Saltooth Vs. One-Ear

[Hickory]

This is one of the final duels presented during Is Redwall As Safe as They Say It Is? which is a Redwall RP centered around the Abbey dwellers fighting off a pirate and his crew by the name of Rapshade.

Now for a few personal notes from the arranger.

I thought that this duel was one of the best in this RP. Sandpaw's excellent description and action combined with the obvious moral stance and conflict Groddil put into One-Ear combined to make one of the most epic duels I've ever seen. It is also one of the longest (stretching 7 full pages in Docs) and was fun to edit. The duel goes all sorts of places on the ship and seamlessly incorporates other duels in the RP. It also pits two of the biggest main characters against each other and is one of the biggest grand finales of the RP in my opinion.

Now without further ado I put aside my praise and present Saltooth Vs. One-Ear.

Long

"Draw your blade. Fight me like a warrior." For a moment Saltooth stared at One-ear incredulously as if not believing the fox.

"Ye are betraying yer own kind mate." he murmured as the swarm drew nearer. Then Saltooth did the thing any self respecting rat would do when standing alone in the face of an oncoming horde of woodlanders. He swung around running for the ship's prow drawing his sword as he went and yelling.

"Attack mates! We're unner attack!"

One-Ear saw Saltooth run towards the prow and followed at a slow walk, blade drawn. Rats, weasels, and other vermin tried to intercept the young fox, but one swift slash of the katana and their corpses formed a trail behind him. One-Ear stepped up in the bow, fencing Saltooth in at the very front of the ship. He slapped the rat with the flat of his blade.
"I said, stand and fight! Or are you still a coward even with Martin's sword?"
The fox slapped Saltooth again.
"STAND...AND...FIGHT!!!"

Wiping a small string of blood from his lip the steersrat stared at One-Ear coolly, his left paw twitched slightly in a welcoming gesture. At last cornered by One-ear he raised the sword inspecting it wondrously, a confident sneer on his face.

"Martin's sword, eh, kinda bland name ain't it. Course 'e was a mouse, can't except much from 'em. I assume th' mouse I killed t'was Martin course." Saltooth flicked out with his sword deflecting the katana, his black eyes alight.

One-Ear scoffed.
"Martin the Warrior, the first Abbey Warrior? You couldn't even touch him, even if he was still alive."
"Yew don' know much do ye? Crossin' blades wit' a pirate, on 'is turf. An' naw, I ain't no coward mate, I jus' like to play dirty. Get 'im Frogeye!" Saltooth made a sudden lunge with Martin's sword his left paw producing his curved dagger. Both blades flashed in the early dawn light as the rat lunged. Behind One-ear, Frogeye leapt forward wielding a dagger and hatchet with evident skill. Both rodents rushed the fox, weapons raised to kill.

The fox ducked, rolling to his side and swinging the katana. He took off Frogeye's dagger paw and kicked the rat, knocking him down. The young fox fought off Saltooth with his katana whilst grabbing Frogeye's dagger and finishing off the dismembered rat.
"Hmph. Mediocre. Now it's just the two of us..."

One-Ear snatched the hatchet and threw it at Saltooth while swinging his blade low towards the pirate's legs.
Catching the hatchet in mid flight, Saltooth turned on his heel plunging the small axe deep into the woodwork. Satisfied he turned just as quickly parrying a blow from the katana. Using rather impressive paw work for a rat, he sidestepped around One-ear stomping on the fox's tail before swinging for his head.

"Haven't even started mate."
Arching backwards in response, One-Ear headbutted the rat in the stomach and deflecting Martin's Sword with a quick thrust to the hilt. He twisted to face Saltooth and vaulted around behind the rat. Hooking his word around Saltooth's to prevent him from swinging backwards, he wrapped his free paw around the rat's neck and squeezed tightly.

Elbowing One-ear in the chest, Saltooth wriggled free rolling along the deck to avoid a downward stab. Spitting out blood and a tooth the steersrat struggled to gain his footpaws as he was forced to roll every few seconds to avoid the katana. A sense of panic filled his gut as he pushed himself to his footpaws parrying away the blade that stove for his blood.

"Don' do this mate, we c'n beat them woodlanders. Aye th' landlubbers c'n still be beat. Don' fight yer kind, 'elp us win matey, n' we'll sail out o' 'ere an' nigh return."

Adjusting his grip on the curved dagger Saltooth suddenly flicked his paw sending the blade spinning towards One-ear. Not waiting to see if it had struck home, the rat spun around fitting Martin's sword in his teeth. Using the hatchet he had lodged into the wood as a step the searat snagged a ratline and began hauling himself up the rigging towards the crows nest.

"Never going to happen! I'm not like you, rat! My family has better things to do than steal and kill. But I have no problem if the one getting killed is you."

