FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The party of four now became five as they traipsed through the marshland, constantly feeling their feet sink into the muddy shores with each new step and sucking sounds left behind them. The rain misted across their heads in a light drizzle as they headed closer towards the sea as they smelt the salted breeze drifting ever closer. The raptors could not help but gaze upon their guide who marched forwards with thick chubby claws upon four sturdy muscular feet lifting her body like a horse of deep auburn-verdant scales. Her tail swished from side to side much more swiftly than the other crocs did, implying her youth along with the much smoother traces of her body ridges, unlike the more senior beasts who had rather wrinkled creases. Freya stepped out in front, alongside Frozentongue who lead the way with the three raptors behind them.

"I did not expect the one I fought to be our guide," said Freya.

"Whut you ixpekt?" mumbled Frozentongue with a deep flat voice. "Um zhuh yungeszht uf hizz maytss fur a reezzun."

"Because of your impressive feat?"

"Yuhzz, nuu wun ulzzh zhurvived zhuh Deep, Ulphuh knew ah wuud give him zhtrong chuldren."

"Is it not difficult to speak without your tongue?" asked Fishclaw more curious than polite.

"You undurzhtand me, yeah?"

"Well, yes."

"Zhun zhurr'zh no prublim, hhhhuhuhuh!"

"She is right," replied Moonclaw, "I can understand her well enough...mostly."

"Zho who izh zhizh friend of yourzh?"

"My pupil," explained Freya once again, "he has gone mad and we must find him before something worse takes his fate."

"Why'zh he gun med? Mating Zheazon?"

"No, it's something of the mind."

"Ull zhuh malezz ah knew called it zhurr mind tuu, huuhuHAH!"

"How old are you?" asked Oddclaw slightly beside her tail waving above the puddled water.

"Uhhh...twunty-four szyclezz."

"I thought you would be young," said Moonclaw nodding, "your swiftness and reflexes during the fight were certainly not from one so aged."

"As opposed to me?" replied Freya looking back with a mock-sour grin. "Or do I hide my age that well?"

"Well, o-of course I meant in a waterjaw, perhaps warmbloods are much more-"

"Hmhmhmhmhm, it's fine, I do agree that such spryness I would not expect in a beast such as Frozentongue."

"Uhm fuul uf zhurprizhezh!" boasted the crocodile with head raised high in strutting walk. "Nuubudy zhought ah would khumm back frum zhuh Deep Hungurr, bigger Waturrjawzh than me nevurr khame back."

"What is the Deep Hunger exactly?"

"Big." She stopped and turned towards Freya with a serious look. "Bigger than Ulphuh, TWO uf him even!"

"Then why on earth did you travel to its lair?" asked the dragoon leaning on her spear.

"Uh wunted tuu be Ulphuh'zz mate, but zhey tuld me ah wuzzn't good enough. Uh told 'em 'well ahm gunna go to thuh Deep Hungurr an' khumm back with a zhcale from him, or zhumzhing an' zhey told me 'you idiot you'll get eaten', BUT AH SZZHOWED 'EM!" She spun proudly before the group as she stood on both legs to bark at the sky. "Uh khame BACK, wizh a zhcale in mah teef, an' Ulphuh made me hizzh mate!"

"You did...all of that, just to be mated to your leader?"

"YAH!"

"Why?" asked Freya scratching her head astonished.

"What do you mean why!?" gasped Fishclaw. "Being mated to the Alpha is the GREATEST honour of any hunter!"

"I would," replied Oddclaw, "if Moonclaw were the alpha of my tribe and she chose me to be her mate, I would want nothing else!"

"HMHAHA!" cackled Moon. "Ohhhh I do not know what is more adorable, you thinking I could be an alpha or you thinking I would choose you."

"Wh-what do you mean?!"

"Oh well I am just saying if I had the pick of the clutch I would choose Fishclaw over you."

"WHAT?!" Oddclaw shrieked stomping his feet in shock.

"Moonclaw please do not tease my brother," replied Fish tapping his snout on her head, "he is very good to you, and also he is the cleverest male of my family!"

"Ohhh I know that," she replied fondly with a soft lick to his chest, "he is a kind and handsome beast...wait, who is the cleverest female then?"

"Eggfang," replied both brothers almost instantly.

"Definitely Eggfang," added Fishclaw, "no one else in our family can strategise hunts as good as her, but if we are only including males then Oddclaw is the cleverest."

"Th-thank you brother," mewled Odd with a bashful smirk. "I am glad SOMEONE appreciates me."

"Ohhhh come on dear," said Moonclaw with a second sweet dragging lick across his neck, "you know I appreciate you."

"You have an odd way of showing that sometimes."

"That is why you love me surely!"

"Ah would mate wizh 'im," chipped in Frozentongue, "got zhe biggezht cock I ever zheen on a zhwiftclaw!"

"Really?!" gasped Moon with a bristling stiffness in her neck leering back. "How many cocks have you seen from our kind?"

"Uhhhh...t-two, inkruding Oddkraw?"

"A-and I am bigger?!" said Oddclaw feeling strangely self-conscious as he clasped his hands around his swinging dick.

"Mmhmm, uf you two wurren't mated an' ah wuzhn't mated to Ulphuh, would ya?"

"I-i-i...well you are strong, and clever, and I love the way you fight-"

"Oddclawwww," warned his mate next to him with a leery eye.

"No no give me a moment I am still thinking," he replied scratching a claw to his chin as he looked to the sky.

"Oh you cannot be serious!"

"Well like you said, if YOU were alpha you would not guarantee me becoming your mate so I am just considering my options."

"HhhuhuhuhuHAH!" Frozentongue loomed her tail up towards his head and half-wrapped it round his neck to offer him a teasing wink of her cloaca. "Don't make promizhezh yer body won't keep, big boy."

"Ahahaha aaaaaah n-no, I would never make a promise I cannot keep!"

"Good...ah well, anozher rife maybe," the croc slid her tail back down to see Moonclaw make a half-smirk between instinctive jealousy and wistful playfulness.

"It seems that I misunderstood," said Freya pulling her spear free from the dirt with a thumb to her chin, "I did not expect becoming part of your leader's harem to be an honour."

