Ch
Ch.20
Battle at Sea Pt.1
I'm finally back from out of town! I'll try to update when I can, but since school starts for me on the 25th, I have to start working on the unnecessary complicated and annoyingly time consuming summer reading project. Please R&R!
Thunder rumbled dangerously, alerting both ships of the incoming storm. However, bad weather was the last of either side's problems.
Hardy looked onward at the Tideryder. We'll be within reach of them any minute now." He looked around the busy ship deck. "Where's Isaac?"
"Hiding his kid," replied Edith as she toyed with her weapon of choice. "Maybe he'll do us a favor and hide too, though I'd be kinda hard for a fat blob like him to hide."
"Still a bit upset about the incident at Salamandastron?' asked Hardy rhetorically. "Just let it go, you shouldn't be angry at him."
Edith raised her eyebrow at the squirrel. "Whatever, besides, if you think I'm mad, take a look at Aeneas." The otter was gripping his weapon so tightly, Hardy could swear he heard the halberd cracking. His facial expression was something out of a deadly nightmare.
"I can't really blame him," replied Hardy with a sympathetic sigh. "He's sure these are the vermin who killed his holt. I don't think anybeast is gonna stop him from shedding the blood of his enemies tonight.
"Slaughter!" Several pirates, holding onto ropes, swung into the Waveshark, drawing their blades in midair. Some of the hares didn't have time to move out of the way before vermin were upon them.
Hardy drew his sword, standing back to back with Edith. "Care to join me?"
"Well, it's not like I have a choice in the matter," replied the mouse. A rat slashed at her with scimitar, though she quickly sidestepped, jabbing her tonfa into her opponent's side. After withdrawing her weapon from the corpse, she turned quickly, blocking the blow from a ferret's dagger. Noticing his opponent's paws were preoccupied, the ferret kicked at the mouse. Edith, still blocking with her left tonfa, used her right arm to grab the vermin's leg before slashing him across the through with her right tonfa.
Edith pushed over the dead body and ducked as a fox tried to decapitate her with his axe. The fox didn't have time to stop himself before Hardy delivered a powerful slash to the pirate's chest. The squirrel turned back around, defending himself from a stoat's rapier. Hardy forced his blade forward, knocking the stoat off balance, before swiftly slashing the rapier in two. The stoat looked at his severed weapon briefly before running away from his adversary, jumping over the side of the ship into the rough water below.
Devadas flew over the Waveshark, carrying Sarika by her arms in his talons gently. It already began to drizzle lightly, a taste of what was about to come.
"Okay, I'm gonna play now!" exclaimed Sarika cheerfully. "You can drop me off here!"
"Have fun," replied the raven as he released the ferret. "I have to get inside. This rain won't do my feathers any good."
Ignatius hopped high into the air, delivering a neck-snapping kick to an advancing weasel. Upon landing, he lunged forward, impaling a nearby fox. "Alright then, who's next!" Sarika landed a couple feet in front of him, a wide grin on her face.
The hare took a step back. "You again? I thought you ran away!"
"I haven't finished playing with you silly!" replied Sarika. Her smile quickly faded away to a toothy snarl. "This time I'll be sure to break you!"
Isaac had instructed Munroe to hide in the Captain's quarters, but the young hedgehog couldn't help but peek though the door, watching the battle outside. "Yes, that's it, get 'im! Och, that's gonna 'urt in thae mornin'…nice block! Now attack 'im! Ha!" A weasel, losing his footing on the damp deck, slipped into the doors of the Captain's quarters, tumbling inside. He looked up to see Munroe backing away.
The young hedgehog chuckled nervously. "Umm, ah'm just a figment o' yer imagination." However, the weasel, wielding a dirk and shield, quickly rose to his paws and ran after Munroe. The Highlander ran to the side of the room, grabbing a paw stool. He tossed it at the vermin's paws, causing the weasel to face plant. Not knowing what to do next, the panicking hedgehog picked up the Weasel's dropped shield and struck his foe in the head.
Munroe tossed the shield aside as he noticed blood trickling from the pirate's head. "Funny, me dad said ye vermin were thickheaded." It took a few moments for Munroe to realize that the weasel was no longer living. He staggered back a couple paces, his face becoming green. "Yep, gonna vomit again."
The rain had transformed from a light misting to a heavy downpour, soaking anybeast outside. Cyan, cuffed to the wheel, couldn't go anywhere to shield herself from Mother Nature's wrath. "I know I've been thirsty, but this is more water than I need! My fur's getting soak and it'll take forever to dry! But if I wanted dry fur, then it'll have to be hot again so then I'd get thirsty and repeat the cycle." She stuck out her foot paw, tripping a rat running by her. "Ha! I did something good! I wish I could do more, but I'm stuck here. I'm tired of being stuck here, it's really annoying! And so are flies. I hate it when they buzz around you for no good reason. I just wanna squash them, but they're too fast. How can something so tiny…" Her chains suddenly fell to the water-covered ground. She looked over at a smiling Isaac.
"There, yer free tae go,' said the hedgehog.
"Oh my goodness!" squealed Cyan. "You're the nicest hedgehog I've ever met! Actually, I haven't met that many hedgehogs to be honest. There's one who's an oar slave below us, but he was mean to me for no reason. He said something about me talking a lot. Do I talk a lot?" Before Isaac could answer her question, he hollered in surprised pain, rubbing his stinging backside. He turned around to see an agitated Drobaz.
He stamped his paw down on the wooden deck. "Hey, that's my slave!"
"Och, sorry lil' laddie, but ah don't see yer name on 'er," replied Isaac as he drew his blade. "Ah'd ask ye tae pick on somebeast yer own size, but…" The Highlander broke into laughter, holding his sides.
Drobaz growled at the hedgehog. "Shut up! I'm not small!" He swung his whip at Isaac, who held his dirk up, the whip wrapping around the blade. With a strong tug, Isaac pulled the tiny weasel inward before grabbing hold of him. "Up ye go!" The hedgehog hurled Drobaz into the air until he fell face first into the railing and plummeted to the ocean below.
"Thae ocean'll do 'im guid," Isaac said to Cyan as he unwound the whip from his dirk and tossed it into the water. "He prob'ly needed a bath."
"You can say that again!" exclaimed the shrew. "He smelled like fish! And butt. He smelled like a fish butt. I've never smelled a fish butt, but I bet that's what he smelled like. Have you ever…?"
"Let's talk when we get back tae thae ship," suggested Isaac. "Wait, do fish 'ave rears?"
Tamar looked to her left, right, and in front of her. Three hares stood in her way, but she was about to reduce that number to zero. The hare on the right, wielding a spear, shoved his weapon at the sea rat. The Captain swiped at the wooden shaft, breaking it like a twig. She slashed the hare's torso before kicking him over.
Another hare, a saber in her paws, slashed downward at Tamar. The pirate blocked the attack, sending the hare off balance. Using the sword n her right paw, Tamar disarmed her opponent before stabbing the hare with her left sword.
The third hare sprinted at her, his broadsword poised for the kill, but was stopped short as the sea rat shoved her blades into his chest. Raising him over her head, she threw the hare's lifeless body onto the ground.
Aeneas made a mad dash at Tamar, stopping as he was a couple feet from her. "I'll make you pay for your evil deeds! Prepare for Hellgates!"
"Wait a second," said Tamar as she lowered her blades. "Ye look familiar. "ave I killed ye before?"
"Yes, I'm a ghost and I'm back to haunt ye," Aeneas replied sarcastically. He pointed his halberd at Tamar. "Stop talking and just die already!"
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try to update soon. Please R&R!