Chapter 1

Gray waves stretched as far as the eye could see. They lapped at the dark skies and hid underneath the blanket of fog that hovered in aimless directions over them. Dark clouds merged together at the edge of the horizon, like some gigantic monster, ready to swallow up the world around it. The salty sea air was quiet; only the occasional call of a seagull cut through the silence.

A turquoise sea otter stood on the docks, loading crates into a ship. His prosthetic legs dragged with a deep thudding sound against the planks of the dock as he moved, his long tail dragging behind him. His pirate's attire stood out against the deep pearly gray of the sea and the sky, his black captain's hat a noticeable outline against the sky. The sailor had a black and golden trimmed jacket swung up around his shoulders, though he did not have his arms through the sleeves. The otter heaved the last box onto the ship, prying his hook from the wood, and looked back over his work with a look of accomplishment. As he went back down to the docks to make sure everything was in check, his path was intercepted by a blue moose adorned in a red and white neckerchief similar to that of the sailor's shirt.

"Oi, is all done, Russ. I finished what ya told me ta do." Russell looked over him with an appeased expression, and smiled, nodding.

"I very much appreciate it. Thank ye, Lumpy."

The moose gave him an odd goofy grin, and a thumbs up, turning to tend to his own priorities. The otter had been glad when Lumpy had so easily agreed to help him. The moose was far more capable than anyone else he could think of or dared to bother, despite his… empty-headedness. He had been happier still when Lumpy had not asked to accompany him. Though Russell considered him a friend, the moose's companionship had approved to be more than hazardous on many an occasion. And, besides, he would much rather be a lone at sea right now. This was both a voyage of leisure and of work. Neither of which would be made easy if he had the moose's company to worry about.

Russell moved back to where he had unpacked his supplies from the car. Everything seemed to have been loaded onto the ship, and so the pirate sighed softly. He had spent practically all of yesterday packing. The otter brought with him only essentials; clothing, tools to maintain hygiene like soap and brushes, cloths, towels, rags, fishing lines, hooks and lures, ropes, some frozen fish, a contact radio, a compass, a magnifying glass, several knives, silverware, spare bedding, a swimsuit and scuba supplies.

There was happiness in the twitch of his whiskers as Russell turned to survey the sea once more. He had felt in his fur for days now- today was going to be the perfect day to set sail. His tail had twitched to foretell safe waters, his whiskers had stiffened to tell of a moderately nice weather forecast. His legs had begun to ache from the need to be off dry land and he hungered for fresh clams, not the stale ones he had harvested a few months ago. Now the smell of the salt that blew from the sea smelled more like home than anything else, and sent a buzz of excitement through the otter's brain.

Russell paused as he began the climb up the plank into his ship, turning at the sound of footsteps. Behind him came a small violet lamb, her green eyes bright with hazy discomfort at the loud sound her hooves made on the wood of the dock. To Russell's surprise Lammy had not worn her trademark white sweater today- instead she wore a plain white shirt and a jacket, the color of which matched her eyes. It seemed as if she had done her best to soothe the untidy patch of puffy white fur on her forehead, but to no real avail. The lamb's large ears drooped down as she looked up at the departing Otter, giving away her badly disguised sadness. It somewhat pained Russell to see, but also somewhat annoyed him at the same time.

"Are you leaving now?" She asked in a soft voice that carried gently on the sea air. Russell looked at her in slight apprehension, concerned that the wrong words would send the sensitive creature into tears. He knew little of how to comfort others, after all. The only one Russell could truly communicate with was the sea- any other attempts at socializing for him tended to go very wrong. This perhaps was what he and the lamb shared in common; neither one were known for their gregariousness around Happy Tree Town. That was possibly why Lammy had been so close to him since they had met, and why they were as close friends as two introverted people can get. She had escorted him here today with the offer to help him pack, and had done little but sit and stare somewhat forlornly at the open waves.

"Yarr," the otter responded, running a hand awkwardly through his thick greenish fur. "I am. 'Tis the best time a'day for departin'. "

Lammy nodded in understanding. The two stared at each other in awkward for silence for a moment, before Russell gave her a nervous smile and turned to leave.

"W-wait!"

