Claymore and Talons

A quest of vengeance, a quest of war, this is the story of a kestrel and an otter along with one of the most unlikely beasts. Come hear a tale of war, friendship, and vengeance.
== Author Notes: ==
The opening sections were a collab team written by Nashog and WildloughRhulain. Tarnfalk Strongwings is Nashog's character.
==Prologue==
A kestrel flew over the path scanning the ground below. The path was covered in snow and he was blinded by the sun reflecting off it. Below, a tall otter was heading west toward the ford. They had heard from the Abbeybeasts that a group of vermin led by a stoat had camped there. 
Kiath O'Rallaghaigh was whistling until the kestrel landed next to her.
"I can see smoke ahead, we are getting close." the kestrel said in a low voice.
The otter gritted her teeth. She reached behind her and pulled a well-used claymore from its sheath over her back. "Tarnfalk, ah dinnae intend tae leave any o' the scum alive tae do their dirty work." Her accent grew stronger as her normally-emerald eyes turned a deep crimson.
"Well I didn't either but let's no' make it too loud now. Don't want t' wake the entire woodlands." Tarnfalk dug his talons deeper into the snow.
Kiath grinned sadistically and nodded. "Aye, we dinnae want tae take that risk. Ah've got payment for each lash on mah back, each scar frae the chains ah had tae wear. Et's ri' here." She held her sword over her head.
He just nodded knowing this was when she was at her most dangerous. He had learned of her slavery long ago and had helped kill the wildcat that had enslaved her. He usually didn't get anywhere near her when she was like this even though he doubted the otter would harm him after two seasons of traveling and fighting together.
Two seasons ago, they had met.
Kiath had been brought to the cat's compound where she had broken out killing two guards with her bare paws and teeth. She had seized the sword from one and had sworn revenge.
As they rounded the corner the camp at the ford came into view along with five stoats sitting around a campfire laughing and eating breakfast.
The Highlander stiffened. Her eyes blazed with a savage crimson fire as she raised her claymore over her 
head. The kestrel took to the air letting out a harsh "Kree" and flew 
towards the vermin.
Kiath was already sprinting forward as she took a deep breath and bellowed her warcry at the tops of her lungs. 
"HAWAAAY THE BRAAAAAW!"
Tarnfalk watched as the vermin scrambled to get their weapons and then Kiath was among them. The otter's claymore flashed like lightning as she made one powerful swing. . . Three stoats looked into her eyes and saw the fires of Hellgates.
A second later, their heads hit the ground and their bodies followed. The last stoat, a female, gave a scream as Tarnfalk dug his talons into her face and forced her to the ground. He leaped off her and then plunged his 
razor like beak into her neck silencing her forever.
Kiath turned, venting her rage on the tent, tearing it to shreds and revealing a baby stoat inside. It started crying.
Tarnfalk, getting off the stoat, came over and looked inside. He started shaking slightly.
Though the otter's eyes were still cold as she looked at him, their redness was slowly abating. "What dae ye ken ah dae a'the noo?"
"We can't leave him in the cold, we ain't vermin. I just can't think of any creature who would take a stoat for their own however." He shook as he said this and started going into shock. They had never had to deal with 
something like this before. A life of a young vermin lay in their talons and there was nothing he could think of that could save it.
"An idea jest hit mah. Ah dinnae ken what else would work, the Abbey." The Highlander coolly walked off, holding her bloody claymore in one paw. She turned in mid-stride, wiping her blade on her tartan. The dark blue and green plaid now shone with blood, but it didn't faze her.
Tarnfalk watched as the otter left the tent then cleaned his beak on a blanket and started cleaning his talons. "You are going to have to carry him," he said to the otter.
"Ah'll dae et this once, ma bonnie laddie. Ef ah ever carry vermin again, et's cause ah'm stackin' their bodies."
"Well what's on the fire since I'm hungry after that fight?" he said, changing the subject.
Kiath stepped coolly over to the fire, ignoring the bodies, and inspected a pair of trout, turning them over with her blade. She started whistling a reel her father had taught her as a cub, a melody called Red Jemmie.
Tarnfalk stepped over one of the heads looking down at it with disgust as he exited the tent and strode up next to her. He looked at the fish and licked his beak. "This will be perfect on a cold day like today." 
As he said this he flapped his wings stretching them and accidentally buffeted her with them.
"Speakin' o' cauld. . . ye dinnae want this bluid tae freeze en yore feathers. Ah dinnae care how cauld 
et is, ah need tae get et off mah fur." Kiath headed for the ford, whistling.
Tarnfalk ripped a piece of meat off a fish and started preening some of the blood off his white breast feathers. "Can you get this blood off my face when you're done?"
"Aye, laddie." The otter slipped into the water without a splash. Her world turned into this still and soundless bubble. Normally, otters would relish being alone underwater and find peace in it, but Kiath found something else. . . . .Her memories overwhelmed her.
Kiath felt the lash of slavers' rods as they bit into her back, could feel the warmth of the blood flowing over her pelt, matting her fur. Strangely, she felt no pain. She had long gone past that.
It would be so easy, she thought, to give up under the rods, to just cower meekly like the countless broken creatures who had come before her; the creatures she had shared work duties with. They want mah tae give oop, tae call for mercy. The day ah ask for mercy frae them es the day Hellgates freezes over. As the lashes came down her eyes became red as blood and she yanked hard on the ropes that were being held by a rat. She pulled him over to her sinking her teeth into his neck as he screamed for mercy. The other vermin, a ferret, swung down hard at her only to have his whip caught in her paws. He tried yanking it back only to find the otter coming towards him with it gripped in her paws. The last thing he saw was Hellgates reflected in her eyes. He died screaming as she dug her paws into his neck and snapped it. She grabbed the sword on his back along with the sheath and belt it was on and ran, barging her way through the gates. She didn't stop running for a day and finally collapsed by a stream.
