Holding the Dam

Rain is coming down during the afternoon and the sky is cloudy. Nine North American Beavers move frantically to reinforce the weak points in their giant dam. While many of them held the existing structure in place, other beavers came from the river bank and onto the dam with fresh logs. Those logs are quickly put into place and the structure retainers could now relax.

Grover is the foreman of the all male crew and he looks around while standing on the dam's top level. He says, "Good work everyone! This thing will hold for the time being." One of the workers ask, "Can you tell me the specifications of this dam again?" Grover replies, "It stretches the entire width of the river which is 400ft. It's 15ft thick, which is strong enough to withstand the river's force and it also reaches the river's bed as well as reaching above the river's surface. This would give it a total height of 56ft." Another male worker says, "The water that filters through the bottom reduces pressure on the dam and prevents the river from breeching over the top."

Grover says, "Good, you remember what I taught you. Also know that the water that seeps through travels shallowly downriver and ends at a shallow pond. The pond use to be deep but now the pond walls have burrows where a lot of ground squirrels live. The squirrels use the shallow pond they have now as a drinking source."

The rain stops and the sky clears. The beavers standing on the dam notice a young brown mongoose watching them from the east bank. Grover says, "Howdy! You aiming to cross the great Hokuten Dam?" The male mongoose says, "Perhaps later. My name is Rick and I've been sent by regional headquarters to inspect Hokuten Dam." The mongoose hops onto the dam and walks toward Grover and his crew. Grover says, "If you are a dam inspector then impress me with your knowledge."

Rick says, "As I've seen already the hollow logs are mostly on the top, and most of the solid ones on the bottom. This is good because there is more water pressure on the bottom foundation. I can tell that some logs have grooves and mesh together with the rest to form a stronger bond. I also know for a fact that this dam is 58 years old." Grover replies, "I'm impressed. If this inspection takes longer you can stay in one of our guest logs. They are the hollow ones near the banks. If you need us we'll be in our quarters which are the hollow ones in the center."

Rick sees that the sun has set so he went in a hollow log on the east bank to get some rest. All the beavers were in the mess hall log eating tender bark and playing poker using shiny stones as bets. All of a sudden BOOM! The mongoose and the beavers were all on high alert. Grover quickly grabbed the tin can telephone in the mess hall and yells, "Rick! What's going on!" Way off at the east bank in Rick's room, the mongoose hears the call from his can. Rick replies, "Don't know! But I think the dam maybe damaged!"

Grover is about to respond but when he pulls at the can there is too much slack. He says to his crew, "Drat! The line's been cut!" One of the beavers say, "I'll assess the telephone line." Grover replies, "Thank you Dorlo. All right everyone, let's find where the damage is done. So spread out, Rick is probably searching already." All other beavers head out on their own as Dorlo followed the line. Rick heads deeper into the maze like dam while making scratches on the log hollow walls so he could backtrack.

Dorlo finds the broken line and begins sniffing around the empty room for clues. Suddenly a kukri knife slashes across his spine. He screams and falls down paralyzed and struggling. While Dorlo bleeds and yells for help he feels fangs jab into his leg. The dying beaver's vision blurs as the poison begins to take effect. Before he blacks out he sees a female Banded Krait looking down at him. In her tail she holds a bloody kukri blade.

Rick hears the screams and races toward the location. He trips on a hole and looks to see a crater created by some sort of blast. Swiftly, he moves through the maze to finally see Dorlo, sprawled out on the floor. After a quick check Rick knew he was dead. The other beavers who also heard the cries made their way into the bloody room. Gortho says, "No, this cannot be. He was an unarmed innocent worker just like the rest of us."

The mongoose begins to explain, "I've seen this type of execution before. This was done by a female Banded Krait called Killareray. Why she is here still eludes me." Grover says, "We have to defend ourselves. Gortho, go to the armory and get our stuff." Rick says sarcastically, "Good luck enduring a fight with her. That snake's a trained assassin." Gortho comes back in the room, drops the equipment and says, "I saw a crater in the other room. Killareray is trying to destroy the dam from the inside."

