FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

*Bound Together *

_A Redwall story with Dingeye and Thura _

In the book of Salamdastron the villainous creature Feragho the Assassin leads his hordes about Mossflower and its surroundings and amongst the crew are two stoats that decide to desert. They are Thura and Dingeye and curiously, I decided to write a little three-part piece about them because I like the thought of them being a secret couple, and I love writing Redwall things.

_Apologies for the awful accents, one minute I had it in my head the next I lost it.... _

One: Me Mucker

Dingeye was trembling within the household, he was not sure what he was supposed to do but just stand there and keep the sack open whilst the other members of the group stuffed their plunder into it. He was petrified, he'd not had a chance before to do anything with in life over than joining the gang of Ferhago the Assassin, but this was his first chance to show his worth and it was terrifying. All he could do was try not to piss himself every time those blue eyes flicked towards him in fascination, but he was not the only young stoat in the group having to cope and beside him another youngster was groaning.

"Why are we 'anging around this kinda dump? There's little more than food 'ere and nothing we can use for weapons... not even a stench of liquor..." Dingeye turned about, noticing the other young stoat that was named Thura and a little older than him and far sterner with his voice. Thura liked to sound older and tough, more experienced than he actually was where Dingeye was not stupid enough to say anything that could bring in the attention of the other members of the horde who might beat his ears. But on this occasion, Dingeye nodded his head and gave a soft scoff in response to the situation.

"Ar... the food's not great either... squirrels never 'ave anything tender in their larders, all rock hard, even the cob..." Dingeye stated as he pointed to a bread roll, but one of the larger ferret members of the horde stepped over to drop a load of biscuits into their sacks before smacking them both around the ear to insist they shut up. The two stoats did with grimaces as they kept hold of the sacks, waiting a little while before Thura noted they could bash a brain out with the rock cakes being gathered and Dingeye gave a snigger. No one had ever made him laugh here before and he had to join in. "Ark at that, maybe that's what it's about... some bizarre ways to assassinate..."

"Bwahaha... if ol' Feragho's that bored he should take up shadow puppets!" Thura teased, they both began to snigger together until one of the big foxes went passed then grabbed them both by the ears, twisting tightly. They were suddenly being hollered at to fill the bags themselves and a cane was quickly applied to their backsides as the two stoats yelped and then hurried to fill their bags properly with supplies as the leading vermin with his strange eyes snapped at them all the hurry up and move on. But Dingeye was feeling oddly pleased, he hadn't found someone to laugh at one of his jokes before or make him laugh, he wanted to get to know Thura better!

Their punishment for not shutting up whilst they were supposed to be working had put the pair closer together, they began to hang out more regularly within the camp and often ended up getting the same kinds of punishments from boxed ears to hidings. Still young compared to the rest of the camp, they were often bullied by those just a pinch older and there was no reaction from the older members of the group to try and temper it. On occasions, both of them ended up with black eyes and chewed ears, bald spots and scratches and the it could have broken any lone animal into position, as long as the pair took these beatings and entered these fights together, the pair were strong and kept going.

They couldn't face up to the older and stronger members of the group, but their own age group were soon starting to show them a little more respect and yet, they pair found that they certainly did not fit in with everyone else. It was clear that the other members of the group had wanted to become assassins and warriors, to raid, pillage and plunder, but Thura certainly was not that kind of vermin. He always seemed to sit away from everyone and tried hard not to get involved in the training, but Dingeye was curious about it, especially as he knew his own reason for joining the Corpsemakers was clearly because there was no other job or place for a young stoat that offered a steady supply of food and more safety than being not amongst them!

"Ee-yar... whatcha doing Thura? Tryin'a do a wag? 'S no point... Klitch the snitch 'us been spying on everyone not involved in the training. Daft babby, thinks 'es 'is dad already." Dingeye grumbled, slumping down beside the stoat of similar accent and waggling his toes as he slumped back against the old rotten logs of the pile. Thura was supposed to have been involved in the archery lesson and archery was what the pair of them were good with, but the fact Thura had missed it bothered Dingeye a lot, they were not super-close friends just yet but, he had assumed they were close enough to talk about these things. But he spotted a massive slash across the side of the stoat's head and Thura was looking pretty damn upset with himself. It made Dingeye nervous as he barged his shoulder to the stoat's and yet the wounded figure turned about to look at him sadly. "Come on, I won't get pissy."

"Nah, you'll have a benny - I know you will, everyone does." Thura seemed to hunch up, looking oddly ashamed of himself and that was just not right. In this line of work they should only feel ashamed if they missed a target so bad they killed a higher ranked vermin. Dingeye was curious as he shuffled closer and shook his buddy's shoulder firmly with a grin upon his face. He was grinning at Thura, giving hm a look that said he was more like to roll on he ground laughing than to take the piss out of his only friend. But that was what seemed to make Thura all the more upset at the idea that what he had to say was going to upset the only vermin that was eager to try and be a friend to him. "But... Ding... what if it stops you being me mucker?"

