Great Mouse Reporter - Chapter 16

The Lenape were quite hospitable toward their outsider guests, just as they had been before. In the morning they were treated to a grand breakfast of many fruits, vegetables and bread. Olivia, Fievel and Vartan sat beside the campfire next to Chief Wulisso, as he blessed their meal and called upon the spirits to embrace them once more. For once Olivia was just as lost about what was going on as Vartan was, not understanding the language being spoken.

"What's he throwin' sand in the fire for?" Olivia whispered to Fievel during the ceremony.

"He's calling upon the spirits to embrace us," said Fievel.

"An' why are they callin' ya Chalus-Chalus? What's it mean?"

"It means cricket," Fievel said with a small giggle, "Cholena gave me that name because I kept asking questions like you are now."

"Oh…" Olivia felt a slight pang of jealousy, another girl giving her boyfriend a cute nickname, but she let it slide since it happened long ago, "Well when'll Vartan and I get nicknames?"

Fievel shrugged.

"You wish for names do you?" the Chief asked, overhearing Olivia.

"Yes Mr. Chief sir," said Olivia.

"Hmm…I must think deep before bestowing a Lenape name upon you and your older friend. The name must reflect who you are."

"Is that why Tony got named Pula-Ook?" Fievel said with a laugh.

"Heh heh, ahh, that was but a joke of Cholena's. She was only just learning the art of naming. Perhaps she should have chosen another name for you too, little one, but it has already been decided. Now, let me see."

He stooped down and examined Olivia closely.

"You are brave, beautiful, energetic, protective and loving. Because of this you have a burning fire in your soul, for you will protect your loved ones at any cost. I will call you Wauwatosa. Firefly, in the English tongue."

"Wau…wat…watosa, Wauwatosa." Olivia repeated, "Means firely, does it? I like it."

Olivia smiled, as Chief Wulisso moved on to Vartan. Vartan's ears went down as he stared up at the imposing figure.

"Hmmm….this one is strong. He carries a burning passion. He has been wounded and has seen much sorrow. And he is silent. You do not speak the same tongue as the other Upper-Worlders, or not as well, yes?"

"Yes," Vartan replied, "I'm getting better vith English though."

"Then it is not the true reason you are silent. I see that this silence has cost you something recently."

Vartan looked down and clenched his fists, "Ayo…yes."

"You I will name Keelikee. Eagle, in English. You have a loud call, one day you will learn to use it, and break your silence."

"Yay we have Lenape names!" Olivia cheered.

"Keelikee..." Vartan repeated under his breath, taking the new moniker to heart.

"Have you given any thought to how we can help your tribe?" Fievel asked.

"I have," said the Chief, "Finding Cholena is of the utmost importance right now. If you could go to the surface and try to find her, you could report your progress to us down here. And also, you could report to us what the Upper-Worlders are planning to do next. We cannot leave the tunnels to find out for ourselves, you see."

"I think we could do that,' said Fievel, "While we search for my sister Tanya that is."

Chief Wulisso looked about at his fellow tribesmen, busy eating and celebrating in dance.

"There will be more to tell you later, in private." he said.

Olivia and Fievel looked at each other. This looked like it was going to be top secret. They carried on with their meals without much remark, before being led toward the Chief's teepee.

"So…what kind of job do ye have fer us?" Olivia asked.

The Chief sighed, folding his arms behind his back.

"As you may be certain, leaving the tribe without permission is a grave offense. But, it has happened rarely in our history. There was a recent time, however, only four years ago, when it happened again."

"It did?" Fievel asked.

"Yes, it did. My nephew Hakan was a free spirit. He wished to walk in the Upper-World and live beneath the skies. So he left. His selfishness jeopardized our tribe just as Cholena's jeopardizes it now."

"What happened to him?" Olivia asked.

"He found out what a cruel place the Upper-World is. He was enslaved, forced to knit clothes for months."

"Ohhh, a sweat shop," Fievel said, "I've been in one."

"Two Upper-Worlders rescued him, and he led them here. While I assume those two Upper-Worlders kept their promise of silence, such recklessness on Hakan's part could not be forgiven. He was banished from our tribe, to live in the sewers among the rats and the slimy beings for the rest of his days."

The three of them were silent upon hearing this.

