Ghost Ship

A Fort Ruddler mission by Teltoli Riverbuck

Teltoli ground his teeth together and grimaced slightly as he brought his arms back into a stretch. Opening his mouth wide the hare let out a tremendous yawn and shook his head. Flipping back his bed sheet he lithely sprung from his nightly rest into wakefulness. After splashing some refreshing oat barley water on his face the hare dried himself with a rough towel. Grabbing his deep blue jerkin from his desk side chair he headed for the door. As he stepped he shrugged on his jerkin, absentmindedly fiddling with his new pin, ranking him as a Lieutenant General in Fort Ruddler. The hare opened the barracks door which issued a soft creak and shuffled outside as quietly as possible.

The morning sun had just begun to rise as the hare pulled a piece of crumpled parchment from his inside pocket. He reread the writing in the early pink sunlight:

Lieutenant General Teltoli Rifflapin Riverbuck~

You and three other Fort Ruddler officers have been commissioned for a scouting mission, beginning tomorrow. You will meet your other officers at Drill Sergeant Sandfur Dunerunner's quarters at the first hour of sunlight.

~Ariel Oceantear, Fleet Commander

The hare stepped out at a lively pace, heading across the dusty grounds to Sandfur's quarters. Upon reaching the porch Tel stopped and mentally prepared himself for the formal meeting that was about to take place. After brushing down his outfit and checking that his weapons were presentably polished the hare rapped thrice on the hard wooden slated door. A firm voice answered the knock.

"Open the door and come in Lieutenant General Riverbuck!"

"Yes sah, sah!"

Tel was a little surprised that the drill sergeant knew him by his knock. He quickly opened the door and walked into the dimly lit room. Although the room was that of the highest-ranking officer in the platoon, Tel did not feel that uncomfortable in Sandfur's office. He removed his beret from his headfur and smartly saluted his senior officer.

"Lieutenant General Teltoli Rifflapin Riverbuck at yer service sah!"

“Very good Riverbuck, at ease. Have a seat." Dunerunner nodded towards one of the two empty seats left in his office. The other two seats were taken up by Mackbry and Glennoar, both creatures that Tel knew well enough. The hare took a seat and chatted with his comrades in hushed tones as they waited for the last arrival. Eventually there was another rap at the door and Riala Goldentail made her way into the officer's quarters. Tel smiled at his friend and then turned his attention to Dunerunner. The hare spoke in a to the point fashion.

"Alright, now that you are all present we will begin. Ariel Oceantear has told me that some beasts from her regiment have seen a wreck of an old ship north up the coast from Ruddler. They did not get close enough to see what was aboard the ship or why it is here. You four have been paw picked to find out what is going on the ship. You leave one hour from now. Pack what you need and meet at the main gate. Take care soldiers, and may fortune follow your paths."

Dunerunner saluted his commanding officers and dismissed them from his quarters. The four left after returning the salute and filed out onto the grounds.

Once out of ear shot from the general Tel spoke out to his friends.

"I say wot! A bally spiffen ruse fer us an no mistake. Sounds like fun teh me, eh wot!"

Riala, a stern red squirrel shook her head in mock disbelief of Tel's words, "We'll see what we're up to when we get there hare. You might try calming down a bit and thinking about what we're going to be doing."

Mack, a slightly aged gray hare spoke up as the group split off to get their things from their barracks.

"Righto, we'll meet back at the main gate as soon as we have our things. Pack light, we have quite a bit of traveling to do!"

An hour later the four returned to the main gate. Each had a sturdy haversack on their back and a few choice weapons at their sides. They stepped out at a lively pace, heading directly north up the coast from Ruddler.

The four marched through the scrub areas that lined the expanse between the shore and the forest. The day passes relatively uneventfully. Near nightfall they began to look about.

"Looks to be getting dark, think we should stop over here for the night?" Glennoar, the otter, looked up to the sky as she spoke.

"Yes, let's set up camp behind those boulders over there." Riala commented while looking at a stand of huge rocks a little off the trail and surrounded by tall pines.

The four set up camp. Tel was put in charge of "vittles" a task he took on willingly. The hare cooked up a stack of biscuits from a mix he had bought in his pack and also steamed a good portion of leek and potato soup to share. The four ate, each left with their own thoughts of the coming day as they headed towards their sleeping areas.

