User blog:Burglebuber/The Story of Zemmerug Zitspike!

Chapter 1
The waves lapped against the barnacle covered hull of the Midnight Fury. It was a quiet night and that was the only sound possible to make itself heard on decks. The ferret and stoat watchmen huddled around the mast shivering in the cold. Below decks there was a better lifestyle. It was warmer and brighter for the lanterns and candles were all kept in the crew quarters. The steersman was humming to himself as he made sure the ship didn't drift off course. The lookout was unconscious do to drinking and therefore not doing the world's best job at watching. He had 3 or so empty bottles spread upon his body. Zemmerug Zitspike was in his cabin, under some soft blankets in his bed to keep warm. He had a bear made of old sacks and straw that he enjoyed sleeping with. He called it "George". Below the crew quarters was the Brig and Prison area. It had a few guards dozing in the corner and nobody except livestock inside the cages. Below that was the hold. It was darker than the decks and only 1 soul was inside. It was a young rat named Jigg that served as cabin boy and slept on a mat in the hold. The night was cold and dark and silent. Captain Dagg, a superstitious stoat and the First Officer of the ship, was not the least happy about the conditions. He was on the poopdeck with the steersman and they were having a conversation.

"Well 'is uh v'ry 'nlucky night as it looks now" he stated to Kubber, who was the steersman.

"Nah doubt ye's been cowerin' 'n' 'idin' all day in a fears ah dis!" said Kubber mockingly.

"Now ye jus' shu'p while ya still 'ave ya tongue!" threated an angry Dagg, sword drawn. Kubber, who was one of the crew's smartest, rolled his eyes and got back to steering. Captain Dagg got up and went below decks. He wanted something to eat and he wanted to get warm and rest. The ferret Waggy was guarding the crew's quarters and the galley.

"Oi! You! Lemme past this here quarters and in tah tha galley!" said Dagg, who was very hungry.

"Now sir! You know tha rules! Ole Skullug won't be letten ye 'ave a crumb even during' yer eaten' break! So Skullug won't let ye eat now!" said Waggy. Captain Dagg didn't like the sound of this but he knew that the sailor was right. Skullug was a greedy beast and a daft one and he never fed the crew before it was their break and even then sometimes he ate the rations himself or forgot to serve them.

"I'll go speak to the cap'n 'bout 'is! E'll 'ave sometin' ta say I'm sure ah it!" said Dagg unhappily.

"Nah doubt he will sir, nah doubt he will." said Waggy who was settling down on some sacks of food. Dagg went up the stairs onto the decks. The Captain's Cabin was nearby and Dagg banged on the door.

"CAPTAIN!!! SIR!!!!!" He shouted. There was banging and knocking about heard in the cabin. Then a stern voice was heard.

"WHAT'S IT DISTURBING MAH SLEEP!?!? A CORSAIR CAP'N NEEDS A GOOD 'MOUNT AH REST Y'KNOW!"

"Yes captain ah know but ah 'lso need yar 'elp with sometin'!" replied a nervous Dagg.

"Come 'nside Dagg!"

"Y'sir" then Dagg came inside the Captain's Cabin. Zemmerug was inside sitting on his bed with George on his lap.

"Now! What's it mate?" asked Zemmerug, who in fact was the Captain of this corsair ship.

"Tis ole Skullug it is! 'E's 'oggin' all da rations again!" replied Dagg.

"Skullug alus does 'at. Tis a prob'm when tis time fer rations but when tis not yer time fer rations then WHY ARE YAH HERE!? WHERE YA GONNA TRY 'N' GET 'WAY WIT EARLY RATIONS!?" Yelled the angry weasel.

"Well sir ah jus' thought tha'..."

"YOU DON' THINK! I DO THA THINKIN'! GET BACK TO YER PLACE DAGG BEFAR I CUTS YA OPEN!" Screamed Zemmerug. The terrified stoat ran away quickly and scurried up to the poopdeck with Kubber

"What'd ah say? Yer a cowerin' li'l cur!" said Kubber laughing to himself. Dagg who was thoroughly humiliated said nothing and sat down on a crate.

****

The Cutthroat Falcon sailed extremely quickly and swiftly. It was like a thin blade slicing through water as it rapidly headed on. It was a fast ship to be sure, but the searat Atran the Tryrant's goal at the moment was to be fast. He was headed for a certain place. He wanted to make it there fast. He had a great crew on board and all were working on the sails and rigging. Atran was a able-bodied rat, that wore a long black cape like a vampire and only his head showed at times. He wore a reddish brown vest that you could see the middle of when his cloak was loser and his ankles were also shown at times. He had dark reddish fur. He was armed with a full set of 6 knives hidden in his cloak and a huge broadsword nearly as long as he was tall! He had many slaves on board working. One of whom was a fox named Gnarlspike. He was a young fox and Atran considered him one of the best slaves. He was on the poopdeck of his ship and waving his broadsword and shouting orders. The sun was rising and he wanted to get to his goal on the morning tide.

