he heard the other two coming and saw the one just to their left, he frowned. struggling he got to his paws, backing up a bit. he looked back around the trap, hoping that maybe his weapon had survived the drop. he gave a light click of frustration as he saw it had not. damn….. now he was going to have to fight with his bare hands, and in his condition, that was not exactly a good thing. he took in a breath and let out a heavy sigh, keeping his eye on their opponent. with blood leaking from his wounds- it was hard to put together a solution to their problem. Hasani was obviously the more cognitive of the two at the moment- so any takedowns would probably be conducted by him. “i’m going to rush him… you get him from behind” he whispered to the meerkat. he continued watching the man, as he backed up a bit. seeing him start to rush, Ratuk took off as well, Colliding with the enemy and holding him in place. he struggled a bit to do so as his ankle was SCREAMING at him…. but he had to if they hoped of getting out of here alive…

Hasani nodded in agreement knowing the tiger was in much worse condition than he. He darted off, tail raised to balance himself as he moved around the area. Tuk charged ahead and clashed wihtthe enemy and just when it seemed the large reptile might over power the tiger the meerkat swooped in and with a few solid whacks to his head he let go, holding his now bleeding ears. The skilled veteran wasted no time spinning around and using the force of his movents to use his tail like weapon knocked the man's legs from under him and he hit the ground with a cry of pain. Unfortunatley he'd alerted his friends at the trap sight and soon would appear to aid their fallen freinds. A dagger flashed out and the third man's cries for help were drowned out by copious amounts of blood draining from his neck as the smaller man sheathed his hidden blade seconds later. "Two more Tuk, you can still make a break for it you know." He'd be fine if he did choose to escape. His legs worked perfectly. These swamp people though dangerous were not bright and lacked any real combat techniques. Something he had in spades. And if need be he'd simply escape. His days of venturing into the trees were paying off and his familiarity with the dense foliage was high.

With his breath still horribly ragged, Ratuk shook his head. “if these rats have any strategy its to attack the weakest link, and I can’t go anywhere fast on this leg. they’d catch up to me in no time” he said. there was an obvious look of concern on his face, but he had no other option but to face these last remaining 2. he scanned the brush for signs of their approach when they suddenly burst from the foliage. despite the blood seeping from his ankle, the tiger widened his stance in preparation to grapple the approaching enemy. luckily, their enemies chose their opponents by their own strength, and likeliness to succeed, meaning by his current condition, Ratuk got the weaker of the two. thank the gods for that. unfortunately, however, the rat was going for a quick strikes with her knife. the sumatran was only able to grab onto her after her blade grazed his ribs. “aahhg!” he grunted, gripping tightly onto her wrists and not letting her move. as he looked for an opportunity to break free, he saw the pit just a few feet behind him. with no time to think of the pro’s and con’s, he shoved his morality to the back of his head and went into action. still holding her arms apart, he used his injured leg to his advantage. keeping his weight on his good foot, he swung his other up swiftly, plunging his knee into the enemy's gut. while she did crumple down in pain, he knew this wouldn’t keep her down. again with no time to lose, he gripped tighter onto her forearms, making sure she had no way to grab onto him before using all the strength he had to hurl her back and into the pit. he quickly turned away with a cringe, feeling nauseous at the sounds of flesh being punctured by wooden stakes. and to think that could have been them.

Hasani nodded with a grim expression. He hated seeing him so battered and in obvious pain.  His comment about their enemy wasn't unfounded as he watched them give him a look of indifference which ticked him off really. Regardless of how he felt they both ran at him, but the one lagging behind was met with a stick in the face as he charged at the reptile. The man looked surprised and swiped at him with a blood rusted blade. The stick was used as a defensive object as the blade hit it instead of his body. Seeing Tuk struggling he twisted his wrist and the branch smacked the reptile in the face who backed up, angrier and with fresh blood on his face. So he charged taking advantage of the meerkat's attention being diverted by watching his comrade. This time the swing had more power, slicing through the stick and into his chest. Hissing in pain he jumped back and held a hand to the wound which was now gushing blood. His green eyes darkened and everything about him seemed to change in an instant. He readjusted his grip on the now cut in half branch and ran back at him. The blade was swatted out of the reptiles hand and right behind it was a small flurry of hard, pinpointed hits with the stick. The overwhelmed man tried to step out of the range of attack but the enraged meerkat simply wouldn't allow it. He was no longer aware of the tiger fighting not far away who'd successfully tossed his attacker into the trap. He wasn't even aware of where he was. He just continued to wail on the already defeated man with pinpoint precision. Eventually the swampie stopped moving but the meerkat did not. Even as blood splattered up and out into him he continued to swing down over and over.