Russell winced as the cry came out from behind him. The otter slowly stopped, reluctant to delay his departure any longer. He held back a sigh, turning his one red eye to Lammy. The lamb smiled apologetically, realizing that she was holding him up, blurted out her words.

"Please….b-be safe, alright?"

Russell could only stare at her for a moment, surprised by the affection in her tone. And then he nodded, flashing his sharp teeth at her in a smile that made her squeak.

"I will be. Don't worry about me, lass! I'll see ye later."

Pulling up the plank and hoisting up the anchor, Russell put up the sail, and took off, leaving a sad lamb looking after him on the shore.

The day that followed was one filled with utter bliss. Russell seemed to glow as he moved around the deck, securing ropes, changing directions to match the wind, and setting a straight course through the sea. He settled his belongings down in his room under the deck, happy to breath in the musky smell of damp wood that filled his quarter's air. The sky turned from a dark gray into a light bluish one as the day progressed, and the fog began to disperse as the weather became warmer. A light but strong breeze caressed the waves, which made loud sounds as they slapped against the sides of the ship. Birds with white and speckled black plumage flew high over Russell's head.

Being at the helm of a ship again reminded Russell what it was like when he had been the captain of his own ship, long ago. He had been young and foolish back then, however he was respected for his knowledge of sailing. No one could compare to him when it came to boats, and that was one thing that the sea otter took pride in.

It felt amazing to be back at sea. Though the otter enjoyed his time in Happy Tree Town very much, it was always refreshing to get away. This, after all, was the place he had been born. He had never really gotten his land legs, and so relished his time out on the ocean. Russell had become accommodated to a life of switching back between his two beloved homes, and though not an easy change, it was one he had learned to be comfortable with.

Getting away from the constant blood and gore was also calming. It wasn't as if his friends back in town tried to get killed on a regular basis. There was a curse laid on their small home, one that no one could quite figure out. Like anything, the curse had it's ups and its downs. Dying wasn't permanent, but immortality was not easy. If it weren't for the curse, many of them would have been dead a long time ago, if not from simple bad luck then from the murderous rampages of several of their friends.

Lammy, for one, though Russell didn't like to think about it, had once landed herself in jail for killing multiple citizens in front of a police officer. She claimed that it was her 'imaginary friend' . Though many did not believe her, Russell knew that she honestly believed this to be true. He didn't blame Lammy for her weird mental kinks- no, it was all her older brother's fault. Her older brother, Flippy.

Flippy -the town's only veteran and looked up too because of it- had PTSD. His post traumatic stress disorder could cause him to flip out whenever he heard the slightest sounds and kill everyone in sight (though on occasion his evil side spared Flaky, why Russell was not sure). Lammy was adopted, and so it obviously was just a horrifying coincidence that both siblings had such hazardous mental disorders. Or maybe it wasn't just a coincidence. Russell was convinced that it was the abrasive behavior of his friend's older brother that had messed with her head.

Even his good friend Lumpy had the awful habit of killing people. Not intentionally most of the time, but he didn't put it past the blue moose to hurt someone if it benefited him. Mostly, his fellow citizens were harmless, and just killed others on accident or out of sheer stupidity. Russell had to admit that even he gave into ignorance at times because of the fact he could never die, letting his guard down. The sea was the best thing for him in that way; it made his senses sharper, for you had to be at full alertness when manning a ship.

Somewhat contradictory to his prior thoughts, Russell decided he would spend his first day of the solo voyage simply lazing around the ship. After making sure that the vessel was set for a straight path, he burrowed himself a dug out bed in a pile of ropes and flopped down on his back, sighing in content. The brow of his black captain's hat covered his eyes, blocking out the light of the sun, as he opened his ears to the beautiful melodies of the sea. Russell felt very in tune with the world around him, and it pleased him beyond belief. Russell curled his long sleek tail around his form and fell into the warmth of a sleep.

Russell dreamt of mermaids. Beautiful women of the deep, with long flowing hair and fur soft as silk to the touch. Their tails sparkled with gorgeous scales and propelled their long bodies forward as they moved with great grace through the waters. The mermaids surrounded Russell as he swam through a coral reef, admiring him for his stature and for how handsome he was, and asked for stories of how he had lost his limbs and his eye. To Russell's interest and discomfort he realized that one of the mermaids dangerously resembled Lammy- the most beautiful of the sea women was one who had the face and torso of Giggles, and wore only a bra made of starfish. It was a shock as the world of beautiful women came crashing down around him.