"You…aren't gonna do that to Cholena…are you?" Fievel asked.

"That is to be decided. However, although Hakan was banished, I know in his heart he would never betray our location to the Upper-Worlders. Even so, having him roam freely is a danger. He could be captured and tortured into giving up the information. We need to bring him back."

"You want…us to do it?" Olivia asked.

"It is too dangerous for me to send my tribesmen. If the Upper-Worlders see you though, they will think nothing of it."

The Chief turned to a chest at the other side of the tent, and opened it, taking out a scroll.

"This is a map of the tunnels above our home. You will not get lost with this. We may provide you with weapons, in case you encounter any dangerous beings there. If at the end of the day you have not found Hakan, return here for the night. We will try again the next day. Do you accept this mission?"

"I uh…I suppose…" Olivia said, looking at Fievel and Vartan.

"I vill do as you esk,' said Vartan, "And I vill pretect my friends."

"Brave Keelikee, it is because of you that I do not worry about giving this mission to our young friends as well."

Vartan nodded.

"Are any of you proficient with weaponry? My people are peaceful, but we do keep some just in case."

"I'm good with an axe I think," said Olivia, remembering how she'd cut off Chula's leg with one.

"Um, and I can try having an arrow too,' said Fievel.

"And you, Keelikee?"

"Spear," he said.

"Very good, these weapons will be provided to you. Best of luck."

The three of them exited, as the Chief called in another mouse to prepare weapons for the three of them.

"Does this seem like kind of a lot to ask?" Olivia asked, "Ah mean, we ain't fighters…"

"It does," Fievel agreed, "But they do really need our help, and they don't want any of their members getting caught right now."

"I vill protect you both," said Vartan, "But I vant also to find Tanya."

"Me too," said Fievel, "Well, we don't have to stay in the sewers all day long, we could look up above too."

"Mr. Vartan, we won't let anything' happen to ya either. We'll look out fer each other."

"I've been through plenty of scrapes in my day," Fievel said proudly, "You can count on me too."

"I remember how ya shot an arrow through Chula's hat," Olivia said with a giggle, "Are ya gonna do that again?"

"I was just nervous, I'd have gotten him otherwise."

"Shootin' arrows is a lot different from cork guns."

"I know that." Fievel said, knowing she was just giving him a hard time.

___________________________________________________________

Above the subterranean village at that moment, the scuttling of enormous cockroaches echoed through the large New York storm drains. Not many animals could survive living in the storm drains, though rats and mice did live down there, normally as hermits. What little there was to eat down there was bugs, or perhaps moss and lichen. As a particular cockroach scurried down the drain, it was suddenly met with a speeding arrow, which pinned it to the wall. Its limbs waved and it screeched as the silhouette of a long-haired mouse, wearing a long black coat, wide-brimmed hat and holding a crossbow, approached the insect. The mouse kicked the roach's head in, and soon the body slowed to a stop. He pulled the arrow out, and took some dried moss out of his pack, striking a match and lighting it on fire, before piercing the roaches body with a stick and roasting it over the fire.

This was how Hakan had lived his last few years. Alone, in solitude, hunting what he would in the storm drains to survive. An outcast both above and below. Cast out from his tribe, and unable to live in the Upper-World. Still, he didn't want to stray far from his tribe. Even though he had been cast out, he still saw himself as a protector of sorts.

"Chula do this, Chula do that…" a voice echoed distantly in the tunnels.

Hakan stood up. He doused his fire with the nearby stream of water, and retreated to the shadows.

"Heh, I know right?" came the gruff voice of Fidget, "Sure is nice to at least get some time to ourselves. I'm starved."

"Yeah, only good thing about these sewers is the bugs," said Chula as they got closer to Hakan's hiding place, "The place is practically an all-you-can-eat buffet. Lucky you and I got similar tastes, hehe!"

"Maybe if we're lucky we'll catch a nice juicy mouse too." Fidget chuckled.

"Ooh I can only wish. And the boss wouldn't be able to say nothin' either."

Fidget sniffed the air, "Wait a minute…I think I smell something cooking."

"Yeah? Where do ya smell that?"

"Follow me."

Hakan set the bolt in his crossbow as the footsteps got closer, crouching in the shadows.