"Quicken yar pace scum! w'must make it thar o' the mourning' tide!" Shouted the Tyrant Atran.

"Sir wi' all due respects we doin' our best sailin' 'ere!" replied Grimlock, the lieutenant of the army on board.

"IF ANY AH YA WANNA KEEP YAR SKINS FER THA ATTACK THEN YA SURE GOTTA SPEED THIS HERE BOAT UP A KNOT OR TWO!" Yelled Atran at his crew. Rugger, the ship's helmsman, was deeply terrified by this and being a dull beast he actually slowed down! He was panicking and the captain noticed.

"WHICH ONE A YA SCURVY SWABS IS BEEN SLOWIN' US DERN?!" He asked and yelled at the same time. Rugger froze in his spot. He was weeping with horror as Atran slowly made his way toward him. "Mate? Why ain't ya steerin'?" he asked calmly, a dangerous sign.

"We-we-we-well sir..." said Rugger, now face to face with his captain.

"SILENCE!!!!!!!" Yelled Atran, even louder than before. Rugger gulped and he stopped talking. "I am going to set an example to all ye worthless caracasses!" He said to all of his crew. Rugger knew that this was not good, for he had been a witness to previous examples set by his captain. The captain then held Rugger by the neck with his broadsword drawn. "Tis wit 'appens when ya sler down when yar s'posed to speed up!" He declared as he threw the rat high in the air. He then sliced with his broadsword and the rat hit the ground without the top half of his body connected to the bottom. "Somebeast! Clean up t'is mess and get on thar wheel!" shouted Atran. Then Atran retreated to his quarters for a while. During the time spent when the tyrant was idle the crew as slack. The only work they did was fighting over good sleeping spots and drink. However, the ship was making a slow speed towards shore, but, because the lookout was thoroughly drunk and probably also fighting with his mates, nobody happened to see the other, much larger but also slower, ship waiting for them.

Chapter 2
"Looks like ole Atran's gettin' intah one of 'is rages again mate!" said Gnarlspike the fox to his slave companion Burglebuber.

"Aye. Rugger's the one payin' for it t'is time. Ah hope tis Lieutenant Grimlock next!" replied Burglebuber

"Nah matey! The lieutenant sure'd 'ave to do somepin' bad for 'at to 'appen! Lord Atran wouldn't see't fit t'kill 'is commander!" said Gnarlspike, who had a right to be sure of himself for Atran favored Grimlock highly.

"Yer probably right mate." replied Burglebuber as the two slaves got back to their oar work.

"Shuddup ya two! Lord Atran's gotta place t'get to an' 'e's not wantin' no talkin' nor slowing' dern from yah!" said a guard Rat who's name was Skibby. The two slaves regarded their captors and they quieted down. But as Skibby walked on to see to his work the two slaves began talking again.

"Is tha' a ship dern thar?" asked Gnarlspike looking ahead of them.

"Yep! Sure is a ship! Tis as real as mah fur it is!" said Burglebuber.

"Wonder why tha army 'asn't seen it yet." said Gnarlspike.

"The lookout be drunk and possibly dead due tah fightin' over rum 'n' things." said Burglebuber.

"Aye" said Gnarlspike. But just then another guard rat appeared and threw fit.

"Oi! Din't Skibby tell ye tah shuddup!?" asked the rat. Skibby heard this and said.

"'Course ah did! Wit kinda idjit do yah t'ink ah am Bagtooth?!" said Skibby angrily.

"A big 'un Skibby! A big 'un 'cause these here slaves be keepin' talkin'! Yah din't tell 'em good 'nuff!" said Bagtooth.

"Wat'd ye know 'bout commandin' slaves? Ye's just a fat ole rat wit spends 'is days in a cabin drinkin' rum while us up here earns his share!" said Skibby.

"Wat'd ye know 'bout us dern below?! We're been workin' our rears off cookin'! Wit'd ya t'ink I do?" asked Bagtooth feeling his belt for his cutlass. Skibby, however, was quicker and drew his knife.

"I'll tell ye how tah shuddup wit dis!" said Skibby holding the dagger.

"Put thah scurvy knife away! I gotta sword twice it's size!" said Bagtooth, now holding his sword. Skibby lunged and a fight broke out. Another guard rat blew a whistle and the nearest 6 soldiers pounced into the fight, trying to grab Skibby away from Bagtooth. Then the captain's cabin's doors flew open and Atran stormed out.

