~a few minutes before the escape~
Crack.
A muffled crack sounds as the captain steps on a dry twig.
Within the burrow, Rain visibly tenses, his ears waiting to catch another sound.
Shuffle.
He picks up a subdued shuffling of steps, he springs into action, jumping into the corner that had a burrow leading to the outside.
His daggers rise high, his body poised to release a flurry of lethal attacks on anyone or anything creeping into his lair.
He was more than ready to unleash hell upon anyone foolish or daring enough to squeeze in.
The thrumming of his heart sounds in his ears, yet he still held strong, relentless.
To his abject surprise, the shuffling recedes, his ears pick up the faint exhale as someone climbs the oak he was nestled beneath its roots.
Wait.
He listens one more time-- there was no doubt that someone was climbing the oak.
"Kai," he calls,
The weasel skitters, arriving before him, it pauses discerning the seriousness its master potrayed.
"Go check outside, silently." Rain commands.
The weasel stealthily makes its way out of the burrow, its tiny head peeking out of the barrow.
It skitters around, carefully looking around, its gaze landing on the human who was climbing their tree.
He suppresses the instinct to snarl, remembering his masters order, he will be stealthy. Make master proud.
And so, the watchers become the watched, as the weasel skulks around.
Satisfied, it heads back.
"How many?"
The weasel gets welcomed with a question from his master.
It raises its clawed fingers.
"Four?" Rain questions, uncertain.
It raises its other claw
"Eight?" Rain asks, confusion and terror worming through his mind.
He leans over, sketching on the dirt.
"How many?" he asks, pointing at the (rough) sketch of their home.
The weasel looks down, confused...but then its eyes gleam with understanding.
It swipes its clawed hand, marking the position of the cohort.
"Four." Rain murmurs, the cogs of his mind turning, coming up with a plan.
Fighting against four expert rankers in a direct clash was something he couldn't manage at the moment.
Heck! One would be enough to fully incapacitate him--- without breaking a sweat at that!
The power gap was unsurmountable.
He could kill one, when they were not expecting, but now that they are aware of him and actively looking around for him, his odds have plummeted into the negatives.
Engaging them was out of question.
What then?
They have him pinned.
And they also might have ways to track his location.
Rain racks his mind, discarding his ideas on the spot, they wouldn't work.
Just then, his eyes widen, a plan taking shape.
"This might be crazy enough to work." Rain says, pacing around the lair, fingers rubbing his chin.
A mirthful grin splits his face in half.
"I'll have to rely on some unwilling help."
He says, his voice dripping with malice.
"Kai come here." He calls,
He proceeds to convey the orders on what he wanted the weasel to do.
CRACK!
Thunk!
A heavy object crashes onto the ground, sending tremors.
"Be careful." Rain says, stroking the head of his little companion before triggering [Shadow vault] and sinking into shadows, leaving behind the preening weasel.
Master. Proud.
The weasel preens, only skittering away when it remembers the commands relayed.
"What are you doing staring?" He yells, "He's escaping!"
"Fuck!"
The weasel locks its eyes on the enemies of its master, a gleeful feeling surging as it watches them fumble and scamper into the greenery.
He sticks close, his eyes never leaving their backs.
***
The forest here was unfamiliar--- towering trees rose so high they blocked the moonlight.
Making it difficult to tell direction...sometimes he couldn't even tell he was climbing uphill or descending.
Rain pants, looking back and sensing the presence of his familiar.
He'd ordered him to stick close to the enforcers, act as a tracking beacon on his pursuers.
The plan worked, perfectly.
He discerns the direction they were headed-- towards him.
He triggers [Shadow vault] disappearing and reappearing in another location.
He stops and looks back.
Just as he suspected, the cohort changed direction, heading straight for him--- his suspicion was proven.
The cohort was tracking him.
Come to think of it, the engraved rune on his forehead was flaring up again and again.
If his theory was right, then they are tracking him by that.
A malicious grin plasters his face, time to make them wish they were dead.
What better way than to mete out his punishment than by proxy?
And so, he gets into a run, aiming to recover from the disorientation of [Shadow vault], a skill he'll later depend on for a swift escape.
His figure cuts through the foliage as he made way into the Simian Treejumpers' territory.
Time to spring a trap.
A short while later, he comes before a giant oak--- its canopy spanning hundreds of metres up into the sky.
Within its expansive branches, a legion of primates sat--- some wailing in anguished mourning.
Were they mourning a kindred's passing?
The one he killed?
"No!" He murmurs, sealing off such thoughts.
The others were grooming each other silently, watching their mourning kindred.
"Oi!"
A loud shout gets their attention, they look down, their faces furrowing in confusion and surprise.
Who dared come to their stronghold?
"Oi!"
It was those furless abominations.
"How do you like my gift?" Rain shouts, pointing at the funeral procession and dragging his dagger across his neck, showing a killing motion.
"My kill! I'm here to collect what is rightfully mine" he yells
"Give me the carcass!"
His voice cuts through the silence of the tree stronghold, the simians looking at him in utter confusion and surprise.
Their furred brows furrow, trying to comprehend and connect what the furless critter said.
He dares?!
Their faces contort, as wrath rears its head.
Loud and wrathful chittering blanket the canopy--- the primates were thumping their chests in anger, ready to unleash their crazed wrath.
"You want this?" Rain says, showing his daggers that gleamed in the moonlight.
"Come and get some!"
All hell broke loose.