Choose your own adventure: 13

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his.

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 13

You decide following the penguin out of here is probably going to be the best option you have at this point, but you still don't know what happened to the otters. You tell the penguin to listen by the door as you go check out the other prisoners. Perhaps they can help you, or maybe they know what happened to the otters.
"Okay, but hurry! I don't want to be stuck here any much longer! Take too long and I am going without you." he says.
You quickly weigh your options, and decide that the left cell, with the huddled ball of fur, is probably going to be easier to convince to escape, or at least will not eat you. You head over to the cell and peek in. The fur looks up at you. It seems to be a young otter, covering itself in a dirty green cloth.
"..." it says.
You explain to not be scared, and that you are here to help it escape.
"..." it says. But it looks interested.
You open the lock with the key, and help the otter to its feet. It looks at you in thanks, but still doesn't talk. You walk it to the empty cell where the passage is supposed to be.
"Hmm. So I was right. It was an otter child in the cell next to me." the penguin says, looking at the child. "Could use some cleaning up though. I guess I shouldn't complain, one can get pretty dirty in a cell. Look at me."
You look at the penguin. He looks very clean. And distinguished.
You ask how they are doing for time. The penguin says "I have nay heard anything yet, but better to play it safe than sorry. We should head out now."
You tell him to wait, you want to check on the other prisoner.
"Really? That sounds like a terrible idea. I really don't want to deal with... whatever is in there."

You think about it, but are determined. You are sure it is just a wrongfully accused animal. Afterall, why would bad guys imprison another bad guy? So you walk, quietly and carefully, towards the door. You may want to free the creature, but you are not stupid.

As you get closer, you can see what is in the cell. And it sees you. As it bares its fangs at you, you try to decide if freeing a jaguar is a good idea. You approach the cell cautiously, and greet the animal. You explain that you are here to free it, and if it would like to escape its cell and promise not to eat you and your companions, you would be more than happy to open the cell.
"Grrr... Why would you think I would eat you?" it growls at you. Behind the growl seems to be a hint of a smile.
You explain that maybe you are completely in the wrong, perhaps sir jaguar would not eat you or your companions, but you just didn't want to take any chances.
"Why don't you free me, and you will see if I eat you or not?"
You think that doesn't seem to be a good argument. You tell the jaguar that if he promises to not hurt any of you, you will open the door.
"Open the door if you like, but I will make no promises until I see who your companions are."

This doesn't seem to be a good idea.

"Hey kiddo, somethings coming... Whoa, so that's what was making all that noise!" the penguin says as he approaches. "We need to get out of here. Leave that beast."
"Beast? Really. How polite you are." The jaguar says, licking its paw.
"Sorry sir, its just... My mother always said to never trust a carnivore."
You think to yourself, aren't penguins carnivores?
"Well, anyways, we need to go, now. That little otter kid is laying on the floor, freaking out."
You look over, the poor otter is crying in a ball on the floor. You tell the jaguar that this is his last chance.
"Fine. Have it your way." he says.
You open the lock.
"This is a terrible idea." the penguin says. "But too late now. Nice to meet you, sir jaguar. Now follow me everyone, lets get out of here." He walks into the empty cell, pulls a rock aside, and reveals a path. "Follow me" he says. You help the otter to its feet, it seems especially freaked out about the jaguar. You send the otter down the space after the penguin.

Now you and the jaguar are alone in the cell.

It looks at you and licks its lips. It seems to be smiling.

You remember how you thought this was a bad idea.

"Go on, human. I will take the rear." it says.

You are hesitant to turn your back to it, though. You hear noises in the hall.

"Go now. I can take the lizards. I will follow up after." it says as it turns towards the door. "Also, thanks for freeing me." It starts growling, then lets out a loud snarl. You turn and escape down the passage. Behind you you hear lizardmen open the door, and then voices: "Boakes is free! Boakes is free, run for it!" After that you hear yelling and screaming, and then, as you get further down the passage, silence.
You continue to crawl down the passage, it gets darker and darker, and narrower and narrower, but finally you seem to be crawling upwards, and then finally, you see light. You crawl out of the ground to see a wooded grove. Seated on a fallen log are the penguin and the otter child. You approach them.
"So you made it out alive. We were worried." the penguin says. "Congratulations. Where is the jaguar?"
You explain it stayed to fight the lizardmen.
"I guess it probably hated them more than it wanted to eat us. Anyways, now that we are free, what to do now? I am going to head back to finding my ship. I don't know what your plans are, but if you are going my way, I would welcome a traveling companion. And I should thank you for rescuing me. Once I find my ship, you will be hansomely rewarded."
You ask about his ship.
"Oh yes, I guess I haven't even introduced myself yet. My name is Pierre DeLaCroix, but you may know of me better as Captain Marlowe of the famed ship Josephine. At your service."
You bow back to the penguin, and ask Sir Marlowe where his ship is.
"Just call me Pierre, my lad. You have earned it. Last time i saw my ship it was... west of here. If we are where I think we are."
You ask Pierre where that would be.
"I believe we are on the outskirts of the forest of fortune. To the north is the mountains of woe, and past them is the capital, Ellestria. To the west is the port town, Edgeton, which is where I am planning to head."
You then look at the young otter, who seems to have brightened up after hearing Ellestria. You ask it if that is where it wants to go. It nods in reply.
"Poor child. It seems to have clamed up after all the horror it has seen. I tried conversing with it while waiting for you, but even after hours and hours, it wouldn't respond to anything. Ellestria seems to be the first thing it has responed to. Do you have family there, child?" Pierre asks. It nods. "Hmm. Well, I guess, as an honored gentleman, it would be my duty to take you there. I will do my best to get you to your family. Now, what about you, sir. Where are you going?"

You explain your story to the two animals, and then think about your options. Pierre suggests two possible ways to get to Edgeton from where you are:

A: Going through the forest of fortune
B: Going south to the main road, then traveling west.
C: Or you could go north and take the child straight to his family without Pierre.
D: You could also wait around to see if the jaguar shows up. But who knows if it is still hungry?
E: You could also head back to the otter village, although that seems like a mean thing to bring the otter child back to.

(Reply with your vote before monday.)