Many miles away from the landing of Vian Blacktooth, the hedgehog youngster
Burbles frolicked happily in front of an enormous oak, tree, near the
freezing winter river on which his families log houseboat was docked. He
called to his baby brother, Lipkin.
"Oy! Lipkin! I'll bet you can't beat me from here to the big stump over there and back!"
"And I'll bet you can't get there at all, Burbles, you little troublemaker!" called his mother, Mayferry, from the deck of the raft where she was tidying up. "Over there I can't get to you quick if you get in trouble, and if anyone can get in trouble in the middle of the forest, 'tis you! And there's slavers in these woods!"
Resigned to staying on the shore of the river while his parents cleaned up and restocked the raft, Burbles quickly became bored. He looked over to his father, Beechnut, who was also on deck.
"Ah, dad, when can I come back on the raft? I'm hungry and thirsty," he said, whining as only young hedgehogs can whine.
"Of course not! I've scarcely finished scrubbing your grubby little pawprints off of this raft, and you want to put 'em all back again? And as for hunger and thirst, this stream is plenty clean and clear, and there's a whole clump of violets sittin' right by the shore, just waiting to be eaten up by you n' Lipkin! Now run along and let you mother and I clean up this raft in peace!"
Mumbling about barbaric meanness, Burbles slouched away from the bank. Then he decided to go explore the big stump he'd wanted to race Lipkin to earlier. No sense in asking him to come along-he'd just run straight to their parents. He wasn't worried about getting caught by his parents themselves-they were far to busy with their precious boat to worry about checking on him very often. And he would just slip away for a few seconds. They could even see him. Nothing could go wrong.
He was just climbing over the stump when he got more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. A great-to him-creature jumped out at him and grabbed him, holding him tightly in a frigid grip. At the same time, he felt hot, horrible smelling breath roll over him as if in a wave.
"All right you little brat, just hold still and nothin' bad'll happen to yer!"
Fortunately, Burble was only silent for a little while, as the shock set in. As the stoat-for that's what the creature was-was shackling his legs together with a long section of chain, Burble screamed in terror. His parents leaped from the raft and began running up the hill, but even as they did Burble realized that they were far too distant to do anything. Even as he thought of this, the stoat angrily cuffed him in the side of the head. He drew out a short dagger, and Burble curled up as best he could in absolute terror.
Suddenly a golden flash seemingly dropped from the sky and the vermin screamed and flew sideways into a tree. He crumpled up at the foot of the tree and lay still. In amazement Burbles realized that the golden flash was actually a great male squirrel, brandishing a short thick pole, amber in color and polished to a sheen. He was just leaning over to pick up burble from the ground when his parents arrived, huffing ad puffing from their exertion. His mother grabbed him and embraced him.
"Oh, Burble, you're all right! Don't ever do anything like that to me again! I thought you were dead or gone for sure!" She turned to the squirrel. "Thank you, sir, and if there's anything we can do to repay you, just name it and it's yours." She looked at him expectantly.
The squirrel stood deep in thought for several moments. Then he spoke. His voice was strong, but tired. Burbles realized as he looked at the strangers clothing and face that he had come a very long way.
"Three things," he said, "If you have them. First, food. I haven't eaten a true meal in almost half a season. Second, weapons. My staff is a fine thing, and it has served me well, but for what I intend to do I need much more. Third, information. I need to know if you have heard any rumors or news of sea rats or pirates, especially one by the name of Viand Blacktooth. I am looking for him, and have been for years now."
"Well, sir," Mayferry, said, stuttering and slightly taken aback from the last request, "As for food, there'll be no problems there. I'll head back to the raft-that's where we live, on a raft-and cook you up a good hedgehog meal right now, if you please, and as for weapons, I'm sure we can find something lying about-you never can trust any new place, as we both just saw. And about the Pirates and whatnot, well I'm just not sure-Have you heard anything, Beechnut?
Beechnut rolled his eyes back and thought. "Well now. I recall that just about a week ago a mole a little upstream said he'd heard about some raiders attacking a little settlement of mice along the coast off to the west. But wait, now that I think about it he said the pirate captain was a great stoat named Slip, or summat like that. Anyway, I never heard of you Viand Blacktooth character."
The squirrel sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't be disappointed, not after your wonderful offer of food and supplies. It is much appreciated. By the way, My name is Rular Oakstaff." And with that he strode off in the direction of the raft, with Burbles and his parents following close behind. Mayferry tried to make conversation with Rular as they walked.
"So, master Rilar, what brings you to these parts? Why are you following this pirate, this Viand Blacktooth?"
"That will be discussed later. I will be able to tell you all about it later, after you young ones are out of the way. It is not a good tale for anyone but us three."
