Freiyon Fables A Tail To Remember

Waving good-bye to the ex-prisoners as they worked their way over the rocks to the ship, Micklang and his friends were happy to be getting going again. For some reason, they felt like prisoners themselves when they were on the island, even though no-one was forcing them to stay there.

None the less, they headed South-east with all speed without another thought.

Micklang noticed that the boat was built to suit both humans and animals, wondering if Emily minded the fact she was now working for animals, not just with them.

Emily, however, was having a great time helping the animals. Whenever anyone needed help with anything, she was there and willing to use her strength and height wherever possible.

“Emily, could you get me up to the crows’ nest? I need to do watching duty.” Jarryd asked Emily.

“No, that’s not the way to stroke, here I’ll show you. Be with you in a minute, Jarryd.” Emily said, helping some of the rowers.

“She certainly knows what she’s doing, doesn’t she Micklang?” A voice asked, startling Micklang.

Micklang turned around and saw Abrigail looking at him approvingly.

“I feel guilty for wanting to leave her behind when we first met her. Do you think I was too mean and unforgivable to her?”

“You had every reason to be angry, Micklang. You know what humans are like, we don’t. I know you felt we should’ve avoided meeting her, but think of it this way: if we hadn’t of been forced to come on shore, we wouldn’t have saved her and she wouldn’t be with us, helping us in every way possible.”

At that moment, Micklang had an idea.

“Why don’t we show Emily our little surprise we have for her?”

“Now? Well, I suppose it is almost night-time. Yes, we shall. Ask her to come with us, Micklang. Give her a break from her duties for a while.”

Emily was sitting down when Micklang came to her.

“Micklang, my friend, I want to thank you for giving me freedom from that island and allowing me to come with you on this quest.” Emily said.

“You’re very welcome, Emily. By the way, we have a little surprise for you in the sleeping quarters. Would you like to see it?”

“Well, certainly. I love surprises, unless they’re bad surprises, if you know what I mean.” Emily replied, winking at Micklang.

Micklang led her down into the sleeping quarters and opened a door just big enough for Emily to fit through.

Emily gasped when she saw what was in the room.

“How did … when did … this is fantastic Micklang.” Emily stammered, staring at the bedroom they had prepared for her.

“It’s built just for you and your needs, Emily. Because everyone in our big group is important to us in every way, we wanted to make you feel like one of our friends.”

“But, when did you do it?”

“During the time when we were building the ship, of course. Every time we went up and down you for certain things, we whispered your precise height to each-other so we could build it to fit you and any of your personal things in here.”

“And what’s the bed made of, leaves and feathers?”

“Exactly, you’ll find it’s as soft as a lamb’s fur, and completely impossible to judge as uncomfortable.”

Emily sat on the bed and bounced a bit.

“You’re right, this is fantastic. Micklang, how can I thank you? You’ve made me feel great.” Emily said, trying to stop tears coming to her face.

“You don’t have to do anything, Emily. You’re part of our group now, a traveller just like we are. This is your home now, and we’re your family.”

“My … family? You want me to be part of your group forever?” Emily asked, tears of joy coming to her face.

“It was your choice, Emily. And you made the right decision.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Micklang.” Emily said, picking Micklang up suddenly and giving him a kiss.

Then she placed him back on the ground, and the brave squirrel smiled an started to head out of the door. However, Emily called him back.

“Micklang … are you sure you don’t want a rest yourself? You could sleep with me if you want to.”

Micklang smiled.

“Why thank you, Emily. I’m sure there’s nothing stopping me from doing so. Just don’t be surprised if you find I’ve disappeared during the night,”

Emily got onto her bed and Micklang hopped up next to her.

“You don’t mind?”

“I always loved animals. You’ll be fine with me, Micklang.”

Abrigail happened to be passing Emily’s room during the night and thought he heard several other voices in the room.

Opening the door quietly, the first thing he saw was Emily, but as he worked his way up to where she was sleeping, he saw several other animals sleeping with her, among them Micklang and Oliver’s otter gang. Abrigail chuckled silently and left the room.

Everything was going better than they thought.

“LAND HO!” A proud voice exclaimed when morning arrived.

Emily woke with a start and felt funny tingling sensations all over her body.

“Goodness!” She exclaimed, seeing all of Micklang’s friends (except Abrigail, Frebil and Jarryd) lying on the bed with her.

