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XV

Talking Helps

He kept thinking about his family. It seemed like it was the only thought that kept him going, that told him he was doing the right thing. What he did, who he killed, what he kept his mouth shut about, was all for the sake of protecting beasts like his family. Stanno rubbed his paws together as he sat by the tree, telling himself over and over that it was all in the name of peace, nothing more. The hare sighed as one of his ears twitched. He wasn't sitting by himself, but the other two hares around him were just as silent as he was. Honward was fiddling with his sabre, while Tike was listening to some of the bugs buzzing in the distance and the soft wind blowing through the trees. Stanno sighed heavily and lowered his ears, hoping that he'd drift off to sleep. But despite the darkening sky and comforting warm air, the hare found it hard to pass out. He shook his head as he looked over at his friends.

"'Nother day of marchin' tomorrow," he muttered.

"Yeah," said Hon.

Stanno picked up a small stone and stared at it, occasionally tossing it up into the air and catching it with his right paw.

"So, um...wot now?" Tike asked.

Honward blinked. "Wotcha mean, 'wot now'?"

"Is this it? I mean, this?"

"An' wot is 'this' that you're referring to?"

"Us, this! Sittin' here, waitin' to kill some vermin the next day, sleepin', marchin', then killin' more vermin day after day?"

"There's more to the Long Patrol than that," said Stanno.

"Urthquake killed a fuckin' slave! A pregnant slave, Stanno; you were there! You even saw him do it, wot!"

Stanno dropped the stone and paused, lowering his ears. "I know wot I saw. You don't need to remind me."

"So then why are you still here? Why are we still here?"

"To save beasts. To keep this country safe," said Honward.

Stanno huffed. "You don't get wot Tike's sayin'. Urthquake's becoming unhinged. He's been that way for a while now."

"I know wot he did back in Blackheart's fortress was terrible, sure. But think about it: wot would've happened if that slave gave--"

"Are you seriously defending him?" Tike snapped.

"I'm merely makin' a point. We wouldn't 'ave taken the babe with us. An' you told us the slave was sufferin' so much she didn't even want the babe, Stanno. So she prob'ly would've pushed the babe out an' left him or her out in the wild t'fend for his or herself, or to starve. That babe was gonna die either way."

"That still doesn't justify wot Urthquake did," Tike growled.

"No...no, it doesn't," muttered Honward.

Stanno shook his head as the trio suddenly paused in their conversation. He looked at Honward and Tike closely, surprised that neither of them were as happy or lively as they were a couple of weeks ago. But then the Battle of Blackheart's Fortress happened, and now everybeast was feeling the brunt of everything with full force.

"Wot d'you two fear the most?" asked Stanno.

"Castration," Honward answered.

Tike raised an eyebrow. "You answered that very quickly."

"Course I did! Wot's worse than dyin' 'cos somebeast clipped your balls off and let you bleed out?"

Stanno sighed. "Wot about you, Tike?"

Tike thought for a moment as opposed to answering so quickly like Honward did. "Outlivin' everybeast else. Sure, Hon, I get wot you're saying an' all, but watchin' everybeast you love and care about die before you do? ...I dunno if I'd be able to deal with that without goin' insane."

"Yeah, I get wot you mean," replied Hon. "Sad when that happens. Might be why my grandfather was so torn up when he came home from the war."

Tike stared at Stanno, who seemed to be drifting off into his own personal world. "An' wot about you? Wot's yer biggest fear?"

"Losin' my family."

"Besides that. Nobeast wants to lose their family."

"...Turnin' into somebeast like Urthquake. He used to have a family before all this. Used to be happy. ...But then he lost his family, and now he's not happy."

"And now he's choppin' pregnant beasts in half," Tike butted in.

Stanno nodded. "Basically."

The three hares went silent again. Honward shuffled his footpaws around a little while Stanno looked away at some of the insects crawling around on the ground.

"Either of you ever thought about talkin' to Urthquake?" asked Honward.

"Wot d'you mean?"

"I'm sayin' everybeast always goes straight for thinkin' of the worst of others. 'He doesn't talk to anybeast; he must be a sociopath!' Or 'she doesn't like to have sex; she must've had a bad relationship or been raped in the past!' Why doesn't anybeast ever walk up to the beast and just ask them wot's wrong as opposed to talkin' behind their backs?"

"'Cos bein' that blunt is rude," said Tike.

"An' sittin' over here talkin' out of our Badger Lord's hearing range isn't?"

Stanno and Tike suddenly went quiet. The hare did have a point now that the two hares thought about it. Tike felt slightly self-conscious, and Stanno was starting to wonder why it was so hard to have a one-on-one conversation with the badger.

"When you put it like that..."

"I'm just tellin' you two that maybe you should go talk to him before assuming the worst an' calling him a baby killer or wotever."

"Once again, it sounds like you're defending him," murmured Tike.

Honward huffed. "I'm not! I'm jus' sayin' that...that there's worse beasts out there! I saw first-paw wot Blackheart was doin' to his slaves in that fortress! So yeah, maybe Urthquake has done some shady shit here an' there, but he's still our Badger Lord. He's not some vermin like Blackheart or Kurwin the Flayer. Sooner or later, everybeast needs to realize that."

Stanno sighed heavily. "Maybe you're right. Probably best if we try to--"

"Wot, ignore that he murdered that slave an' her unborn babe?"

"No, Tike, we're not sayin' that!" shouted Honward. "But he's done more good than bad, wot! Stop lookin' at 'im as some arsehole who's as vile as vermin and start lookin' at him as our Badger Lord who's...who's had a few missteps."

