Waiting for the Worms

by Samadhir

Taking place shortly after the end of Highwing's "The Shrew War", this story follows two beasts, a shrew sergeant and a woodland rat, through an eventful day in the aftermath of a very important decision made by Urthblood.

1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Greetings, fellow fanfictioneers! In honour of the posting of the final chapter of Highwing's The Shrew War, I have decided to put a story I wrote earlier this spring, another fic I wrote based on his work, here on . This was originally written as a single continuous short story, but for it's posting on this site I've decided to break it into four chapters. Since this story is already complete, you won't have to wait for months to read it all; it will be posted over the coming days leading up to Christmas.

It takes place shortly after the end of The Shrew War, and contains MASSIVE spoilers for it. As such, if you haven't read that novel (which can be found here: .net/s/7242385/1/The_Shrew_War_Book_I_A_Fire_in_the_Night_Sky) and don't want to have major plot twists revealed to you, I suggest you read that book before this short story.

As I mentioned, I wrote this story before I had conceived of my Wolfrum fic, shortly after I first got into contact with Highwing, who in fact provided the suggestion that I should write a story based on his work in order to achieve a greater connection with his world. Keep in mind that this is the first lengthy English-language story I wrote, and unlike "Wolfrum", this hasn't been edited by Wing. As such, the writing will be a lot more amateurish, and the dialogue will be done without any accents; while Wing is a master of getting the accents from the BJ novels done perfectly, I could never have made it look passable on my own. But I hope you will still enjoy it, and regard it as a sort-of-continuation of TSW, though it's rather unclear how well it fits with the canon of the Urthblood Saga. It's a beginner's work, but I'm still rather proud of it.

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You cannot reach me now

No matter how you try

Goodbye cruel world, it's over

Walk on by…

Sitting in a bunker here behind my wall

Waiting for the worms to come

In perfect isolation here behind my wall

Waiting for the worms to come…

Pink Floyd, "The Wall"

Gavin had been waiting at the pier for almost a day when he finally spotted the two searat ships on the horizon.

The shrew had arrived the previous morning along with a contingent of about seventy troops, a mix of Northlander shrews and squirrels of the Gawtrybe tribe, under the orders of Lord Urthblood, the crimson Badgerlord of Salamandastron and the de-facto ruler of the lands of Mossflower, as the reception party for their former mortal enemies: the pirates, corsairs and slave-trader rats in the employ of King Tratton, the ruler of the maritime Searat Empire.

The fact that the two sides could meet together like this on (relatively) peaceful terms at all was rather extraordinary. For generations beyond remembrance, the searats had been relentless foes of the lands of Mossflower, and a plague upon its creatures, arriving from the ocean to pillage, kill, rape and to abduct any unfortunate beasts who survived their onslaughts to bring them back over the sea to their ancestral homelands of Terramort and its surrounding isles to live the rest of their short and unpleasant lives as slaves. While there had been many vermin hordes and gangs of bandits to torment the good creatures of the lands throughout the ages, none had maintained such a constant presence, or inspired so much fear, as the corsair rats.

Gavin was the head of one of the first contingents of warriorbeasts that had been organized and briefed on their mission before being sent out as a reception party for the shipment that was to be delivered to an agreed destination at the edge of the Northlands, the northern part of Mossflower and the place where Urthblood had begun his campaigns and first established his power. Previously a wild, isolated frontier where woodlanders and vermin had been in constant conflict with each other, the badger had, through hard work and countless battles, managed to tame and pacify it, largely liberate it from slavers, bandits and other villains, and bring the various species that inhabited it into at least some semblance of peace and concord with each other.

The wooden pier that he was standing on was one of a series of similar constructions that had been built along the coast of Mossflower soon after Urthblood's peace treaty with Tratton had been finalized. The badger had sent out work crews both north and south of Salamandastron to erect these simple but sturdy docks along with a small shed for various tools and supplies for stationed troops and a brazier atop a wooden structure to signal the searat ships expected to regularly arrive at their location. Their purpose was to allow a port for the ships to easily and swiftly depose of the creatures whose freedom had been secured by Urthblood's treaty… and to as quickly and efficiently as possible bring aboard the cargo that they were to return to Tratton's empire with.

