Section Three:
Surprises and Problems
As Freebooter sailed off towards Sampetra, Kylar gasped for air. The psychic attack by Tolenia Venomfang had left him drained, but the shock of cold seawater had woken him from deep unconsciousness. He stoically endured the pain and tried to swim for Freebooter, but fatigue overwhelmed him, and the ferret was swallowed by an angry sea.
Sliverpaw was swallowed himself, swallowed by an angry rage. All day, he had stewed over the loss of valuable soldiers. Above all else, he hated losing his own soldiers to stupidity, bad luck, or enemy forces. Of course, victory was all that mattered here. Fortunately, it was almost impossible to lose. And as long as the spies obtained the plans for Ublaz’s palace…
…the mission was definitely a success. Jayle Rakepaw dodged behind a crate, successfully avoiding the guards’ view, and snuck down a long, dark corridor. As he ran down the corridor in the south wing of Ublaz’s palace, he came across a door marked: LIBRARY. Opening the door slowly, the weasel came across a scene of chaos; the library, obviously, was being rebuilt. Amongst sawdust and loose planks were several bookshelves, each labeled differently; such as BIOGRAPHIES, STORIES, and MISSION LOGS. Jayle amused himself by looking at a few of the mission logs. After a few, in the middle of number 55, something fell out of the book. It landed lightly amid the sawdust on the stone floor. Jayle picked it up and unfolded it. It turned out to be not a drawing, not a love letter, but a sketch which listed the details of Ublaz’s palace! He had inadvertently found the very thing Sliverpaw needed! Jayle shut the log, carefully replaced it with the others, and stealthily snuck out of the library. Back at the wall, Jayle was finally spotted by a guard roving the walltop, but was quickly downed by a poisoned dart fired from Jayle’s blowpipe. The ruckus aroused the rest of the guards, who charged the weasel. Being flanked on both sides, he jumped back onto the edge of the wall, letting the two sides of INSU beasts to crash into each other. Jayle quickly dropped his rope down the side of the wall, fastened it to an edifice, and slid down the rope to the soft soil below. The INSU soldiers who managed to get up in time started throwing weapons at the small weasel, who dodged all the projectiles except for one, a knife which lodged in his left upper arm. As soon as the news reached Ublaz, he exploded, "Station guards all over the wall! Begin a round-the-clock search! Find them! FIND THEM!!!" Even with the successful apprehension and execution of all four remaining spies, the mission was a complete and total success for the Hartkan forces. Now, doom was ensured for Sampetra, INSU, and Ublaz.
Kylar was embroiled in another nightmare. This time, he dreamed that the Hartkan fleet had dragged him up and used him as an oarslave. He lived in pain until an officer whipped him, again bringing him into merciful death. Waking up, he noted he was still in the water, and was moving up swiftly. Looking around, he noted that his tunic was snagged on one blade of an anchor, which was being raised. As he breached the surface, he coughed on good, clean air. The weather was sunny and clear, much different from the stormy waters around Sampetra. A stoat yelled, "Anchor’s up, Cap’n! We’re ready to sail!" Anxiously, Kylar looked for the INSU symbol on the hull, but what he saw was much more surprising. On an ice blue background, a very long tail was in the shape of a circle around the initials KLT. His own initials. Many times, Kylar had sketched that very symbol. He even had his best one framed and placed in his room. It was the symbol of his father’s, and therefore his own, army. But Karan Longtail had been slain long ago, back when Red Treeleap was on the loose. "Hey! What’s that?" A large polecat had noticed Kylar hanging on the anchor. Within a minute, the anchor chain was being dragged in even further. When the opening was level with the top of the anchor, two sets of paws grabbed Kylar and pulled him in. Two stoats and a weasel confronted him. "Well, look what the anchor pulled up. Another oarslave," said the weasel. "Aye, and he’s a strong-looking one. Not like the little goodbeasts we’ve been finding. Get ‘im to the lower decks," remarked one of the stoats. The other stoat, with an ugly scar on his throat, said nothing. Being marched to the oars was a complicated issue. First, they had to go up a flight of stairs to the deck, then back to the aft, then down to the oars. However, near the aft hatch, the captain halted the vermin. "What are you three up to?" The first stoat responded, "Found this bugger hanging from the anchor," he shook Kylar. "We were gonna put ‘im with the oarslaves." After closer observation, the captain replied, "No, bring him into my cabin first. Then maybe you can stick him below. I’ll be in there in a minute." The weasel jeered at Kylar, "You’re gonna get the full treatment today." Kylar spit in his face as a response. Immediately, the weasel let go and pulled his dagger. "Ye’ll die this day, scum!" The first stoat grabbed the weasel’s arm. "Are ye mad? The Cap’n ‘ll slay us all!" To avoid further involvement, they shoved the young ferret in the captain’s quarters and walked off, arguing. Kylar began holding his head and sank down in a corner. All the foul things he’d done hadn’t equaled the pain endured over the past two weeks. "They stuck you in here too, huh?" Kylar looked up to see the speaker, who was a young female ferret, wearing a uniform the same as the other crewmembers, ice blue with a small insignia on the left shoulder. Although not stunningly beautiful, she was certainly attractive. He managed to respond, "Uh…yeah, I guess." She stood up from sitting on a large desk and stretched. "You don’t look like one of the crew. Where you from?" Kylar was hesitant to answer, as he’d had bad experiences with females in the past. "Mmm…up north somewhere." Suddenly, the cabin door creaked open, with the captain of the ship walking in. The maid walked up to the captain, saying, "How are you, father?" The captain gave her a slight hug, sighing. Kylar stood up from the corner. The captain turned to face him, and removed the hood from his head, revealing a face not seen for almost three years. "Father!" The captain, Karan Longtail, was equally taken aback. "Kylar? Is that really you?"
