The sun shone brightly, reflecting off the water and causing it to sparkle like the greatest treasure in the world. The soft breeze played with the sand, chasing it here and there as it flew towards the sea and disappeared in the clear, blue waters.
Gulls soared gracefully overhead, diving to catch incautious fish that came too close to the surface. Closer to the shore, crabs scuttled back and forth, collecting shells and bits of seaweed to decorate their rocky caves.
Laughing and splashing, the young creatures of an otter tribe played in the water too, wrestling with each other until they grew tired, then sunbathing on the warm rocks nearby.
Moses clung to the back of his brother, hanging on grimly as the bigger little sibling struggled to break free of his grasp.
"Come to lunch, you rascals!"
Moses jumped off Sornah's back and they clambered out with everyone else, pushing and shoving cheerfully as they got covered in sand and made sure everyone else did too.
Ruth shook her ladle at them, mock glaring as they grinned at her.
"You don't really expect to be fed in that state, do you? Wash yourselves and come to the caves clean."
Moses, Asher and Sornah ran back to the water, calling behind them as they jumped back in.
"Yes, Mam!"
Ruth nodded curtly as the boys entered the cave, their fur now free of sand and their paws passably clean.
"That's better. Sit down and let Grandfather say grace."
The boys sat on reed mats as their grandsire bowed his head.
"Seasons bless us with this food,
Let our hearts show gratitude:
Never turn travelers from our door,
Guard the weary and the poor.
Our home is warm, our coats have shine.
Thank you for it, now let's dine!"
The hungry youngsters ate in silence, too busy eating or dousing the heat in their stomachs with cold mint tea to talk.
Asher finished first and gave his mother a persuasive smile.
"That was delicious, thanks, Mam! I'm so hungry, can I please have some more?"
Ruth smiled at the mouse as she refilled his scallop shell, then topped up Moses and Sornah's dishes as well.
"Of course you can have more. Nothing like hotroot soup to make a beast grow big and strong! You and Moses are a little bit small at the moment but, if you eat enough, you'll soon make up for lost time when you were younger."
Moses frowned as he talked around a piece of shrimp.
"Why did we lose time when we were younger?"
Ruth smiled at her son, remembering they day she'd found the two mice vividly.
"That's a long story, one I'll tell you when you're a bit older."
~~~
Moses and Asher did grow up to be big and strong, though not as large, physically, as their otter sibling. Both mice behaved, and swam, like otters but their differences became more apparent as time went on.
They both became respected warriors amongst the otter tribe, but their strengths were better suited to swords and bows, rather than slings and javelins, though they were competent with both.
They were more thoughtful and inclined to plan and think carefully before jumping into things, yet they had a strong sense of justice and would not stand by and watch the innocent hurt.
The otters liked and respected their chief's adopted sons, willing to follow them when the time came for Ruth to retire as leader.
In the meantime, Asher and Moses patrolled their shores, keeping a watchful eye on the other settlements nearby, always willing to lend a paw to other creatures in need.
Sornah was content to let his older brothers take command, often going along with them when they went places, until he found himself in love with one of their fellow warriors, a pretty otter named Sarina, who left Sornah completely tongue tied whenever she so much as looked at him.
After a while, he'd finally summoned up the courage to ask her to accompany him to the rock pools and soon after, they'd got married.
Sarina had a daughter, which they named Fayah. The ottermaid quickly gained favour with Ruth and the honourable chieftainess was often found cooing at the babe when she thought no one was looking.
Ruth watched her sons grow in character and smiled to herself, looking down at Fayah.
"Your daddy and mummy will be back soon and then Nan will have to give little Fayah back. Yes she will! Yes she will!"
Fayah giggled as Ruth tickled her tummy, then she turned her head in the direction of the opening to the cave, where shouted commands could be heard and the rattle of armour and weapons moving as the beasts wearing them hurried to get ready.
Ruth frowned as she made her way outside and watched curiously as otters hurried to get ready and form up on the beach.
"Hmm, that's strange. Let's go ask what's going on, aye?"
She cleared her throat as she came up behind her sons, all three of them surveying the otters, who were standing to attention on the high tide line.
Asher turned and nodded to his mother.
"Care to join us? We'll need all paws on deck."