“LAND HO!” Jarryd’s voice announced again.

Immediately, all the animals with Emily sat up and ran down the bed and out the door.

The only one that stayed behind was Micklang, as he woke slowly and looked at Emily.

“Did I disturb you?” Micklang asked.

“Disturb? Oh, goodness, no! You and your friends were quite a comfort. Slept like a fluffy rabbit with your comfort to keep me warm.”

“My friends? What are you talking about?”

“Never mind, Micklang. Just be happy to know I had a wonderful night.”

Micklang smiled and hopped down out of the bed and out the door, ready for another adventure.

“So, what is it this time, Jarryd? Another deserted island for us to explore?” Abrigail asked Jarryd the otter as he came down from the crows’ nest.

“Not this time, I’m afraid sir. This time, I was surprised to see a dock and buildings on the island.”

“Eh? Buildings? You mean, like tents and things like that?”

“Uh, no. I mean big buildings, VERY big. Gigantic, in fact. Buildings I have never seen before in my life.”

“What seems to be the problem?” Micklang asked, appearing next to Jarryd.

“Well, Jarryd says he sees buildings on the island we’re about to come across.” Abrigail explained.

“Probably just some settlements like castles or maybe tents.”

“Well that’s what I thought, but Jarryd says they’re not the sort of buildings we know. Right, Jarryd?”

“I’m afraid so, Micklang. Those buildings were made completely out of metal and there was wire and strange vehicles going around the island.”

“Sounds awfully familiar to me.” Emily said, appearing behind Micklang.

“Me as well, Emily. I don’t like the sound of it at all. Do you think we should go there none the less?”

“Why bother? What are we gonna get from them? Sympathy and rejoice? Hardly. Especially with the fact that you are an escaped animal, Micklang.”

“So, what should we do?”

“Turn around, head back to the other island as quickly as possible. We are not landing here.”

“What’s wrong, Micklang? Why are we avoiding that island?” Abrigail asked.

“Frebil, turn around immediately, we’re going back north.” Micklang ordered.

“Will someone please tell me why we’re avoiding THIS Island?”

Micklang and Emily turned to Abrigail and both answered at the same time.

“This is the human world.”

“What?” Abrigail asked, astonished.

“I don’t know how, but we’ve somehow ended up in the opposite world to ours. Coincidently, the human world. The ONE place we didn’t want to go.” Micklang explained.

“Are you telling me that we are now in the world you originally were prisoner in, Micklang?”

“I’m afraid so. That is why we must go back to the island with all speed.”

Abrigail nodded, understanding them now.

“So we’re agreed, we’re going to go back to the island where we found and rescued Emily.” Brushtail said, who had over-heard the conversation and wanted to say something.

“Full reverse! We’re getting outta here.” Abrigail called.

On land, several people were walking along the docks, unpacking things from a boat. Among them were three police-men who had been investigating the mysterious disappearance of a “Young Miss Emily Carper” that had been reported missing four months ago, and were starting to wonder if she was never to be seen again.

“What’s all this then? How very odd. That ship was heading towards the docks with full speed, and now it’s turning around. Looks very suspicious, doesn’t it?” One of the police-men, the oldest of the three, asked, pointing at Emily’s ship.

“What do you think? A gang of pirates or terrorists that don’t want to risk being caught?” The youngest (39 he was) replied.

The oldest turned to the captain of the boat that was being unpacked.

“You mind if we borrow your boat to catch those pesky pests for a few minutes, sir?”

“Sure you can have it, chief, would you like me to call for back-up?”

“Probably should, just in case. Tell them to bring more boats with them, though.”

“Not a problem, chief.”

Micklang climbed up to the crow’s nest and looked back at the docks, only to find they were being pursued.

“Oh, no! WE’VE GOT COMPANY!” Micklang cried back down to Abrigail.

“I was afraid of this.” Emily said.

“What’s going on?” Abrigail asked Emily.

“They’ve spotted us and now they’re sending the police after us.”

“Police?”

“Law enforcers, and judging by the amount of boats they have, I’d say they have mistaken us for terrorists, and let me tell you, that’s not a good thing for us.”

“Then we should go faster?”

“You could try, but these boats have things called motors, makes them faster than a sailing ship like this.”