After having assured himself of the identity of the two ships through a spyglass, Gavin ordered a nearby squirrel to climb atop the brazier and set it alight; although the searats would hopefully recognize this pier as the one that they were to bring their unfortunate cargo to anyway, it didn't hurt to be careful. Not long afterwards, the ships altered their course to the makeshift dock, and a little less than an hour later, the crewrats aboard threw out mooring lines for the woodlanders to tie to the pier.

From their wide, bulky construction, the shrew guessed that the boats weren't the usual galleys and warships that the corsairs usually sent so close to the shores of Mossflower, but transport ships that were used to ferry goods between the islands that the searats controlled. Since they were useless in battle, they normally didn't dare sail near the coast, but since Urthblood had given his assurance that no searat ships would be attacked or harassed on their journey to the lands, they had apparently decided to use a ship that could hold the largest amount of beasts for transport.

The seavermin extended a couple of gangways to the dock, and a well-dressed, slightly overweight rat that looked more like an accountant or palace official rather than a fighting beast, descended from the leftmost ship, escorted by a half-dozen rugged soldiers. He gazed around cautiously, apparently nervous to walk into the middle of dozens of heavily armed beasts that would have slain him on sight just a few months before.

His trepidation wasn't unfounded. The badgerlord had always counted the searats as his most hated enemies, and they had apparently been completely outside of his vision of interspecies peace and unity. Their evil, he had said, went above and beyond that normally possessed by woodlander vermin, and their ruthlessness, cruelty and malice was burnt into their culture, society and perhaps even their very blood. Certainly, the poor creatures liberated from their slave camps could attest to atrocities that could turn the stomach even of hardened soldierbeasts, particularly the ones from the lumberyard on the northern Mossflower coast that had been razed the previous winter.

Urthblood had stated that he did not only seek to protect the beasts of the lands from the corsairs, but to end the searat menace once and for all. Although the badgerlord had a reputation as a merciful and forgiving warrior, who allowed defeated opponents the chance to join his army and showed remarkable tolerance for his subjects regardless of species, such magnanimity was not extended to searats, whom the badger proclaimed as his sworn enemies above all others. As far as Gavin knew, no searat had ever been allowed to serve in Urthblood's army, and when the badgerlord had triumphed over them in battle, the surviving enemybeasts could expect little mercy; in the skirmishes and engagement that the searats had won, they generally responded in kind. It was widely accepted that the bloody war between Salamandastron and Terramort would go on for many seasons, and could only end when one of them had been brought to utter defeat and submission.

The complete turnaround in the badger's relationship with them had shocked everybeast under his command, when he suddenly invited Tratton to his mountain for peace talks as if all the terrible conflicts over the previous years had been little more than a couple of unfortunate skirmishes. Despite many obstacles and hurdles in their path, in the end the two parties had signed the treaty, and the word was sent across the badgerlord's domains that all hostilities were to cease and the searats treated as equals. It felt strange being compelled to receive their former undying foes in a peaceful manner, and the shrew was uncertain of how it would turn out.

Gavin stepped forward to announce himself as the leader of the woodlanders; the rat in turn put on a mask of confidence and bravado and spoke:

"Greetings. I am Fargul, secretary in the service of His Majesty King Tratton I, Sovereign of the Searat Empire. I have been sent in the official capacity of overseeing this delivery of part of our Empire's labour force to your shores, and the reception of part of your own labour force in exchange, in accordance with the treaty recently signed by the nations of Terramort and Mossflower."

"Greetings in turn", the shrew responded coolly. "I am Gavin, commander in the service of Urthblood, the Crimson Badger and Lord of Salamandastron. I have been sent in the official capacity of overseeing the deliverance of these unfortunate creatures from seasons of soul-crushing slavery under the whips of your king and his servants."

Fargul chose to ignore Gavin's disrespectful reply (though he was curious why the shrew omitted the second part of the exchange from his castigation) as he produced a document from his robes for perusal.