"If Ulphuh choozhezh you," explained Frozentongue scratching her large neck, "it meanszh your eggzh huv zhe zhtrongezht chuldren in zhe tribe, an' zhat makezh you VERY important."

"Ahhhh I see, you are becoming elected to a council rather than a harem?"

"Whuh?"

"As in, your importance as the mate of your leader allows you to make decisions for the tribe, where your opinions can change the course of your people for the greater good."

"Yeah! Yeah you underzhtand now!"

"I do indeed, thank you."

"Huhuhhh, yer zhe kreverezht warmbrudd I know, AND ya fight real good!"

The knight smiled upon her fellow combatant with courteous nod whilst Frozentongue grinned with a wide-open smile and her black severed tongue a mere stump at the back of her throat. Another hour's walk brought them to the seacoast where they witnessed the ocean far west of the Skylands. A frost-spackled silver mirror reflecting the clouded sky as they saw the largest fish breaching through the waves, large and scaled with gleaming pointed eyes and bottlenosed beaks of razor sharp teeth. Fishclaw could not help but lick his lips at the sight of them, but they were far beyond their reach in the cold waters past a dismal shore of salted grey which stretched out to a higher cliff rising above the sea. The kaprosuchus lead them east towards the sea cliff where several passages opened up below into a vast tunnelling cavern at least two days north of the Bloodfeathers' forest.

The hollowed cries of the wind from the sea gasped within lungs of stone, shuddering throughout its walls as they felt the force of the ocean's screams blast their chests, a cold gasp from an ancient dragon that slumbered beneath the sea.

"HHHHHH!" Oddclaw shuddered hard and pulled himself close to Moonclaw. "H-h-hhhhhh...these...these caves are much colder than the ones back home."

"Stay close," said Fishclaw bunching up with both raptors, "keep our body heat warm, we cannot risk becoming frozen."

"S'not ZHAT bad," replied Frozentongue rolling her eyes, "juzht zhe wind, it'zh not cold inzhide."

"Well...if you say so, you are the guide."

"Zhtay clozhe alright? Zhe cavezh go everywhere, if you dunno where yer going, you'll lozhe your way."

"We shall not leave your side Frozentongue," said Freya with hand on heart to bow, "lead us onwards."

"Huhuhuhhhh ah rike you, you know how to treat zhumwon wizh rezhpekt."

The kaprosuchus waited for the wind to recede before heading downwards into the gaping maw of the earth, a cavern of shale-encrusted walls full of holes and spackled with a million indented dots like rotting teeth. The sounds of the ocean were a constant threat, a wrothful voice from the abyss that rumbled the earth and spewed the sea into a froth of pale fury from beyond the holes. Some of the water would sluice in threatening to knock them down, splashing the cold salt against them as the raptors tried their best to avoid it for the fear of hypothermia. Freya was undeterred with her sleek crimson raincoat allowing the force of the sea to shimmer off her back ceaselessly.

But Frozentongue was cautious, charting the path in her mind as she weaved her way through the twisting tunnels formed by countless years of erosion. She smelt along the creased crevices in recognising her own scent marks that she left behind, a trail from the darkness in her previous escape as the walls started closing in around them. Light faded from beneath their steps, their tails slinking into the depths of shadow whilst claws and fingers scraped along walls with uncertainty. Soon it became pitch black, the raptors managing to sniff their way through but Freya was more hindered as her eyes tried to encompass any fraction of light before making out the hunkered shape of the kaprosuchus.

"How...deep IS this cave?" she asked quietly as her voice echoed partially.

"Below zhuh zhea," muttered Frozentongue without stopping her pace, "zhuh Deep izh...well, deep, whut you ixpekt!?"

"Below sea level?! So this beast is a sea monster?"

"Yeah, when it goezh to zhleep it comezh here, but...well, we don't know when it wantzh to zhleep, very few uf uzzh know anyzhing about it."

"How long has this thing lived in this cave?" asked Moonclaw gently bumping the walls with her nose.

"Uhhh...about forty-two zzhyclezzh? Fazzher told me we uzzhed to live out on zhe beach, but...not anymore, becauzzhe zhe Deep Hungurr kept eating uzzh...mah tribe are itzzh favourite food."

"So your tribe has been trying to kill it ever since, just so you can return back to the beach?"

"We mizzh zhe zzhand on our feet...fizzh are better too, zhwamp izhn't bad but ah wunna feel zzhand in mah clawzzh an' eat zhe biggezht FIZH lahk mah fazzher did!"

"In other words," contemplated Freya, "if we somehow defeat this beast, it would be a boon for your tribe."

"Oh yeah...huh, why, you wanna fight it?"

"I do not WANT to, but if we have to, it's best to never leave a task unfinished, yes?"

"Hhhhmmmmhmhmhmhmmm...ohhhh now ah REARRY rike you, Rongzhtone wuzzit?"

"Yes, Freya."

"Well uf you wanna kill it be mah guezht Freya, but yer not takin' all zhe grory fer yourzhelf, we team up!"

"Agreed, Frozentongue. But first let us focus on my friend before we set upon our hunt."

Twelve minutes later they finally reached their destination. A grand hollow room somewhat circular in its formation but more of an oval shape truthfully. Water covered the floor in a very shallow depth that briefly skimmed their feet from the giant pool that laid close to the back of the room, the deepest circle of hell beneath the sea as a void of pitch-black. Standing in front of the abyss was the young Oberon, his spear grasped tightly as Freya walked forwards calmly.

"Oberon? Are you alright?"

"...please, stop."

"I want to help you. Please." Her feet dragged a soft ripple behind her heels. "I have been searching, through this entire land for you, I am sorry about the winged beast that frightened you."

"Y-y-you...PROMISED that you would n-never take me back to Gizamaluke!"

"Gizamaluke is gone...remember he died in the war."

"N-NO HE'S NOT!"

"I slew him myself, when he was possessed by our foes from Alexandria, I was FORCED to because they had turned him mad with their infernal magic!"

"OUR ENEMIES?!" The student turned fast with a cruel gleam in his bloodshot eye. "YOU sided with that BITCH who killed my father!"

"She rebelled against her queen because she finally understood!"

