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XIII

Life of a Pirate

A/N: So I finally got around to putting sexual content into this fanfic.

You're welcome.

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All the clamoring deafened the black rat. So many beasts were crowding around the ship, all of them either celebrating or greeting him like he was their longtime mate. Of course, some of their ways of greeting the rat was by spitting in their paws and reaching forward, at which point the black rat did the same. Others tackled him to the deck, laughing as they balled a paw into a fist and ground it against the rodent's skull. Most of the crew seemed rowdy, abrasive, and tough, but a majority of them were kind to him. He did notice the fox leaning against the railing with a menacing red eye that looked bloodshot. He spat at his footpaws and snickered with a cocky grin on his face as opposed to a fairly happy greeting. The rat looked at the fox and scowled before walking away, knowing it'd be best to avoid him. The black rodent looked all around and started to feel excited. This was really happening. He was finally living his dream of a pirate. All these corsairs were real. The smell of the salty sea air, the faint fluttering sound of the black and gray-striped sails, the feeling of the watery wooden deck beneath his footpaws--all of it was real.

"Where's the captain? Is he nearby?" the rat asked a scruffy-looking stoat.

The stoat blinked and laughed. "He's right up on the bow mate! Jus' head up them stairs; he's with the steersrat and his first mate."

The rat wagged his long tail before he started to walk up the stairs slowly. Up there he spotted the steersrat standing at the ship's wheel, whistling to himself. The black rat could see all the tattoos spread across his head, and his scalp was covered with a purple bandanna. Somewhere over by the prow the first mate was leaning against the railing with his arms folded. He spotted the black rat and immediately whistled at the ferret standing on the bow with his back turned.

"Oi, Cap'n! New crewmate's 'ere!"

The ferret turned around and blinked as he looked at the young black rat. The rodent smiled, looking at a notorious corsair for the first time. The rat could tell that the ferret was aging, but he still looked like he was in his prime. His body was tall, he looked fit and well-fed, his clothing (although filthy) wasn't torn or ripped to shreds, and the blue belt around his waist looked sleek and had a crude-looking knife, cutlass, and hatchet thrust into it. All the scars around his face only proved to the black rat that he lived up to his name, and that he had been in countless of battles and had the wounds to show it.

"Hehe, it's really you, Kurwin the Flayer! This-this is an honour--I-I mean just...just wow! I can't believe I'm here right now!"

"Did I tell ye you could speak?"

The black rat frowned and stopped talking. He noticed that Kurwin was slowly walking towards him, and that his first mate and steersrat were grinning viciously at him.

"I...well-well, no, but--"

"Then why is yore mouth open? Huh?! I have rules on this ship! An' if I say that nobeast can fuckin' talk to me unless I say so, then you best keep yore mouth shut!"

"I-I-I know that, but--"

Kurwin drew his cutlass. "Ye still fuckin' talkin'?!"

The black rat shouted when Kurwin grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him towards the railing. He pressed up against his body, his cutlass pointed right at the rodent's throat as he got in his face and snorted.

"I oughta make ya walk the fuckin' plank for yer disobedience! Lookit this shrivelin' li'l cocksucker, Trae! Ain't got no fuckin' sense in his mind t'know when ta keep his mouth closed!"

"Maybe you should slit his throat now, give the fishes a nice meal! Ain't like we need another rat stinkin' up the place...no offense, Bilgin."

"Fuck yew, Traegar," responded the steersrat.

Kurwin grinned widely as he saw the black rat shaking. "Wot d'ya say, eh? You wanna fill them fishes bellies?"

The black rat swallowed hard before he shook his head. "I-I-I...that wouldn't work."

"An' why not?"

"'Cos it's...it's like yer friend said: we rats--we...we stink too much. I don't think the fish would enjoy th-the taste of me, sah."

Kurwin stared at the black rat for a while, his cutlass inches away from his throat. Then he let out a booming laugh that could almost be heard across the entire ship. He let go of the rodent and backed away from him as he continued to laugh to himself, admiring the black beast's way of humor. Kurwin put his cutlass back into his belt while the rodent stood straight up and chuckled meekly.

"No worries there mate! Jus' fuckin' with ya is all! Can't have no whinin' landlubbers on this ship who always shit their pants the second they're in danger! Nice ta know you got some guts in ya!"

"So...that was all a test?" asked the black rat.

Kurwin laughed again. "Course it was! Glad t'have ya onboard!"

The black rat nearly felt all the bones in his body rattling as Kurwin grabbed his right paw and shook it up and down. The new corsair chuckled meekly again after the captain shook his paw.

"Hehe, glad to be onboard, Captain."

"Enough wit yer fancy talk, landlubber! Ain't no pirate speak in that language a' yers!"

Kurwin grinned. "He's right, y'know. Spent too much time on land! We pirates don't care much for them 'legible' words or 'pronouncing' words the right way. Jus' say wotever comes t'mind in wotever manner y'wanna speak it! If you wanna git yore cock wet, then say so! If ya wanna eat somethin', just snatch wotever you c'n find! No need to 'ask politely' or wotever those woodlanders do."

"And if your breath smells like fish guts simmering in rat shit, I should just tell you yer fuckin' breath stinks instead of slyly offering mint leaves to you?"

Kurwin laughed heartily again while Bilgin and Traegar snickered to themselves. The black rat turned his head away, hoping that the ferret would give him more personal space so he wouldn't have to smell his foul breath.

"You catch on quick, mate! You catch on real quick! Better get used to the smell though! Ain't exactly a fan of brushin' me teeth or bathin'."

"Wonderful," said the black rat flatly.

Kurwin stopped laughing to himself and put his paw on the rodent's back. "Cummon then! Might as well introduce you ta the rest of me crew 'fore we leave!"