"I can't do that."

"Then maybe you shouldn't fuckin' be here," said Stanno in a peeved tone.

Stanno slowly closed his eyes and mouthed the word "fuck" to himself. Tike scowled at the hare before he stood up and picked up his sword.

"I'm gonna go scan the perimeter. I'll see you arseholes later."

Tike walked away in a huff before Stanno had time to apologize. Honward was about to get up, but Tike walked so fast that it looked like he was trying to run from the hares. Honward sat back down and groaned with frustration as he saw his best friend leave. He turned and faced Stanno, frowning and flaring his nostrils.

"Thanks, Stanno."

Stanno didn't respond. The last thing he needed was for his mouth to get him into more trouble.

---

He was starting to get used to the smell, and the rat wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Everytime the wind blew it carried the scent of all his fallen friends, their bodies now cool and beginning to fester. Whenever the rodent wasn't breathing in the feces simmering in his own trousers, he could tell that somebeast nearby had loosened their bowels after passing on into the afterlife. He used to enjoy the odor, always grinning with delight whenever he stumbled across various dead squirrels or other woodland creatures who had been slain by vermin. But now, all he seemed to smell (besides his own bodily odors) was that of beasts he knew and befriended, beasts he'd never be able to talk to again. The rat glanced over to his right and saw a large weasel in the distance lying on the ground after she had been impaled in the stomach. He flared his nostrils and could see that another dead squirrel was lying face down in the dirt, having released his bladder after somebeast sliced his neck in half. But the main scent the rat noticed was that of the chubby brownish-black rat and the tall stoat sitting on a log, not far from somebeast who had four arrows in his back.

The rat walked over to Slipfoot and Turvin and put a paw on one of their shoulders, sticking his head in-between the two. He looked down at the corpse and sighed deeply upon realizing that it was Longfang.

"They got him too, eh?"

Turvin was too busy whimpering and sniffling to answer, so she just nodded slowly. Slipfoot glanced over at the rat's head, but didn't respond.

"Hey, come on, Turvin! It happens! You should be happy--that's one less rat stinkin' up our crew now! Maybe they'll bump off Slips here next, eh?"

Slipfoot wiped a tear from his right cheek and sniffled. "Fuck you, Blowhorn."

"Wot? I'm jus' sayin', everybeast always complains about how we rats smell so foul. Least now ya don't have to worry 'bout Longfang's stench."

"Everythin's just a big fuckin' joke to you, ain't it?" said Turvin, in-between some of her sobs. "Wot're you gonna do now: pass gas on his face so his spirit will always remember how disgustin' you are? Piss yoreself as a proper way to send 'im off? Or maybe you'll jus' take a shit on his grave after we bury him and say it's a present from you t'him!"

Blowhorn blinked and lowered his ears. "A friend of mine is dead. Why would I desecrate his body like that?"

"'Cos that's wot ye do, Blowhorn. Can't go a single fuckin' conversation without you jokin' about somethin' or tryin' to soil somethin' with that foul arse of yours," said Slipfoot.

Blowhorn didn't say anything. He just watched as Slipfoot turned back around and sniffled again as he looked down at Longfang's body.

"Jus' leave us alone...don't feel like talkin' to anybeast right now."

Blowhorn didn't respond. He just heard the two vermin sob or whimper quietly amongst themselves and figured the last thing he needed to do was exacerbate the situation. So the smelly rat backed away before turning around and strolling through the carnage. Two foxes from the Juskamard clan had way too many arrows to count lodged inside their bodies, and Blowhorn grimaced when he saw another pirate he knew missing her jaw and one of her arms. He quickly turned away and exhaled harshly, shutting his eyes and forcing himself to ignore the mangled corpse. But when he opened his eyes back up, he noticed he was looking down at a squirrel with a massive hole in his stomach. He would've thought nothing of it had it not been for the flies buzzing around the fetid wound. He swatted a few of them away as they began to buzz around his soiled trousers, and then moved from the body and wandered around the forest. He could see Kurwin and a few other captains in the distance, most likely discussing the next phase in their plans or deciding on how they were going to interrogate Nuttooth when he woke up.

Somewhere over by a tree, Slivik was sitting by himself, still alive despite being stabbed in the abdomen twice during the fight. Blowhorn had stumbled across his brother's body not too long ago as well, and was worried that the younger fox had perished. He rushed over to the bereaved vulpine to ensure that he was still in the right state of mind.

"Whew, that was some battle, eh? Almost got my tail chopped off back there!"

Slivik didn't even look up at Blowhorn. He stayed on the ground, looking at the dirt with a blank gaze in his eyes. The brown rat scratched his rump and wagged his tail, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Shame your brother didn't make it...but hey, he went down fightin', right?"

"He was killed by some coward far away...struck in the neck with an arrow. We were jus' talking and...he just..."

Slivik slowly got to his footpaws and sighed. "I'm fine, Blowhorn. It's not...I'm not gonna cry or anythin'. Heh, if my brother were still alive, he'd prob'ly just mock me and call me a babe for sobbin'."

Blowhorn blinked. "Well, he's dead, so I guess you don't gotta worry about that anymore, do ya?"

The rat knew he used the wrong choice of words the second Slivik snapped his head to the left and stared at him. At first he looked like he was about to smash Blowhorn's face in. But then Blowhorn noticed that Slivik's eyes were starting to water. Then the vulpine's face slowly scrunched itself up and some of the tears left the fox's eyes. He sobbed quietly and gritted his teeth.

"You fuckin' cocksucker," he said, his voice cracking.

