User blog:Selound/story collab: The Ruin of Marshank

''The following story is a collab done by me and Riftgard Princess. The first chapter was written by me, while the second one will be written by her. Then the pattern continues. Please enjoy :)''

Chapter one: Long awaited meeting
The warm sun glowed brightly in the blue sky. Clouds scattered across the sky. The waves of the ocean lapped over the sandy shore. There, in plain view, was the unfinished fort of Marshank. Marshank was a crude fort owned by the evil stoat known as Badrang the Tyrant. Slaves worked laboriously to build the Tyrant’s fort. The sounds of cracking whips and hard work filled the air. It was a place of gruesome fates. Along the wall, two weasels were on patrol; Fleabane, and Rotnose. They searched around their surroundings to make sure everything was as it’s supposed to be. Then they spotted a young white female stoat lying on the wall top without a care. Unaware that she could fall and break her neck. Not wanting to get yelled at for killing Badrang’s niece, one of the two weasels called over to the young one in a demanding voice. “Oi, get yer tail down from there!” There was a reply. “Ha, and you keep your nose where it belongs, Fleabane!” Frustrated by the stoat’s comment, Fleabane snarled. “Stay silent, rip, and do what I says.” Aquastar Dawn (called Aquastar for short), the stoat, sat up and smiled charmingly. Her blue eyes shone of pure innocence. “And how does relaxing cause any danger to me? I’m in no major threat, weasel. It's perfectly safe up here as long as I don’t do anything stupid, like you.” Not wanting to increase the argument any further, Rotnose nudged fleabane. “I thinks we should tell ‘er n’uncle about her actions.” Fleabane nodded and the two went off to get Badrang. The older stoat arrived at the wall top. He folded his arms and spoke sternly. “Aquastar, come down, please, before you hurt yourself.” “Okie doke!.” Aquastar winked cheerfully, and leapt down from her perch. She pranced smartly past her uncle and the two weasels. The white stoat winked at the two weasels, who eyed her madly. “See, you can always get what you want if you ask '‘politely’'.” As she walked away, the two weasels growled and tightened their grip on their weapons. “Smart mouth.” Badrang shook his head, and left. It had been almost three months since Aquastar started to live at Marshank. Her father Vilu Daskar died, and the only place she could live was at Marshank, where her uncle Badrang adopted her. She didn’t trust the other vermin there, and preferred to help the slaves, but only when the others’ backs were turned. Aquastar walked casually up to a light grey and black ferret, which was by the gates. He nodded to her and smiled. “Hey, Aquastar, what’s up?” “Me, a few minutes ago--I was resting on the wall tops before Badrang shooed me off. I wish he wasn’t too protective of me, Tailwart.” The stoat folded her arms unhappily and imitated Badrang. “Aquastar, come down, please, before you hurt yourself.” Tailwart giggled at Aquastar’s version of her uncle. “Ahaha, nice one, Star.” Tailwart liked to Aquastar ‘star’ sometimes. Aquastar brushed her headfur away from her eyes. “Not really; it’s true, that’s what.” “Hmm, I bet it is,” Tailwart said, giving the stoat a charming smile. Aquastar’s heart felt light as she giggled like a little school girl: she really like the ferret a lot. Tailwart opened the gate door a crack to see if anybeast was outside. He then noticed a ship far in the distance. “Star, what do you make of that?” “A ship by the looks of it, but I wouldn’t worry about it--it’s probably just a simple woodland merchant ship.” “Yeah, maybe it is.” Tailwart closed the gate, and continued his post. Aquastar left him behind, and went to do some work with the weapons.

Meanwhile, on Captain Tramun Clogg’s ship the Seascarab, the corsairs were celebrating their captain’s soon to be victory over Badrang. Everybeast was enjoying themselves, except for the young female stoat below decks. The female stoat sat on her bed with her back leaning against her giant pillow. She wrote in a beautifully decorated journal her mother gave her before she died. The stoat was Elonwyn, Captain Clogg’s only daughter. Her bright green eyes gazed at the page she was writing on in her journal. She worked calmly despite the noise outside.

