Looking Deep Within (Open)

Treble stalked through the forest, a dangerous, menacing wolf of a mouse.

Also hungry...and triumphant!

The mouse pounced onto a shiny green beetle. The insect bucked and flung open its elytra as though to fly away, exposing its tender wings. Yum. Treble gnawed through the delicate wings and ripped out its tracheal tubes, ending the struggle and providing him with a nice snack.

It wasn't one of his staples, and that was mostly because the forest was a mysterious place, far different from the deserts of his homeland. Treble at least had enough sense to keep himself hidden as much as possible, and to his benefit many potential meals scuttled about the same places as he was now.

Treble took a bite of the bug and recoiled. It didn't taste terrible, per se, but he felt something was missing. Ah---spices, of course!

Clenching his catch between his teeth, the mouse bounded merrily through the leaf litter, keeping his nose high in search of something that smelled proper for his treat. He came to pause when a strange scent ticked off a modicum of familiarity in his brain.

Treble dropped his beetle and popped his head out from under the leaves, right in the path of a bouncing...bunny-rat.

"Hi!" he squeaked cheerily, standing tall on his hind legs. If the jerboa didn't avert course, there was a good chance that Treble would be bowled over in the collision.

It seemed that the great jeboa had bumped into another. A smaller rodent. It looked like a mouse of some kind. The poor creatures had tumbled into each other. Apologies were exchanged and introductions were made.

Viper watched and listened to them for a moment. Gathering information about the little mouse. It seemed that the little mouse was from another kingdom. She considers trying to take the little mouse as a slave, but quickly decides that the it would be too easy for her to harm the mouse. So she considers getting the jeboa to do it.

Treble pricked up his ears. Deep, dark, foreboding caves? Rock-climbing? TONS of bugs? Well, Jorah didn't have to ask him twice! And he was even insisting the bugs in the cave were nicer...maybe the jerboa just had odd tastes, as Treble couldn't imagine a cave having many things in it to spice up a meal, but then he'd never been in a deep, dark cave before.

"Yeah, I'd love to!" he chirped, ever excited to explore someplace new, especially with a newfound friend.

He couldn't abandon his catch, however---that would be such a waste. The mouse popped the beetle back in his jaws and started sniffing around, but was also loosely following Jorah as he began bounding away. He was hoping to find some spices on the way there.