Kiath shook as she came out of her memories. She looked up through the water at the sky above. Then she noticed Tarnfalk looking down at her through the water.
The otter resurfaced, shaking water from her ears. "Sorry, laddie, ah cuidnae hear ye."
"I was saying you won't get any of the fish unless you got this blood off since it is starting to freeze and my feathers can't really afford to be frozen." As he said this he gestured with his wing at the fish.
"Come on en. Ah can get yore feathers and ye can dry by the fire," Kiath offered.
"Fine just promise not to laugh once I am dry." He dunked his body into the freezing stream.
"Ah'd never laugh at a mate." The Highlander started to gently clean his feathers with her paws.
"What about the time I got captured by rats and nearly eaten, then you said it should have been the other way around."
Kiath's face flushed and she swore. "Ah'm sorry aboot that. Ah wasnae thinkin'." She lowered her head.
"It's fine mate but now that I think about it was pretty funny. Anyways get this blood off my face now."
Kiath wordlessly pulled a clump of soft moss from a rock in the river and began to gently scrub the dried blood from the kestrel's face.
Tarnfalk didn't say a word as she did mainly because he didn't feel like stabbing her paws with his beak but also because he was thinking that this was probably the most peaceful she had been since he had met her.
The otter sighed heavily, voicing her thoughts aloud. "Ah killed 'em tae quickly. . . . shuid ha' done et slower."
Pulling back his head now that most of the blood was gone he said "You're forgetting the babe, I wouldn't want it to see or hear what you do ta vermin."
Kiath's face flushed. "Och, aye. Ah'm goin' for a walk."
"No you aren't; we are getting that babe to Redwall and you are going to eat some of that fish since you only ate a small breakfast at the abbey."
She narrowed her eyes. "Och, ye great, fat feather bag, ye're as bad as a hare."
"Well I was taught to eat all of what I caught least it go to waste. Besides it's just rude to leave a half eaten mouse in the middle of a path." He got out of the water shaking his feathers and hopped over to the fire where he started drying himself off.
Kiath sighed and picked the baby stoat up. Tarnfalk motioned with his wing towards one of the fish and leaned over to start eating the other one.
"Can you cover the babe's eyes he shouldn't see his parents or whatever they were. Nobeast should see their parents being killed or their bodies afterwards." He tore a small piece of cloth from the tent, giving it to her.
The otter nodded and yelped as the babe bit her paw. "Ach, ye wee terror! Come on." Kiath covered the infant's face with the cloth.
As Tarnfalk went back to drying off and eating he realised that just downstream from here was his former home. He couldn't go back there, not yet. He had discussed it with Kiath but that was two seasons ago and they were wanderers now. It just wouldn't work.
Kiath cuddled the babe and seemed to stare off into space.
"Well you need to eat, it will help you take your mind off things. Does for me most of the time. Now little one I wonder what your name is."
"Ah wonder. What dae ye think o' Verraten?" the otter asked the baby.
"Sounds good to me" Tarnfalk clacked his beak and if he could have smiled he would have.
Kiath gave one of her rare smiles to the little stoat.
"Well you should eat since I am almost dry." His feathers had started to get more and more fluffy as he dried and he was now starting to resemble one big fluffy ball of down.
"Ah'm no' really hungry." Kiath scooped up a pawful of snow and put it in her mouth.
The Highlander's eyes suddenly grew big, she made a choking noise in her throat and covered her mouth with both paws. Tarnfalk glared at her and just shook his head and sighed.
"Cannae. . ." Kiath let out a whooping, ragged gasp and grabbed her throat with her paws.
"Can you breathe, otter?" Tarnfalk said as he started preening his feathers getting them so they weren't so funny to look at.
Kiath choked and shook her head. "Cannae," she rasped.
"Need me to whack you on the back." Tarnfalk said this as he strode over to her.
The otter nodded causing him to hit her hard with his talons balled up on her back.
Kiath coughed. "Ah'm sorry."
"It's fine, just help me with these feathers. I don't want the entire woodlands seeing me like this." Tarnfalk bent down so the otter could easily get his back as he preened his stomach. Kiath smoothed his back feathers into place with strangely gentle paws.
A little while later they arrived at the abbey with the stoat sleeping quietly in the otter's paws. Kiath looked up at the wall, then looked at the infant as though she'd carry a decaying, half-eaten rat. "Ef ah ever carry a vermin again-" Her voice lowered menacingly.
"You said it would be to stack their bodies." Tarnfalk watched the gates wondering if anyone had seen them coming.
"Aye." The otter looked back up at the wall. "This'll wake him oop. Ah dinnae ken what tae dae." She took a deep breath as she laid the baby on the ground, stepped back, cupped her paws around her mouth and let loose at the tops of her lungs.
"HAWAAAAAAAAAAY THE BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
Tarnfalk winced as she yelled and the stoat started crying but he ignored it waiting to see who would come onto the walls.
A tall otter appeared on the ramparts with a javelin in his paw. "What in Hellgates is going on down there?!"
Kiath laughed darkly. "Laddie, ye've go' no idea. . . . Skipper, we're back."
"We found a stoat baby when we attacked a camp of vermin at the ford. We didn't know what else to do so we brought him here." He nodded at the baby and wrapped his talons around it before flying it up to the wall.
The gates opened and Kiath walked through, raising her sheathed claymore in a salute to the other otter.
"Ah dinnae ken what tae dae a' the noo."
