*****TIGHTBEAM TO SQUIRREL RONIN*****
*****Through Quincy Taylor's Computer *****

(greetingsflick) fellow squirrel!

On behalf of the Council of Elders of the Namakata free squirrels we extend an open paw to you if you should wish to winter with us. This year's harvest has been more then plentiful and we could host several hundred extra squirrels if the need were to arise.

We are located deep within the Maine Wilderness, approximately 300 human miles north-northeast of your location.

The easiest way for you to arrive to us would be to get to Logan International Jetport in Boston and get on a flight to Augusta, Maine. There is only one service out of Logan to Augusta, Colgan Air. The airline is small, but is not hard to find, just look for the humans with trenchcoats and fedora hats. If they have fire axes concealed beneath the coats, identify yourself. They are Fudd allies of ours who will be expecting you if you should take-up our offer. They can transport you to our location.

I and the others look forward to meeting you soon if you should chose to join us. May the Spirit watch over you in your journey.

Ash Puffcheeks, Head, Namakata Council of Elders

*****END TIGHTBEAM*****

Ronin looked at the piece of computer print out in his hand. He still had to concentrate to read it properly, but it was getting easier, he read the instructions he had received from Elder Puffcheeks only that very day:

[See Tightbeam to Ronin in previous post]

Quincy had shown him the route he needed to take to Boston, roughly due north of Taunton, and Ronin was backtracking the journey he had initially made from the bus station to Quincy's house. He folded the piece of paper back up (Quincy had reduced it in size especially for him), and trotted on down the street.

The wind was blowing quite hard now, and the Autumn chill stung his nose. he bounced quicker along the road, turning and entering the bus station, which was a little warmer, only not much. He found his bus easily (Numbers had been quite easy to grasp when he realized that there were only ten different ones) and jumped into the luggage compartment, another uncomfortable ride ahead...

Aldwin limped into the bus station, ing angrily, the pain in his leg was increasing, in turn making it increasingly more difficult for him to keep up with the Frith-cursed ninja Tree-rat (he had to keep himself from spitting at the thought of the name, he couldn't let his anger make him Un-ky00te). His ing increased as he realized he had lost sight of the squirrel (Frith, how he had grown to hate that word). keeping in the shadows, he began his search of the buses.

The final suitcase was loaded, Ronin scampered up on top of it and then scampered across the bags until he found a comfortable one, maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

Aldwin ignored the pain in his leg, and bounced towards the bus. He had seen movement in the luggage compartment before the driver closed it, he didn't have much time before the bus left. Running for all he was worth he reached the bus, and grappled on with his reinforced suit-claws, just as it pulled out. He made sure the suit was secure, and relaxed a little, giving his leg some recovery time.

It had been a productive week, reflected Ronin. He could count, well not so much count as understand how humans sequenced their numbers, some of the names were still giving him trouble (He could count one to ten, after that numbers started being called one-one, one-two...). And he could read, after a fashion, It was then he noticed the date in the message header. November, it was November already, he was one year old and he hadn't noticed, he had forgotten his own birthday. Curling into a ball, the small squirrel wept, amidst memories of his Father, Home and Japanese Devilbunnies.

There was a creak and a thunk, the sound of metal being punctured. Ronin started, and looked about. More creaking, and metal tearing noises, turning, Ronin saw the Armoured Devilbunny coming through the hole. He fumbled for his weapons, and shook his head to clear it.

Aldwin pulled himself through the hole he had made with his armoured bunnyclaws, and watched the shaking form of the sq..tree-rat in front of him. It looked different, smaller and less confident. He smiled. "Finally, I've caught you. Nowhere to run to now squirrel I'll make you pay for destroying our warren"

Ronin watched the black and white form of the armoured bunny come towards him, and tried to concentrate on the fight, but memories of Japan were still whirling through his head, and it was all he could do to keep standing. He backed away.