Later that night, after a homely dinner of cornbread, vegetable soup, and fresh caught fish from the river, Rular relaxed, sat back in his chair, and began telling his tale.
"My earliest memory is a happy one. I was born and raised in a grove of pine trees near the seacoast. For the first few years of my life, that grove of trees was my whole world. I made friends, I learned to climb and jump from tree to tree, I began to experience romance-" His face dissolved into a mask of pain, anger, and most of all, unbelievable sadness. "Then it was all over in one quick afternoon.
"I was playing at the edge of the grove that day, something I was doing less often as I came into adulthood. It was fortunate that I was, or I would not be here telling you this tale.
"We had seen a ship land about a quarter mile up the coast earlier that morning, but we hadn't paid much attention. We leave everyone around our grove alone, as a rule, and they leave us alone. Besides, we were good fighters, when we had to be, so to us there was no real threat posed by the ship. Or so we thought.
"In the mid afternoon, we were ambushed without warning by the pirate crews of Viand Blacktooth. No one was spared. My parents, my lover, my childhood friends-" He paused to compose himself. "Were slaughtered defenseless while Viand looked on and laughed.
"I escaped, but only because I left just as we were attacked. I was young then, and would have been of no use even if I had stayed and fought. As far as I know, I was the only survivor.
"So, since then, I have walked miles up and down the coast, looking for Viand Blacktooth and his pirate crew to exact my revenge on him."
Mayferry and Beechnut sat silent for a moment. They had lived peaceful lives, for the most part, and stories of mass slaughter and cruelty shocked them. Beechnut finally spoke.
"Well, my friend, we would be glad to do whatever we could to help you. Or raft is your raft, for the time being, anyway. We don't leave this spot for a week, at least."
"I appreciate it, my friend"," Rilar said, "But after all of these years time is a luxury that was stripped away from me along with my friends and family. If I stay in one place, the trail goes cold, as I have learned many a time already. If you gentlebeasts are willing, I will stay in your raft for the night and accept any food or supplies you have to give in the morning, but after that I must leave. Every moment that the scum of the seas walks or sails alive is a moment of torture for me."
And so it was. Rilar departed from the hedgehog raft the next morning. As he disappeared into the distance, Beechnut leaned over to Mayferry and spoke in a low voice, "I don't know if that is how master Rilar always behaves, but if it is, I feel sorely sorry for whoever was stupid enough to kill his kin."
"Oy! Lipkin! I'll bet you can't beat me from here to the big stump over there and back!"
"And I'll bet you can't get there at all, Burbles, you little troublemaker!" called his mother, Mayferry, from the deck of the raft where she was tidying up. "Over there I can't get to you quick if you get in trouble, and if anyone can get in trouble in the middle of the forest, 'tis you! And there's slavers in these woods!"
Resigned to staying on the shore of the river while his parents cleaned up and restocked the raft, Burbles quickly became bored. He looked over to his father, Beechnut, who was also on deck.
"Ah, dad, when can I come back on the raft? I'm hungry and thirsty," he said, whining as only young hedgehogs can whine.
"Of course not! I've scarcely finished scrubbing your grubby little pawprints off of this raft, and you want to put 'em all back again? And as for hunger and thirst, this stream is plenty clean and clear, and there's a whole clump of violets sittin' right by the shore, just waiting to be eaten up by you n' Lipkin! Now run along and let you mother and I clean up this raft in peace!"
Mumbling about barbaric meanness, Burbles slouched away from the bank. Then he decided to go explore the big stump he'd wanted to race Lipkin to earlier. No sense in asking him to come along-he'd just run straight to their parents. He wasn't worried about getting caught by his parents themselves-they were far to busy with their precious boat to worry about checking on him very often. And he would just slip away for a few seconds. They could even see him. Nothing could go wrong.
He was just climbing over the stump when he got more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. A great-to him-creature jumped out at him and grabbed him, holding him tightly in a frigid grip. At the same time, he felt hot, horrible smelling breath roll over him as if in a wave.
"All right you little brat, just hold still and nothin' bad'll happen to yer!"
Fortunately, Burble was only silent for a little while, as the shock set in. As the stoat-for that's what the creature was-was shackling his legs together with a long section of chain, Burble screamed in terror. His parents leaped from the raft and began running up the hill, but even as they did Burble realized that they were far too distant to do anything. Even as he thought of this, the stoat angrily cuffed him in the side of the head. He drew out a short dagger, and Burble curled up as best he could in absolute terror.
