He ran. Ran through the rain, through the forest, through his doubt and his denial. Air burned his throat, and his ribs ached fiercely, but he ran on. The deep wound in his stomach screamed relentlessly, and the brief bandage that had been tied around it was soaked in blood, but he ran. Ran because he knew he had no other choice and because he knew there would be no point in staying.
His honor demanded his return, but all that would achieve was execution or, worse, enslavement. Freedom had a stronger call than honor, and he followed it faithfully, but he missed his honor. After all, all his life he had been commended for it, and now he was abandoning it. With every pace he raced, more honor seeped from him, but he could not bring himself to stop. Green-gray eyes burned with bitter tears that were never shed.
A moment should be spared for that wound on his stomach. It was dangerous; it could be killing him. He didn't know. Never before had he been wounded so seriously. He was afraid that if he stopped to look he would come to realize that there was no hope, that he would die, and that all of this was for nothing. So he didn't stop. Every movement was agony, but stopping could have been so much worse.
He ran until he couldn't remember what it was like to be able to breathe. His eyes ached as if they were rusting in their sockets, and his mouth and throat begged for water. But he did not stop running. More than anything, he did not want to be caught and taken back. Death by torture had to be worse than this. It had to be…didn't it?
He turned his weary face towards the setting sun, knowing there was a large river that led to the ocean in the west, and forced himself onward.
Time lost its meaning to an otter in constant, agonizing motion. If there was no beginning, and no ending, was there a middle? No past. No future. No present. Just leap after bound after staggering, broken step. Never stopping. Never slowing. It was amazing how strong he had never known he was. But fear and panic turned out to be very compelling when there was nothing left to cling to.
The sun had long set when he finally came to a stop. Water reached up to meet him, and he staggered another step before slipping on the uneven ground and falling backwards. He lay sprawled, without the energy to stand or even sit up, staring blankly at the black sky. His eyes blinked closed once, twice, and he decided that if he was going to die, this was not such a bad way for it too happen. There was only the scream of his ribs, his legs, and his stomach. A bitter numbness had long ago settled over his mind, blocking out every thought that could have possibly caused pain. It seemed almost peaceful. Almost like he was just fading from the world, and the world was letting him go. A beautiful way to die.
Right before unconsciousness carried him off towards an undeserved peace, his tired half-open eyes caught sight of white sails. A single, terrified thought entered his mind but was promptly silenced as he entered a dead faint.
…
Celebration. Smiles. Laughter. Such a happy, happy place. He stood up on the walls, staring out on the world. Such a beautiful, terrible place. Such anger and such love. Such failure and such redemption. So much to do.
"Oy. What're you doin' up here, mate? There's a party, you know."
"Obviously."
"You can't seriously be standin' guard. We haven't been attacked in seasons! Since before we were born! What? Is the grass gettin' a little too rowdy for your likin'?"
"Someone has to be up here."
"Well, might as well let you mope up here on your own then. Idiot."
A nice day. A little too hot for perfection, and a little too windy for it to be pleasant.
But it was the wind that saved his life.
The spear that should have hit him in the side and gone halfway through him was nudged off course and ripped the fur and skin off his stomach. Stumbling, unsure, confused, he tripped. And he fell.
Cubs jumped off the walls on dares. He had done it hundreds of times. The walls were built so that the defenders could leap down without major injury. But he landed on his back, and the collision killed his consciousness.
When he came to, he was covered in blood and, vermin were all around him. Screams and growls filled the air, along with the shrieks of steel. They must have thought him dead, because several other dead were piled on top of him.
He didn't think, really. He crawled out from under them, saw the bloody mess made of his stomach and touched the wound gently. The skin peeled back easily. His vision swam and what was left of his stomach threatened to rebel. He stumbled to his feet and, panicked and terrified, he fled through the open gates. It didn't occur to him, for a while, that he was abandoning his home.
He was running. Running. Running and screaming and dying. And it was too much. Too much. He fell.
Fell.
Hit the ground again. Blood sprayed and light green eyes dulled. He gasped, tasting blood, and…and…something shifted.
"You didn't die." A voice. A strange, unfamiliar voice. "And you won't die here."
Blood in his mouth, on his teeth. Running down his throat.
"You won't die for seasons."
Eyes closing slowly; lungs fighting desperately.
"But…maybe you'll wish you'd died here."
Coughing, choking. He turned his head to the side and blood came pouring out of his mouth. It somehow got in his eyes. It burned. It burned.
"Sleep. Stop this. You need to sleep."
