Chapter 6: Break down the walls between us
Scar was angry... even furious. Angry at the rats and most importantly, angry at himself. The pesky critters had escaped him, given an advantage by the countless objects stored inside the small room... most of which had been turned to splinters during his chase. In the end they had disappeared in a small hole behind one of the tiles.
"Stupid rats." he grumbled as he paced down the corridor he had used to enter the castle, ignoring the surprised stares of the featherclaws he passed.
Even in his annoyance the gnoll couldn't help but wonder; they hadn't really looked like rats... more like mice for that matter. They had smelled different too and had carried no recognizable weapons. Scar frowned, had it been his imagination or had they seemed even more shocked when he called them rats?
He pushed the thought aside with a snarl, making two griffon guards who would normally have questioned his presence jump out of his path in shock. Scar didn't even notice, still too angry at his failure.
Scar was a hunter, he could pursue his bait for days if he needed to... but those pesky little rodents were hiding inside the blasted walls! It was almost like they were mocking him! His brow furrowed further at the thought... They would find out very soon that escaping a gnoll took a lot more than just a few feet of stone.
---
"This is ridiculous!" Aethris barked and gave the maul another tug.
"Oh my, I think I'm about to fall over! Oh, woe is me to be defeated by a descendant of the common sparrow! Nooo!" ever so slightly, the maul started to tip over... but just as Aethris was sure of her victory, "Or am I?" With an evil laugh the maul became unmovable again and returned to its upright position with a jerk, sending the griffon flying several feet in the process, "Ha! I don't know about you, griffon. But I am having a ball!"
"Aaargh!" Aethris jumped onto her paws with a snarl, "Stop mocking me! I'll tear you to shreds for this!"
"Is that a challenge I hear?" Tag laughed, "If I didn't know it any better I would think you are trying to threaten me! Oh, the terror!" he continued to taunt her, "Will no one save me from this horrid, unending and terrifying boredom! I can actually feel myself growing a splinter!"
Aethris ground her claws into the ground, "Why... you little..."
She was cut off from her threats as the gnoll suddenly stepped by her and towards the maul with determined strides.
"Hey! I still wasn't finished with him!" Aethris started to protest as Scar picked up the weapon.
"Are we going on stroll? Anything to smash? Are we..."
"You still owe me a..."
"ENOUGH!" the gnoll boomed at her and made her flinch backwards as she saw his teeth and anger for the first time, "Both! Is no time for games! Scar has work to do, will fight featherclaw later!"
"Work? Splendid!" Tag chirped happily as the gnoll hefted him onto his shoulder, "What are we going to do?"
"Tear down wall." the gnoll replied with a low grumble as he headed past the baffled Aethris and towards the castle.
"Ahh... excellent! The glory of reconstruction awaits us! Onwards! Show me the wall that would defy us so cruelly!" The gnoll only shook his head with a small grumble, "A tad too much, perhaps?"
"Maybe..." Scar huffed in reply, "Will soon see."
Aethris watched them leave with a dumbfounded face, still shocked at the rage she had seen in his face. Whatever had caused him to lose his temper like this? Something clicked in the back of her head... had he actually said... "Tear down wall?" Aethris' face began to pale as she remembered the look in his eye, "Is he serious?!"
---
Marshall Purple Haze gave an impressed whistle as she took a stroll through the corridors of the griffon castle. They certainly knew how to build a fortress. It was far more oriented towards withstanding a siege than any Equestrian castle she had seen before... not that there was much need for high walls when you had magic to defend yourself. Still, there was a certain flair to the battle-hardened griffons that was simply undeniable to any soldier.
All those ornamental weapons and shields, all the paintings and statues of great warriors and battles... it was the complete opposite of Canterlot castle and she liked it. Such a place would be much simpler to defend in the case of a siege. As she continued to walk through the corridors she tried to memorize its layout. Hopefully it would protect her from becoming lost and it would give some interesting insight into how a race without magic planned their defensive positions.
She took a glance outside one of the windows. By the position of the sun Purple Haze judged it would be time for lunch soon... the first official appearance of their squad before griffon royalty. She'd have to find Scar soon, or he'd probably oversleep. For a moment she wondered if she should whistle but immediately felt like a fool for thinking about it. He wasn't a dog, after all.
Purple Haze was about to take a left when a voice reached her ears, "MARSHALL!" To her surprise, a clearly agitated Aethris shot around one of the corners and towards her, "You have got to do something about this!"
She watched the griffon's face in wonder, seeing a strange mix of fury and horror dance across Aethris' features, "Why? What happened?" Purple Haze asked with a rising feeling of worry.
"It's the gnoll! He went insane and now he's destroying my castle!"
For a moment, Purple Haze simply stared at her with a blank expression, "Come again?"
"The gnoll is using his maul to tear down the walls!" Aethris repeated with clear impatience, "He has already wrecked two corridors and shows no signs of stopping! Do something!"
Unknown to Aethris, Scar had already finished with corridor number three.
---
"You think we should do something?" Whistler asked Greenfield with a concerned voice.
"Be my guest..." Greenfield replied with a frown and both of them along with the gathered griffons flinched as the gnoll hammered another huge hole into one of the walls, "I'm not going to argue with him as long as he is swinging that thing like that."