''Today is like any normal day; corsairs fighting, drinking, and singing till they fall over in a drunken state. I never participate in any of their celebrations--I think it’s because of the way I’m treated by them. They ignore me, and avoid me any way possible in fear I may harm them. But I’m not that kinda stoat, but they don’t care.'' ''I try to talk to them and become friends, but they make excuses to avoid conversing with me. Maybe I’ll have better luck at Marshank, where my uncle and cousin live. I have only been to Marshank when I was very little, and hardly remember it. I wonder if things had changed, or stayed the same. Whatever the reason, I'm eager to find out.'' ''My dad has business to take care of there, so that’s the only reason why I’m going now, since I was too little to handle the harsh conditions there. The only reason why I was there as a child, was because I was born on the ship, and they couldn’t leave me alone on land. So my parents had to take care of me while aboard ship.'' ''After my mum died, my father became very protective of me and grew very proud of me, since I'm his only child. Personally, I think he’s too protective of me. When we go to port to get more supplies, he doesn't allow me to step foot off the ship and make friends with the locals. Sigh, I guess I’ll never make friends. But today, I’m going to try.'' ''I hear there are plenty of beasts my age there including one of my cousins, in whom I only saw once in my life. She had said that her father was Vilu Daskar, but I was too young to know him, and I still don’t. Maybe my dad knows him, since they’re brothers.''

Elonwyn stopped writing, and looked over at the lantern next to her on her nightstand and sighed. “Brothers.” She then continued writing.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll find some one in whom I could trust; someone who’ll understand me.

Her writing was interrupted by a grey female rat with crimson paws and eye rings. She was knocking loudly on Lonny’s door and shouted. “All paws on deck! Captain’s orders!” The rat then left. Elonwyn sighed and put her journal in her satchel. The stoatmaid got off her bed, and went above decks. When she arrived above deck, she was greeted by her father, who patted her head lovingly. “Ow’s mah little girl doin’?” Elonwyn lowered her ears and held her satchel close to her chest. “Nothing, father, just writing.” The corsair captain smiled. “Oho, so ya were! Well, are ya ready to set paw on shore?” Lonny nodded slowly. She looked behind her father and saw a glimpse of the fort in the distance. Now it was the time to ask her father about her family. “Daddy, who was Vilu Daskar exactly?” Clogg scratched his beard in thought. “Hmm, been a long time since oi last ‘eard o’ ‘im. But I’ll tell you wot I do know.” Lonny sat up on the ship’s railing, but used her satchel strap to tie her wrist to the railing to prevent her from falling in the water. She was eager to know more about her uncle. Clogg took a swig of grog and started to tell his daughter about his brother. “Vilu was defiant young ‘un; never listen’d to mom nor dad, an’ always wandered away to do more important things. When ‘e gre up, he started ‘is own crew and sailed away from ‘ome, never to come back again. Later, ‘e killed a tribe of cowardly mice, but only left less than o’ pawful o’ them alive. One of the remain’ mice, was a warrior who went after Vilu to avenge ‘is tribe losses. E’ caught up with Vilu, but both were killed in the big crash. Now I’m not sure wot really ‘appened, but that’s all I really know.” “But, what about his wife?” Clogg seemed to shake his head sadly. “Aye, so he did--’e married a beautiful stoat, and ‘ad a daughter with her. ‘Is wife died long ‘afore ‘e did. ‘E thought the outside world wasn’t safe for ‘is daughter, so ‘e sent ‘er to an old friend o’ ‘is. After ‘e died, I believe the ole’ friend o’ ‘is was growin’ too old to raise a young stoatmaid, and gave ‘er to Badrang, who adopted ‘er. Pfft, didn’t bother to ask Ole’ Clogg if ‘e wanted to keep ‘er.” Elonwyn kinda liked the idea of her getting a sister, but what has happened has happened. Just as the conversation was about to continue, the lookout called out. “Captain, we’re almost to shore!” Clogg nodded and called out. “Onwards, mateys, onwards to Marshank!”