Fire in his stomach, a ripping, screaming pain in his lungs. He was dying. Dying. Dying.
"Sleep."
Dying. Dying.
And he deserved it all.
…
"Is he dead?" Zai asked tremulously, blue eyes wide, the dawn coloring the sky behind her.
"Well, I've got no idea." Carden replied, shrugging his broad shoulders indifferently. "Why don't you kick 'im, and make sure?"
"Kick him?" Zai gasped, those blue eyes somehow managing to grow even wider.
"Oh, calm down. I wasn't serious." Carden rolled brown eyes. "Look. Let's get 'im back to the ship and see what the prince says. 's not my responsibility to know if creature's 're dead or not."
"But…but can't you tell?"
Carden sighed and kneeled down next to the otter. He felt for a pulse, found one, and then looked up at her. "'e's alive right now, at least his heart is beatin', but that doesn't mean he's gonna live past sunset. The prince'll know what to do, an' if he don't, then the doctor will."
"But he's going to live?" Zai asked, her tone desperately hopeful. She was the one who had found him and seemed to feel somehow responsible for him.
Carden looked up at her and sighed again. "Look, cub, I've got no idea if he'll live or not. With that kind of cut, I can tell you probably not. If he does, he'll be weak for half a season. The prince probably won't wanta mess with that."
"What do you mean?" Wide, wide blue eyes.
Carden did not like explaining life to children. It was not his job. "I mean that the prince probably won't wanta deal with a creature who won't be anything but a hindrance for half a season, maybe more. He'll probably have us pitch 'em overboard."
Wide, wide teary blue eyes. "Wha-What?"
"Aw, look, drowning's a lot easier than most beasts say it is, and-"
Zai took off, bawling at the top of her lungs, sprinting with all the strength and urgency of a panicking cub for the ship. Carden rolled his eyes, shook his head, and picked the unconscious otter up gently. Wouldn't help matters to injure the otter more. Unless he planned to kill him. A broken neck would take all the blame off the prince and the doctor…and Zai could strike guilt into the most cold-hearted with those day-long sob fests of hers.
But…but Carden had left the days of killing unarmed and unconscious beasts long ago. It was the prince, in fact, who had brought him away from it. And the otter was young. Almost as young as Zai. Carden didn't like killing young things. Always seemed so unfair.
…
Kydin was up halfway up to the crow's nest when Zai was brought on board. She came running across the deck, screaming and sobbing so hard no one could understand a word she said. Immediately, the squirrel twins went off in search of Carden, and Kydin came down quickly, jumping from a safe distance to land gently on the wooden deck.
Zai, her pitch becoming even higher, saw him and ran straight for him. About a pace away she jumped and Kydin found himself being clutched around the middle by a tiny mouse whose legs did not even reach the ground. "Carden said-and then-and I don't want him to DIE!" Zai shrieked the first discernable words since her arrival on the ship.
Kydin stared down at the mouse clutching at his stomach and sighed, prying her off gently to hold her as far away from him as he could. She sniffled and rubbed at her nose, staring at him with teary, accusing eyes. "Zai, I need you to tell me if Carden is all right."
"Carden's fine!" She announced, sounding a bit annoyed at the very idea of it.
"Good. That's good." Kydin tried to keep his tone even, calming. But he was not a parent. He was not even an older brother. "Now. Tell me what's got you so upset."
"I found him!" She cried. "I found him, and you're not throwing him off the ship!"
Kydin blinked. "Found who?"
"The otter!" A tear streaking down an outraged face.
"Why would I throw an otter off my ship?"
"Because he's hurt!"
"Hurt? How badly is he hurt?"
"You're not drowning him! I won't let you!" Zai went into hysterics and started beating her little fists against his arms.
"Aderyn!" Kydin yelled. "Find Aderyn!"
The doctor arrived a full minute later, looking very much displeased. "What is it?" She demanded and then saw Zai, who by now had exhausted herself into vengeful fits of hiccups and tears. Immediately she swept the cub out of his grasp, and Kydin nodded his thanks.
"Any orders?" The first mate, Vix, inquired, as he stared curiously towards land.
"No." Kydin shook his head. "Carden will get here with the twins and then we'll get out of here. Get ourselves out to sea."
"All because of an otter?"
Kydin glanced at him, blue-gray eyes annoyed. "A wounded otter. You know this place as well as I do. Even if it's not as bad as it sounds like it is, they'll be coming out for revenge, and we're not exactly friendly with 'em."
"You don't think…" There was a pause, and then the mouse continued. "Could he really have conquered them?"