Suddenly a golden flash seemingly dropped from the sky and the vermin screamed and flew sideways into a tree. He crumpled up at the foot of the tree and lay still. In amazement Burbles realized that the golden flash was actually a great male squirrel, brandishing a short thick pole, amber in color and polished to a sheen. He was just leaning over to pick up burble from the ground when his parents arrived, huffing ad puffing from their exertion. His mother grabbed him and embraced him.
"Oh, Burble, you're all right! Don't ever do anything like that to me again! I thought you were dead or gone for sure!" She turned to the squirrel. "Thank you, sir, and if there's anything we can do to repay you, just name it and it's yours." She looked at him expectantly.
The squirrel stood deep in thought for several moments. Then he spoke. His voice was strong, but tired. Burbles realized as he looked at the strangers clothing and face that he had come a very long way.
"Three things," he said, "If you have them. First, food. I haven't eaten a true meal in almost half a season. Second, weapons. My staff is a fine thing, and it has served me well, but for what I intend to do I need much more. Third, information. I need to know if you have heard any rumors or news of sea rats or pirates, especially one by the name of Viand Blacktooth. I am looking for him, and have been for years now."
"Well, sir," Mayferry, said, stuttering and slightly taken aback from the last request, "As for food, there'll be no problems there. I'll head back to the raft-that's where we live, on a raft-and cook you up a good hedgehog meal right now, if you please, and as for weapons, I'm sure we can find something lying about-you never can trust any new place, as we both just saw. And about the Pirates and whatnot, well I'm just not sure-Have you heard anything, Beechnut?
Beechnut rolled his eyes back and thought. "Well now. I recall that just about a week ago a mole a little upstream said he'd heard about some raiders attacking a little settlement of mice along the coast off to the west. But wait, now that I think about it he said the pirate captain was a great stoat named Slip, or summat like that. Anyway, I never heard of you Viand Blacktooth character."
The squirrel sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't be disappointed, not after your wonderful offer of food and supplies. It is much appreciated. By the way, My name is Rular Oakstaff." And with that he strode off in the direction of the raft, with Burbles and his parents following close behind. Mayferry tried to make conversation with Rular as they walked.
"So, master Rilar, what brings you to these parts? Why are you following this pirate, this Viand Blacktooth?"
"That will be discussed later. I will be able to tell you all about it later, after you young ones are out of the way. It is not a good tale for anyone but us three."
Later that night, after a homely dinner of cornbread, vegetable soup, and fresh caught fish from the river, Rular relaxed, sat back in his chair, and began telling his tale.
"My earliest memory is a happy one. I was born and raised in a grove of pine trees near the seacoast. For the first few years of my life, that grove of trees was my whole world. I made friends, I learned to climb and jump from tree to tree, I began to experience romance-" His face dissolved into a mask of pain, anger, and most of all, unbelievable sadness. "Then it was all over in one quick afternoon.
"I was playing at the edge of the grove that day, something I was doing less often as I came into adulthood. It was fortunate that I was, or I would not be here telling you this tale.
"We had seen a ship land about a quarter mile up the coast earlier that morning, but we hadn't paid much attention. We leave everyone around our grove alone, as a rule, and they leave us alone. Besides, we were good fighters, when we had to be, so to us there was no real threat posed by the ship. Or so we thought.
"In the mid afternoon, we were ambushed without warning by the pirate crews of Viand Blacktooth. No one was spared. My parents, my lover, my childhood friends-" He paused to compose himself. "Were slaughtered defenseless while Viand looked on and laughed.
"I escaped, but only because I left just as we were attacked. I was young then, and would have been of no use even if I had stayed and fought. As far as I know, I was the only survivor.
"So, since then, I have walked miles up and down the coast, looking for Viand Blacktooth and his pirate crew to exact my revenge on him."
Mayferry and Beechnut sat silent for a moment. They had lived peaceful lives, for the most part, and stories of mass slaughter and cruelty shocked them. Beechnut finally spoke.
"Well, my friend, we would be glad to do whatever we could to help you. Or raft is your raft, for the time being, anyway. We don't leave this spot for a week, at least."
"I appreciate it, my friend"," Rilar said, "But after all of these years time is a luxury that was stripped away from me along with my friends and family. If I stay in one place, the trail goes cold, as I have learned many a time already. If you gentlebeasts are willing, I will stay in your raft for the night and accept any food or supplies you have to give in the morning, but after that I must leave. Every moment that the scum of the seas walks or sails alive is a moment of torture for me."
And so it was. Rilar departed from the hedgehog raft the next morning. As he disappeared into the distance, Beechnut leaned over to Mayferry and spoke in a low voice, "I don't know if that is how master Rilar always behaves, but if it is, I feel sorely sorry for whoever was stupid enough to kill his kin."