"It's ready" Tom whispered to Mark as he joined back with the group.
They were walking back from the canteen to the sleeping chambers.
Jen was already gone, she slipped away while they were at the canteen to set up something for Parquatz.
"Alright" Jim told them, "It's about time for me to do my job now" He said as he slowly broke off from the group.
Mark smirked a bit, "It sometimes amuses me how easily Jim can slip away from Warhound's nose"
What was terrifying about Warhound was his nose, he's always so carefree when leading the group because he can smell exactly where each of them were.
All except for Jim.
"He probably made something to mask his scent," Tom explained. "I'm more worried about whether we could really rely on that kid for Don"
"Pheo? He definitely can" Mark asked, "I'd be worried if he couldn't handle an old man" Mark joked.
It made Tom smile, but didn't rid him of his doubts.
"I don't get why you guys even picked him in the first place"
Tom never liked Pheo, ever since he first saw him he just threw him off.
Something about him makes Tom cautious.
"Well, as long as he does his job" He told himself.
"Before we focus on whether he did his job or not, let's focus on ours first" Mark got Tom back on track.
"How do we get his attention?" He asked him, brainstorming for ideas.
Tom smiled mischievously, "Like this"
He punched Mark's face, making him fall to the ground.
"What the hell?" He asked, trying to get back up. But Tom got on top of him and started hammering his fists down.
All Mark could do was keep his guard up and Tom whittled down his guard.
Warhound looked back to see the commotion as the kids gathered around them.
"Alright move outta there!" He pushed aside the kids in his path as if they were blades of grass in a forest.
He grabbed Tom and tore him away from Mark, "The hell made you so feral?"
Warhound looked at Mark, his face began to swell up from where Tom smacked him.
"You did great kid, never let your guard down" He told him, having Mark sit up with his back leaning on a wall.
Warhound's face changed from calm to angered when he turned towards Tom.
He always knew that kid was trouble from the way he smelt, a ticking time bomb.
"You think hurting your friends is gonna do any good?"
Tom got both of his hands up trying to contain his laughter, but ended up bursting in it.
"What do you think?" He asked Warhound, "I think violence is the answer to everything"
His answer sickened Warhound. He hated those times where he sat idly by as he watched meaningless violence take place while he was young.
And he hated the time when he thought just like Tom.
"Well, I think violence is a language, best spoken through one way"
Warhound transformed his arms, just enough so that his shirt won't tear off.
Tom mocked him with his face as he approached.
"Through fighting!" Warhound shouted out as he lunges his claws at Tom.
Tom barely avoided Warhound, "Too slow!"
He didn't stop however, he kept rushing at Tom with a lethal strike each time.
It's getting closer
Tom thought as he ran around the caverns, avoiding Warhound's claws by millimeters.
He was always good at detecting trouble, it's what made him so good at avoiding it too.
But he knew that eventually, he'll get struck down like a fly.
Tom slid under a hole that he barely managed to fit in, making Warhound have to find a way past it.
"Where the hell does this even go?" He asked himself before punching the wall.
It was shallow, taking only a few punches before it crumbled down.
A new pathway opened, one that was full of webs and infested with small creatures. After a few seconds of walking down the pathway, Warhound knew where he was.
The Abandoned Section
He was unfamiliar with the area, it was blocked off from where they usually stayed in due to its large coverage.
They could explore a tunnel here for hours only to end up at the start.
"Scared?" Tom's voice echoed from the darkness.
Warhound could hear him giggle, "Like little Timothy from the stories?"
He looked back, he wanted to chase after him but the kids were left unsupervised.
From there, he decided to transform. His body fully clothed itself in fur, ripping apart the clothes he wanted to save.
"If I smell any of you move away from the group you're dead!" He shouted out before sprinting towards Tom's scent.
Warhound was isolated in darkness, relying solely on his sense of smell to track down Tom.
There were countless scents there, some of them organic, while others metallic. It was gaseous, fumes of unknown origins were whiffed up as he tried to stay on Tom's trail.
"You know" Warhound started talking as Tom's scent drew closer, "Little Timothy wasn't able to see how he died"
"And just like him, you won't too"
He was sure that somewhere nearby, a child was hiding himself. Desperately trying not to make a sound.
Then, a light flicked on. A small fire from a match lit itself up, revealing Tom.
"I can see however, unlike little Timothy"
The surprise caught Warhound off guard. He stood still as Tom slowly walked around him.
What the hell is he playing at?
"You think lighting a match that you saved up's gonna help you now?" Warhound asked him.
He was curious about his plan, why lead him all the way here?
It doesn't matter, he's dead meat
Tom kept his smile up, he went and revealed a rope that hung from the ceiling. "This rope is the only thing that could save someone now" He told him, "And only I can fit in it"
Warhound let out a laugh, "You think you can climb fast enough before I catch you?"
Tom nodded his head, agitating him.
"Ok you know what?" Warhound asked him, "Games over"
Tom backed off as Warhound lunged at him. He tugged the rope as hard as he could as his claws came closer and closer to his body.
Ssssst!
Tom's body flailed around wildly as the rope rapidly pulled him up.
He vanished into the small hole, leaving Warhound alone.
"Damn it!" He let out his frustrations as all that's left of Tom was the match he lit.
As it fell down, Warhound remembered something.
When he was running here, he smelt all types of things. One of them became stronger as he followed Tom however.
The scent of methane.
As soon as the match reached the ground, the invisible gas lit up.
Warhound could barely react as the darkness around him suddenly lit ablaze, erupting explosions across the abandoned section.
Meanwhile, Tom held for dear life as his body flung around the narrow hole.
He could feel his body ache all around, every sharp edge from the exposed edges could be felt as it cut his body.
Fwump!
Tom braced himself as he was shot out of the hole, crashing himself on the ground.
He quickly got up and out of the way, watching as flames bursted out of the hole.
Tom was at a small cliff located midway through the staircase.
"Looks like you got beaten up more than I was" Mark joked to Tom.
He sighed, "Did you really have to throw that many bags?"
Tom looked at what Mark threw. They dropped sacks full of rocks as a way to quickly pull him away from the explosion.
Mark laughed, "Had to get you back for beating me up"
He wanted to argue with him, but he kept himself silent. Mark was usually a quiet person. He rarely smiled, even rarer for him to laugh.
I'll let him have it
"I assume we're here just in time?" Jim said while sprinting towards them.
Behind him was Jen, who looked tired. "I wasn't quite sure where Parquatz was, so I made sure to trap every place he frequented"
Mark's face twitched, "You weren't sure?"
He was clearly a bit angered, and he wasn't the only one.
"You're telling me that I'm out here risking my life to stop Warhound while you set some mouse traps around the place?" Tom walked up towards her.
Jen, clearly sensing his anger, backed off.
Jim stopped him, "Parquatz was always a hard target to pin down"
"He's rarely seen, being able to go wherever he wants most of the time" He tried fighting for her case.
"So we just set some traps and hope he falls for them?" Tom spoke back at him,
Mark stepped in with him, "It wasn't easy for Tom to get Warhound like this, I expected that you would do the same amount of effort"
Mark tried to control his anger, but he was clearly feeling the same Tom did.
The area began shaking violently, the aftereffects of the explosion started to happen.
They could see the rocks start to fall down from the ceiling, some of them big enough to crack open someone's skull.
A loud howl could be heard from below, with screams of children following slowly after.
"Act now, argue later" Jim cut the conversation short, gesturing for everyone to run along with him.