Rick says, "That must be the one I tripped on earlier. I've always known her to work for a higher order. Maybe I can get some answers before this place implodes or before she finishes us off." Grover responds, "You might feel more confident if you get ready like us." All the beavers were briskly putting on half-coconut helmets and picking up 2.5 feet long wooden javelins (double tipped) along with some round wooden shields. They also donned vests made of leaves that were once covered with tree sap and plastered with pinecone scales. This resembles medieval chain mail.

After watching them get ready Rick picks up the remaining javelins and ties them on his back with some string. Rick says, "This will be fine for now." The armed group now hears a hissing sound that resembles a snake. With weapons ready everyone follows Rick while they sneak from room to room. As the group nears a small entrance Rick raises a javelin to signal everyone behind him to ready an attack. The group charges in single file shouting various battle cries. Gortho, the last one through shouts, "This is for Dorlo!"

Seconds later everyone realizes Killareray is nowhere in sight and everybody are in awkward battle stances. The group discovers they are in a pine cone storage room since there is a pile of those things on one side of the wall. Grover whispers, "Let's all be careful. She could be hiding in that pile of cones." Gortho, who is still in his battle frenzy makes a battle cry and charges the pine cones. "Erlaaah!" He drops his shield and then spins like a spinning top with both hands grasping the javelin center firmly. His attack then breaks and scatters the pine cones all over the room.

Even in his dizzying spin he could tell Killareray was not hiding amongst the pile so he slowed to a stop. Targon laughed and said, "Nice going dude. If she was there, the only other thing flying around this room besides pine cones, would be your cleaved meat chunks." Morsol, one of the beavers spoke out, "Gortho, you could have used a little more focus on that spin."

Amused laughter could be heard from the krait so everyone turned around to see that all along her voice was coming from a tin can telephone in the room. She says, "You fools couldn't even distinguish my real hissing from a telephone." Morsol says, "Best be explaining yourself now serpent, because when we find you there won't be a moment for you to try."

Killareray says, "I suppose you mammals do deserve some info before your demise. I am performing the task of demolishing Hokuten Dam because it is in the best interest of my krait clan. Once this place is destroyed the river will rage and fill the once existing pond drowning all the ground squirrels who live there. When their bodies float to the surface my clan will harvest them for food. Since this place is too moist to burn down I had to resort to blasting. I have smuggled in numerous M-80 firecrackers during the rain storm whilst everyone else was busy up above."

Targon says, "Me and the crew haven't seen any firecrackers after the storm so what's to prove that the crater we found was the only one you had." BOOM! The blasting noise that came over the telephone startled everyone in the room. Killareray says, "Is that proof enough for you?" Morsol, who feels brave says, "You think your so tough? Those 2 were probably the only ones you had."

The snake replies, "I had a feeling that we might hit this snag in our conversation so I grouped some M-80s and lit a delayed fuse. They should go off right about-" KABOOM! The floor explodes right below where Morsol is standing. Debris fly everywhere and everyone in the room were thrown against the walls by the shock wave. When the dust settles Rick's ear ringing was ceasing and his vision focusing. He sees on the floor Morsol's helmet. Rick picks it up and gives it to Morsol who seems to still be floored.

He puts the coconut half in Morsol's claw and says, "Better put this back on to avoid any more mishaps." The dust clears more and to Rick's horror the helmet was in the beaver's hand but the arm no longer had a body to go with. The shocked mongoose looks around to see the other beavers still reeling from the blast and then his eyes follow a trail of blood which oozed from Morsol's leg. Gortho adjusts his helmet and hears rushing water. He looks at the hole in the floor to see the passing water.

Grover says in disarray, "The dam has finally been breeched! More water is now flowing to the squirrel lands. The rest of Morsol must've fell through the floor and washed out." Targon says, "We'd better find the rest of the explosives and wash them out before it's too late." Gortho says, "The now destroyed telephone in this room goes to the woodshop. Maybe if we're lucky we can catch her around that area." Targon says, "Me and Gortho are skilled with these javelins so we'll begin the hunt." As the 2 hunters made their way to the woodshop the foreman organizes the other beavers.