"For some information before we release the cargo," he announced dryly. "The Seafoam," he waved to indicate the ship to his right, "is carrying a hundred and six workers from the ore mine at Baro. The Albatrosss," he motioned his paw behind him to the ship he'd just emerged from "is carrying sixty-one workers from a textile workshop at the island of Cerus. I trust you are adequately prepared to accept and handle them?"

"We are."

"Good, then we can get right to the business of loading the replacement workers on the ships once…"

The rat suddenly glanced over the gathered beasts at the dock, to the beaches and plains surrounding them. He soon returned his curious gaze to the shrew.

"These creatures we're supposed to take back with us… you haven't brought them here yet?"

Gavin paused for a while, unsure how to respond, how to answer Fargul's question without implying the situation he had strenuously tried to deny ever since the treaty at Salamandastron was signed.

"His lordship felt that… it would be best if the beasts who are to be released from these ships and the ones who are to replace them didn't directly meet each other. It could give rise to unnecessary questions, tensions and possibly even violence if it came to that. As such, we are going to deliver these… replacement workers to you once we have guided the beasts on your ships to some nearby villages in order for them to settle in. We have already mapped out the places where the replacement labour for this shipment is living at the moment, so we should be able to bring them back to you before the evening, with a minimum of fuss."

The rat looked none too pleased about this information. "We expected to be able to return to Terramort immediately after deposing the beasts on the ships to you. You mean we have to wait a day or more before we…?"

"The beasts on your ships have had to wait a lot longer for the chance to be treated like decent creatures! I don't think you have any right to complain about being a little late to get back to your precious empire! We will bring the replacements to you as soon as we are able, and all you have to do is show a little patience!"

The rat fell silent, and Gavin quickly returned to a more amiable tone of conversation.

"Now, if you want to get this over with as quickly as possible, perhaps we should start by releasing the slaves from your cargo holds?"

Fargul, doing his best to remain courteous, nodded. "Very well. We'll start with the ones on the Seafoam."

The rat and the shrew walked along the pier to the ship docked at its rightmost end, accompanied by a couple of soldiers from both sides. Fargul called to the captain of the Seafoam to open the doors to the cargo hold. Soon, after some prodding and barking of orders from the armed rats on deck, scores of frightened, wary creatures appeared and made their way down the gangplanks.

The beasts were mostly a mix of various woodlanders; mice, voles, squirrels, shrews, hedgehogs, a couple of moles and even a few badgers. Gavin was surprised, however, to find a few foxes, weasels and stoats among the throng of creatures making their way onto the dock. As he thought about it, it really wasn't that surprising; when the searats made their raids into the lands searching for new slave labour they probably didn't discriminate between "goodbeasts" and "vermin", but it was still unusual to think of such creatures actually being victims of slavery, rather than slavers themselves.

But what shocked (and angered) the shrew more than the species composition of the slaves, was the terrible state they were in. Gavin had of course fought slavers many times before, and was well aware of how they treated their unfortunate captives, but coming face to face with the beasts held in bondage by the searats always seemed to introduce you to new levels of cruelty and degradation. Filthy, unwashed creatures deprived of any dignity or recognition as sentient beings; starving, undernourished and gaunt beasts staring at him and the searats with hollow, fearful eyes, their fur blemished all over with scars from whips and sores from chains. Some of them didn't even have the luxury of clothes, and had to stand naked on the dock; from their lack of any noticeable shame, the shrew guessed that it wasn't an unusual occurrence in the slave camps that they'd come from.

Gavin returned his gaze to the rat, his fur bristling in barely restrained anger. "Hellgates! I knew you seavermin were cruel to the pitiful beasts that you work to death in order to build your empire, but whenever I see them for myself, you always surprise me with all the ingenuity you display in tormenting them. How the hell can you do such things to other beasts?"

The soldier-rats accompanying them tensed, and readied their weapons in the event of a confrontation. Fargul, who had regarded the miserable slaves with a look of uneasiness (though whether that was because he actually felt some genuine pity for the poor creatures or was merely worried that their condition would anger the woodlanders was anyone's guess), dropped the air of authority and diplomatic dispassion he had tried to maintain, and hurriedly tried to defend himself against the shrew's outburst.

