TERRAMORT
King Bloodfur sat impassively on his throne as he waited for his visitors from the Land of Snow and Ice to arrive. On the left side of his throne, his captain of the guard, a large dark searat named Bruggor stood at attention, ready to neutralize any threat to the searat king. On his right side, Blue-eye stood with a calm smile on his features.
"It's amazing how no matter what the situation is, that weasel always looks so dang calm." Bloodfur thought to himself. "I guess that's one of the reasons why he's my chief advisor. I need somebeast who can remain calm under any circumstances."
As the door to hall opened with a loud creak, he stiffened, prepared to meet whoever these strange beasts were. He was surprised when only a lone vixen entered the hall.
The vixen was a white furred young fox. She had an eyepatch covering her left eye, and wore a snow white tunic. Even though she was clearly outnumbered by searats and corsairs, she strode confidently up to Bloodfur.
"You are the fearsome King Bloodfur I presume?" She asked.
Bloodfur gave a nod. "Yes, that's me name alright. Who're yew?"
"I'm lieutenant Sanjur of his majesty Emperor Baro Steelclaws' royal forces. I've come to deliver a message." Pulling out a scroll, she handed it to the searat king.
After he had read the paper, he passed it to Blue-eye to read.
Once the weasel had finished it, Bloodfur asked, "Well Blue-eye? What do you think?"
"I'm not quite sure, your majesty." Blue-eye replied. "I find it rather suspicious that they would like you to meet them on some other island other than your own."
"My thought's exactly." Turning to Sanjur, he asked, "Tell me. Why would I leave the safety of my island to go and meet somebeast out in the middle of nowhere where I could get ambushed or killed instead of meeting here?"
Sanjur grinned, "Because my master wouldn't want to meet on your island for the same reason. How would he know you wouldn't try to assassinate him since you would be holding the upper paw?"
"Apparently we'll never know." Bloodfur replied, amused. After some contemplation, he added, "Though I guess I wouldn't mind meeting on an island if it was a neutral one and not far from Terramort."
"I think his majesty has guessed what your decision would be, because he told me that if you didn't like meeting him in the Land of Snow and Ice then I should ask you if you'd like to meet him at island. It's not far from here. It's the one with the volcano on it."
"Yes, I know the place." Bloodfur commented. He gazed into the vixen's eyes to see if he could spot the slightest sign that she might be lying. Finding none, he said, "Let me talk with my advisor first."
"You might want to hurry," Sanjur replied. "Our leader doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Bloodfur's eyes glinted dangerously. "An' I don't like being rushed," He declared. "And if yer leader has got a problem wit' that, then he kin go 'n' jump of a cliff fer all I care."
Sanjur looked slightly ruffled at how Bloodfur had talked so disrespectfully about her emperor.
"Alright," She finally replied. "But hurry."
Just as the vixen turned to leave, Bloodfur called, "'Ey fox, get back over here."
"What do you want?" Sanjur asked after she had turned around to face Bloodfur.
Bloodfur grinned. "You forgot to bow before yew left."
Giving an annoyed sigh, the vixen bowed respectfully.
"There, that's better. Now you kin ask me fer permission to leave."
Sanjur gritted her teeth as she asked, "Do I have yer permission, your majesty."
It was obvious by the way she said it that she wasn't one who was used to having to ask for permission for anything.
"Yes." Bloodfur replied. "You are dismissed."
After Sanjur had left, Bloodfur turned to Blue-eye. "So Blue-eye, what do yew think? What do we stand to gain from all this?"
"Well…" Blue-eye pondered. "An alliance with the lands of Snow and Ice might not be that bad, as long as their ruler doesn't start poking his snout where it doesn't belong."
"Hahar! If he thought he could get away wit' pokin' is nose into my business, than he's got another thing comin'."
"But still," Blue-eye said. "I think it would be worth the trip. After all, we don't even know what kind of beast this 'Baro Steelclaws' is. If I may be frank, he sounds rather intriguing."
"Hmm…" Bloodfur tapped the side of his throne as he tried to decide what to do.
After a while, his thoughts were interrupted by a young searat who came bursting through the doors.
"The Wavedog is back!" He declared.
Giving Blue-eye a glance, the searat king rose from his throne. "Hookarm is back, eh? He mused aloud to Blue-eye. Pointing to the young rat, he declared, "You there, tell Cap'n Hookarm that I'll be waiting fer 'im to report to me immediately. You got all that?"
"Yes sir."
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Once Hookarm had heard that King Bloodfur wished to see him, he made his way quickly up the main hall.
As he entered the hall, Bloodfur rose from his throne where he was discussing with Blue-eye and walked over to greet the corsair captain. "Bring fresh seaweed grog fer me matey Hookarm! He called.