Blowhorn grunted when Slivik suddenly reached forward and embraced him, hugging him as tightly as possible and burying his face into the rodent's tunic. Blowhorn looked at the fox with wide eyes at first, watching as he sobbed in a muffled voice, his body occasionally shaking. The rat could feel the fox's tears and mucus getting all over his clothes, but he didn't care. He blinked and wrapped his arms around Slivik as well, rubbing his back and neck.

"I know buddy, I know it hurts..."

Blowhorn didn't know what else to say. He paused, trying to find the right words to lighten the mood or make the vulpine feel better. The fox stopped sobbing for a moment and sniffled twice, unable to see due to his blurred vision. That's when Blowhorn finally found the "right" words he knew would ease the fox's pain.

"When you think about it, crying is a lot like takin' a shit. Sometimes it's quiet, only lasts a couple minutes--seconds even. Sometimes it comes in bursts, where yore shittin' every five minutes for two hours. But then there's days like today, where you've been holdin' it in for weeks, an' when you finally let it out, you make a big, putrid mess all over the place, an' you find yoreself voidin' yore bowels so 'ard you think you'll shit out yore organs. But it's always the same in the end. Once you finish, you feel relieved, lighter. So go on. Let it all out."

Slivik either wasn't listening or didn't seem to care about Blowhorn's words, because he continued to cry and hug Blowhorn for another few minutes. The rat waited until he noticed that Slivik was beginning to settle down before he lowered his arms. The fox did the same, sniffling a couple of times before he finally took his head away from Blowhorn's clothing. He wiped a few more tears away before sniffling and rubbing his arm along his nose.

"Thank you. I'm just..."

"You wanna be alone now?"

Slivik sniffed and nodded. "I don't wanna talk about it...not now."

Blowhorn's tail went limp. "All right," he said, before walking away.

The rat wasn't sure if he helped Slivik or only made him feel worse. Right now, the rodent wasn't even sure if he should continue talking to others. His stench and attitude only seemed to draw them away. He could see a couple of Juskamard members burying several of their fallen brothers and sisters and giving out a short eulogy, but he didn't see the point in joining them. He barely even knew them. The last thing he needed to do was irritate them as well and disrupt the funeral. So Blowhorn turned away and grumbled, knowing the Juskamard tribe wanted to keep to themselves. He kept sniffing the air, stumbling across more bodies whose bowels or bladders had voided during their passing. The stench was starting to get to him now. The last body he walked past smelled so rank that he almost retched and felt bile rushing up his throat. But Blowhorn swallowed hard and exhaled, quickly moving away from the corpse before he started to puke. As he moved around the woods and arrived at a more serene area, he heard soft crying in the distance and slowed down. The brown rat moved around to the other side of a tree and saw Razzik on his knees, whimpering as he looked down at Plaskin's corpse.

"I'm sorry...I-I should've done more," he wept. "Even...even when you were scared, y-you tried to save me. You did save me. All I did was run an' hide while beasts like you an' Longfang were slain..."

Blowhorn's tail went limp again. Razzik had his back turned to him so he didn't know he was there. For a moment, Blowhorn reached forward, ready to place a paw on the other rat's right shoulder. But then he stopped and lowered his arm. After what happened with Slipfoot, Turvin and Slivik, the rat figured it would be best if he kept quiet. So he stood still and listened as the black rodent cried to himself, wiping his cheeks off with his arms.

"It's my fault. You wouldn't have even come to save me if I fought back an' hadn't been such a coward!"

Still nothing. Blowhorn felt like turning around and walking away again, pretend that he never saw Razzik. The rat sat down on the ground and whimpered as he wiped his face again, scooting backwards and sitting down with his back pressed against the tree.

"I'm sorry..."

Blowhorn still hadn't moved. His body wouldn't let him. By the time he decided that leaving would be the best option, Razzik glanced over to his right and saw Blowhorn standing by the tree. He didn't acknowledge him right away; he simply sniffled and turned his head away.

"...How long have you been there?"

Blowhorn snorted. "Why? You wanna yell at me too?"

The brown rat sat down beside Razzik, his back pressed against the tree as well. Neither rodent looked at each other. All they could do was fixate on the weasel's cadaver in front of them.

"Why would I yell at you?" Razzik suddenly asked after a long pause.

Blowhorn shrugged. "Everybeast else seems to. Seems like everythin' comin' outta me offends somebeast one way or another."

"N-not everybeast feels that way."

The brown rat snorted. "Hmph. Sure they don't. ...I'm upset too, y'know. Don't got many friends as it is. Can't make fun of Dead-Eye's bad breath anymore 'cos he got an arrow in his eye. Can't tease Longfang 'bout his giant teeth or fart in his face to wake 'im up in the mornin' 'cos he took four arrows to the back. Can't lissen to Plaskin's tales about the so-called wolverines in the Northlands 'cos somebeast caved his head in with a sabre."

Blowhorn paused and looked down at the ground. He slowly shook his head and huffed. "I'm runnin' out of mates, Razzik. They've been pilin' up fer a while now, an' it's startin' to be too much for me. The rest of the pirates here think I'm some annoyin' rat who can't stop breakin' wind all the time."

"At least they don't think yore a coward, like me..."

Blowhorn looked back up and glanced at Razzik with a smirk. "Well, ya got me there buddy! Ain't nothin' worse than bein' a coward!"

Razzik turned and faced Blowhorn with sorrow and bellicosity in his eyes. Blowhorn frowned.

"Right, sorry. Too soon."

The black rat turned his head away while Blowhorn awkwardly scratched his head, trying to think of a way to lighten the mood. He finally got a bright idea and nudged Razzik in the shoulder.