Aldwin advanced on the small squirrel, and watched it back up to the loading door. Suddenly the bus bounced in the road, a bag fell against Aldwin, and he heard the all too familiar sound of battle bouncers priming. "Oh Frith!!", he screamed as they went off, powering him through the door, out over the roadside and into a tree, and unconsciousness.

Ronin ducked as the bunny flew past him, removing the door from its hinges, seconds later and the air drag caught him, throwing him out of the bus. Instinct curled him into a ball, and he rolled as he hit the ground, bumped and bruised, but otherwise okay. The bunny lay beneath a tree about 40 metres away. Taking no chances, Ronin bounced off, hoping to get a good head start.

It was past midday now. Ronin had been moving non-stop for the past two hours, he daren't stop. In the occasional glances he'd managed to take behind him he was sure he'd seen the big bunny following him. It looked like one of the Devilbunnies that had attacked Quincy's house whilst he had been there, and it sounded like it was after revenge. Ronin ed trotting the however many miles to Boston in this weather was not going to be fun.

Aldwin Snugglebun hopped slowly after his quarry. Despite its head start it had left a relatively easy to follow trail and in clearer areas he could even see it ahead of him. He hadn't gained significantly on it, but he hadn't lost any ground either. This would be a war of attrition, and Aldwin knew he could easily outlast most squirrels, although this one might provide more interesting sport.

Judging by the setting sun it was four o'clock now. That made six hours. Ronin looked behind him, once again catching a glimpse of black and white armour. The pace they were going was not fast, but Ronin was beginning to wonder how much longer this was going to go on for, Night was closing in already.

The internal clock in Aldwins armour told him it was "..Eight-Pee-Emm", and to "Have a Fluffy Day Aldwin". The sun had set some time ago, and he could now no longer see the ninja-rat. The night was dark and overcast, so he doubted that it would be able to see him, despite his white armour. He kept on moving, the tree-rat would either have stopped or carried on. Either way carrying on was the best course of action.

Ronin trotted on. His paws were numb now, which he was counting as a blessing. He had lost track of time now, the cloud cover making it difficult to gauge by the moon. All he could do was keep moving. Then the rain started.

Aldwin was impressed. It was now 4 am. He had thought he would catch the Squirrel when the rain had started at midnight, but it had struggled on (He guessed, as he had not seen it). It had now been going for 16 hours, and he was forced to admit a grudging respect for the little furball. It was getting lighter now. Ronin could hardly feel most of his body and was moving purely on nervous energy now. He was dead on his paws, so much so that he didn't hear the screech, and the slam of doors. Chittering inanely he keeled over.

Paul ran from the car and knelt down by the squirrel.

"Elmer! The poor squirrel looks done for"

"Watch it Paul!" his companion stated, pointing a bit further down the road as he hefted his axe. Paul looked up and saw the armoured bunny.

Aldwin stopped. Twenty hours he had chased the critter. Twenty! He Stared at the Fudds and ed angrily. If he had been fresher, and they had not been hefting their axes with such practiced skill, he would, perhaps, have taken them on. But not now. He watched the crouched one pick up the squirrel, and return to the car, followed by the other. He carried on watching until the car was out of sight.

"I'll get you yet furball"

"...Yeah, poor little thing must have been going all night, lucky we went looking for him. No, I don't think there's any permanent harm. Yes, Ash, we're going to get him on the next flight. OK. Bye."

Ronin looked around, dazedly, he still felt tired, but he was unsure of where he was now.

"Hallo. You're awake then. I'm Paul, one of the Boston Fudds. We're getting you on the next flight to Maine.

"Hello Paul."

"Your exhausted. Try and get some sleep", He picked the squirrel up and placed it in a box, lined just like home. "The flight leaves in about two hours, if you're lucky by the time you wake up you'll be in Maine"

"Thank you..." Ronin's eyes closed and he relaxed for the first time in almost 24 hours.

Ronin was jostled awake as the turbo-prop landed at Augusta State Airport. The plane taxied towards one of the few hangers at the airport and the engines shut-down. Ronin peaked-out a window to see that there was snow on the ground and snow was falling lightly outside. A curtain separating the cargo area from the cockpit was pushed aside and the pilot and co-pilot emerged, the latter opening a door on the side of the plane to let in a blast of chilly air. Ronin shivered slightly for a moment.

