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III

Necessary Violence

The light gray rat looked down at the shorter rat sitting next to him. He was busy scowling as he looked at the chunk of bread in his paws. The short rodent groaned, preparing to throw the bread in the dirt. The taller rat kicked him in the side and snorted.

"Eat yore bread, Danik."

"I dun wanna! S'all wet an' soggy!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't 'ave left it out last night like I warned ya."

The shorter rat looked at his disgusting, soggy bread before glancing up at the older gray rat and noticing how much fresher his bread was.

"Can I 'ave summa yours?"

The older, yet still adolescent rat closed his eyes and sighed heavily. The two rodents sitting on a log across from him stared at the exasperated rat and scowled.

"Tegast, share with yore brother," said his mother.

"I told 'im not to--"

"Wot did yer mother say, Tegast? We hardly 'ave enough food as it is," said Tegast's father.

Tegast glanced over at Danik, who was sitting down with a nasty smirk on his face. The older of the two brothers broke his bread in half and gave it to Danik. The smaller rat chuckled as he started to stuff his face.

"Thanks, Brother!"

The four rats ate what food they had in silence. Considering what happened a few nights ago, they had to so they wouldn't get caught. The rats were merely a small portion of a tribe of nomads roaming through Mossflower. It wasn't a large tribe, or even one that got along with each other, but the whole reason why the tribe was created was so they could look out for each other. The vermin didn't want to stay in Mossflower, but at the same time, the tribe couldn't live in the Northlands without having to worry about beasts much more bloodthirsty than them trying to slaughter everybeast. So they spent their lives traveling the country, never staying in one location for more than a week at most. Right now the tribe was still in Mossflower, far away from the dreaded community that was made of reddish bricks. They stuck close to the river so they always had some food source in case they ran out--which, as of this moment, was nearly the case. The area they were in was thick with trees that made average beasts look like infant pygmy shrews. All the leaves were starting to bloom now that it was a new season, so the tribe had lots of shade and cover.

The area actually looked pretty serene. It was nothing more than thirty or so beasts relaxing in the woods and eating breakfast. They weren't getting drunk or singing songs with their dreadful, gruff voices, or even threatening each other. At worst, a few rats would get into an argument over how much food each tribe member could get, but nothing ever resorted to a beast drawing his or her weapon. Tegast looked at all the beasts around him as he chewed his bread before he saw a few more rats appearing from the woods. There were only three of them, but they were carrying giant sacks on their backs. However, Tegast noticed that they all had blood on their clothes, and one of them looked wounded. After the rats put the sacks down, the hungry vermin who didn't have anything to eat rushed over after sniffing the air. Most of them shoved the three rats out the way and dug their filthy paws into the sacks, pulling out what looked like raspberries, various hazelnuts, and even some fine cheeses and vegetables. Danik smelled the food too and giggled as he hopped off the log he was sitting on to go fetch some.

"Sit down, Danik," said his father.

"But-but they gots--"

"Now," he snarled.

Danik lowered his ears and whined as he sat back down. "We dun never gets da good vittles!"

"At least we get somethin'...where do they get all that stuff anyway?" asked Tegast.

"We find it an' take it," Tegast's mother said bluntly.

"But wot if it ain't ours?"

"That's how takin' works, Son. If you steal it, then yore the new owner of wot you stole."

"But wot about the previous owners?"

Tegast's father snorted. "Wot about 'em?"

"Ain't it wrong to take somethin' that isn't ours from somebeast else?"

"Not if the other beast is some fat ass who spends all day gettin' drunk on fancy wine and slayin' beasts like us fer fun," he snarled.

"Wot yore father means is...if ya do somethin' 'bad' for a good reason, then it contradicts itself."

"It wot?"

"It becomes nullified."

Tegast and Danik kept staring at their mother with a blank gaze, causing her to sigh. "It cancels each other out."

"Oh," said Tegast as he ate more bread. "But why not just ask for vittles? Wouldn't other beasts share--"

"No, they don't, Son. You 'aven't been alive long enough ta see how things really work. All those woodlanders look at us like we're demons, nothin' more! Jus' 'cos beasts like Cluny the Scourge ruined it fer the rest of us!" said Tegast's father.

"But Brother isn't, um, Loony the Score."

"Cluny, honey," said Danik's mother.

"Danik's got a point, Dad. We're not Cluny, and we prob'ly never will be. Why can't we just try to be friends with the woodlanders? Why do we need to steal from everybeast when we can just ask them for stuff?"

Tegast's father stopped eating and sighed heavily as he put his bread down. He shut his eyes and began to rub his head, gradually getting irritated. "You remember Tanlin?"

"That ferret who died last season?"

"Yes, him. You wanna know how he died?"

"Maybe you should wait--"

Tegast's father ignored his mate. "We were out lookin' fer food while it were snowin'. Couldn't fish, couldn't find any birds, so we just went 'round lookin' fer nuts, maybe vegetables if we were lucky. Then outta nowhere, these squirrels fall from the trees, an' one of 'em put a shaft in Tanlin's chest. They waited 'til he fell to his knees 'afore one of 'em slashed his throat. Only reason I'm still here is 'cos I was hidin' in the snow like a coward...jus' watchin' him die."

Tegast stopped chewing his bread. "But...that doesn't make any sense. You two weren't doin' anythin' wrong."

"That's the fuckin' point, Tegast! They slew Tanlin 'cos he were a ferret; nothin' else! They didn't care that he were tryin' to survive winter like the rest of us! They didn't care that he had a sister to take care of! They saw wot species he were an' took it upon themselves ta kill 'im!"

"But...that ain't fair!" Danik whined.

"No, Son, it's not. And that's wot I'm tryin' to tell you two. Those woodlanders don't care about us, an' they never will. We stopped tryin' to make peace with 'em ages ago."

"Couldn't we at least keep tryin'? If vermin like us aren't all like Cluny, doesn't that mean that all goodbeasts aren't--"

"No, it doesn't, Tegast!" snarled his father.

The three beasts looked at Tegast's father and watched as he exhaled harshly and started to rub behind his head. "Now stop talkin' and go get us some fish. We have to leave soon."

"I was just--"

"NOW!"

Irritated and furious at how narrow-minded his father was, Tegast scoffed as he slammed his bread on the log he and his brother were sitting on. He knew how his father got whenever he spoke in that tone, and the last thing he needed was to get punched in the jaw again for disagreeing with him. So the gray rat stood up and walked away from his family.