"Hey, ye remember that time we all got drunk an' I fooled everybeast into eatin' gut berries?"

Razzik sighed heavily and rubbed his head. "Yeah. Wot about it?"

Blowhorn laughed and shook his head. "Who was it eh? Me, you, Ishlin, Longfang, Plaskin, Yeller...think even Glud and Fekwin were there too. Hehe, all eight of us, jus' sittin' 'round a campfire shootin' the shit when we all start passin' gas so much we damn near woke up everybeast sleepin'!"

"I remember, Blowhorn."

"Then Ishlin passed gas so hard he shat himself! He didn't even care; he jus' stood up an' told everybeast, 'This is wot I think o' them woodlanders: buncha scared li'l cunts with shit in their trousers!' We didn't care either. We just laughed until we started to cry."

Razzik started to smile. "An' then those gut berries finally hit our bowels."

"An' then the rest of us started to shit ourselves!"

Razzik smiled as Blowhorn started to laugh heartily to himself, covering his face with a paw and shaking his head. The black rat found himself giggling too.

"We knew wot we were doin'. We just didn't care an' kept laughin' about it."

Blowhorn sighed heavily after his fit of laughter and sniffed. "You remember the smell too? Hehehe, like a giant sea monster jus' had the trots all over the woods!"

"The smell is somethin' I'm tryin' to forget."

The two rats continued to laugh or giggle about the disgusting and embarrassing moment that happened a few seasons ago when they both settled down and looked at Plaskin's corpse again. Blowhorn began to frown as he thought about the kind of beast that the weasel was.

"Y'know, at least Plaskin did somethin' with his life. At least this crew knew who he was. S'far as everybeast knows, I'm just some rodent who enjoys releasin' foul smells from his arse. Nobeast is gonna miss me when I die, Razzik. Nobeast is gonna care..."

Razzik looked at Blowhorn and blinked. "That's not true."

"Yeah, it is."

"You still got me. You still got other beasts who appreciate wot you do for this crew. It's me that nobeast is gonna miss."

"Ya got that right!" said a brash voice.

Razzik and Blowhorn quickly stood up when they heard somebeast walking towards them. The brown rat knew that trademark smirk and bloodshot eye from a mile away. Blowhorn sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Fuck off, Bloodeye. This ain't the time."

"Now wot was you two talkin' about again?" he asked, grinning and pointing back and forth between the two of them. "Ohhhh, that's right! How nobeast is gonna miss ya! Tch, don't care much 'bout that ol' fart lyin' on the ground behind me. Wot makes either of you think this crew gives a damn about you?"

Razzik didn't respond. Blowhorn simply gritted his teeth and growled. "For starters, we actually respect this crew! All you do is go 'round givin' us a hard time!"

Bloodeye snorted and folded his arms. "Respect? Yore idea of 'respect' is wakin' us up in the mornin' by passing gas! An' this fat fuck over here 'respects' us by wettin' his shorts before battle! All that 'respect' merely implies that this crew is disgusting and cowardly!"

"An' yore attitude merely implies that this crew doesn't care about each other, that we'd backstab each other and destroy ourselves without question!"

"At least I ain't no gutless coward, Razzik. Maybe if you two did more, I'd respect you more. But as it is, yer just two rats I honestly don't give a fuck about. So yeah, yer both right: nobeast is gonna miss either of you when you die. Not a single one."

Blowhorn was about to punch Bloodeye when Razzik grabbed his left arm. The brown rat glanced over at Razzik, noticing the stern scowl on his face. Blowhorn slowly lowered his arm while Razzik took a few deep breaths and walked up to Bloodeye.

"Y-you-you got a lotta nerve talkin' about respect like that. You...you don't even know the meaning of the word."

"Pssh! I know that--"

"Shut up."

"Or wot? You gonna shit yerself this time? Try to scare me off by--"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BLOODEYE!"

Razzik started to inhale sharply, his chest puffing in and out as he gritted his teeth. He couldn't keep himself from shedding more tears as he stared at the fox.

"Is this wot you like?! Huh?! You like seein' beasts like me break down?! C'mere!"

"Wo--"

The fox swatted Razzik's paws away when he tried to grab his crotch. The rat ignored him and grabbed his groin again, making the fox back away.

"The fuck are you doin'?!"

"I wanna see if you got a stiff one! I wanna know if wot you put beasts like me through is some sort of sick fuckin' turn-on fer you!"

Razzik whined as he pointed a finger at the fox. "You dunno shit about respect! You-you're just a sadist and a bully! Yore mean to yer own friends! Yer abusive to those you know are weaker than you--I wanna see you try and yank on Ishlin's tail or try to knock his teeth out! I bet you th-that it'd end with him breakin' yore fuckin' jaw! The beasts you say you 'respect'? You talk about them behind their backs! If any of the vermin knew about half of the repulsive slander you whisper when they're not around, I guarantee you that they'd all try to slit yer throat in yore sleep!"

Razzik abruptly shoved Bloodeye backwards, and the fox grunted and nearly tripped over his own footpaws.

"You wanna know who won't be missed when they die? YOU! No one gives a fuck about you! Why would anybeast care whether you live or die considerin' how you treat everybeast?!"

"'Cos I know how to fight."

"Oh, bullshit! Only reason yer still here is 'cos of the beasts around you! Beasts like Plaskin who fought alongside you and saved yore arse when you were in danger! If you had a one-on-one duel with a well-trained warrior, you wouldn't last half a minute! Yore just as much of a coward as I am! I bet yer own family didn't miss you when you left 'em!"

