Ratty Driftwood

[Faclan]

Unfortunately unaware of the peril the medical mink was in Tulian was huffing and puffing as he worked on ascending the dune. Easily able to be seen from pretty much everywhere on the crash site that was the beach as he slowly got higher and higher. At least moving around in the warm sand was helping to get the feeling back into his leaden waterlogged limbs as he finally made it to the top. Waving his arms a little to balance better on the shifting top of the dune before he got to work doing his job.

Slowly turning around a few times as he looked for big landmarks he soon found a likely spot. Well the largest thing he could see at least. So pulling out the barely still holding together Sextant he moved it up to near his face to try and dial in the distance as he looked at the object through the telescope. Though it was entirely fogged up. So looking down at his feet the rat lowered the device and tried to clean it. Carefully as he knew how sensitive this kind of thing could be. He needed to find out where they were after all so the Captain would know!

But the short rat wasn't focusing on his surroundings at all anymore. Surely nothing terrible would happen to him.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Mgarbrow watched the top of the sand dune as Tornpath, accompanied by Sliteye, slipped across the golden sea crumbs and up the steep rise, only visible because Dyemhar knew their exact location and, even then, confusing to the eye. The weasels would disappear for a few seconds, then turn up somewhere else entirely, not moving in a straight line but rather going side to side and up and down. Tornpatch was a useful member of the crew, Mharbrow reflected, though not for the first time.
The weasel had now reached the top and was getting ready to make his move, carefully checking everything to make sure it wasn't a trap and, if it was, that he was prepared to deal with it. He exchanged a glance with Sliteye and gestured for the other weasel to stay put for the moment while he circled round.
Mharbrow looked across the beach in the other direction as a shout of pain came from where he'd sent Belladonna. He could make out a rat on the ground, nursing an injury but still alive, while the rest of the party quickly secured their captives. His gaze switched briefly to the rocks, where Rangfur and the rat twins were waiting for his signal.
He looked back up to the top of the sand dune and saw that Tornpatch was watching the scene bellow, presumably having finished his task and waiting to bring his prisoner down. It was time.
"Webneck, have you got the rope ready?"
The weasel nodded wordlessly, holding up the thick cord with a vicious grin.
"Good. Give the signal."

"The Painted Phantom of your nightmares has arriiived!"

Mharbrow and Webneck jumped from their spot on the sun-warmed shore and charged, Rangfur doing the same with the two rats as the enemy visibly panicked, struggling to draw what weapons they had.
Mharbrow knew any resistance would be futile. He had vanquished another enemy!

[Faclan]

Once he brought the tool up to his face again and saw not a well defined mountain of some kind but a grinning weasel face approaching with a rope drawn the navigator knew he was in trouble. But trying not to panic, as several times he had seen panic lead to death, he turned around to seek an escape. Only to find that there was one behind him too.

Alrighty then! Putting the Sextant back in its belt pouch the small rat raised up his forepaws to shoulder level and gave a weak smile. "A...ay fr'nds! Ta' nah' nea'd ta ras'art ta' ve'lence! 'Ah cum' qui'et."

Though how far that rat got in that before he was bound and restrained who knew! But now he was a prisoner of the enemy crew. And it would be clear by the expression on the rats face he was not confident in his chances now.

(Ey friends! Theres no need to resort to violence! I'll come quietly!)

[Verdauga]

Wrackfur glanced at Salamandastron in the distance. He had, just two nights before, left a band planning on attacking one of the nearby settlements. The weasel had seen what the long patrol could do; he hadn't lived this long by tangling with them. Hearing  a thundering warcry he stalked out of the woods onto the beach, seeing wreckages and driftwood, and beasts. Rats, other weasels, foxes, and ferrets, obviously corsairs by the look of them. The best thing to do, he reasoned, was leave them alone, but he needed food, foolishly forgetting to take any when he escaped. With a huff, Wrackfur stalked up to some rocks and hid behind them to watch the battle. Mayhaps he could join the victors after it had all ended.

[Kade Rivok]

From his concealed position on the other side of the enemy crew, Firestripe saw the captain and the rest of the crew begin their charge.  He wasn't sure why Rangfur hadn't come back, but that didn't matter at this point.  Just as he was motioning to Cutsnip, for them to attack as well, he noticed a ragged, hunched over weasel stalk out of the foliage and quickly take cover behind some rocks not far from their position.  The beast didn't look to be part of the Keelteeth's crew; he didn't look to be a wave vermin at all, for that matter.  Not wanting to take any chances, Firestripe spoke low and quick to Cutsnip.