Grover says, "The rest of you beavers follow me to search for explosives. As for you mongoose, do what you feel is best." Rick watches as those beavers go in a different direction than the hunters. Rick thought for a moment and decided to follow the hunters. During the search one of Grover's followers named Dro sees a snake tail sticking out behind a pile of sticks. Dro takes a sniff and catches the distinct reptilian smell. Confident of his find he readies his javelin and pulls on the tail.

What he discovers was her shed skin. BOOM! The skin was attached to a make shift match stick and M-80 combo. Dro is thrown back but is almost immediately impaled by the blasted sticks. Two large splinters go through his abdomen and one through his mouth and head which kills him instantly. Ironically his vest saves him only from one splinter. He falls toward the floor on his side, dead before he hits the ground. Grover and his team were quickly in Dro's room only to have their morale lowered by the gruesome sight of Dro's skewered body lying in a pool of blood.

Rick and the 2 hunters also heard the blast from different locations but they know there is nothing they could do. Killareray who also hears the blast smiles and leaves the woodshop, pleased that her crude trap had been tripped. The snake adjusts the tied match sticks on her body while she heads downstairs. Targon and Killareray for the first time see each other. She quickly races back into the shop. The 2 hunters charge up the narrow stairs in single file. She throws a lit match at the stair entrance lighting it on fire. The 2 beavers make it through in time before the blaze increases strength. By the time Rick gets there all he could do is watch through the intense flames.

Gortho and Targon commence their attack using skilled javelin techniques. Killareray evades their jabs, stabs, and swings. She also successfully parries many of their attacks with her kukri. Targon sees that her middle is the largest and least evasive target. He makes a charge and almost strikes her. The snake makes a countermove and cuts the tip off his javelin. She then trips Targon with her tail. While one beaver is stunned Gortho bashes her with his shield. This does not deter Killareray much and puts Gortho in a close and dangerous position. She does an overhead drop slice and breaks Gortho's helmet. Even though Gortho survives his head is still shaken and that is when she moves in for a bite. Targon who had recovered swiftly throws his round shield like a discus and strikes her in the diaphragm.

The stunned snake now tries to catch her breath. Targon charges again and this time tries to strangle and bite Killareray. While in his choke hold she bolts her mouth toward him and gives a successful bite in the face. Targon grunts in pain and backs off. In a flash, her kukri spills Targon's guts. Still alive Targon puts desperate pressure on his mortal wound to keep more from spilling out. The now focused Gortho is enraged. He performs his spinning attack and she tries to block as many blows as possible. Their weapons connect many times and cause sparks.

When the spin ends she has a few cuts but Gortho is dizzy. On instinct the beaver lifts his flat tail as a shield. The snake does a 360 degree mid-air vertical somersault and comes down with a power blow. Gortho's tail along with the front portion of his head is vertically split. Gortho drops dead as blood gushed from his split head. She snaps a gaze at Targon against the wall, he is dead from the evisceration. Rick could only watch helplessly from behind the entranceway of fire. Killareray begins to ascend upstairs to another room.

Rick quickly throws his javelin at the adjacent stairway and manages to strike her in the backside. Killareray hisses in pain and now knows the mongoose was hiding behind the enflamed entrance all along. She yanks the weapon out with her tail and sends it flying toward Rick. He ducks and the projectile barely misses him. The mongoose stands up again to see that the krait has retrieved a M-80. She rolls it toward the fiery entrance and Rick quickly retreats downstairs. BOOM! Even with the flame blown out the entrance is destroyed and Rick begins to look for another entrance to the woodshop.

While Killareray makes her way up the stairs she passes an opening to the outside. A female ground squirrel yells toward the window from the west bank, "Hey up there! I'm a girl scout sent to scout out the troubles of this dam! The flow of water to our city has increased and we found some beaver parts!" The scout holds up Morsol's shield as proof. Killareray sticks Targon's damaged javelin out the window and the scout says, "I see your spear beaver! Now explain!" The snake withdraws the spear, aims and with all her might she hurls the weapon at the unsuspecting squirrel. "Aaargh! How dare you impale me through the stomach! What is wrong with you animals!" The scout gasps a few times then keels over and dies.