"Fine," he snapped, hoping his father wouldn't yank on his tail for answering him with an attitude.

Tegast's mother and father watched as their son grabbed a spear and walked away, while Danik slyly reached over and started to nibble on Tegast's bread, figuring he wouldn't want it now.

---

The band of pirates had finally arrived. Somehow, all the corsairs found the Juskarord tribe without running into any hostiles (or without killing each other first). The tribe picked a decent spot to set up camp: not too many trees were in the area, so they didn't have to worry about being ambushed by squirrels. They weren't stationed at any rivers, so there was no need to worry about the Guosim or a holt of otters that spent most of their time patrolling the waters. They even made sure that the area had access to food; some of the bushes were already growing berries, and judging by the smell of the place, the tribe had killed and roasted plenty of dead birds. Some tents had been set up, fireplaces had been built, and the tribe even had all their food secured in various sacks that beasts could choose from. Kurwin and his army stared at the Juskarord tribe and all their supplies as they gradually approached them. Despite the tribe's vast number of supplies, many of the pirates couldn't help but realize that something was off about the tribe.

"Err...is this the right tribe, sah?" asked Ishlin.

The ferret snickered as he scratched the back of his head self-consciously. "Yeah, it's...they've, uh, just been relaxin' too much since winter."

"You mean they've gotten fatter'n lazy," Trae said bluntly.

Kurwin would be lying if he said that Trae was being rude. The tribe was fat, and judging by the looks of things, they had forgotten what it means to be a hard worker. A couple of rats were sitting beside a tree, all quaffing what appeared to be grog and drunkenly singing in horrible, guttural voices. Some weasels and foxes were in a belching contest, laughing as they childishly kept burping in each other's faces. An obese fox was lying on his big belly, sighing as another equally large vulpine massaged his back with his footpaws, since he was too lazy to actually bend over and use his paws. Kurwin didn't even try to count how many beasts he saw sleeping on the ground or against a tree, their weapons hanging loosely from their paws. But not everybeast was a lazy or fat slob slacking off. A few tribe members were practicing their archery skills and shooting at a few apples from several yards away, whilst a couple of stoats were engaged in a swordfight with real cutlasses, since they knew that practicing with wooden swords wouldn't be a proper reenactment if they ran into actual enemies. But out of the threescore beasts Kurwin laid eyes upon, not even a third of them were doing anything productive.

"Aye. Sounds like a proper summarization ta me," said Kronno.

"Who yer callin' fat?!" shouted one plump rat.

Kurwin and a few of his captains turned and saw a very large gray rat walking towards them. The giant beast was almost as big as a badger and could easily squeeze the life out of Kurwin and break his ribs. However, the rat's strength was useless due to his weight and poor intelligence. As he stood in front of Kurwin, the ferret stared at the rodent and noticed that he could barely fit his tunic. His massive gut was right in Kurwin's face churning quietly. The rat did seem to have muscular legs and arms, but his clothing looked uncomfortable--and judging by how tattered it was, Kurwin figured that it would rip apart any day now, and the rodent would be fully bare. As much as Kurwin wanted to insult the rat, he couldn't ignore the giant spear in his paws, or his slobbery maw and seemingly sharp teeth. So the captain smiled and chose to act "chivalrous."

"Certainly not you, sah! Yore just very round, and quite proud of showin' everybeast that you eat lotsa vittles!"

The plump rat nodded. "Aye. Lotsa food good fer aye. Make aye big an' strong!"

"Indeed it does."

The rat looked closely at Kurwin's fur and blinked. Then he glanced over at all the other pirates and noticed something was off. "Why ferret an' other beasts here? You no Juska tribe. You no have marks!"

Kurwin looked closely at the rat and could see that he was covered in various black or blue tattoos. He had swirls along his face and neck, black zigzags going down his stomach, and if he stepped behind the rat, he would've spotted a few tattoos painted not far from his equally plump rump. Kurwin scratched his chin, knowing he could fool the rat if he played nice.

"We're friends of the Juskarord tribe! We came here to see how you all fared after winter, that's all. Me and my first mate here wanted ta see yore leader. Mind showin' us which tent he's in?"

The rat nodded again. "Foller me. I'll take ferret an' weasel to tent. But no other beasts! Other beasts no approach boss!"

Dirtfoot blinked. "So wot the 'ell are we s'posed to do?"

Trae glanced at the rat and smirked. "Mingle with the tribe. After all, they're gonna be our new allies from here on out."

Kurwin's crew watched as the ferret and weasel followed the heavyset rat over to one of the colorful tents. Having no other option, the crew members began to disperse around the area so they could get to know the Juskarord tribe a little more. A few of the corsairs went to observe the swordfight going on while others paid more attention to the Juska clan members practicing archery. Bloodbrain paid most attention to them, analyzing the bows they used, how sharp their arrows were, and how long it took them to fire. While some of the pirates were impressed with the clan members' skills, Bloodbrain kept quiet and folded his arms. He could've blurted out that he was far better than the archers, but there was no need. After all, Bloodbrain knew how quickly things could escalate, and he didn't feel like killing members of the tribe they were about to ally themselves with. The brown stoat with white blotches all over his body couldn't say the same. He wasn't watching the little archery contest; he was busy hovering around a chubby female ferret that was eating candied chestnuts out of a bag. The Juskarord members around her were either drunk or sleeping against a tree. After the ferret noticed the stoat hovering around her, she glanced at him and scowled.

"I ain't a fan of beasts gawkin' at my food. Shove off!"

The stoat just laughed innocently and wagged his tail, the tip of which had been dyed red. "Oh, this-this will only take a brief moment! What-what's in yore bag?"

"Bird droppings. Now go away!"

The stoat laughed again. "But they-they look more like candied chestnuts! Would the nice ferret give Sharkbait some?!"

"No, Jaleen will not give 'Sharkbait' any of her candied chestnuts."

"But-but Jaleen must understand! Sharkbait and his friends haven't had much food in a while! We're pretty hungry, so-so it couldn't hurt if Jaleen gave Sharkbait a few vittles." Sharkbait held up one finger and smiled innocently. "Just...just one?"

Jaleen huffed. "I know 'ow this is gonna go. Yore gonna ask fer one, and then another, and then suddenly, I don't have no more vittles to eat!"