It was a sad day aboard Freebooter. Dingeye, standing in front of the wheel, facing the crew, began speaking in a somber tone, "Two days ago, we lost our dear friend, Commander Kylar Longtail, to cruel fate. He may be gone, but we will not forget him. Even so, we must continue with our mission to persuade Venomfang to assist us in our fight against our Emperor’s enemies. Until the end of this mission, I am assuming command of this vessel." The crew, feeling depressed after the untimely death of their commanding officer, went to their posts with a feeling of mortality. Down in the galley, the cooks opened a keg of grog to help crewmembers cope. Slashclaw was one of the first in line, and was first for seconds and thirds. Dingeye went down for a helping himself, but first came across Slashclaw downing her fourth drink. He sat down next to the polecat, saying, "Enjoying yerself?" She tried to focus on Dingeye, but failed and concentrated on her beaker, mumbling drunkenly, "Tryin’ ta drown mah woes. Gorra probl’m wit dat?" "Nay, ‘course not. Just don’t drink it all." He stood back up & drained half the keg by himself. Even with the grog, everybeast was depressed. Nothing was the same. Things would never be the same. Ever.
After a short period, Kylar, Karan, and the female ferret, who was introduced as Kayla, sat down. Kylar, with a lot to ask, began the dialogue. "How can you be alive? You died! I saw it!" Karan, expecting this, replied calmly, "Calm down, son. I went into death-trance long enough to fool Kirlen. By the way, how is the old fool?" Kylar, slightly surprised, said, "He’s a few feet under the soil. Got himself slain by that squirrel. It nearly had my number, too." It was Karan’s turn to look surprised. "You mean, your uncle isn’t living anymore? Then, who’s in charge of the horde?" Kylar shrugged. "No one. They all got theirs at the same time." "So, then we’re the only living members of the clan," remarked Karan. "We? You mean, you and I?" Kayla answered, "No, I’m also a Longtail. Karan’s my father, so that makes you my brother." Karan started again. "Kylar, I’m so proud of you. When Kirlen took you away, I thought I’d never see you again. When I had this ship christened, I thought of you, and to keep from missing you, I named it Kylar. It may be pointless now that I’ve found you again, but just thinking of you kept me alive for the longest time." Suddenly, a pounding at the door started. "Cap’n, we needa talk!" Kayla quickly took Kylar to the very back of Karan’s quarters, where a tube went straight down to the water. "Hold on for a second." She opened a panel in the tube, revealing a small crawlspace. "Slide down in there." Kylar obliged, and soon he found himself under the cabin. He slid down further, and came across a knothole in a plank, and started breathing through it. Kayla followed, and a click told them both that the panel was shut. As the door opened, three pairs of footpaws tromping across the floorboards nearly stopped on top of the airholes. "Cap’n, the crew’s not pleased with this detour. Even if it means a faster route, we almost went straight into the Green Maelstrom! There’s also a ship further away with INSU markings. We were surprised they didn’t board us." Karan replied, "INSU? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Show me!" All four walked out of the cabin. Kayla turned as best she could in the tight crawlspace. "INSU is the big problem for us. They typically board us, take some of our oarslaves, confiscate our cargo, and slay anybeast who interferes. A few times, they’ve tried to carry me off, but I outsmarted them." Kylar didn’t know what to say. This was a side of INSU that had never been brought to light. Woodlanders might be prone to such horrors, but fellow vermin? Oh well, nowadays anything can happen, he thought. Karan came back into his cabin, growling about the incompetence of vermin today. "You two can come out again, if you want." Kayla took the opportunity to get out, but Kylar stayed where he was, thinking. Sooner or later, either Karan or Kayla would pry out his connection with INSU, and then what? Would he get thrown back into the water again? Would he be imprisoned aboard this ship, this ship named after him? The most important question, however, was how long would he stay alive. He then mentally slapped himself for being so selfish. INSU, Sampetra, Ublaz, and all the Corsairs he had known might not last another day. As soon as he could, he’d reveal his secret and accept the consequences, no matter what they be. He didn’t know what would be the result. It was that fact that scared him the most.
