The deck swayed beneath Yomi's bound footpaws. She clasped Salvia's paws behind her back, as they were tied in such a manner, "Don't worry Sal, I'm gonna be a warrior, I'll get us fwee!"

Guards roughly intervened, shoving both the tiny creatures onto the deck. "Party's over," one of them yelled. He pushed Yomi onto her knees and firmly planted her forehead onto the rough wooden deck. But as he did so, the guard did something very strange. He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Not at all the normal behavior of a brutal corsair guard.

Suddenly everybeast on deck was in a flurry. All the guards snapped to attention, paws on their cutlass and sword hilts. The guard that had pushed Yomi down paced forward regally, bowing respectfully to the figure that emerged from the cabin.

The figure nodded in acknowledgment of his second-in-command and approached the two new slaves groveling before him. He waved a paw at the two guards holding spears to the slaves' necks to keep them in place. As soon as the weapons were gone, one of the slaves looked up. She leapt up. "I'm a warrior and I say you let us go now!"

All present laughed uproariously at the short little figure defying their captain. Picking her up easily by the front of her tunic, the large gerbil lifted her up to his eye-level. "Son, show this one down to the special warrior oar." More laughter. The large gerbil's second-in-command seized Yomi and carried her belowdecks.

The gerbil chained Yomi to a heavier oar than the others, next to a young female mouse. The mouse's tired sad eyes looked up at the second-in-command pleadingly. He avoided her gaze. "I'm sorry Hefra. Gr-"

"Son, get back up here. We still have another slave to deal with."

"I'm sorry." And with that the second-in-command swept back up onto deck, hardening his face once more. By the time he had reached his father, the larger gerbil in charge was already dealing with his second slave.

"Now, are you a little warrior too, like your sister down there?" The tiny creature in his paws shook her head, trembling with terror. "Answer me," he added with a quick shake for emphasis.

"No," came the muted reply.

"No what?"

"No…sir?"

"Wrong!" The gerbil captain flung Salvia across the deck and she slammed onto the deck some length away. He stalked up. "No Master….Say it!"

"No Master," Salvia whimpered, balling up.

"That's better. Son, do you think it'll make a good personal slave?"

The captain's second-in-command sized up the tiny creature. "I suppose it'll do."

"Very good. Give her an introductory beating. Teach her the ropes." This said, the captain swept below decks to where Yomi sat chained. She glared up at him, tiny black eyes blazing. The captain slapped her hard across the muzzle, causing blood to drip from it. Yomi yelped as her paws were stopped from twisting back with her body by the heavy chains.

The gerbil captain grabbed her face, twisting it up into his. "Listen Sklave," he noticed her angry reaction. "Aye, that's right. You're a slave now. That means I own you. You're just a thing, an it. And don't you even think of forgetting that." Thrusting her away, the gerbil captain drew his whip. "I think you're due for an introductory beating as well."

Yomi's eyes flashed open, cold sweat dripping down her face. Spion turned as he heard Yomi hyperventilating on the other side of the small burrow he had dug for them. He crouched down slowly beside her shaking form.

"Please don't beat me, please don't beat me," she moaned as Spion placed a paw softly on her feverish brow.

"Hush now, it was all just a nightmare…just a nightmare…you're safe now. I won't let anybeast harm you." Yomi's bloodshot eyes roamed up to Spion's black ones in the darkness. All she could make out was the outline of a gerbil.

"Thank you Ishmael," she murmured, squeezing his paw to reassure herself the nightmare was over. Spion had to resist doing a small victory dance in the cramped burrow. This was just too perfect.

"Yomi, Spion went back to the fortress, but I don't think we should wait for him to come back." Yomi nodded slowly. "Let me dress your wounds and we can travel to the other coast. Spion will never think of looking for us there."

Yomi's eyes flickered as she fought sleep and unconsciousness. "W-would I be free?"

Spion nodded and gave her paw a little squeeze in return. "You would think so."

Yomi smiled.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Salvia's eyes wavered as she fought sleep. I must stay awake. Master hasn't given me permission to sleep. Finally, though, Salvia lost the battle with the passionflower that Heilen had put into the burdock root tea without Salvia's knowledge.

