A vermin story by Juniper-*****
The Battle at Sampetra
- Exact account from a monitor lizard captain in Ublaz's army, deceased
during the battle of the goodbeasts who came to rescue their kidnapped
abbot, from Pearls of Lutra
I am a monitor lizzard. Azz a captain, a ranked offizzer in Emperor
Ublaz's horde, I command twozcore of moniterzz. They are a motely,
dizorganized lot, but are fierze and zavage fighterzz. And with my 'elp,
they are an undefeatabale forzze. Azz of me, I lived a good life: nize
quarterzz, clothzz, food, everything. But one day, that wuzz about to
change.
We had zighted a ship 'eading to Zampetra, cap'ned by goodbeaztzz.
I didn't pay much attenzion, until they, only numberin' five or sixz,
began to attack. And my, did they take uzz by zurprizze! They had got
into the cazzle somehow and had rescued an old mouze that we captured
and locked up earlier. I wuz followin' Emperor Ublaz with half my
moniterzz under my command up the cazzle, when a mouse, wielding a great
zword, leapt at uzz from up above! Our zoftzpined Emperor cowered behind
uzz, and we had to face the mouze and his hare companion alone. Ah
didn't think it wuz too hard until they started fighting. And did zay
attack! Three of my moniterzz were slain by a blow from zat zword. I
came at him, hizzing furiously, and we clashed. I managed to zlash hiz
zide with my zpear, before he broke it in half with a blow. I,
naturally, retreated and managed to pick up a fallen zcimitar from a
carcazz.
By zen, the goodbeaztz had retreated and I pushed for'ard my
moniterzz, only to be met by two streamdogz firing shaftz of arrerzz!
That zeemed too much an' I didn't want to lose any beastz, so I order my
moniterzz to retreat, dezpite Emperor Ublaz's furiouz zhouts.
I thought that the battle'd be over an' the goodbeaztz gone, but
azz another offizzer, Zurgat, Ah thinkz'er name, wuz zpeaking with the
Emperor, the main doorz burst open and the mouze and hare were back, for
our blood! Zo were the streamdogz, who zlayed Zurgat with two arrerzz. I
znatched up a zpear and hollered to my moniterzz as I charged towards
zem: "Kill them! It'z only two of them! Kill! Kill!"
I fought with all my ztrength. Charging at the hare, I battled him
with both zpear and zcimitar. With a zwoosh of his weapon, he
knocked the zcimitar out of my clawz. I gripped by zpear with both clawz
and, with a quick zlash, tore off one of 'izz earz! I hizzed with
laughter.
"Zat'z it, longearzz! Now you'll be called 'longear' inztead, if
you even zurvive!"
I raized my zpear to finish him off. But the hare wuz faster. Hiz
flashing blade cut through the air, it'z lethal edge zlicing downwardzz
towards my unprotected neck....
Another story by Juniper-****
A Paw of Luck
Seleria Corasis strolled under the trees of Fox Forest, seeking out
potential customers. The wolf was a palm-reader, a well-to-do position
in Silkwind Nightstar's gypsy band. She had already spent her time in
the camp reading her comrades' palms, although the lead lady Silkwind
hadn't asked for her skills yet. Now she was looking for income outside
the camp.
Seleria had just arrived at the edge of a small clearing when she
heard a voice near her. "Psst, ma'am! Would you be willing...?"
A head popped up in a nearby bush, followed by another. Seleria's
face broke into a disarming smile. Granted, she was technically evil,
but she still liked young creatures and the little otter holding the paw
of the squirrel didn't fail to tempt her. The wolf grinned. "Hi there,
you two! You want your palms read?"
"Yeah! T'would be fun!" The squirrel piped up.
"Why sure. Let's get to work. Siddown in front of me." Seleria
seated with her back against a tree, and the dibbuns in front of her,
side by side. The wolf folded her paws.
"Let's get to know you first. Your names?" The squirrelmaid's name
was Redfarl and the otter introduced himself as Streamquick. Then
Seleria told them her name. No point scaring the young ones yet; she
would bide her time. She leant forward, her face suddenly serious.