"WIT'S THAH MEANIN' AH DIS?" he bellowed. Everybody froze. The 6 soldiers picked themselves up and 3 held Skibby, who's nose had been badly damaged and almost completely cut off, and 3 held Bagtooth, who had lost an ear and a paw.

"GET THA FAT 'UN A HOOK FOR 'IS 'AND 'N' GET THA THIN 'UN OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Yelled Atran. Skibby was kicked onto the decks and Bagtooth was taken, whimpering, into the surgeons office. Just then Atran looked up and saw the sails on the horizon.

"FOOLS!!! WHERE IS THE LOOKOUT!!!! GET READY TO ATTACK THAT OTHER SHIP!!!!" He screamed. The whole crew bustled into action after that. Lieutenant Grimlock was in charge of the oarslaves on the top two decks.

"MOVE YA WORTHLESS LUMPS! LORD ATRAN WANTS YA T'ROW FASTER THAN WIND Y'EAR?!" shouted the Lieutenant. "SKIBBY! MAKE SURE THESE HERE SLAVES KEEP QUIET!" ordered Grimlock. Skibby slowly trudged over to the slaves.

"Right! Master wants yah ta keep quiet! I wanna see ya move fasta! MOVE SLAVES!" said Skibby passing on Grimlocks words to the slaves.

****

The decks of the Midnight Fury were bustling! Captain Dagg, Kubber, and Zitspike were on the poop deck shouting orders or in Kubber's case, just steering. Waggy, Skullug, and Deddclaw were in charge on decks. about 20 other crew beasts were on decks. Some were rowing but most were drawing their weapons. The ships were slowly drawing nearer, and each were waiting until they reached. Zemmerug could see there were slaves aboard the other ship. He dearly wanted those slaves for he hated making his crewmen row their own boat. Atran wanted the Midnight Fury. It was a larger ship than his own and it would make a fine pirating vessel. The ships were very close now. Skinrigg and Cheesebane were archers in Zemmerug's crew. They fired flaming arrows at the Cutthroat Falcon's sails. Skinrigg's missed and landed in the toes of a guard rat but Cheesebane's shot hit and began burning the sails.

"FOOLS! PUT OUT THA FIRES!!!" Shouted Atran in dismay, but just then his attention was turned to the loud smashing noise, for the Midnight Fury had crashed into the Cutthroat Falcon! The crew of the Midnight Fury boarded their enemies.

"WHAH? THEY BE BOARDIN'? EVERYBEAST! ATTACK!" Shouted Atran as his army formed a line and attacked the oncoming pirates. Skibby and Bagtooth were on each side of the line with Grimlock directly behind it giving orders. The corsairs were just swinging on randomly with Captain Dagg leading them. The sails, mast, and rigging were burning now and it was getting dangerous for anybeast on the ship. Of course, the ignorant corsairs and hordes were not paying attention to this. Waggy was ahead of the rest of the corsairs, for he was a talented runner and sprinter. He and Whitepaw were heading towards Skibby. Skibby was not a smart rat and was thoroughly confused by all the fighting. His scuffle with Bagtooth had not helped his brain. Suddenly there was a stoat in front of him with a cutlass ready. The stoat was black and had grey lines on his face. Skibby reached for his dagger to defend himself. He was the only rat not to have moved during the fight, for the line had broken in the chaos. Waggy, who in fact was the stoat confronting Skibby, lunged at Skibby's stomach but was parried by a small dagger. This however, hurt Skibby's wrist and the stupid rat jumped up and down holding his wrist.

"Oi! I never 'urt ya! Wit ya'd do tha for eh!?" asked the dull-minded rat. Then he grunted and fell to the floor, impaled on the end of a cutlass. Waggy looked down at his work, then drew a knife and jumped into the fray. Bagtooth was a witness and was delighted at the sight of Skibby's death, for he had no fondness for the searat. But then Bagtooth realized that the stoat Waggy had cheated him of revenge. Bagtooth was angry now and lunged for Waggy, ready to stab the stoat. Waggy jumped back and out of the way and Bagtooth crashed to the floor. His hook was stuck in a hard wooden deck board. Waggy seized his chance and jumped onto the fat rat. The rat struggled to get his hook free, but to no avail. Terrified he turned to face his captor, but Waggy proved too quick and beheaded the rat before he could even look at Waggy. Waggy then kicked Bagtooth's head overboard and began fighting another rat. Captain Dagg approached a guard rat. He was armed with a cutlass. The rat backed up to the railing. Captain Dagg pursued him and when he could back up no more Dagg drew up his cutlass. He was about to slay the unfortunate rat when there was a loud crack sound heard and the mast of the Cutthroat Falcon fell. It landed on Dagg and the rat, crushing them both. Deddclaw, Skullug, and Whitepaw were collecting bunches of slaves. Among the first of the slaves escorted to the Midnight Fury was Gnarlspike. Burglebuber was lost in the fray and wasn't collected yet. The rats had gained the upper paw and had killed more corsairs then the corsairs had rats, but Atran could see that his ship was lost. He also could see that some of the Corsairs were stealing his slaves. Another matter, this time pointed out by Grimlock, was that there were storm clouds approaching. The corsairs had failed to notice this. Atran had to decide whether the slaves were more important than his own life or not. He, of course, chose his life.