Ruth frowned slightly but held her peace, listening as Moses addressed the otter tribe.
"The Sandhedge clan have been attacked by corsairs. Most of them have been carried off as oarslaves while a few escaped to inform us and ask for help. I don't know about you, but I'm going to assist them, along with Asher, Sornah and Sarina. Who's with us?"
There was a roar of approval from the otters as they stamped their feet twice, picked up their javelins and slammed them down again, point first in the sand.
Asher smiled at his brothers, addressing the otters on the beach.
"Alright then, to the ships! Leave a couple of able bodied creatures here to watch the young and old, everybeast else come with us."
Ruth put a paw on Moses' shoulder, turning his attention back to her.
"Should I come or stay to watch the young ones?"
Moses gave his mother a smile.
"Your choice, Mam. I'd be happy to have you along, if you want to come."
Ruth handed Fayah to an ottermum, hoisting her javelin.
"In that case, let's go."
The otter tribe had three large ships, each of which were normally crewed with twenty to thirty otters and had plenty of room for passengers or cargo as well.
The ships were moored in a small, artificial harbor that provided shelter for the huge, double sailed craft, along with the otter tribe's fishing fleet. Huge pines lined the peaks of the sand dunes, filtering the wind and blocking the masts from view of potential enemies. The entrance to the harbor was a small channel which ran away from the shore and behind the sand dunes, before turning and opening into a clear, deep pool.
Nobody really knew how it had come to be there but the otters had found it soon after settling down in the area and they now guarded their territory and protected its other inhabitants from the searats and corsairs that frequently passed by, looking for slaves and plunder.
It wasn't the first time they'd gone out to rescue their friends. The three ships had been gained from such expeditions and the locals had learnt to trust them and rely on their assistance, always coming to them if they had a problem or complaint.
The otters had readily soaked up the admiration, remembering their past and determined to be worthy of the respect given them by the smaller creatures that had learned to depend on them.
Now was another chance to prove their worth and loyalty and they rose to the trial, working efficiently to get the last knots of speed out of the three ships as they followed the trail left by the corsairs who had foolishly decided to harm their dependents.
It would be the last decision the searat captain made.
The plan was simple: surround the ship on the stern and both sides, board her, get rid of all the vermin and take the ship back to shore, where the slaves would be freed and the ship would be cleaned out and rechristened as part of the
SeaSanction Fleet.
It was their standard procedure and was carried out swiftly, most of the vermin choosing to run to the bow of the ship and jump overboard, rather than fight the army of just under ninety big otters. The few that stayed to battle it out found themselves stuck in a very one-sided fight and they barely had time to question their stupid bravery before taking the swift journey to hellgates.
Ruth led the way, the otters on either side of her forming a wedge as they pushed their way to the slave decks.
Down below, the slaves heard the commotion and the new arrivals grinned at the ones who'd been there for seasons, describing the scene that was happening above them from long experience with their otter friends, adding plenty of detail about the suffering of the vermin raiders.
After what felt like hours, Ruth burst through, covered in blood and dirt as she held her javelin ready, eyes surveying the dimly lit deck as she made sure the way was clear of any vermin.
Satisfied, the otter chief nodded to her followers and they moved forward and began to free the slaves, using their javelins to break the chains securing each slave to his oar partner while Ruth broke the main one.
"Okay, listen up, everybeast!" Ruth bellowed above the excited chatter of the former slaves.
"We still need to get back to shore, which is going to involve rowing. Stay on your benches and we'll give further orders once we're ready to move."
The group proceeded to give the same treatment and instructions to the next two decks while some others followed behind them, handing out food and water for the emaciated beasts.
Having finished freeing the slaves and dealing with the slave driver and his assistant, who had been hiding behind a barrel on the bottom deck, Ruth led her party back up to the top and joined her sons, who were taking stock of casualties.
"Three otters lost on our side, thirty vermin killed and the rest jumped overboard. Chuck the enemy carcasses to the fish, we'll give our otters a proper funeral pyre when we get back. Prepare to sail!" Asher added, raising his voice to the otters waiting for the command.
The orders were carried out swiftly and the four
SeaSanctions sailed away, leaving a mixture of dead and alive vermin in their wake, some floundering in the water while others lay still, only their bodies present as their souls entered hellgates.