It wasn’t my proudest moment, but I’m okay with taking a knock in the pride instead of a knock in the head. When I heard the wolves coming up those stairs, I retreated into the shadows. I knew Sass would chew me out about it later, but I was guaranteeing there would be a later to be chewed out in.

The wolves were so busy gloating over the cornered kitty that they never noticed me sneaking up behind them. Yoink! One funny little syllable and I had the scroll. I’d like to say that a fierce battle ensued, but that’s not quite how it went down. With the scroll in my paw, I hightailed it out of there!

The cat had moves. I’ll give her that. She managed to take one of the wolves out before I even made it down the stairs. That left two wolves, both on my tail, and with Sass on theirs. I led them out of the inn and into the streets of the Burroughs. And like I said before, the Burroughs was my city.

The wolves seemed surprised when I turned to face them. I hadn’t shown much fight to that point. That was about to change. I pulled out my sword.

“Time to dance.” I told the lead wolf.

The big fur smiled, flashing his big sharp fangs at me. “You shoulda walked away, groundhog.”

“The Big Oonch never lets a lady down.” I replied.

As we circled each other, I looked to my right to see Sass and the other wolf starting a slow dance of their own. These wolves weren’t going to go down as easy as their pal. But they’d go down all the same. They always do when the Big Oonch is involved.

My dance partner had no weapons other than those he was born with and boy did he know how to use them. He was on me in a flash, gnashing his teeth and raking with his claws. I took a wild swing to push him back, but he was back on me just as fast.

We traded nicks and scrapes, with neither of us scoring any decisive blows. Then my luck changed. Unfortunately, it was for the worst as I lost my footing. I was down and just like that the big bad was moving in for the kill. I braced myself for the end.

Only the end didn’t come that night. And with any luck it won’t come for a good long while yet. My guardian angel came in the form of a tall drink of water of a cat. She buried her daggers in the wolf’s sides just as he was preparing for the kill. I don’t know who looked the more surprised, him or me. I’ll say him. His look of surprise lasted much longer anyway as he kept it all the way down. He fell over without uttering a single word.

“I had things under control, doll…” I told Sass. Over to the side, the other wolf was sharing his boss’ fate on the rocky ground.

The cat smiled, “Sure you did. I just didn’t want to see your pretty face get hurt.” She held her paw out to me to help me up. I accepted. She had nice paws.

“Do you still have the scroll?” she asked.

I pulled the scroll out from under my cloak and pawed it to her. “The Big Oonch always delivers.”

She smiled that dazzling smile of hers. “You sure do. So what say you and I get a drink and then we see about that cuddlin’ you promised?”

I shook my head, “Sorry doll, you gotta go.”

Sass blinked, “I’m sorry?”

“No you’re not,” I corrected her. “You got what you came for and now you gotta beat paws.”

Sass tried to argue but I put my paw over her mouth, “Sorry doll. You can’t talk your way out of this one. I’m sure you’re used to getting your own way with plenty of furs, but the Big Oonch isn’t playing your game anymore. Now go.”

She was cool enough not to try with the waterworks, but she still looked sad, “Okay Oonch.” And with that, she walked out of my life just as she had walked into it. Without a sound. I didn’t watch her go. Instead, I turned and headed back to the Three Goose Inn for a little nightcap. I knew I’d never see her again, but we’d always have the dust-up in the Burroughs.

I smiled at the groundhog. It was my very best smile. The one I reserve for suckers. The Big Oonch played big, but he was no match for my charm. He’d follow me across the Irascible Sea and back. I’d settle for him watching my back.

I knew what I was planning was crazy. Those wolves were no pushovers. If they caught us, we’d be in serious trouble.

I peeked through the window one last time. Funny, furs putting windows in a building underground. I guess they like looking out into pitch darkness.

The wolves were deep in their cups. It was time to move.

“Just act natural,” I told my new partner as I pulled my cloak up to hide my face. Oonch followed suit.

We walked into the inn and made our way to the stairs leading up to the rooms acting as though we were just another couple heading to our room for the night. The common room was busy enough with patrons and staff that we didn’t immediately seem out of place. The wolves didn’t pay any attention to us at least.

Once upstairs, I shed my cloak and pawed it over to Oonch. “You stay back over there in the shadows,” I told him before repeating the plan. “If anybody comes up, I’ll need you to have my back. Think you can handle that?” The groundhog nodded, but he didn’t look any happier about it than he had when I first told him what I had in mind. It wasn’t much of a plan. We were counting on nobody coming up while I was working, which admittedly was asking for a lot.

The rooms weren’t locked. They never are in inns like these. Quietly I slipped into the first room. A cursory look was all it took to figure out this wasn’t the right one. The clothes strewn about indicated a fur had been using this room for at least a couple of days.

The next room was luckier. I recognized the lead wolf’s cloak hanging on the post. I hurriedly started my search. The sooner I found the scroll, the sooner we could get out of here. Fortunately, the wolves weren’t carrying much on them. I was able to rummage through their rucksacks quickly. Problem was, no scroll!

“Looking for this?” The raspy voice surprised me. I spun around to see the wolves standing there. And standing in front of his pack, the lead wolf had the scroll in his paw! Where was the Big Oonch?

“Yoink!” That’s when things went crazy.