"Look, we treated them as well as we could under the circumstances! If they hadn't constantly been causing trouble and refuse to follow the overseer's orders at Baro, they would have fared a lot better. Slaves have to learn that if they want good treatment, they have to obey their masters; if they don't, only harsh punishments will follow! I'm sorry, but they really brought this upon themselves!"

"Why, you little…"

Gavin took a step towards the rat, as the corsairs before him raised their cutlasses, when someone put a paw on his shoulder.

"Gavin, let it go! You know we're not supposed to talk about this!"

Shawn, a Gawtrybe squirrel and a sergeant under Gavin's command, stared with a firm gaze into his eyes, urging him to drop the subject. Before they had made their journey the docks, Urthblood had told the groups meant to receive the slaves to not argue with or confront the searats over the treatment they had given them (or any "justifications" that they'd give for it), as that could lead to violence and severely damage the relationships between the two parties necessary to keep the exchange treaty functioning. They already knew about the ill-treatment the slaves received from their captors, so it was pointless to start bickering over it now; all that mattered was that they would be released from their captivity and finally enjoy freedom and prosperity after so many seasons.

As he remembered that order, Gavin relented, calmed down and even managed to offer a (very forced and reluctant) apology for his outburst. He then suggested that they should bring out the slaves from the Albatrosss, and Fargul, though still suspicious of the shrew's temper, agreed. They went back to the ship Fargul had emerged from, the rats on board brought up the beasts from below deck, and soon the newly released slaves made their way down to the pier.

Here, Gavin was surprised again, but for a different reason. In comparison with the gaunt, whipscarred creatures from the Seafoam, the beasts in front of him seemed to be in a much better condition. While not exactly an image of affluence and prosperity, they seemed to be well-fed, had adequate clothing and most lacked any sign of wounds from lashes and chains on their bodies. There was also a difference in age and gender between the two groups; while the poor beasts from the Seafoam were mostly composed of adult males, the ones from the Albatross included several elderly and children, and over half seemed to be females. As with the previous group, he detected a few vermin among their ranks.

"It seems you actually treat some of your captives half-way decently", he commented sourly to the rat.

"Actually, most of these are what we searats like to call "born servants"; they're woodlanders who were born in servitude on our isles and have lived there all their lives, whose parents, or even grandparents in some cases, were brought from Mossflower and allowed to breed, and their children were raised under our watch."

Gavin pondered over this for a few moments. He had heard about such beasts before, second- and even third-generation slaves who had never known their ancestral homeland of Mossflower or what it meant to be free. While most searat taskmasters had their recently captured slaves worked to death in short order, some allowed them a more lenient work schedule and slightly easier lives, and if they survived long enough they were even permitted to form relationships with their fellow woodlanders and have children. These children, who were counted as being slaves from birth, were more valuable to the rats than those who had been captured as adults. Since they had never known freedom and had nothing else to compare their lives to, they were less likely to rebel and more compliant to their masters' orders, and could thus be trusted with more complex and professional tasks, such as assembling wares and goods in workshops and factories.

Some powerful, influential and wealthy searats even employed them as domestic servants, having them work as housekeepers, valets, cooks, nannies and other roles within their households. Although this was one of most comfortable professions a woodlander could have in the searat's empire, Gavin had heard disgusting anecdotes that any such slave, of either gender, were required to submit to any sexual advances their owners made upon them, and that quite a few of them had to serve for their master's pleasure in the bedroom. No matter how "valuable" a slave you were to the searats, there were always at least some humiliating and unpleasant things you were forced to do, even apart from your basic lack of freedom.

The shrew nodded to Fargul: "Yes, I've heard of such… long-term serfs in your keeping, and I understand why you would treat them with greater care."

The rat seemed to brighten up a little at the shrew's apparently more amiable attitude. "Indeed! I think this amply demonstrates that if you simply submit and do as you're told without grumbling and resistance, the life of a slave isn't so bad. It's all about accepting your place and submitting to your fate, and if you do that, it actually…"

He had intended to continue with his little speech, but when Gavin shot him a very cold and hostile look, he wisely shut up.