Tarnfalk handed the baby to the Skipper and nodded slightly at it. "His name is Verraten. I think I killed his mum so take very good care of him unless you want me to deal with." He said this with a hint of regret in his voice but it vanished quickly and he went back to being his normal self.
Kiath raised her voice. "We need tae be goin'!" The Highlander turned on her heel and headed back out the gate. Tarnfalk took to the air and landed next to her as they walked off.
== Chapter One ==
The stoat left via the small wicker gate in the north wall, closing it behind him. He gritted his teeth as he thought about his parents. Two warriors, a kestrel and an otter, had killed them. they sounded a rather odd couple now that he thought about it. It didn't matter to him however, since no matter what he would kill them. They had murdered his parents and Skipper had told him that the kestrel had killed his mother. He could care less about his father since he was supposed to be a robber and if there was one thing that he had been taught it was robbing someone was wrong. The Abbey had been peaceful and had taught him much but he had to assume that his mother must have been peaceful and not a murderer. That was how it had escalated between him and the Skipper.
He had gotten into a fight with him over whether or not his parents were good beasts or vermin.
Skipper had decided to tell him the day before how he had come to the abbey, starting from what the kestrel had told him when they dropped the young stoat off to when they had gone to see the campsite later that day and found the bodies, one of which was recognised as a robber who had killed many woodlanders. He had argued his mother must have been mistaken and not been one of the robbers' mate on purpose, but he couldn't think of how she had become his mate that way.
He shook the thoughts from his mind, started humming a tune as he walked and looked up at the sky which had a bright full moon shining down. The stars shone like myriad chips of diamond on an onyx blanket. It was a beautiful night with a cool wind rustling through the trees and he just enjoyed himself as he walked with his quest for vengeance ever in the back of his mind.
Skipper woke and stretched, looking over to where Verraten usually slept in a bed across from him. He started to speak before he saw the rumpled blankets and shrugged. "Must be checking out the kitchens," the otter yawned. "Sounds like a good idea. I thought I saw a jar of raspberry preserves on the counter last time I was in there." He smiled. "I bet they'd go good with that hotroot cake Sister Devon was experimenting with." The Skipper blushed slightly as he said the name. "I wonder if anybeast's ever told her how pretty her eyes are?"
Devon, the alluring otter in charge of the Abbey Kitchens, stood in front of the oven, biting her lower lip. "I hope this doesn't mess up; I've never tried to make a cake with hotroot before. I just hope the cake won't ruin." She started backing away from the oven, keeping her eyes on it. "Please just work and not have the shrimp dry out too much."
Skipper came through the door causing her to spin around. Devon caught her breath in surprise. "Skipper?"
The otter chieftain smiled at her. "Is there anything I can do to help, miss Devon?"
"I'm trying something I've never tried before," she explained, and blushed.
"Well what are ya making?" Skipper said, sniffing the air.
"It's a new recipe I invented. We all love shrimp and hotroot soup; well, at least us otters do. I thought, why not add a little sweetness to it and invent a cake?" Devon shrugged, then looked worried. "I just hope this doesn't mess up, Skip."
The Skipper came over and put a paw on her shoulder. "How much longer does it have to bake?"
"A half hour. I'm using the same cooking time as the spice cake I baked before, just slightly different ingredients."
"Well can I try it when it's done?" Skipper looked into the oven and licked his lips.
"Of course! I'll halve it with you." Devon smiled, holding up a piece of parchment. "I wrote the recipe down. By the way I don't suppose you have seen some scones that I left on the window to cool have you?"
"Maybe some of the Dibbuns were hungry." The Skipper said smiling.
"No I don't think so since I got up early this morning to make the cake."
"I'll be glad to help you find them, Sister. Actually have you seen Verraten anywhere since I just assumed he came down to the kitchens to eat an early breakfast."
"Why no, Skipper, I would have seen him if he came to the kitchens."
The otter thought. "I won't jump to conclusions, beasts have jumped to conclusions about him before and been wrong. Besides he hates stealing ever since he got in trouble for taking that fish."
Kiath and Tarnfalk walked over sand dunes, enjoying the bright summer sun beating down on them.
"It's a beautiful day today, I just wish the air wasn't so hot," Tarnfalk said, flapping his wings cooling them off.
The otter looked up into the sky and nodded, wiping sweat from her brow with a paw. "Aye, laddie. Et's hot enoo tae roast a rat oot here."
"It's much cooler up in the sky" he said, half jokingly. "Just wish you could get up there since it would be much faster than tramping along these dusty sand dunes. I am going to get some air, see ya in a couple minutes mate." He took off going high overhead until he was just a speck in the sky.
Kiath stiffened. "Stuff yer tail feathers en yer beak, ya no' think ah've go' a way tae cool off?" she grumbled softly.
Tarnfalk enjoyed the wind in his feathers as he flew and started scanning the ground well ahead of them noticing that the dunes seemed to be flattening out as they approached the sea. He started flying towards them doing a quick roll in the air and laughed.
The otter looked to the west and saw what appeared to be a lizard scurrying over a dune. "Ah dinnae ken what lizards are doin' aroon' this area. . ." She adjusted the scabbard strap over her shoulder. Then she heard a whizzing from behind and a net flew over her head, barely missing.
Kiath grabbed her claymore and drew it with lightning speed. "What 'en 'Ellgates?" Two toads charged with spears aiming for her stomach.