"I need you to cross my palm with silver, before I can read
yours."
"Why? Is it important?" Redfarl asked curiously.
"Of course. If silver touches my palm, when I read yours, the
silver will make the lines of your palm brighter and more distinct,
making it easier for me to read and see what you're really like."
"Oh. Streamquick, I don't have silver!"
"Yes I do." Streamquick pulled off an armband of silver and gave it
to Redfarl, who crossed Seleria's palm. "Very well, Redfarl, give me
your paw."
Seleria took the squirrelmaid's small paw and studied it intently.
"Hmm, the silver says: you're sweet, kindhearted and like to get to know
others, so you do have many friends. You love to help others, especially
your elders and you're often your elders' pet because you assist them so
often. You're gentle, don't like to fight and always try your best to
stop arguments, with success. You will grow up to be a kindhearted,
loving squirrel."
Redfarl clapped her paws. "Ooh! I'm a good squirrel! I'll have a
lotta friends!"
Streamquick then crossed Seleria's palm, and she took his paw.
"Let's see...you have a knack of fixing things, you also love to help
out and you're very efficient. Strong, but kind and caring for those in
need. You're also obedient, you'll do anything anyone tells you to, and
you respect your elders and don't argue with them, again, you're
obedient. This long line says that you'll live a long time. You also
have long endurance and are physically strong. You also like peace and
are not inclined to fight. So, you'll be a peacemaker and good helper.
You've got a good heart, Streamquick."
The otter smiled brightly. "Will I be a great warrior?" he asked
hopefully. Seleria shrugged, holding out her hands. "How do I know? I'm
just a palm-reader. I only interpret your true personalities and
speculate on your destiny. You'll have to enquire a fortune-teller for a
more accurate prediction of your future."
The dibbuns looked momentarily confused; Seleria smiled inwardly.
They obviously didn't understand her complex wording, although to her it
was pretty simple. Then Redfarl grinned as they got up. "Thank you, Miss
Corasis. You were most kindly."
Seleria halted their departure with an upraised paw. "Whoops. You
forgot to pay me. You might've crossed my palm with silver, but that's
not payment. I need money in return for my skills."
The dibbuns looked at each other. Then Streamquick held out his
silver armband. "Here, ma'am. This is the only thing of value on me. But
anyways, thank you for reading our palms! You're very skilled."
Seleria beamed and nodded her thanks to the compliment as she stood
up. "Where're you going next?" Redfarl pointed northwest, towards
Silkwind's camp.
"There, to the river. We're going for a swim until late
afternoon."
"Well, enjoy your swim, young ones!" Seleria waved as they ran off,
paw in paw. The youngsters shouted their farewells.
"...while you can," Seleria added softly. She smiled wickedly down
at the silver armband, and stowed it into her pouch. Then, climbing a
tree, she made her way back to camp to alert the vermin of two potential
slaves. A gentle, helpful squirrel and an obedient and respectful otter!
They were brought up well. There couldn't be better slaves than those
two! They were sure to be easy prey.
Another vermin one from Juniper-****
A Very Grave Mistake<
"Hahharr, mateys! Lookit wot ah found!" Shavvat the wildcat headed
into camp, carrying a large wooden chest in his claws. Heads looked up
from all around. A rat sitting by a makeshift fire prodding at the
ambers snorted.
"A box. Wotsit gotta be? A box! Issat all? Awuz expectin' more!" He
shrugged and continued to poke at the fire. A stoat nearby slapped him
hard behind the head.
"Goosebrain! Dimwit! Nincompoop! What else be innere but treasure?
Seriously, Gorsehead, you were aptly named." Turning to Shavvat, he
queried, "Say, where didja find that purty thing?"
Shavvat thumped his chest with pride. "Ah wuz moseyin' 'bout the
woods when ah sees a creature, buryin' summat! So Ah ses t' meself,
'Shavvat, ya struck paydirt there!' Eh, get it? Pay dirt!" he laughed
uproariously.