"Easily. But they could have easily conquered him. They're not to be trifled with. Either side. We're leaving."
"What do we do with this otter?"
"Same as we do with every idiot we find that might be able to pay a decent reward." Kydin shrugged. "We try to save him. If we can't, though…I won't be crying over his corpse."
Vix snorted and nodded. "Of course."
…
Dying. Still dying. How long could you die? Wasn't it supposed to be a short thing?
Get me out of here. I don't want to be here. Let me go.
Choking, sputtering. Blood dripping from a gaping mouth. Dry eyes screaming for moisture.
What is this place? I want to go home. I want to go home. I was supposed to die at home.
Guts hanging out from the wound now.
Don't look or you'll vomit again.
Paws bloody from an attempt to hold his guts in his body.
So long ago. Why won't this ever stop?
Helpless as his stomach rebelled again. How could he vomit when he was holding his stomach in his paws? How could that be possible?
How is anything possible? Don't think. Just die. Die already. Let this end!
A light. A light? When had it gone dark? Why was there light?
I don't want light. I just want to die.
A voice. From so far away it was indecipherable. But a voice. A voice! He wasn't alone. He wouldn't die alone!
…
"He's gonna live, all right." Aderyn announced eight days and several hours after Zai found the otter near the river. "I don't know how. By rights be should've died eight nights ago, but he'll live."
Kydin nodded, rubbing at his eyes. The otter still didn't look all that good. "Looks like he's about to die."
"Just bruising, most of it. And most of it's goin' away. The stomach wound'll take a while to heal."
"How long?"
"I don't know." Aderyn snapped. "It's impossible to predict how long exactly."
"Do you have a guess?"
"Of course I have a guess, but I'm not gonna be able to explain it to you. You'd never understand."
Kydin blinked at her. "Excuse me?"
Aderyn held her ground for a minute, which was a record for her after an eight day marathon of only sleeping for three hours at a time whenever one of the twins could be spared. But then her dark eyes lowered, and she scowled like a rebellious adolescent. "Look, sir, I've had a rather trying time lately and I'd appreciate it if you-"
"If I what?" A quiet, dangerous little tone. He often found it useful.
Aderyn's eyes flashed at the floor. "Sir, my patient is-"
"Asleep."
"And I would really like to be asleep too." She snapped, tossing her head back to glare at him.
He considered it. Weighed his options. But Aderyn was always like this. Rebellious. Angry. Defiant. She'd lived a delirious sort of life, being a slave for half of it and hated to bow to anything. Besides, she was tired. He'd let it go, but only because no one else was around.
"Then go sleep, doctor." Kydin suggested quietly.
Aderyn fled and Kydin settled on the chair beside the bed, eyes sliding half-way closed. The otter had woken them all screaming a night or two ago. Aderyn had been optimistic about the whole thing, saying at least he could yell now. Kydin had been less pleasant, and Carden had been willing to strangle the otter in his bed, despite Zai's wailing. Whoever this otter was, he did not bring peace. Even the twins had become morbid and subdued. No one liked having a stranger onboard. Especially a stranger who arrived so wounded. Something had happened to him, that much was obvious, and very few wanted to be around when he woke up.
…
The otter woke up screaming. It was a strange feeling and one he did not want to repeat. Almost immediately the face of a tired, concerned squirrel appeared, and she gave him such a look of weak worry and compassion that he silenced himself quite promptly. Why was he screaming, anyway? That rampaging pain in his gut couldn't possibly be the reason.
"You're awake?" She asked him. "You certain?"
He stared at her. "Who? Where? Wha…?" A thought occurred to him. A very important question. "Why is the ground moving?"
"Because it's the sea." She told him. "My name is Aderyn, and you are on a ship. You are very seriously wounded, and I must ask you not to move."
"I can't move." The otter told her.
She snorted. "That makes my job easier. How do you feel?"
"My stomach hurts."
"No. Your stomach muscles hurt. Your stomach was not harmed."
The otter decided not to think on this. It seemed viciously complicated. After all, he was fairly certain he knew where his own pain was located far better than she did, but…but…
"He's awake, then." Came a calm, cool voice as a tall, lithe otter stepped into the room, grayish blue eyes appraising the other otter evenly. "I heard his screams, but he's screamed before."
"Yes, Kydin, he's awake." The squirrel told him, her voice a little cold.
Kydin glanced at the otter, looking only vaguely interested. "Keep him quiet. Now is not a good time for this."
"Oh, certainly, sir. I'll just gag him and knock him out, your princeliness."