The Highlander bared her teeth. "Attack an O'Raghallaigh et's the last thing ye'll ever dae, ye slimy scum. . . ." She drew her blade with a speed only few could match. If this was going to be a fight, at least she'd get the first move in, she thought. She took a deep breath. "HAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY THE BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
Hearing the cry, Tarnfalk looped around to see a group of toads with a few lizards coming towards Kiath from behind. He dived down quickly gaining speed. "Kreee come to my talons, frog spawn!" He dug his talons into the back of a toad, pecking it hard in the head with his beak before taking flight again and started circling the battle, going down for brief attacks on the toads.
A crimson spark came into Kiath's eyes and the fire grew until her eyes were blood red. "Die, ye scum!" she yelled. The otter swung her sword, bringing it down on one of the toad's legs cutting deeply into it, before pulling it out to attack another one.
As Tarnfalk was ripping out the throat of a lizard, he saw a net being tossed at him out of the corner of his eye. Before he had time to dodge the net wrapped around his wings and legs making it so he couldn't move except to try snapping out with his beak. A toad came up to him holding a dagger against his throat and making sure Kiath could see what was happening.
The otter froze in mid-swing, leaning on her claymore with a look of shock and anger in her eyes. "Och, ye're mad," she whispered.
Two hours under the burning sun on the hot sands later, they were thirsty and tired. It had turned into a standoff with the knife being traded for a bow and arrow. The wind had come up briefly but it wasn't enough to cool them down.
Kiath gritted her teeth, pawing her claymore in frustration as she had no choice but to stand and watch. The toads also couldn't do anything since they were not willing to get in range of the otter's sword and they had already used their nets.
"Hellgates," she gritted. Then a breeze came up causing sand to be blown about right as a war cry was heard on the breeze.
"Euliaaaaaaaa!" Came the cry as three hares came storming over a sand dune releasing a sling stone each as they ran. The hares were then among the toads, lashing out with sabers skewering the vermin as they started trying to run.
Tarnfalk heard a whistling sound as a arrow came flying at him. Before he could move he was hit in his left wing ,causing him to cry out in pain. He snapped out with his beak grabbing a toad by its leg, snapping bone and tearing flesh as he forced it to attempt to hobble off, but it collapsed in the sand, unable to walk.
Kiath, hearing her friend's cry, whirled with her blade, cutting off the leg of one of the lizards before cutting off the head of another. Swearing vengeance, she forced her way through the running toads, her blade a whirling flash of death as it danced in her paws. Any creature that got in the otter's path was killed before it had a chance to blink.
When she got to Tarnfalk, she saw that he had taken an arrow to the top of his wing; thankfully it appeared to have missed anything major. She assumed he would be alright even though by the look on his face he was in major pain. He also seemed to have captured a toad who was squirming on the ground trying to get away.
"Dinnae move ef ye want tae live," the otter snarled through bared teeth, tickling the toad's throat with her bladepoint. She looked around, seeing a dust cloud rising to the east in the distance as the hares pursued the other toads.
Kiath whirled to her friend. "Dinnae move. Hauld verra still." The Highlander drew back with her claymore. Her sword moved quickly, almost too fast for eyes to see. The net fell away and she quickly removed it before bending down to treat his wing.
"Thanks mate, can you get this arrow out." Tarnfalk said in a voice that made it clear he was in pain and he moved his wing slightly causing him to nearly black out.
Kiath gritted her teeth. "Ah need bandages. . .Och, Hellgates." She took the dagger from one of the fallen toads and used it to cut a strip from her kilt. "Et'll hurt. . . ." the otter grimaced and slapped herself in the head. "Hauld still while ah get et oot."
She cut the head off the arrow and threw it aside, then pulled the shaft out, dropping it with a growl of anger. Tarnfalk blacked out from pain as she did this and didn't notice as she wrapped the makeshift bandage around his wing.
Rage overwhelmed Kiath as she approached the toad who was cowering on the ground. Her paw went white around the knife handle. "Ye hurt mah mate. . . naebeast harms the mates of an O'Rallaghaigh and lives." Her voice was ice cold.
The toad extended its feet out trying to shield its face. Vengeance shone in the otter's eyes as she flipped the toad over. She brought her knife down stabbing into its leg. "When ye get tae Hellgates, tell Vulpuz Kiath O'Rallaghaigh sent ye." She carved into him as the toad screamed, waking Tarnfalk.
"Oh, my wing is killing me." Then he noticed the otter and toad and nods at the otter. "Just get it over with and torture him."
An insane chuckle came from the otter. "Gladly. Ever hear o' this torture, laddie?" Kiath threw the knife away and grabbed her claymore in both paws. "The bluid eagle!"
The toad screamed as the otter stabbed her claymore into its back. She cut through the ribs of the screaming toad and ripped them aside. She plunged her paws into its rib cage, grabbing the ribs she pulled them out and set them to the side. She then ripped out the toad's lungs and set them on its back where they fluttered like the wings of a bird.
Two of the Gallopers came panting up and froze in shock. The lead hare, a rangy doe wearing a green officer's tunic, had to grab her quarterstaff for support. "Don't look," Lorryn O'Graiden gasped to the younger hares.
She spoke too late however; Private Latna Dawnshadow started shaking all over. Her gray eyes were glazed. "I ne-never tho-tho-thought that any cre-cre-creature could d-d-do that to ano-another." the younger hare stuttered out.
Lorryn looked with terrified shock at the gruesome sight that met her eyes. "The only time I ever saw anything this terrible was when a badger went into bloodwrath and hit a vermin in the head with a sword butt," she whispered.
"Wha-what b-butt? D-d-don't you mean the b-blade?" Dawnshadow stammered.
"No, it was like a mace or hammer crashing into its head, there was an explosion of red and the sight afterwards was not one I wanted to see again," her companion said, her tone a bit stronger. She was slowly recovering.