A few corsairs were fully aware of Sharkbait's...condition and were slowly beginning to walk over to where the crazed stoat was. The kind stoat sighed heavily and chuckled again.

"Right...Sharkbait forgot! Please, won't you give Sharkbait some chestnuts?"

"Please, will you fuck off?"

Sharkbait's left eye twitched suddenly. Jaleen had a slight smirk on her face, almost looking like she got a kick out of insulting the stoat over and over again. But Sharkbait was not one who simply stood by and took whatever insult was thrown at him. Fed up with the rude ferret, Sharkbait pounced on her, knocking her flat on her back. She didn't even have time to squeal before the stoat had his right paw wrapped around her throat. Jaleen gasped and gagged as Sharkbait began to choke her to death, grinning wickedly as drool fell from his mouth. The other Juskarord members nearby saw what happened and started to take out their weapons. Islik and Slivik both sighed as they rushed towards them.

"Damn it, Sharkbait!" shouted Slivik.

Before a bloated fox could chop off Sharkbait's head, Slivik rushed forward and elbowed him in the nose, causing it to bleed. The other Juskarord member, a drunken slob who took way too much time to unsheathe his weapon, squealed when Islik took out his rapier and pressed the tip of it right on his groin.

"I'd stay still if I was you," he warned.

Slivik pinned the subdued Juskarord member down; the other clan members were busy sleeping, caring more about being well-rested instead of the commotion going on nearby. The two foxes watched as Sharkbait continued to choke Jaleen, squeezing harder and harder as Sharkbait watched Jaleen's eyes grow wide.

"Jaleen doesn't know, does she?! She doesn't know what 'appened to the last rude ferret that denied Sharkbait food! Sharkbait asked nicely! Sharkbait wasn't mean! But no! The fat little fucking ferret had to take advantage of Sharkbait!"

"Uh, Sharkbait? You do know we're supposed to be makin' friends, not chokin' 'em to death?" asked Islik.

Sharkbait ignored him. He lowered his head so his nose was touching Jaleen's. Spittle was getting all over the ferret's face as Sharkbait spoke.

"Does Jaleen wanna know what Sharkbait did? Huh? Does-does she wanna know?! Sharkbait will tell you!"

Jaleen grunted when Sharkbait grabbed her in-between her legs. The maniacal stoat laughed evilly as he started to grope her.

"Sharkbait took something from the mean little ferret that you can't replace. Oh yes...something very precious and dear to her! And then Sharkbait cut her open and fished the food right from her fat little stomach and ate it!"

Eventually, Sharkbait got off of Jaleen. The chubby ferret took a deep breath and began to cough as she grasped her throat. Sharkbait stared at her as she sat up. He was still grinning and in a crouching position when he pulled his dirk out of his blue waistsash. The stoat licked the blade and giggled as he wagged his tail and pointed it at Jaleen.

"Let us try this again! Will Jaleen please give Sharkbait her vittles?"

Jaleen rubbed her neck and stared at Sharkbait and his sinister grin. After seeing him wave that blade around, let alone after being groped by the stoat, she quickly grabbed her bag of vittles and tossed them at Sharkbait. The stoat caught the bag and promptly put his dirk back in his waistsash.

"Oh, goody! Jaleen gave Sharkbait all of them!"

The ferret watched in horror as Sharkbait started to noisily gobble down the candied chestnuts while wagging his tail happily. Sharkbait was in the middle of swallowing two of them simultaneously when he blinked and looked at every other beast.

"Oh my, Sharkbait forgot to share! How silly of him! Would any other beast like some vittles?"

Islik and Slivik got off the two Juska clan members they were on and snickered.

"Sure, Sharkbait!" said Slivik.

"We'd love some!" said Islik.

Sharkbait turned and faced the Juska clan members instead. "What about you guys? Does Jaleen or the other fat ones want any?"

Jaleen saw Sharkbait's sinister grin again. He looked like he was baiting her to try and take one, just so he'd have a reason to bite her fingers off.

"No?"

"N-no...you have them..." she said quietly.

Sharkbait giggled and thumped his tail on the ground merrily. "Thank you!"

The Juska clan members that were still awake just stared at Sharkbait and the two fox brothers as they ate the chestnuts and snickered. Plaskin had seen what happened, at which point he just shook his head and sighed. To this day he still didn't understand Sharkbait; he probably never would. But at least he was smart enough to know he should never piss off the crazed stoat. The graying weasel walked away from the little incident and headed further into the woods, away from most of the commotion. He saw Razzik wander away from the campsite, but he never came back for one reason or another. After walking for a couple minutes, he found the rodent sitting down against a tree, deep in thought.

"How's it goin', Razzik?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm fine, Plaskin."

"Right, and Dirtfoot ain't got fungus growin' 'round his toes; we both know that just ain't true, mate. Don't yew wanna meet the rest of the tribe? Couple foxes are makin' Dead-Eye sniff random stuff blinded ta see if his nose is really as good as he says it is. So far he's guessed every scent right, even when they made 'im sniff one of their armpits."

"I don't see the appeal to watchin' a ferret sniff a fox's armpit."

"But yew find sittin' alone in the woods and starin' at the grass appealin'."

Razzik closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "I just wanna be alone right now..."

Fuck it, thought Plaskin. May as well give 'im the speech now. The old weasel sat down in the grass beside Razzik, pausing for a moment to see if the rat would finally open up about what he was upset about. When he didn't, the weasel spoke for him.

"Yew know I used ta lead a group of bandits back in the Northlands?"

Razzik shook his head. "Wot about it?"

"It was a small group, prob'ly just a score. Sometimes we'd rob nomads; sometimes we'd pick a fight with pygmy shrews or otters just to 'ave some excitement when we got bored. But one day...we were marchin' through the Northlands when we stumbled across this vast army of mercenaries. I think they were led by some ferret named Gyndo or somethin'. Anyways, they spotted us, attacked us, and took the sole survivor prisoner so they could torture 'im."

Razzik's eyes grew wide. "They captured you?"

Plaskin shook his head. "No. ...They captured my brother."

"But you just said--"

"The 'sole' survivor was the only beast that they saw left alive. While my friends were gettin' slaughtered, I was hidin' in a bush, shittin' my pants."

"...Oh."

Razzik turned and faced Plaskin when he started to smile and chuckle to himself. "Wot's so funny?"

