Extract from the writings of Sharpwave the otter, first mate of the V.I.S. Javelin.
We are three days out from Vale Island on board the Javelin. Young Ryon has been taken along by his father to get a grip with what he will be entrusted with one day. He has made a friend on the ship already, a young cabin mouse, named Silver. The two get on well together, despite the age difference. Captain Danin Oakleaf has encouraged Ryon's friendship with Silver, and told me discreetly that he would be giving Ryon a saber when he is old enough. Ryon learned to furl and unfurl the sails today, and Captain Danin gave him a turn at the wheel, though Ryon is still too short to see over it. The young squirrel told me that he hoped that we meet some searats. I persuaded him otherwise, telling him that they were vile and dissolute creatures, and nobeast desired to meet them, not even landbeasts who were mostly safe from their activities.
Something is wrong. A black ship has been pursuing us since noon. Captain Oakleaf ordered all crew to their stations, and now the archers stand at the rail, ready to fire on the Captain's command. Silver and Ryon are below decks in the cargo hold, but I reckon that the searats will search the ship and find them if they subdue us. The black ship is attacking us now. Arrows are flying back and forth, accompanied by slingstones and insults and threats. Captain Oakleaf is still issuing orders while at the wheel, trying to outmaneuver the enemy ship. They have caught us with grappling hooks, and are boarding. Captain Oakleaf leaves the wheel and draws his saber, telling me to guard Ryon and Silver with my life. He then joins the fighting, and I make my way to the cargo hold. I find Silver trying to restrain Ryon, who wants to join the fighting. There is a loud chopping noise at the door. I draw my sword, and the door bursts open. Five sea vermin storm the room. I manage to slay two of them, but while I am engaged with a third, the others sneak behind me and grab the young ones. I turn towards them, a mistake I instantly regret as I am knocked out with the hilt of the searat's cutlass.
I wake up in a cell with Ryon, Silver, and other assorted crewbeasts. Captain Danin is in a cell across from us, and there are two guards at the door. The ship is creaking, so I gather that we are moving. It is also slower, and I can hear ropes that are not the rigging, which means that they are towing the Javelin along with them. In the few minutes between the guard change, Captain Danin and I make a plan. We set to work getting other crew members with sharp teeth to gnaw our rope bonds off, and then set to work loosening the locks with small bits of metal that are lying around the cell. When the guards bring in dinner for us, the doors open more easily, surprising the guards for a moment. We swarm them, smothering them with our weight. Captain Danin and I take the guard's weapons, with the rest of the crew rushing to the guardroom to take their weapons back. We sneak up onto the deck. Most of the crew is asleep. We slay the few sentries on deck, catching the bodies before they hit the deck and tying them to the mast with our bonds. We go to the stern, where the Javelin lies. The crew begins to climb along the rope. We're all a good length along, and Ryon is just starting behind Silver, when I hear applauding. A brutal-looking stoat, who I guess is the captain of this vessel, walks out. Captain Danin draws his sword. The stoat spoke.
"Bravo, captain. But you will not succeed. I can raise the alarm and give chase to your ship before you can even unfurl your sails."
He's right. If he wakes the crew, the ship will be after us.
Captain Danin looks at Ryon. The young squirrel has frozen halfway along the line, his face frozen with fear. Danin looks back at the stoat. Then, in a move even I didn't see coming, he swings his sword. The stoat draws his, but Danin slices through the rope instead. The crew that are still on the rope, including Ryon, Silver, and I, yell in surprise and then shock as we fall and hit the water. I surface just in time to see the captain turn around and be stabbed by the stoat. Ryon surfaced earlier than I did, and his scream, a high, heartbreaking sound, cuts through the air like a knife. He tries to swim back to the searat ship, screaming "Father!" at the top of his voice. I swim towards him, trying to keep him away. Looking back, I see Danin fall backwards, and then I feel a sharp pain in my arm. Ryon is biting me, trying to make me let go. I swim faster, and look back again. The stoat is looking at us, and before he can blink, I take out my sling, which I took from the guardroom, then whip off a pebble in his direction. I hear a smack and know that I have hit him. There is also a loud thud. Ryon is still struggling, but then we are at the ship, and the crew pulls us up. As soon as I get on deck, I'm issuing orders. Ryon is sitting with his arms wrapped around his legs, his tail hanging limp because of the salt water. His stare is directed at me, a wide, piercing gaze. I tell Silver to take Ryon to his bunk to get some sleep. Ryon does not resist. He remains in his bunk for the rest of the return journey. Crewbeasts that I send to check on him bring back different reports. One heard sobbing; another heard whispered thoughts that made him retreat backwards out of the room, and another heard nothing. One more, the most disturbing yet, came from a very scared-looking mouse that had gone into check on him. As he went down and I heard the door open, everybeast on the ship froze as we heard Ryon's voice scream almost unnaturally loudly, "Get out!"The mouse ran back upstairs and tripped over his own footpaws.
We are back at Vale Island. We have had a ceremony for Danin, and I assume leadership of the island until Ryon is old enough. Ryon spends a lot of time in the war room now, and also with the fortress commanders, who teach him about sea battle. I hope that he will not let his hatred of searats cloud his judgment. He spends a lot of time with Silver now, and I think that at least the trip was good for something. Ryon grows rapidly, and eight seasons later has taken over for me. I am glad. I am now old, my fur gray, and I am not as able to swim as gracefully as I should. I hope that the island will prosper, and that Ryon will grow up to be a fine squirrel and captain. He will assume command of the Javelin, which has been sitting in the harbor, unused, since we returned. I will sign off now. I feel a bit tired.
Ryon's tears dripped onto the book, staining the pages. He remembered the stoat clearly, and he swore that one day he would slay him for killing his father. The squirrel captain walked out of his study, calling for Silver as he went. As the mouse fell in alongside him, Ryon began issuing orders. "Make the ship ready. Provision her, and get the crew on board."
Silver was skeptical. "Where are we going, Ryon?"
The squirrel looked at him with a smile. "Mossflower. Where else?"
Silver halted, watching his friend walk off, whistling between his teeth. Somehow, he knew that this was not a pleasure cruise.
A bit of Ryon's backstory. For some reason, dead parents seems to be a primary aspect of all of my characters. Weird... anyway, R and R!