Killareray makes her way up to the next room which is the medical ward. She sees a wooden bowl with beeswax and uses that to relieve her injuries. Pargun is making his way to the ward also. He is getting emergency supplies for his group so he temporarily separates from them. She hears his footsteps coming from an adjacent hallway so she quickly hides behind a pile of woodchips near the wall. Pagun enters the ward and walks to a wooden medicine cabinet. He opens it and begins to browse.

The snake peeks over the pile and decides to seize the opportunity. She silently slithers and sneaks behind the occupied Pargun with her kukri ready. Pargun smells her and turns around with his wooden shield ready. Killareray attacks with countless slices, slashes and stabs. Pargun successfully shields himself from any damage and slowly backs toward the hallway he came from. She tries but is still unable to land any clean hits. After many more blows Killareray stops from exhaustion. Pargun quickly turns and runs away.

She performs a quick flying stab at the retreating beaver but Pargun lifts his tail and it block his back from any injury. Killareray continues to pursue him with knife in tail and is quickly catching up. Pargun yells, "Help! Help! The snake is chasing me!" Determined to silence the beaver she launches her body into the air and whips a wide angle 188 degree horizontal slash with haymaker strength. THWACK! The attack beheads the retreating Pargun and his lifeless body tumbles to the floor. His body now a mangled fountain of blood redecorates the board room.

Not certain whether Pargun's cries were heard she gathers her explosives from the board room and takes them downstairs to the cellar. After 9 minutes she has the M-80s placed for maximum damage. Rick, who is still making his way to the woodshop passes through a hallway and ends up in the cellar. Killareray sees the threat, drops her unlit match stick and readies the kukri. The mongoose takes a defensive stance with a javelin in each hand.

Rick makes a strategic move by first going after one of the placed firecrackers. He uses his javelins and poke holes in the explosive spilling the flash powder. Killareray lunges with a bite and Rick counters with a back hand blow knocking her back. The mongoose takes a defensive stance again and she does a reaching double slash. Rick easily evades. Then she says, "Unlike those lumbering beavers you are much better on your feet." He responds, "We don't shelter your cold blooded kind here. It's best you leave now."

The snake closes her distance and does a pinwheel spin with her blade which will strike him 3 times. Rick puts his javelins together and blocks the attack. The Mongoose attacks with a scissor slash but it does little damage. He then tries a twin needle but she blocks one strike with her blade and parries the other with her mouth. Killareray now performs an all-out attack combo. She mixes false bite movements with damage dealing sword dance techniques. Confused with the fake bite attempts Rick could not dodge any of the blows.

He blocks and has to absorb the full force of her attacks. Dazed after her sword dance Killareray is allowed enough time to perform a spinning momentum strike. Rick hops back and performs a cross block but the blow breaks both his javelins in half. She laughs as he retreats back to the hallway he came from. Killareray lights the match and a javelin comes flying from the hallway. It deliberately strikes another M-80 spilling more powder. Still, she is successful in igniting all the fuses and makes her way back up to the board room. Another javelin comes from Rick in the hall and almost hits her. She laughs again and disappears upstairs. KABOOM! Rick is blown from the hallway and into the map room where he was before.

After a few minutes the mongoose is starting to come to. He looks down the hall where the cellar use to be and sees water racing through. Rick says, "Oh no. The cellar must have been a primary target." Just as he is about to hurry and find another way around a glimmer caught his eye. He looks again to see the shine come from something stuck on the board walk down the hall and right before the rapids.

Even though Rick knew it is dangerous he felt the urge to find out what it is. As he steps closer to the destroyed hallway the rushing water forms a mist and he is getting wet. Being close enough now his observation reveals a 12 inch long saber stuck underneath the last floor board. Carefully he reaches down and plucks it loose by the handle. After stepping back to the map room he sees that the weapon is clean looking and combat effective. Rick had trained with a wooden one before so he brandished it around to resume skill. He says, "Now that I'm through with a little practice I feel like I have a chance against Killareray."