"Yew wanna know why they didn't find me? 'Cos I was shittin' myself! The mercenaries were smart enough to look fer survivors. But they didn't look in the bush I was squattin' in 'cos it stank too much!"

"...That didn't humiliate you at all?"

Plaskin sniffled and stopped laughing. "Obviously it did. But in hindsight, it's pretty damn funny."

"So wot 'appened to yore brother?"

"He's dead."

Razzik was surprised at how nonchalant Plaskin was being. "You don't seem very upset about that."

Plaskin sighed heavily. "Razzik...when we were travelin', my brother and I told each other that if anythin' happens ta one of us, the other one has to keep livin'. The other one has ta move on. Hell, my brother told me to kill 'im myself if he was sufferin' too much from a disease or wound. So we agreed...an' then one day, some ferrets slaughtered my whole tribe."

There was a long pause. Both creatures were busy thinking about the situation, about how Razzik was no different from Plaskin. They were both cowards, and they knew it. Plaskin picked up a small rock and tossed it forward, trying very hard not to think about his late brother.

"I didn't see my brother die, but he got captured by those nasty ferrets; I already know wot they do to beasts like us. They asked him questions, tortured him...prob'ly raped 'im too. And then one day...I'm sure his body just gave up."

"...Wot d'you do afterwards?"

"Cleaned myself up. I had shit in my pants, 'member? And, y'know, all the cryin' started, I kept thinkin' it shoulda been me, kept callin' myself a coward, 'cos I was one. And yet...somehow I know that's wot my brother would've wanted."

"How can you say that? Y-you left yore brother to die!"

"Yeah. Because it was the smart thing ta do. There were over a hundred mercs; we were outnumbered. I would've been killed if I tried ta save 'im; that or captured and tortured, just like him. An' I know he didn't want that. At best he would've told me how stupid I was, knowin' I was walkin' to my death."

Razzik's voice started to crack. "But...you just left 'im..."

Plaskin looked down and sighed heavily. "I know wot I did," he said softly. "And 'cos of that...I'm still alive today."

Razzik looked away from Plaskin as he started to feel tears coming out his eyes. He tried as hard as he could to hold them back, but hearing Plaskin's story just made it much harder for Razzik to come to the realization of who, or rather, what he was. Plaskin could hear Razzik sniffling and whimpering but didn't say anything offensive. However, he didn't reach over and hug him either.

"They outnumbered yew, didn't they? The so-called lizards?"

Razzik nodded slowly and sniffled. "Yes."

"They were more powerful'n yew, weren't they?"

"Yes."

"Yew didn't fight back real hard, did yew?"

Razzik couldn't even answer with words. He just shook his head.

"...Yew begged fer yer life, didn't ya?"

"Yes! W-wot's the point, Plaskin?!"

"My point is that yew did the right thing, Razzik. Yew wanted ta live, an' ya saw no other way out. So yew begged fer yer life while yer friends got slaughtered, an' they spared yew. There's nothin' wrong with that. If I had switched places with my brother, I know he woulda left me behind too. And I would've been okay with that, 'cos it woulda meant he's still alive, still livin' his life, an' not locked away in some cell alongside me gettin' tortured ta death."

"Th...that--"

"Razzik, all yew need ta ask yerself is this: if yew know yew can't win a fight, if yew know chargin' into battle means death, if yew know that doin' somethin' dangerous will result in yew losin' a limb, or even yer life, and yew choose to back down 'cos yew want ta live, is bein' a coward really that bad?"

Razzik didn't answer, because he knew Plaskin was right. He let fourteen corsairs die because he was too much of a coward to save them. And yet, there he was, still alive and well, and not dead like his friends. He knew that Plaskin was trying to make him feel better, but knowing that he was a coward just made him feel guiltier, because he knew that there were other cowards like him who were slain by those lizards that night.

"Why me? Why did they spare me? That's all I-I keep thinkin' about."

Plaskin shrugged. "Why not yew?"

Razzik whined as he continued to sob, the tears rolling down his face uncontrollably. Everytime he wiped them away, more started to stain his cheeks. He sniffled over and over again, trying to calm himself down. But no matter which way he put it, Plaskin was right: he was a coward. And the irony of the situation was that he was alive because of it, while his fellow corsairs were dead for being brave. Plaskin stood up and put a paw on Razzik's left shoulder, which was the closest thing to a hug he'd be getting.

"Yew stay here fer awhile. It may be okay ta be a coward, but yew know damn well wot'll happen if anybeast, 'specially Bloodeye or Dirtfoot, catches yew sobbin' and snifflin' like a babe. Prob'ly best if ya didn't show anybeast how upset yew are."

Razzik sniffled and nodded. "O-okay...okay...thank you."

"Yeah."

And just like that, Plaskin started to walk away. The weasel did genuinely care about Razzik and other beasts, but he had an odd way of showing it. Half the time he acted like he didn't care when he really did. And despite how casual the whole situation was to Plaskin, and how heart-wrenching it was to Razzik, the rat did feel like the weasel actually helped him. He just wished that the truth didn't hurt so much...

---

Traegar and Kurwin's view of Ferrin Rord wasn't exactly what they had hoped. His tent was filled with treasures and food, the lot of which neither corsair had seen for many seasons. Trae's mouth began to water at the delicious scent of so much food, but Kurwin just saw it all as a disappointment. Rord himself was a fat weasel who reeked of narcissism. It wasn't bad enough that he had all his flashy personal treasures stashed within his tent, but he also had to wear it around his body too. The pudgy weasel was wearing a suit of armor that was definitely too small for his massive frame, and he even had a colorful tabard covering it, complete with various different coat of arms designs. Ferrin knew that it was too small for him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to show everybeast how "rich" he was. The two corsairs stared at the weasel with dozens of black tribal marks painted all over his fur. Kurwin was tempted to go shake Rord's paw, but when he approached the weasel, he started to back away, scowling.

"And why is this...filth standing in front of me?"

Trae sniffed and tried very hard not to reach for his dirk. Kurwin, somehow, managed to keep a casual grin on his face.

"Hehe, how cute. Surely you remember yer ole pal, Kurwin?"

Rord scoffed as he moved away from the table he was standing beside. Kurwin and Trae could see that Rord wasn't that much taller than a fully-grown shrew. The arrogant weasel tried to walk forward, but he wound up grimacing again and turning his head away.