Gavin decided it was time to start escorting the former slaves to their new homes in the nearby villages… and to send out most of the soldiers to escort their replacements back to the searats. After some quick discussions with Fargul about time schedules and whether the replacements should be loaded into one or both ships, he walked over to Sergeant Shawn to talk about how they should proceed.

"Now, we went over some of this at Salamandastron and on the journey here", he said. "You are to take most of the troops and send them out to the villages of Conwyn, Gleamshire and Torn a few miles from here, where you will round up the replacements as quickly and… gently as possible. Meanwhile, I will escort the released slaves to River's End, one of the larger communities in this area; they're the ones best able to receive them and are already prepared for their arrival. We'll meet up at the nearby meadow afterwards and then bring the replacements to the pier. If everything goes well, the searat ships should be able to return home by late afternoon. Then we'll return to River's End and spend the night there, and await further orders from Urthblood."

"Alright," the squirrel responded. "We have seventy-four soldiers in our troop, including you and me, so I think we should have… twelve of them stay here at the dock, while I lead twenty to Conwyn, corporal Niven will take fifteen to Torn and corporal Gus fifteen to Gleamshire, and you take ten to escort the woodlanders to River's End. Do you think that's enough for you? You'll be guiding over a hundred and sixty beasts after all."

"I think that'll be more than enough; the woods around here are relatively free of bandits and highwaybeasts these days, and once the creatures under our protection know that they are now free and will be taken to new homes, they're unlikely to cause any trouble."

After finishing their discussion, Shawn saluted his commander and picked the troops that would follow him to the villages, sent Gus and Niven on their way, and led his own contingent into the woods a short walk from the beach. Gavin took command of the former slaves from the rats and left the troops stationed at the dock behind him as he and his soldiers led the slaves away from the shoreline.

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A few hundred yards from the coast, when they were out of direct sight of the ships and close to the edge of the forest, he had the large gathering stop, and his troops began to hand out blankets and food that they'd brought with them among their charges. The wretched beasts from the Seafoam were naturally prioritized first, and the blankets were mostly meant for the ones who wore nothing but their fur. The food consisted of a crust of bread with some cheese, and milk or ale for drinking. It wasn't exactly scrumptious fare, but it was just meant to hold them over for a few hours until they got to River's End, where they would be able to bathe, be given salves and balms for their scars, put on clean clothes and enjoy a true, warm meal to celebrate their recent freedom.

The shrew noticed that the woodlanders didn't seem very resentful or distrustful of the few vermin that had arrived on the ships with them. When he thought about it, it wasn't actually that surprising. The vermin who worked at the ore mines at Baro had probably suffered as much under the searats' whips as their woodlander fellows, and when you had to work on equal terms and under the same hardships along each other, your shared experiences could actually forge a bond of comradeship that surpassed the prejudices the two groups generally felt for each other. Most of the slaves from the workshop had grown up without the same atmosphere of hostility that pervaded much of Mossflower, and might have lived and worked around vermin all their life. In a way, it was gladdening to see that such ancient prejudices could be put aside even without the direct influence of Urthblood… though of course, it was far more tragic that it had happened while they were living in brutal captivity.

As he walked around with the food and blankets under his arms to help with the distribution, he came across a hedgehog sitting on the ground, one of the beasts from the Seafoam, judging by his thin frame, scars and the fact that he was one of the slaves who didn't have any clothes to cover himself with, his hindpaws pulled up against his chest to give him some manner of privacy. Gavin was gripped by pity, and walked over to him to hand him the blankets and something to eat.

"Here, put these around yourself", he said kindly and extended the blanket to the hedgehog, who first eyed the shrew unsurely, before standing up and tying it around his waist. He was also given a second one to drape over his shoulders, (the shrew noticed that several of his spikes seemed to have fallen off from his back, no doubt from all the hardships he'd experienced during captivity). He then accepted the bread and cheese and started to eat; he looked as if he were uncertain of whether to be grateful for the shrew's kindness, or suspicious of any ulterior motives.

