| Subject: A hare, distinctly a traveller, starts telling a story... |
Author:
Skyepaw
[ Edit | View ]
|
Date Posted: 15:27:10 04/13/01 Fri
The Warrior's Trust Parts 1-7:
Skyepaw the hare shaded her eyes with a paw and looked out at the looming mountain ahead of her. It was Salamandastron. She had left it for freedom and adventure, taking with her Thistle, her best friend. She was armed with a long sword, whose blade was engraved with a hare. Thistle had a bow and arrows that had black plumes. They turned away from the mountain and walked towards the rocky outcrop ahead, where they planned to make camp.
"Camp there, wot? They'll find us by dawn, the blighters." Thistle protested. He shifted the haversack on his shoulders and peered up ahead. "Let's go into those bally trees and make camp there."
"Fine, wotever y'say." Skyepaw sighed.
Once they were deep into the forest, Skyepaw threw her pack down and lay down next to it. Thistle sat beside her.
"I'll take first watch, wot?" He said, munching hungrily at a scone.
"Alright. G'night and wake me up once you're tired, eh?" Skyepaw yawned and fell into a light sleep.
A few hours later, Thistle had collapsed into sleep. He was exhausted after his march and was happy to close his weary eyes for a while. Little did he or Skyepaw know that vermin were abroad in the woods.
A day's march away, a horde of vermin were camped in a clearing. A fire was crackling in the middle, and various shelters were pitched. Venum the Slayer strode out of his tent. He was clad in a fine green cloak and carried in his paw a scimitar. Venum was a weasel of a strong build. He poked at the sleeping form of Deadtooth, a rat captain in his horde.
"Break camp. I scent plunder in the air." Venum told Deadtooth.
Deadtooth stood up and grabbed his spear. "Yessir!" He dashed off, shaking everybeast he came across.
Sapeye, a stoat captain who had light brown eyes, walked over to Venum. He pawed nervously at the hilt of his long sword. "Er…er...sir..." He mumbled.
"What? Spit it out!" Venum looked at him annoyingly.
"Th-th-the c-c-captives have e-escaped!" The unfortunate stoat cowered under the glare of the Warlord.
"Well, we know what happens to captains who fail..." Venum the Slayer smirked at the wretched stoat. In one quick motion, he drew his scimitar and slew Sapeye. He gingerly picked up the dead stoat's captain's cloak and handed it to a fox nearby. "Kandur, you have served me well, now you are a captain."
The fox grinned and took the cloak from Venum's outstretched paw. He put it on before bowing low and scurrying off.
"You there, Grimlip, dispose of this failure. The rest of you, let's get marching." Venum let his horde rush before him before making his way to the middle of the crowd of vermin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Skyepaw yawned and stretched. She strapped her sabre on before shaking her friend awake.
"THISTLE! Did you fall asleep on guard? Bad form, old chap." Skyepaw smiled as Thistle stammered out his excuse.
"Y'see, I uh was exhausted after that bally ole walk and decided ta close me eyes." Thistle said quickly.
"It's all right, ole friend. We'll bally well carry on." Skyepaw walked ahead, with Thistle following in her dusty wake.
Thistle coughed. "Ahem. Skyepaw, how about slowin' down a bit? It's gettin' dusty down here, wot!" He sneezed as he hurried to catch up with his fast female friend. "Aaachooooo!"
"Bless you. Now wipe your nose and don't say a word, wot! I hear somethin' bally well noisy up ahead." Skyepaw pulled him down under some bushes.
As the pair watched, a horde of vermin tramped down the path. They were yelling a fearsome war cry. "Venum!"
"Slay!"
"Venum!"
"Slay!"
Horrified, the two hares crouched low and hoped nobeast would see them. Suddenly, a heavy paw clamped over each of their mouths and they were pulled underground.
"Mmmph!" Thistle struggled. Once he got his mouth free, he started yabbering. "Bad form, wot? Draggin' an officer underneath the earth like that! You sho-"
A badger clamped his paw over Thistle's mouth again. "My name is Steelstripe. Welcome to Earthenhall. You must be silent, or you will be thrown out."