“So, what do we do?”

“There’s only one thing we CAN do.”

“What’s that?”

“Fight for freedom.”

Abrigail smiled as he ordered the crews to get ready to fight.

Emily sighed as she looked back at the on-coming police boats.

“Sorry about this, chaps, but I don’t belong with you anymore.” Emily mumbled to herself.

“Stop your boat, this is the London police squad, please state your name and your business here.” The chief of police announced, as they surrounded Emily’s fantastically built ship a few moments later.

“Ready to fire on Emily’s mark.” Abrigail whispered to his crew.

Micklang stared at the police boats from behind the barrier, smiling to himself.

Emily looked at them and unsheathed Micklang’s sword from his belt, which Micklang had managed to fit onto her earlier.

“Belay that talk, ye snivelin’ sausages. Ye be talking to Captain Harriet Jarvis, the first English lady pirate, and this be my ship you’ve come across. Our business here is none of your concern, so begone with ye before I tell me crew to fire. We don’t take friendly to strangers.” Emily announced, glaring at them angrily.

“She’s used my name, did you hear that Micklang? She used MY name.” Harriet whispered to Micklang.

Micklang smiled and brought Harriet down next to him.

“Stay down and keep quiet, you don’t want to miss this.”

The chief was scratching his head, trying to figure out if he had heard the name before.

“May I ask why you came charging to the landing docks a few minutes ago and then turned around as quickly as possible, Captain Harriet?” The chief asked.

“Me crew were asleep, including the steerer. We had no intention of landing on yonder shore; our plan is to see other lands. But seeing as we have created such a fuss, maybe we WILL stay after all, eh lads?” Emily announced, turning to the crews and showing them the ‘cheer’ signal.

They all cheered as loudly as possible, being careful not to jump around or throw their possessions while they shouted.

The police had to block their ears for a few moments before the cheering stopped.

“So, tell me ‘London police squad’, why did my ship create such a fuss to your fair harbor on this day, maybe ye didn’t have a mommy to whine to and so decided to get the candy yourself, eh? Hehehe!” Emily chuckled, not having to make a signal to create more laughter from Micklang and his friends.

The police looked surprised and assaulted.

“Now listen here, missy. Captain or not, we English do NOT like that sort of talk from anyone, do you hear? I’m afraid I have no choice but to …”

“To what? Shoot your small, toy guns? Oh, I’m so scared. Whatever shall I do? Maybe something like … shooting you with our cannons?” Emily interrupted, signalling to the crews to show the cannons.

The chief gulped when he saw the cannons appear out from all over the ship, all pointed directly down at his and the other police’s boats.

“What do ye think now, mister ‘big shot’?”

That’s when she went too far, and the chief automatically recognized who it was.

“Lower your weapons, all of you! I know who it is.” The chief commanded.

Emily’s face was replaced with a scared look, suddenly realizing her mistake.

“Emily?” Micklang asked, looking at her in wonder.

“Turn the ship away.” She ordered quickly.

“Why?”

“Just do it!” She ordered again, only realizing too late she had announced it loudly.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t young Emily Carper, the cheeky daughter of my best friend, Hillary Carper. We’ve been looking for you for four months now, it seemed that you disappeared off the earth altogether! And now, here you are, on a big ship with an unidentified crew with a fake name that you always loved to use when you were younger.” The chief said, stroking his beard as he remembered the time when Emily was little.

“Chief Charley, it’s not what you think. I’m not REALLY a pirate captain on this ship; I was saved by some friends who brought me here without knowing it. I came up with the whole pirate thing because I didn’t recognize you and we thought YOU were the ones to watch out for.”

“Uh, huh. And I suppose it wasn’t your idea to aim those cannon balls at us and use all that fancy pirate talk to scare us away?”

Emily sighed before answering.

“Yes it was, Chief Charley, it was all my idea,”

Micklang, along with all of his friends, gasped. They had all expected Emily to double-cross them, but they never expected her to say that.

“What are you going to do, Chief Charley?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you to court, Emily, you’re under arrest, your crew as well.” Charley replied, pulling out his hand-cuffs.

“Emily, what have you done? What’s going on?” Micklang asked, as the police started climbing up to them.

“Micklang, I’m so sorry about this. We’ve gotten into a big mess, and it’s all my fault. I’m afraid we’re going to prison because of this.”