The she-snake eventually makes her way to the abandoned mess hall. One glance shows that the 9 beavers were once enjoying their supper. She knocks on the floor to discover the solid foundation log beneath. Confident her location is correct she opens the food pantry and pine cones roll out. Killareray whips her naked tail on the cones smashing them and revealing the smuggled M-80s inside. Relieved that her task is almost complete she sets the charges for the final explosion.

In the map room Rick is still looking over the maps and trying to figure out the krait's next target. After gazing over the floor plans of the dam several times he could see that the major explosions which caused water to hemorrhage were at key solid foundation points that are vital in keeping the dam together. Rick goes over the structure details more closely of the pine cone storage room where Morsol was killed. Then he looks to the cellar. He says, "Seems like the structure design of those 2 places match. There has to be another match." Finally, he sees that the mess hall is the only other place beside the 2 that has a similar design. Quickly Rick makes his way through hallways, rooms and up flights of stairs with the dam's mapping still fresh in his mind.

Grover and the beaver twins Helio and Telio already discovered the explosions' pattern and begin to march side by side with Grover in the middle. They sternly marched into the mess hall to see Killareray about to light the final match. Grover says, "Ha! You didn't kill us all yet!" Helio begins, "Drop that match-" "-and we might let you live." Telio finishes. She says calmly, "What? This match?" SNIP! She whips across the floor and it lights. The beavers take a javelin throwing stance. She flicks the match to a M-80 laying next to the entranceway they came in. The awed mammals follow the airborne match with their eyes to see it land on its volatile destination.

Instinctively all the beavers used their triple guard which protected the high, middle and low portions of their body. They bowed their heads using the helmet as the high guard. The vests protected the middle and lowering the shield protected the low area. In that short moment their lives flash before their eyes. BOOM! All 3 of them are lifted off their feet and thrown out the mess hall window. SPLASH! They all land on the shallow side of the dam. "Hmph." Killareray says in slight discontent as she watches through the window to see all the beavers survive and swim to the west bank.

After the short swim Grover says, "The water seems deeper and stronger now." Helio say, "Look over there. That poor squirrel was probably done in by Killareray." The snake is about to light another match but all the sudden. THWACK! A javelin from Telio knocks it out of her tail. "Good throw!" Exclaims Helio. Grover throws a javelin and it flies through the window. She dodges it but is beginning to feel annoyed. Telio says to the others, "We don't have much javelins out here. I apologize now before I do this." He pulls Targon's damaged javelin from the squirrel and throws it toward the mess hall window like the rest of his comrades.

Killareray joins the javelin fight and throws some out the window with her tail. The twins nip, tuck and roll to avoid. Grover however skillfully repels the incoming projectiles with his own javelin. Helio says, "Her aim may not be that good with moving targets like us, but she has a strong throw. Look at these. They're damaged to the point that we can't return fire." With the spear fight over she lights up again just in time for Rick to see her through the entranceway. She jeers, "You're too late mongoose!" Suddenly Morsol's shield whisks in and smacks the snake and the match putting it out. "That's for Morsol!" Grover bellows from outside.

The fight begins as Rick thrusts and stabs at her. Being a snake she easily avoids. Her kukri sweeps up with an uppercut and is blocked by the saber. Killareray begins her sword dance combination attack. Quickly he kicks up Morsol's shield and grabs it with his left paw. Rick takes a defensive stance and carefully walked in reverse as countless blows landed. He knew a shield is the only adequate defense against this type of attack because last time without one he got dazed. She eventually ceased her ineffective sword dance and pried the shield away from Rick with her mouth. She flings her head and throws the shield outside.

Once again their weapons clash as they traded blows back and forth. Sparks fly time and time again as the saber met the kukri. Their blades lock for a moment and Rick jets a swift bite to her lower back. This does little damage and only gives the mongoose a taste of his opponent. She strikes back with a bite but only strips some fur from his tail without injecting any poison. Killareray then hammers away with forceful downward slices. Rick blocks them all but is momentarily stunned. She seizes the opportunity and jabs him in the sternum with the kukri. He is injured but the blade does not go through so he stands strong again.