Skyepaw noticed the badger's stripe was silver, though he was not old. "I'm Skyepaw and this is my noisy friend Thistle." She introduced them.
"I'll show you around. This is an underground refuge for travellers and captives. Moles have worked on this hall for uncountable seasons and still are. It is a safe and secret place which can hold all woodlanders in times of danger."
Awe-stricken, the two hares followed Steelstripe around Earthenhall. They wondered how any beast could build something like this. The walls were reinforced with wood and stone. There were many rooms and caves, some which had beds and others just tables. Steelstripe stopped at a huge hall in the center of it all. "And, here, my dear hares is the Feast Hall. You may help yourselves to any item on the tables."
Steelstripe watched the hares with amusement. They were only blurs as they whizzed around the room, sampling each and every single dish.
"Mmm...Thistle, try this pastie."
"Skyepaw, you have ta try this soup, wot!"
They carried on like that for three whole hours before stopping and thanking Steelstripe.
"Thanks Steel-thingy. That was great, wot!"
Steelstripe smiled as he led the hares to a spacious room. "Here you may spend the night. I will see you in the morning." With that, he promptly blew out the candles and left the hares.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Venum was marching with his horde. "Deadtooth, get over here. Take a score of soldiers with you and scout ahead. We will stop here for a while."
Deadtooth bowed and ran off and, grabbing the first 20 soldiers he could find, vanished into the dark woodlands.
The horde greedily drank from a nearby stream and ate their rations.
"Ah...this feels good, don't it?" A stoat called Drabtail dabbled his paws in the water with his mate, Fishpaw. Suddenly, Fishpaw made a gurgling noise and fell face-first into the water with an arrow protruding from his throat.
"Fishpaw, wake up mate. Yew can't sleep in th' water like tha-" Drabtail was cut short when an arrow whizzed right into his chest.
"AMBUSH!!!!!" Drabgrin yelled out as soon as he found his friend's bodies by the river. Before he could run back to the camp, a slingstone crashed into his skull with a dull THUD!
Venum's keen eyesight spotted reddish-brown figures swinging up into the trees.
"They're only squirrels! Get 'em!" He yelled at his soldiers.
The horde fired a deadly storm of arrows at the squirrels. They were rewarded with several yells and sounds of squirrels falling off the trees.
Once the squirrels were too high up for arrows, they fired their arrows down at the vermin below, while their otter friends launched volleys of slingstones.
Thoroughly confused and not knowing which way to shoot, the vermin soldiers scattered, the goodbeast laughter ringing in their ears.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Skyepaw awoke early. She left Thistle, who was snoring like a foghorn, behind in their room as she walked quietly to the dining hall.
"Mmmm...." Skyepaw sniffed the fragrant aroma of scones in the oven before seating herself at the table. "Hullo old chaps! What's fer brekkist?"
"Well, there's oat scones and honey, strawberries with meadowcream and an assortment of fruits. It's not a feast, but the stuff is pretty good." A squirrel with half an ear grinned at her. "Sorry about the ear, we were gettin on the vermin's nerves and shootin' arrows!"
An otter laughed. "Ye should'a seen the look on their grimy faces! Hohohoho!" Skyepaw noticed his paw had a deep scar on it.
Skyepaw laughed and talked with them for a while before eating like a madbeast.
"You can come with us next time if ye like." The otter smiled at Skyepaw before she left the table to look around outside.
"Those blasted squirrels! I'm going to get them!" Venum yelled. He was in one of his fearsome rages. He tore at everything in his way, even injuring a few soldiers. After a while, Venum calmed down enough to give orders.
"Deadtooth, Rapeye, you two are sentries for the first half of the night. Sleepfoot and Killpaw will relieve you at midnight." Venum said.
"Yes my Lord." Deadtooth and Rapeye said in unison before rushing off to their posts.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Skyepaw and Thistle walked out into the fresh air. Moonlight lanced through the leaves to make eerie patterns on the forest floor. The two hares had just finished a hearty dinner and were going out to annoy the vermin ranks.