“Prison? Oh, no! I can’t go to prison, I only just got out of one a few months ago, and I’m meant to explore that other world. Emily, can’t you do something?” Micklang looked at the police as they climbed up towards them.

“The only thing I can do is to support you in court, be your lawyer, convince them to let us go and not arrest us.”

“Oh, I hope you know what you’re doing, Emily.”

“Court in session, Judge Hawthorn taking over.” An officer announced.

Emily, along with Micklang and all his friends were in a court house surrounded by people that they had never seen before. Micklang and his friends, for fear of ‘contamination’, had been placed in small cages separate from each other.

“I thought Emily said she knew what she was doing, Micklang.” Abrigail managed to whisper to Micklang.

“You don’t understand, Abrigail. If we win, we will be able to be free of these cages, but if we don’t, it’s to the zoo for all of us and jail for Emily.”

“The charge here is threatening to kill several royal officers of London and forcing animal cruelty for own purposes. How do you plead?” The judge asked.

“Not guilty, your honour.” Emily replied.

“For both charges?”

“I am guilty for the threatening part, but not the animal cruelty, your honour.”

“Objection, your honour, the proof is right in front of us. Look at those sad animals, they hate her!” Chief Charley’s lawyer said, pointing at Micklang and his friends.

“You can’t prove that, animals are ALWAYS afraid of humans unless they’re pets or have been taken care of in a zoo. Let some come to me and I’ll prove I’m not the animal cruelty-type.” Emily replied.

“Hmm, I’ll allow ONE to go to you.” The judge said.

An officer unlocked Micklang’s cage and let him out.

“It’s alright, Micklang. Come here, buddy.” Emily said, beckoning Micklang to her.

Micklang knew that their lives depended on him doing the right thing, so he ran over to Emily and up to her shoulder.

“Have I done the right thing, Emily?” Micklang asked, whispering in her ear.

“Just wait and see.”

“Your honour, how do we know Emily isn’t using some sort of food or device to attract the creature?” The lawyer asked.

“The guards searched her and the animals on their way in, and found no traces of any food or devices,” The judge replied.

The lawyer shut his mouth, trying to think of something else to say.

“Now, onto another matter. It appears that after being fired from the zoo, you had disappeared for a whole four months without any trace. What happened to you during those four months to stop you from being rescued?”

“There was a huge storm while I was out at sea doing my new job.” Emily replied.

“Ah, yes, the fishing job. That was recorded as the last place you were seen. Please continue.”

“Well, I had to abandon ship because of the storm and take refuge on a deserted island.”

“And that’s where you met these creatures?”

“That’s right your honour.”

“Now, why did you put those clothes and weapons on them?”

“They were already wearing those, your honour.”

“Objection, your honour. It’s impossible for animals to wear clothes unless a human put them on them. That was a downright lie; she has no proof of that!” The lawyer said.

“Overruled. I’m willing to let young Emily explain further, if you are mister.” The judge replied.

Emily sighed with relief as she put Micklang back down onto the floor.

“Watch carefully, your honour. If you’ll be so kind as to let the guards put the clothes they found this creature in on the floor, you’ll see what I mean.”

The guard placed Micklang’s clothes on the floor and immediately Micklang ran back and put them on, placing his sword back in its sheath.

Emily smiled with glee as Micklang made an elegant bow.

“He’s so cute.” Someone called out in the court chairs.

“Objection, your honour, Emily could have asked the critter to do that.” The lawyer argued.

“If I recall, Mister, Emily had barely finished her sentence when the creature ran to the clothes.” The Judge replied.

“But there is still the matter of where her friends are. My client recalls hearing several other voices on the ship these creatures were taken from.”

“Yes, I am curious about that too. Miss Emily, would you explain please, and remember you are under oath to tell the truth.”

“These creatures ARE my friends, your honour. Without them, I wouldn’t be alive.”

“Your honour, you can’t expect to believe what she says, can you? How could animals be able to keep a human alive?” The lawyer argued.

“What’s the matter, never heard of ‘the jungle book’? It’s been done, it CAN be done. I don’t see why it couldn’t be possible with small creatures.”

“That was a FICTIONAL story, and you know it.”

“Order!” The judge interrupted.

