User blog:SalemtheCruel/The Curse of the Bloody Waves (2012)

Intro

Hello. As of 3/18/12 I have put my story, Sisters but they aren't on indefinite hold because of aggravating discrepancies. I have since decided to adopt this story; the Curse of the Bloody Waves and continue it as my own. (Not sure if anyone on here now remembers this story; I only recently discovered it myself) It was first written by: Thaila Juskarath Taggerung Well; I hope everyone likes the continued version of the Curse of the Bloody waves, even if you've never read it. :)

-SalemtheCruel

Prologue

A otter and his younger sister sat chained on a ship deck owned by vermin. Both were beaten, starved , and treated like nothing. The female sat a sleep of fatigue. But the male sat watching the vermin rats and stoats party like no tomorrow. A rat approached him."Aye ya little'un, want some to drink?"he then poured wine all over him. Giving a growl, the otter lunged and bit the rat's leg.

"Yah!! The little pike bit me Chief!"

The female stoat leader came up and whipped him several times. He didn't move or blink.

"Ah, little one gone insane!"

she said.

The otter watched as they continued to party. He closed his eyes and said a curse:

May whoever, ride the seas Be gifted with starvation and fatigue. They will wish for the better, But all they get is horrible weather. Have all be cursed for not who misbehaves, For only riding on The Bloody Waves.

For with that saying, he cursed the seas and whoever rides them!

"Todd, you didn't just say The Curse of The Bloody Waves did you?"the female otter seemed to be awake.

"Yes Lizzie, I have..."Todd said as Elizabeth eyed him, not realized he did something horribly wrong.

Chapter 1

Todd and Elizabeth had just been feed one crust of bread, and Todd gave his half to Lizzie."

Why did you say the curse?! You put us and anyone else on the seas in danger Todd; you knew that!"

Lizzie suddenly snarled at him. He didn't look at her.

"I knew if I said that the vermin and I will at risk. But I forgot about-"

"Let me guess, you forgot about me and any other creature in the sea." she said.

Lizzie was rewarded that she was right because Todd didn't look at her.

"Ever since mother and father were killed by Antaga, you been thinking about revenge and only revenge. You forgot about me, your own little sister!"

Lizzie stopped when Antaga and her son Vehgav came over, holding swords.

"What are you two blabbing about eh? I think ya both need a lesson!"

Vehgav raised his sword and brought it down.

All they heard was the sound of chains breaking as Lizzie and Todd put the chains in front of them.

The crew went haywire as the otters lunged at them. Grabbing the nearest weapons, a sword and bow and arrows, the two sliced and bite as they made their way the ship's rudder.

Thunder crackled and waves pounded from The Curse of The Bloody Waves, as the ship ran into two giant rocks. BOOM!! CRACK!!! The crew scrambled as the crows nest came crashing down from a lightning strike. Lizzie and Todd jumped into the sea. Big mistake. The pair was then at the mercy of The Bloody Waves!

Chapter 2

Todd Battledog woke feeling as though he’d been trampled on by a horde of vermin warriors. His green jerkin was covered in saltwater, and clung to him like a second pelt of fur. His whole body ached from various cuts and bruises; and the slow tide of the sea made them smart more.

Opening his eyes, he saw he was lying half in, half out of damp sand on a beach as the low tide floated around him. Sitting up, Todd gagged and spat water. He shook the rest off his body easily and looked around him.

He was on a spacious white sand beach, surrounded by deciduous and fruit trees. A salty breeze blew past his fur; and he tried to remember what had happened.

Slowly, it all came back to Todd. Him saying the curse. The storm. The ship sinking- him and Lizzie jumping the ship…. Lizzie! It was only then that Todd remembered his younger sister, having been too disoriented moments before.

Swirling lazily in the water were great chunks of wood; all that remained of the formerly great corsair vessel, the Black Hawk. Half a score of vermin carcasses (the crew) floated hideously in the water; all dead of various grotesque causes. Strangely, Antaga was not among them, nor was she anywhere. Todd paid all of this little mind as he dashed into the tide to find his sister. All he could think about was Lizzie.

“Lizzie???? Elizabeth?”

The otter gasped as he saw her. Lizzie was lying face-down in the turquoise depths of the water. Todd hurriedly turned her over, and felt her for a pulse and a heartbeat but there was nothing. Elizabeth Battledog had not survived the violent storm.