Dawnshadow's eyes fell on the bloody claymore in the otter's paws. She slowly started backing away.
Kiath looked up and saw the hares. She looked at them grimly. "Can ya help mah mate? He's wounded." she said, gesturing to the kestrel.
"I'm a m-m-medic," Dawnshadow stammered. Her heart pounded as she crossed to the injured kestrel.
Tarnfalk winced as she removed the bandage, looking at the wound.
Lorryn looked at the otter's claymore, then at the carnage. Under pretense of looking for survivors, she moved to get as far away from the otter as she could.
As soon as Tarnfalk's treated, ah'll check the bodies frae guid weapons, Kiath thought. Ah'm lookin frae a guid dirk. . . . Kiath calmly strolled through the battlefield, looking around for anything she could use.
Tarnfalk, meanwhile, was trying not to move his wing as the hare rebandaged and cleaned his wound. "Will my wing be alright?" he asked the hare.
"You'll fly again, just not anytime soon."
"Hellgates, so much for trying to scout ahead like I normally do. Speaking of which, who are you hares?" Tarnfalk was trying his best to ignore the pain, thinking he had been through worse. Then again, he had never taken a arrow in the wing before.
Dawnshadow spoke for the group. "We serve Lord Felltree of Salamandastron. We're his Long Patrol."
Lorryn could be heard calling out then . "This lizard's still alive, he's missin' a leg though."
Kiath grinned evilly. "Gosh, ah dinnae ken how that happened. . . . "
"What are you doing, otter." Lorryn said as the otter approached the lizard.
"Ah'm finishin' the job." Kiath raised her claymore.
"Kiath, let these hares deal with him." Tarnfalk stared at her with his black eyes.
Kiath made one light flick with her claymore tip and severed the end of the lizard's tail. "Ooops," she said sarcastically. She raised her blade again and positioned it over the lizard's left leg, at the thigh. "Tails can grow back. Legs cannae."
"I'm serious, I will be fine, there's no need to torture him as well." Tarnfalk said, trying to get up.
The otter nodded, lowered her blade and took a half-pace away, turning on her heel so the shaking lizard was left staring at her back. "So be et, laddie."
Dawnshadow blanched. "Are ye mad?" she whispered.
Kiath grinned. "After bein' through the things ah have, lassie, who wouldnae be?"
Tarnfalk, by now, had managed to get to his feet and fold up his wings. His wing still hurt but the herb dressing that had been put on had dulled the pain. He walked over to the otter, shaking his head. "So what are you hares going to do with this one?" he said, nodding at the lizard.
"The fastest way tae get tae a creature's heart es six inches o' steel through their ribcage," the otter muttered under her breath, raising her blade over her head. Kiath swung her sword around in a swift half-circle, decapitating the lizard, and grinned slightly. "Oor ye jest chop their haids off."
"You bloody savage!" Dawnshadow drew her sword and rushed the otter only to have her sword fly out of her paw and the claymore prodding her throat.
A slight steely edge came into the Highlander's tone. "They'd ha' killed ye. Et's justice." She removed the sword point from the hare and turned to face Lorryn. "Sae what's yore names?"
"Lance Corporal Lorryn O'Graiden."
Kiath picked up the slight edge of an accent in the hare's tone and raised her eyebrow. "Yore frae the Highlands?"
"No' completely. My father Moragh was a borderer. Creatures call me Swiftstryke." Lorryn spun her quarterstaff in her paws. "The hare who tried to attack ye is called Dawnshadow."
"Well what do you expect me to do, she killed our prisoner. Weren't we supposed to question him first, then decide what to do to him?" Dawnshadow asked, wilting slightly under their gazes.
"Do you honestly expect to get information from that scaly scum? The only time we ever got information from the likes of them was when I ripped open their innards." Tarnfalk spoke grimly, looking at the decapitated lizard. "Just be glad it was a quick death and he didn't get a chance to scream."
"The bird has a verra good point, Private, you won't get information from lizards. I can't agree with their method of getting information since it's what vermin do." Swiftstryke said and put her weapon down hard into the ground causing it to stand. "But I'm no' going to argue with an otter and a kestrel."
Dawnshadow covered her face with her paws and was quiet for a few minutes. When she looked up, she was pale and shaking slightly. "How could anybeast d-do that t' another?"
"When you're in the patrol, you will see stuff like that and worse. You just need to take a deep breath and learn to ignore it in the middle of battle. If it is a vermin doing it, get them before they can continue doing it to whatever beast it is."
Kiath turned and started walking off with Tarnfalk following.
"Now where dae y' think you're going?" Swiftstryke interjected. "That bird needs to rest his wing if he wants to fly again."
"Where dae ye propose we gae?" Kiath asked. She noticed something glinting under a lizard, kicked the body over and dug the object out of the sand with her bladepoint, revealing a long-bladed dagger. Grinning slyly, the otter picked up the blade and put it in her belt. "Ah was lookin' frae one o' these." Kiath then picked up a pawful of flat pebbles from the sand around her, brushing the sand off with a paw.
"What are ye doin'?" Dawnshadow said.
"Ef we dinnae ha' water, we'll need these. Pass these oot an' put one en yore mouth. Et's an auld trick ah learned en slavery."
"Doesn't work for birds, wish it did sometimes. Speaking of which, have you got some water?" Tarnfalk leaned down and began cleaning his talons. He then walked over to one of the dead lizards and wiped the blood from his beak.
Swiftstryke pulled a canteen off her belt and passed it to him, opening it. Tarnfalk, balancing on one talon, took it and lowered his beak, taking a few quick sips before giving it back.