"Eh? That 'ing serious uh? Dunno if you don' tell me." Dingeye shrugged, utterly confused by his buddy's concern but rather pleased to be considered that close of a friend to earn that title. He continued to grin towards his friend, prodding his foot with his but noticing how Thura pulled his paws up as if he did not want to be touched at all. He did not know what was so damn serious, but when Thura almost looked like he was about to cry, Dingeye had to check about themselves for others watching in or indeed trouble but thankfully this area was quite abandoned. Indeed, Dingeye could smell the vitals being cooked up, a simple gruel but appetising enough with the hard tac and well, you took what you could and Thura and Dingeye could eat forever if they had the chance. But he noticed his companion was still looking down so he jogged him. " 'urry it up, vitals are up and we want food."

"But you'll 'ate me!" Despite the gurgling that Dingeye could feel growing up withing his stomach at the smell of the sweetened mush, his eyes were locked upon the sheer upset upon Thura's face. He tried to think up over the kind of things that could be causing this kind of despair and then he clicked his digits as he thought it over. There was a pretty ferret girl that worked in cooking for the horde and was daughter of one of Feragho's top ferret assistants. She had the best access to the food in the camp and once or twice the young stoat had been flirting with her a bit to get himself just a tad more share of the dried biscuits. If Thura had actually been flirting with her or did not want Ding to flirt with her, that was all to the good and so he patted his shoulder gently with a grin.

"'s 'bout that pretty ferret?" Ding grinned as he looked to his friend but then he spotted the tears in Thura's eyes and the other stoat began to whimper in a way that Ding certainly did not expect as he gently swung an arm around Thura's chest. He pulled him in close with a hug, gave a soft sigh and then questioned what was bothering him so much about it. He then even beamed more joyfully as Thura gave a soft sniffle and wiped his face. " 's all good... I weren't into her that much. You wan 'er, you 'ave the gal. I won't stop yer."

"Oh Ding..." Thura whimpered again, clearly something really did upset him about this matter and Dingeye must have gotten it wrong. Perhaps his buddy was trying to give the girl over to him because he'd flirted a bit too, or maybe he wanted them both to stop. Ding couldn't quite understand what it was about at all until Thura dropped his face onto his friend's shoulder and then sobbed as he whispered to him. "Ding... I'm... I'm afraid I don't like girls at all. I like... I like you."

Dingeye stared at Thura for a minute in confusion, but then his face wrinkled into a smile and couldn't stop wrinkling. Tears began to fall from his eyes, and he began o start giving a wheeze as he tried hard not to laugh out so loud that everyone else might want in. Talk about play acting, this was probably the best joke Thura had played on him and to be fair, he should have expected it as Thura was always good with the jokes! But the more Dingeye chuckled and sat up to look towards his buddy who was staring at him in confusion, Ding gently gave him a prod on the hip and gave a snigger of amusement.

"Gud 'un..." Ding stated, sitting up and wiping his eyes before suddenly, Thura lunged at him. With a grunt, Thura pinned his companion down and stared down at him firmly with his nose wrinkling as he sneered and showed off his teeth to Dingeye, who grimaced in anxiety. He did not know what was going on or why he was being grasped like this, but it was clear to see that that Thura was very upset and angry with him and that only made Dingeye all the more anxious. He considered what was said, if it was not a joke then what was it really? Ding grimaced and gave a choked chuckle. "Uh... Thura, mate... if you, y'know... like the uh... uh... non-maid types... uh, it's a'right but... I don't get it."

"What's so 'ard to get? I like you... I don't like females... I like the other but, of 'em all... I like me mucker best. Got it?" Thura growled, his voice sounding strained and harsh as if it physically hurt him to try and say these things. Dingeye got it though and nodded his head, only to put his paws to Thura's shoulder and push him back. He did not meet any resistance as the other stoat just lowered his head and looked miserable over it all. He felt wretched for revealing his thoughts, but Ding was still a little stunned over the matter. All the same, Thura guessed the situation, his feelings weren't reciprocated but it was clear as Ding just blinked and rubbed at the back of his head that he was not going to stop being his friend.

Dingeye hadn't been sleeping well, normally he shared a sac on the floor beside Thura and they shuffled closer to get warm, but Thura had decided to sleep elsewhere so Dingeye wasn't uncomfortable. It bothered Ding a lot to think that his companion was ignoring him at night, they still hung out in the day but at the same time there was something distant that Ding didn't like. He could not quite understand it or think of how to explain it, but when he was able to settle down in the evening, Thura didn't even come over to help him fuss about their beds and how they needed something softer and it would make him laugh before they settled down and Ding would feel Thura snuggle against him.

"What's up Dingeye? Normally you're a lot chirpier when you usually come up here for your food, what's bothering you?" The pretty paler coloured ferret maid working at dishing out the slop and hard tac had saved an extra dry biscuit for the little fellow that usually said cute things, but now she felt he needed it more than ever. There was no rules in this horde about who paired with whom or whether a maid even had to marry, but there was a general rule of thumb that if it couldn't take a tent down and drag itself along with the group, it was dumped. Right now, the maid was looking at the stoat in front of her as if he was little mor than a sac of spuds just managing to scrabble after the others and Ding just looked up at her with a soft snort. "What's gotten up your nose, ey?"