"YAH FOOLS! W'MUST 'IT LAND B'FORE THEM STORM CLERDS GET'S US!" He shouted. Grimlock relayed the order and the damaged ship slowly made its way past the corsair vessel. Out of the previous 100 slaves, only 25 remained, the rest being stolen by the corsair captain. Atran was deeply infuriated but he valued his own worthless carcass more than anything and he made for land.

Chapter 3
Zemmerug Zitspike saw the severely damaged enemy ship leave and he turned to face his officer, Dagg, only Dagg wasn't there! Then Zemmerug turned to the bo'sun Whitepaw and asked "Casualties?" the bo'sun replied:

"Cap'n Dagg yer officer sir! And alser about 20 er so crew beasts"

"Dagg eh? Must be a gettin' a new First Mate then." said Zememrug. But before he could think of any beasts to promote, Waggy shouted towards him.

"CAP'N SIR! THAR BE STORM CLERDS 'EADIN' YAR WAY!"

"WHAT EN BLAZES 'N' FIRES!? WHY WEREN'T YA ALERTIN' MAH B'FORE!?" Asked Zemmerug.

"NONE OF US NOTICED CAP'N!" said Skullug.

"WELL YA DARN WELL NOTICED NOW! BRACE FER IMPACT!!! MAKE SURE GEORGE MAKES IT! IF WE TRY AH'M SURE WE'LL MAKE THAR STERM!" He shouted. The storm was nearly upon them by now and the crew immediately started to work. Whitepaw and Deddclaw were in charge of the 10 beasts that were tying barrels up so they would't roll. Waggy and Skullug were below decks and were tying barrels and making sure other lose objects didn't slide around during the storm. The clouds were nearly upon them now.

"ALL 'ANDS BELER DECKS 'XCEPT KUBBER 'N' SKULLUG! KUBBER TAH STEER 'N' SKULLUG TAH KEEP 'EM SLAVES MOVIN'!" ordered Zitspike as he and his crew made a hasty retreat to the cabins. Skullug and Kubber did not like the sound of this at all, though both of them knew it was no use to argue.

"RIGHT YE MISERABLE LUMPS! THAH CAP'N 'AS PUT MAH EN CHARGE AH YA! WE'RE GONNA ROW THROUGH THIS HERE STERM Y'HEAR!?" He asked with his blade drawn, as Skullug was not the kindest stoat that ever lived. The slaves, knowing they out numbered the stoat 75 to 1 were not as timid and obedient as they might be with a full guard on deck. They were about to say something when lighting was heard. 77 heads looked up to see what it had hit. Then they all gasped, for the sails were on fire! Skullug just stared up in shock. Then he felt a sharp pain in his elbow. A bottle had hit it.

"WHICH ONE AH YA DID 'AT?" He asked in fury.

"Twas me ya scurvy bilge bucket!" said Gnarlspike.

"Yew!? Twas a liddle foxie!?" asked Skullug chuckling.

"Aye! Twas a liddle foxie! But that liddle foxie 'as an army b'ind 'im! D'you 'ave 'an army b'ind yah?" asked Gnarlspike. Skullug, realizing the danger he was in started to step back.

"Stay back ya 'ere!? Stay back er i'll cut ya noggin off!" threatened Skullug, knife out.

"Yer liddle blade tis no match fer seventy-five beasts all armed!" said Gnarlspike, truthfully. Then the slaves pounced on him as if they were a bomb that had just exploded. The stoat was screaming in pain as more bottles and other things were thrown at him. Then Kubber, the ferret, noticed what was happening and he jumped down to help. The slaves almost immediately buried him too in their bodies. They were both being beaten to pulps when a sudden crash was heard. Kubber, being the steersman, had left the wheel to help Skullug and therefore the storm winds had blown the ship onto some rocks near a shore. The sudden shake of the ship nocked many unconscious including the two corsairs. Then the ship began to turn, for it had the wind on one side and the rocks on the other. The ship, having to much pressure put on it, fell on it's side. That sudden movement knocked everybody out. Including the corsairs that were hiding below decks.

****

Atran had made a hasty retreat from the battle scene. His mast was down and his ship had caught fire. Land was ahead of him and a storm was behind. He had to make for the land in order to survive.

"PUT OUT THAH FLAMES! IF YA WANNUS TAH S'VIVE THAN P'TOUT THA FLAMES!