Hey everyone this is Nashog just saying the stoat being raised by woodlanders is totally cliche. We are just using it as a explanation for how he survived without his parents. The main problem was Kiath and Tarnfalk would probably be some of the worse parents imaginable so that's one thing you can count out of this story. Then again who knows how it might turn out. Sorry if spacing is weird since I was copying it from Word onto fanfiction and it was being annoying. Right on with the story before Fleetfeather gets mad and "Killee Killee featherbag."

The stoat left via the small wicker gate in the north wall, closing it behind him. He gritted his teeth as he thought about his parents. Two warriors, a kestrel and an otter, had killed them. they sounded a rather odd couple now that he thought about it. It didn't matter to him however, since no matter what he would kill them. They had murdered his parents and Skipper had told him that the kestrel had killed his mother. He could care less about his father since he was supposed to be a robber and if there was one thing that he had been taught it was robbing someone was wrong. The Abbey had been peaceful and had taught him much but he had to assume that his mother must have been peaceful and not a murderer. That was how it had escalated between him and the Skipper.

He had gotten into a fight with him over whether or not his parents were good beasts or vermin.

Skipper had decided to tell him the day before how he had come to the abbey, starting from what the kestrel had told him when they dropped the young stoat off to when they had gone to see the campsite later that day and found the bodies, one of which was recognised as a robber who had killed many woodlanders. He had argued his mother must have been mistaken and not been one of the robbers' mate on purpose, but he couldn't think of how she had become his mate that way.

He shook the thoughts from his mind, started humming a tune as he walked and looked up at the sky which had a bright full moon shining down. The stars shone like myriad chips of diamond on an onyx blanket. It was a beautiful night with a cool wind rustling through the trees and he just enjoyed himself as he walked with his quest for vengeance ever in the back of his mind.

Skipper woke and stretched, looking over to where Verraten usually slept in a bed across from him. He started to speak before he saw the rumpled blankets and shrugged. "Must be checking out the kitchens," the otter yawned. "Sounds like a good idea. I thought I saw a jar of raspberry preserves on the counter last time I was in there." He smiled. "I bet they'd go good with that hotroot cake Sister Devon was experimenting with." The Skipper blushed slightly as he said the name. "I wonder if anybeast's ever told her how pretty her eyes are?"

Devon, the alluring otter in charge of the Abbey Kitchens, stood in front of the oven, biting her lower lip. "I hope this doesn't mess up; I've never tried to make a cake with hotroot before. I just hope the cake won't ruin." She started backing away from the oven, keeping her eyes on it. "Please just work and not have the shrimp dry out too much."

Skipper came through the door causing her to spin around. Devon caught her breath in surprise. "Skipper?"

The otter chieftain smiled at her. "Is there anything I can do to help, miss Devon?"

"I'm trying something I've never tried before," she explained, and blushed.

"Well what are ya making?" Skipper said, sniffing the air.

"It's a new recipe I invented. We all love shrimp and hotroot soup; well, at least us otters do. I thought, why not add a little sweetness to it and invent a cake?" Devon shrugged, then looked worried. "I just hope this doesn't mess up, Skip."

The Skipper came over and put a paw on her shoulder. "How much longer does it have to bake?"

"A half hour. I'm using the same cooking time as the spice cake I baked before, just slightly different ingredients."

"Well can I try it when it's done?" Skipper looked into the oven and licked his lips.

"Of course! I'll half it with you." Devon smiled, holding up a piece of parchment. "I wrote the recipe down. By the way I don't suppose you have seen some scones that I left on the window to cool have you?"

"Maybe some of the Dibbuns were hungry." The Skipper said smiling.

"No I don't think so since I got up early this morning to make the cake."

"I'll be glad to help you find them, Sister. Actually have you seen Verraten anywhere since I just assumed he came down to the kitchens to eat a early breakfast."

"Why no, Skipper, I would have seen him if he came to the kitchens."

The otter thought. "I won't jump to conclusions, beasts have jumped to conclusions about him before and been wrong. Besides he hates stealing ever since he got in trouble for taking that fish."

Kiath and Tarnfalk walked over sand dunes, enjoying the bright summer sun beating down on them.

"It's a beautiful day today, I just wish the air wasn't so hot," Tarnfalk said, flapping his wings cooling them off.

The otter looked up into the sky and nodded, wiping sweat from her brow with a paw. "Aye, laddie. Et's hot enoo tae roast a rat oot here."