Bloodeye slowly frowned and lowered his ears. Blowhorn could see the sudden shift in Bloodeye's mood and walked over to Razzik, putting a paw on his shoulder.

"Okay, that's-that's enough now!"

"NO!"

Razzik jerked Blowhorn's paw away. He walked up to Bloodeye and shoved him again, this time against a tree.

"Oh wot, did I hit a nerve? Di-did I upset you, Bloodeye?! Did I go too far bringin' yer family into this?!"

Razzik stopped talking for a moment so he could take a few sharp breaths as he whimpered. He got close to the fox and wrapped a paw around his throat, squeezing as hard as he possibly could. The fox gagged and tried to wrench the arm away, but it wouldn't budge.

"Yore gonna die alone, Bloodeye. Yore gonna die a slow, painful death, with nobeast around t'even try an' save you! An' if I find yer body, I'm not gonna laugh. I'm-I'm not gonna grin. I'm not even gonna piss on yer corpse. Y-you know wot I'm gonna do? Nothing. Absolutely...nothing. I'm gonna look at yer body, blink, an' then keep walkin'! I'm gonna erase you from my mind, forget ye ever fuckin' existed!"

Razzik let go of the fox's throat. Bloodeye coughed and wheezed, breathing heavily as he slowly slid down the tree and sat down on the ground. Blowhorn looked at the two individuals while Razzik continued to look down at Bloodeye with tears streaming down his face and his teeth grit. Bloodeye didn't respond. He didn't say anything whimsical or cynical, like he always did. After the fox stopped coughing, he remained on the ground, unable to even look up at the rat. Razzik clenched his right paw into a fist, ready to break the vulpine's nose. But he let the anger brewing inside him subside, at which point the black rat walked away before the situation escalated even further. Blowhorn watched as the rodent stomped away before he rushed over to Bloodeye. The fox still hadn't moved. He was still staring down at the ground and breathing heavily.

"Bloodeye--"

"Walk away."

His words were soft, but they still cut through Blowhorn like a smooth knife.

"I'm just--"

"Walk."

The fox nearly hissed at Blowhorn like a mad adder. The rat's tail went limp again as he looked down at Bloodeye. He stood still for a moment, thinking--if not hoping--Bloodeye would insult him and his stench like he always did. But he remained seated, as if his rump was glued to the ground. So Blowhorn turned around and walked away, figuring it'd be best if he kept to himself until the corsairs was ready to move. But it would still be a long time before Kurwin's crew left, as the ferret was just now getting Chester Nuttooth to wake up. The squirrel coughed a few times and panted as he looked around, noticing the various dead vermin and squirrels lying on the ground. He also took note of Kurwin sitting on a tree stump, grinning as he twirled his flaying knife around in his paws.

"Glad to see yore finally up."

Chester swore and tried to move his arms, but his paws were tightly wrapped behind a tree. When the squirrel tried to yank them around, he shouted and nearly jerked his left shoulder out of socket.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not unless ye wanna upset Flikk over there."

Chester glanced to his left and saw the white ferret with black eyes staring at him with a nasty grin on her face too. She tossed her serrated blade in the air a few times before walking over to Chester and placing the tip of her blade below his left eye.

"Last time I checked, a beast only needs one eye to see. P'haps I shall take this one..."

Flikk slowly moved around the squirrel, keeping her blade planted on his face as she moved it around to his other eye.

"Or maybe this one! Gah, it's so hard to choose!"

Flikk looked at Kurwin before gesturing towards Nuttooth. "Help me out here, Captain. Which eye shall I take?"

Kurwin laughed and stood up. "Lower yore knife, Flikk. I still need to question him first, 'member?"

Flikk stared at Kurwin and blinked before she turned and looked at the squirrel. The ferret tapped the edge of her knife against Chester's muzzle before she winked at him and backed away. She took Kurwin's place, sitting down on the tree stump while Kurwin stood in front of Chester and started to talk to him.

"Not even a whimper...I like that. Can't tell ye how pathetic it is when my victims blubber 'afore I kill 'em."

Chester snorted. "Surprised you haven't gone through with it yet. I take it this is the part where you torture me for information?"

Kurwin nodded. "Can't exactly find any of yer squirrels to question, so that leaves you!"

"...You gonna kill me afterwards?"

"Yes."

The squirrel chuckled softly. "Least yore honest about it. So why haven't you started yet?"

Kurwin sighed and rubbed his paws together. "I'm gonna try somethin' new first. One of my captains did this an' somehow, it worked out really well fer him."

"Which is wot?"

"Talking."

Chester started to chuckle again. "Yore shittin' me. You expect me to believe yore gonna stand there and talk to me? As in have a civil conversation?"

"Unless you want Flikk to cut out yore eyeballs now."

Chester glanced over at the white ferret who was dying to use her knife on him. He blinked and stared at Kurwin again, knowing he wouldn't want to suffer such a grim fate.

"Fine then. Wot is it that you wanna 'talk' about?"

Kurwin placed his knife back into his waistsash. "You know about the Badger Lord of Salamandastron, right? This Urthquake the Tough?"

"Wot about him?"

"I need to know wot he's like. Tell me all about his weaknesses, how vast his army of hares is, who all his allies are. I need to know all his secrets, and anything that'll help me defeat him in battle."

Chester stared at the ferret and blinked. Kurwin waited patiently, wagging his tail slowly with a stern expression on his face. But much to the captain's surprise, the commander started to smile and shake his head. He sighed and closed his eyes, resting his head against the tree bark.

"It's sad when I come across vermin like you."

Kurwin blinked. "How so?"