"Phew! Surely I'd remember somebeast as foul-smelling as you two! Get out of my sight; you're stinkin' up my tent!"

Trae's eye twitched while Kurwin kept grinning. "Hmph...so yore tribe has really changed! I didn't realize you became so pathetic."

Rord frowned when he heard the insult, which was immediately followed by deep snickering from behind. Rord's personal guard, a burly light brown stoat who looked like he could knock out Rord's teeth with one punch, had been standing idly by watching his leader insult the pirates. Ferrin growled and turned around, picking up a very crude-looking hammer.

"I'm sorry, d'you say somethin'?!"

"N-no, sah!"

"I think you have somethin' on yore mind! Please, by all means, tell me what it is!"

"It's, err, it-it were just a cough, sah!"

"GOOD! I do not need you embarrassin' me in front of guests!"

"Tch! Seems like yore more than capable of embarrassin' yoreself," Trae finally said.

Rord slammed his hammer down and jerked around, screeching, "SHUT YORE MOUTH!"

"Why? You afraid we'll bruise yore precious ego?"

"No! The stench of yore breath is nauseatin'! Now close yore mouths, or I'll do it for you!"

Trae was getting tired of this. He started to reach for his dirk. "Go on then. Close my mouth."

Kurwin exhaled. "I didn't expect things to become so heated so quickly. P'haps I should just get to the point."

"There is no point ta get to! I'm talkin' to two savage beasts who roll around in their own dung for all I know! What would either of you two know about--"

"D'you want more treasure, more food?" asked Kurwin.

The chubby weasel's ears twitched. "And what would you two...uncouth creatures know about treasure?"

Kurwin chuckled. "I know where ta find some. Nice, big haul that'll make you even richer'n you are now."

And just like that, the greedy weasel started grinning. "Well now...where can I find this treasure?"

"You expect me to tell ya, after all those colorful words you said ta me an' my first mate?"

"P'haps we should just leave, Cap'n," Trae suggested.

"No, no, no, no--I-I, hehehe, err, I-I apologize. Been a little frustrated, ya see," said Rord.

"Why?" asked Kurwin.

"Some squirrel--"

"My guests were not talkin' to you, Fleckle! Do you see them talkin' to you?!"

"No, sah! I-I just thought--"

"You don't think, Mard! I don't reward you with food for simply thinking--you protect me, and nothing else!"

"I-I just--"

"SHUT UP, FLECKLE!"

The tent suddenly went quiet. Fleckle awkwardly scratched his cheek before he looked down at the ground. Ferrin Rord exhaled as he walked over to one of his sacks and pulled out a bottle of wine. Trae noticed the vibrant color of the fluids and blinked.

"Is that--"

"Raspberry wine? Hehehe, yes, it is!" said Rord, as he opened up the bottle.

The two pirates watched as the fat weasel started to chug a substantial amount of sweet wine. Traegar growled without opening his mouth, upset that so much wine was being wasted on such a pompous animal. Ferrin sighed after downing a lot of wine and resumed talking.

"There's a squirrel...guy who used to be a Redwall champion. Name's Merle Lyfil, heard of him?"

"Couple times, yah. Heard he took out twenty Juska tribe members all by himself," said Trae.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway," Rord stopped so he could drink more wine and then continued, "Merle's been harassin' my tribe for a week! At first he were just an annoyin' fly, but he's a hawk now! Giant fowl preyin' on my tribe one by one! One of these days, he's gonna find my tribe's location, gonna steal all my riches for himself!"

"And you want us to take care of him for you," Trae concluded.

"I WANT HIS HEAD! I want you two to bring his rotting skull to me so I can place it on my spear!"

Kurwin chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough. We'll get on that very soon."

Rord chuckled and licked his lips. "And-and...after you do this, you tell me about the treasure, yeah?"

"Let's just say we'll be...partners. Together, the two of us will scour this whole forest an' drain it of all the food an' treasures we can find! Sound good?"

Rord laughed and nodded. "Yes, yes, that sounds very good!"

"Then it's settled! We'll return with the head shortly."

Fleckle and Ferrin watched as the two pirates walked out of the tent. Rord chugged more of his wine before he chuckled again and tossed the bottle at Fleckle's head, causing him to shout.

"Ya see? Now that is a beast who knows how to negotiate! Maybe you can learn a few things from him!"

Fleckle, being the obedient servant he was, nodded and agreed with him. "Yes, sah."

Back outside, Traegar was panting heavily and Kurwin was scowling over what just happened. The weasel grabbed his captain by the shoulder and turned him around so they could chat.

"You seriously are not considerin' allyin' yoreself with that fat fuckin' hunk of flesh that thinks it's a vermin, are you?"

Kurwin smirked. "Course not!"

Trae huffed. "Good. I'll get Bloodbrain to kill--"

"No, no...we can't do that. It's the rules of the Juska. Whoever slays the current Juska leader becomes the leader himself. 'Member all them stories about the Juskazann clan?"

"What, that tribe that was run by some piece-of-shit stoat who couldn't even piss without his mum tellin' him to? Yeah, I remember."

"Exactly. Gruven Zann slew Sawney Rath--I dunno how, but that's wot legends say--and became the new Juska leader. Chances are, whoever slews Ferrin will go through the same initiation as him."

"So what do we do?"

"D'you see that tall stoat Rord kept insultin'?"

"What about him?"

Kurwin grinned. "I'm sure with a bit of...convincin', I can get him to kill Rord for us."

Trae chuckled. "Killed by his own personal guard...sounds perfect."

"As fer this squirrel...take a team with you and see if you can get rid of him too."

"But it won't matter if we're gonna--"

"The last thing we need is to have some vigilante squirrel comin' back in the future to bite us in the arse. May as well kill 'im now while we're here."

"All right then."

"I'll stay here, see how Fleckle really feels about the 'glorious' Ferrin Rord."