And so the ferret walked the black rat around the ship introducing him to various crewmembers. Some were friendly, boisterous creatures who weren't shy of shaking the rodent's paw or hugging him so hard that he was nearly taken off his footpaws. Others were more anti-social, simply telling the black rat "hello" very quickly before going back to their usual task. The fox who spat at him earlier sneered, joking that he wouldn't last more than a season before he left the crew or got himself killed, at which point the black rat aggressively told him otherwise. Below deck the rat noticed that it was just as wet as it was on top, only now the air was more muggy and stale, carrying the scent of wet vermin all around. There weren't many cabins beneath the deck; the black rat figured most of the corsairs just slept on the floor or up on deck since not everybeast could have their own cabin. The black rat was about to ask a question when he saw another rat with brown fur standing near the wall. He would've paid no attention to the beast, until he noticed that a trail of yellow fluids was leaving his groin and splashing onto the floor.

"Fer fuck's sake, Blowhorn, I told ya we do that outside!"

The rat hissed. "Sod off, Cap'n! Jus' be glad I ain't goin' in my trousers again!"

Blowhorn shouted when Kurwin quickly snuck behind him and smashed his muzzle against the wall. He groaned and immediately grabbed his muzzle, rubbing his nose to soothe the pain.

"Last thing we need is you stinkin' up the ship even further! From now on, ye either go in a bucket or you do it outside in the water!"

Blowhorn sighed as he rubbed his nose. "Awright, awright...who's this guy?"

The black rat smirked. "Jus' another stinkin' rat comin' along to join your crew."

Blowhorn laughed heartily. "Finally found us another rat, eh, Cap'n? Been a while since we got any; mostly been them weasels an' ferrets."

"So yore name's Blowhorn?"

"That be I!" The brown rat grinned. "Wanna see why they call me that?"

Blowhorn didn't wait for the black rat to answer. He started to raise his tail when Kurwin immediately reached behind and lowered it back down.

"No, he don't. Now go back up on deck! Bloodeye needs ya t'help 'im make more fishin' nets!"

Blowhorn huffed. "Fine."

Shortly after Blowhorn left, Kurwin shook his head and scoffed. "Disgusting li'l rodent. Guy can't ever seem to keep his gas an' bodily fluids to himself."

The black rat raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You'll find out later. Fer now, just worry 'bout makin' friends with yore new cabin mate!"

Kurwin opened up a cabin door, revealing a ferret who was lazily lounging about on a hammock. The black rat looked around the cabin briefly and noticed that it was mostly plain. There were a couple chairs, a short table to write and read on, a bucket to release waste into, and a small bed made out of wood. It didn't look comfortable, but it seemed mildly better than the splintery wooden floor. Kurwin whistled shrilly, and the ferret mumbled as he rolled over on the hammock.

"Wot?"

"Don't be like that! Get off yore arse an' say hi to yore new cabin mate!"

The ferret sighed as he got off his hammock. He walked over into the doorway and blinked as he looked at the black rat. The rodent was intimidated at first, as the ferret was taller and slightly more muscular than him. He also had an eye patch covering his left eye socket. He was shirtless and sweaty, and his shorts were hanging down low, exposing part of his groin. He absent-mindedly pulled them back up as he blinked and looked down at the rat.

"Li'l short fer me tastes. Hmph, where'd Kurwin scoop ye up from: Redwall?"

The black rat grinned. "If'n ya mean the walls I were sittin' on that were drenched in my enemies' blood, then yes, he found me on a red wall."

The ferret sniffed as he lowered his head and got in the rat's face. "So tell me, wot's a piece of shite like yew doin' on this ship?"

The black rat had to turn his head away and plug his nose. The ferret's breath smelled like he had been eating sour cabbage and wild ramsons.

"Well I sure as shit ain't tryin' to suffocate on yer breath! The fuck crawled in yore mouth an' died?"

"Couple a' toads. I find that their brains taste scrumptious when they're boiled in fish 'ead grog."

Kurwin started to laugh as he noticed the two creatures bickering amongst each other. "Now play nice! After all, this rat here is gonna be stuck in yore cabin for a while, Dead-Eye. The two a' you have fun chattin'. We gotta head out ter sea soon!"

The infamous corsair turned and walked away from the two, leaving the duo by themselves. The black rat blinked as he looked at the ferret. "Dead-Eye?"

The ferret pointed to his eye that was covered with an eye patch. "Can't even piss without somebeast tryin' to get ya. Got ambushed by some rival pirates while ago; one of 'em took me left eye with a dagger!"

The black rat grimaced. "Ouch."

Dead-Eye watched as the black rat opened his mouth and licked one of his two fangs, both of which were so large that they hung out of his mouth even when it was closed. The ferret chuckled as he noticed the beast's large fangs.

"Think I jus' figured out yer name buddy! Longfang! How's that sound, eh?"

The black rodent raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah! Lookit them things mate! Could poke somebeast's eye out if ya ain't careful!"

"There ain't nothin' more...creative you could think up?"

"Ah, don't be picky now! 'Tis a good name fer yew; yew'll see!"

The black rat folded his arms. "Longfang, huh?"

"S'either that or Stinkrat."

The rat blinked. "Longfang it is then!"

Dead-Eye laughed as he patted the rat's shoulder. He smiled slightly as he looked at the ferret who seemed strangely affable, not bloodthirsty or murderous like the pirates he always heard about.

"C'mon an' I'll show yew around me cabin!"

Longfang knew there was nothing special to see in the beast's cabin, but he just nodded either way. "Sure thing mate."

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"Longfang? Longfang!"

The black rat blinked and snapped his head to the right. Turvin and Slipfoot were standing there, looking at him with scowls on their faces. Longfang exhaled and rubbed his nose.

"Wot?"

"The fuck you been mate?! Can't have you zonin' out like that--not when we're about to kill all these squirrels!"

Longfang looked around the woods. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful, reddish-orange glow around the woods. When he turned to his left, he grimaced slightly as the descending sun blinded him for a brief moment. It was almost evening now. It would be dark soon, and the squirrels would be on full alert and trying to seek out Kurwin's crew. Longfang huffed. He and the other trackers needed to come up with a plan for the pirates to sneak up and take out the MSB squirrels without folly.

