p class="MsoNormal"About a dozen young men, some pretty much boys, lined up on the aft deck of their captors ship while warily awaiting their fate. Their transport vessel had been raided by pirates just halfway into their journey to The New Reach, a small group of island newly inhabited by coffee bean plantations. Most of the crew had been slain, and a good number of the settlers, that were headed to their new working location, as well. Those that survived the quick onslaught were ushered onto, the much larger, attack style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A large, older male, canine paced the floorboards before the newly held captives . His gray-white fur waved across his face and bare arms as the weather started to sour. His chilling gaze never turned away from the prisoners that stood, crushed, before him. Men carried large barrels, and boxes, onto the victorious vessel as the old man continued to pace. He finally stopped abruptly looked up at the sky and then to the young lad in front of him. A dark grin crossed his face right before he ran up to the youthful red badger and lifted him up by his collar./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The adolescent badger gasped in horror as his feet left the hardwood planks below him. The canine let out a hearty laugh after seeing the urine dripping down his prays pants, and onto the planking below. The old pirate tossed the young man aside and addressed all of them. "Yer all lucky to be up here and not down there"! He then pointed to the smaller ship that they had just started moving away from. A small fire could be seen picking up intensity, on the tiny vessel, as the wind started to blow harder./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All we needed was your yer food and, booze." The old man grinned as he overlooked his submissive audience. "But we were lucky enough to get use of a few of yer women." He grabbed his crouch in an offensive manner as his lackeys behind him laughed. "And ye were lucky enough we could use a few more hands!" The men behind him continued their laughter until a taller male approached./p
p class="MsoNormal"The deck fell silent as the tall black furred hedgehog stopped in front of the young captive men. The canine had gently bowed out as his, obvious, superior took the forefront. The younger male, easily in his earlier to mid 20's, had an aggressive aura to him. He stood dead silent in front of them as rain and lighting began to pour down around them. His fancy, red, satin vest stood out from his darker clothing as bright shocks of lighting danced around them. The vest echoed the color or his eyes, which only added to his dominating presence. His chest was broad and his arms muscular. His expressionless face was sinister as his the large, black and red, quills on his head cast shadows over his lips./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All of you belong to me!" The captain shouted out as thunder continued to roar around them. Some of the lower level pirates scampered around the deck as the rain continued to drop down on them harder. "You will all work, and for the rare times you aren't working you'll be sleeping in the cage!" The hedgehogs voice was deep and gravely. He stomped, with one boot, on the floorboards and pointed towards them to show their rare taste of refuge would be down on the lower deck. "Those of you that show potential will be allowed to stay on our crew and prove yourself. The rest of you will be sold off when we make it to The Edge in two weeks' time." The patriarch looked over his still cowering recruits as he let out a disappointed sigh. "Move them to the cage for now." He growled./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A half a dozen men from behind him jumped to attentions and started aggressively leading the captives to the entrance of the lower deck. I dark furred leader watched, with more than just a hint of being uninterested, as they lead each captive, one at a time, to the lower deck. However, one of the prisoners right before the end of the line happened to momentarily catch the captain's attention./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Stop"! He barked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The sailor, and slave, both came to a halt at his command. The sailor looked back at him in confusion as the captive continued to stare down at their feet. "Captain, Shadow?" The young otter sailor asked dumbfounded./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Shadow briskly walked up to the two and pulled the captive by the arm to face him. The brow squirrel slave continued to look down, but was obviously tensing their body up in frustration. Shadow grabbed a hold of their collar and ripper the shirt right off them to reveal a pair of modest breast being held up by a grungy bra./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""How did this girl get on my ship"?! His voice demanded full of fury./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A large, older male, canine paced the floorboards before the newly held captives . His gray-white fur waved across his face and bare arms as the weather started to sour. His chilling gaze never turned away from the prisoners that stood, crushed, before him. Men carried large barrels, and boxes, onto the victorious vessel as the old man continued to pace. He finally stopped abruptly looked up at the sky and then to the young lad in front of him. A dark grin crossed his face right before he ran up to the youthful red badger and lifted him up by his collar./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The adolescent badger gasped in horror as his feet left the hardwood planks below him. The canine let out a hearty laugh after seeing the urine dripping down his prays pants, and onto the planking below. The old pirate tossed the young man aside and addressed all of them. "Yer all lucky to be up here and not down there"! He then pointed to the smaller ship that they had just started moving away from. A small fire could be seen picking up intensity, on the tiny vessel, as the wind started to blow harder./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All we needed was your yer food and, booze." The old man grinned as he overlooked his submissive audience. "But we were lucky enough to get use of a few of yer women." He grabbed his crouch in an offensive manner as his lackeys behind him laughed. "And ye were lucky enough we could use a few more hands!" The men behind him continued their laughter until a taller male approached./p
p class="MsoNormal"The deck fell silent as the tall black furred hedgehog stopped in front of the young captive men. The canine had gently bowed out as his, obvious, superior took the forefront. The younger male, easily in his earlier to mid 20's, had an aggressive aura to him. He stood dead silent in front of them as rain and lighting began to pour down around them. His fancy, red, satin vest stood out from his darker clothing as bright shocks of lighting danced around them. The vest echoed the color or his eyes, which only added to his dominating presence. His chest was broad and his arms muscular. His expressionless face was sinister as his the large, black and red, quills on his head cast shadows over his lips./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All of you belong to me!" The captain shouted out as thunder continued to roar around them. Some of the lower level pirates scampered around the deck as the rain continued to drop down on them harder. "You will all work, and for the rare times you aren't working you'll be sleeping in the cage!" The hedgehogs voice was deep and gravely. He stomped, with one boot, on the floorboards and pointed towards them to show their rare taste of refuge would be down on the lower deck. "Those of you that show potential will be allowed to stay on our crew and prove yourself. The rest of you will be sold off when we make it to The Edge in two weeks' time." The patriarch looked over his still cowering recruits as he let out a disappointed sigh. "Move them to the cage for now." He growled./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A half a dozen men from behind him jumped to attentions and started aggressively leading the captives to the entrance of the lower deck. I dark furred leader watched, with more than just a hint of being uninterested, as they lead each captive, one at a time, to the lower deck. However, one of the prisoners right before the end of the line happened to momentarily catch the captain's attention./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Stop"! He barked./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The sailor, and slave, both came to a halt at his command. The sailor looked back at him in confusion as the captive continued to stare down at their feet. "Captain, Shadow?" The young otter sailor asked dumbfounded./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Shadow briskly walked up to the two and pulled the captive by the arm to face him. The brow squirrel slave continued to look down, but was obviously tensing their body up in frustration. Shadow grabbed a hold of their collar and ripper the shirt right off them to reveal a pair of modest breast being held up by a grungy bra./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""How did this girl get on my ship"?! His voice demanded full of fury./p