"Beautiful day fer a scuffle, ain't it, mateys?" Thikktail, their otter friend commented.
"Yeah, wot! Let's bally well show those vermin!" Thistle said in excitement. His ears were laid flat against his head and were trembling in anticipation.
"Can't wait, can you, Thistle old lad? Well I bally well can't either!" Skyepaw whispered as they neared the vermin camp.
When Thikktail gave the signal for silence, everybeast was quiet. They crept along the undergrowth silently. The squirrels scurried up the trees as the otters slid silently into the stream. Skyepaw and Thistle were left with the otters that decided to attack from land, including Thikktail. Thistle put his black arrow on his bow before crouching down. Skyepaw, who had borrowed the squirrel's purple flighted arrows and made her own bow, did the same. The otters loaded their slings as a soft rustle from the treetops told that the squirrels had strung theirs. When Thikktail launched a single stone, the attack started. Arrows sliced through the foliage to make their mark as slingstones thudded dully into the vermin bodies. Venum was hit on the footpad and he hopped around the camp, yelling out orders and punishing the sentries. Thistle's black arrows were well shot, and most of them slew vermin. Skyepaw's arrows killed many of the vile creatures. Before the enemy could retaliate, the small team had vanished into Earthenhall.
"AAAARGH! Beaten again! Why can't you stupid worthless soldiers do anything right?" The Warlord said to himself. He grabbed the two sentries and tied them onto a tree. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Failures DIE!" Venum said that in a tone of voice that all could hear. He drew his scimitar and beheaded the two sentries. An audible gasp went up from the horde as they watched the sentries' heads roll down the hill.
Skyepaw and Thistle reclined on long benches covered with cushions. They were in one of the many Living Rooms that were dug in between every ten dormitories or so. Skyepaw laughed as she chewed on a carrot. "Hahahaha! Those vermin are sooooooo stupid! They didn't even know which bally way to shoot! Hahahaha!"
"Ohohohoho! Burr aye, they'm was stupid vurmints." Deep mole laughter echoed down the hallway. Thistle, who had just started to snore, fell off the bench in surprise.
"Bad form, wot, wakin' up a slumberin' comrade like that!" His ears stood straight up in indignation. "Hmph!"
"Hurr, sorry zurr Thistles. Oi wasn't meaning to 'urt 'ee." The mole apologised. "Moi name be Dirtburr. Noice to meet you zurr Thistle an' miss Skoipaw."
"Nice ta meet you to, ole chap!" Skyepaw greeted the mole.
"Oh yes, very nice indeed." Thistle snorted and turned over on the bench. He started snoring right away.
The mole talked with the two hares for a while before going off to work on one of the rooms in Earthenhall. Right after he left, Steelstripe walked in.
"Nice, isn't he? He was one of the moles who got the idea of making Earthenhall." Steelstripe said.
"He did? Oh dear, I must go say sorry, wot wot!" Thistle jumped up and ran outside to find Dirtburr.
Skyepaw chuckled before going with Steelstripe to find Thistle.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A silent shadow slipped into Venum's camp. It was a completely black ferret, except for its blue eyes. It crept along unnoticed until it was inside Venum's tent.
"What do you want of The Darkslay?" The Darkslay's quiet voice reached Venum's ears.
The weasel warlord stood up from his chair. "I have a very important thing to ask of you, Darkslay..." Even the tough Venum was afraid of this haunting creature. His voice trailed off as The Darkslay's eyes locked with his.
"Give The Darkslay food, and I will think about it." His blue eyes suddenly brightened. The black ferret's tail swished as it curled around a discarded spear.
"Fine. Have a seat." Venum offered The Darkslay his chair.
"No. The Darkslay never sits." Fury showed in The Darkslay's eyes as it kicked away the chair, although its face remained expressionless.
Venum felt relieved after The Darkslay had some food and agreed to Venum's evil plan.
Thistle was found in another living room, munching on some peaches. “Mmm…this is the stuff, wot! Gives you the shine in your fur and the twinkle in your eyes!”