Salvia sat upon the sands of the beach, reading a small book. She glanced up, as sand was thrown across the page she was reading slowly, sounding out most of the words. Her sister stood there, grinning. Salvia looked back down at the page, tears filling her large dark eyes. "Yomi, why'd you do that? Now it's ruined and she's gonna be reawwy angry at me!" Salvia burst into tears, running up the beach back towards their burrow.

Yomi raced after her sister, catching up easily. Tackling Salvia, Yomi wrested the book out of her sister's paws. Running back down to the ocean water, followed by Salvia, Yomi paused at the tide line. Holding the book at arms-length Yomi said tauntingly, "If you tell Sal, I won't ever ever let you have your book back." Despite the absurdity of the statement, Salvia started crying even harder.

"Yomi, please, give it back," Salvia sobbed. Salvia suddenly gasped as she felt a calloused paw on her shoulder.

"Dry your tears little one. What's wrong?" The gerbil lowered himself down to Salvia's eye-level.

Salvia looked at the gerbil warily. "I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers without Auster."

"And with good reason!" The gerbil suddenly lunged and grabbed Salvia's tail.

"Owowow! You're huwting me," Salvia screamed.

"Well, does this hurt more?" The gerbil cruelly stood up, lifting Salvia up by the middle of her tail.

Tears flowed down Salvia's cheeks. She yelled, struggling to free herself from the vice-like grip. "Yes, it does. Please, stop! Stop!"

The gerbil gave Salvia a shake. "Address me correctly and maybe I will," he growled.

"Please stop sir," Salvia wept.

"You better stop huwting Sal or I'll kill you!" The gerbil looked down at the small creature glaring at him.

"That will be amusing to see, so I think I'll keep hurting your sister as long as I like." He yanked Yomi up by her scruff. Salvia whimpered, looking pleadingly at her captor.

He returned her whimper by giving her another, harder shake. Salvia continued crying, while Yomi kept struggling. The gerbil ignored both, swaggering jauntily away down the shore, carrying Yomi and dragging Salvia.

"W-where are you taking us? Sir," Salvia hastily added.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Suddenly, Yomi stopped struggling momentarily. The gerbil looked down, then followed her line of sight. He grinned when he noticed Salvia had stopped crying she was so frightened. Wading into the shallows, he called up to the large ship, "Virt, throw down some rope, would ya?" Salvia was spluttering in the shallows, sinking underwater when waves crashed onto the beach, spluttering and gagging when she reemerged to the surface.

Catching the rope Virt threw down, the gerbil tied up both his prizes. Yomi fought hard as he tied her paws behind her back. With his free paw, the gerbil dragged Salvia out of the water, her fur now plastered to her body, and tied her paws behind her as well. She began to sob again as the gerbil stroked her headfur, murmuring, "You're a nice little trophy. The captain should reward me well for you."

Biting onto the slack of the rope with his teeth, the gerbil grabbed onto a long rope that hung down form the deck. He hung patiently as several slaves on deck slowly hauled him upwards. When the jerky pulls had brought him up to the level of the oar ports, he took an opportunity to grin nastily at the oar slaves chained there. The ones who noticed his fleeting presence and ominous smile quailed in fear.

After several more pulls, he was hauled on deck by four hamster slaves. As soon as he had his footpaws firmly on deck, they all knelt down and bowed their heads, trembling. He patted a slave's head. The slave shook even harder, mewing in terror. "Don't worry. I don't have time to have fun with you lot today." The slaves gave an audible sigh of relief. "You should thank me for my kindness."

"Thank you, Oberhaupt Spion," they murmured.

"Now back to your work." Strolling along deck, proudly displaying his captives, Spion felt the power of success welling up inside him. Virt joined him on the walk up to their captain's cabin.

"I can't believe you caught them," he said. "Are you sure it's really them?"

Spion nodded. Grabbing Salvia's head, he twisted it around to face Virt. "Definitely." He ran a paw up and down the black line that was on the left side of Salvia's face. "The other one has it too. Plus they look almost exactly alike."

The two gerbils had arrived at the captain's cabin. "Will you watch them for a minute?" Virt nodded. Spion strode into the cabin. Salvia huddled pitifully by Yomi.