"It's much cooler up in the sky" he said, half jokingly. "Just wish you could get up there since it would be much faster than tramping along these dusty sand dunes. I am going to get some air, see ya in a couple minutes mate." He took off going high overhead until he was just a speck in the sky.

Kiath stiffened. "Stuff yer tail feathers en yer beak, ya no' think ah've go' a way tae cool off?" she grumbled softly.

Tarnfalk enjoyed the wind in his feathers as he flew and started scanning the ground well ahead of them noticing that the dunes seemed to be flattening out as they approached the sea. He started flying towards them doing a quick roll in the air and laughed.

The otter looked to the west and saw what appeared to be a lizard scurrying over a dune. "Ah dinnae ken what lizards are doin' aroon' this area. . ." She adjusted the scabbard strap over her shoulder. Then she heard a whizzing from behind and a net flew over her head, barely missing.

Kiath grabbed her claymore and drew it with lightning speed. "What 'en 'Ellgates?" Two toads charged with spears aiming for her stomach.

The Highlander bared her teeth. "Attack an O'Raghallaigh et's the last thing ye'll ever dae, ye slimy scum. . . ." She drew her blade with a speed only few could match. If this was going to be a fight, at least she'd get the first move in, she thought. She took a deep breath. "HAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY THE BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

Hearing the cry, Tarnfalk looped around to see a group of toads with a few lizards coming towards Kiath from behind. He dived down quickly gaining speed. "Kreee come to my talons, frog spawn!" He dug his talons into the back of a toad, pecking it hard in the head with his beak before taking flight again and started circling the battle, going down for brief attacks on the toads.

A crimson spark came into Kiath's eyes and the fire grew until her eyes were blood red. "Die, ye scum!" she yelled. The otter swung her sword, bringing it down on one of the toad's legs cutting deeply into it, before pulling it out to attack another one.

As Tarnfalk was ripping out the throat of a lizard, he saw a net being tossed at him out of the corner of his eye. Before he had time to dodge the net wrapped around his wings and legs making it so he couldn't move except to try snapping out with his beak. A toad came up to him holding a dagger against his throat and making sure Kiath could see what was happening.

The otter froze in mid-swing, leaning on her claymore with a look of shock and anger in her eyes. "Och, ye're mad," she whispered.

Two hours under the burning sun on the hot sands later, they were thirsty and tired. It had turned into a standoff with the knife being traded for a bow and arrow. The wind had come up briefly but it wasn't enough to cool them down.

Kiath gritted her teeth, pawing her claymore in frustration as she had no choice but to stand and watch. The toads also couldn't do anything since they were not willing to get in range of the otter's sword and they had already used their nets.

"Hellgates," she gritted. Then a breeze came up causing sand to be blown about right as a war cry was heard on the breeze.

"Euliaaaaaaaa!" Came the cry as three hares came storming over a sand dune releasing a sling stone each as they ran. The hares were then among the toads, lashing out with sabers skewering the vermin as they started trying to run.

Tarnfalk heard a whistling sound as a arrow came flying at him. Before he could move he was hit in his left wing causing him to cry out in pain. He snapped out with his beak grabbing a toad by its leg, snapping bone and tearing flesh as he forced it to attempt to hobble off, but it collapsed in the sand, unable to walk.

Kiath, hearing her friend's cry, whirled with her blade, cutting off the leg of one of the lizards before cutting off the head of another. Swearing vengeance, she forced her way through the running toads, her blade a whirling flash of death as it danced in her paws. Any creature that got in the otter's path was killed before it had a chance to blink.

When she got to Tarnfalk, she saw that he had taken an arrow to the top of his wing; thankfully it appeared to have missed anything major. She assumed he would be alright even though by the look on his face he was in major pain. He also seemed to have captured a toad who was squirming on the ground trying to get away.

"Dinnae move ef ye want tae live," the otter snarled through bared teeth, tickling the toad's throat with her bladepoint. She looked around, seeing a dust cloud rising to the east in the distance as the hares pursued the other toads.

Kiath whirled to her friend. "Dinnae move. Hauld verra still." The Highlander drew back with her claymore. Her sword moved quickly, almost too fast for eyes to see. The net fell away and she quickly removed it before bending down to treat his wing.