---

Danik was still hungry. The vermin weren't crowding over the sacks of food now. His parents were busy talking to each other privately near a set of trees. His older brother wasn't back yet. The young rodent glanced over at a sack filled with cheeses and slowly got off the log he sat on. He quietly crept his way towards the cheeses, trying his best not to step on any fragile kindling. He didn't, and he managed to reach the sack without alerting any of the other vermin. Danik snickered to himself as he stuck his paws into the bag and fished out two very large wedges of cheese. The young rodent started to stuff his face, chewing noisily and smacking as drool formed in his maw. He savored the smooth, soft, creamy cheese, the flavor titillating his taste buds. He stuck his nose into the sack and sniffed twice, the delectable scent of so many different cheeses filling his lungs. Danik couldn't help himself. He stuck his entire head into the sack and started to wolf down the nourishment, the greedy rogue not considering that there were other beasts that needed to eat. But that came back to bite him in the rear when an aggressive rodent with a torn tail walked over and pulled him out the sack.

"HEY! That food's fer alla us, not jus' yew!"

Danik merely burped as a response. The bigger rat looked inside the bag and growled when he noticed that over half the cheese was gone.

"Yew ate all that fuckin' cheese?!"

Danik laughed nervously. "Hehe...sorry!"

The older rat was not amused. He growled again and started to lift the long stick he was carrying. He had babes of his own and didn't want to spank them with his cutlass, so he used a very crude and blunt stick instead to whack it against their bottoms. Danik shouted and began to crawl backwards as the old rat prepared to whip him with the stick. Then the old rat grunted, and Danik's eyes grew wide. The old rat blinked and felt his stick becoming heavy. It slowly fell from his fingers and landed on the ground. The rodent grunted again and blinked as his chest suddenly felt wet. And then his baggy pantaloons became wet around the crotch as the rat's bladder abruptly emptied. Danik kept shivering, unsure if the rat's brain even knew that an arrow was protruding from his chest. The old rat tried to grope the arrow, but he suddenly fell to his knees. And then he groaned as he landed face first in the dirt and died right in front of Danik. The poor babe didn't even have time to scream before the hares attacked.

It was so peaceful just a moment ago. But now vermin were being slaughtered mercilessly, their lives cut short by hundreds and hundreds of hares, all of whom were led by a great badger clad in blue armor. Urthquake's squad was smart. They spent all this time spying on them, not even screaming "EULALIAAAAA!!" since they knew that would scare them off. They surprised them when they were waking up and having a nice meal, catching them all off-guard. A lot of the vermin chose to fight instead of run, unaware of just how many hares were in the area. A female stoat got into a brief swordfight with Becker, but it was cut short after the chubby hare ran his sabre through her. A burly ferret tried to squeeze the life out of Qwuintuff by picking him up and trying to crush his ribs with his arms, but the captain just grinned and took out his dagger, which he used to stab the ferret in the head repeatedly with. Urthquake himself wasn't even trying. He was walking along the ground casually, his broadsword in paw instead of his axe. Any vermin who came near him was beheaded or bifurcated by his massive blade. It didn't take long before the vermin realized that getting close to Urthquake meant certain death.

Calling the encounter a battle would've been an overstatement. At best it was just a warm-up for Urthquake and his hares. The bloodbath happened too fast for anybeast to react; the tribe didn't have any trackers or spotters. They weren't looking out for any hostile enemies, and even if they were, they didn't expect an entire platoon of hares to find them, let alone a Badger Lord. The vermin were wiped out in less than three minutes. No beast managed to flee from the hares, and very few beasts were still alive. The one stoat that was lying on the ground grasping his stomach wound was trying to crawl away to safety when a hare kicked his body over. The bleeding stoat held up his paws, whimpering and hoping the hare would show mercy, but the long-eared beast blinked before thrusting his rapier into his throat. Danik was still alive as well, although he was busy vomiting all over the ground. All the cheese he just consumed was spewing out of his mouth, splashing all over his footpaws and creating a disgusting puddle. Just the sight of what used to be delectable vittles was enough to make the unfortunate rodent puke even more.

"We get 'em all?" asked Elonv.

Frenquil took her throwing knives out of a dead rat's head and snickered. "Pretty sure. Most of 'em didn't even seem like they were tryin'!"

Danik started to shudder and whimper as he began to wander around the area, the hares seemingly ignoring his presence. Tears started to run down his face as he started to look for his parents amongst the crowd of hares and the vermin corpses.

"Mum?!"

No answer. Danik just wailed, already knowing that she was probably dead. But he kept living in disbelief.

"MUM!"

Still nothing. He started to run, shoving some of the hares out the way until he came across a young hare with dark brown fur. He was busy grunting as he tried to pull his knives out of a corpse.

"Damn it, this is the fourth time this has happened!"

Some of the hares around him were laughing while the hare continued to yank on the knives, hoping to remove them from the corpse's skull.

"Maybe that's why you should only use them knives for throwin', Tike, not stabbin', wot!"

Danik froze. The hare was standing over his mother's corpse. Tike heard a very pitiful whine and glanced over at Danik. He stopped moving and frowned. Danik looked like his soul just left his body, like there was nothing left in him. His mother was dead, and his father's body wasn't too far away. All he had now was his brother, and he wasn't even there to protect him.

"Shit..." muttered Tike.

The tear-faced rat slowly began to walk towards his mother's body, not sure what to do. And then he grunted when Morson walked behind him and kicked him down.

"Oh dear, was that a beast you cared for? Sorry 'bout that mate! Shit happens, wot!"

Some of the hares laughed at Morson while others scowled at him. Danik suddenly gritted his teeth and snarled. He snatched a dagger off the ground and shouted as he thrust forward. Morson, luckily, had turned around and wasn't facing the young rat. If he had been, he would've been stabbed in the groin. Instead, the blade was thrust into his rump, and not very far from his hole. Morson shouted with pain and irritation after being stabbed in the behind. He quickly jerked himself around just as the rodent was about to stab him again. Using his swift reflexes, he used his sabre to swipe at Danik's paw, lacerating it and causing him to drop the dagger. Then he grabbed the rat with his bare paws and lifted him up as he pinned him to a tree.

"You ungrateful little shit!"

Danik kept thrashing around and tried to fight off Morson, swearing, snarling and sobbing all at the same time. The hares and Urthquake could see what was going on and rushed over to intervene.

"Wot the hell did ya do now, Morson?" asked Saron.

"I got stabbed in the arse, that's wot happened!" Morson snarled.

Becker noticed the wound on the lieutenant's lower backside and couldn't help but snicker. "Quite a shame, lieutenant! Lettin' an innocent li'l babe like him catch you off-guard!"

"YOU-YOU KILLED MY MUM!! YOU KILLED HER!" Danik suddenly cried out.