"Change of plans.  I'm going to attack with the captain, you go see what that weasel is up to.  Don't attack him if you don't have to, we might be able to recruit him."

The ferret nodded to him and they both moved at the same time.  Firestripe silently charged the flank of the Keelteeth's crew, not letting out a warcry as that would defeat the purpose of his sneak attack.  The enemy was panicking, completely focused on Mharborw and the rest.  They would never see him coming.

Cutsnip moved up to where the weasel was hiding, trying to be as quiet as he could.  As he caught sight of the beast, he leaned against a rock and called out to him.  "Enjoyin' da show, mate?"

[Verdauga]

Wrackfur jolted when he heard the other weasel speak. Turning around, he kept his axe hand relaxed and chuckled. "Hehe, you seadogs liek sneakin' up on us, eh? The waves wer'n't good 'nuff fer ya, so ye had t'come here?" He glanced back at the charge before turning back to the seabeast and nodding in the direction of the skirmish. "Wich one o' them are you, if'n ye don't mind my askin'?"

[shisteer of nothing much]

It was but the work of a moment to conquer the unprepared vermin crew. A long moment maybe, but a moment, none the less. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he charged, scattering the meager force before him like ninepins. In the rush, one of the enemy rats were killed and another was injured badly but, on the whole, it was a successful skirmish.

Mharbrow stood over the vermin captain, his fur moist from the few minutes of high paced action and his eyes still glinting dangerously as he smiled down at his victim. The other captain had dared to destroy his ship. He'd pay dearly for his decision. It was a shame Keelteeth's captain was unconscious. Mharbrow would have enjoyed telling him what he had in mind. Still, there was work to be done and such entertainment was probably not wise in this situation anyway.

Captain Mharbrow nodded to Firestripe, jerking his head towards the rocks where WaveBlade's skiff was sheltered.
"Good work. Let's get out of the open. Webneck, give the signal for Belladonna and Tornpatch to bring their prisoners in. Where did Cutsnip go, Firestripe?"

[Kade Rivok]

Firestripe pulled one of his blades out of a dead rat.  Breathing lightly, he wiped the blood off with some nearby grass before putting his swords away and looked over the scene.  It had been an easy victory, that was for sure; apparently he hadn't needed to be so cautious about things.  Still, in his mind it was better than being reckless.  As things calmed down, he began to notice his bad leg throbbing once again; he'd been putting it through the paces today and was now paying for it.  Not willing to show weakness, he pushed the pain away and greeted the captain with a nod in return, walking over to him with only a slight limp.  He picked up the Keelteeth's unconscious captain with ease and threw him over his shoulder, before gesturing in the direction he'd spotted the lone vermin in response to Mharbrow's question.

"Caught sight of a weasel, not part of Keelteeth's crew, so I sent Cutsnip to...."  Firestripe paused as he looked over and saw the ferret in question leading the weasel towards them.  "Oh, look, here they come now.  Maybe we'll have a new recruit."

[Verdauga]

Wrackfur glanced behind him after asking his question and noticed the fight was practically over; it  had hardly begun. Noticing that the ferret in front of him wasn't worried, Wrackfur eventually realized (after a few minutes' thought) that he was on the winning side. "Well," he said after a while, "yer crew seems t'be prett' good at the fightin'..." One beast he could take, but not an entire crew. Still, he needed food, and seabeasts had it. The ferret prodded him forward, and he stepped to the side. "'Ey! no need t'poke me; Ah'll go along, pretty as ye please." Wrackfur strode across the beach, keeping ahead of the ferret, and walked straight up to the fox captain, avoiding eye contact and not saying anything.

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Belladonna's ears pricked and she listened intently to the sounds of battle. After several minutes she looked to her comrades.
  "We won. Get those two back to the captain and find my herb bag, but don't look in it or I will kill you."
  Baretail and Fanggrin nodded and slung the unconscious beasts over their shoulders. Grunt remained seated, clutching his leg. The vixen stood slowly, keeping her dagger pressed against the mink's throat and forcing him to rise as well.
  "Stay here, Grunt. I'll send somebeast back to help you into camp." 