"I almost fuckin' had you back there...I almost killed you. I disarmed you several times, but you kept pickin' yore weapons back up. I never expected a beast as old as you to move that swiftly, to parry my attacks so well."

Kurwin smirked. "You make it sound like it was easy fer me."

"I enjoy fighting beasts like you. Yore trained, disciplined, you know how yore enemy thinks, know how to outsmart 'em, know how to subdue 'em when you find yoreself backed into a corner. But in the end, I always end up killin' you."

Kurwin grinned as he leaned forward and got in Chester's face. "'Cept I'm still breathin', ain't I?"

Chester sighed. "I see beasts like you, and I think, 'Why? Why did this well-trained, brave vermin have to piss his or her life away like this? Why did he or she choose to fight against us, not with us?' So many great things could've become of you--of yore whole army here--if you had just decided to ally yoreselves with us. But no. You an' all the other pirates and slavers and warlords have to go around raping, torturing, and killing kindbeasts fer no reason other than for yore own amusement. Just wish I coulda met you sooner 'afore you went down the path you chose."

Kurwin scoffed and twirled his knife around. "I appreciate that. But let's face it: we vermin can't ally ourselves with beasts like you."

"Why not?"

Kurwin shrugged. "Somebeast has to be the bad one, right?"

"There are beasts out there far worse than you are. Beasts who were born with the demons beyond the Hellgates tainting their soul. They have no purpose in life other than to meet the end of our blades so they can get sent right back down from whence they came. But beasts like you and me?" Chester shook his head. "We're babes, Kurwin. We're just young siblings squabbling over the same fuckin' toy, ignorant to all of the bigger, deadlier problems all around us."

Kurwin stared at the squirrel and pondered. He was almost tempted to let the squirrel go after seeing this side of him. He looked around the woods and could see various pirates and Juskamard vermin spread across the ground, no longer of this world. He could see all the survivors either mourning their loss or simply glad that they could live for another day. And then he looked over at all of the other bodies on the ground, all of which consisted of Commander Nuttooth's platoon. They were all dead, and nobeast was around to mourn or bury them because Kurwin and his crew slew them all. He paused, the knife in his paw suddenly feeling heavy. Flikk glanced over at the squirrel, thinking he was about to try something drastic. She rolled her eyes and huffed, getting up from the stump.

"He's toying with you, Captain, tryin' to get inside your skull. Jus' get on with it! ...Unless you'd like fer me to start first?"

"I'm fine, Flikk," Kurwin snarled. "I just..."

"You just...what?"

Kurwin stared at Flikk's smirk and scowled. Despite how he felt now, he knew what needed to be done if he wanted to make his dreams come true. So the ferret sighed as he turned and faced Chester again.

"Maybe yore right. Maybe we are just siblings fightin' over the same damn thing. But y'know wot? There's beasts out there who see vermin of all shapes 'n' sizes, an' there's only one word that comes to their mind: kill. Urthquake is one of those beasts, Chester. That's why I need to slay him, an' that's why you need to tell me where he is, wot he's doin' now, an' how I can kill him."

Chester closed his eyes and sighed deeply as he pressed his head against the tree. "Can't help you. I'm not gonna stand here and contribute to the possible death of the Badger Lord of Salamandastron. ...Not that you'll ever be able to stop him, but yore welcome to try."

Kurwin could feel Flikk grinning widely behind his back. He could even hear her licking her blade, ready to start carving the squirrel's body to pieces. Kurwin growled quietly.

"I won't ask again."

"And I won't refuse again."

Kurwin closed his eyes and rubbed his head. He was starting to feel the toll the battle had taken on his energy, and now he wanted to lie down and go to sleep, refresh so he'd be in a better mood in the morning. He wanted this to be a lot easier, but the corsair could see that Chester was making it difficult. Kurwin opened his eyes and started to grin slowly as he held up his flaying knife.

"Fine. We'll do it the hard way."

---

All the lizards who weren't busy eating all of the fallen residents of the community were busy either worshipping the mighty monitor lizard or sleeping off their huge meal, sighing and belching as they lied on the ground with their plump bellies. The leader of the lizards looked at the destruction around them and sighed pleasantly, licking off some of the blood from his teeth. He could smell two huts that had burned to the ground, the black ash tickling his nostrils. His footpaws were coated in blood and mud, having walked along several dead bodies or stepped in their pools of blood. As the monitor lizard got up from the tree stump he was sitting on, he walked over to the burly bluish-gray monitor lizard who was standing beside a naked rat with a rope tied around his neck.

"Havin' fun, Rowgat?"

The large monitor lizard looked down at the rat slave on his knees and snickered as he patted his head. The rat whimpered and flinched away, shutting his eyes and shaking.

"Of courze, Krazzak! I really am glad that Gila brought such a lovely 'prezent' to our army! Wot about you, ztinky rat? Are ya happy now?"

The rat didn't answer, which prompted Rowgat to yank on the rope. He gagged as he was jerked towards the monitor lizard, who looked down at him and hissed.

"I azked you a queztion! Are ya happy?"

"Y...yes. Yes, Master."

"Good! Now then..."

The rat grunted when Rowgat grabbed him by the back of his head and shoved his muzzle against the crotch region of his trousers. He looked down at the rodent and grinned widely.

"Zniff."

The rat knew what would happen if he didn't. So he shut his eyes, whined, and took a deep breath. The rodent felt like gagging as he breathed in the pungent smell coming from Rowgat's crotch. The odor wouldn't have been so bad if Rowgat bothered to wash out his cloaca. But seeing as he didn't, all the slave could smell was the lizard's nauseating scent and dried-up fecal matter.