After allowing the hedgehog to enjoy his meagre meal for awhile (and giving the supplies he was carrying to a subordinate to distribute), Gavin gave a warm, friendly smile and asked:

"What's your name?"

The starved creature looked up from his meal towards him, unsure about the shrew's friendly attitude and any meaning behind it, and then responded with a fearful, uncertain voice:

"Er… Caful."

"Do you like the food?"

The hedgehog again seemed uncertain if it was a friendly, concerned question about his well-being or meant as a challenge to see if he would dare to complain about the food he'd been given; after awhile, with eyes downcast, he simply answered:

"Yes… yes I do. Thank you."

He then looked up again, seemed to mull over whether to say anything, and finally summoned up the courage to ask:

"Forgive me, master, but if you don't mind me asking… who are you, and where are you taking us?"

Gavin smiled once again and put his paw on Caful's shoulder.

"There's no need to call me "master", Caful; in fact, I would prefer it if you didn't. My name is Gavin, and I serve under Urthblood, the badgerlord of Salamandastron. You, and all the poor creatures that came with you here on the ships, are free now. Urthblood has made a deal with the searats to release all slaves in their keeping, and allow them to come here, to the lands of Mossflower."

Caful's jaw went agape and his eyes widened in the wake of these unbelievable news.

"What? You mean that… that… that we're...?"

"Yes… You will never again have to feel the sting of the foreman's whip on your backs, forced to perform backbreaking labour under the cruel gazes of the searat overseer's and live in starvation and misery, separated from your loved ones. All that is over. You are free beasts now, and you can choose whatever paths in life you wish. We are here to escort you to a nearby village for a warm bath, fresh clothes and a feast to celebrate your newly won freedom."

Caful was utterly speechless at first, having no idea of how to respond to the shrew's words. Then, his eyes started to brim with water, his mouth started quivering, and before Gavin could respond, he had taken the shrew's paw in his own and started kissing it, tears streaming down his face.

"Thank you… oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You… have no idea what… I can never… oh god, thank you…"

Gavin allowed the hedgehog to continue with his kisses for awhile, even though he was rather embarrassed to be given so much praise and gratitude for something he didn't actually have that much to do with. But more than anything else, what he felt was an unbelievable warmth and joy inside him, to know that another beast could feel such an enormous gratitude for what he had done. When Caful looked up at him again, his eyes reddened by the tears, he saw that where before there had only been fear and resignation, his face now shone with hope and happiness.

It was these type of moments that Gavin lived for, the reason that he served Urthblood and managed to endure through his campaigns and battles, even when things where at their most hopeless, painful and distressing. It was for the chance to see such gratitude and joy on the faces of beasts he had delivered from slavery, oppression and misery, to bring together loved ones who had been separated by war and conflict, to help creatures who previously lived in poverty and fear rise up and build a good life for themselves, to know that, even in a world that often seemed so cruel and heartless, he had made a difference. It was what kept him going even through his darkest moments, strengthened him in his periods of fear and self-doubt, and convinced him that he had made the right choice when he pledged his loyalty to the standard of the Crimson Badger. It took all his willpower not to tear up himself as the hedgehog showered him with affection.

After allowing the Caful to show his gratitude in the way he wanted, he gently pulled back his paw from the hedgehog's lips.

"There's really no need to thank me so much; I don't deserve all this gratitude. I didn't make the treaty or convinced Tratton to free you, Urthblood did. If you want to feel grateful, it should be to him."

"But I want to! I really do!" The hedgehog's voice was still quivering with his joyful tears. "You… you can't even imagine what you… and Urthblood… have done for me, and for so many others. If… if it really is as you say, and all the slaves are going to be freed… there's no way we can ever show you enough gratitude. Thank you, thank you so much!"

The hedgehog sat down again, and wiped away the tears from his cheeks with the back of his arm.