The otter glanced at her sharply. "Good." He said emotionlessly. "Nice to have the cooperation of the entire crew at a time like this." He left quickly, the door closing quietly behind him.
…
While raiding the small coastal village of Hajaki that had stumbled upon the misfortune of harvesting the riches from a shipwrecked pirate vessel, one of the twins took an arrow to the calf. The otter got a roommate.
Ladin was a talkative squirrel. He told the otter everything. From his life as a cub with his nomadic tribe, to his falling in with pirates, to his eventual falling in with these pirates. It had alarmed the otter, quite visibly, to be told he was on a ship filled with pirates, but eventually he seemed to have numbed to the idea. Ladin was not a particularly demanding conversationalist. After several gaping holes and awkward silences, Ladin had simply decided that the otter wasn't interested in talking and filled the room with chatter.
Since he and his brother Nidal were trained in medical care and since Ladin would be in near constant supervision of the injured otter, Aderyn was put to bed for a very long time. Confined to the cramped room as he was, Ladin did not mind changing the bandage on the otter's only remaining wound. After all, it wasn't like the otter screamed or cursed or fought. All he did was stare at the low ceiling and blink every half hour or so.
"So, listen, mate, you've gotta have a name or somethin'." Ladin was, once again, trying to get the otter's name from him. He tried this every few hours or so, and had utilized various tactics. This one was logic, his least favorite. "It only makes sense. Even the Nameless One, bastard vermin that he is, is called the Nameless One. What do beasts call you?"
Nothing. Of course.
"You're not a mute, are you, mate? Come on. Say something. Anything."
A pause. Seconds went by. "Honor." It was a strange word said in a quiet, mocking tone.
"Honor?" Ladin inquired curiously. "That's a strange thing to say. What makes you talk of honor on a pirate ship?"
Silence.
"All right, mate, 'ave it your way. Did I ever tell you about that time Nidal an' I found Zai? You remember her, don't you? The little one? She's the reason you're alive you know, and…"
The squirrel droned on, and it was impossible to tell if the otter listened.
…
The otter woke to find he was healthy. Or, at least, healthy enough. He had felt himself healing for a while now, but now he knew that he was strong enough. Strong enough to stand, to get up, to get off this boat. This was not where he belonged. He'd had a very long time to think, and he knew now where he belonged. Home. He wanted to go home and die like the rest.
"Oy, Honor, where're you goin', mate?" Ladin inquired, lifting himself up on his elbows.
The otter brushed past him, wincing at the word the squirrel had taken to calling him. Ladin made no move to stop him, and so the otter made no move to explain himself. There were times when, if he stopped to think about exactly what he was planning to do, he knew he'd talk himself out of it. So the otter said nothing, and the squirrel just watched him go, brow furrowed in confusion.
He kept going until he found himself on the deck of the ship, grayish green eyes narrowed in the brilliant light of the midmorning sun. No creature was about, so he walked towards the escape boats, intending, without really thinking about it, to take one and leave. It didn't occur to him that, this far out at sea, it was suicide. All he wanted was to go home; it was all he thought about.
"What do you think you're doin', mate?" Came a quiet, questioning voice. "Gonna make off with one of my boats, are you?"
The otter whirled to face the prince, halfway up the rigging and staring down at him with cold, questioning blue eyes. "I am going home." He told the other otter. "I am not a pirate. I will not stay with those who are. This is not my place."
The prince nodded slowly. "And you think you're just gonna take one of my boats and sail off, aye? Think you'll get far before you die?"
The otter didn't want to think about that. He'd decided what he was going to do, and he resented that this pirate was trying to muddle his brain with facts. "I am going home."
"Oh? What home d'you think you've got left, mate? I've 'eard stories. Your home is gone."
No. Wasn't true. Couldn't be true. "Give me one of these miniature boats, some supplies, and let me go. I've done nothing to you."
"Nothing? Exactly right. You haven't given me anything, and I've kept you alive for nearly thirty days now. You owe me."
"I never asked for you to do that. If I had been awake at the time, I would have told you to leave me where you found me. But you interfered where you did not belong, and, so, here we are. If either of us owes anything, it's you to me."
"Oh?" The prince inquired. "Is that how you see it?"
"That is how it is."
The prince nodded slowly. "And what if I don't like the idea of you takin' off with my property? What then?"
"I highly doubt it's your property, pirate. It is undoubtedly stolen."
"And I keep what I steal. So it's mine, and you can't have it." A smirk, cold and amused.