Russell awoke abruptly at the sudden sound of something falling. His red eye flashed open in shock and he sat up, looking around in confusion. While he slept, the sun had slowly disappeared over the horizon, and the sky was now thick ebony black. A gorgeous marching band of stars paraded around the endless heavens, circling the crescent moon, and Russell was momentarily distracted in awe from the beauty of it. But then he heard a sound behind him. Russell turned and looked around the deck. Movement flashed in his peripheral vision, from behind a crate on the other side of the hull. Russell slowly approached, squinting in the darkness as he tried to identify whatever the unknown thing was. It appeared to be a moving creature; upon on further inspection, Russell saw that it was entangled in some netting.

Cautiously the otter approached the unknown creature, keeping his hook braced. As he grew closer he began to see more of its features outlined in the darkness- its body was covered in course material that he could only assume were feathers. It was a bright yellow in color, its plumage ruffled and sticking out. It was a small bird, with a long beak and a yellow mask around its eyes. As Russell drew closer, the bird lifted its head and stared at him, fear evident in the jerk of its body.

Russell looked down at the new creature in shock. Unsure of what was best to do, he pushed the crate aside, careful not to catch the edge on the net that the bird was entangled in. He considered cutting the net with his hook, but then dismissed the idea and went quickly to his quarters to grab a knife instead. Russell knelt down besides the bird, careful of its beak as he began to cut away at the netting. It was a hard task to accomplish for the nets were made of hard materials and the bird was not cooperative, attempting to lash out and hurt the hand who cut at his restraints.

"Hold still ye stupid thing," Russell snarled, though this caused further retaliation from the animal. "I'm only tryin' ta help."

Eventually the sailor was finally able to break the bird lose from the net. As soon as it was free the small animal began to flop about the deck in a haste to escape, flailing its wings. Russell watched in dismay as the tiny creature tried once and then twice to fly away. It became clear then that it could not. Its tail feathers seemed to have been completely decimated, its wing feathers ripped in several places and virtually unusable. It gave a pitiful cry as it crashed down to earth once again, relentless in its attempts to fly.

Russell glared down at the bird, hating it for making him feel pity. He gave a long sigh and scooped up the creature into his hand, using his hook to keep the bird form nipping at him. Ignoring its struggle to escape, Russell went below deck with the animal, rummaging through his things until he found some spare cloths. Wincing as the bird managed to bite his finger, Russell began to tend to its shredded feathers, working with as ginger a touch as the sailor could manage.

The bird seemed to calm as he worked, as if it sensed he was only attempting to help it. Russell set the bird down gently on his one of his shirts, wadded into a ball for comfort, and it immediately curled itself up, tucking its head under its wing. Amazed by the change in character, Russell watched the seemingly asleep bird for a moment, running the back of his finger along its spine. He smiled to himself, feeling the wary call of sleep. Stripping his coat and his shirt, pulling off his prosthetics, Russell set his hat on the bedside table and settled down on his cot. Closing his eyes, Russell fell back into warm sleep.

Russell was surprised when he woke up and the bird was not where he had left it. Stretching as he sat up the otter bristled his fur and shook his pelt to clear the matted feel from sleeping. He attached his prosthetics, wincing as he did so, and got to his feet. Donning an undershirt instead of his normal striped shirt, Russell went above to the hull, he glanced around curiously. The yellow bird was nowhere in sight. An odd emotion welled up in the otter's throat and he realized it was disappointment. Just as Russell turned to go back down into the hull to finish his morning routines, there was a soft plop! and he felt something hit him on the head. Jumping in shock he looked up, and was amazed to find that the yellow bird was sitting above his head on the sail. The bid squawked down at him, as if in amusement, and turned away to clean it's still bandaged feathers.

"Yarr!" Russell shouted up at it, waving his hook. "How did ye get up thar? I thought birds ain't climbers! What is ye, a cat?"

The bird looked back at him and let out a loud wail at the suggestion of him being a cat, as if had personally offended him. Russell snorted and reached up with his hand to feel the place where his fur had been hit. As he drew his hand back he realized his claws were covered in an odd grayish substance.