"Shut up! You better be lucky we didn't kill you too!"

"Jus' drop 'im and be done with, wot! We've already accomplished wot we set out to do!" said Stanno.

"Kill...I'm...gonna kill alla yew," Danik suddenly said calmly through his sniffles.

The rat suddenly blinked and stared at Morson and his smug grin. "Wot...wot's yore name?"

Morson scoffed. "Morson Langrove. Why?"

Danik put on a face that, even for a rat as young as him, managed to creep out Morson. He didn't know if the rodent was grinning at him or scowling; it looked like a combination of both. He took a few deep breaths before he finally spoke again.

"So I can find yew."

Morson froze for a moment, gradually realizing what the small rat was talking about. The hare grinned and started to chuckle. "Wot, you think you're gonna grow old, hunt me down an' find me when I'm a bitter ole hare too weak to even pick up a sword? Is that wot you're gonna do: get revenge for your dear ole mum since you're too weak to do it right now, wot?"

Morson covered the rodent's mouth with his paws and growled very quietly as he got close to the rat's face.

"I don't think so," he said very sinisterly.

And then Danik squealed a split second before Morson broke his neck. A couple hares grimaced at the sound and turned away, while other hares like Becker and Honward stared at Morson with disgust. The lieutenant scoffed as he let go of Danik and watched his body crumple onto the ground in front of his footpaws.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!" asked Stanno.

"So I could kill him."

"He was just a babe, Morson," said Saron.

"So wot?! He just threatened me; he stabbed me very close to my fuckin' hole!"

"So that makes it okay to break his neck? You coulda just let him go, lieutenant," Honward pointed out.

"Fuck you, Hon! You had no problem cleavin' that ferret's head in two over there, wot! And don't you say a damn thing, Tike! You're the one who slew his mother, not me!"

"Don't put this on me; that's different! She-she came at me; I killed her in self-defense! You shoved that babe against a tree an' he had no weapon in his paws at all!"

"He's got a point, Morson. Killin' a defenseless rat his age was just wrong. The least you coulda done was put a knife in his paws and give 'im a chance to fight back," said Frenquil.

"Are you--"

The hares all either ducked or shouted when a giant axe flew through the air. It landed inside the bark of a tree with a hard thwack, not very far from Morson's right ear. The hare was crouching down, his legs shaking after nearly losing his ear. Urthquake started to walk forward slowly, causing faint tremors in the ground with each massive footstep he took. He nonchalantly grabbed his axe and removed it from the tree with little difficulty, then turned around and started to address all the hares around him.

"It seems to me that you've all forgotten that I have ears," he said, his voice deep and strong. "I know what you're all saying, more importantly, I know what you're constantly bickering about. So Morson slew a defenseless babe. Yes, it was wrong and cowardly of him to do. But not because he killed a beast that was so young. It was because the beast in question had no way to fight back or defend himself."

"But-but, Lord Urthquake! He--"

Urthquake turned around and looked down at Morson. "Tell me something: if I were to slam you against this tree when you had no weapon in paw, and I choked you to death, would that be fair?"

"N...no, Lord Urthquake," he said, ears drooping.

"Exactly my point. So the next time you have to kill a babe after we just killed his or her parents, you make sure you give that poor beast a fighting chance."

"But he didn't have a fightin' chance, Lord! He was a babe!" Stanno complained.

Urthquake blinked as he looked at Stanno. "You'd be surprised what babes can do with a weapon in their paws. And even if that were the case, well, this was a rat Morson killed. I'm certainly not going to shed any tears over his death. Are you?"

Stanno huffed. "No, but--"

"Then why are all you hares making such a fuss over this rat's age? He's dead now, so get past it."

"...Fine," Stanno mumbled.

No other beast said anything. When the Badger Lord put his footpaw down, it stayed down, and there wasn't any force in the world that could move it. A few hares kept looking at Morson with disgust or Urthquake with surprise, but the beasts never got around to speaking up. After all, the cynical badger was right. So what if Morson killed some random rat who lost his mother? Why should they care?

"Now then, it's time that we go find Log-a-Log and inform him that his little problem's been taken care of. I'm sure he has more vital information to tell us...and I'm sure that the Guosim have plenty of food they're willing to share with us."

Some of the hares completely forgot about what Morson just did once the badger mentioned food. As if like magic, Becker's plump belly started to grumble.

"I must say, I'm quite famished after all that fightin', wot! Nice spot of vittles should perk us up."

"Maybe that's why we're all edgy right now. We haven't had a proper meal in awhile," said Elonv.

More hares started to agree with the blue-armored badger, causing him to smirk slightly. "And since these are the same vermin who stole food from the Guosim, I'm sure they won't mind if we purloined what wasn't theirs to begin with. Take all the sacks of food you can find and then follow me! With any luck, we'll find Log-a-Log sooner than later!"

"Yes, Lord Urthquake!" shouted out several hares.

The badger started to walk away from the grisly scene, watching as the hares collected any supplies they could find. Some of the hares were still shocked over what Morson had done, but as they watched various other hares casual walk past Danik's body, let alone all the other mutilated corpses, the same hares really did begin to wonder if they were having a fit over nothing. Tike, however, didn't feel like keeping quiet and approached Morson, who was wincing and checking to make sure his tail was still intact.

"So that's wot hares like you do, huh? Slaughter innocent babes an' then just forget about it, go fetch some grub?"

"Y'know wot? You joined us willingly! You knew wot it'd be like! Anytime you wanna leave the Long Patrol 'cos you're so high and mighty and 'cos you 'ave so many damn standards, feel free ta go! Door's wide open, Tike!"

The hare just stood there, scowling at Morson and blinking. The lieutenant smirked and scoffed, knowing that Tike wouldn't leave after spending so much time trying to join the Long Patrol.

"S'wot I thought. You're not better'n me, so stop actin' like it. Sooner or later, you an' all the other hares like you need ta wake the fuck up and figure out wot it means to be a part of the Long Patrol, wot!"

Tike grunted when Morson walked past him and intentionally bumped into his shoulder. The young corporal sighed heavily and shut his eyes, gradually coming to the realization of what hares like Morson were really capable of.

"Sure hope it doesn't mean turnin' into arseholes like you," he said quietly.