"Then I will steal it, and I will keep it." And he turned back to the boat and tugged futilely at several of the ropes.
There was a strange sound, followed closely by the thumping noise of something heavy hitting wood, paws hitting wood, a hiss, and, perhaps five seconds after their conversation ended, the otter found a dagger at his throat and a pirate at his back.
"Never try to steal somethin' from a pirate unless you're a pirate yerself, mate." The prince suggested quietly. "It never quite works the way you want it too."
"If you're going to kill me, I suggest that you do so. I won't stop trying to escape until I succeed." The otter replied, his voice calm, dead.
"Then we're going to have a problem." Came the retort and, before the other otter could react, a paw landed on his shoulders and jerked, and he went stumbling backwards, away from the boats. "Because you're not taking anything that belongs to me."
"Then sail to land and let me go." The otter growled.
"Any land within reach isn't friendly to me and my crew." The prince replied, still holding the dagger. "We will be at sea for another thirty days or so, and, when we do reach land, it will be far away from your homeland."
The otter bared his teeth in fury. "I want off this ship!"
"And eventually you'll get there. But not near your home and not until I say so." The prince retorted and then smiled a small, sick, twisted little smile. "But you're welcome to try and convince me otherwise." And he tossed the dagger so that it fell halfway between the two of them.
The otter stared at the blade and then up at the pirate. Could he…? No. Should he…? No. Was there any way he could…? No.
The dagger stayed where it was.
The pirate captain snorted and purposefully turned his back, dismissing him. "Coward."
And before he knew quite what he was doing, the otter was screaming and running, forgetting the dagger in his rage. The captain whirled around as the otter charged and something glinted gray. It writhed and whirled, and the otter just managed to come to a stop, the sword blade biting gently into his neck.
"You're fast." The captain observed, his tone mockingly impressed. "But never scream when you're attacking. Never let them know you're coming."
The otter growled and lunged backwards, crouched, and then sprang forward, knocking the captain over and settling atop him, bringing his fists back to pummel him senseless. Kydin merely rolled his eyes, tucked his legs to his chest, and slammed them into the other otter's stomach, sending the stranger reeling, clutching at his halfway healed stomach and giving little mewls of pain and distress.
"Another thing: don't ever let someone do that to you. The legs are much more powerful than the arms. Remember that." The captain stood up easily. "And always remember your opponent's weapons." He held up his sword. "I could have killed you."
The otter was down on one knee, his left paw resting against the deck, and his other arm wrapped around his stomach. He panted deeply, his stomach burning with every breath. It hurt. It burned so badly he couldn't stand. There was nothing in the world more powerful than his pain. Nothing but his hatred.
The prince tilted his head as the otter stood up, slowly, painfully. "Don't you think you're in enough pain? You can't win this. Not weaponless and wounded."
But he wasn't weaponless. This time, when he charged, he came with the dagger, green eyes furiously desperate. The captain's eyes widened in surprise and alarm, and he turned, running for the rigging. But, somehow, the otter caught him.
The prince felt the other otter ram into him and felt himself falling. He hadn't been in a fight going this bad for months. What, exactly, had gone wrong?
The prince felt himself hit the deck and rolled quickly, not wanting to be caught with his back towards the enemy. Not like this.
The other otter came flying out of nowhere, both of his knees colliding rather forcefully with the pirate's stomach. Kydin gasped as air fled from him and took in deep lungfuls of air right up until the dagger was suddenly resting against his throat. Then he took slightly less deep lungfuls of air.
"You are going to let me leave this ship, and you are going to give me enough food and water to survive the trip." The otter's eyes were wide and deranged; blood dripped from the reopened wound on his stomach.
The pirate captain snorted. "What did I just tell you about forgetting your enemy's weapons?" He demanded, and his sword slithered awkwardly up to slash a thin line across the otter's chest.
The otter pulled back in surprise and pain, and Kydin sat up as best he could and punched the other otter directly in the nose. This time the otter fell away completely, mewling and cursing in pain.
Kydin stood quickly and kneed the kneeling otter in the chin. Teeth snapped together audibly, and the otter fell over backwards, landing hard on the wooden deck. The pirate captain watched, still catching his breath, but the other otter merely writhed on the deck, whining at the pain.
"You're not completely hopeless." He observed. "You just have no clue what you're doing." He wiped his sword clean and sheathed it. "And you have an incredibly low tolerance for pain."
"Let me go." The otter growled through his whimpering breathes.
"No. I've already explained the difficulty with that." The pirate raised an eyebrow as Aderyn burst onto the deck, looking confused and murderous. "Good. You're here. Get this one back where he belongs. He's bleeding on my deck."