"Sorry...jus' thinkin'."

"About wot t'do 'bout these squirrels?"

"No," Longfang admitted.

The stoat blinked as she softened up on her friend. She sat down in the soil, making sure she was concealed behind some of the bushes. "I know, Longfang, I know. I'm still upset about Dead-Eye too. ...I'm actually startin' to miss that foul breath of his."

Longfang smirked for a moment. "No, yore not."

Turvin chuckled softly. "Okay, maybe not, but you see my point."

"It's just...it happened so suddenly, Turvin. Just, bam! He's on the ground, dead. Couldn't even figure out wot the fuck happened at first."

"That's how death works," started Slipfoot. "Sneaks up on ya like some crafty fox waitin' fer you to turn yer back so he can fuck you up the arse. You don't see it comin'; you don't know when, how, or why. It just happens an' you have to deal with it."

Longfang lowered his head. "Suppose so..."

Turvin exhaled. "I'm bein' serious right now...you can tell me. Were you an' Dead-Eye fuckin' each other?"

"I already told everybeast we weren't," said the rat indignantly.

"'Cos if you were...I could understand why yer so upset--"

"We. Did not. Fuck. I really liked Dead-Eye; I'll admit that. I even loved him like a brother. But I didn't love him like that. Dead-Eye wasn't some fuck-buddy, Turvin. He was so much more to me than that."

Slipfoot chuckled and started to grin widely. "Now, if somebeast asked if Longfang and I fucked each other, that's an entirely different story..."

Longfang flicked his eyes over at Slipfoot and smirked. "Hehe, yes...I'll admit that we had our own li'l 'thing' going on fer awhile."

Turvin raised an eyebrow. "You an' Slipfoot? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

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Dead-Eye shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Longfang had been with the crew for over three seasons now. But when the shirtless ferret opened up his cabin door and saw what was inside, he couldn't help but shout with surprise. His cabin mate was standing beside the bed masturbating with his pants down, grunting and panting as he rubbed himself with both paws.

"The hell?"

Longfang shouted and immediately stopped. "Fucking--" The black rat huffed as he hurriedly pulled his trousers back up, nearly tripping over himself in the process. Longfang breathed heavily as he stared at his cabin mate.

"You couldn't fuckin' knock first?!"

"Why would I? This is me cabin."

Longfang leaned over against the wall, licking the underside of his right fang as his erection eventually became flaccid. "Weren't far off from blowin' neither...thanks, Dead-Eye."

The one-eyed ferret shrugged. "Ain't me fault yew didn't get off in time. Yew shoulda took part in that romp last week. I tell ya, yew woulda came so many times yer cock would be too sore to stroke anymore!"

"I'm not a fan of them things. It's a buncha beasts piled on top of each other jus'...how's anybeast even find the right hole to put it in?"

"Who cares! Jus' find one and jam it in 'til you blow! S'wot I do anyways!"

"So wot happens when you find yerself with another male's arse in yore face?"

Dead-Eye grinned. "If we're talkin' about yew, then ye'd like that very much."

Longfang blinked and looked away. "I-I dunno wot you mean."

The ferret slowly began to pace around Longfang, occasionally getting close to him and lightly brushing his tail along his legs.

"Yew think I ain't noticed? All them times I see yew lookin' at Trae's groin, all them times yew stare at somebeast bendin' o'er to pick somethin' up? I even caught yew sniffin' Razzik's bum once. Yew did it real subtle like, crouchin' down while he was bent over an' had his big arse in yer face..."

Longfang didn't say anything. He just kept looking away, curling his toes and scraping his toe claws against the floorboards. Suddenly, Dead-Eye stood in front of him and grabbed his crotch, causing the beast to yelp. The ferret grinned widely as his cabin mate rubbed his groin very slowly.

"It's real easy fer me to spot cocksuckers, Longfang. I can almost smell that cream on yer breath."

Longfang would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy what Dead-Eye was doing to him, or that his erection didn't start coming back.

"I know wot yer thinkin' mate...you wanna fuck me, don't yew?"

Longfang exhaled when Dead-Eye let go of his crotch. He leaned against the wall and stared at the ferret for a while. He wouldn't mind having sex with him, as the tall beast's gruff, gritty exterior did make him somewhat attractive. And his body, while not heavily built, was kept in good shape. All Longfang had to do was sniff the air and the beast's faint musk would get him excited. But despite all that, Longfang didn't want to treat the beast who had been his cabin mate and best friend ever since he got on the ship as nothing more than a receptacle used to empty his sexual urges and frustrations into.

"No...yer not jus' some fuck-buddy, Dead-Eye. Yore one of my best friends."

Dead-Eye folded his arms. "So now I'm not good enough to fuck?"

Longfang huffed and rolled his eyes. "I didn't say that!"

Dead-Eye laughed. "I know, I know! Jus' messin' with ya! 'Sides, I ain't into males anyway, an' I don't go both ways."

"Oh," said Longfang, feeling a bit disappointed.

Dead-Eye leaned against his bed and blinked. "But, uh, Slipfoot on the other paw..."

Longfang's ears perked. "Wot about him?"

"Unlike you, he ain't shy 'bout bein' a cocksucker. An' ever since Weilaar got slain, I think the poor rat's been a bit lonely at night. P'haps yew should go change that?"

Longfang chuckled to himself as he wagged his tail. "Perhaps I should."

The one-eyed ferret snickered to himself as he saw his cabin mate open the door and began to walk outside.

"Try not ter make too much noise!"

Longfang didn't say anything, since he knew that that probably wouldn't happen. So the rodent exited the cabin and found Slipfoot's cabin down the end of the hall. He opened it up slowly with a short creak and found the chubby rodent sitting on his bed, looking like he was about to pass out. The rat snorted and quickly shook his head to wake himself up as he looked at Longfang.