"Hookarm, how've you been?" Bloodfur asked as he embraced Hookarm with a hug and pounded him roughly on the back.
"Fitter 'n a flea an' happer then a hedgehog," Hookarm replied cheerfully. "Anythin' new or exciting happen when I was away?"
Bloodfur and Blue-eye share an amused glance.
"I guess you can say somethin' out of th' ordinary happened, though it seems like yew made it jus' in time." Bloodfur remarked.
Hookarm shot them a puzzled look as he asked, "Why what happened. Does it 'ave somethin' to do wit' that new ship that's sitting in the docks?"
Bloodfur nodded, "Aye, that's th' one alright. Apparently they want t' meet with us on Volcano Island t' discuss terms for an alliance."
"So… are yew gonna meet 'em?"
Bloodfur paused for a second before he replied, "Yeah, I decided that we needed t' get t' know our neighbors from the north a bit better anyway."
Hookarm fingered his hook as he asked, "Then should I get my crew ready to depart?"
Bloodfur waved a paw dismissively, "Nah, at least not right now. Though, that does remind me, how many slaves did yew bring me back this time." For a minute the searat's eyes turned hard as stone.
"Ah don't worry, I wouldn't've shown up if I didn't 'ave any slaves." Hookarm replied, "Though these ones did take longer to find than usual. If I had to guess, I'd say around four score slaves in all."
Bloodfur relaxed. "Well, that's a good number of new workers. What species are they?"
"Mostly shrews, but I managed to get a few otters in the mix."
Blue-eye glanced at the corsair. "Were the otters from the Rogue Crew?"
Hookarm nodded. "Aye. What of it?"
"You shouldn't provoke those battle hungry otters. If they went on the warpath it could be a major setback in his highness' plans," Blue-eye said.
"Ha! I wouldn't worry about 'em too much," Hookarm scoffed. "They've apparently been getting' pretty stupid. We just sailed right up to their shores an' attacked one of their holts without 'em showing so much as a whisker."
"Did you ever stop to think if their warriors were even home," Blue-eye asked. "Because it sounds like to me that most of them were gone when you raided them."
Hookarm chuckled at Blue-eye's words. "Well isn't this a dandy, yew tellin' me 'ow t' raid. When's th' last time yew've been on a raid, Blue-eye?"
"I've done my fair share of raiding," Blue-eye countered. "In fact, I've still got quite a reputation down in the southern seas."
Just as Hookarm was about to reply, Bloodfur interrupted by raising his paws. "Could yew two keep from arguing fer two bloody minutes?"
The two creatures watched in a respectful silence as Bloodfur paced back and forth, muttering to his self, "I guess we could meet 'em on Volcano Island. Though, we'd better bring quite a few beasts, just in case." Glancing at Hookarm, he asked, "Hookarm? Do yew think yew could get th' Wavedog ready fer a voyage by this evening?"
"…I guess so," Hookarm replied.
"Good. I'll be needin' it fer our meetin' with this 'Baro Steelclaws' creature." Shifting his attention to Blue-eye he ordered, "Go tell seven of the other captains t' be ready to leave by this afternoon."
The weasel bowed respectfully before he turned to leave. "It shall be done your majesty."
Bloodfur then turned his attention to his captain of the guard, who so far had been content to keep silent as his king and superiors made their plans. "Bruggor? Assemble twenty of my most elite guards, and tell them to be waiting by my ship when I'm prepared to leave."
"Yes sir!" The captain replied. He then went to carry out his lord's wishes.
Bloodfur walked over to one of the windows that overlooked the harbor, he glanced down to the northern ship that stood, waiting patiently for the king's decision.
"It's time to see just what kind of beast this 'Baro Steelclaws' is," The Searat King muttered to himself as he watched clouds drifting aimlessly in the sky.
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VOLCANO ISLAND
It was a little past the late afternoon when Bloodfur's eight corsair ships arrived at Valcano Island. Even though they could only see three ships waiting on the beach, Bloodfur had ordered two of his ships to circle the island to make sure there were no other visible surprises awaiting them.
The searat king took in the scenery as he sat waiting on his ship's bow for the ships he had sent to return. The rocky shore barely showed any sign of recent life on the island, except of course, for the two large tents where Baro Steelclaws and his creatures waited.
Stamping his footpaws on the deck to bring some life back into them, he glanced around the ship.
The Spearhead had been Bloodfur's ship ever since he had first become searat king. There had always been something about the massive, dark ship with the triple-masts that Bloodfur had loved. Maybe it was the fact that even though it was incredibly large for a normal pirate vessel, it would swoop down swiftly like a hawk on it's prey.