"Out of the way!" a voice they both recognized could be heard from the back, "Make some space!"
"Took her long enough..." Whistler sighed, "Those griffon guards are becoming more by the minute."
"Not that they look especially keen on intervening..." Whistler chuckled as the gnoll broke out another chunk of stone from the walls, "Can't blame them though."
"Aye." Whistler replied.
Purple Haze finally managed to push through the griffons and reach the two ponies at the front, "What in all of Equestria is going on here?! Why are you two not at your..." she trailed off as her gaze traveled down the remains of the corridor, "You have got to be kidding me."
The whole corridor looked like an earthquake had hit it, the walls and even the ceiling were covered in holes and debris... And there was Scar, his head stuck in one of the holes.
"Scar! Have you gone insane?! What are you doing?" she started to approach him but froze when he turned to her.
"In the walls! Evil little rats!" there was a crazy look in his eye, "Laughing at it! Smell is everywhere but Scar will find them!"
"What are you talking about? You're not making..."
"Wait!" Tag suddenly spoke up, "We haven't checked the floor yet!"
Scar whirled around and faced the floor with a growl, "Of course! In floor!"
Purple Haze's eyes widened as she saw him rear up his maul, "Scar! Don't you dare!"
---
"You think... you think we lost it?"
"I don't know..." the other mouse replied as it gasped for breath, "It's sounding as if he's tearing the place apart up there!"
"This is bad! What do we do?"
"Don't panic! We'll just wait here until it settles down again and then we go warn the rest. As long as we stay out of sight we'll be okay..." the mouse tilted his head upwards, "Wait... I can't hear the pounding anymore."
"Do you think it stopped?" the first mouse carefully looked up, "What in the world was that thing anyways?! Did you see those teeth?!"
"Don't know... never saw anything that big..." the second mouse replied, "At least it can't get down here..."
An explosion of cement and rubble cut them off as a huge stone burst through the ceiling next to them, flooding the tunnel in light and dust. Immediately, the object was pulled back and a huge paw shot through the hole.
"Jump!" the second mouse pushed the its companion out of the way, saving his friend only to be grabbed himself.
"Meck!"
"Run, you fool! Run!" the mouse struggled in the grip of steel, "Warn the others! Tell them to..." before he could finish his scream, the paw was pulled backwards and outside... leaving behind a terrified and devastated mouse.
---
"I don't believe it..." Purple Haze whispered in awe as Scar held the squeaking creature up like a trophy. Behind her, the griffons and the other members of the squad let out startled gasps as they heard the small rodent scream in terror. At the same time, she couldn't help but think that this rat didn't look anything at all like the Izelim they had seen before.
"Scar knew it! Evil little rats hide in walls!" he brought the small creature up to his face, "Now... Gnoll and rat will have little talk!"
The mouse stared at his face, then at his teeth... and simply fainted with one last squeak of terror.
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Once more...
BUCK YEAH SCAR!!!!!
Guess you could say he's going to... floor the rest of them?
Awesome chapter. Can't wait for more.
i was kinda hoping for the other rat/mouse to get squashed by the rubble.
Oh thank God.
....That poor mouse.
Eeyup....You have a mouse infestation...I know just the person to call for something like this!!
I think its supose to be 'save'.
Otherwise, great chapter as always!
ABOUT BLEEDING TIME! Nice to see you're back with this one, Gnoll Reader... I f*cking love your work... keep at it!
Why do I get the impression things are about to get a bunch more complicated?
Oh yeah, all the hints that these are not the same rat bastards that Scar usually hunts.
I'm curious to see where this goes.
Considering his reaction to Changelings, that mouse's odds are not looking too good...
What sort of? RollerCoaster?
3306431 Zoo?
3305847
Looks like we have a new faction of rodents that have been living under the gryphon's beak all this time. And I have to agree that these mice, not rats, are not the murdering types.
You know what would be really cool? If Scar and Purple Haze manage to recruit these mice in the war against the evil rats.
So... awesome...!
24.media.tumblr.com/a257ad5165644b1f79354634dfdee284/tumblr_mqo61uYbwk1rj6vd5o1_400.png
-Lumino
rats and mice, perhaps cats, oh my...
Will this become a war through the tunnels and sewers again, or will the Skaven bring their wrath to the surface?
Whenever I see/read about ratfolk, I always think of Skaven from Warhammer Fantasy. Those vermin are horrid and terrifying, and an awesome villian race for the Old World.
Hmm i wonder if mice are refugees of some sort.
I just had a thought, after rereading The Reader part 1. Sir Tag gained sentience after crushing Sombra, and a part of the evil king's soul entered it. At first I thought it was just "magic," but then Scar beats up a griffin with a door, and now that door has some spark of sentience. And then we witness Scar perform a shamanic ritual to ease the Gnoll souls onto the afterlife. It is my hypothesis that somehow, Scar can imbue items with a fragment of sentience, taken from the victim of the item's wrath. The confrontation with Sombra may have triggered it, or just made it noticable. Smack Door the 2nd seems to be like Vayu, with the mean pranks and thrills from being tricky.
Thus, it is my guess that Scar will accidentally create more Living Weapons, and they will become valued team mates. Each member of the Hunter Squad should get a weapon with a fragment of themselves in it. That would be trippy.