“Thistle, we have to get going!” Skyepaw said excitedly. “Thikktail and the others are goin’ on a bally ole spy mission, an’ he says ya shouldn’t miss it fer a feast!”
“Eh, wot? This is good enough ta miss a feast? Alrighty then, let’s hop to it, wot wot!” Thistle sprang up from the bench he was reclining on and strapped on his quiver. He picked up his bow and nodded to Steelstripe, who took a hefty battle-axe from its place on the wall.
“Heehee! I haven’t gone on a spy mission since I was still a trainee!” Steelstripe grinned enormously as he gripped the axe.
Skyepaw sheathed her longsword and took a sling. “Sorry ta ruin your fun ole chap, but you need a bally ole long-range weapon.” She handed the big badger a huge longbow. “There, that should do it, eh wot!”
Steelstripe sighed and replaced the battle-axe back on its hook. “Alright. Now let’s go!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Darkslay crawled onto a rock. He lay motionless, his eyes just slits in his head. He saw the small band of spies make their way to the vermin camp. When he was sure of the right time, he climbed up a tree, quicker than a squirrel. He could scarcely hear the chatter that went on below.
“Ooh, I’m so excited! I can’t wait for the bally ole mission to start!”
“Oh, give your gob a rest, Thistle, we all know, wot! You’ve been sayin’ that blinkin’ thing for the whole walk here!”
“Ho urr, oi is greatly afeared of ee vurmints. Oi ‘opes they don’t see oi.”
“Burr, thoi won’t, oi’m sure.”
“Harr, matey, I can’t wait ta knock those vermin senseless!”
The Darkslay snickered evilly as he watched. He jumped soundlessly off the branch and landed softly on the ground. He slipped along after the spies. The eerie eyes of The Darkslay followed the receding figures. He took out a gray-flighted poisoned arrow and notched it to his black bow. The arrow whizzed silently through the air and thudded into an otter’s back. The otter toppled backwards, not even a shout to be heard. He felled another otter and a couple of moles before trying out his dagger. It was rubbed with poisonous herbs and plants. Just a cut would be lethal to anybeast. He took aim and threw it at the last otter in the line. It just grazed his side as he hopped to the right to avoid a log in the path. The otter yelled out as The Darkslay cursed under his breath. The dagger hit the mole in front of the squirrel. By now the small party were alert. They fired slingstones, arrows and anything they could get their paws on at the spot where The Darkslay once stood. But the cunning ferret had vanished.
Skyepaw sat down. “Well, that was a blinkin’ fine scuffle. The blighter got us.”
Thistle cradled his friend’s head in his lap, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. “Bally…sniff…ole…sniff…blighter. We couldn’t get him, ole chap.”
Thikktail’s dim eyes looked at the hare’s face one last time. Deathmist swirled over them. “It’s alright, matey. He’s nought but a cheater. Take care o’ the crew for me, mate.” The otter closed his eyes forever.
Thistle explained to Skyepaw, wiping the tears from his eyes. “The blighter threw a poisoned dagger…just grazed his side…but that was enough. He’s off to the Dark Forest now.”
“It’s okay, Thistle. We’ll give him a nice spot to rest, eh, wot?” Skyepaw tried to cheer her friend up.
“Alright. How about here, by the riverside?” Thistle said.
“That’s perfect, old chap.” Skyepaw and Thistle attempted to dig a hole for Thikktail, but one of the moles pushed them aside.
“Hurr, oi’ll be a’doin’ that fer ee, zurr Thistle.” His homely face creased into a sad smile. He disappeared in a blur of dust, only to reappear in a few seconds. “Thurr, a noice ‘ole for zurr Thikktoils.”
Thistle placed his friend in the hole before covering it up with soil. He decorated it with some pebbles and placed a piece of wood on top of it. Skyepaw carved some parting words on it before attending to the other fallen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once back safely in Earthenhall, the spies told their tale to the other warriors who had stayed to watch the dwelling.
[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
| | Replies: | |
|
Feedback: 