"Someone's been eating roach kebab down here," Fidget said, as they approached Hakan's half-cooked cockroach.

"The question is, who?" Chula said, "Probably some rat I'd guess, who heard us coming and ran."

"Oooh yummy yummy," Fidget said, tearing off a leg and eating it.

"I say we look for who cooked it, and get an even bigger meal," said Chula.

"Yeah, heh heh. Bats are good at that. Watch and learn."

Fidget let out a squeak, using his bat sonar, and then put his wing to his ear, listening for the echo, giving him a three dimensional picture of the area. He turned to the shadows.

"He's over-"

The arrow almost found it's mark, piercing Fidget's wing. He screamed, and as a reflex, Chula spat his web at the direction the arrow had come from. The web surrounded Hakan, and he struggled, falling to the ground.

"My wing! AAAAAH! It hurts!" Fidget cried out.

Chula dragged the web towards himself, seeing the mouse struggle inside.

"You just signed your death warrant, mousie!"

They pulled him into the light.

"You're gonna be tasty, hehe! Want the first bite Fidget?"

"Disgusting beasts!" Hakan shouted, reaching for the dagger at his side.

Chula kicked it out of his hand, "Not so fast, ya rat!"

In the light, Chula could see the face paint on Hakan's face. He noticed the reddish fur tone, and the straight black hair, and thought of the arrow that had gone through Fidget.

"Waaiiit…you one of those Injun mice we've heard about?"

Hakan stayed silent, as Fidget groaned and writhed on the ground.

"You are! Wait'll the boss hears we caught an Indian! Hehehe!"
"We…we're not gonna eat him?" Fidget sputtered.

"Maybe later," Chula sighed, picking Hakan up and slinging him over his back, "Let's get back to headquarters, we'll patch your wing up somehow."

"Why always me?" Fidget pouted, getting to his foot and peg leg.

Hakan was dragged back to the old Mott Street Mauler hideout, after a long trek back the way they came. It was late at night, only Jake and Aces were awake on patrol.

"Hey Jake, Aces," said Chula, "Look what the tarantula dragged in, hehe!"

"Why don't you stop playing with yer food," said Jake, blowing smoke from his cigar as the two cats played blackjack on the table, "Watchin' you eat grosses me out."

"Any of you guys know how ta stitch a wound?" Fidget pleaded.

"The bosses are gonna make us their favorite underlings after they see what I caught," Chula said, everyone ignoring Fidget.

"Well what is it then?" asked Aces.

"I got me an Indian mouse!"

"Really?" Jake gave a look of surprise, "We better wake someone up."

The two cats scattered, and in a few moments Warren sleepily emerged from his bed chamber in a night gown and slippers, and Waul from a different room, also in sleeping attire. Ratbone had already been awake, and stepped into the room from a mousehole in the wall.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ratbone demanded.

"We caught us an Injun!" Chula cheered.

"It hurts…." Fidget whimpered.

"An Indian eh?" Warren said with a grin, "Just what da doctor ordered."

Waul yawned, "I hope the interrogation can wait until morning…"

"Nah lets get it over with now," said Warren, "I'll make 'im an offer he can't refuse."

"This stroke of luck was most unexpected," said Ratbone, "Hm…I need to think some more about this. I had a plan in mind, you see, and not just about having him reveal the whereabouts of his tribe either. Throw him in one of the bird cages, and keep him tied in the web. Someone watch him and don't let him get away. We will see if he's willing to reason with us in the morning."

"Right boss!" said Chula.

"I take it that only coincidentally coincided with what I wanted," Waul muttered, wandering back to his room.

"Doesn't someone have a bandage?" Fidget whined.

"Someone direct that flying rat to the first aid kit," Ratbone ordered, walking back to his room.

"Alright, I'll get it," said Jake, "I was wonderin' how long we could ignore him for before the boss said something."

With that Chula dragged Hakan into the next room, and threw him into a cage, locking it up.

"Alright mouse, you better stay put." said Chula, "If you're reasonable in the morning and well behaved tonight I might not get to eat you, so please by all means, try to escape."

Hakan remained silent. Whatever these villains wanted with him, he would not reveal the location of his tribe. They could eat him first before he ever told. He knew that much was true.