"It appears our passenger is awake," one human commented to the other.

"Good," replied someone outside who peered in. "Ronin?"

Ronin nodded hesitantly, not really knowing what to expect.

"I'm Cprl Fortin. I'm your escort to Maine Fudd Volunteer HQ, where you'll be spending the night, possibly a day or two depending on the weather before the final trip up to Namakata."

The truck they rode in was not as large as the buses he'd been stealing rides on, but it was still larger then most of the human vehicles Ronin had seen in his short life. Fortin was a rather quiet Fudd. Tall and slender in build, wearing a checkered wool shirt and a bun-furlined hat, the likes of which he had never seen. Feeling relatively safe after five minutes, Ronin fell to sleep.

Ronin awoke with a start as cold fingers gently nudged his fur behind and below the neck. Fortin smiled down at him.

"We're there, the Major and his second would like to see you in his office immediately. I'll show you the way. Do you wish to walk or ride?" Fortin pointed to his shoulder as he got out of the truck. The snow began to pick-up in intensity as he said this.

Ronin gathered his equipment and leaped upon the Fudd's shoulder. He looked about as the human walked. He had never seen any place like this before. Fortin explained along the way that the base was a converted farm and what an American farm consisted of. They made their way towards the main building, the original farmhouse, and entered into what Fortin called the summer kitchen. They turned towards the back of the house and Fortin knocked on the second door.

"Enter."

Fortin entered and saluted. Ronin saw a rather small desk behind which a small chair sat facing away from them. The chair swung around to show a large brown devilbunny, who saluted back and spoke.

"At ease, Corporal. Welcome to Maine Fudd HQ, Squirrel Ronin."

Ronin tensed readying to leap. A devilbunny, here! He must have been tricked. As he leaped to try and take his swoarn enemy with him, he was snatched-out of mid-air from behind. The grip was strong, but gentle, holding him by the tuft of the skin behind the back.

"Easy, little one," someone chittered quietly in squirrel with a reall bad accent. In squirrel? Ronin didn't believe his ears. "Have patience and all will be explained."

Rather then slash-out with his tail-blade, Ronin looked back to see that another human had walked-in behind Fortin and this human was holding onto him.

"I'm Sergeant Eugene Pomerleau, 2nd in command here. I see you've already met the Major." As he said this, Fortin wiped a wide grin off his face.

The brown bun (sighpoofed). "We didn't get that far yet, and judging from Fortin's face, I'd say he didn't prepare Squirrel Ronin for this meeting," Major Blake glared at Fortin. "We will talk later, Crpl, dismissed."

Finally finding his voice Ronin asked, "How...why...who..." getting all twisted-up trying to ask too many questions at once.

Eugene set him down on the desk as Fortin left. "Long story, but Major Steve Blake is on the Fudd side of this war and has saved my life more then a few times in battle."

"To make a long story short, Ronin, I contracted bunnyvirus sometime ago, but have remained loyal to the Army of Fudd. I've served first as a spy and now commander of this facility. As for you, you will be bunking-down with the other squirrels in the barracks set aside for them until this weather blows-over. Then Eugene will drive you up to Namakata as requested by Councilor Ash. You won't see the others until late afternoon when they come back from scouting patrol. I'm sorry, I can't do more for you personally, but as you can see, " Blake gestured with a paw to the large pile of paperwork on his desk. "I'm a little buried in work. If you need anything, Eugene will help you." With that he turned back to his paperwork.

Eugene showed him out and about the base, including where the work-out gym (located in one of the barns), the squirrel quarters (in the back of a second barn) and the base mess hall was.

To his embarrassment, Ronin's stomach gurgled loudly as he sat down atop a table among the other squirrels in the mess hall. It wasn't until now that he remembered he hadn't had anything to eat since he had left Taunton. The aroma coming from the mess kitchen wasn't helping his stomach any.