"Yezzzzz...you like Mazter'z zcent, dont'cha?"

The rat didn't answer, prompting Krassak Ralfur to hiss and gesture for Gila to come towards them. "He doezn't zeem to like it! Perhapz he'd much rather prefer zmelling Gila the Putrid'z breath again!"

Rowgat took the rodent's head away, allowing him to take a long breath and cough. He glanced over to his left and saw the burly, chubby lizard with orange and black scales walk by Rowgat. Gila slowly opened his mouth, exhaling very quietly as his hot breath escaped from his throat. The rat retched and turned away, moments away from vomiting if the giant reptile got any closer.

"Well, ztinky rat? Ye wanna zmell me breath again?"

"No!"

Gila grabbed the rodent by the back of his head again and shoved his muzzle into Rowgat's crotch. "Then zniff ye Mazter'z zcent with pride!"

The rat started to become teary-eyed as he heard the reptiles around him laughing, watching as he inhaled Rowgat's putrid scent. When Rowgat felt satisfied, he took the rodent's head away and petted him again. As the laughing began to subside, Krassak sat down on the tree stump again and whistled, signaling for some of his high-ranking soldiers to come towards him.

"Gather 'round, monitorz!"

Gila and Rowgat were the first to approach him, followed by the light green monitor Luggrar, who was naked and covered in fluids. The lizard licked some of the blood and other bodily fluids from his left arm before he stood in front of Krassak. A fourth lizard, a lithe monitor with green scales and dark blue eyes, walked next to Luggrar and immediately groped his cloaca. Luggrar glanced at the lizard's dark blue eyes as she hissed in his face and grinned. The last monitor to come over was by far the biggest one in Krassak's army. He was just as big as Gila, but nowhere near as pudgy. His dark yellow shirt and shorts were ripped from various battles, and part of his tail had recently been chopped off. The grayish-brown monitor stepped behind Krassak, smacking noisily as he munched on a meaty snack with bones in it. Krassak heard the monitor lizard crunching behind him and sighed.

"Ulwort, how many timez have we told ya not to eat our own troopz until after they're dead?"

Ulwort lifted the scaly severed arm he was carrying up to his mouth and bit off two fingers. The large reptile munched on the fingers, the bones popping and cracking inside his maw.

"He had a zcratch on hiz back. 'Twaz beginnin' to fezter! Believe me, Mighty One; he waz gonna die zoon enough!"

Krassak stared at the lizard's grin before he laughed. "If you zay zo!"

"Zo wot iz thiz about now? Zurely ye didn't invite uz o'er here t'watch Ulwort devour an arm?"

Ulwort responded by belching up a few bits of meat and bone. Krassak shook his head.

"Not at all, Emarzk! But the lozz of another monitor, amongzt many other lozzez rezently, have got me thinkin'."

Emarsk hissed and wagged her tail. "About the next village we should attack?"

Luggrar grinned. "About the next clan of ztinky ratz we shall capture an' make our zlavez?"

"Neither--although both are good ideaz! What we need now are alliez! Lotza vermin who will zerve uz without queztion!"

Emarsk laughed and spread her arms apart. "Look around you, Great Leader! We have plenty of alliez around uz!"

"But they are all lizardz, Emarzk. Zome of them were born here; otherz are new to theze woodz an' need a proper guide! We can't zpend all of our time erratically slaughterin' woodlanderz!"

"And why not?" asked Luggrar.

"Zooner or later, we'll attract the wrong attention. Lazt thing we need iz zome valiant clan of warriorz pickin' uz off like fliez! Zo I zuggest we find uz a nize, rowdy bunch of vermin who know the lay of the land, can guide uz 'round Mozzflower without folly!"

Most of the lizards around Krassak groaned or hissed with irritation. Gila the Putrid folded his arms and snorted.

"Dunno why ye've taken a zudden interezt in them, Mighty One! Vermin are of no uze to uz!"

Rowgat snarled as he tugged on his slave's rope. "Zome of them do pozzezz zertain azzetz..."

Emarsk laughed and stuck out her tongue. "Oh aye! I'm sure ya'd love zome of the _azz_etz we'll come acrozz!"

Krassak laughed as well when he looked down at the rat. Then he flicked his eyes over at Gila and noticed the burly lizard was still scowling and had his arms folded.

"Zomethin' wrong, Gila?"

"Makin' friendz with the vermin iz beneath uz! They zerve no purpoze other than bein' food an' cannon fodder!"

Krassak grinned widely. "Thiz allianze iz only temporary, Gila. After they've helped uz zlain zome of our enemiez and demolished any obztacle in our way, we'll have no uze for the vermin anymore."

Gila started to grin. "An' then we'll uze 'em az food an' cannon fodder."

Krassak nodded. "Precizely!"

All of the monitor lizards nodded in agreement or hissed joyously at their leader, eager for the bright, blood-filled future that lay ahead of them. Krassak looked at Ulwort as he started to chew on other bits of the arm shortly before he noticed some of the other dead beasts spread across the ground, their fleshy bodies slowly going to waste.

"Zo we begin our march now?" asked Luggrar.

Krassak stared at a mouse whose body had been cut in two and licked his choppers. He shook his head.

"Let'z ztay here fer the night...have a li'l more fun an' fill our belliez!"

The lizards didn't need to be told twice. Once Krassak ended the meeting, all of the reptiles departed and resumed enjoying themselves and feasting on the corpses around them.

---

Kurwin rubbed his forehead as he shut his eyes. He sighed heavily, seconds before Flikk giggled like a babe.