Kiath sniffed the air and stiffened, her entire body going rigid. Her eyes turned a blood red and one paw raised her claymore. The fur up and down her back rose and she took off running.
"Hellgates, of all times for my wing to be injured." He nodded to Swiftstryke saying, "She's got bloodwrath."
Swiftstryke gasped. The only beast she'd ever known to have bloodwrath before was Lord Felltree! She took off sprinting after the otter, knowing she probably wouldn't catch up in time.
Tarnfalk and Dawnshadow started walking after them. "I had better tell you about my friend."
Author notes: Nashog here and this is one of the best fight scenes I have written so enjoy.
This is Wildy I hope you are liking the story so far and I hope you like how crazy Kiath (my character) is.
== Chapter Two ==
The
 sky was a clear blue and the sun beat down on a stoat as he walked, 
munching on a scone. A little while ago, he had picked up a small tree 
limb he'd found broken on the path and pulled off the small branches 
that were on it. The end he had left untouched so there were a few small
 stubs sticking out.
Verraten gritted his teeth between bites. "When I get my paws on that bird I am going to pull his feathers out; I'll fix him so he'll never fly again! That otter, though. . . . " He raised his stick and swung it in a rapid, hard arc in the air in front of him.
Then he stopped himself. "What am I doing, I'm no killer." he said, stopping and looking at the stave.
"Good,
 then it will be all the easier to rob you. Now hand over your vittles."
 Two scrawny looking rats said this as they emerged from behind an oak 
tree.
Verraten crouched, his stave in front of him. "I would be more than happy to share them with you."
"No,
 give them all to us and you won't be hurt too badly." The rat who said 
this pulled out a knife while the other pulled out a noose which was in 
fact a really short rope that had been badly tied together.
The young stoat thought fast and lashed out with his stave, hitting the knife-wielder in the side of his head.
The
 rat screamed as he clutched the side of his head ,nursing a hurt ear 
that streamed blood. Before Verraten had time to do anything the other 
rat was throwing the rope trying to lasso him around the neck. The rope 
however, got caught on the stave , wrapping around it.
The stoat 
gave a hard yank, pulling the rat towards him. He then tossed the stave 
so it hit the rat in the face, distracting him as Verraten charged. The 
rat started struggling wildly as the stoat started choking him, cutting 
off his windpipe.
"I don't want to do this. . . ." Verraten's 
voice trailed off as his paws tightened causing the rat to struggle even
 more. He was being driven on pure instinct coupled with fear and anger 
at having been nearly robbed.
When the rat stopped struggling and a white mist that had enveloped Verratens eyes had cleared Verraten got 
up struggling to not throw up. He had killed another beast, a beast who had tried to kill him but a thinking creature nonetheless. He heard a noise behind him and whirled, raising his stave in anticipation of an attack. "I d-didn't want to do it!"
A tiny squirrel was in a tree watching him as Verraten started shaking and retched. She climbed down out of the tree and crossed over to him, patting him on the leg with little paws. "Dere dere, it be's ok."
After a while, the young stoat looked at her. "Wha-what's your name?"
"Wyawi." the little squirrel said.
"Ryali?" Verraten guessed. He saw the babe nod. "Do y' have any family?"
"Momma go 'sweep. . .free days ago?" The baby squirrel held up both paws. "She no waked up."
Verraten covered his face with his paws. Had the infant seen the murder?!
"A wat hurt 'er. Dat one." Ryali looked past the young stoat at the dead rat and pointed to him. "Dat when she go sweep."
He tried to cover her eyes. "You shouldn't be looking at something like that, Ryali, let's get out of here."
"Otay." She jumped into his arms and hugged him. For a long while, the pair was silent.
Verraten thought for a long time, cuddling the baby squirrel. He'd taken a life, but the life he had taken was the murderer of an infant's mother.
"I be's on'y a likkle swiggle, I no be's twubble. . ."
If I could take her with me and keep her safe too, I would, the stoat thought. "I'm sorry, you can't come with me because it's too dangerous for a little squirrel where I'm going. But I know a place where you'll be safe, I'll take you there." He started walking off, Ryali on his shoulders.
Ten minutes later, Tarnfalk had finished relating their tale. He had cut a ton out but he made sure she got the overall point. "I have to admit I am starting to wonder why we haven't heard any 
screams yet. Usually by now that wildcat would either be dead, being tortured, or blood eagled."
Dawnshadow gasped. "Y-You don't try and st-stop her? Is Kiath that crazy?"
"That's how she is normally when she sees a wildcat since she hates them so 
much. If there is one thing I have learned it is ,do not get in between Kiath and a cat. I have actually helped her a few times if we need 
information since most of her ways are a bit too permanent." Tarnfalk said this as a bright sparkle that was the equivalent of a smile for a kestrel.
Dawnshadow staggered and put a bit of space between her and Tarnfalk, glancing fearfully in the direction Kiath had run.
"You don't have to worry, hares are not my usual prey. I usually have mice, voles and rats. Kiath also eats meat since as I said when she was a slave so she had to survive."
"I've never heard. . . . ." Dawnshadow's voice trailed off and she seemed to gaze vacantly into space.
"Well, otters do eat fish so a mouse is just one step up in my opinion. Then again I am a kestrel so in terms of eating habits mine are not the most 
friendly."
The medic didn't speak, but gave a vacant-eyed nod of assent.
A full-throated roar echoed on the air. "HAWAAAAAAAAAAAAY THE BRAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
Dawnshadow jumped a foot in the air. "What in the name of fur and fangs was THAT?!"
