Author:
Dakkan who got around to it finally!
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 15:48:59 03/04/02 Mon
In reply to:
Dakkan
's message, "*takes a deeeep breath*" on 15:59:48 01/05/02 Sat
Panting, Dakkan reached his father, who was lying stretched out on the ground. “Dad?” he pleaded. “Dad, get up!” He shoved his father in the side, kicked the once powerful tail, even tried pulling his ears. There was no response.
Dakkan sunk to the snowy ground, tears glistening unshed in his bright blue eyes. “Dad!” he sobbed. The young otter knelt by Silverclaw’s side, shoulders trembling as he grieved for his parent.
An hour passed. Dakkan remained at his father’s side, hatred against all the foxes (but particularly Shadowfang) burning inside of him. Finally, he picked up his father’s saber, a feat he had not been able to accomplish before then. Paws trembling with its weight, the young otter roared aloud, seeming to grow suddenly in wisdom, age, and strength. “Shadowfang, you’re gunna pay for my dad!” He then turned and ran, dragging the sword, toward the otter den. He had to take the shortcut so he could beat the foxes to his home and warn the others before they were attacked.
Skidding in the snow, Dakkan came to a stop at the entrance of the den. It was darkening outside, and most of the otters would be asleep. He dove inside, yelling at the top of his young voice, “Foxes coming! We have to get out of here, all of us!”
Drowsy otters rolled half-heartedly out of their hammocks, scratching their tails and yawning. One, a tall, fairly skinny otter called Dartweed, mumbled sleepily, “Wazgoin’on?”
Dakkan’s voice trembled with anger as he replied, “Foxes are coming. They shot my dad with an arrow an’ got poor Watercress with a dagger!”
This came like a slash of cold water to the face. The otters were instantly alert, shouting angrily. “They’ve injured our leader and Watertrat’s brother? By the silver trout, we’ll make ‘em pay!”
“Aye, grab your weapons and let’s give ‘em what for!”
Dakkan, however, stood in front of the entrance hole. “You can’t go!” Forestalling questions from his and Watertrat’s skeptical families, he continued. “My father and Watercress have been killed,” Dakkan proclaimed, voice trembling slightly. “The foxes numbers are too many for us. Our best choice is to go to the secret den my dad once told me about and hide until the foxes leave, ‘cuz they wanta catch us and make us work for ‘em.”
The otters exchanged glances, then nodded reluctantly. Dakkan was not known for playing jokes or telling untruths, young as he was. In fact, it almost seemed to them as if a grown otter was warning them instead of a young one.
Seeing their approval, Dakkan pointed out the entrance. “Well then, let’s leave now!”
The otters bundled out of the entrance to the underground den, but froze as one of them yelped and fell to the ground, an arrow protruding from his hindpaw.
The foxes had surrounded the entrance to the den, holding rusty daggers in their left paws and stones in their rights, ready to stab or throw as necessary. Shadowfang reloaded his bow.
“Surrender now or suffer the consequences!” barked the black fox.
The otters had all drawn the daggers that they kept tucked in their belts. Dartweed, the tall, skinny otter, brought forth the darts and blowpipe after which he was named. He inserted a carved dart, flighted with leaves, into the long wooden tube and held it at the ready.
The foxes all stepped forward, sneering nastily. A couple of them spat in the otters’ direction
Dartweed decided to take charge, since old Silverclaw was gone.
“All right, otters. Let’s give ‘em what they deserve! Five seconds, then get back in the den! It’s time to put that secret exit to use. C’mon!” The lanky otter leaped forward with a roar, firing the thorn-tipped dart from his blowpipe.
Phut!
The missile whizzed across the scene and took a fox in the hindpaw. He screeched in agony and fell, clutching the injured appendage.
Dakkan leapt on Shadowfang, wielding his tiny knife. The fox bellowed as a sharp pain shot through his tail. He mistakenly shot the arrow he’d had trained on Dartweed’s head into the sky, purple with the setting sun.
Furious, Shadowfang began batting at his own tail and back, trying to swat Dakkan, who was stinging the fox like a little hornet with his dagger. The fox picked up his bow and struck out with all his strength.
Stars exploded in Dakkan’s face as the bow caught him in the back of the head. He dropped his small blade, going limp as he tumbled into a nearby bush with the force of the blow.
(whoa, just realized I've been comin' to Calyn for just over a year now...time flies!!)
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
Feedback: 