"I've been a slave for ten seasons… ten seasons of misery and suffering, of seeing friends dying of hunger and exhaustion, or being killed for no longer being strong enough to work, or for accidentally dropping some valuable ore load. Ten seasons without seeing my family and loved ones. I was convinced I would die in the dark tunnels and caverns of the mines. When the searats came and ordered us onto the ships a few days ago, I would never even have dared to imagine that they would carry us to freedom; I was sure we would be going to some other hellhole to slave away until we finally caved in under the workload, or even that we were no longer useful to them and that they would scuttle the boat we were on. I could never have imagined that I would ever see Mossflower again."

Gavin crouched and once again put his paw on the hedgehog's shoulder.

"Caful, don't think about those horrible times now. It's all behind you. What matters now is your future. We will find you a new home, and help you start a new life in these beautiful lands."

Caful smiled at the kind words, and then suddenly looked up as if they reminded him of something important.

"Gavin, if you don't mind me asking, where in Mossflower are we?"

The shrew mulled over this for awhile. "Well, I don't know exactly how well you know the geography of Mossflower, so I'm not sure if my answer would tell you much. Basically, we're at the south-eastern border of the Northlands, near the river Tummel. The settlement we're going to take you to is called River's End."

At this information, the hedgehog's ears perked.

"River's End? Isn't that near the village of Torn?"

"Yes!" The shrew was genuinely surprised that the hedgehog knew so much of the area. "You're familiar with it?"

"I lived there with my wife and newborn son before I was captured and sent to the slave mines! Me and some of the males from the village made a trip to the river to gather shrimps when we were happened upon by a searat raiding party that had made a quick excursion in the area. We were captured and loaded onto a waiting boat that quickly returned to their home isles, where we were unfortunate enough to be assigned to that horrible mine at Baro."

The shrew hadn't expected that one of the slaves they'd release would happen to live so close to the dock where they would make the exchange. It was a coincidence that could potentially lead to problems, as he understood what Caful would ask next.

Sure enough, Caful's look became pleading as he focused his eyes on the shrew:

"Gavin, please! Torn is just an hour or so to the east of River's End, it will not take any longer to bring us there instead! If you can't do so, I can walk there myself! I know the way perfectly, I won't have any problems getting there on my own! There are two other people from the fishing trip who are still alive; they'll want to join me too! If we can see our families again, it will be more than worth it to…"

Gavin interrupted the hedgehog, his face having gone from jovial to mournful and concerned.

"Caful, I'm sorry, but… we can't allow you to do that just now."

Caful was taken aback at being refused to do something as simple as making a short trip to a nearby village, especially as he would be willing to walk there on his own without inconveniencing the soldiers who escorted them. Though he was sure the hedgehog didn't mean to do so, he couldn't help but detect a slight tone of anger in his voice.

"But why not!"

"Well, the thing is… while we're taking you to River's End, we're also sending some soldiers to Torn, and to a couple of other hamlets and villages nearby, to perform a… task that I don't think you or your fellows from the mines would care to see. It's an important task, and it's vital that they don't get disturbed while doing it. I can't tell you what it is right now, but you'll find out soon enough."

As he could see that Caful was getting visibly annoyed at this, he quickly followed it up:

"Listen, it won't take long. I promise you, first thing tomorrow we'll take you and anyone else who so wishes to Torn, we're you'll met your wife and son again. Besides, at River's End, you will be able to bathe, get new clothes and enjoy a scrumptious feast so that you will look more presentable to your wife when you see her again." He chuckled a little, hoping it would ease the hedgehog's tension. "I know it must it must be frustrating, but I beg you, just be a little patient. Your wife has waited for you for more than two years; she'll just have to wait one more day, and then you'll be together again."

Caful looked as he was about to protest, but then he sighed and cast down his eyes, looking like he was ashamed for being ungrateful to his liberator.

"You're right. I'm sorry. You freed me and gave me my life back; I have no right to complain about not being able to go home just now when your soldiers are engaged in something so important. I'll wait just a little longer; it… it'll be nice to get cleaned up a little before I see her again."

Gavin smiled once again.

"It's alright, Caful. I understand completely how eager you must be to see your family again after so many seasons apart. Now, rise up. We're gonna continue our trip to River's End now, where you'll have a nice, pleasant evening, and before you know it, you'll be seeing your loved ones again."