"OH SHE UNDERSTOOD DID SHE?!" barked Oberon with spear raised towards her as he started walking. "She understood, AFTER she murdered our people, oh that's real convenient, maybe she just realised where the cards had fallen and took her chances with YOU!"

"I do not bear a grudge against madame Beatrix," insisted Freya walking forwards still to him, "the war of 1800 was a bloody complex affair, it expanded far more than that of a war between three kingdoms, it was a battle between life and death, literally-"

"SHUT UP!"

"I told you she didn't give a damn," said the boy behind Oberon, "look at that, she's trying to revise history to excuse her own cowardice."

"You're just trying to revise history to excuse your own cowardice!"

"What?!" gasped Freya. "Do you think I would lie to you?!"

"YES, YES I DO!"

"What evidence do you have?! All I have done for you, I have done not for the sake of Burmecia, but for YOU! Orphaned, lost and without cause, my friends became your friends, and all of them spoke the same truth as me!"

"Including the one you killed," muttered the child.

"I-I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" shrieked Oberon.

"Didn't mean what?" asked Freya.

"N-NOTHING! NOTHING, I-I-THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME!"

"Is it? ......what have you done?"

"HUH?!"

"What...what did you do?" Her eyes became cautious as she lowered her spear, seeing a look she knew all too well in his frightful eyes. "Did you do something?"

"NO?! I didn't do nothing!"

"O-ohhhhhh," simpered the boy with his head on Oberon's leg, "she doesn't knoooow."

"N-no she does, YOU KNOW WHAT I DI-A-AAAAH!"

"Awww you IDIOT, you just got duped by that reverse psychology, REALLY?!"

"What have you done that you are trying to run away from?!" she asked raising her head in puzzlement. "Oberon, if you have done something you have to tell me."

"Does she know, or is she just playing you?!"

"I hope it was nothing serious, but as your tutor I must be informed."

"Tutor, more like EXecutor!"

"I can help you, whatever it is, please I would do anything for you look how far I have come to find you!"

"What, she went chasing after some dumb rat boyfriend that can't even recognise her face for years, that means NOTHING!"

" SHUT UUUUP!"

Oberon swung out his spear ruthlessly towards Freya, causing her to back off with a leaping dash as water skirted round the hem of her armoured coat. The student grabbed his head as a dull piercing sound throbbed in his skull, the world turning slowly darker around him. He saw the raptors and the kaprosuchus just barely beyond his vision which started turning hazy, a blurring of blue and grey between water and stone as the creatures sensed something new from him.

"He smells of poison," muttered Fishclaw.

"Zhmullzh even worzhe," replied Frozentongue, "szhickezht beazht I ever szhmelt."

"Be ready to fight," warned Oddclaw, "but we must NOT kill him, we have to take him alive."

"Awwww zhat'szh no fun, bu' alright."

"I...h-have not...DONE anything," stressed Oberon with piercing gaze.

"Then why are you so frightened?" she asked still not raising a spear to him. "You act like a wanted criminal, your eyes are stricken with fear, your hands clasp like a desperate thief's, you have been like this ever since......since we left the black mage village."

"N-NO, NONONO, I-I WAS ALREADY LIKE THIS!"

"Not like this. You had sleepless nights, yes but this paranoia's much more recent......no."

"NO, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!"

"Ohhhh she knows," muttered the kid, "she's totally pieced it up."

"SH-SHE DOESN'T SHUT UP!" roared Oberon to his leg.

"Oh what, you really think she didn't know already?! Maybe she didn't want to believe her student killed his first and best friend cuz that would be HORRIBLE to think, it would make you a monster, and make HER the one who trained you!"

"SH-SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS, THIS IS MY PROBLEM NO ONE ELSE!"

"Well that's not REALLY true, if they catch you then it's all of our problems."

"STOP IT ROBIN!" screamed the student.

"Robin?!" asked Freya cocking her head. "Who is Robin?!"

"Wh-what?!"

"Ohohoho, ohhhh that BITCH!" squealed the boy. "She's actually PRETENDING she can't see me to make YOU think you've gone insane!"

"I KNOW THAT!"

"Know what?!" she replied.

"Th-that you're pretending not to see him, you want me to think I've gone crazy so I'll doubt myself and come with you, WELL YOU'RE NOT GONNA FOOL ME, I'VE WATCHED EVERY LORD AVON PLAY THERE IS, YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT SHIT!?"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The dragoon swept her spear sharply across the waters between them to cause a streaking splash. "That. Is. Enough."

"What?!"

"I have tolerated your childish behaviour long enough. You are better than this, you KNOW you are better than this, what would your father say if he saw you now whimpering like a babe and screaming at imaginary things?!"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE WOULD THINK?!" he challenged striding forwards with a slashing strike at the water in turn.

"I know that I fought to protect him whilst YOU ran away playing silly games and sneaking around rooftops to watch plays instead of being the prince that you were born to be!"

"I WAS A KID!"

"YOU WERE FOURTEEN, YOU KNEW WELL ENOUGH, BUT YOU ARE NOW THIRTY-FOUR AND STILL YOU ACT LIKE A FANTASIST! This world is REAL, it is not some stage for you to parade your woes in front of us!"

"I KNOW THAT FREYA, I KNOW!"

"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD AND FACE ME!"

"_I KILLED HIM ALRIGHT?! I KILLED HIIIIM! _"

The student's voice shrieked throughout the cavern in a beastly echo that went shrilling off their ears. He grasped his head in both hands with spear hooked in his thumb, his eyes crackling with tears that slinked down his whiskers before slumping onto his knees with a soft splash. Robin shook his head behind him, his presence looming like a shadow as he smiled beside his ear. Freya did not approach, seeing Oberon's hands dip into the shallow saltwater and squeeze the dirt between his fingers.

"H-h-hhhiii killed him...I-i killed him."

"I wish that was not true," she whispered.

"I-i-i...I didn't...I didn't want t-to."

"That's what every killer says," muttered Robin.

"I didn't kn-know he was there, I-i swear I didn't, I just...I-i saw someone, he was runnin' through the village, I th-thought he was gonna k-kill you o-or-"

"Shhhhh..." Freya placed a hand out as she cautiously stepped forwards, "calm down. Tell me what happened from the beginning."