…
The otter rejoined Ladin, and Aderyn went to work re-bandaging the cut on his stomach and cleaning the shallow cuts on his chest and neck. Finally satisfied that her patient was only a little battered, she withdrew to speak with the captain, leaving Ladin in charge of the silent otter. The squirrel looked only mildly surprised to see him in such shape. "'ave a disagreement with the captain?" He inquired, in the type of sympathetic tone of knowing sympathy.
"All I want is to go home." The otter spoke the first full sentence to Ladin since the squirrel became acquainted with him.
"Why?"
The otter looked at him for a long time and then sighed and looked away. "Because it is my home."
Ladin was quiet for a while, a rare thing for him, and then he shrugged. "I guess I wouldn't understand. My tribe was nomadic. Besides that, my entire family hated the idea of ever having to stay in one place and-and what's wrong with you?" The squirrel propped himself up on his elbows and stared questioningly over at the otter that had suddenly hissed and curled slightly inwards, breathing hard.
The otter ignored him for a minute and then slowly, tremulously, began to stand up. Ladin stared at him. "Oy, mate, where the hell do you think you're going?" He demanded as the otter went stumbling out the door. The squirrel sighed and peered angrily down at his wounded leg. "This is all your fault." He muttered accusingly at the injured limb.
…
The otter was halfway to the tiny boats when something small and furry came skipping up to meet him. "I found you!" It cried in a tiny, girlish voice. "I knew you'd live!"
He stopped and stared incredulously down at the little mouse with wide, trusting blue eyes and naive smile. She was staring up at him in a triumphant way only the very young or the very insane can manage and seemed to be reveling in the fact that he was alive. "Who are you?" He demanded bluntly.
"I'm the one that found you!" She told him excitedly. "Carden said they might have to throw you overboard, but I wouldn't let them."
So it was her fault he hadn't died where he was supposed to. Not the captain's. But…how could he hate a cub? He decided to get around her and to the miniature boats, whatever they were called, as soon as possible. "Oh, well, that's very nice, but I'm on my way off the boat right now and-"
"Ship" She corrected. "An' where you going? Are you going to kill things?"
He stared at her. She was far too young to take such a casual approach to killing. "No! Of course not! I'm just…I'm just going home."
"Oh." She seemed a bit disappointed. "Because when Kydin goes off the ship, an' when the rest of the crew goes, they go to kill beasts. You know, for shiny things."
That was it. No cub was going to stay with these pirates. He was going to get this child as far away from the pirates as possible.
"Listen…what's your name?"
"Zai."
"Oh, all right. Listen, Zai, I'm going…" It occurred to him that going back to his home would be suicide. Of course, he had known this all along and hadn't cared in the slightest, but now that the cub was coming with him things were a little more complicated. So. Go somewhere else, make sure she's safe, and then go home. "I'm going away."
"No! You can't! I saved you! You're mine!" She screamed, and the otter jumped, surprised at how loud this tiny mouse could yell. "I'm going with you!"
"Fine!" He said hurriedly. "Fine, that's fine!"
"Good." She said and narrowed blue eyes at him suspiciously, as if thinking he would run off any second.
"Right. So I'm going, and you're coming with me." He nodded. Now. Where, exactly, was he going? Suddenly he started thinking. It wasn't like he hadn't been thinking before, it was just that most of his brain had been asleep. Now that it was awaking and analyzing, he found himself to be in a very difficult situation.
He couldn't escape from this ship. He had no idea where he was or where he should go. Until the captain decided he wanted to land, or until land became visible, the otter was pretty much forced to stay here. If the cub hadn't been here, he would have gone off on his own anyway. But he couldn't leave her here with a bunch of pirates. Wait…whoever heard of otter pirates? And squirrel pirates? Wait…wait…
"You look like you're brain's exploding." The mouse told him sensibly.
"I've just realized that I've been very very stupid." He informed her.
"I could've told you that. I mean, you have to be pretty stupid to end up all cut up in a river."
He blinked at her. "Yes. Of course. We're going to go talk to that captain now."
"Kydin?" Zai inquired and then nodded. "I haven't seen him all day."
"Lucky." He observed and they trotted off towards the sound of raised voices. Or, actually, raised voice.
…
Kydin sat in his chair and let Aderyn rant herself into silence. This took approximately half an hour. By the time she was finished he was rather bored with the whole thing. "I don't see why you're so alarmed. I've done this before."