“Oh Lizzie….”

Todd sobbed as he held his sister in his arms. He felt like a powerless fool. He had known what he’d been getting into when he’d said the curse, but hadn’t cared, hadn’t cared because he had been too narrow-minded and cared only about himself! But now, all of that would change.

“I will avenge you, little sister.”

Todd whispered.

“If Antaga is alive; I’ll make her pay for slaughtering our parents the way she did!”

He kissed Elizabeth one more time, before burying her in the sand as best he could. Todd would not forget his sister. Her memory would burn within him forever as he hunted for the beast they called Antaga the Bloody.

As there was nothing salvageable in the wreckage of the Black Hawk, Todd Battledog headed north to look for supplies. And revenge.

Chapter 3

A year passed. In Mossflower Woods; the golden summer faded into crisp, cool autumn. Fall became winter; and soon it was summer once again. On some of islands of the Western Sea; there is no change of seasons and it is forever summer. Seemingly alone on his isolated chunk of sand and bluewater, Todd Battledog the castaway was well-aware a year had passed, however.

He lived in a makeshift shelter beneath the trees, marking each day with a single / on a square-cut piece of bark.

"Hello, Day 369...."

Todd muttered as he engraved another scratch with his small dagger. The young otter glanced about his surroundings; as had become habit. Over the past year and four days, he'd amassed a fair amount of weapons and supplies from the wreck of the Black Hawk , as well as some arrows he'd fashioned from narrow, fallen tree limbs.

The otter rose from his seat in the shade, and searched through the half-wrecked seabeast's chest where he stored his food (lately it was taken up more and more with wild fruits than dried bird or hardtack) and assessed what he had.

Not good. The chest was less than half empty; which meant he'd have to search for more food in the evening, when it was cool, as was routine. Sitting back on his haunches, Todd sharpened his long dagger with a small piece of flint, unaware of Antaga and her current plans.

The chief reason the otter and the stoat had never crossed path was because Antaga herself was long gone- In the winter she had been able to construct a raft from what little decent timber there had been left; and stolen away north. Revenge could come later; she had thought. The little riverdog could bide his time and wait, unaware of what would become of him.

And so Todd lashed his sharpened dagger to a smooth, curved stick he'd found to construct a makeshift spear. He had no idea that his fate was soon about to change.....

The sizzling morning soon faded to a calmer afternoon, and Todd sat beneath his shelter, munching on a fruit resembling an orange, covered with grains of sand that could not be removed.

He was grateful for the fact that he had a roof over his head. The otter's shelter was simple; nothing more than a piece of sail from the wreck of the Black Hawk that he'd draped over two low-growing trees.

It was not much to look at, but it provided him with shade and a place to store his food and weapons. Lizzie's grave was not too far away; marked with a wooden L and a bouquet of native flowers that were fragile and vibrant, so much like Todd's own sister.

Instinctively not wanting to dwell on Lizzie, Todd shifted his gaze to the far horizon, clapping a paw to his brow to ease the glare of the blazing sun. A dark spot in the distance was gradually growing.

After a while, he gradually made it out to be a ship. Todd's heart quickened. Instead of fleeing like a coward (as Antaga would have) he lingered in the shelter and held his dagger close, watching to see if the crewbeasts of the approaching ship were friend or foe.

As the vessel grew closer, Todd's heart began to pound like a balloon in his chest that was going to pop, making him silently wonder if anybeast on board could hear it. Todd clutched a paw to his slightly-aching temple, and let out a small sigh of relief as he noticed that the ship was staffed by sea otters.

When Todd was a dibbun, his father Razan Battledog had told him stories of a roving band of otters called the Rogue Crew that prowled the waves in search of all manner of evildoers and wavescum. Todd listened silently; as he was able to make out some conversation from the top deck.

"Huh, I don't see why we 'ave to do this patrol. There's been no corsairs in these parts for seasons."

A dark, female voice answered

"You should be thankful we only do this patrol once a year, Kenzie, you southsward blackguard."

"And don't come crying to me when I have you thrown to the sharks, Gatch Longblade!"

As the bickering between the two otters continued, Todd stole forward out of the shade and approached the ship. He knew he must have looked like madbeast, covered in scars, his clothes little more than tattered rags.

"Hello? My name is Todd Battledog. Is this the Rogue Crew?"