"I...I was asleep. In the black mage village...we...were visiting Vivi."

"Yes, I remember."

"I-i saw...I woke up when I heard someone run past our room...the moon was...the moon was dark, e-everything was so dark. I walked out, I heard feet on the wooden paths-"

"His tiny little feet," whispered the child darkly.

"H-h-his...s-small feet, I-i didn't think it...I saw a demon. I thought I did."

"His eyes burned _like fire." _

"He turned to face me, he...he was going to kill me, he had his hands-"

"His hands burned like the deepest sins."

"H-h-his hands, they rose up a-a-and I saw they...they wanted to burn me-"

_"The smoke you freed from his lungs when you pierced his absent heart." _

"I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS HIM! I THOUGHT, I-i thought he was...a-a monster...I'm s-so sorry."

"Alright." Freya was now close enough to pat his shoulder as he looked up to her with bleary eyes. "This cannot go unpunished, you realise."

"N-n-no...noooo p-please, please F-freya I'm so sorry, I'M SORRYYYY!"

"No no, please, let me finish..." she brushed along his cheek to calm his fear. "We can explain what happened, you are not in a well state of mind, I can vouch that you have been lost and afraid and we will take you to a doctor who will verify of your condition and you shall be spared a worse fate."

"R-really, you promise?"

"I cannot promise anything, but I will do everything in my power to exonerate you best I can, so long as you show remorse and grief."

"I never...I never wanted to kill him, y-you know I loved him, he was my FRIEND!"

"I know...wait...he was?"

"Y-YEAH, OF COURSE HE WAS!"

"I did not know that."

"H-HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW?!" He stood up suddenly with a shocked look on his face. "H-he never told you about me?!"

"I did not know the victim well!"

"HE WAS YOUR FRIEND! YOU WENT WITH HIM THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE DAMN WAR!"

"Who are you...talking abou-"

"YOU BITCH!"

He threw his hand in a vicious punch she dodged from as she raised her spear in a crossing block, just in time for his own blade of rust to come striking across her face with a clang.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT MY FRIEND, I'M THE ONE THAT KILLED HIM, AND EVEN I GAVE A DAMN!"

"S-STOP, STOP IT!"

"_ALL I WANTED WAS TO LIVE MY OWN LIFE, EVEN AFTER ALL I DID VIVI WAS MY FRIEND BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN ME, AND I MURDERED HIM! _"

"WHAT?! No, P-puck that is not true!"

"STOP, LYING TO MEEEEE!"

With a sudden explosive force, he shoved Freya hard to the ground and swung his spear high above to come down in a cleaving strike. She rolled fast and swept back onto her feet in a spinning clash, knocking his spear aside before rushing in to grab one of his hands and try to disarm him.

"PUCK! GOD, DAMMIT YOUR HIGHNESS LISTEN TO ME, VIVI'S NOT DEAD!"

"YES HE IS!"

"IT WASN'T HIM, I SWEAR TO YOU IT WASN'T-"

"_SHUT UUUUU UUUUUUUUP! _"

Oberon lashed his teeth at her hand with a vicious bite, chomping hard as she yelped and released by instinct before he slammed his fist hard into her stomach and made a splashing kick straight up into her jaw. He heard the sound of water rushing from the entrance as he dodgerolled fast seeing Oddclaw fire his shotgun with arcing beams scattering across the wall far behind both him and the young boy Robin who remained forever at his side.

"I told you that bitch never cared about her friends," said the child with a voice like creeping fingers on a wall of glass, _"she did not even care your first and dearest friend was killed." _

"N-no...no, none of you care, n-n-none of you give a SHIT, about me o-or Vivi!"

"They only care about their reputation, wouldn't do good for the famous dragoon to have her own pupil escape her clutches, think of the SCANDAL."

"Sh-she only c-cares about...herself."

"She won't stop chasing you...you will never escape unless you make certain she can never catch you again."

"No...n-no I-"

"She must die Puck...you must take your stand now, not as a prince, but as YOURSELF...or else you will rot in a cage deep within your own father's walls and poor little Vivi shall fade with your memories...forever."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The raptor pulled Freya up in the midst of her pupil's ranting, his head lolling back and forth with a screeching revelrie as he staggered and swung his spear.

"_I WON'T, I WON'T LET YOU, I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM AWAY! I WON'T! I DON'T WANT TO FORGET, I'M SORRY VIVI, I'M SORRYYYYYYYY! _"

The mad prince's scream echoed until the waters trembled underneath their feet as he howled to the sky, grasping his spear and charging towards both his opponents with frenzied death. His eyes burned with welling tears lost amidst the shallow pool in the midst of a spinning whirl slicing at both of their throats, with Freya and Oddclaw backflipping almost simultaneous before Puck aimed upon his master with a cleaving moonstrike, twirling his body into a cartwheel before carving the water straight in half as the dragoon dodged and thwacked him across the head with the blunt edge of her staff.

Oddclaw tried to rush him, his weapon not yet charged but still good enough as a bludgeon in his attempt to whallop Puck over the back of his head. But the rodent saw him come as he sweeped his leg fast to knock the raptor down before trying to stab him. He blocked with his gunmetal like a shield, scraping the harsh rusted blade off of its side before he thrustkicked the student hard in his crotch to force him to stop. But the madness was so ingrained that he almost briefly acknowledged the pain, screaming in response by stomping on Oddie's face brutally until his eye and birthmark blackened to a swollen grape and stunning him briefly. He struggled to see through his eye at the prince raising his spear above in an overhead swing, like an executioner's axe.

"_VIVIIIIIIIIIII! I'M SORRY VIVIIIIIIII, AAAAAAAAAAARGH! _"

"NOOOOOO!"

A flying tackle slammed into his chest as Moonclaw thrust both her feet against his armoured coat, sending him down hard to the floor in a great splash with her on top as she tried to bite at his throat and force him to submit. He grabbed a scoopful of water in his hand and shoved it in her eye causing her to shriek and gasp from the cold stinging salt that burned into her pupil, giving Puck enough time to slamkick both his feet hard in her belly and push her off him. The wild prince ignored her to attack Freya once again, but she was ready to resist, striking against his spear in a crossing slash as they parted for him to thrust-stab with his curved blade.