"Yes, but he almost died a while ago!" She shouted. "You could've killed him!"
"Yes. But I didn't. I was very much aware of what I was doing and what he was doing. If there had been any real danger to either of us, I would have stopped the fight immediately. As it was, it served a very useful purpose." The prince shrugged her concerns off easily.
"What purpose?" The squirrel demanded loudly.
"He's been trained, Aderyn." The otter told her. "Not very well and not very thoroughly, but he's been trained. At least, I…" The captain trailed off as the subject of discussion burst into the room, followed closely by Zai. "Well, hello." He greeted, standing up.
"You should be back where I left you!" Aderyn snapped.
"I had more important matters to deal with." Her patient retorted. "I had no idea," he was glaring now at Kydin, "that you had a cub onboard."
"I have you, don't I?" The pirate retorted lazily.
"Don't be stupid." The otter snapped. "What kind of deranged lunatic keeps a child on a pirate ship? And what kind of otter is a pirate?"
"Those are two very offensive questions there, mate. I'm rather hurt."
"Answer them." The otter ordered.
Kydin tilted his head slowly and then glanced sharply at Aderyn. "Aderyn, take Zai to visit Ladin. I've no doubt he'll be very bored."
The doctor hesitated for a second, as if she would very much like to threaten someone but couldn't decide who, and then sighed, scooped up the mouse, and carried her off, slamming the door on her way out.
Kydin yawned and stretched slowly before standing up. "I was wondering what kind of training you'd gotten."
"What?" The otter seemed confused by this and very much annoyed at the subject change.
"Well, I mean you've obviously been trained to fight, but how much and with what? It's very important that I know how well you can fight. Even if you do object to it, you are on my ship, and it's not safe for you to just be blundering around."
"But it's perfectly fine to have a cub onboard?"
"Of course." Kydin shrugged. "We keep her safe. We've got some hiding places on this ship, and we stick her in one." He sized the otter up. "I doubt you'd fit."
"But why is she here? It's not right to keep a cub on a pirate ship!"
"You know where we found her?" Kydin demanded suddenly, his smile disappearing. "Tryin' to wake her mother up. Her mother whose head was attached by a tiny bit of skin. Pirates raided her village and destroyed it completely. Other pirates, mate, so you can get that look off your face. We used to trade with her village. They liked shiny things, and we needed the water. The pirates raided them for the gold we gave them in exchange for water. You think we should've left her there? She was the only one left alive. Not safe on a pirate ship, aye? What about the rest of the world?"
The otter was silent for a moment, and then he spoke up again. "You shouldn't have her here. She could get killed."
"She could get killed anywhere. Here at least she's got others to look out for her. We keep her safe, mate."
"But you're pirates."
"Aye. But we're selective pirates, mate. We don't kill when we don't have to, and we only steal what others can afford to lose. There are a lot of rich bastards out there. We might as well steal their gold."
"Gold won't make you happy."
"No, but it'll make me forget that I'm not."
The otter scowled. "You should not have a cub aboard the ship."
"Way I see it, mate," Kydin told him languidly, stretching slowly, "you shouldn't have cubs at all. I mean, look at the world. Terrible place to live. If anyone had any mercy left in 'em they'd slit their cub's throat the moment they were born. But we're all vindictive bastards and figure if we have to live here then we're not about to suffer it alone."
"That is not what other's think!"
"'ow would you know? Read minds, do you?"
"No, but it's an idiotic theory. No one has cubs just because their bitter!"
The prince snorted. "No, I rather think there's a couple other reasons, too."
The otter scowled at him. "I don't want to hear them!"
"Good. You're a bit young."
"Go die." He suggested helpfully.
The prince laughed at that, "'Go die?'" He repeated. "'Go die?'"
"Yes. Now."
"Oy, mate, I'm not plannin' on dyin' anytime soon and unless you can make it happen, don't go orderin' me to die, alright?" He chuckled, amused.
The otter's eyes narrowed, and he lunged forward, paws out to throttle Kydin. The prince reacted by jumping towards him and bowling him completely over. "'aven't we tried this already?" He inquired. "'aven't you learned your lesson?"
The otter responded by cursing. He wasn't paying a particular amount of attention to the words coming out of his mouth, so they were spilled out in rather as if someone took hold of a cup of rancid milk and tossed it into another someone's face. There were large chunks of particularly nasty phrases, a few bits of very colorful language, and some that appeared quite innocent until you actually thought about them, but everything he said was deeply bitter and, if thought of for too long, made one gag.