Swiftstryke came over a sand hill to see Kiath stabbing a wildcat in the paw. The wildcat had apparently made a small camp at the base of the sand dunes and was on a beach with the fire mountain in the distance. The cat was now pinned to the ground as the Highlander lay on top of him stabbing him with her knife. Swiftstryke saw Kiath's claymore half-buried in the sand, with its point upright. She ran up to Kiath and pulled the otter off the cat seeing a slight red mist creeping into the otter's eyes.
"What did ye dae that frae?! Ah'm going tae kill that cat!" Kiath said this struggling to get free from the hare's strong grip as the cat cowered in the sand nursing stab wounds to his paw and chest.
"You are going to let that cat go, he operates as a spy for the Long Patrol."
"Swiftstryke, what did I do to be attacked by this crazy otter?!" the cat yelled. "EXPLAIN THIS!"
The mist began to grow darker. "Ah'll explain et, laddie. . . . Ah'll 'explain' mah claymair doon yore throat. . ."
Swiftstryke held up her quarterstaff and positioned herself between Kiath and the cat. "You will not hurt him unless y' want to deal with me," she said, putting her quarterstaff up.
"Tae the first bluid." Kiath raised her claymore and saluted Swiftstryke with it, before going into an attack crouch and circling her.
"First blood. . . ." the hare nodded and kept her eyes on her opponent.
Kiath charged yelling her war cry. ""HAWAAAYYYY THE BRAAAAAW!"
Swiftstryke stood calmly until Kiath was almost on top of her. Then she swung into action, deflecting a overhead chop with one end; she swung with the other end, whacking Kiath across the back. "Come on lassie buck, y' can do better."
Kiath, more wary now, started circling the hare, looking for a opening. As the hare turned, her paw slid slightly in the sand throwing her a tiny bit off balance. Seeing this, Kiath moved forward, bringing her claymore upwards to slash at the hare's side. It was deflected yet again and this time she received a smack across her head which caused her to stagger.
The Highlander's eyes narrowed. "First bluid, ah said."
"Aye,first blood." With this Swiftstryke attacked, moving rapidly around the otter and stabbed the otter in the side with the blunt point of her staff.
Kiath bent over wheezing only to get up and swing her sword again which was deflected easily.
Swiftstryke swung her staff hitting the otter in the footpaw then pressed up against Kiath, giving her a hard punch in the stomach. The hare then grabbed the claymore ripping it out of Kiath's paws as she spun backwards now armed with the claymore and staff. Swiftstryke threw the claymore down saying in a low growl "Pick it up, otter."
Kiath growled, bent down and grabbed her claymore. "Bring et on, lassie," she said, less confidently than before.
Swiftstryke then swung the staff slightly as she breathed in an easy breath.
Kiath kicked sand into the hare's eyes causing Swiftstryke to drop her quarterstaff and start pawing it out. As the hare did, Kiath charged and brought her claymore at her opponent's leg.
Swiftstryke jumped to her side, lashing out with a paw; she whacked Kiath across the head before slamming both legs into the otter's back causing her to crash hard into the sand.
Blinded, the otter went down, landing heavily and nicking herself with the claymore. By the time she blinked the grit from her eyes, Swiftstryke was standing over the otter, watching her. "Always close the eyes when a enemy starts throwin' sand, wot."
Kiath dragged herself to her paws and raised the claymore. As she did, she noticed some blood coming from her side. She sheathed her blade. "Fine, hare, ye win. Noo what aboot the cat?" She looked around.
Down the beach, the wildcat was slumped against a driftwood log half-buried in a dune, his good paw holding a makeshift bandage to the wound on his chest. His other paw hung slack at his side. His pain-glazed eyes managed to focus on the otter and hare as they walked up to him.
"What were ye doin' here?" Kiath growled out.
"I was on my way to Salamandastron to report to Lord Felltree. My name's Hastig. He recruited me."
Kiath didn't stand there to hear any more; she turned and stormed off in the direction of the water, muttering under her breath. "A badger laird recruitin' a. . . ."
The wildcat's eyes widened at her next few words and he looked around. "Thank goodness none of the leverets or the Badger Lord were around to hear what she just said. . ."
Tarnfalk 
and Dawnshadow watched the fight from the top of a sand dune. "Don't interfere unless you want one of them to be injured." Tarnfalk said as 
he watched in interest. He had never seen a better fighter than Kiath. 
Kiath may not have been in bloodwrath but she was a great swordsbeast 
nonetheless.
"But she is going t' kill my commanding officer with 
that sword o' hers." Dawnshadow said, moving forward slightly only to 
have Tarnfalk put his good wing in front of her.
"Don't worry, the last time I dueled with her she just gave me a small cut and she was having to deal with me flying at her." As Tarnfalk said this, Kiath kicked sand at the hare's face causing Dawnshadow to lurch forwards in panic. Before she could say anything however, Kiath was on the ground causing Tarnfalk to let out a harsh laugh.
"Oh that's good, finally someone other than me has beaten her." Tarnfalk, still laughing, started to descend the hill.
Kiath's eyes narrowed and she tensed instinctively seeing the wildcat; she forced herself to sheathe her claymore. Ah dinnae ha' tae stan' aroon' him. . . . Gritting her teeth, she turned and went down the hill in the opposite direction, wading into the water to cool off. Ah may ha' tae let this one live, boot ah dinnae ha' tae be aroon' him. . . . .
Hastig
 sat down heavily and wiped his brow with a paw. "That was close," he 
breathed to himself. Then he noticed a kestrel standing behind him and 
froze.
Tarnfalk looked at the wildcat as Dawnshadow started tending to his wounds. "Sorry about my otter friend, she hates cats."
"Did one hurt her in the past?"
"A wildcat enslaved her, don't ask any more about it since I already explained it to the hare here." he said nodding at Dawnshadow.