"Any sight of the Whalefin or the Stormgut?"
Bloodfur turned around to see who had asked him the question, and came face to face with Blue-eye.
"No. Not yet at least," The Searat replied.
They both waited in silence until Bloodfur noticed movement from behind the island.
"There they be," He declared, pointing toward the two pirate vessels making their way slowly to the Spearhead.
"It looks like everything is normal your majesty. No distress flag or anything of that sort."
"Well I fer one won't even touch that island until I get a report sayin' it's all clear."
The leading ship, the Stormgut, sailed up along-side the Spearhead.
"Is everythin' all clear?" Bloodfur called.
"Yes sir! It's all clear!" The Stormgut's lookout replied.
"Hmp, it had better be all clear." Bloodfur growled. "Ready the longboats!" He called out to the searats who stood at attention on the deck.
Once the crew had prepared the ship's longboats, Bloodfur, Blue-eye, and twenty of the searat king's guards, jumped in and set of for shore.
Bloodfur leapt off the boat the moment it hit sand, quickly followed by the others. Glancing to and fro for any signs of unexpected visitors, they walked up the two, large tents.
There were eight guards standing outside the first tent, and once the group of corsairs walked up to them, one of them, a short, stocky ermine spoke up. "You're th' visitors from Terramort I presume?"
"Aye, that'd be us," Bloodfur replied. "Is yer emperor in that fancy tent?"
"Yes he is. I'll go tell 'im you've arrived." The ermine said, than disappeared into the tent. A moment later, a massive creature walked out. Baro Steelclaws was a large wolverine, covered all over with battle scars. He was dressed in a long white tunic, and clasped to his belt was a massive broadsword.
"You must be King Bloodfur," Baro said, his voice deep and gruff. "I hope your journey was all right."
"Jus fine thank yew," Bloodfur replied. "Now, what is this about a treaty that I've been hearing about?"
The wolverine chuckled. "My, you are to the point, aren't you? But yes, my friend and I were hoping to make an alliance with you. We can discuss the details inside, this sun is unbearably hot compared to what I'm used to."
After glancing around suspiciously, Bloodfur nodded.
The wolverine opened the tent fold and declared, "After you."
"Well thank yew."
Once Bloodfur and his group entered the massive tent, Baro let go of the fold and followed them in.
The inside of the tent was quite basic, a long table sat in the center surrounded by wooden stools, and on one end there were three large - almost throne-like - chairs.
Sitting in one of the chairs was a large wildcat, covered from his head to his foot in armor, and resting beside his right paw was a massive metal spear.
"May I introduce Ironspear, the Grey Warlord of Southsward." Baro said dramatically.
"Pleased t' meet yew I'm sure," Bloodfur replied. "But now could we get down to business?"
The wildcat just watched in silence as Baro replied, "Of course. So here it is, I believe it would profit both of us greatly if my empire and your kingdom would make an alliance."
"And that would profit me how?" Bloodfur asked.
"Well for one thing, you wouldn't have to worry about any of my ships attacking yours. Second, if either of us got attacked by a woodlander army, all we would have to do is to have one of us send a message to the other and then then they would send help."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Bloodfur remarked. "But why do yew need me in this little deal?"
"Because you have the largest navy and in order for the plan to work, you would have to let our messengers through your lines."
"Ah, I see." Turning to Ironspear, Bloodfur asked, "And what is it that yew want?"
"I want nothing more than for Southsward to remain peaceful. However, I might consider paying a handsome price if I could borrow a few of your ships and their crews," The Wildcat replied.
"What would yew need my ships fer exactly?" Bloodfur asked.
"Just for intimidation purposes," Ironspear replied. "Though, if it's all the same to you, I would rather talk about it after you signed the truce."
"Yes," Brao quickly agreed. "Will you sign the treaty, Bloodfur?"
Bloodfur scratched his chin for a moment before replying. "Well I don't see why not. 'Ow 'bout yew, Blue-eye?"
"None your majesty," The weasel replied.
"Alright then, I'll do it," Bloodfur declared. Walking up to the table, he grabbed one of the quills that were stacked neatly by the sheet of paper. Dipping the quill into the ink, he signed the treaty.
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Author notes
Thanks to everyone who has read my story so far. Special thanks to the Grey Coincidence, Firestar the Warrior, and One-eye and all the guests for their reviews. Without you guys, writing would be a lot less enjoyable. (Though I'd probably still write anyway, haha ;)
P.S. please leave a review, I really appreciate positive feedback. Constructive criticism is also welcome.
P.P.S. In case there is any confusion, Baro steelclaws is a wolverine and Ironspear is a wildcat.