Chit was busy writing a few 'past' manifestoes (in case another courier
showed up, or Loren called) when he sensed someone unfamiliar standing
behind him (probably by scent, he figured later, going over the incident
in his mind). He grabbed his laser and whirled.

"Eep!" one of the strangers chittered, jumping back into the main corridor
while the other just froze.

"Who are you?" Chit asked, "What side are you on?"

"We're on your side [flick]," the one still in the room replied.

"Which side do you think that is?" Chit asked, "I'm not on anyone's side."

"But your own?" The squirrel [greetingsflick]ed. "I'm Sly, this is my mate,
Iris." The squirrel in the hallway [saluteflick]ed. "We've come to serve you."

Chit looked the pair over. 'Red' (gray) squirrels, third generation, 
Sylvie's age. The female wore an armband with the new UCirc logo. Both wore
gear that would be impossible to camoflauge. "You talked to the courier,
didn't you?"

"We... overheard [flick]," Sly replied.

"You *do* know it's complete kaka, don't you?" Chit asked, setting down the
laser. Neither of them looked like much of a threat.

Sly looked at Iris. "We know you made up the part about meeting the 
resistance," he said, "But the rest..."

"Look," Chit said, "You're welcome to stay here, we'd love the company, 
but I'm not your leader. I'm not anyone's leader."

"You *are* our leader," Sly said solemnly, pulling a large book (large for
a squirrel, which was about as small as you could make it and still have the
paper fold) from a pouch on his back and setting it on the ground between 
them. "It is fortold."

Chit looked down at the ragged volume. "The prophecies of Loren."

"From the house of bondage
 From the eye of the storm, 
 from the heart of darkness,
 is a squirrel born."

Chit looked at Iris as she finished the first verse. "That's supposed to be
me, I suppose. [shrug] I don't see it." She glared at him. "The 'house of
bondage' is UCirc, since that's where er we were all enslaved, but *all* of
us come from there. The 'eye of the storm' could be NoCo, or ToledoWarren, 
or any of a bazillion other safish places. As for the 'heart of darkness'..."

"WOMBAT?" Sly suggested.

Chit squinted, then shook his head. "Nah. They weren't that dark or that
powerful. And I was born in UCirc, not over in Colorado."

"The words of prophecy are often difficult to comprehend," Iris said softly,
and continued. "In a land of misery --"

"You have *got* to be kidding!" Chit said, wincing at the pun.

"Stop it! [chitter]" she screeched, "This is the vision of the future, from
a true prophet!!! Do not mock it!"

"Loren? A true prophet? [sneer] Just stop it right there, I don't want to
 hear any more."

"Relax," Sly said, calming his mate, "He doesn't have to believe it, it will
still come to pass."

"You're wrong," Iris chittered, "He has to believe."

"Not to get in the way of your little holy war, but what am I supposed to do,
anyway?" Chit asked, flipping over the cover sheet. The writing inside was in
a peculiar scratcy script he'd never seen. Chitter, maybe? He hadn't known
there was a written version. Which would explain why he couldn't read it. 
"If it isn't 'Live a long, boring life' I'm afraid you're not going to get
much cooperation on my part..."

Iris opened her mouth, but a glare from Chit and Sly shut it before she
started. "You're supposed to unite the squirrels," Sly said. "'Rejoin the
circle that was broken.' [flick]"

"But inciting yet another rebellion? [chuckle] I still don't see why you
think it's me," Chit said, "Those verses were incredibly vague."

"Well, you didn't let us get to the good parts! [flick] It mentions you by
name!" Sly flipped past several pages and placed his paw on what looked to
Chit like a scratch-mark like any other. "See? It says the chosen one will
be named Chit!"

==
Chit                                    (D'oh!)