The Fudds went-up into a serving line and got their plates. Another brought-out a tray to the squirrels filled with nuts, berries and some items Ronin could not identify. He felt awkward not knowing what to do. One of the squirrels, a female, chittered and the others bowed their heads. She glanced at Ronin who got the hint and did like wise. She quietly chittered-out a blessing in squirrel, "We thank the Spirit for providing us this meal. Bless it so that we shall be strong enough to carry-out our tasks and enable us to defend ourselves against our enemies." The others chittered a response. Dinner was passed-out.

Small conversations were made during dinner, but few tried to speak to Ronin directly. He felt out of place and almost lonely as visions of his homeland came to him. The female who had said grace chittered at him a second time before he realized she had asked him a question.

"How was your trip, Ronin?" She turned to the others, "If you hadn't realized it yet, this is Squirrel Ronin, he will be spending the winter with us." There were several kind responses from the others then Ronin answered telling about his trip from Taunton.

"They can be very traitorous," one commented to Ronin.

"So I have seen, most lack honor."

(chitterspit) "You don't know the half of it!" another squirrel, who introduced himself as Oakhurst, piped-in. "We're serving a dual purpose when we come down here to aid our Fudd allies."

"Please, how so?"

"We do what we've always done, serving as advance scouts to provide warning of devilbunny attack." (howeverflick) "A little over a year ago, the buns attempted to destroy this base. In the process they murdered every wild squirrel within five miles of here assuming they were us so that a warning could not be sent to the Fudds. It will be years before the local population will be able to refill that void."

Ronin didn't really see what this meant other then to prove the buns lack of honor. Seeing the look on his muzzle, Oakhurst continued.

"Before the devilbunnies altered our ancestors and gave them sentience, our job as a species was to tend the forest and ensure its survival for future generations. Our wild ancestors bury many more nuts and tree seeds for the coming winters then they'll ever need to eat or remember where they have been buried. In the process, new trees sprout from those forgotten seeds and the forest is replenished.

"By doing as they did last year, the devilbunnies endangered the survival of the forest within five miles of here. So we have to fill the place of the wild squirrels in addition to guarding against future attacks."

"Well spoken, Oakhurst," the female who had originally spoken stated. "I'm sure there is much we shall learn from you, Ronin, and much you will be able to learn from us. But where are my manners?" (amuseflick) "We never introduced ourselves to you." She pointed-out each squirrel in turn introducing them to him. Then she introduced herself, "..and I am Ash Puffcheeks.."

Ronin (surpriseflick) and bowed to Ash. "I am honored, Elder."

(pleadflick) "No titles. We are all like an extended family. We all do our share of the work to benefit the others. Though I am the last of the second generation, I am by no means the eldest of the squirrels at Namakata."

Ronin looked her with confusion on his muzzle.

"My father was one of the original rebels against the evil bun FlopEar who had enslaved our ancestors. As such he was considered first generation. He had three previous mates who had died before falling in love with my mother, who was part of the forth generation. She died giving birth to me. I was the only survivor of the litter. Her sister helped father raise me. Puffcheeks gave his life two years ago so that we could remain free. He died at the paws of FlopEar who in turn died soon afterwards."

"So, even though you are fifth generation by your mother, you are considered second generation because of your father?"

(affirmativeflick) "We also try to honor those who came before us by naming our first born after our parents." (sighchitter) "A task I have not fulfilled yet, but maybe this spring that will be differant...." she trailed off.

Ronin did not wish to press matters so he let it drop.

The snow did not let-up the following day so they would spend an extra day at the Fudd base. Ronin found it hard to sleep at first the previous night. He had gotten over his initial shock or so he had thought until bedtime. There had been communal sleeping arrangements back home, but never mixed male and female, at least none that he could recall. The others had explained to him that this was only done in the winter to share body heat. The rest of the year one slept only with their mate if they have one.¹

After a quick breakfast, there was little to do. The Fudds refused to let the squirrels scout-out in the near blizzard-like white-out snow conditions. The Fudd doctor, an elder man by the name of Zack Matthews cornered Ronin after breakfast and insisted on a quick physical. Thirty minutes later and rubbing a sore spot where the human had given him a shot against rabies, distemper, and a few other diseases he had never heard of, Ronin found himself drawn to the gym.