"Wotcha want mate? Kinda tired here."

Longfang stepped into the cabin and quietly shut the door. "Then you better muster up wotever energy you got left in ya."

Slipfoot stepped out of bed, scratching his portly gut as he looked at the rat with massive fangs. Longfang had been a pirate for a while now; he knew that if he wanted something, all he had to do was reach out and take it. So the rodent reached forward and started to rub Slipfoot's body, running his right paw along his stomach and making Slipfoot raise an eyebrow.

"Wot're you doin'?

"Wot's it look like?"

Longfang reached down and grabbed the rope that Slipfoot used to tie his trousers up. He untied it and watched as they fell to the floor softly. Slipfoot was about to say something when Longfang's gentle paw opened up and cupped the rat's testicles. Slipfoot suddenly stopped caring about why Longfang was in his room and began to growl.

"Ohhh...so that's why yore here, eh?"

Slipfoot grabbed Longfang's clothes and started to take them off too, albeit he was a bit more rough, nearly tearing off the rat's shirt and trousers as he removed them from his body.

"I'm jus' lettin' you know, this ain't some special 'thing' we have; I'm only doin' this 'cos I ain't fucked somebeast fer several seasons now."

"Yeah, wotever. Just shut up an' turn around."

Longfang did as he was told, but he didn't turn and let it happen so suddenly. He backed up towards the wall first, showing off his naked frame and his groin to Slipfoot. He rubbed himself for a moment before his phallus emerged, and Longfang hissed quietly as he waited. Slipfoot grinned as he licked his lips; he hadn't mated with anybeast in a while either. After he exposed himself, Longfang turned around and pressed his paws against the wall, spreading his legs apart so he could expose his backside. He lifted his tail and growled, waiting for Slipfoot to come by. The pants-less rat walked behind his fellow corsair and grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms around Longfang's waist. Slipfoot started to breathe heavily as he pressed his frame against Longfang. The submissive rat could feel Slipfoot's stomach pressing against his back. He felt and smelled his hot breath as it was blown onto the back of his head. Slipfoot growled deeply before he got so close to the pirate that his erection was pressed against his hole.

It wasn't long before it started. Longfang still had his paws pressed against the wall as the dominant rat thrust into him, grunting and panting in his ears. The two creatures weren't the best of friends; they never even thought about doing this. But they "needed" to satisfy their libido, and they were both eager to mate with another creature. Longfang didn't care how rough Slipfoot was. He didn't care how much it hurt from behind, or that Slipfoot even resorted to nipping his left ear a few times. He just wanted to mate with somebeast, and Dead-Eye was too "valuable" to him to have sex with. Longfang tried to stay quiet, but he wound up moaning louder than Slipfoot, panting and sweating as the beast went faster. The air began to reek of the sweaty beasts' musk and unwashed bodies. Slipfoot rubbed Longfang's shaft, stroking it and feeling the clear, slippery fluids leaking out the end of it. Longfang gritted his teeth as he felt the ejaculate moving through his groin. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't control it.

The rats' ears were suddenly filled with the sound of noisy splattering. Longfang gasped and started to exhale softly. Slipfoot thrust into him two more times before he finished and filled him up. The bigger rat exhaled with relief as his shaft was drained and the creamy fluids flowed into Longfang's behind. The splattering soon ceased. Slipfoot pulled out and watched as Longfang expelled his semen from his rump. The two panting rats calmed down and let their heart rates slow. Slipfoot collapsed onto his bed and grinned as he looked at Longfang.

"Well now...so that happened," said Slipfoot.

Longfang exhaled. "Don't act like you ain't done it before."

"No, I mean you. You just turned around an' took it up the arse without question."

The black rat sighed as he picked up his clothes and started to put them on. "An' you just stuck it inside me without question."

Slipfoot chuckled. "Well, you had it spread out on a silver platter! I ain't gonna sit 'ere an' ignore it! Anybeast woulda...where you goin'?"

"Back to my cabin with Dead-Eye."

Slipfoot frowned. "You don't wanna--"

"Like I said, this ain't nothin' special, Slipfoot. You wanted to fuck somebeast. I wanted to take it up the arse. End of story."

Longfang gave the disappointed rat a malicious grin as he started to open the cabin door. "You have a nice night."

Slipfoot snorted. "Aren't ya gonna clean up the stains at least?!"

But Longfang was already heading to his cabin so he could go sleep in his own bed.

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Slipfoot laughed as he shook his head. "This fucker didn't even give me a kiss g'night! Just took it in the arse an' left a huge mess fer me to clean up!"

"I said it back then and I'll say it now: we never had a 'thing,' Slipfoot. We were just fuckin' each other fer fun."

The chubby rat grinned. "And wot fun we had! D'you remember that one night--"

"Wot's all this now? You idjits gossipin' o'er horror stories again?"

The stoat from the Juskamard tribe, Jarron, had been eavesdropping on the conversation and heard most of what the creatures said. He quietly crept beside the three trackers and crouched down beside them.

"No, we were just--"

"You see them squirrels up there, yeah?"

Longfang looked up into the trees and saw a few squirrels on patrol. "Yeah."

"So stop with all this blether an' take 'em out! Can't have 'em spottin' us 'afore we even begin the assault!"

"And wot are you an' yer trackers gonna be doin'?"

"Don't worry about us. Jus' kill the squirrels in the trees; we'll handle the rest."

Before the three trackers could say anymore, the dark brown stoat departed into the bushes again and left. As Longfang looked up into the canopy, he spotted three squirrels walking along the branches, sniffing the air and scanning the area with their watchful eyes. The rat licked the underside of his right fang and swore, gesturing for his two friends to crouch down and hide.

"Slips, you see the one over by the ugly-lookin' branch?"

Slipfoot blinked as he grabbed his bow. "Yeah."

Longfang rubbed his chin. "All right...let me think fer a second. If you take him out, his body will fall down and alert those two squirrels on the ground."