Silvereye was being temporarily elevated to second-in-command of the Venomfang mission. She had more work to do, but it was worth it. Her main task was to scour the ocean with Kylar’s spyglass for any ships, debris, et cetera. Earlier, she had spotted an independent Corsair frigate sailing off to the south, reported it, and kept an eye on it. Now, they were going after it to scavenge any supplies they could find. As Freebooter clipped through the waves, the boarding party was assembled to have beasts with boarding and paw-to-paw fighting skills. At about fifty feet, the grappling hooks were thrown, and most of them latched onto the Corsair ship. As they were reeled back in, the two ships came closer, until they touched each other. The boarding party leaped over the two sets of rails onto the Corsair vessel. Immediately, the Corsairs tried to repel the boarders, but failed. Several INSU boarders, including Dingeye, knocked down the door of the captain’s cabin, revealing Karan and Kayla. Dingeye yelled, "Nobody move! You’re both now INSU property!" Suddenly, the floorboards in the middle of the floor bumped up, settled down, and bumped back up again. One of the INSU boarders used his warhammer to bash through the floor, but there came forth a yelp that sounded somewhat familiar. "Owww! Knockitoff, knockitoff!" Kylar stood up from the hole, holding his side. "Geez, you don’t have to hurt me anymore!" Karan shouted, "Get away from him, you scum! Take me!" Dingeye walked in front of Kylar. "Why should we? He’s one of ours." Karan gasped, glared at his son. "You are part of INSU? You?? A Longtail?" Kylar nodded with stony concentration. Dingeye answered, "Not only that, but he’s one of the most promising officers in the Imperial Navy." Karan appeared to become a new creature, wrapped in fury and dipped in rage. Kylar waved off the other INSU soldiers, readying himself for what he must do. Karan charged without warning, but Kylar dodged the charge, sinking his knife-the same knife given to him by the beast being slain-deep into the chest of his father. Karan turned around, gasping. The razor-sharp ruby-bladed knife had sunken into his heart. He glared at Kylar, muttering his last words: "Duty before family?" Kylar could just nod in silence. Karan fell to the deck, dead for sure. Kylar removed his knife from the body, wiped it off, and returned it to its sheath. Dingeye and another INSU beast grabbed Kayla, who was screeching, "Lemmego! Lemmego right now! I demand that you let me go this instant!" Dingeye poked her with his cutlass. "Shuddup now, or we’ll do something much worse than stuffing you into the brig. Get me?" She understood it quite well, and immediately quieted down. Kylar stood at the bow of the ship, his ship, the ship named after him, quietly absorbing the sea air. When Dingeye walked up to report, he wove him off and stood there, patiently looking over the water. At dusk, he walked back aboard Freebooter amidst cheers, which he quickly silenced. The grappling hooks were removed and the frigate was pushed away. Kylar went below deck and grabbed a torch. After he returned to the bow of Freebooter, he concentrated extremely hard, threw the torch towards the Corsair vessel, and in mid-flight, the fire leapt off of the torch and landed all over the frigate, starting a slow burn that would obliterate any evidence of the Kylar. The navigator asked, "Course, Commander?" Kylar looked up at him, replying simply, "Green Maelstrom."
Sliverpaw was having a field day finding weaknesses all over Ublaz’s palace. There were so many possibilities! Even the front door had soft iron hinges; easy enough to remove given a few seconds. Even though the weaknesses were revealed, Sliverpaw had a major perfectionist ego, and wanted to find every fault in the design. That bought some time for Sampetra.
Ublaz watched the north edge of Sampetra with disdain. Even with time on their side, INSU might not be able to hold off an attack on the palace.
Kylar stood, watching the horizon, over which laid Sampetra. Now that he was ready to return and confront Venomfang, Sampetra had a fighting chance.
Tolenia slept on, inhaling water, creating the Maelstrom. She had no respect for the tiny ferret, the psy. She didn’t care either way how it went with that stupid INSU situation.
All of these creatures; Sliverpaw the weasel, Ublaz the pine marten, Kylar the ferret, and Tolenia Venomfang, the giant sea snake, would get precisely what each of them deserved.
All in good time.