"Thura... he ain't 'anging out as much. I messed up." Dingeye grunted softly, that was the only explanation he could make of this situation, his response had been wrong and well, Thura had pulled back to make sure he did not feel uncomfortable clearly. But Dingeye hadn't thought of Thura as uncomfortable or disturbing, he'd said he wanted to be friends still, because Thura was his mucker, his matey, the only friend that would scoop up an arrow from him in battle if he failed to notch it and use it with his own bow. It made Dingeye feel very alone and this ferret suddenly pinched his nose so his mouth popped open and stuff some tac in before putting an extra ration in his paw and giving a grin.

"So tell 'im that... wont' cost yer nothin' but some tac, ey?" The maid scoffed, teasing Dingeye's accent to make his ears pin back and his nose wrinkle a little in irritation. She then gave him a soft peck to the cheek and the large rat waiting in queue behind him pushed him out of the line with a foot. Ding gave a grunt and skipped off, he knew that Thura always ate away from everyone else where the foxes didn't keep trying to steal his food or thumping his ears for not doing something right. It as one of the reason the pair had bonded but, Dingeye had sort of joined in better and Thura was still all on the outskirts and not really much but an archer and a member of the crew... he had no distinction but neither did Dingeye.

"Ey Thura... wassup?" Ding grunted, reaching the other stoat and slumping down beside him with his tray of slop. Thura looked like he'd hardly been eating, he even had a spoon that was just stirring around in boredom amongst the gruel before Ding passed him over a spare biscuit and gave a playful grin. Thura turned to look at him, almost in misery before Ding gave a soft sigh and then settled to eating his food with a grunt. " 'is just me or is this stuff bacon grease mixed with maggoty porridge?"

"Eh... eat too much o' that and you'll 'ave a brain that looks the same." Thura grinned, glad to have a bit of humour brought back towards them before Dingeye then gave his own spare biscuit, not just the extra given for Thura, to his companion with a happy smile. It looked good to see one on his ace again as Ding grumbled that it explained some of the older troops before burying his head into the bowl and getting the strange mix all over his face. Thura was snorting in amusement, aware that Ding was trying to cheer him up and very happy to have his company again, though he still was not sure what the situation was between them both. However, Ding leant forward and patted Thura's back before leaning forward and giving him a quick kiss to the cheek, which made Thura jolt and stare at him in shock. Dingeye just gave a wicked grin of amusement. "Hey... if it means someone warm sleeps beside me amongst the rags, I'll give you more kisses!"

"Funny..." Thura grunted, but he could not help but pull his paws into his lap and then he slumped back a little, before Dingeye's paw went to snatch the bowl balancing on the top of his knees. Thura grasped the bowl and lifted it gently out of the way before giving his stoat companion a funny look before Dingeye bent in close, almost as if to kiss him again. Thura dropped his head and gave a low grumble of upset and Dingeye sat back and then started crunching on his tac as Thura looked to him anxiously. "Ding... I love you... you're more than just me mucker... I need you to understand that I want to be wit you and like... I want you to want to be wit me too..."

"Yer... I getcha but, I dunno if I feel it like that Thura. But... I'll try un get it." Ding grunted gently, rubbing at the back of his neck and suddenly, Thura put his food aside and then wrapped his arms around Ding's waist with a whimper of happiness as Dingeye just groaned and permitted it to happen. He gave a soft sigh of frustration all the same, he wished that it was easier than this but the problem was, he cared about Thura a lot, he was his best friend but it seemed so hard to think in that other way. He didn't have to though, he could still be nice with the ferret and keep Thura content but... he looked down at Thura and gave a soft snort. "So like... what do I need to do?"

"Nuffin'..." Thura stated, his arms still wrapped around Dingeye's waste as he snuggled up against his buddy all the same. The truth was, he didn't need anything but being allowed to cuddle up with him when it got cold, but maybe in the future there could be something else to it. He was not going to push Ding, but he was just glad that his affection was being returned at last before Dingeye then straightened up and pulled himself upwards. He then looked to the food and then apologised that he was about to walk off without him and Thura gave a snort. "Let me scoff this then we can get on to our scouting shift."

"Spose... but like... does that mean you won't mind me practicing kissing on you?" Dingeye questioned gently, looking towards the ferret girl and just imagining it. At this, Thura leapt up with a soft squeak of delight and then nodded his head in agreement, desperately happy to have such a use to his friend. Ding gave a soft snort of amusement as Thura scoffed down his food and then the stoat went to his side, looking about in case of problems, before suddenly giving Thura and swift kiss to the cheek, making his white fuzz turn pink. "Let's get on with it..."

Maybe Thura would not have to try too hard to convince Dingeye to fall in love with him....