---

It took him a while, but he did it. Tegast finally had enough fish to feed his family, and maybe even a few other beasts. The rat fished far away from camp, hoping to get some peace and quiet for a few moments. He actually spent a lot of time just sitting and looking at the water, trying to comprehend what his father told him, what the tribe was currently doing. He didn't understand why his family kept moving around. He didn't understand why he couldn't befriend beasts that weren't vermin like him. He wanted to know more about the woodlanders, find out why vermin hated them so much. Voles were woodlanders, yet two members of the tribe were bankvoles, both of whom weren't hated by anybeast. Maybe his father was narrow-minded, but Tegast figured his mother could shed some light on the situation. After thinking for some time, the rat caught some fish with his spear and headed back to camp. But as he got closer and closer to the tribe, he noticed that nobeast was talking or laughing, or even eating. The whole place was quiet. Then Tegast saw some beasts lying face down in the dirt, their bodies covered in red fluids.

And then Tegast shouted when he nearly tripped over a severed head. The rat dropped his supply of fish in shock as he stared at the head, the eyes half-closed. The rodent started to panic and ran towards the camp.

"Mum?! Dad?!"

Tegast started to whimper when he ran around the campsite and found even more bodies and discarded weapons. The adolescent rat forced himself not to cry, since it was possible that his parents and little brother were still alive and well. But the rat's hopes were shattered when he stumbled across two corpses lying beside a tree. He didn't know what to do but stare. His mother was lying on the ground, dead after being stabbed in the head and torso. His father had nearly been sliced in half by Urthquake's broadsword, and his entrails were spread all over the ground. Tegast stepped forward and started to breathe heavily, letting out a quiet whimper as he kept looking at his parents' corpses. His vision became blurred as his eyes filled with tears. The young rat sobbed and started to shake, hoping that this was all a horrible nightmare. But it wasn't. The adolescent rat slowly fell to his knees and shut his eyes. He opened his mouth and started blubbering and wailing uncontrollably, his entire body shaking. It wasn't just that his parents were killed, but it was the fact that everybeast had been slain so savagely. He didn't even know who was to blame. As Tegast wept, he slowly opened his eyes and came to the realization that his younger brother wasn't there.

"Danik?! DANIK!!!" he wailed.

The rat slowly stood up and looked all around through his watery eyes, sniffling and shuddering as he tried to wipe his eyes. Then he glanced over at a tree and saw a body lying on the ground too small to be an adult's corpse.

"No..."

Tegast got on the ground and whimpered as he got closer to the corpse.

"No, no...please, don't..."

The young rat crawled over to his brother's body and got a closer look at it. He only had a wound on his right paw, but when Tegast actually lifted the body and watched the head tilt at an awkward angle, he could tell that the neck had been broken. Tegast sat down and whined as he held Danik's body.

"Don't...don't do this to me, please! Just...open yore eyes, Danik. Please...just..."

Tegast couldn't accept what was happening. He even started to open Danik's eyes for him, hoping he'd respond in some way. But he didn't, and Tegast finally came to the realization that he never would. The young rat shut his eyes and released more tears as he cradled his dead brother. He kept muttering to himself and sniffling, occasionally letting out pitiful noises that suggested a large portion of Tegast just died. It all happened so fast, so suddenly. His whole family, let alone the whole tribe he traveled with, was dead. And the entire time, Tegast had been busy staring at water and fishing. The rat even heard a commotion going on in the distance, but he chose to ignore it. He knew he probably should've hurried back, but he just thought some of the tribe members were fighting again. But he didn't, and now he was holding his brother's cadaver, blaming himself for not being there when it happened. Tegast didn't move for well over two minutes. His cries became quieter, and Tegast could finally hear more clearly. Somebeast in the distance was coughing. Somebeast was alive. The young rat gasped and put his brother's body down so he could hurry over to the beast in pain.

"Hello?! Is somebeast still alive?!"

"Tegast..."

The rat jerked his head beside a bush and saw a bankvole lying on his back with three arrows stuck in his abdomen. Tegast sprinted over to him and got on his knees, panting as he looked down at the dying bankvole.

"Wot happened?!"

The bankvole grunted. "Hares...the hares ambushed us..."

"But where are the others? Didn't they take prisoners?"

"No...jus' hares everywhere...giant stripedog..."

"...A badger?"

The bankvole blinked and started to close his eyes. "Blue...blue armor...hares everywhere..."

And then the bankvole sighed and stopped talking. Tegast stared at him for a brief moment before he whimpered. "Wot...wot else?! Where are they?! Wot..."

The rat could see that the bankvole was dead now. He stared at the body with wide eyes, unable to do or say anything. Then the frightened rat let out a quiet whimper and sat down, shuddering. He looked all around, hoping that somebeast would find him or tell him what to do now. But nobeast was there. He was all alone. Tegast blinked and sat still for a while, in a state of shock. The gray rodent didn't know what he was feeling--anger, regret, sorrow, even envy at some point. Why was he still alive? Why did his whole family and the whole tribe have to die and leave him all by his lonesome? Why couldn't he have died too? At least he would've been in the Dark Forest with his family. Tegast eventually stood up slowly and began to look around the ground. He slowly dragged his footpaws along the blood-stained dirt and found an ordinary cutlass. The young rat bent down and picked it up, shortly before reaching over and pulling a sling out of a dead ferret's paw. He wasn't crying out loud anymore, although the rat did sniffle occasionally and a tear or two would run down his face. Tegast looked at all the pawprints in the ground and blinked.

He could follow the hares and the badger; find the beasts who killed his family and take revenge. But Tegast didn't know where to look. He wasn't a good tracker, and judging by all the pawprints, clearly there were at least threescore hares allied with the badger, and Tegast was just taking a guess. He had no idea that the hares numbered well past the hundreds. He turned around in a full circle, thinking some sign would appear and point him in the right direction. But it didn't. Tegast walked over to his family's corpses and stared. He thought about giving them a proper burial, but just being around their bodies was too upsetting for Tegast. Even now the rat was forcing himself not to cry again. The rodent turned away from their bodies and let out a shaky breath. All he could do was move forward. Maybe he'd run into the beasts who slaughtered the whole tribe. Maybe not. Maybe he'd find a new family or tribe to join. Maybe not. But the one thing his father constantly told him was to never give up, even when "the world kept throwing shit in his face." So the distraught rat looked ahead at all the bushes, trees, and other lush scenery in the area and sighed again.

And then he started to walk.