[shisteer of nothing much]

Mharbrow watched in silence as the weasel approached, his gaze never leaving the new arrival as he moved forward, his eyes downcast. He wasn't a seabeast- that much was clear- but he looked to be a warrior or, at least, a fighter. Judging by the few scars visible, he hadn't mastered the parrying moves yet. Still, it might be better to take a friendly approach with this beast. He could use a few more beasts on his side.
"And you are...? Come, you can tell us who you are and what you're doing in these parts over some tucker. We don't have much but it'll be better than nothing."
Mharbrow saw Webneck giving him a strange look and leaned down to him, giving a few whispered instructions.
"Go ahead to the skiff. See what we've got in the way of food and, for goodness sake, stop staring!"
Webneck nodded and hurried away while Mharbrow turned back to the weasel.
"As I was saying, I'm Captain Dyemhar, corsair leader of Waveblade, before it got rammed by that slimy skunk they call a pirate. This here is Firestripe, my first mate. What's your name?"
Mharbrow kept his eyes firmly on the weasel, his look clearly communicating that, though his words were friendly, he wouldn't put up with any trouble.

[Verdauga]

Raising his eyes to meet those of the fox, Wrackfur noticed the cold look. Seabeasts were more uppity than typical vermin, he remembered. When he'd leave, he'd have to leave quickly. "Name's Wrackfur, cap'n..." Casting his typical lazy glance at the skiff and then the slain vermin lying about, he met the captain's gaze and said, "You mus' be proud t'call yerselves pirates, huh? I'd hate t'cross swords with you...er axes neither." Despite himself, he eyed the captain with a smirk on his face, as most slow-thinking vermin do.

[Faclan]

Led along after he was restrained Tul was forced to watch from the sidelines as pretty much everyone he knew was slain. It wasn't the best of times. The rat not making any move to escape as he knew death would be waiting if he tried. He at least had his tools on himself soon to plead his case for his life but his dagger had been taken. It had been a nice one too and would likely be delivered to the captain.

But once the battle was over he was shoved and pulled along before being forced to sit down and back against a piece of driftwood from the ships before he was tied to it. Then just left alone to watch and wait for someone to come and...stick a knife in him? Hopefully not! The navigator squirming as he considered this.

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Belladonna pushed the mink in front of her as she walked, her dagger still at his neck. A weasel was talking with Captain Dyemhar, she saw, and he wasn't part of their crew. She wondered briefly if he was a captive from the other ship, but quickly dismissed the thought. His clothes and posture spoke of a life on the land, not aboard a corsair vessel.
  She stopped several paces away from the fox captain, kicking the back of the mink's knees so that he crumpled before Mharbrow PhantomPaint. The vixen said nothing, waiting for her captain to finish with the stranger before she presented her prisoner.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Mharbrow had a hard time holding in his disgust at the weasel before him. He could guess at the thoughts going through the beast's mind and they only served to annoy him further. It didn't bode well for any of the captives they'd taken.
"I generally refer to myself as a corsair, actually but yes, I suppose it can be a rather satisfying occupation. I'm sure you won't find the need to cross weapons with me or my crew and, if you do, I can't imagine you'll get very far. Now, please excuse me, I have matters to attend to. Webneck over there is preparing a meal. He'll serve everybeast when it's ready."
Mharbrow turned away from Wrackfluff, or whatever his name was, dismissing him as he addressed Belladonna.
"Give you any trouble? I see Baretail and Fanggrin are taking care of the other prisoners. Where's Grunt?"

Tornpatch cleared his throat and, when Mharbrow turned to him, saluted and jerked his head towards a large piece of driftwood, where Mharbrow could see an enemy rat sitting on the sand with his back against it.
"Mishun 'cumplish, chief. 'e didn't put up much resistance neither. What d'ye want me to do with 'im? I kin give 'im a good knoch on the 'ead if ye want me to. 'e 'ad this nice rib-sticker too."

Mharbrow gave the dagger a cursory glance and gestured to the skiff.
"I'll take a proper look later. I think, for now, we'll just leave the rat conscious. If he causes any problems, we'll reconsider. Get Sliteye to put all the prisoners in the same place. It'll save having to address them more than once. Here, would you mind taking this animal over? Tie him up tight."

Tornpatch saluted again, tucked the dagger into his belt and relieved Belladonna of her burden with a savage grin as he prodded the mink forward with his own knife.
"Yes, Cap'n. This feller don't look too 'appy 'bout this. Ah well, ragchops, Tornpatch'll settle your 'atch. Move along now."

Mharbrow lifted an eyebrow at Belladonna, gesturing to the two unconscious rats behind them.
"Let's deal with these reprobates. Then we'll have a solid meal and some fun with the prisoners."