One-Ear's head cracked to the side, sending the dagger spinning away into the ocean with a splash. The young fox stabbed his sword into the deck and pulled the hatchet free. Approaching the mast, he choose not to climb up after

Saltooth, who had the high ground, and instead began to swing the hatchet at the mast. Bloodwrath filled his reddened eyes as he swung the axe over and over into the damaged wood. His sheer, rage-fueled power was doing its job. The mast had been nearly sliced in two from the hatchet. Splinters flew wildly over the deck as the fox attacked the ship.

Several times an enterprising pirate attempted to stop him, only for One-Ear to pull the sword from the deck and kill them without even a sideways glance. The mast was leaning dangerously, only a few more chops and it would fall, crushing Saltooth against the ship. Panting, One-Ear stuck the hatchet into the deck and picked up his crossbow. He launched a bolt at the rat in the crows nest. It thudded against the top of the broken mast.

Clinging to the lookout spar Saltooth leered down at the fox brandishing his sword. The rat felt confident in his position not being able to see the damage One-ear had done. Laughing Saltooth pointed his blade at the fox holding onto a rope for support.

"I'd come down from there, rat! If I don't get you, the fall will!"

"Come n' get me matey, I don' fancy dyin' an' I ain't fallin' neither. I could hold every last one o' ye fr'm 'ere!"

One-Ear shook his head.

"A coward like the rest of you pirates. SO BE IT!"

The fox snatched the hatchet. He put every last inch of his strength into one massive swing. The mast cracked. Held up only by the ropes, it began to lean heavily to one side. One-Ear threw down the hatchet and took up his katana.

"For every second you don't come down, I'm cutting through one of the ropes holding you up. ONE!"

One-Ear sliced cleanly through a rope.

"TWO!"

Another rope fell, severed easily by the sharp blade from across the seas.

"THREE! AND YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!"

Once more another rope was cut. The mast was now completely unsupported on one side. It groaned and leant heavily as though the slightest gust of wind would send it crashing down. Cursing wildly Saltooth lost his grip on his sword. The shinning blade spun from his paw falling down and cleaving into an otter killing the unsuspecting creature instantly.

Saltooth, unaware of this grabbed hold of the lookout spar with all four paws his eyes wide.

"Last chance rat!" One-Ear yelled, his katana slashing though a last rope. A loud groan rose from the mast as ropes began snapping on their own accord. The great wooden construction slipped from its damaged supports with an almighty crash destroying a portion of the upper deck. Several unlucky shrews and pirates screamed in shock as ropes backlashed breaking necks and limbs like brittle twigs. The last rope snapped sending Saltooth flying though the air. The steersrat let out a wild scream before splashing heavily into the ocean. The mast followed, crushing the battlers directly in its path, destroying the railing as the upper deck crumpled.

Bobbing up from the water Saltooth swam to the ship heaving himself up a rope. Picking up a discarded cutlass the rat fled to the wheel deck limping badly.

Surmounting the wheel deck, he came upon two shrews crouching there bows in their paws and empty quivers at their sides. Laying open the first shrew's face with the cutlass Saltooth dodged a swing from the second's bow. Kicking the creature over, Saltooth pinned it down slicing its throat open. The clash of battle still sounded below but up on the wheel deck, Saltooth was alone. Taking the time to relax the rat tapped the helm with his claw, stroking the wood almost lovingly.

"Guess this tis me last time sailin' ye ol' gel. Ye were always me gel, ye know it. Aye last day o' sailin', we'll make it a good un'."

One-Ear watched the mast fall with grim satisfaction. He cursed when Saltooth hauled himself back onto the deck. Saltooth was getting away, but what about Chrysanthe. The fox pulled Martin's Sword from the dead otter, holding it anxiously along with the katana as the bloodwrath took hold again. He turned his head from his shrew friend and focused on Saltooth. Slowly, One-Ear followed him to the wheel deck, cleaving any pirates that got in his way into pieces with the two whistling blades. One-Ear was about to step up the wheel deck when his mother jumped in front of him.

"One-Ear, I'll take the rat, you help Chrysanthe. I can barely swim, you have to help her!"

The younger fox looked upon Mortembell with a cold glare.

"No."

He shoved his mother out of the way and ran up to the wheeldeck.

"You're cornered rat. Think you can take me with that thing?" He scoffed, motioning to the cutlass.

Twisting to face One-ear Saltooth steadied himself one paw on the wheel, the other clutching his sword. The steersrat's left footpaw was twisted badly and his right had a few broken toes. Though the rat looked worse for wear he was still a capable fighter.

The rat snorted, tossing the blade over the side. It flashed in the morning sun before disappearing underwater.

"Yew mate are blind." Saltooth laughed taking the wheel in both paws. "Ye are willing to kill them creatures ye call mates jus' to get at me. Aye an' allow others to die, jus' to make me bleed. Gotta say mate I'm honored at th' 'ttention. Never thought no beast would care 'bout me so much. Course I don' care fer yer type, an' I don' like dyin'. So... I'm afraid I'll 'ave to kill ye. No 'ard feelings mate."