“I still can’t see why you can’t believe animals could keep a human alive. They know where good food source is, and why shouldn’t humans try to follow their example?” Emily replied to the lawyer.

“That STILL doesn’t answer the question of where the voices came from on your ship.”

“ORDER!” The Judge shouted.

Emily and the lawyer looked at the judge in surprise.

“Thank you. Now, one at a time please. Emily, could you explain where the voices came from on your ship, bearing in mind that the police searched everywhere on that ship and found no recording devices whatsoever.”

Emily sighed, trying to think of what to say.

“Lunch break, stop for five minutes.” A guard called out, breaking the tension.

“Already? Gee, these cases get quicker every time.” The judge said, walking away.

Emily walked over to Micklang while the guards tended to their lunches.

“Micklang, what am I going to do? If I tell them you can talk they’ll put me in an insanity prison and put you guys in a zoo, but if I say something else, the judge will rule against me and we’ll all end up in a prison. It’s a no-win situation, Micklang, and I’m afraid it’s that chief’s lawyer’s fault.” Emily whispered to Micklang.

“Hmm, seems to me the only way to get out of this is to actually prove that we can talk. But if we do, then what will they do about it?”

“Either they’ll put you in a zoo for entertainment, or they’ll let you free back into the wild and let me go back to my normal life.”

“Do you think it could be the last option?”

“We can only hope. Oh, if only we had someone to help us with this.”

“You have got someone. You’ve got us.”

Emily sighed and smiled weakly at Micklang.

“You are brave; Micklang the warrior, but not even bravery can stop certain things. You’ll find that out sooner or later.”

As Emily walked away to have lunch, Micklang set to work spreading an idea amongst his friends.

“This court case continues, Judge Hawthorne on the stand. Please sit.” The guard announced, as lunch break finished.

“Now, before the lunch break I asked you a question, Emily, which you didn’t answer. Have you considered your answer now?” The judge asked.

“I have your honour.” Emily replied.

“And …?”

“My answer is, these animals can talk in plain English!”

Everyone gasped, a few people said ‘that’s preposterous’ and one lady fainted... for some reason.

“Objection, your honour, I can well understand the fact that these animals were one of the keys to Emily’s survival on that island she came across, but to say that these animals can talk is completely …”

“True.” Micklang interrupted.

Everyone stared at Micklang in surprise.

Judge Hawthorne raised his eyes at Micklang.

“You can talk?” The Judge asked Micklang.

“Yes, I can, and so can all of these other animals in cages as well.”

Emily smiled with relief.

“What is your name, if you have one that is?”

“Micklang, your honour.”

“Micklang? Isn’t that the name of the squirrel that escaped from the zoo you were fired from, Emily?” The Judge asked, turning to Emily.

“Yes it is, your honour.”

“Am I to believe that you named this creature after the same squirrel that caused you to lose your job?”

“No, your honour. That is his real name; that is the same squirrel from the zoo. He even knew who I was on the island, before I told him my name.”

“And, if this is true, which I’m finding very hard to believe it IS, how did he end up the way he is now, with completely different colour fur and a lightning-shaped tail?”

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that, your honour.”

“Perhaps Micklang can?”

“When I escaped from the zoo, your honour, I had to climb over a fence to get to the forest beyond. When I reached the top and touched a particular wire, I got zapped by something electrical and was transformed into what you see in front of you.” Micklang explained.

“Something electrical? Like an electric fence?”

“Objection, your honour, while police were investigating the case of Emily while she was missing, they explored the zoo as well and found no signs of anything unusual about the electric fence surrounding the zoo.” The lawyer argued.

“But they never TOUCHED it, did they?” The Judge asked, raising his eyes at the lawyer.

“Well, no, but they tested it with an electric wire tester.”

“But that’s not an animal, is it?”

“No, your honour.”

“Well, I know how this is going to end, so I might as well end it now. I rule in favour of … Miss Emily and her animal friends.” The judge exclaimed, thumping down his hammer.

“YES!” Micklang and his friends cheered.

“As for you, Chief Charley, I think you should learn the meaning of the phrase ‘joking around’. Even a grown-up woman like Emily can muck around every now and then. Case dismissed.” The Judge said.

“Oh, your honour, what about the animals?” One of the guards asked.

“Well, seeing as Emily learned from them and they like her so much, I think it would be wise to put them back in her care, don’t you?”