"Definitely. So we'll need to scrap that idea," advised Turvin.

Longfang shook his head. "No, I got it. Slips, you take out that squirrel first. Those two squirrels'll come to check it out. Before they alert anybeast, Turvin an' I will kill the tree climbers on the ground. Got it?"

Slipfoot nodded and took out an arrow, notching it to his bow. "Got it."

Longfang panted as he took out his sling. He looked over at Turvin and watched as she removed two throwing knives from her waistsash. The rat and stoat nodded, and Slipfoot took a deep breath as he shut one eye and observed the squirrel standing on the branch by his lonesome.

"Get ready...now!"

Slipfoot let his arrow fly. It made contact with his target instantly, causing the squirrel to let out a cut-off cough before his body came out of the trees and plummeted to the ground. Longfang and Turvin quickly made their move, hurrying through the bushes so they could approach the two squirrels. One of the squirrels clad in blue spotted the dead one after his body landed on the ground with a voluminous thud. He swore as he and his friend rushed over to see if the soldier was dead. By the time they reached the body, Turvin and Longfang were close enough to make their move. The stoat and rat made much noise as they appeared from the bushes, but it was already too late for the squirrels. By the time they spotted the vermin, Turvin already threw her knives and Longfang flung a hard pebble from his sling. The knives made contact with one squirrel's face and chest while the pebble cracked against the other squirrel's head with an audible thunk. Both creatures rushed over to the downed squirrels and removed their weapons. As Longfang took his pebble, he took a small knife out of the squirrel's pocket and slashed his throat, not taking any chances of the beast getting back up later on.

"Clear," said Longfang quietly.

Slipfoot, Longfang and Turvin quickly grabbed the squirrels' cadavers and grunted as they dragged them behind thick bushes. As Longfang stood up, he looked around the terrain and noticed that some of the squirrels around camp were spreading out. Longfang swore; the beasts weren't as dumb as they seemed. He held onto his sling and scanned the area again, sniffing to see if any squirrels or other strange entities were trying to sneak up on them. The rat looked up into the trees and blinked when he saw a fox grabbing a squirrel from behind. The vulpine started to stab the squirrel in the chest over and over again until he started to drag his body away. Elsewhere, Jarron was in one of the trees as well, although he was garroting a squirrel to death with what seemed to be a thin line of rope or wire.

"Guess we ain't gotta worry about the tree climbers up there now," said Slipfoot.

"No, but the ones on the ground know some of their mates are missin'. We gotta speed this up. I'll take the squirrel over there by the tree with the flag hangin' from it. You two see if ya can sneak around an' find any other spotters hidin' in the shrubs."

Turvin nodded. "On it."

Slipfoot and Turvin split apart from Longfang while he moved through the fresh-scented berry bushes and spotted a young squirrel standing beside a tree breathing heavily and carrying a sabre in his paw. Longfang stayed hidden in the bushes, silently taking out another stone and fitting it into his sling. He quickly spun the sling around until he let the stone fly and hit the squirrel. At the very last second, the squirrel turned around and spotted Longfang. He backed away and was about to shout, but the stone hit him in the throat instead of cracking against his skull. Longfang swore and immediately emerged from the bushes, sprinting towards the young beast as he carried his long, thin spear in one paw. He snarled as he ran the squirrel through, the spear thrusting through the beast's chest and making contact with the tree. Longfang was about to remove the spear when he heard a tiny whimper. And then he frowned. The squirrel was still alive, blood running down his gray tunic as tears filled his eyes. He grunted and whimpered again, reaching out with a paw.

It wasn't until then that Longfang realized how young this beast was. He looked no older than the rat was the day he first came onto Kurwin's ship. Young, smart, handsome, ready to sacrifice his life if need be. But Longfang could see it now: this squirrel didn't want to die. Even though his subconscious knew it was over, his body kept trying to fight it. But the squirrel only had a few seconds left. He let out another tiny whimper before his arms suddenly became lifeless and his body went limp. Longfang removed the spear and watched as the young squirrel's body slumped to the ground. For some reason, Longfang froze. He couldn't move, couldn't pick up the pebble he used to break the squirrel's windpipe. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore besides this squirrel he just slain. The black rat started to breathe heavily.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Longfang thought he would've been excited about this. It was his first real kill after all; he had never murdered somebeast in cold blood. But here he was, standing in front of an otter that was on his knees, wounded, with his paws tied behind his back. Longfang looked around the forest and could see all the dead bodies spread across the ground. Most of them were otters, but a few corsairs, including the steersrat Bilgin, had been slain in the ensuing chaos. As Longfang held the dagger in his paws, he looked down at the coughing otter. And then he heard Kurwin laugh maliciously as he slowly approached him.

"Go on, Longfang! Use it. It ain't like this otter don't deserve it."

Dirtfoot scoffed. "Fucker's too scared ta do it. Ain't got the balls fer it!"

Longfang responded by spitting at the other rat's filthy footpaws. He looked down at the otter again before he heard a cry in the distance and saw another wounded otter lying on the ground. Only she was naked, and Dead-Eye was standing in front of her with his pants down.

"Jus' get it o'er with, mate! It ain't hard! Or do yew wanna force yerself into 'im before yew send him to Hellgates?"

Longfang watched as Dead-Eye looked down at the wounded otter and licked his lips. "Now 'old still riverdog...this won't take long."

Longfang frowned when he watched Dead-Eye slowly get on top of the otter. He couldn't fully see what was happening, but when the otter started screaming, it wasn't too hard to figure out. Dead-Eye growled and moaned as he thrust himself into her, his copulatory organ squishing as he moved his length into the moist area in-between her thighs. All the otter could do was scream as Dead-Eye violated her, but nobeast helped. All the pirates around her either ignored her entirely or simply watched with nasty grins on their faces. Dirtfoot smacked Longfang against the cheek when he noticed he was zoning out.

"HEY! That ain't none o' yore concern! Either kill this otter or I'll do it for ya!"