"Ye didn't have to take his eye, Flikk," Kurwin said, vexed.

"Why not? I think it looks beautiful. Very round an' wet; I'm surprised I got it out with little damage!"

Kurwin opened his eyes and looked at the squirrel in front of him. Several lacerations were spread across his body. Some of his fingers were broken or had been removed. His left cheek had been sliced from his face, almost to a point where his teeth could be seen from the outside. And to make all of that worse, Flikk had just removed his left eyeball with her blade. Chester had passed out from all the shock, but he had woken up after Kurwin smacked him around a few times and poured grog on his head. The wounded squirrel breathed very softly as he looked at Kurwin with his right eye--which was nearly swollen shut after being punched so many times by the pirate.

"C'mon now, make this easier on yoreself. The only reason why I haven't castrated you yet is 'cos I don't want ya t'bleed out...but the thought is very tempting at this point."

Kurwin waved his knife in front of Chester again. "So are you gonna start talkin' now, or shall she take another eye an' blind you?"

Chester stared at Kurwin and Flikk and took a couple of breaths. He wanted to spit in their faces or laugh, but he was too weak. The squirrel lowered his head and huffed as blood and saliva poured out of his mouth. Kurwin was right. There was no point in being this stubborn when he knew he was going to die either way.

"Blue...blue armor...blue stripe," Chester said weakly.

Kurwin blinked. "Yes, good! Go on."

"Giant axe...broadsword...easy to spot."

"We got all that. Now tell us about the badger's weaknesses. How does he fight?"

Chester blinked. "Fight? No...no fight. Just die."

Kurwin's expression suddenly changed when he heard the squirrel chuckling weakly and grinning at him, despite his mutilated body and the fact that he was moments away from death. Chester stared at the two vermin and leaned forward.

"You...you vermin don't 'fight' Urthquake...you just die. Males, females...babes. Urthquake doesn't...he doesn't care. He'll slaughter you all. You...you can't fight him; he's too strong...nothin' you vermin c'n do..."

Kurwin sighed heavily as the squirrel laughed weakly again.

"He won't stop...'til all you vermin have perished. You go up against Urthquake an' all those...hares in his army...you die. So there...I told you want you needed to know."

Kurwin looked away from the squirrel and sucked on his teeth. He grumbled quietly before glancing back over at Commander Nuttooth and shaking his head.

"You really aren't gonna tell me anythin' else, are you?"

Chester slowly shook his head. Flikk was wagging her tail gleefully, knowing that this meant certain doom for the gallant squirrel. Kurwin huffed as he walked up to the squirrel with his knife.

"So be it."

Chester grunted when Kurwin stabbed him in the left side of his abdomen, puncturing his kidney. The squirrel's right eye grew wide as Kurwin slowly twisted the blade, making sure that his victim felt the pain. Then the ferret turned the blade horizontally and slowly began to move it sideways, cutting right through the flesh and organs. Chester groaned again as he felt the knife digging into his intestines and tearing his flesh apart. Kurwin started to grin as he heard the blood dripping from the squirrel's belly and splashing onto the ground. When Kurwin got to the other side of the squirrel's torso, he shoved his knife deep into his body again, puncturing the other kidney. He twisted the blade again, at which point Chester let out a soft, choking gasp and shut his right eye. As Kurwin removed his knife, he backed away and watched as the squirrel's intestines slowly oozed out of the gaping wound, plopping onto the ground with a wet squelch. Some of the blood and stomach acid began to drip out as well and created a faint hissing sound. By the time Chester realized that his entrails were hanging out of his body, he was already on his way to the Dark Forest.

"Shame he weren't no help to us. Ah well. Least we got to have a little fun tonight!"

Flikk grinned as she lifted the eyeball and rolled it around in her paw. "And I got another eyeball fer my collection!"

"Yore wrong. He was helpful."

Flikk blinked. "How so?"

Kurwin turned and faced the white ferret. "He said Urthquake slaughters females an' babes. Babes, Flikk. That means he's ruthless, relentless. If this Badger Lord's willing to kill vermin babes--"

"--then that means we're in a lotta trouble, don't it?"

Kurwin rubbed his chin for a moment. "Not necessarily. If he's this ruthless, then that means he has no plan. He wanders around aimlessly killin' vermin. An' if he's willing to kill females and babes then...hehe, that's perfect."

"Wot's perfect?"

"We're not just gonna get his attention. We're gonna piss him off."

Flikk raised an eyebrow. "Yore shittin' me."

Kurwin grinned and shook his head. "Don't you see? If we anger this badger enough, he'll become even more vicious! Somebeast this furious isn't gonna think clearly; he's gonna fuck up sooner or later, make more an' more mistakes! If he makes mistakes, he won't control his army properly. He doesn't control his army, he gets his hares killed! Heh, eventually he'll be so enraged that he'll stumble and fall right into Hellgates itself!"

Flikk shook her head. "The idea is too risky. I dunno how you came up with it without ruminating first."

"Risky or not, it's logical!"

Flikk smirked. "Yes...it does make some form of sense."

Flikk and Kurwin stopped talking for a moment and stared at the squirrel's body. The white ferret blinked before looking at Kurwin again.

"So whatcha gonna do now? We got his attention, but I doubt this'll be enough to piss off a Badger Lord."

Kurwin laughed as he stepped around Chester's pool of blood and stomach acid and placed his flaying knife against his right arm.

"I'm gonna protect my title! Ye watch an' learn, Flikk! Yer gonna see how a professional does it!"

Flikk couldn't help but smile widely and wag her tail as she watched Kurwin slowly remove some of the fur and skin from Chester's arm.