With great reluctance, the guards released all the animals and let them run straight to Emily.

Micklang, who was the first to reach her, cried with delight.

“We did it, Emily! Now we can continue our adventures together!”

“We certainly can, Micklang, once we figure out how.” Emily replied.

It was a strange sight that walked through the town of London that day. Emily and Micklang, along with all the other animal friends, didn’t have any choice but to walk back to the docks where their boat was waiting.

As they went along, kids and adults stared in wonder, trying to figure out if they should laugh or panic about so many animals being let loose.

“Great! Our boat is still there, and it looks like they’ve removed the ‘stay away’ barriers. Shall I give the orders, or would you like to Abrigail?” Emily asked the mouse when they arrived at the docks.

“Be my guest, Captain Harriet.”

“All hands on deck, prepare to sail south. Master Frebil, please take control of the helm.”

“Right away captain.” Everyone replied.

“If it’s alright with you, Harriet, I think it’d be safe to let Emily keep that name until we’re back in the other world.” Micklang said to Harriet.

“That’s fine with me, but only until we get to the other world, after that, it’s her normal name we should use.” Harriet replied.

Micklang nodded in agreement and followed Harriet on board the ship.

“Everyone accounted for?” Emily asked Abrigail.

“Both my crew, Brushtail’s crew and Oliver’s otters are accounted for, captain.” Abrigail replied, chuckling at the fact he wasn’t being called captain for once.

“Micklang, all our weapons available?” Emily asked Micklang.

“Yes, captain.”

“Then let’s be off. Next stop, the animal world!”

Everyone cheered as the anchor was pulled up, Frebil turned the ship around, and they sailed off back to the no-longer-deserted island.

“This is the life, eh boys?” Abrigail said, waving his hat in the air proudly.

“You got that right, Abrigail.” Micklang replied.

The waves lapped against the ship and Frebil carefully and calmly steered them in the right direction. All hopes were high, all had the feeling of joy returning.

But, unknown to them, a stowaway was on board, one which would change everything for them, in a way they never expected.

“So, tell me Micklang. What did your adventures consist of after you escaped from the zoo? You must have come a long way to be where we are now.” Emily asked, sitting down next to Micklang and Harriet.

“Yeah, tell us the blank spaces Micklang. There are some parts that even I don’t know about.” Abrigail replied.

“That’s right, what was all that business with those trees I saw when we had the bridge attack?” Oliver asked (If you recall that far back, he didn’t hear the fact that Micklang had visited Tursorl and his tree gang).

Once again, Micklang had to recount all the things that had happened to him before they had met Emily, with the occasional addition from Abrigail, Oliver, Harriet or Melody.

Because this was the ordinary human world they were in, Micklang’s moods had no effect on the weather, but it didn’t need to, it was a beautiful sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky.

When Micklang finished at the part when they came across the island where they discovered Emily, he looked up and smiled.

“Well, you know the rest. I mean, you’ve all experienced THAT part of the adventure, I don’t think there’s any reason for me to go on.” Micklang said.

“There’s still a few things that confuse me, Micklang.”

“Huh, do you think I went through all of that without having a BIT of confusion, Emily? We all are a bit confused about certain things.”

“Well, I suppose so, but how do you explain the book you found that had everything about you in it?”

“To be honest, Emily, I think it was a fraud book just created to put in that wall. It just HAPPENED to be about me.”

“You really think so, Micklang?”

“That’s the idea that I got when Oscar realized there were mistakes in it. Of course, that was before he was killed.”

“So, you think it was all just a coincidence that it just managed to be about you?”

“Yeah, I don’t even know why I kept the book in the first place.”

“What, you still have it?”

“Of course, but I just wanted to look at it every chance I could.”

“Do you mind if I see it?”

Micklang ran into the sleeping chambers and retrieved the book, handing it to Emily.

“Micklang, there’s definitely something wrong with this book, and it’s not just the names. Have a look at this, it says here that we get a stowaway on board the ship, one that is planning to kill you. It says that it’s someone you’ve met before, but has somehow managed to become a human.” Emily said, after reading the book.

“And that, I’m afraid, IS the truth.” A creepy voice announced out of nowhere.

Everyone gasped with surprise as a young male human stepped out from behind a barrel, with a gun in his hand.