She parried fast with a sweeping glance, cracking her tri-point tips against his blade for the first two stabs and jamming his blade between her points with the third to twist and wrench the spear hard from his grip. But insanity had strengthened him as he held on with whitened knuckles, pulling hard away to throw Freya forwards in the weakest moment of her torque as she staggered much to her shock. She barely managed to turn on her heel and spin out of his way when his thrusting spear glanced just past her neck, slicing along her cheek with the faintest slip of crimson beneath her silver hair.

Freya resumed her stance with a solid plant of both feet, water spritzing against her heels as Puck began to run in a wide circle around her with dashing streaks of cold salt behind his feet in waiting to strike. He charged once with a feint before backing off and leaping towards the sky ready to plunge his staff deep into her heart.

"_AAAAAAAAAA AAAARRRRRRRGH! _"

His shrieking fury overwhelmed her just briefly as she jumped fast from his strike into the earth, causing a thick wave of water to gush out from his landing before he rushed immediately towards her with a punching slam. She ducked beneath his rabid haymaker and grabbed the length of his sleeve to hurl him in a spinning dance, but he held on and stomped his foot on her own to cause her to stop with a sudden gasp of pain and bootkicked her in the stomach. Freya rolled fast back on her feet, but he anticipated the speed of her recovery and started stabthrusting the earth violently behind her with both hands on his staff.

"_YOU, NEVER, TRUSTED ME, YOU BITCH, I'LL, FUCKING, MAKE YOU STOOOOOP! _"

After a frantic nine thrusts, Freya caught her momentum in the right position and swung her polearm high above his head to distract his eye, his moment of pause in anticipating attack giving her the chance to launch on his body and pin him hard with his own staff pressed against his throat, her own weapon clattering to the side in shallow water.

"YOUR...H-HIGHNESS, STOP!"

"I WON'T LET YOU!"

"I CAN MAKE THIS STOP, I CAN HELP YOU!"

"YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME, YOU DIDN'T CARE ABOUT VIVI!"

"VIVI'S ALIVE YOU STUPID BASTARD!"

_"GAAAAAAA AAAAARRRRRGH! _"

Despite her position and strength, his madness incensed him with unflinching furore as he grabbed her head suddenly and pulled her tightly against the staff itself, strangling her powerfully with fingers wrapped behind her neck as he forced her windpipe against his weapon's pole. Freya tightened her throat muscles hard and held her breath, suffocating with nostrils flaring and eyes burning as the pain of a slowly-crushing stranglehold forced tighter and tighter upon her. But Puck suddenly released her when he saw Oddclaw come charging towards them with her own spear in both hands trying to force them apart.

He kicked her away hard to leave her gasping with choking cough, before turning towards the raptor clenching his tutor's trident. He swung with the blunt end clumsily towards Puck's feet, but he struck against the pole hard with his own and made a spinning slash directly for his eyes as he ducked and veered away from its reach. The violent prince rushed him with a jabbing thrust as Oddclaw guarded frantically, his spear vertical against the rusted blade to knock it sharply to his side before strafing round with a high kick at the rodent's face. He managed to score a glancing scratch with his sickle claws across Puck's cheek, causing him to recoil with a shriek and start spinning his polearm above his head.

Fishclaw suddenly came from behind ducking below the spinning blade to try and pin the Burmecian prince, forcing his entire weight upon his back and planting his jaws around Puck's neck with a firm squeeze to force him to stop. But he refused to lie in wait and viciously struggled like a dying fish, shrieking and roaring with a tantrum before grabbing his spear around just below the blade itself, and turned it above their heads to start frantically stabbing Fishclaw with blind psychotic thrusts that scratched and grazed thickly across his skin. The raptor was forced to release after too many scars, one of which came threateningly close to his eye as he backed off whilst Oddie threw his spear back to its original owner and pulled out his own non-lethal laser weapon. He fired soon as he Puck was standing, two of the three laser blasts hitting on his body as the rodent resisted with a full-body clench, shuddering through the punching dual-blow it gave to his rabid chest as Fishclaw tried to lunge for his arm holding the spear. The dragoon turned and ruthlessly slammed his fist into Fishclaw's face, punching him repeatedly with psychophatic amidst screaming madness from his tightened jaw and shaking cheeks, scratching his fingers into the nostrils and then biting hard at the snout as the raptor backed off from the surprising viciousness and sharp stings welling up in his face. Puck shuddered a deep breath as murmurs ran through him, a trembling black serpent formed from mist that creeped along his staff as he swung hard with a cracking blow much faster than anticipated. The blunt end of the staff hammered across Fishclaw's skull with ashen petals tracing across his face, the smell of fire and death sapping his mind with a weakening spell, his head turned bleary and numb as he collapsed hard into the water with a burning bruise of indigo down his snout. Frantically stumbling back onto his feet he tried to shake off the clouded stupor he was infected with by the dragoon's corrupting aura, as he watched the snarling face of Puck make his charge towards him.

_"DIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIE! _"

" GLLLRRRRRKKHH!"

His spear plunged deep through flesh and scale, puncturing through the entire body as he felt the twitching muscle frantically pulsate around his spear and the gasping choke of the raptor shuddering in front of him. A moment of clarity broke in his mind as something faded from his eyes as if quenched for blood. His hands weakened their grip on his spear, his eyes trembling to process the scene before him as he stared into Fishclaw's eyes above him. They both looked down to see Oddclaw between them with Puck's spear deep into his abdomen.

" ODDCLAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW!"

Moonclaw's shriek of horror broke a spell from them as Oddclaw began to shake with a frantic shock in his body before collapsing into the water. Puck pulled his spear away slowly in fright with one fist pressed against his mouth to see Freya immediately rush to the raptor's aid as the water stained crimson from around them. Moonclaw and Fishclaw stood with fright and panic over the wounded raptor who struggled to breathe with heaving spasms and groans of anguish from the blood sleeping out of his torn belly whilst Freya pulled out several ingredients from her coat.

"S-SAVE HIM!" shrieked Moonclaw.

"I AM TRYING, KEEP AWAY!"

"ODDCLAW, ODDCLAW PLEASE S-STAY ALIVE, LOOK AT ME! Please, n-nooooOOOOOO!"

