The little squirrel was startled from his respite by the sounds of multiple footsteps approaching through the forest. He sat up with a start, his tail standing at alert. As he stood, his head wobbled a bit, from the weight of all the acorns he had stuffed into his now seemingly infinitly expandable cheeks.
A dozen or so squirrels appeared from around the trees and scrub. Unfortunately for Chakik, they were from a different clan than his. Slowly they approached, sniffing the air, looking up at the tree then darting their dark eyes back at the little squirrel. They boldly covered the ground between themselves and the tree Chakik had stripped of acorns. Instinctively Chakik lowered his tail in a sign of submission, knowing he was well outnumbered. From the approaching mass, a mottled squirrel arrived first, his orange and black fur gleaming in the rays of the sun. The squirrel was mostly orange but his paws and tail were jet black. Chakik sat motionless.
The mottled squirrel sat down in front of him as the rest of the group surrounded the tree and Chakik. When they completed the circle, the orange and black squirrel spoke.
“This is our tree.” it hissed from behind clenched teeth. The squirrel paused. “What happened here?” Chakik noticed the squirrel glowered at his cheeks as it spoke, he sat motionless and unanswering. The circle of strange squirrels took a step closer to him in unison. Chakik tried to look unafraid, but he was scared from his whiskers to tail tip.
The strange squirrel approached until he was almost nose to nose with Chakik, never taking his eyes from this bulging cheeks. “What happened here my friend?” it hissed again, standing to its full height, towering over the little squirrel.
Glancing warily around at the animals surrounding him Chakik finally answered, “I g…gathered some acorns.” He immediately flushed at his stammering.
“This tree, and all she gives, is ours.” growled the mottled squirrel. “Return what belongs to us and you may go.” Chakik did not trust this squirrel nor it’s words, but knew he had no choice but to comply.
One by one he spit out the acorns he held in his limitless cheeks.
As the pile of nuts grew in front of him, so did the mottled squirrel’s dark eyes. Soon the pile was much larger than either squirrel but Chakik’s cheeks still held more. The pile grew and grew as Chakik emptied his mouth, all the while the orange and black squirrel watched in silent amazement. Finally the little squirrel spit out the last acorn from his mouth, it tumbled to the bottom of the giant pile, coming to rest at the mottled squirrel’s clawed feet. The other squirrels stood in shocked amazement, their tails twitching as they glanced at each other and the enormous pile of acorns the little squirrel had generated from his cheeks. Chakik heard them murmur things like “magic…evil…amazing…the dragon” as he stood in silence, waiting for the mottled squirrel to speak.
“You are coming with us.” it said, finally breaking the long silence. With barely a glance from their leader, four strong squirrels quickly grabbed Chakik’s limbs and began carrying him off. Behind him he could see the other squirrels stuffing their cheeks with the acorns he had gathered, their cheeks were quickly filled, with barely a noticeable reduction in the pile at all.
The little squirrel did not struggle as he was taken away.