The prince stood there for a minute or two, listening rather curiously, and then, having heard enough, grabbed the other otter by the shirtfront and began dragging him, protesting, clawing, and cursing, across the ship. The curses continued right up to the point when Kydin stood in front of the railing and looked down at the otter.
"I don't allow language like that on my ship, mate. Could damage the young one's fragile mind. She's not near old enough to be exposed to that kind of nonsense." This brought a moment of furious silence followed by another bout of cursing with renewed vigor. "'ave it your way, then." Kydin muttered, lifted the otter up, and tossed him overboard.
Aderyn, who had just burst on deck as she seemed to be doing quite frequently these days, went running over to the railing, only stopping when the metal dug into her stomach. "Kydin!" She shrieked. "You killed him!"
Kydin, who had watched the otter execute a surprisingly flawless dive, was not unduly worried. "Oh, he's an otter, Aderyn. He'll be fine. Besides, I learned something else."
Aderyn was breathing very heavily and looked to be hyperventilating a bit. "What could you possibly learn by throwing an otter overboard?"
Kydin smiled that same strange smile of his that never reached his eyes. "I learned exactly where he comes from. There's only one place in the world beasts learn to dive like that even when they've been seriously injured. One place in the world, Aderyn, and that place was destroyed."
"You, sir," Aderyn hissed as Zai came trotting up, drawn by the shouting. The squirrel faltered a bit as the cub appeared, but then continued, "Are going someplace dark and scary when you die!"
"Yes." He agreed with a wide, cheeky grin. "Yes, probably. Vix! Get the otter out of the water, will you? He's injured after all!" And then the prince sauntered back to his cabin as the first mate and Nidal went to work fishing the otter out of the sea. The otter, of course, was not unduly enthusiastic about returning to the ship and caused quite a few problems.
…
Ladin looked up in surprise as his twin brought the otter, shivering and wrapped in a blanket, back in. "Did ya go for a swim?" He demanded, shocked.
"Captain threw him overboard." Nidal informed him with a roll of his eyes and a wink. "He seems to be a bit shocked by the whole experience. Keeps chattering his teeth together and insulting Kydin's mother."
"Oh, that'll get him real dead real fast." Ladin observed cynically.
Nidal dismissed that idea with a shake of his head. "I don't think so. I think the prince has grown out of that whole murderous rampage of his."
"You think so?" Ladin inquired curiously. "Must've been while I was down here."
"'ow long you think you'll be here? Captain doesn't wanna chance another raid without you, says the vermin'll think you've died, and they won't be so easy to push around, but he's gettin' real jittery, I think. Wants to kill somethin'."
"I'm perfectly fine. It's Aderyn that keeps me down here. It's my roughish good looks. Can't bear the thought of me gettin' myself killed in a raid, I think."
"I don't think so, mate. You're ugly." Nidal told his identical twin. "Anyway, I gotta get back up there. Captain wants to talk to me, Vix, an' Aderyn. Make sure this one doesn't do anything else suicidal, alright?"
"Fine, fine. Just put 'em back in his little bed. He'll be fine." Ladin waved a paw dismissively.
Nidal snorted and shoved the shivering otter gently towards his bed. "You go there, mate." He informed him helpfully and then went on his way, appearing rather unconcerned by the whole matter.
"Damn pirates." The otter muttered resentfully.
"Aw, mate, that hurts." Ladin objected. "Really. You got me right in the heart with that one."
A cold, calculating glance. "I'm sure you'll live. And, if you don't, I'm sure your fanatic captain will at least wait until you're really dead before attempting to bury you at sea."
Ladin chuckled. "I can't remember the last time he chunked one of us off the ship. He's done it before, though. Probably back when he was just takin' over."
"Taking over?" The otter asked curiously, his teeth still chattering together.
"Well, didn't you ever wonder why he was the prince, Honor? The king had to die before he inherited the ship."
"Don't call me that." The otter snapped. "And who was the king?"
"That is a very special question. One you'll have to ask Kydin because the rest of us won't tell you." A pause. "What's your name, then?"
An angry, brooding silence.
Ladin rolled his eyes and smirked. "Look, mate, it's not a very large ship, and there aren't an awful lot of creatures onboard. You're gonna have to be called something. So either give up your name or answer to what we call you."
The otter turned his head and scowled fiercely at the squirrel. Minutes passed. The squirrel grinned.
"Honor it is, then." The squirrel announced.
"Don't get attached." Honor suggested, in much the same way his mother had once suggested he not get attached to a butterfly he'd caught. "I don't plan to be here long."