"What the bloody- OH MY YARR!"

For the next few days the bird stayed at arm's length. It took Russell much persuasion before the bird would even take food that he had held in his hand, and even then it would take whatever pieces of fish he fed it and fly to the other side of the deck to devour it. The sailor took great amusement in watching his new feathered friend and often times would simply sit and watch him as he explored the roping of the sails. How he got up there was still a mystery to the otter, as he had never caught him going up himself. Many things about the bird baffled and amazed Russell. He had never seen a bird with such canary colored plumage out above any sort of water way before- nor had he seen the strange eye makings or the odd beady red pupils the bird possessed. He had to do very little to accommodate for the bird living with him. It seemed to adapt on its own, quickly getting used to its new home aboard the ship. Russell knew little of birds but knew enough to know that their lack of visible genitalia made it hard to decipher their sexes- and so he decided he would give the creature an ambiguous name, so that it would not get offended if he confused its gender.

"I'll call ye Bandit," he said affectionately to the bird one afternoon, as the yellow creature had dared to come ever closer. "Because of ye mask."

It peered down at him with wide red eyes, head titled somewhat to the side, as if to say 'well wasn't it obvious?' Still, the bird voiced no opinion on his newly bestowed title, and so that was what Russell went with. Bandit was beginning to slowly trust the one who had rescued it, and showed his new trust through randomly hopping onto Russell's head and pecking hard at his tiny ears at any given point during the day. It hurt and often caught the otter by surprise, but more than not the sailor found himself laughing at the acts.

As Russell had predicted, the skies remained clear through the entirety of his voyage so far. Very few clouds marred the bright blue of the sky, and those that did were small and pure white. As content as a semi-aquatic mammal could be, Russell how nice it was to go days without dying. That was what he love most about getting out of the valley itself- though Russell was more exposed to death for it was permanent this far out here, mayhem was far less likely and not at all regular.

Things could not get any better!

Bandit was not a diurnal bird by nature. It spent much of the day dozing in the shade of the sail. At night, the small yellow birds had other plans. True to its name, Bandit had a bad habit of hording objects. It was its dirty secret and one it hid well.

Landing on this ship had been both a curse and a blessing for the mischievous bird. While patrolling the coast Bandit had been swept up by a sharp wind and carried to sea. Blinded by the tight current of air it was stuck in, the canary colored creature was powerless as it was spirited into unknown territory. Bandit's wings and tail feathers had not escaped the vengeful wind unscathed. Finding a ship in the middle of the ocean had seemed like a virtually impossible chance. And yet here it was- alive and well.

Bandit had had to leave its old collection of horded items on its home at land, but it found ways to steal new things. Anything Bandit saw floating in the sea it would take- weather it trash, shiny tinfoil or oil containers. The bird took whatever it could carry. Bandit even took things from Russell, though this it did very little for it did not want to arouse suspicion nor lose its newly found home. Bandit kept his things inside of a crate by burrowing through the corner and covering the entrance with ropes.

Tonight, Bandit found nothing. It looked sadly down at the water, before returning to its horde. Bandit had one item in particular that intrigued the bird the most. He would often curl his tiny body around the item and simply hum deep in its chest, a soft song that only birds could really manage.

The ruby eyes of the item were odd, and looked as if they were meant to lull one into a false sense of security. It was an effect that was not lost on Bandit. The small masked animal could gaze for hours at this item.

The item, though Bandit did not know this, was one that appeared quite often in Happy Tree Town. It went by the name of Ideal.

Author's notes: Thank you very much for reading! Please, I love reviews; especially ones that help me improve! I originally wasn't going to introduce Bandit so early but… was at a loss of what else Russell would do for the first day that could fill any number of paragraphs. And also, sorry for the bit of Lammy X Russell there ^^;… don't worry, I didn't just put that in for the sake of it, Lammy comes back in later chapters.

In this story the characters aren't small and pac-manned eyed like in the show. So if you want to see what they look like I whipped up a few pictures of Russell, Lammy and Bandit and you can see them on my profile as soon as I upload them! Next Chap probably will be done within the next few weeks maybe sooner.