Longfang rubbed his head and swallowed hard, licking the underside of his right fang.

"Fuck I ever do to you...huh?" the otter asked weakly.

Kurwin chuckled. "Wot, y'mean besides slayin' my steersrat and four other loyal corsairs of mine? Hmm, let's see...Marlfox clan? Sawney Rath? How 'bout Vizka Longtooth an' his Sea Raiders? Any of these names ringin' a bell?"

"I didn't slay any of 'em...and they were filthy, heartless bastards who deserved to be sent to the Hellgates."

"Wot about Kludar Pinret? Such a lovely pirate he was; had a beautiful singin' voice too. Kludar never even so much as spat at a beast unless he or she drew their weapon first. One of the kindest pirates I ever knew...only killed beasts who threatened him first. You wanna know wot ye riverdogs did t'him an' his whole crew?"

Kurwin crouched down and grinned as he got in the otter's face. "Ye set his ship on fire. You otters lit some arrows, fired 'em at his ship, an' watched it burn. Those who didn't burn t'death or drowned in the sea had ta swim to shore, where you otters waited to slay the survivors! And then ye found Kludar's body and severed 'is head off his shoulders!"

Kurwin shook his head. "I know I ain't no goodbeast, but at least I admit it. You an' all yer landlubber friends are the fuckin' hypocrites here!"

The otter responded by spitting blood in Kurwin's face. The ferret shut his eyes for a moment before he opened them back up. And then he casually licked off the blood that was dribbling down his lips and chin.

"Kill him, Longfang. Do it fer Bilgin. Fer Kludar. Fer Vizka Longtooth an' all the other pirates and famous corsairs throughout history whose lives were wrongfully taken away from us!"

Longfang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He gripped the dagger tighter and stepped closer to the otter. The otter looked up at Longfang as he placed the edge of the dagger at the otter's throat.

"Please...it's not too late."

"Shut up. At least have a li'l dignity."

"I-I saw the way you looked at that ferret over there. You don't want this! This isn't you!"

"Shut up!"

"Only one way to shut 'im up, Longfang..." muttered Kurwin.

The otter started panting. "It's not too late. You can still do good fer this world. It's not--"

The otter gurgled when Longfang sliced his neck open. Longfang watched as the crimson fluids quickly rushed out of the gaping wound. It only took a few seconds before the otter slowly closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground. Afterwards, Kurwin laughed heartily as he patted the rat on the back.

"I knew you had it in ya! Such a great feelin' t 'ave, dont'cha think? To know that yore one step closer to makin' this world a better place for us vermin!"

Longfang chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Um...I-I'm not...I'm not sure wot I feel right now. S'that...is this normal?"

"Course it is! Don't worry; that adrenaline feelin' will kick in soon, and you'll jus' be dyin' to slay another pathetic landlubber like this'n!"

"...If you say so."

Kurwin was right about one thing: Longfang would feel something later on. However, it wasn't adrenaline or an insatiable need to kill more goodbeasts like Kurwin anticipated. Sometime that night, when Kurwin's ship was back out at sea, Dead-Eye was walking along the corridor below the deck looking for some grog to drink. He heard faint sniffling coming from behind his cabin door and blinked. The one-eyed ferret quietly opened the door very slowly and peeked inside. Longfang was sitting in the corner beside the hammock, whimpering and sniffling. Dead-Eye turned and began to walk away from the door, but as he took a few steps, the ferret sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Fuck it," he murmured.

Dead-Eye turned back around, opened the door completely, and stepped inside.

"Shite, I didn't interrupt another strokin' session, did I?"

Longfang turned around, his face wet with tears. Dead-Eye huffed as he quickly shut the cabin door.

"...This about that otter, ain't it?"

Longfang sniffled and rubbed his nose. "I'm...wot did he do, Dead-Eye?"

Dead-Eye slowly approached the crying rat as he started to speak to him. "Don't matter. He's dead now."

"'Cos I killed him...but wot'd he do to deserve that? I dun' even know who he was."

"Like I said, it don't--"

"It does matter, Dead-Eye!" said Longfang, his voice cracking. "That-that coulda been somebeast's father, somebeast's brother or son! Wot if he had a mate waitin' fer him at home? Wot-wot if he--"

"Longfang, yew need t'calm down."

But Longfang didn't listen. He sobbed quietly and held his head, shaking it slowly. "How could I do that...I jus' slit his throat like it weren't nothin'. An' wot about you, Dead-Eye? You raped that poor otter with a fuckin' grin on yore face!"

"And I'd do it again if I had the chance."

Longfang's eyes grew wide. "...Why? Why would you do that? Why are we doin' any of this?!"

Dead-Eye rubbed his chin, trying to think of a way to explain the situation so that Longfang would understand. "Yew jus' need time mate...I see yew've never done this sorta thing before. That yer first time killin' a beast?"

Longfang shook his head. "No, but that was my first time executin' one."

"Yew need to understand that we're at war, Longfang."

Longfang scoffed and shook his head as he wiped a tear away. "War, huh? I already know wot war is. My father was there all those seasons ago during the Northlands War. There's no point in war, Dead-Eye. A buncha beasts are arguin', fightin', killin' each other fer shit they don't even want, shit they don't even know existed. You know how long the Northlands War lasted? You know how far it spread?"

Dead-Eye nodded. "The whole world got involved."

"An' in the end, wot 'appened? Thousands of beasts died an' got buried, and everybeast had to spend over four seasons tryin' to rebuild everythin' that was lost!"

Longfang shook his head and sniffled. "I can't be involved in somethin' like that, Dead-Eye...I can't."

Dead-Eye blinked. "But ye already are. This war yew speak of? It's been goin' on fer generations now. Cluny, Slagar, Marlfoxes, Gulo--it doesn't matter who or wot or why. But fer a while now, this has been goin' on. We have to stop it 'afore all the vermin are wiped out. This otter yew executed...he was just a soldier. That's all. He weren't no father, no brother, no son, no husband. Just a soldier who woulda done the same thing ta yew if yew hadn't killed 'im first."