Rick goes into adrenalin mode suddenly and he takes advantage of the moment by performing a special move. Holding his saber pointing downward he charges and jumps to avoid a low kukri swing. He attacks with a mid-air slash and lands rolling away from his opponent. Quickly Rick takes a defensive stance again to see Killareray hissing in pain with the wound exposing her ribs. She charges and begins her kukri windmill attack. He does his best to defend himself knowing her fan like swipes were impossible to counter safely.

Caught off guard by the spinning kukri she whips most of her body behind him and suddenly constricts Rick. The pressure is on and the mongoose is loosing his ability to breathe. With his arms almost crushed next to his body he drops the saber. Rick knew there is little hope and looked up to see Killareray enjoying his slow death. As her forked tongue slipped in and out he desperately extends his neck and times a direct bite on her tongue. Shocked, she loosens her grip and the mongoose immediately takes action. He bites her on the neck to strangle her. Rick is flung around mercilessly as Killareray tries to survive. Her kukri thrashes around blindly slashing him and herself randomly.

Now he hangs on for dear life with all 4 of his claws dug into her thorax. Finally he is bashed against the ceiling and both of them drop to the floor. Blood is all over the mess hall. The mammal and the reptile lie motionless on the floor. Both of them had sustained massive injuries. Killareray has taken severe damage from Rick's stranglehold and is choking on her own blood. Mortally wounded she cares nothing for her life and tries to complete her mission at all costs. She weakly picks up a match stick with her tail and tries to light it on the wooden floor. She knows the resulting explosion will take her as well but is willing to make the sacrifice.

Near death Rick lifts his head to see her attempting to light up. He draws the remaining energy from his body and picks up his saber. He leaps into the air with a battle cry, "Eraah!" Then lands on her with a sunder stroke slash. THUNK! The blade goes right into the floor. Killareray spits out some blood and dies not knowing she has been cut in half. The mongoose says, "Yippee ki-yay to you too!" Instead of resting to replenish his life force he decides to grovel down and eat some of her meat first. Rick says, "My bleeding has stopped and I don't feel so exhausted anymore. I guess this meat is helping."

Grover, who had since made his way back in walks into the mess hall carefully not to step on the bloody mess. He had his vest, helmet and shield, but carried a javelin with one broken tip. The beaver says, "Helio and Telio were pretty sure of themselves about the dam's destruction so they went off to the squirrel city to warn everyone. I decided to take the risk and make another attempt to save this dam so I came back in. After all a captain must go down with his ship." Rick stops licking his wounds and replies, "But In your case the foreman has to go down with his dam. But thanks to me probably not."

As dawn approaches a male squirrel scout hurries down the west bank to the dam. He sees the girl scout and felt forewarned. The scout peeks inside the dam's lower entrance and had a feeling of dread to not go in. Just then Grover walks out carrying the explosives that were once armed and ready in the mess hall. The beaver says, "Howdy scout. Don't have to worry about the dam anymore. The threat has been removed as you can see here." The scout says, "Ha ha ha! Those red sticks a threat to that giant dam?" Grover is curious about Killareray's skill with the explosive and decides to try one himself. The beaver says, "Since you don't believe me allow me a demonstration." The scout says, "Ha ha. Go for it."

With a flick Grover strikes the ground and lights the match. He starts a M-80 and throws it farther down the bank. Then he whips the match into the river to put it out. BOOM! The scout instinctively ducks behind Grover. The beaver says, "Ha ha ha. Who's got the last laugh now?" The scout now stands up again and says, "I'll begin digging a deep hole for these dangerous things immediately. I'll see to it that these weapons will never be used against Hokuten Dam again. I'll bury them as well for that is the safest procedure. It will be done. Scout's honor." Grover says, "Good. Look over there the twins and more squirrels from the city are rushing this way."

