A whole chapter of just me? Yikes! I promise I had no sugar whilst writing this. Sleep deprivation, probably, but no sugar.
oOo sleep deprivation! not fun.. anyways, sniggers Glay is definatly the awesomeest ever. hopefully this will help make up for our non-updating and lack of sense in the last chappy-
Syborne woke up from his awkward position on the bench as the rat cracked his whip over their heads.
"Get up! Get up! Row!"
All the galley slaves groaned their way into varying degrees of consciousness and grabbed their oars.
"Ready, and, ROW!" Filtheye yelled.
Obediently, the emaciated creatures began to row in time to the thumping of his foot.
It had been a little more than a season since Skyborne's capture, and – despite the pitiful amount of food – he had grown formidable upper body muscles from the incessant rowing. He was thankful, however, to be able to cover for his otter friend's increasing fragility. The aging otter, Treylor, pushed as hard as he could, not realizing that Skyborne was helping him.
As he rowed, Skyborne thought, as he had many times before, of escape. He knew he could easily rip his chains from the floor, but what good would it do him? Even if he did manage to get the keys and unlock the rest of the slaves, they were too weak to fight the whole crew of the Bloodquest. No, he had to wait for the right time.
He just hoped it was soon.
"Ahoy, Skip!"
A voice echoed through the cave and the Skipper, Jamin, looked up from his bowl of soup. He cupped his paws around his mouth and shouted back.
"C'mon in, matey!"
A lithe young male otter trotted in, still dripping salt water.
"Searat ship coming in close, Skipper. It looks like they mean to make port in the bay a little further south."
Skipper smiled delightedly, slapping the otter on the back.
"Good work, y'little fish! Here, take this bowl o' soup. I'll get the other otters ready for an ambush!"
He ran deeper into the cave and out the other side, which revealed a homey cluster of cottages built by the otters.
"All warriors, hearken to me!" he shouted several times, running along the main path.
By the time he'd reached the end of the path, all the warriors were trotting towards him.
"What's the problem, Skip?" one asked, belting on his sword.
"Searat ship; it's going to make port in the bay," he said with a grin. "We're going to give them a hearty welcome!"
"Get this girl ready to land, you lazy layabouts!" Captain Ripwave ordered.
A storm was approaching and the crew was rushing to get the sails pulled in and the anchor up. His other two ships were gone on a raiding mission further south along the coast, and he had a mind not to lose this one.
Down below, the galley slaves were being pushed to the breaking point. All the slaves were huffing and sweating with exertion as they struggled to pull the entire weight of the boat into shore. A young squirrel collapsed on his oar, not even moving when Filtheye laid into him with the whip.
They finally made it to the sandy bay just before the storm struck. The crew ran for cover from the pelting rain and fierce wind, congratulating themselves on a close victory once they were warmed and dried.
The otters watched from shore, and as soon as the last crewbeast – except the few unfortunate sentries – was gone from the deck, they slid out of the cave and into the water. Skipper noiselessly picked a few otters to take care of the sentries while the rest waited for the coast to be clear.
When the otters' head popped back, nodding, over the railing, the rest of the crew scaled the ship's sides and stood on the deck, waiting for Skipper's order.
"The hatch, then spread out and attack," he whispered through the rain.
The others murmured agreement and lifted the hatch leading to the lower levels. They fanned out across all the rooms and looked to Skipper (those who couldn't see Skipper watched those who could) who was standing in front of the largest door with a few others.
He lifted his sword, and brought it down, flinging the door open and shouting with the others as they threw open their doors.
"WAVELOOOUUUGH!"
The galley slaves listened with wide eyes as sounds of struggle reached them. Unsure of whether it was a friend, or merely an invading crew of pirates, they listened anxiously until they heard a battlecry.
"RIPWAAAAAAAVE!"
It was followed by an uproarious replying,
"WAVELOOOOUUUUGH!"
Treylor sat upright, an incredulous smile lighting up his features.
"Otters!" he whispered to Skyborne, glancing over at Filtheye who looked nervous at the battle going on outside. "It's my clan, Sky!"
That was all the incentive Skyborne needed. Grunting, he pulled on his chains and they broke free with a loud crack.
"Hey! Wot's goin' on over there?" Filtheye said, getting up and walking over to Skyborne.
Skyborne waited until he got closer, then muttered to Treylor.
"Duck, old friend."
The otter did so and Skyborne gathered up the length of chain quickly, swinging it around to collide with Filtheye's head.
The searat fell like a stone, and Skyborne grabbed the key off his belt, hastily unlocking the chains on his ankles and wrists before freeing the others.
"Gather up your chains and get ready to lay out a few searats!" he said loudly.
He counted twenty or so creatures strong enough to fight, and the rest were too old or weak.
"You, fellows, stay here. We'll come back for you," he said firmly.
They nodded with hollowed eyes, and the ones carrying chains followed him silently out the door. As an afterthought, Skyborne grabbed Filtheye's whip and brought it as his weapon.