Ratuk took a deep deep breaths, calming himself over the nausia before looking up to see how his friend was doing. while at first we was relieved to see the final enemy was down, a disgusted concern took over as he saw him continuously beating the already down man. “hey” he barked as he began his way over. he went to grip Hasani’s shoulders when he had to quickly rear his head back- nearly getting smacked in the face by the meerkats viciously swinging arm.  reaching forwards he gripped the broken stick he’d been using to pulverize the corpse, pulling it back to look the man in the eyes “HEY…… we don’t have time for this! lets get out of here” he growled. not only did he want to leave before anymore swamp-people had the chance to show up, but he saw no sense…. and really was a bit sickened by the image of beating an assumably dead body. he gave a good yank to the stick to get it out of Hasani’s hands before tossing it aside. “Come on.” he said as he began to limp out of the area. now they were both injured, and really needed to get somewhere safe.

Hasani actually growled when he was stopped from killing his enemy. A low feral growl. The first 'hey' hadn't reached him. He'd been about ready to clock him with the other snapped weapon half when  he was yanked a bit out of his stance and forced to look at who he'd been aiming to take down. His green eyes unclouded a bit as he came to, catching the last bit of what the tiger was saying. The stick he'd had a near death grip on was yanked free bringing him back to relaity entirely. His gaze traveled to the corpse before him and he jumped back in shock at the sight. Seeing Tuk leave and hobble off he darted forward and slipped under his am to become a good crutch so they could move faster. He wasn't about to bring up or ask why he was splattered in blood or what had happened in the last few minutes because all he remembered was fighting that last one. "You know where any of those monkey safe houses are?" He asked with a huff, his breathing sounding labored. He'd found one once but couldn't locate it a second time. He was hoping being from the tiger tribe the man knew where one might be. He wasn't sure they'd make it far enough to go to one of the villages.

seeing the feral look in the meerkat’s eyes, a deeply rooted instinct in Tuk tempted him to flash his own fangs, but he managed to keep composed, disarming the man and pulling him back into reality. he had walked off almost with intent to leave him should he not follow. however, he gave a light smirk of appreciation as he was given an arm for support. “unfortunately…. i can’t say I do. it’s been a while since i’ve talk to anyone from the Monkey tribe” be admitted. while they were allies, he wasn’t over there every day. as they continued walking, however- the Sumatran’s cracked skull and lack of blood was beginning to catch up with him. “I think…… i think i’m gonna….” he mumbled before his eye rolled towards the back of his head, and every muscle in his body went limp. so heavy he flopped out of Hasani’s grip and smacked right on to the forest floor…. out cold.

Hasani nodded and tried to recall where he'd seen one. it had been weeks since he'd stumbled upon it. His hut was too close to the monkey village to serve as any kind of safe haven. He only had one option to locate it. But before he could share hsi plan Tuk slumped, out of his grasp and to the forest floor. "Tuk? Tuk!?" he cried kneeling beside the tiger to be sure he wasn't dead. Once he was sure he wasn't dead oron hsi way he kaid his own head  to the ground with his ear pressed firmly to the firt, leaving no space.

There was an old legend from his homeland, that all meerkat kind was crafted from the dirt itself. Because of that they could wield it, use it and connect with it like no other species. So he was drawing on that old ability, listening to the ground below for what he needed. After a few llong minutes he heard what he'd been looking for. No time was wasted as he hefted the tiger back to his shoulder. Carrying more weight now that he was unconcious. Lucklily it wasn't tooo far from here and he began the long journey to the safehouse. Halfway there he had tot duck into abush to avoid detection, dragging poor Tuk through some unkind bushes. Evnetually he slipped back out and contiunued on, nto stopping until he'd pulled the one-eyed man into the room with him. And only then did he slump over to rest.