I'm Back! Busy busy summer, but things are starting to wind down, so here's chapter 4!

Rikar strolled onto the deck of his ship. The fox made a dashing sight in a light brown tunic and a red cape draped on his shoulders. He walked to the front of the ship and looked out across the water. A faint smudge was on the horizon.
"Grondil!" Rikar called out. A tall weasel came rushing over and saluted.
"Commandant," Grondil said, "avez-vous a task for me?"
Riker pointed, "Do you see that, just to the east?"

Grondil pulled a spyglass from his belt and peered through it.
"Oui, commandant. 'Tis land."
Rikar nodded, "Good. Tell the crew to let out all the sails and head towards that land. I believe it may be Mossflower."
Grondil saluted and walked off, calling orders.
"Ouvrez les voiles! Tournez-vous vers l'est! Vas-y!"

There was a fair wind that carried the ship quickly and smoothly across the waves. Rikar and his Northern soldiers watched eagerly as the smudge on the horizon became larger and clearer. It wasn't long before Grondil, with his spyglass, could see the land clearly enough to describe it.

"I see mostly cliffs, commandant. Zey h'appear to 'ave des caverns. Caves. Zere is some forest, at ze top of some of ze cliffs. Zere also is probably un ruisseau nearby, non?"
Rikar nodded. "Caves, forest, an' a stream, eh?" He turned to the rest of his army.
"We'll pull in off the shore and send out a squad in a dinghy. They can check it out; see if there is anyone around." The soldiers murmured in agreement.
"An' what do we do if we find creatures there?" one called out above the rest.
"Kill them," Rikar said plainly, "but let a few escape. Make sure they know my name." The soldiers fell silent.
"King Faernor and the other commanders told us we shouldn't kill for no reason," one of the soldiers said.

The other soldiers looked at each other in shock. Somebeast speaking out against Rikar was extremely uncommon. The crowd parted as Rikar walked slowly forward and stopped in front of the speaker. He, too, was a fox. Rikar recognized him from some of the training sessions he had observed while choosing his forces. The youth was barely old enough to join the army, but was extremely skilled in both swordplay and archery. He also showed great potential as a soldier. Many said he would someday be a commander. This was why Rikar chose him for the Mossflower voyage.

"We shouldn't kill without reason," Rikar said, "is that what you believe also, Kiiryan?"
"Yes, sir," the young fox replied quietly. For a moment, it looked like Rikar would just leave it at that. Suddenly, he struck Kiiryan with a hard blow to the head. The young soldier went crashing onto the deck.

"King Faernor isn't here! This army is under my command! You follow my orders!" Rikar roared. He put one foot on Kiiryan's chest, pinning him to the deck.
"If we are going to take over the red fortress, my name needs to be feared throughout the land! To make that happen, we will kill those who get in our way! You're going to be one of those who go ashore. If there is anybeast there, you are going to kill at least one of them! If you don't, you will be left behind to rot with the flies. Understood?"
Kiiryan nodded fearfully, "Yes sir."
"Good," Rikar said. He released Kiiryan and began walking back to his cabin.
"Decide among yourselves who will go ashore," he called back.

The soldiers stayed still until Rikar was inside his cabin. When he had gone, a tall, middle aged ferret stepped forward and helped Kiiryan to his feet.
"You should not have spoken, garçon."
"Oui, Dareau, I know," Kiiryan said.
"I m going wit you to de shore. Who else is coming, eh?" Dareau said, putting his arm around Kiiryan.

Kiiryan smiled. Dareau was like a father figure to the younger soldiers. Many looked up to him, and Kiiryan was glad to have Dareau on his side.

The group going to the shore consisted of Kiiryan, Dareau, and eight other soldiers who were close followers of Rikar. They would make sure that Kiiryan would kill somebeast.

The group jumped into the shallows as the small boat scraped the sandy bottom. They hauled it further onto the land so it wouldn't float away.
"We should split up," suggested a weasel name Avare, "one group search les cavernes, de other go up de cliffs into de forest. Le jeune renard will be wit me."

Kiiryan, Dareau, and Avare were in the cave searching group with two rats.
"You 'ad better 'ope we don't run into anyone, garcon," Dareau muttered to Kiiryan, "Dese tree are très close to commandant Rikar. Dey would likely 'old down a beast for you to cut 'is 'ead off, an' dey would be de first to tell le commandant if you do not kill."
Kiiryan nodded. He was too nervous to say anything.

The first three caves that were searched were completely empty. Nearly all the rest held only remnants of belongings. Broken dishes here, cooking tools there, a dingy old doll that had long been forgotten by its owner.

One large cave had what appeared to be a fire pit, long ago filled in with sand. Another was the home of broken bows, arrows, and spears, as well as rusted, brittle swords and daggers.

"I t'ink many many saisons 'ave passed since dese caves were lived in," Dareau said.
"Oui," Avare agreed, "We go back to de boat. Wait for de rest." As they filed out of the cave, one of the rats rudely bumped Kiiryan.
"You were lucky ziss time, renard. Next time, maybe not."

It was not a long wait at the boat before the other group returned, also without sighting any living creatures. They slowly rowed back to the ship. Once they were aboard, Grondil sent them to make their report to Rikar.

They stood side by side in a line in Rikar's cabin.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"Non, commandant. Les cavernes were deserted," Avare replied.
"All we found in the forest were some fruit trees and berry bushes, sir. Oh, we did come across a stream. It's good, clean water." A big stoat reported.
"Good, we're beginning to run low on drinking water," Rikar said. He nodded to his soldiers, "You're dismissed."

They saluted, and left the room. Kiiryan let out a sigh of relief that Rikar had not said anything to him. Rikar followed them out, and called his army together on the deck of the ship.
"We're going to bring the ship in as far as we can. We're all going ashore, and Ludovic," Rikar gestured to the stoat who had reported the forest findings, "is going to lead us to fruit trees and a stream. We'll restock supplies and rest. Tomorrow, we'll continue to Mossflower."

So, in case nobody figured it out, the Northern soldiers are speaking French. Their country is slightly based off Canada - Up North, generally cold, and people speak french. So I decided that the majority of Rikar's army at the very least understands french. Rikar himself does not usually speak french, but he does understand it. Also some soldiers have heavier accents than others.

Anyhoo, please read and review, and I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!
MarbleTabby