Caful smiled back and then rose to his paws, as Gavin gave him a last comforting paw on his shoulder before walking to the front of the gathering to continue leading the way to River's End. It seemed that the news of their recent liberation had spread amongst the former slaves by now. Everywhere, he could see faces shining with joy and brimming with grateful tears, and heard cheers and praises for the soldiers guiding them. Once again, his felt his heart grow warm as he took in the atmosphere around him.

However, as he looked more closely at the various beasts that had just come of the ships, he discovered something that both surprised and worried him. While the starved, dirty creatures from the Seafoam were all overwhelmed with happiness, the ones from the Albatross looked somewhat different. While most of them seemed happy and glad to be free creatures for the first time in their lives, there were also other emotions expressing themselves on their faces and in their body language: uncertainty, confusion, nervousness, even a bit of fear could be detected in some of them. As he continued gazing over the crowd, trying to read their expressions and guess their emotions, he understood that, as tragic and wrong as it really was, it was nevertheless understandable in a way.

For all the unpleasantness and drudgery they had experienced, the searat isles was the only home many of these beasts had ever truly had. They had always lived with having searats ordering them around, working in their shops and homes, had been taught by their owners that slavery was their natural lot in life and that there was nothing to do but accept it. And sadly, it seemed that some of them had in fact accepted it. They had stopped longing for freedom, not simply because it seemed so hopeless and because it was torture to wish for something you believed would never come, but because true freedom just seemed unimaginable. They had never known any other way of life; Mossflower, if they knew about it at all, must have seemed like a distant fairy-tale land that their parent or grandparents sometimes talked about, not their ancestral homeland that they truly belonged to. What all this meant was that for many of them, as ridiculous and cruel as it felt when you said it aloud, freedom actually seemed frightening. To not have anyone else always telling you what to do, having your life structured according to a tight, orderly schedule that others had made for you, to make your own way in life according to your own choices and desires… it felt so new, strange and overwhelming that it was actually rather scary.

As Gavin compared the slaves from the Seafoam and the Albatross, he honestly couldn't say which group felt like the most tragic one. On one paw, the slaves that had been born and raised in Tratton's empire had been treated much better, and had generally lived easier lives, than the brutalized, starving creatures from Baro. If forced to choose between which life they preferred to lead, most beasts would probably go with the former one. But on the other paw, to know that lifelong slavery could warp the mind of someone to the point that you couldn't even imagine freedom, to the point that its prospect actually frightened you… At least the tortured beasts at Baro still longed for liberty, and understood the enormity of the evil being done to them. The ones who were born, raised and lived in the middle of the searats' society simply submitted to their tyranny without question, believing that there was no other way for them to live, didn't know that they should be free to live their own lives. It was terrifying to think that the mind of anybeast could be so twisted to such a degree that you accepted your own enslavement.

Gavin roused himself from his pondering. No matter; even if the inborn slaves had indeed been so brainwashed as to be frightened by the prospect of freedom, once they had lived in the beautiful forests, fields and meadows of Mossflower, once they began to enjoy the taste of their newfound liberty, they would understand that they had been wrongfully deprived of a good life and see slavery for the evil it truly was. It was just a matter of time before they would come around and see it from the right point of view.

Gavin stepped in front of the gathered beasts and called for attention. With everybeast looking at him, he began to give a stirring speech that he'd practiced a bit before for this occasion. It was mostly a repetition of the things he'd just recently said to Caful: that Lord Urthblood had made a deal with Tratton to release all the searat king's slaves, that they were now free beasts and would never have to suffer under the overseer's whips again, that they would be escorted to new homes in the lands after a scrumptious feast at River's End. He added that any beast that had lived in a specific home somewhere in Mossflower before their enslavement would later get help to return there; those who didn't, either because it had been destroyed in the searats' raids or because they had lived under their clutches all their lives and thus never had a true home to begin with, would get help to start over new lives.

There was a great cheer from the crowd at the conclusion of his address. With a warm and confident smile, he waved for everybeast present to follow him and his troops onto a path through the forest, to begin their short march to River's End and their new lives as free creatures.