Hastig nodded, "I won't." He folded his paws in his lap and looked down at them.
"Just give her some space and you should be ok. I can deal with her if need be." Tarnfalk started walking towards the sea where he had seen Kiath go in.
The vast ocean seemed vacant and unbroken, so still that it was as though nothing dangerous could penetrate its peace. There was no movement of any sort as Dawnshadow watched and the hare started to worry. "How long can she hold her breath?"
Hastig looked in her direction and rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you're so worried. She's an otter." As soon as the words left his mouth, the Highlander broke the surface.
Dawnshadow released a breath she'd been holding and grimaced, pressing a paw to her side. She'd held it for so long it had become painful. "I didn't know if. . . if she was trying to. . ." her voice trailed off. "I saw a prisoner we caught one time, a ferret named Laria. . . . the whole patrol was at the water's edge with her. Instead of agreeing to a hostage trade and going back to her commander, she turned and. . . ." She didn't finish her sentence.
The wildcat bit his lip and then laughed as he heard Tarnfalk yell at the water's edge. "Hey fishface, you coming out or are ya going to grow gills."
"Fishface yoreself, mouse-eater," the otter yelled back. She began this with a grin which vanished as soon as she saw the cat again. Kiath put on a hard burst of speed and rocketed for the shore.
"Oh boy, everybeast out of the way. . . ." the cat breathed. He backpedaled rapidly seeing the oncoming otter. "Dawnshadow! Help!"
Tarnfalk grinned inwardly as his friend came towards the shore. He just wished he could fly now because then they could get to the mountain much faster. Well he just hoped that Kiath would just ignore the cat since he honestly couldn't ask for much more.
As the otter's footpaws touched solid ground, she stood, glaring in Hastig's direction.
Hastig bit his lip as he broke out into a cold sweat. Please, please, don't let her go crazy. . . . 
"Just calm down, you two! Kiath, just ignore him and you should be good. I really don't want to have to deal with this since my wing is starting to hurt again."
"Ah've go' eleven reasons why he shuidnae piss mah off." The Highlander's voice was eerily calm.
Hastig got chills down his spine at that and backpedaled hurriedly.
"Eleven reasons?" Dawnshadow breathed. As she watched, Kiath held up her claymore.
"One." Kiath sheathed it and held up her paws, closing each claw into a fist as she counted. "Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven."
"I'm. . . . I'm going on ahead." The wildcat spoke hurriedly and looked between Tarnfalk, Dawnshadow and Kiath, making sure to not meet the otter's eyes.
"Well since me and the cat are wounded how about we just camp here for the night? Kiath, you don't mind the cold and I can always just do like normal."
"Aye. Ah agree. We cannae travel all nicht, an' ah think ah'm gettin' blistered paws." The otter winced.
"Well we aren't used to walking on this sand. Anyways, can you look at my wing while Dawnshadow attends to the cat? Swiftstryke, do you want to look through the food options for supper?" Tarnfalk chose his words mainly to get Kiath's mind off the cat as he lay down, extending his wing. The effects of whatever herb Dawnshadow had used on him had worn off and he was starting to feel the pain again.
The hare nodded and began ticking a list off on her paws. "The seaweed around here's edible, really salty, but edible; I have a fishin' line on me," she said as the cat tapped her hip and passed her a fishing line. "Thank you, Hastig. If I can find some tide pools, I should be able t' find some small fish or shellfish t' use for bait."
"Kiath, once you're done looking at my wing, can you gather some driftwood?" Tarnfalk said, wincing as Kiath removed the bandage, revealing bloody feathers that had matted up.
The otter nodded in reply.
Tarnfalk had to resist the urge to start removing the blood and the scab that had covered the wound. "Can you get those feathers cleaned with some water? I don't want to have to deal with it later."
Kiath nodded again, her thoughts still on the cat and crossed to Swiftstryke, borrowing her canteen before walking back over.
"Calm down, it's only for tonight we have to share a camp. Besides once we get to the mountain you can just stay away from him. In fact if you can deal with my wing I can see about us just eating in our quarters so you won't even have to see him at mealtimes." Tarnfalk said all this while preening his left wing, trying to get the dried blood off some of his primary feathers.
"Ah've got a reason for loathin' cats. . . . " The Highlander's voice trailed off.
"I know, but like I said it is only for one night and tomorrow you have to deal with him. Now are you finally going to get these feathers?" As he said this he lifted his beak and stared at her, issuing a soft chuckle.
Kiath turned her attention to her friend's wing, muttering under her breath.
Tarnfalk shook his head. "You never will learn to be peaceful and not try to kill everyone who annoys you."
"Hastig, the reason Kiath reacted the way she did. . ." Dawnshadow paused, leaned in and whispered in the wildcat's ear so only he could hear. 
The cat's face cycled rapidly through shock, grief and anger, then back to shock. Without saying a word, he rose and moved further into the shadows away from the fire. He fixed his gaze on the ocean. "If that had happened to me. . . . I'd feel the same way" was all he said, his voice so low that the hare had to strain to hear him. His tail, whiskers and ears all drooped.
"It's no' your fault, laddie. Hastig, listen, please. It's no' your fault." Dawnshadow drew closer, cupping her paws around her companion's larger ones. "Ye didnae hurt her. Ye just can't help what species ye are. . . ."
"I know. I just. . . I'm sorry for what happened even though I wasn't the cause. . ." Hastig muttered something under his breath that made Dawnshadow's eyes widen. "Am I even making any sense?"
"Glad none o' the leverets cuid hear ye."
Category:Nashog
Category:WildloughRhulain
Category:Claymore and Talons