Bleusnout was watching Larry carefully. Larry had been stable for a long time, and seemed to slowly be getting better. The Cheese Master had mostly quit worrying about him. His decision to let Larry stay in the Hollow after his transformation had not been an easy one. Larry terrified most of the Hollow. To the average ratkin he was both a monster that could tear them apart at any moment, and a reminder of what could happen to any of them.

But Bleusnout had seen that some of the youngster’s personality still remained. It was muted, and overlaid with a desire to eat and fight, and his overall intelligence had gone down as much as his strength had increased. But there was still a good chunk of Larry inside, and the true berserker had yet to emerge. With time, patience, and a firm hand the chef had had hopes of helping Larry recover. It took a year to restrain his food urges. Larry only took meals with Bleusnout, and ate what was put in front of him. That had been step one.

Showing that Larry could control the fiend side of him meant that the Hollow saw that Larry was under control. Rather than terrifying, he became simply scary. True, not many people used the door near where Larry sat on the porch for hours, but they also didn't run screaming if they saw him nearby. He was always polite. That helped the most. He did ask for cheese a lot, but so did many young whelps. Many of the Hollow came to see Larry as just a slightly bigger child, not a mobile murder machine that could go crazy at any moment.

So, it had been a horrifying shock when Larry growled at the Ringtail and Tweedle. Anyone within a hundred feet of the mess hall had heard that growl. The primitive sound had triggered their 'Freeze or Flee' instinct, and everyone in the building trembled and wondered what would happen next. It took all of Bleusnout's willpower to keep smiling and calmly walk to the door where he overheard the conversation between the three of them.

"Sneaky guys can't fool Larry! Larry's nose knows who you are."

Well, that certainly confirmed how sharp Larry's sense of smell was. As the conversation turned to jelly beans, some of the tension in the Cheese Master relaxed, only to go back up as Larry started talking about 'Blue Boxes'. Everything Bleusnout knew about cheese fiends indicated that they didn't learn new skills easily, if at all. He was thrilled Larry had learned to dance, but put that down to the effects of a powerful magic item. Larry had told him about his 'dancing ring' and 'weasel slippers' given to him by Tallsqueak. He was less thrilled about Larry gaining the skill Chase Prey.

A stable Larry, begging for an extra bowl of little fishies for breakfast was something the Hollow could handle. And Larry dancing the Happy Hamster Hop was seen by all as a good thing. He would have to caution Tweedle and Ringtail to not mention Larry's new skill to anyone. He was also going to have a long talk with Old Healer about his 'sneaky guys', as Larry called them. He needed to forbid any of them from getting Larry angry and chasing them. As the three started dancing together, more tension left Bleu Snouts spine. He wiped sweat from his brow, and put a smile on his face as he walked back to his griddle. "More puffcakes for anyone? There's plenty for everyone." He set aside another three plates and piled them high for Larry and his new friends. They'd be hungry after dancing.

Ringtail and Tweedle were congratulating each other on still being alive as they made their way home, when one of them, and they were never sure who, got a bad feeling. They instantly went back-to-back, checked the ceiling and shadows. It was a disgusted Charlotte that emerged from a nearby shadow, having failed to score any points. "What are you two to up to?"

"Such a strange question?"

"Very open ended?"

"Not specific at all..."

“And yet, we get asked that a lot!”

"As if we are up to anything!"

"Not us. Maybe you mean those two people sitting by the window in the mess hall?"

"You should go check."

"We'll wait right here for you to get back..."

Their cousin barely tolerated them normally. Right now, they could tell she was several steps past annoyance. They wondered just how much further they could wind her up? Charlotte had a lot of ways to wind her up, if you twisted her tail just right. They practiced whenever they could.

"What the hell were you doing talking to Larry? You were even dancing with him! And why are you dressed that way?"

"Do you like our new attire?"

"I put this ensemble together on the fly..."

"We just had nothing to wear."

"And burlap is just perfect for picking mushrooms."

"Most of the stains come right out."

"I hear this is the fashionable choice in New Prestibule this season"

"It brings out the color of my eyes!"

"You should try burlap, darling, that outfit you have on now makes you look fat."

"She's not taking care of herself, is she?"

"Too much time longing for Tallsqueak to come sweep her off her feet."

She took a step forward, snarling. They stepped back, and each moved to flank her.

"Careful Charro. Don't do anything you'd regret."

"Only Petey gets to bend our legs."

"We don't play with you anymore. You're too stabby."

"And we aren't 'sneaky guys' anymore."

"We promised. So, no fighting with us."

"You'd hurt us...maybe..."

"And Larry would hear our pitiful cries of pain"

"And you'd get to find out just how fast our friend Larry is."

Char noticed with approval their continued small steps to bring her into the optimal position for a two on one attack. "Grandfather sent you to make friends with Larry, didn't he? After I turned down his 'secret mission'? Is that what this is all about?"

"She's smart, isn't she."

"She sees the obvious."

"And doesn't need a telescope."

"But still misses part of the story."

"We volunteered."

"You left open a door..."

"...and we stumbled through it."

"And got extra puffcakes!"

"Maybe a new skill..."

"Maybe a lot of AGI experience..."

"Heard a story..."

"Made a friend..."

"Good times."

Charlotte glared at them. "I want to know about this secret mission. You'll tell me when you find out."

"Oh, of course."

"Wouldn't keep you out of the loop."

"No betrayals on our part."

"Like what you did with the scavenger hunt..."

"And when you were our partner in Team Surprise..."

"Or when you planted jelly beans under our pillows."

"We trust you. Of course, we'll tell you."

"Because we are 'The Village Idiots who'll never learn'."

"Goodbye Char, Won't get far, with her Brain in a Jar."

"Off to see Grandfather."

The two backed away carefully from her and made their way to the clan caverns.

"I'd forgotten that one. She hates that rhyme."

"It's a good rhyme. Classic."

"One of Petey's best."

"Let's teach it to the littlest whelps, so they know it and can sing it at dinner."

Knocking on their grandfather’s door, they entered and took seats. Old Healer looked up from where he was studying a book on alchemical remedies. "Back so soon?"

"Yes. We are indeed back."

"And soon means on time?"

"Rare for us."

"But we report success."

"Friends with Larry."

Their Grandfather closed the book. "Good. Very good. I will let Tallsqueak know. He'll be taking you somewhere. Do what he says. If you complete this mission successfully, it will count as your final for the year, and you will be full-fledged Shadow Skulkers."

The two looked at each other and sighed. So close, and yet a promise was a promise.

"We aren't Shadow Skulkers..."

"We are not-sneaky-guys."

"We promised Larry. And.."

"...he is our friend."

"We want to train as Scouts."

"Good guys. Defend the Hollow."

"Scouts. How convenient. I agree. Your first mission as scouts is to go find Tallsqueak tomorrow after lunch and go with him on a scouting mission."

The two left his office.

"We should go find Petey."

"So he can bend out legs?"

"I was thinking we should let him know we are scouts."

"Oh, right, Char will be annoying him now, not us."

"She hates competition."

"Char hates a lot of things."

"It will be fun watching char annoy Petey."

"More fun watching Petey bend her legs."

"Best day ever!"