Author:
Mossyra of the Irresistable Imps
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Date Posted: 02:41:53 06/11/07 Mon
Gufftong, King of all weasels, Lord of the South, Slayer of foes, Conquerer of lands, Tyrant of Deathbog, was worried. A half starved orphan squirrel had been found lying in the snow only a winter ago and she had not spoken a word yet. No sound could be gotten out of her. It was obvious that she was a warrior, yet she was silent. He had met mute beasts before and she was not one. He was sure she was hiding something, but he did not know what. Her eyes were distant, she was always seemed distracted, and her eyes often turned northword, as if she were looking at something. Whatever she saw, it made her shiver in fear before she turned away. He knew nothing of her history and slaves avoided her like a plague. And something else was wrong. He did not know what it was, but something about her tickled at his mind, like a familar smell he couldn't quite place or a person he thought he knew. Something was wrong about her. It tugged at him constantly, like a thought at the edge of his consciousness that fled whenever he reached for it. Then it came to him. She was marked. When a wildcat took a slave, they marked them to assure they wouldn't get away. It was always small and insignificant, something that would fade away after a while but leave the tiniest of impressions for a sharp eye to catch.
Gufftong ordered his guards to bring her, then dismissed them and began to pace. The squirrelmaid watched impassively as he walked back and forth across the room.
He finally broke the silence. "Who marked you?" Gufftong halted and faced her, his face showing anger. "I know you can talk; silence only leads to self-defeat.' She merely watched. "Don't play games with me, squirrel. I will know who marked you and why they're after you." She raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn't reply. "It is a wildcat, that's for sure. Maybe one of the Greeneyes? No, no. Not them. Hmmm. I know. It's a Stripetail. It's Cruelclaw Stripetail. Everybeast knows of the cat that lost his own daughter. Disappeared without a trace. Never seen again. He probably thinks you ran away with her and tracked you just in case you know where she is." If the squirrelmaid felt any surprise, she didn't show it.
Cruelclaw Stripetail was furious. He had tracked the squirrelmaid over land after land, tracking her, getting closer every day. He had actually seen had her at the redstone abbey, but she had escaped his clutches. Leaving the abbey, he had then chased her to this forsaken land in the south. Now, his scouts reported that she was a slave in a weasel fortress at the outskirts of the forest they were currently camped in. A slave they had kidnapped knelt before him, pure terror shining in her eyes. He motioned for her to speak and she promptly whimpered, "The one you seek is inside. She has never uttered a sound and seems constantly fearful." She fell silent, her eyes looking even more afraid. Cruelclaw hissed in frustration. Never had anybeast eluded him so. "Take her to the cages. She will be helpful later." As one of his wildcats took the captured slave away, Cruelclaw looked toward his captain, Redtuft. "Prepare a flag of truce," he sighed. "I will talk with the leader of this fort. For now."
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