A/N: the second chapter! Short and simple! Please review! Thank you and enjoy!
The sleeping guard at the edge of the shipwreck was aroused by the plaintive cry of babe. He rubbed his eyes. 'Aah. Nufin ter worry bout. Prob'ly Floania's babe." Then from the corner of his eye, he saw a searat running into the woods bordering the coast. That rat looked familiar. As the searat turned is head, he saw that it was Floania, the healer of the ship. In her arms were two small creatures, her babe and another animal, which he could not see.
"Floania's desertin!! Quickly catcher!! Floania's runnin' 'way!" he yelled. When Floania realized that she had been spotted, she ran faster than ever into the woods. Half-alseep searats stumbled out still rubbing their eyes. "Wh…where?" The guard pointed vaguely into the dense woodlands. "Err… tha way. Whacha waitin' fer? Go!" he said, shoving a ferret cosair in the general direction of which Floania had gone.
The ship's captain, Glovern had been peacefully sleeping in his exclusive makeshift shelter when one of his officers, Ingria, ran in. Glovern was a tall rat, strong and merciless. He had taken the advantage to rise to power after the previous captain had been washed overboard in a storm. By his shrewd wit and ruthlessness, he had outwitted and exterminated all who opposed him, and was respected and feared by all on the ship. Stormbrew crew composed mostly of rats with a small sprinkling of ferrets and stoats. Glovern stood over the smaller ferret officer. "What is it now?" he said, angry and annoyed.
"Sorry ter disturb yer, capt'n, but yer healer Floania jus' deserted…" Ingria reported cautiously. He knew his leader had frequent mood swings and he hoped he would be in a good mood. Glovern knew he need Floania back; at least fourscore of his crew had some sort of injury. He needed her back, but of course he would teach her a lesson first.
"Deserted eh? Get 'er back alive. I'll show her wot 'appens when she tries ter run." A sadistic smile came over Glovern's face. Ingria immediately backed out. "Yessah capt'n! we'll getcher! Duncha worry." He was relieved that Glovern had been rather peaceable that morning. Thank goodness.
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"What? Yer bumblin' idiots 'aven't got 'er yet? Yer goina pay fer it, I tell yer!" Ingria yelled at the disheveled party who had gone in pursuit of Floania. He shook his head. He'd be a dead ferret if he went back empty-handed. Looking around for a scapegoat, he saw Glinka, the sleeping guard from that morning.
"You! Glinka! You were sleepin' this morn when Flo'nia deserted werncha? Yer were s'posed ter be on watch werncha?? Come with me ter see the capt'n naow." The ferret captain dragged the bewildered Glinka to Glovern's camp.
"Capt'n! we… we couldn't find Floania…" Glovern stood up over the two cowering figures. "Couldn't find 'er eh? Why not eh? You Ingria! Yer tell me why?? Why a score of yer couldn't catch an old bumbling healer eh?"
"Err, err… this rat wuz on duty when Floania ran, capt'n. He wuz sleepin' an' let her getchaway…" Ingria tried to explain. He was deeply relieved when Glovern dismissed him with a random wave of his hand and transferred his attention to the unfortunate Glinka. Ingria ran out and heaved a sigh of relief. As he ran out, he heard a scream of a rat. Turning around, he saw Glovern's claws sunk in Glinka's shoulder. Ingria ran, thankful that he had thought of finding a scapegoat.