Out of breath Helio says, "I'm back with backup. We can still save the dam!" Grover says, "Ease on down now. Rick killed Killareray. Good thing all of you came we got some cleaning up to do." One of the female squirrels who is also a skilled climber made her way up the side of the dam and into the mess hall. She sees Rick sitting down and resting. The squirrel says, "My name is Torella and you must be Rick our savior. I see that you are wounded. I'm a chemist and I will help you." She removes a little sack tied around her waist and opens it. The squirrel says, "This is a powder form of the Revisa leaf. It will help speed recovery." She pours the medicine over Rick and he takes a deep breath.

The mongoose says, "Thank you. I feel as though I can walk again." He gathers his things and disappears down the hallway toward the medical ward. Torella soon notices squirrels entering the mess hall with wooden buckets of salt water and wooden brushes too. Many began cleaning the residue of battle off the walls and off the floors. She walks to the window to see the morning light. Looking downward she sees male squirrels digging a deep hole for the explosives. Other males who were part of a search crew can be seen leaving the dam carrying explosives that were once hidden about. Many female squirrels can be seen digging individual graves for the beavers and the girl scout.

As Torella looked on she sees 2 male squirrels have just arrived from the city bearing a stretcher which carried Morsol's soggy remains. Curious about the place she roams the halls and comes to a burnt entranceway. One glance around reveals Telio scrubbing away at what was left of Targon and Gortho. Without looking at her he said sadly, "At least all our fallen comrades are taken out of the dam now." Torella now makes her way down to the cellar. A group of squirrels have finished patching up the water breech with new logs jammed together.

By noon Hokuten Dam is repaired and cleaned. The bodies and explosives along with the remaining match sticks are now properly buried and marked. Rick wakes up from his sleep on a bed of woodchips. He checks himself over to discover that he has completely recovered. Grover walks in and says, "Looks like you're doing much better. Follow me. There's a room in the dam for you now." The beaver leads him to a room with a southern view of the outside and says, "This place use to be Pargun's. I'm sure he would want you to have it." Grover looks outside to see everyone gathered on the west bank. The beaver says, "I think a hero's ceremony is in order. You stay here and I'll get them."

As Grover left Rick decides to head back to the medical ward to get his belongings and memorabilia to show off to the visitors. Soon all the mammals enter the room to see the mongoose proudly standing next to his wall of trophies. Everyone starts to admire the krait skeleton as well as some of her skin. The kukri on the wall is now cleaned but carries the scars of many battles. Morsol's shield is still marked by the sword dance and Grover's damaged javelin also hang on one of the walls. High up on the wall is the saber. One look at it and Grover's jaw dropped.

The beaver says, "I never thought I'd see that weapon. Where'd you find it Rick?" He replies, "It appeared after the cellar was destroyed. I'm guessing it was hidden in the wall." Grover says, "What you have there is the Hokuten saber. It once belonged to Hokuten Beaver, the founder and foreman for the construction of this dam." Rick recalls, "Wow. I guess this sword is around 58 years old." Grover says, "It's probably older than that. The story goes that Hokuten himself came here from the north using that saber as a symbol of leadership. It is said he also used it to boost his crew of beavers morale during this place's construction."

"This is quite a story. Please continue." says Torella. Grover continues, "Hokuten practiced countless hours with that sword but never saw combat. It was his prized possession so he told no one where he hid it. Sadly 3 years after the dam was completed a room collapsed during an earthquake and Hokuten was crushed to death by a huge log beam. His body was pulled from the ruins and sent back up north for burial in his home village." Helio speaks out, "I'm sure he'd be proud you used it in the defense of this place named after him."

All the animals in the room began to chatter about the story Grover told and about Rick's adventure last night. From the stories the baby squirrels heard, they used rock chisels to draw pictures on the walls. Everyone soon hears flapping of wings getting louder. Suddenly a Great Horned Owl flies in and says, "I'm the commander of this region's headquarters and the story of last night's feat has reached me." Rick says, "Hello again commander. This was quite an assignment you gave me. Heh heh." The owl says, "You are to be commended for your actions. I brought this golden medal of honor with your name on it. May it hang on your wall for all time." The mongoose thanks the owl and hangs the gold plated bottle cap on his wall. Most of the mammals in the room had never seen such an item before and kept their gaze. Rick sees his reflection on the award and smiles back proudly. THE END