"Come on Oddclaw focus!" demanded Fishclaw. "Do not give up, I know you are stronger than this, fight the pain, FIGHT IT!"

"LIFT HIM UP," ordered Freya, "WE HAVE TO GET HIM OUT THIS WATER!"

The knight hastily lifted him with both arms as the two other raptors helped, carrying him carefully towards the wall of the cave and sitting him upright before she pulled out her bottle of water and cleaned the wound as best she could. She then brought out a smaller bottle of an orange-honey colour with a skull-faced bug on its front and smeared some of the liquid around his wound causing it to sting like raw vinegar.

"I have to clean your wound first to stop diseases getting inside, alright?"

"A-aaaaah, aaaaAAAAAARGH!"

"This will hurt, I'm sorry but just fight through the pain and I will try to stop the bleeding."

"A-A-AAAAAARGH, AAAARGH, AAARGH IT BUURRRRNS!"

"What are you DOING?!" shrieked Fishclaw.

"I am sterilising the wound!" shouted Freya. "Oglop oil will keep the diseases out of the wound whilst I make a saline solution."

"Why is it burning him!?"

"Just trust me and let me save your brother!"

"N-no, noooo no no Oddclaw please!" Moonclaw was distraught pacing back and forth with muted whimpering and frantic licks across his panting face. "J-just, just keep, please do not die, do not die on me PLEASE!"

Throughout all of this Puck watched in astonishment and confusion as the shock registered to him at last. His hands shook, his breath turned hot and his stomach became warm like rancid milk.

"Wh-wh-what...what h-happened?"

"What you mean?" asked Robin the boy behind him.

"I-i-i...I-i-i d-didn't-"

"Oh you're doing this again? You know it's not gonna work the second time."

"N-no...no, n-n-no I didn't want, I-i never wanted to kill anyone!"

"Why does it matter, you're already a killer, see?"

The child pointed towards his spear now shimmering in Oddclaw's blood. Someone's voice came to him as if almost singing through the steel, a song of horrid glee as Puck's eyes became fraught with fear in turning towards the boy with tears of righteous betrayal.

"...you. Y-y-you did this."

"Who do YOU mean?" asked Robin as his voice began to creep to darker worlds.

"You...I-i heard that song before."

_"You mean the night we first met?" _

"No...no, i-it was you all along, IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG!"

"Do you think they still believe you?" The boy's face began to change to that of long fangs and cruel twisted face, metamorphosing into a beast like nothing Puck had known. _"She never believed you, and now you kill one of her newest friends who tried to protect his brother." _

"N-NO, NO IT WASN'T ME, IT WASN'T ME!"

"Accept your fate...make me... part of you my dear Puck."

"I WON'T, I'LL NEVER LET YOU, YOU DID ALL OF THIS!"

"Kill, them." The creature became something Puck had only known in his nightmares as a child. He was stricken with the fear that infants had for their first nights alone in the cold and dark. _"Kill... Him." _

"NO, NOOOOO!"

"Kill him or I will make you S U F F E R."

"NOOOOO!"

The prince frantically looked around the room to find someplace, anyplace he could rid himself as he saw the deep pool of black at the far end of the room. He ran almost stumbling in frantic fits, whimpering as blood dripped across the waters behind him until hurling the spear deep into the dark abyss.

"NOOOOOO!"

Frozentongue's bark of fright went unheard amidst the commotion as Puck ran from the wellpit, furiously scrubbing his arms with the sense of deep unease creeping along his skin as he kept turning his head towards the back of him. Running towards the entrance, he almost abandoned the group completely until the deep darkness of the cavern stopped him beside Frozentongue who looked at him with a burning gaze of shame.

"Du you haff ANY IDEA whut you juzht DID you inbred ZHIT!?!"

"I-i-i, GO AWAY!"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Moonclaw shrieked with a clawing strike at his face near him. "Get, AWAY from my mate or I will TEAR YOUR THROAT TO PIECES!"

"I-i-i, I-i, I need to get out-"

"PUCK THAT IS ENOUGH!" Freya turned towards him with ruthless stare. "If you have FINALLY recovered from your madness then I instruct you to sit down in the corner AWAY from us whilst I do everything to heal this beast."

"I...I-i was...I'm...I'm s-sorry."

"We will talk of this later, now please sit down and wait until I am done."

He backed off fast and ran towards a wall huddling up in fright as far as he could from everyone else in the cavern. The adrenaline soon passed from his body as he started to sob into his knees, shivering whilst rocking back and forth. The dragoon senior had a small medicinal kit as she first gave Oddclaw small green bottle to his lips.

"Drink this."

"Wh-what...a-aaaah-"

"It's a hi-potion, it will keep your strength up."

Trusting Freya he started to drink, the sweet rich watery fluid helping to nurse his deeper wounds to some degree, but not completely as he felt the smallest pinching of his body frantically trying to heal itself. The knight made sure the bottle was empty before putting fresh water into it and a small batch of salt granules as well as a phoenix down, which burned and intensified the liquid within to a sizzling sterilised mixture she then gently fed into Oddclaw's raw jagged wound much to his gasping half-screams.

"H-h-haaa-aaa-aaaaAAAAAAAH!"

"Oddclaw, look at me." He turned towards Moonclaw who nuzzled him desperately. "Please, please I ask one thing, just o-one thing. Do not die, I...I need you to live."

"I-i will...try-hhh-HHHAAAAH, AAAAGH!"

"I know it hurts, I know but please...p-please...o-o-ohhhh Oddclaw-"

"Come on little brother, look at us," breathed Fishclaw, "you are not dying here...you...are NOT dying here, now promise me. Promise you will not."

"I-i...I...p-promise..." Oddclaw heaved in a thick breath as if swallowing blood to strengthen his stomach muscle, "I...promise I-i-NNNNGH!"

"Save your strength," warned Freya as she brought out her next instrument, "I need you to focus, I have to cut your skin to be less jagged before I suture it to contain your blood."

"Is...a-alright...alright then-wh-what...what is that?"

Something caused the water to stir, gently vibrating all around them as if an earthquake was starting. The raptors looked at each other with fretful sounds as Freya cursed to herself, the world trembling around them too much for her to focus on her operation.