Tel awoke with the song of a lone meadowlark in one ear and teh distance crashing of the tides in the other. He rolled over and got up, brushing down his jerkin and strapping his ever-present javelin to his back. He looked about and notice Riala bent over a small fire, tending to some sort of food. The hare licked his lips and made his way towards his traveling companion. Leaning over the small pot on the fire the hare made to each for a taste.

“I say marm, whatcha cookin up? Looms pretty good to a sleep starved hare.” Tel spoke in a joking voice, hoping to egg Riala on with his kidding.

The squirrel’s features grew grim as she watched the hare. Suddenly she bulled into his side, causing Tel nearly to fall on his scut.

“Yah want vittles hare, wait yer turn like everybeast else. These aren’t even cooked all the way yet.“

Tel grinned sheepishly at the squirrel. “I say wot! Just wanted me bally brekkers yah bossy ol bush tail!” The hare grinned and went to wash his face before eating.

After striking camp the four beasts continued to head down the coast. They each took turns scanning the horizon for evidence of the ship in question. As they walked, their minds wandered in strains to each own’s lives. Tel though of his family, his brothers and sisters down by the river, how he wished to go home for a season. Thought he mostly kept to himself. The hare was thinking deeply, and was shocked back to reality as Glennoar spoke loudly.

“Well, would yah look at that!”

Tel looked hard and say and ancient ship, riding in the half tides of the shore. Each beast prepared a weapon and moved forward slowly.

The old wreck came into view like a giant gray whale. Resting crazily on her side, tattered light red sail flapping in the ocean breezes. Across her bow were stained the words “Grenblood” obviously the old slaver ship’s name. Tel felt old suppressed rage come into his mind as he looked at the ship. Slavers! The hare hated slavers more that anything else.

“Well, we might as well see what this ol tubs got in er’ eh?” Mackbry went forward and suddenly stopped.

“Phaw! Deh yah smell that mates! Like a thousand fishes all rottin in the sun wot!”

Tel was right, upon nearing the wreckage thy could each tell that the ship had a large net full of decaying fish in her galley. Much to their dismay they also found the bodies of five dead otters and a crew of ten slavers.

“How could this have happened. Dead fish, dead crew, dead slaves?” Riala pondered as she inspected a couple of the bodies.

There were no marks of a violent death on any of the dead. No cuts, breaks, nothing.

“Well, mayhap we should ask the fishes wot!”

Riala glared at Tel once again as the hare made the ridiculous notion. Imagine asking a dead fish for an explanation of how the crew had died!

“Well! I say, haven’t seen these bally whoppers in me lifetime wot! Strange lookin fish these are.” Mack called out as he held his nose with one paw and kicked a fish out of the net with a footpaw.

Glennoar came forward to inspect the fish. Being a beast of the water, she knew about fish. Suddenly the otter jumped back, causing her friends to do so as well.

“Well, I know what happened now. Tis sad, these fish, they’re Veilfin! Poisonous they are! Looks like this whole crew poisoned itself maties.”

As the otter spoke a feeble voice issued from inside the ship.

“Come, help us...please...”

Suddenly the group sprang into action, prying part of the deck back they exposed another small section of the ship. Chained to the benches lining the interior walls were three emaciated otters. They looked as if they had been to Dark Forest and back. The four set to work, prying the chains from the board and took the three out into the sunlight. One of them spoke as Tel carried him to some dry sand.

“They were screaming like they were on fire, all of em...twas terrible. We were stuck in the lower galley. Couldn't do a thing. Next moment we were adrift, chained in the galley with nobeast directing the tiller...” His voice trailed off as Tel set him on the sand.

The four from Ruddler spent the next few days caring for the three otter. Once they were well enough they would be escorted back to Ruddler. Tel and Mack took care of burying the other otters. Tel spoke as he and his friend finished placing stone markers on the last of the five graves by the sea.

“I say Mack me laddo. Strange little trip this has been. Though tis good we came, who knows what those other three otters would have ended up like without us!” The hare lowered his head to pay respect for the fallen slaves now freed.

Mack slowly walked away from the graves, speaking to Tel as he went. “Well least now, all of them are free...come on Tel, let’s see what more our three new friends can tell us.”