Dead-Eye reached forward and embraced Longfang, wrapping his arms around the rat's back. The black rodent was just beginning to calm down when he broke out into tears again. He wrapped his arms around Dead-Eye as well, sniffling and sobbing as more tears ran down his face.

"I know it's hard. I know it's not fair an' that yew think yew doin' somethin' wrong. But yer not, Longfang. This war is...it's horrible, yeah, but that's just how it is. We have to win it, Longfang. An' if it means that we have to kill hundreds, maybe even thousands of soldiers, or we gotta burn down villages, or kidnap babes an' hold 'em for ransom...well...that's jus' wot we gotta do, mate."

Dead-Eye shushed Longfang as he gently rubbed his back. The ferret started to ponder as well, looking at himself and his current position in life. He couldn't help but wonder if he had made the wrong choices too.

"Yew can't...yew can't run from this. The moment ye walked onto this ship, yew knew wot yew were doin'. This ain't some fun fairy-tale, Longfang. This is wot we pirates do. Yew can't fight it...I've seen it happen before, an' the beast who tried to fight it wound up takin' his own life. So accept this, Longfang...accept wot yew are. Or better yet, embrace it."

Longfang wasn't paying too much attention to the ferret's words. He was just happy that somebeast was consoling him instead of calling him a coward or making fun of how "weak" he was for crying. Longfang wasn't sure how long Dead-Eye hugged him, but even after the tears stopped flowing, the two pirates held each other comfortingly. Maybe Dead-Eye was a rapist. Maybe he was a murderer. But after that day, after that one moment, Longfang knew he finally found somebeast on that ship he could trust and truly call his friend.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Longfang was still staring at the squirrel's corpse, almost as if nothing around him mattered anymore. He almost wanted to drop his spear in shame; he knew he did something wrong now. He was told that this beast was a soldier. He was told not to fight what he was. But as he looked down at the corpse, all he saw was a young warrior eager to defend his friends and family, and he was more than certain that somebeast, somewhere, just lost their son because of him. Longfang covered his mouth with his free paw and whimpered. He couldn't see straight anymore; his vision became clouded as tears filled his eyes. Dead-Eye warned him about this. He said this would destroy him. And all it took was the death of one squirrel to make Longfang realize who he was, what he just spent the past several seasons doing. The rat had been standing idle for so long that he didn't know the fighting already started until he heard the screaming. It only took a few minutes before the serene forest became a battlefield, and dozens of pirates and Juskamard clan members were cutting down the squirrels.

Longfang sniffled and wiped his eyes. He told himself to put his personal thoughts aside; it could wait until after this battle was finished. So the black rat gripped his spear tightly and charged into battle, snarling and roaring. He saw a skinny squirrel sprinting for him, sword in paw. Longfang tossed his spear, striking the squirrel in the face and mangling his right eye and most of his cheek bone. Longfang removed the spear from the corpse and froze again. He couldn't even tell how young this squirrel was because he just destroyed his face. The rat panted before he shouted as he felt a stone bounce off his mouth, cracking his left fang. He spat blood from his mouth before he shouted and ducked when an arrow flew his way. Breathing heavily, Longfang crawled along the ground as two more arrows zipped past his ears. And then he saw a huge shadow appear on the ground and gradually expand. Longfang gasped and instinctively flipped himself over, his spear pointed upwards. A squirrel had jumped from a tree and tried to stab Longfang in the back of the neck. Instead, the squirrel grunted when he landed on the rodent's spear, the tip of which pierced his abdomen and went all the way through.

The squirrel flailed his legs and arms, coughing up blood onto Longfang's face. Even as the beast bled out, he still weakly swung the knife in his paw around, as if he were trying to take Longfang to Hellgates with him. But after a while, the beast stopped fighting it. He let out a gurgling noise and went limp. The knife in his paw fell to the ground. Longfang heard a faint, sloshing, flatulent noise and grimaced when he noticed that the dead squirrel's bowels just voided all over the ground. Longfang quickly stood up, tilted his spear downwards, and removed the squirrel. The black rat shouted when another stone bounced off his sides, messing up his ribs. Longfang turned and saw two squirrels twirling their slings around and tossing them at the Juskamard clan members. Jarron took one in-between the eyes and fell down like a log. Longfang knew he wouldn't be getting up again. The obese rat, Jenrik, took a few to the face too, but due to his corpulent, burly exterior, he shook it off. He didn't even seem bothered when he got hit in the back with an arrow.

Longfang took out his sling and fitted it with a stone. He spotted Razzik being chased by a squirrel, panting and ducking as another squirrel in the trees fired arrows at him. The rat snarled, sprinted towards the squirrel, and shouted. The squirrel turned for a brief moment, and shouted when Longfang chucked his pebble at the squirrel's muzzle, knocking out a few teeth. The squirrel coughed and spat out blood (and two broken teeth) before he found himself gurgling as Longfang's spear went into his neck. The rat removed it and watched the squirrel go down, whilst Razzik quickly thanked him for saving him and joined in on the fight. Longfang shouted when an arrow nearly hit him in his left footpaw and hopped behind a massive log. He panted and pressed his back against it, where he saw Islik and Slivik chuckling.

"Yer on a roll today, Longfang! Took that fucker's eye right out with that spear earlier!" said Islik.

Longfang forced himself to grin. "Yeah...quite messy that was."

Slivik looked around the forest and huffed. "We gotta be careful; there's still a few tree climbers up on them branches!"

Islik snorted. "Fuck 'em! The Juskamard can take care of 'em!"

"How long will that be? We can't stay behind this log forever!"

"Relax, bro. We'll stay low, outflank--"

Islik gurgled when an arrow went into his neck. Longfang gasped and immediately backed away while Slivik shouted in horror and immediately got down on his knees and started to hold his brother's neck.

"NOOOOO! Oh fuck--Longfang help me!" he shrieked.