"Thanks mate, can you get this arrow out." Tarnfalk said in a voice that made it clear he was in pain and he moved his wing slightly causing him to nearly black out.

Kiath gritted her teeth. "Ah need bandages. . .Och, Hellgates." She took the dagger from one of the fallen toads and used it to cut a strip from her kilt. "Et'll hurt. . . ." the otter grimaced and slapped herself in the head. "Hauld still while ah get et oot."

She cut the head off the arrow and threw it aside, then pulled the shaft out, dropping it with a growl of anger. Tarnfalk blacked out from pain as she did this and didn't notice as she wrapped the makeshift bandage around his wing.

Rage overwhelmed Kiath as she approached the toad who was cowering on the ground. Her paw went white around the knife handle. "Ye hurt mah mate. . . naebeast harms the mates of an O'Rallaghaigh and lives." Her voice was ice cold.

The toad extended his feet out trying to shield his face. Vengeance shone in the otter's eyes as she flipped the toad over. She brought her knife down stabbing into its leg. "When ye get tae Hellgates, tell Vulpuz Kiath O'Rallaghaigh sent ye." She carved into him as the toad screamed, waking Tarnfalk.

"Oh, my wing is killing me." Then he noticed the otter and toad and nods at the otter. "Just get it over with and torture him."

An insane chuckle came from the otter. "Gladly. Ever hear o' this torture, laddie?" Kiath threw the knife away and grabbed her claymore in both paws. "The bluid eagle!"

The toad screamed as the otter stabbed her claymore into its back. She cut through the ribs of the screaming toad and ripped them aside. She plunged her paws into her rib cage, grabbing the ribs she pulled them out and set them to the side. She then ripped out the toad's lungs and set them on its back where they fluttered like the wings of a bird.

Two of the Gallopers came panting up and froze in shock. The lead hare, a rangy doe wearing a green officer's tunic, had to grab her quarterstaff for support. "Don't look," Lorryn O'Graiden gasped to the younger hares.

She spoke too late however; Private Latna Dawnshadow started shaking all over. Her gray eyes were glazed. "I ne-never tho-tho-thought that any cre-cre-creature could d-d-do that to ano-another." the younger hare stuttered out.

Lorryn looked with terrified shock at the gruesome sight that met her eyes. "The only time I ever saw anything this terrible was when a badger went into bloodwrath and hit a vermin in the head with a sword butt," she whispered.

"Wha-what b-butt? D-d-don't you mean the b-blade?" Dawnshadow stammered.

"No, it was like a mace or hammer crashing into its head, there was an explosion of red and the sight afterwards was not one I wanted to see again," her companion said, her tone a bit stronger. She was slowly recovering.

Dawnshadow's eyes fell on the bloody claymore in the otter's paws. She slowly started backing away.

Kiath looked up and saw the hares. She looked at them grimly."Can ya help mah mate? He's wounded." she said, gesturing to the kestrel.

"I'm a m-m-medic," Dawnshadow stammered. Her heart pounded as she crossed to the injured kestrel.

Tarnfalk winced as she removed the bandage, looking at the wound.

Lorryn looked at the otter's claymore, then at the carnage. Under pretense of looking for survivors, she moved to get as far away from the otter as she could.

As soon as Tarnfalk's treated, ah'll check the bodies frae guid weapons, Kiath thought. Ah'm lookin frae a guid dirk. . . .

Kiath calmly strolled through the battlefield, looking around for anything she could use.

Tarnfalk, meanwhile, was trying not to move his wing as the hare rebandaged and cleaned his wound. "Will my wing be alright?" he asked the hare.

"You'll fly again, just not anytime soon."

"Hellgates, so much for trying to scout ahead like I normally do. Speaking of which, who are you hares?" Tarnfalk was trying his best to ignore the pain, thinking he had been through worse. Then again, he had never taken a arrow in the wing before.

Dawnshadow spoke for the group. "We serve Lord Felltree of Salamandastron. We're his Long Patrol."

Lorryn could be heard calling out then . "This lizard's still alive, he's missin' a leg though."

Kiath grinned evilly. "Gosh, ah dinnae ken how that happened. . . . "

"What are you doing, otter." Lorryn said as the otter approached the lizard.

"Ah'm finishin' the job." Kiath raised her claymore.

"Kiath, let these hares deal with him." Tarnfalk says and looks at her with his black eyes.