Rapshade yanked his broken leg out from under the fallen mast, coughing and feeling both in pain and angrier than he ever had been. The ferret pulled himself up, and balancing on one footpaw he approached One-Ear from the back. He aimed to chop One-Ear's remaining ear off with a swipe of his sabre, yowling maniacally.

"How DARE ye destroy my ship jus' t' get at good-fer-nothing Saltooth! I'm gonna chop yer head off, piece by piece...Filthy fox!"

One-Ear turned swiftly, Martin's Sword flashing through the air. Steel clashed with steel as Rapshade's sabre went clattering to the deck in broken pieces.

"Shouldn't have let me know you were comin,' ferret."

The fox ignored Saltooth clinging to the wheel and kicked Rapshade roughly down the stairs. He saw Duncan and Bracklew on the deck below and threw Martin's sword.

"DUNCAN! CATCH!"

One-Ear turned back to Saltooth.

"And how are you going to kill me? You threw your weapon over the side, just shows how dumb you are, stupid rat."
He got closer to Saltooth, ignoring the rat's pained screams from the broken paw and brandished the katana. One-Ear thrust a sword towards the steersrat.

"Let go of the wheel. Die like a warrior."

Hissing Saltooth pulled his damaged footpaw away sneering at One-ear.

"Ye don' get it do ye? I'm an' unarmed opponent. Ye can't kill me wit'out ruinin' yer sense o' honor. Least that's wot ye try n' say. Hah but ye've proven yer no less vermin then me. So go to Hellgates fox!"

Saltooth spun the ship's wheel causing one of the spokes to smash into One-ear's chin. The fox reeled back losing his grip on the katana, which Saltooth took easily.

Planting one knee on the fox's chest Saltooth placed the dull edge of the katana against One-ear's throat. "Looks like this be yer last sailin' day, wait fer me at th' gates mate." He pressed down on the sword cutting off One-ear's air supply. The fox squirmed choking as he gasping out.

"You wait for me!" Shooting his right paw up One-ear hit the dull edge with all his strength sending the razor edge deep into Saltooth's chest. Clouting One-ear in the temple Saltooth's eyes went wide and he rolled off fox coughing up great clots of blood. Staggering down off the wheel deck Saltooth stared down at the blood on his paws. The Captain coughed blood, he had the medicine that helped him. Delirious, Saltooth staggered into the cabin looking around franticly.

Spotting a bottle filled with a oddly colored liquid Saltooth opened the bottle gulping it down feverishly. Rasping, Saltooth lay down his head propped up against the bed. His eyes started to cloud over as his confused mind wondered why the medicine wasn't working. It was almost making things worse. Desperation filled Saltooth as he struggled against death refusing to let it take him. His fight was futile and in his last effort he squirmed forcing his paw inside the wound feeling his broken ribs, and the punctured lung. Squeezing the damaged organ closed the rat wheezed his dying words.
"Goin' sail, damn fox must'a 'ad somterrr'n agassit ma. I' dyin', don' fancy dyin'." On his last voyage to the Hellgates, Saltooth never truly found out what killed him. Whether it was One-ear's sword or Mixy's poisoned medicine he was doomed to consider for eternity.

[close]

All credit goes to Sandpaw and Groddil for the characters, and to Ashleg for the creation of the RP.

[Skyblade]

Quite dramatic, I was heart-pounding at the end. Some grammar errors (missing commas) and the like, and not always clear (because of wording or spacing of lines, perhaps?) but still a good read.

Thanks for posting!

[Hickory]

Well, I was mainly focusing on smoothing all the posts together, but I'll go back and work on it later. Thanks for the critique.

[LT Sandpaw]

Wow, thanks Sagetip, you did a pretty good job editing that duel.

[Hickory]

Thanks.

[LT Sandpaw]

Was this just a work on a whim? It was a good callback for me, I'd almost forgotten some of the cooler moments from that RP.


BTW One-ear had something against poor Salty.

[Hickory]

Mostly on a whim, I figured doing the whole RP was a bit too far.

[Hickory]

Made some edits that mainly had to do with spacing.

[The Skarzs]

Huh. Wonder why I didn't read this sooner. Very dramatic, with some unrealistic bits, but it was a good read. Thanks for putting the effort into pulling that together, Sage.


Some RPs really seem like they would make good stories, but I hadn't seen something like it until now. Guess I have something to base against.
The problem with RPs being put into story form is that some characters need to be made more important than others, and not all events can happen the way they played out. I suppose the best one can do is do as little modifying as possible, leaving the actual events as the basis.

[Hickory]

I'll probably be doing another duel from the final battle later, Vadoma vs. Mortembell.

Sometimes RPs fail from lack of a good execution. The premise is good, but it doesn't play out as it should. It wipes out any potential.

[Captain Tammo]

What a great fight! From the moment where the words "Ye are betraying yer own kind, mate" were spoken, the scene became tense and I was hooked. Great job!