"Wh-what, what is this?!" barked Fish.

"The earth, the water is, wh-WHAT?!" cried Moon.

"It'zh khumming." Frozentongue stepped from the cavern's entrance with solemn look. "Zhe Deep izh here."

"What?! WHY?!"

"Bekuzzh ZHOMWUN dropped a rongzhtone kuvvered in BRUDD down zhere where it kan szhmell it."

"A-AAAH, UHHHH, F-FREYA, FREYA WH-WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" cried Puck staggering onto his feet.

"Frozentongue." The dragoon knight turned to their guide. "We have to leave, now."

"Too rate," she muttered back, "zhe Deep'll katch uzzh."

"It can hunt through the tunnels?"

"Nuh but it'll frudd 'em wif waturr, we run, it zhootzzh waturr up to zhuck uzzh all back here."

"God. Damn this. Alright, I still have to suture his wound, can you fight that thing and keep it occupied?"

"Whuh, you zheriouzh?!"

"I have to treat Oddclaw's wounds PROPERLY or else he dies, I need you all to distract it at least, he cannot run like this!"

"We will help," said Fishclaw standing up to face the frothing pool of darkness, "for our brother, if you can save him then I will fight to the death."

"I will too!" Moonclaw stood beside brazen with fearful fury. "We either fight to flee or destroy that beast altogether!"

"Prefer zhe ratter opzhion bu' alright," said Frozentongue siding up with them, "ahll keep it buzhy."

"Puck? PUCK, LOOK AT ME!"

The young shattered prince looked towards Freya whose hands were now coated in Oddclaw's intestinal fluid.

"Can you fight? Tell me the truth."

"N-n-no, n-no I-i-i don't, I-i have no weapon I threw that thing away!"

"Is Robin still there with you?"

"Huh?!"

"Answer me, NOW!"

"N-NO, NO HE'S GONE, I GOT RID OF HIM!"

"So your weapon was...cursed?"

"I-i, I, I-i-i think, yeah."

"Are you sane now, are you in control at last?"

"Y-yeah! Maybe, I-i-i don't hear him anymore, th-the feelings they're gone!"

"Good, now, take my spear and fight, if you want to redeem yourself for all you've done in the past year at least, you will stand and fight until I am ready, can you do that?!"

He said nothing. The former prince of her kingdom shook and stumbled to his feet with sobs choking from his throat, the lurching gush of the deepest bowels of the sea fuming as something rose to the surface before he tried to run for the exit. She swung her spear across his path to trap him in fright before she snarled with creeping voice:

"Vivi was smaller than you when we fought against the horde of silver dragons. He never ran. If you run now, I will never forgive you."

"I-i-i...I...I-i'm sorry, I'm s-sorry I c-can't, my head i-i-is all-"

"I understand, you are frightened and powerless but there is ONE thing you can do, and that is to fight your fear, consume your madness and stand AGAINST this beast for those who fight for you! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, BE THE PRINCE THAT OUR KINGDOM DESERVES PUCK!"

"...I'm...I'm frightened."

"I know. So was I. So was Vivi. But we still fought. If you think you can escape by yourself through the darkness without our guide, without aid from friends, then you can try. Or, you stand with us, to keep us alive, I am not asking you to slay that beast, I am only asking you buy me some time. Can you at least do that?"

The cavern flooded with a sudden gush of salted brine that sluiced against the walls as Freya tried to pull Oddclaw above it. The raptors and kaprosuchus that stood before the pit would be the first to see the monstrous Deep Hunger itself, a looming long-necked Mauisaurus Haasti with jagged teeth from a long beak as it pushed half of its body up through the hole to reach far enough across the cavern. Its entire length was 74 feet, but they only saw 56 feet of that as while it was not especially mobile, its looming throat swung down upon them with a roar of cataclysmic strength, a monstrous bellow from the river Styx.

"FORROW ME!" shouted Frozentongue. "ZHTAY KROZHE TO ME OR ITZH TEEF WILL REACH YOU!"

"ALRIGHT!" cried Fishclaw. "MOONCLAW, FOCUS!"

"B-but, Oddie-"

"FREYA WILL KEEP HIM SAFE!"

"What about HIM?!"

She gestured towards the weak-kneed Puck who now grasped the spear of his mentor timidly. His legs stuttered as he dragged his feet forwards, forcing them against his will whilst Freya continued to work on her patient with a long spool of thread and suturing needle. The smell of regret and fear emanating from the prince was palpable to the feral beasts as they turned back towards the behemoth of the deep cavern. The monster swung its head down with the hammering force of gods as they rushed clear of its colossal weight, booming thick waves of seawater to crash against the walls like cliffs.

Frozentongue ran one way with barking croaks to distract the colossus as she commanded the raptors to run the other way and aim for the base of its neck. Puck found himself running after the kaprosuchus desperate to follow anyone with little composure to lead himself, his feet staggered and fingers awkwardly holding Freya's spear as if he were a child holding his father's sword. It felt wrong in his hands, he felt undeserving, unskilled with all of his training having bled from his mind in but an instant. Instead, he could only avoid its mighty crunching jaw slamming down upon the sea-drenched cavern floor whilst cleaving through the choppy waves.

"GET UP UNDA ZHE ZHROAT!" she roared.

"WHICH PART?!" shrieked Moonclaw.

"UNDER ZHE HEAD, KRIMB UP UNDER ZHE HEAD!"

Moonclaw was first to scale up the wrinkled battlescarred neck with Fishclaw staying up on its back in case she fell off. Hooking claws into the smooth leathery flesh with occasional bites to steady her grip, the female managed to reach halfway before the mauisaurus felt her tingling teeth and nips to respond by whirling its head around like a ferocious mace. She held on tightly for dear life, jaws clamping hard as her body flew behind her whilst Puck and Frozentongue did their best to catch its attention more pointedly. The rat prince desperately rushed forwards to stab and shriek with panicked nuisance as he jabbed at the bottom of the monster's neck causing it to look down with leering hateful gaze.