Kiath made one light flick with her claymore tip and severed the end of the lizard's tail. "Ooops," she said sarcastically. She raised her blade again and positioned it over the lizard's left leg, at the thigh. "Tails can grow back. Legs cannae."

"I'm serious, I will be fine, there's no need to torture him as well." Tarnfalk said, trying to get up.

The otter nodded, lowered her blade and took a half-pace away, turning on her heel so the shaking lizard was left staring at her back. "So be et, laddie."

Dawnshadow blanched. "Are ye mad?" she whispered.

Kiath grinned. "After bein' through the things ah have, lassie, who wouldnae be?"

Tarnfalk, by now, had managed to get to his feet and fold up his wings. His wing still hurt but the herb dressing that had been put on had dulled the pain. He walked over to the otter, shaking his head. "So what are you hares going to do with this one?" he said, nodding at the lizard.

"The fastest way tae get tae a creature's heart es six inches o' steel through his ribcage," the otter muttered under her breath, raising her blade over her head. Kiath swung her sword around in a swift half-circle, decapitating the lizard, and grinned slightly. "Oor ye jest chop their haids off."

"You bloody savage!" Dawnshadow drew her sword and rushed the otter only to have her sword fly out of her paw and the claymore prodding her throat.

A slight steely edge came into the Highlander's tone. "They'd ha' killed ye. Et's justice." She removed the sword point from the hare and turned to face Lorryn. "Sae what's yore names?"

"Lance Corporal Lorryn O'Graiden."

Kiath picked up the slight edge of an accent in the hare's tone and raised her eyebrow. "Yore frae the Highlands?"

"No' completely. My father Moragh was a borderer. Creatures call me Swiftstryke." Lorryn spun her quarterstaff in her paws. "The hare who tried to attack ye is called ."

"Well what do you expect me to do, she killed our prisoner. Weren't we supposed to question him first, then decide what to do to him?" Dawnshadow asked, wilting slightly under their gazes.

"Do you honestly expect to get information from that scaly scum? The only time we ever got information from the likes of them was when I ripped open their innards." Tarnfalk spoke grimly, looking at the decapitated lizard. "Just be glad it was a quick death and he didn't get a chance to scream."

"The bird has a very good point, Private, you won't get information from lizards. I can't agree with their method of getting information since its what vermin do." Swiftstryke said and put her weapon down hard into the ground causing it to stand. "But I am not going to argue with an otter and a kestrel."

Dawnshadow covered her face with her paws and was quiet for a few minutes. When she looked up, she was pale and shaking slightly. "How could anybeast dae that t' another?"

"When you're in the patrol, you will see stuff like that and worse. You just need to take a deep breath and learn to ignore it in the middle of battle. If it is a vermin doing it, get them before they can continue doing it to whatever beast it is."

Kiath turned and started walking off with Tarnfalk following.

"Now where dae y' think you're going?" Dawnshadow interjected. "That bird needs to rest his wing if he wants to fly again."

"Where dae ye propose we gae?" Kiath asked. She noticed something glinting under a lizard, kicked the body over and dug the object out of the sand with her bladepoint, revealing a long-bladed dagger. Grinning slyly, the otter picked up the blade and put it in her belt. "Ah was lookin' frae one o' these." Kiath then picked up a pawful of flat pebbles from the sand around her, brushing the sand off with a paw.

"What are ye doin'?" Dawnshadow said.

"Ef we dinnae ha' water, we'll need these. Pass these oot an' put one en yore mouth. Et's an auld trick ah learned en slavery."

"Doesn't work for birds, wish it did sometimes. Speaking of which, have you got some water?" Tarnfalk leaned down and began cleaning his talons. He then walked over to one of the dead lizard and wiped away the blood from his beak.

Swiftstryke pulled a canteen off her belt and passed it to him, opening it. Tarnfalk, balancing on one foot, took it and lowered his beak, taking a few quick sips before giving it back.

Kiath sniffed the air and stiffened, her entire body going rigid. Her eyes turned a blood red and one paw raised her claymore. The fur up and down her back rose and she took off running.

"Hellgates, of all times for my wing to be injured." He nodded to Swiftstryke saying, "She's got bloodwrath."

Swiftstryke gasped. The only beast she'd ever known to have bloodwrath before was Lord Felltree! She took off sprinting after the otter, knowing she probably wouldn't catch up in time.

Tarnfalk and Dawnshadow started walking after them. "I had better tell you about my friend."