After several warm-up exercises, Ronin went through the practice moves of his art form as other squirrels watched on. Before long some were attempting to imitate his moves with little luck. Ronin quickly found himself in the role of teacher for the rest of the afternoon. He wanted to teach, but did not expect to start so soon. The one thing he learned that day was that these American squirrels, at least the young ones, lacked patience. He prayed it would not be so hard after their arrival at Namakata.

The following day, Ronin learned about another icon of American society, well at least one for areas that experienced snow. The other squirrels were busy packing a huge (to a squirrel) sled that was attached to a rather strange looking machine. The machine had a large tank-tread (as it was explained to him afterwards) running down the backside and underneath of the thing above which was a seat for up to two humans. In front of this was the engine block and below the engine block were to skis. Ronin helped as he could, securing his own supplies with the others. Once they were ready, Ash pawed him a rounded, hollow object.

"Put it on," she said, putting her own on. "You won't hear much with it on, but you'll be thankful once Eugene starts this snowmobile up."

Ronin fumbled with the object until Ash (chitterchuckled) and helped him put his helmet on as she called it. She was right it nearly made him deaf. And he was thankful as Eugene kick-started the machine which roared loudly, despite the helmet.

The squirrels climbed into the sled and settled-in under the blankets. As soon as they settled-in, Eugene departed with another Fudd riding with him.

"HOW FAR!" Ronin tried to scream-out over the roar of the machine and the dampening effect of the helmets.

Ash looked at him, placed her paws to her helmet to indicate she couldn't hear him. Thought for a moment and then flicked her tail 6 times. Ronin settled back. Around him one, by one, the others fell asleep. Before long he joined them.

1. If any of you perverts read anything into this other then normal sleeping, you really, really need a life. (scoldchitter) Squirrels only mate once or twice a year and they don't do it in bed like humans! (annoyedflick)

The first thing Ronin noted upon awakening is that the sled was no longer moving. The next was the blanket overhead being removed. The others removed their helmets and Ronin did likewise. Ash looked about.

"Why did we stop here?" she asked.

"So that your guest could see the valley before we drove down into it." Eugene gestured at the vista to the north before them. "Behold your home for the winter."

Below them a lake stretched, out from southeast to northwest. The lake itself was not yet frozen. A small mountain loomed up to the west, partially obscuring part of the lake.

"The warren lies on the northeast shore", Eugene stated as he pointed to that portion of the lake. "There is a wilderness lodge resort operated by squirrel friendly humans at the northwest end of the lake. Otherwise the nearest human settlement is 20 miles away."

Ronin was in awe of what he saw, the winter beauty of the area was beyond description. "Please, how many squirrels did you say lived here?"

"Currently there are 358 of us..." (appologyflick) "359 counting you," Ash replied. "Though we've invited others to come here in the past, you have been the first to accept our invitation."

Eugene drove them into the valley at a leisurely pace. Upon arrival, Ash took Ronin on a tour as the others unloaded the sled. She showed him around that portion of the forest and the various hidden entrances into the former bunny warren. Then she gave him a tour of the warren facilities themselves. The tour wound down in a good sized room that looked like it has been quickly cleaned up. The floor and walls had new padding on them.

"And if this room will suffice, this will be where you will be able to practice and teach your technique of Bushy-Do."

"You do me much honor, El..Ash."

Ash nodded her head in thanks. (alasflick) "There is a council meeting I must prepare for. If you need anything, ask anyone, if they can't help you, they'll find someone who can help you. As for where you will sleep, that hasn't been determined yet. We'll ask at dinner tonight."

She started to scamper off, paused, turned around and added, "Oh, and welcome to your new home", before scampering off to leave Ronin in his thoughts.

End