It was enough for a moment's pause as the behemoth curved its neck to try and slam down its jaws towards Puck in a crunching bite as the young Burmecian shrieked and frantically scrabbled out of the way before falling hard into the flooded floor. Frozentongue grabbed his arm and pulled him fast from another vicious earth-crushing chomp as Moonclaw managed to finally reach the head and violently gnash her jaws at one of the Deep Hunger's eyes. The colossus roared in agony, blood bursting from its socket as Moonclaw's teeth became slathered in watery goo and thick whitened retinal paste before she tried to gnaw at the other eye until the monster swung its towards a wall to crush her against it. She cried out and jumped down in a fearful leap, splashing hard against the water as she rolled and tore herself beyond its immediate range as the sound of a giant's skull crushed hard against the cragged walls of the sea cavern.

The deafening thud echoed with a bass timbre that caused Fishclaw to stagger and try to pin his claws into the mauisaurus' back, but that only alerted the beast to the small pinpricks of his toes as it turned its head towards him. It sank its body down into the pool as the raptor jumped off to prevent himself from drowning. With eye now wounded and spattering blood down its neck, the wrath-filled creature became even more aggressive as it pulled itself forwards with a hefty surge of water, blasting across the room as both raptors shrieked from being slammed against the walls with hard broken waves of foamy brine. The croc and rodent managed to push through despite Puck nearly hitting the wall with his head as he swam through the filling current that swept him away to the back. He stumbled onto his feet with a heaving breath to make a decision on where to flee next.

"I'll take that."

Freya grabbed her spear from him as he gasped, seeing her hands and the front of her coat stained crimson deep.

"Stay with Oddclaw and keep him alive with your potions if he starts to faint."

"Y-y-yes Freya."

"Good...see, you CAN be capable once you take control of yourself, yes?"

He nodded and ran off to where the wounded raptor laid, digging out his own potions from his pockets in case his eyes started to flicker, his hand laying just above the half-experienced suture stitched up across his stomach. Whilst her student began to wrestle with guilt as he grasped his medicine with a need for redemption, Freya twirled her spear and chased after Frozentongue during a brief lull in the crashing waves.

"How do we kill this thing?!" she asked.

"Kut opin zhe neck, azh much azh ya khan!"

"Very well, I need you and the raptors to distract it from me whilst I prepare myself, can you do that?"

"Alrigh', HEY YOU TUU, KHUMMERE!"

The raptors heeded her signal and rushed to her side as Frozentongue commanded them to start running the length of the cavern far from Freya's position, barking and screeching at the mauisaurus who loomed its savage head towards them in a lunging bite, raw teeth the size of their own heads as its braying moan reverberated throughout the cavern space. The dragoon knight leapt upon the beast's back and waited for its neck to veer low towards the other creatures, slamming its head down upon the water-strewn floor to send cascading shockwaves slamming against the jagged walls.

Once its neck was low enough she rushed forwards along its flesh, claws patting against the leather skin with one hand behind her whirling her spear in soft mutterings of deeper strength. Green dragon mist flowed through her staff before she struck hard through the back of the monster's skull, carving through the sturdy flesh of its cranium with a gasping howl that sucked the breath out of its mind. The raw verdant fog swarmed into the mauisaurus' face, murmuring a deep breath as its mind became clouded from Freya's dragoon skill, its mental clarity being absorbed slowly into her being which temporarily stunned its vision.

She leapt off its head and back onto the floor with a soft splash, watching its moaning head loll back and forth before shaking itself clear and focusing harshly upon Freya. She taunted it with a beckoning hand as it loomed forwards with a reaching bite.

"Let us...end this."

A cautious spin of her spear between dexterous fingers summoned the rose scent of blossoms from around her body, spiritual petals of soft sharp pink touched her skin like princess cloth as she charged straight towards its foetid maw. She dodged low beneath its reaching chin, and in one ruthless spin she cracked her spear like a sledgehammer below the titan's jaw as there came the hammering of a thousand petals like a rain of glass shooting up from the waters beneath. A force so furious in its strength it shot the monstrous head up to the ceiling with the straightest neck now turning rigid in a cringing pain.

"_BY THE POWERS OF THE BLOOD OF DRAGONS, FROM THE SCORES I HAVE SLAIN AND THOSE THAT I HAVE SPARED FROM THEIR CRUEL TEETH, I SUMMON THE SOUL OF A HERO'S MIGHT, AND YOU SHALL FALLLLLL! _"

A burning furore consumed her spirit, her spear shining with the blood of ancient beasts, dripping with the scent of a hundred dragons' hearts as she raced towards the colossus' throat. The floor beneath her shimmered the purest white as a symbol could just briefly be made in the form of a dragon's skull, reflecting on her coat as she plunged her spear straight into the bottom of the giant mauisaurus neck until half her pole was impaled through the flesh. Her legs tightened up as she leapt high, cleaving the entire throat of the titanic beast wide open as blood sprayed beneath her feet, dashing across the entire floor to turn the seawater into deep crimson. The roars it echoed through its billowing neck muscles vibrated her spear as she stopped below the chin and swung up onto its head, leaping straight above until she touched the roof and came hurtling down like an angel's sword.

"_RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA AAAAARRRRRGH! _"

Her staff cracked through the monster's skull halfway, but the power of her fall sent the beast's head straight back into the waters with a quaking thud, a red tsunami smeared thickly along the walls as she pirouetted off from the creature's fallen skull and landed to her feet. Frozentongue took no chances and lumbered fast towards the throat before plunging her snout straight into its larynx and ripped every cord of sinew she could to sever its breathing, its life, its blood, whatever she could in a vicious frenzy of evsiceration until her snout was velvet red with muscular strips spurting from either side of her long boar teeth. The silence finally came to the deep sea caverns as the raptors and Puck stood shocked at the brutal end to their enemy, before Freya turned and hooked her spear against a clasp on her back and raced towards Oddclaw's wounded form.

"QUICK, WE HAVE TO TAKE HIM TO THE HUMANS! FROZENTONGUE!"

"UH, U-UH YEAH, righ'!"

She took one last look towards the Deep Hunger's sullen corpse still bleeding a hefty river across the waterscape and into the pool it came from, blackening vermillion as she noticed something glint amidst the infinite darkness. She hurried towards Freya to lead them out of the cave with small mutterings under her breath.

"Who'zh beach izh it now, zhithead?