Longfang couldn't think of anything to do, so he just rushed over to the wounded fox and applied pressure on his wound. But Islik was bleeding out fast and choking on his blood. Slivik whimpered as he took off his tunic and pressed it down on his brother's throat.

"This isn't workin'!" said Longfang.

"SHADDAP!! Yer gonna be fine, bro. You hear me?! Yer...DON'T DO THAT!"

Islik, absent-mindedly, grabbed the shaft stuck in his neck and quickly pulled it out. Not even two seconds later, Islik gurgled as bright red blood began to shoot out of the wound, only making the injury that much worse. Slivik sobbed as his tunic immediately became red and sticky with his brother's blood. Longfang stopped trying. He just watched in horror as Slivik continued to sob and Islik gradually went limp. He gurgled a few more times, almost as if he wanted to say something. But all he could do was look at his younger brother and whimper. And then he stopped moving altogether. Slivik let out a disturbing moan that terrified Longfang; it sounded like Slivik just died as well or lost something he couldn't replace. Longfang watched as the fox shuddered and gritted his teeth, his face wet with tears. But suddenly, his paws turned into fists, and his whimpers and moans turned into growls and snarls. And then Slivik roared with the ferocity of a badger consumed with the Bloodwrath and hopped over the log, rapier in paw.

Longfang looked over the log and thought he saw a beast spawned right out of the Hellgates. Slivik wasn't a pirate or even a fox anymore. He was a demonic beast frothing at the mouth, crying and tearing his enemies asunder. Longfang watched in horror as the fox effortlessly killed any squirrel he came across. The vulpine snarled as he dodged a squirrel's sword swipes, and then stabbed him with his rapier so many times that Longfang lost count. Slivik pounced on another squirrel and dug his thumbs into his eyes. The squirrel shrieked so shrilly that Longfang thought he would've lost his hearing. Not even a second later, Slivik shouted as he kicked a squirrel in the groin and opened his mouth wide. Again there was a bloodcurdling shriek as the fox dug his teeth into the squirrel's right eye socket, the eyeball exploding into watery crimson. And shortly after the squirrel was blinded, Slivik grabbed the beast's head and roughly slammed it against a tree. And then he slammed a second time, and then a third. He kept slamming the beast's head into the tree until the back of his cranium was so damaged that his skull cracked.

Slivik snarled when a squirrel came from behind and stabbed him, but it didn't seem to faze him, as the fox immediately jerked around and got on top of the squirrel, bashing her face in with a nearby rock until her face was completely destroyed. Longfang didn't know what to do anymore. He shuddered and backed away, fearful of the bereaved fox. And at the same time, he was angry. These squirrels were no different than he was the day he slew that otter. The MSB didn't see a fox who cared deeply for his younger brother. They only saw a vermin who needed to be sent to the Hellgates as soon as possible. Longfang shouted out of frustration and picked up his spear, his mind on the verge of exploding. Corsairs, otters, soldiers, squirrels--Longfang didn't know who was doing the right thing anymore. All he knew was that his friends--his family rather--was getting slaughtered, and he needed to do something about it. Dead-Eye was right. He had to put aside his feelings until after the battle ended. So the rat charged for a squirrel that was evading various stones and arrows being fired at him.

And then Longfang shouted and nearly fell over, dropping his spear. He must've tripped over a rock or somebeast's fallen weapon; it was nothing serious. So the rat stood back up and blinked. He was about to pick up his spear when he suddenly felt weak, tired. Then the rodent felt a sharp pain in his chest and started to have trouble breathing. His tunic felt wet for some odd reason. Longfang looked down at his chest and whimpered. He could see the pointed ends of two arrows protruding from his abdomen and chest, both of which were soaked in his blood.

"No..." he whispered quietly.

Longfang's vision became watery again as he sluggishly realized he was dying. The black rat reached for one of the arrows, grunting and tugging on it, hoping he'd be able to remove the shaft in time. But everytime he moved the shaft so much as half an inch, the rat would cry out in more pain as more blood oozed out. Tears started to run down his face. He shook his head as he desperately attempted to remove the shaft, but his body was growing weaker.

"Not...not yet...no..." whined Longfang.

His vision was fading. It was getting harder for Longfang to even stand up. His tunic was drenched in his blood now, and so were his paws. He fell to his knees and shouted, hoping somebeast somewhere would help him. He looked up and saw the beast he was going to kill only a couple minutes ago looking at him with shock. There was something about the pitiful expression in Longfang's eyes and the realization of his impending death that made the squirrel feel sorry he was about to pass into the afterlife. Longfang grunted again when another arrow went into his back. He coughed up blood and shuddered, no longer capable of removing the arrows. Somehow, the beast mustered enough energy to stand. And then he started to drag his footpaws against the ground. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't even know why he was fighting it anymore. It was pretty evident that he would be at the Hellgates soon. Longfang sighed quietly, unable to see straight anymore. He stopped and placed his bloody left paw against a tree as he coughed up more blood.

And then the rat looked around and noticed that he wasn't in the same forest anymore. Everything was dark, like he was stuck in eternal night. The wind blowing across his face carried the faint scent of sulfur and decay. The trees, leaves, even the ground he walked upon were dark shades of color. Longfang looked around the area and saw beasts walking--beasts he knew from his past. At first he thought he was dreaming, until he saw a certain ferret with an eye patch staring at him with a tender smile.

"...Dead-Eye?"

"It's okay, mate. Ye c'n stop fightin' now...this war's over for yew."

And then Longfang groaned in pain one last time as a fourth arrow went through his back. The rat collapsed face down in the soil, and he slowly closed his eyes as he passed on. The squirrel who slew him quickly sprinted across the ground and stood by his body, grunting as he roughly extracted his four arrows so he could reuse them.

"Hmph. One less of you bastards t'worry 'bout now!"

The squirrel who slew Longfang ran away and resumed his assault, leaving Longfang's bloody body to rot.