"Ahhhh, Foradl, 'e never know how much danger ah wuz in! Ah creapt
up all nice 'n' quietlike after he left. Snakes, the woods was all
silent, like summat was watchin' me! So ah snuck up there an' dug inna
same spot where that creature buried! An' sure 'nuff, 'twas there! So ah
picks it up an' clear outta there fast as I could! An' now I'm 'ere,
still alive to tell th' tale!"
Foradl the stoat sat down and sighed. "You're hopeless, Shavvat,
just hopeless." He closed his eyes and turned his back on the
wildcat.
Shavvat shrugged and looked about for more beasts to entertain with
his great "escape" story. But now, more vermin were beginning to come
close to him, their eyes gleaming with greed and anticipation. A ferret
piped up, his voice close to a swoon. "Oh great and wonderful Shavvat,
c'n we lay our humble eyes on this wonderful treasure you have so
courageously obtained?" The other vermin nodded eagerly. The slow-witted
wildcat nodded happily.
"Shore! Allus you don't touch it, it's mine!" he growled at them
fiercely to emphasize his point. A rat nodded, innocence in his
eyes.
"Yes, oh Shavvat the Splendorous, we respect your command!" he
crowed. Shavvat, obviously happy with the praise showered at him, set
the chest gently onto the ground and began to open the lid with a
flourish. The vermin huddled closer to the chest.
"What is happening here?" A thunderous voice boomed out over the
camp. Everything was frozen in midaction and all eyes turned towards the
speaker. The one with the booming voice was a large fox, who stepped
aside smartly for four high-ranked officers - captains - who stood at
attention as a huge figure emerged: Rikashav the Ruthless! The huge
cougar's eyes burned into every beast there until they rested onto the
half-opened chest. His face was expressionless as he calmly said,
"Shavvat the wildcat, close the lid of the chest."
Shavvat, already shocked out of his wits, obeyed. "Shavvat, come to
me," the monotonous voice continued without change. The quaking wildcat
stumbled forward. "S-s-sir?" he stuttered.
"Do you know what you've just done?" Rikashav asked, his voice
level. Then, he exploded.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF A CRIME YOU JUST COMMITTED, WILDCAT??" he
bellowed. "It's treason! Against the warlord! And look at the string of
problems you were about to spark off! You left the base camp without
reason or permission, spied out on a hordebeast, dug up MY
treasure which was just buried, brought it back, showed it to all and
would have nearly had it stolen under my nose, caused a ruckus in the
camp and give me more problems that I need at the moment! And it's
through your folly, your disobedience, your unwittedness, your
dissension, you idiotic footscum!"
Shavvat, terrified and quaking all over, threw himself prostrate at
his warlord's footpaws. "Mercy, my lord, I beg of you! Give me mercy, I
swear by the gates of Hell that I will never do it again! Please, oh
please, show mercy, my great and all-powerful lord!" he howled in
despair.
Rikashav glared contemptously at the grovelling wildcat. "Guards!
Make him take the treasure back to its original place, put it back into
the ground, then make him dig his own grave and bury him in there,
alive! I won't tolerate this sort of idiotic foolishness." The screaming
and shrieking wildcat was hauled away by four guards, followed by a
captain with the chest. The Ruthless turned back to the motionless
vermin.
"Remember the raid on the fox lord the previous week? Those are all
the spoils from there. They are MY treasure. I ordered for it to be
buried so I would get it back later. It was kept a secret until that
fool of yours unlatched the door. I was coming to tell you that we will
be rising early tomorrow and marching until dusk. Be sure to be awake,
or we'll leave you behind." With that, the warlord and his officers
swept off.
Dejected, the vermin resumed their previous chores. Gorsehead the
rat turned to Foradl the stoat. "Wot's he know it was his treasure?
'Twould've been somebeasts else, for all ah know."
Foradl sighed once again. "See the chest? It is brand new, under
all that dirt. The brass hinges are still polished and shinin', the
wood's shiny 'n' not full o' holes, no?" At the shake of his comrade's
head, he continued. "Told ye that crazy bist Shavvat is hopeless. Just
hopeless."