When they came to the stairs he stopped and turned to them.
"Run up these stairs shouting, alright? Then follow the battle noise into whatever rooms they're fighting and take out as many searats as you can."
"What do we shout, lad?" asked a stubborn looking hedgehog.
"Just follow me," he replied, and lifted his whip. "Let's go!"
He ran up the stairs with the slaves following close behind.
"FREEDOOOOOOOOM!" he bellowed, in a voice that would scare most anyone.
The slaves took up the cry and they rushed toward the battle.
The otters' ability was evenly pitted against the skilled corsairs', their only disadvantage was their numbers. Skipper fought madly, yelling "Wavelough!" repeatedly as vermin fell under his lethal blade.
He heard shouting in the corridor, but before he could think what it was, the door behind him burst open and a not-yet-grown badger, followed by a score of other beasts, ran in. They added their own cry to the jumble of noise, falling upon the vermin.
"FREEDOOOOOM!"
Most were not at all experienced in warfare, but they all held a burning vengeance in them for the wave vermin. With the added help, the fight was soon won, and with only a few casualties for the otters and slaves.
"M'name's Skipper, mate," Skipper said, panting, to Skyborne. "What do they call ye?"
"Skyborne," the young badger replied breathlessly.
"Come on back with us, Skyborne, we'll get y'cleaned up and fed."
"Wait, there are more galley slaves below," he said quickly.
"Oh, right then, shoulda thought o' that m'self. Go on and get them, then, we'll wait for ye; they'll need some help, I dare say, getting off the ship."
Skyborne nodded and jogged out of the room toward the stairs.
Everyone made it back to the otter's home without trouble, and they were quickly taken in by various families who helped them get cleaned up and ready for supper.
Supper was served soon after their arrival, a meal safe for the slaves even to eat, after such meager portions for so long.
"Treylor?"
A female voice, perilously close to either tears or laughter, made Skyborne turn around, touching the arm of his otter friend as he did so.
"You know her?" Sky borne asked.
"Know who, what?" Treylor asked, obviously not having heard the voice.
"Her! Get your head out of your food and look, you old famine face," he scolded. "I think she knows you."
Treylor turned around, looking around for the otter in question.
"Treylor!"
An older female otter ran toward him and Skyborne moved out of the way a second before the pair fell over the bench.
"Cealin!" came the muffled voice of Treylor from underneath the table.
"Ah, young love," Skipper said with a chuckle.
"Mother!"
A young otter ran up next to Skyborne, moving the table cloth to see where his mother went.
"What are you doing, Mother?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "And who is that?"
"This," she said, crawling out from the table, but not letting go of Treylor's paw, "is your father."
Treylor looked aghast.
"No... Cockle?"
The boy, Cockle, grinned a little.
"Yup, I'm Cockle. Mother, you said Da wouldn't come back."
"I didn't think he would," she said.
Treylor was still staring at the boy.
"When the searats attacked, you was just a lump in your momma's belly. Now look at you! How old are you?"
"Thirteen," Cockle said proudly, puffing out his chest with pride.
Treylor slapped a paw to his forehead.
"I really am getting old..."
Skyborne laughed.
There was much back slapping around Treylor that night, and he was introduced to many new additions to families he'd known before. Skyborne followed along, teasing Treylor about his age whenever the occasion allowed. Treylor finally sent him away with an exasperated laugh.
"Go chum around with the otters your own age and quit making me feel old, woudja?"
Skyborne saluted exaggeratedly and looked around for the younger otters. He spied them at a table closer to the cave mouth and walked over.
Before he could arrive though, someone came up beside him.
"Well hello, stripeygob," the otter said with laughter in his eyes.
"And hello to you, furry fish," Skyborne replied with a smile.
"Furry fish? Not heard that one before. I'm Glaybo, by the by."
"Glaybo?" Skyborne said, reaching out to shake paws.
"Yessir. Glayborian Clarazfordwinkle Inariviveriared."
"That's a mouthful."
"I know; I love confusing the young ones. They usually get tongue twisted around the middle."
Skyborne laughed.
"My name's Skyborne."
"Nice to meet ye," Glaybo replied. "So what's your story, Sky? Where were you before you got captured?"
"Salamandastron."
"Wow! Oh hey, they're looking for you, as best I can figure. A lone hare claiming to be a second-major-colonel-wotsit met us on the way back from the Hullabaloo. Said to keep an eye out for a young badger, and that's you, eh?"
"That's me," he muttered.
"Come on, matey, I'll introduce you to the others."
"Alright," Skyborne agreed good naturedly, following the perky otter.
From that day on, the pair was inseparable.
Ta da! And so in comes Glaybo, one of my most favorite characters in the story! --claps hands excitedly--
pronunciation guide: Glayborian(glay-BOR-ee-in) Clarazfordwinkle (cluh-RAZZ-ford-wing-kull) Inariviverieared (in-uh-riv-IV-er-ee-uh-red)
Please review!!