"Don't worry Sal, I'm gonna be a warrior, I'll get us fwee!" Suddenly, Salvia was grabbed by Virt. She was shoved forward, her head painfully colliding with the deck. She sensed Yomi being thrust into a similar position. Everybeast around them snapped to attention. Silence followed. The spear at the base of Salvia's neck was removed. A moment later, Yomi sprang up. "I'm a warrior and I say you let us go now." Salvia shrunk into herself as everybeast laughed hysterically at her sister's brash behavior. Nothing good could come of resisting. Salvia had already learned that lesson from Oberhaupt Spion, as he seemed to be called. At least by slaves, Salvia thought bitterly. As much as Salvia could dislike her sister at times, she did not want her to have to learn the same lesson she had.

Salvia knew she had guessed right when the captain said, "Son, show this one down to the special warrior oar." She felt more tears springing to her eyes as her sister was taken away. Utterly alone, Salvia cowered on the deck as the captain turned his attention to her. Turning his head, he called, "Son, get back up here. We still have another slave to deal with."

"Now, are you a little warrior too, like your sister down there?" Salvia was so terrified she could barely shake her head. The captain picked her up by her sopping tunic front. "Answer me!" He shook Salvia.

With tears beginning to fall onto the deck, Salvia answered in a tiny voice, "No."

"No what?"

"No…sir?" Salvia hoped to the Dark Forest she was right. That was, after all, what Oberhaupt Spion had made her call him.

"Wrong!" He flung Salvia. She instinctively put her arms out to break her fall. Even with that little bit of force that broke her fall, Salvia still had the wind knocked out of her when she landed painfully on the deck. The captain swaggered over to her.

"No Master….Say it!" Salvia had never felt so much fright in her life.

Finally getting her wind back, she managed to whimper, "No Master." She balled up, trying to hide.

"That's better. Son, do you think it'll make a good personal slave?" Salvia began to cry again. First off, they were calling her an it, like she was a thing. Secondly, she could barely even stand the thought of having to spend all day, every day serving this creature.

A new voice, the captain's son, Salvia guessed, answered his father, "I suppose it'll do."

"Very good. Give her an introductory beating. Teach her the ropes." Salvia felt her fur prickle as the captain's son hauled her up.

Retying her paws to the deck railing, he whispered, "I'm sorry," before sending the whip biting into her back.

Heilen shook Salvia by her shoulders as she screamed out in her sleep. "Salviamouse, wakeaup, wakeaup!" Salvia's eyes popped open, darting every which way, as if searching for a way out. Practically throwing herself out of bed onto her three good paws, Salvia scampered to one of the burrow's corners.

Heilen approached her slowly, concerned about making Salvia even more frightened. "Calmahush, Salviamouse. Allaalla, justafakeasleepthing, fakeasleepthing." She lit a candle, hoping the soft glow would comfort Salvia.

Burying her head into her paws, Salvia got a hold of herself. "No, it wasn't just a dream. It happened when I was younger Master."

"How tinysmall when allaalla badthings happentoSalviamouse?" Salvia thought for a minute.

"I think-I think I was seven seasons Master." Suddenly Salvia turned ghostly white. Heilen held her breath. Salvia knelt down and pressed her head to the packed sand floor of the burrow. Crawling forward Salvia whispered, "Please, Salviamouse regretasorry Master. No hurtawhip Salviamouse; Salviamouse be goodagood nowon Master." Whimpering as Heilen touched her, Salvia thought miserably, I never should have left the castle.

"WhyHighbeast hurtapunish Salviamouse? Salviamouse didado nothingbadabad."

"Salviamouse spoketoMaster in Mousetongue, butMastergive orderacommand thatSalviamouse mustspeakatalk inHighbeasttongue."

Heilen hugged Salvia. "Allaalla isfinegood, Salviamouse. Highbeast promiseaswear tonevera hurtapunish Salviamouse."

Salvia's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. Kneeling down again, she kissed Heilen's footpaws. "Salviamouse verygratefulhappy thatMasteris so kindagood."

"Salviamouse, whereis Salviamouse's oldapast Master?"

Salvia shook. "Salviamouse notknowa exactplaceaspot, Master. Salviamouse knowadoes oldapastMaster isinland."

Heilen set about gathering food from her storage pile. "Then HighbeastandSalviamouse travelajourney atlightadawn. Sleeparest now Salviamouse."