"That sounds like someone that I might actually get along with! Good work, boys, lead the way!" Beezli said, and the guards took the lead.

Tag and Sig led the women into the village, but all were surprised by the state of the people they saw. The Snake Folk were primarily covered in scales, and there were many different patterns and colors, but they all looked tired and worn out.

Now that they were closer, the group could see what the Tepees were covered in; Snakeskin. Pelleta was the first to speak of her concerns as she looked around at the people.

"This must be why all these people look so ragged! They are using their own skin to make tent coverings, but with the sun, it will be cooking them alive!" Pelleta said with concern, bleeding from her tone.

"I think that you are right, but this could be something in our favor. This would have to be considered a problem, but now we need to find out what forced the Snake Folk from the caves," Miasma said, but then a voice came from behind Beezli.

"Can I help you?" a female voice hissed, startling Beezli a bit.

"What? Oh, umm, we are looking for Nala? Do you know where she is?" Beezli asked using her most pleasant voice, and the green-skinned woman gave her a disgusted look.

"That witch is in the caves, and if you want to find her, you will have to go there!" The woman said and then turned and limped away.

"You weren't joking? Are you sure that this is the best person for us to see?" Beezli asked, but Tag and Sig both smiled brightly.

"Yes, most definitely! No, I know that she will know for sure! Come, now I know exactly where she is!" Tag said, and then turned left, and then they walked out of the village from a different way than they had entered.

The guards led the girls to a cave that really didn't look much different than the rest of the caves, but the men seemed to recognize it. They waved for the girls to follow, but none of them moved, and the boys turned to give them a strange look.

"No, we are not going in there," Beezli said plainly and crossed both sets of her arms.

"Yes, now that we are here, I am feeling a strange aversion to going into that dark tunnel without any type of light," Pelleta said with embarrassment, and she pushed her face into the side of Beezli's voluptuous breasts to hide.

"Ashia would have a fit if any of us went in there, so I will just wait out here with the others. If you would like, I can call Messia over, and she can join you two if you are scared to go in alone," Miasma said, but while looking away from the boys.

Both the men let out long sighs and then looked at each other. They both shrugged and were about to turn to go in, but then Sig turned back to them.

"I think you should get Messia to come and stay with you three while we go inside. I also think that it would be an excellent plan to get some of the other guards down here and the other Wives in their drones," Sig said, and then Tag also turned back.

"Whatever has forced them out of here must be pretty bad if they would sooner stay in those sweat shacks! I think that we should be prepared for anything at this point," Tag said, and the girls nodded to them.

"Yes, we will call more down, but try not to take too long. We don't want to have to send more people in after you two!" Beezli said as Miasma was already waving to Messia.

"Yes, Messia is coming, and when she gets here, I will have her radio up to do as you said," Miasma said, giving the men a nod.

The two nodded back and then turned to head into the dark cave. The boys knew where they were going, but that didn't make it any less dark in the cave for them.

"What do you think forced them out of the caves? The Snake Folk hate the heat, and they aren't weak people, so I just don't know what would have forced them out," Sig said as they walked deeper into the cave.

The men could see pretty well, but as soon as they turned a corner, the rest of the cave was solid darkness. The Ferret Folk could see in somewhat dark places, but they needed some form of light to see into it.

Without some kind of light source, the men were walking blind, and the girls' words were starting to get to them.

"I don't really need to guess," Tag said, and Sig turned to the sound of his voice.

"You think it is the Predators?" Sig asked.

"Yeah, who else would beagle to do this? I mean, maybe it is something from inside the caves, but the Snake Folk have been living here for longer than either of us have been alive. The chances of it being something like a monster are slim to none. No, I am pretty sure that Nala will tell us the same thing," Tag said, and then the men noticed a tiny bit of light coming from ahead.

"That is reasonable and the most logical thing, but then why didn't that Trent guy just kill them all? If it was Predators, then they would have told someone by now, right?" Sig asked, but Tag shook his head no, and now that there was light, Sig could see it.

"They did tell everyone, but everyone had been getting attacked by the Predators, so I don't think that anyone has really given it a second thought. You and I have been in these caves back when the Snake Folk still lived here, and there are kilometers of tunnels that they have never explored!" Tag said with excitement, but then a growling hiss came from up ahead.