Marlfox Misdeeds Chapter 3

So Stoaty, what we gonna write about today?

Stoaty: My name is Pykespear!

Nice try Stoaty, but that's the name of a water rat.

Stoaty: So? More than one beast can have the same name.

BS. Throughout generations upon generations, beasts have ALWAYS had different names, never the same.

Stoaty: Martin, Log-a-Log, Wearet, Skippe-

Alright, you made your point. So what? Are you going to tell me Pykespear is like, the Joe of your world?

Stoaty: Well you ARE the author, you could think up something origin-

Good idea, shut up, MR. Stoaty!

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Queen Silth was looking forward to going down to the dining hall to have a meal with her children. Ascrod and Vannan had returned the night before, carrying in treasures of the mysterious Western Isles. She kept most of the cargo, though some things she discarded, such as a golden trident and an ugly little crown with six pink pebbles attached to it. Vannan decided to keep both things as her gifts for her performance, and Ascrod was content with a simple thanks. As well as a warship they had brought back.

Unfortunately, Gelltor and some other fox that looked eerily familiar returned, and their haul was... good. Silth actually sat down for a solid hour trying to think of a way to be disappointed by their loot, but she couldn't do it. She had no choice but to be legitimately impressed with Gelltor. That in itself nearly squandered the gift, but not even that could do it.

They had stolen several books of Russano the Wise. Now, Silth had no love of the written word, as she was not one who could very well interpret what all the little squiggles on the dead tree meant, but she did enjoy the thought of depriving the smart and mighty badger lord of them.

The female even mentioned that they lightly poisoned the food at the mess hall while in disguise. Not enough to kill, as they didn't want to incur any wrath from the legendary military power, but enough to ruin the day of every hare on the mountain.

"Gelltor, you and your friend have..." Silth scrunched her face in immense discomfort, while the two young marlfoxes looked at each other with worry. "You two have... done a sufficient job as obedient workers."

As to whose jaw hit the floor first, one couldn't say. Gelltor nearly collapsed, the effect of an actual compliment, FROM SILTH OF ALL BEASTS, hitting him so hard he felt faint.

Predak was trying to hold back tears. It didn't matter that her mother continued to forget who she was, she had just been congratulated for a job well done. This had to be one of the happiest moments of her life. Unlike her brother, she was aware that the longer she lingered in the room, the more chance there was for her mother to take back what she had said, so she quickly grabbed the lackwit standing beside her and left.

Silth sighed. 'It's been three seasons since I've had a meal with my pups.' She remembered it like it was yesterday. They had made six dishes to impress her. She had tasted them all, and spit every single morsel out on the floor. Mokkan and Vannan made the excuse that the water rat cook had tampered with their masterpieces, Gelltor was still trying to dislodge the knife Silth had thrown in his general direction (it had missed his tail and pinned his cloak to the wall, her aim had been terrible tat day), Ziral accused a nearby rat of putting poison in hers and promptly beat him into confessing (after which she beat him for doing so), Ascrod apologized (she accepted it, as she could never stay mad at that face), and Lantur was confused, as she didn't think she had even made a meal.

Silth sighed at the memory, possibly one of the happiest family gatherings they'd ever had. She walked towards the dining hall with a smile decorating her face, one which chilled all who saw it to the bone.

Vannan smiled to herself as she listened to her little brother and sister talk to each other about how they thought they would die tonight.

"She complimented us Pred, she made no move to injure or insult us. She didn't even raise her voice! She's got something planned. We're doomed."

"Possibly."

"There's no possibly about it." Gelltor paced the floor, rubbing his paws together. "The only possibilities are how's she going to end us. Poisoned food? Well hid bow rats? Is she going to throw another knife at me!"

Vannan jumped down from her bed, which was placed at the other end of the large room from the door and the other two beds. "Gelltor, she's not going to kill you tonight."

"How could you know that?"

"Last I saw of our mother, she was smiling to herself."

"So?"

"So if she was going to kill you, she wouldn't just be smiling, she'd be doing cartwheels and would be laughing to herself. Trust me, she isn't planning on killing you. You two just did something not even she could be mad about, and you got off without a scathing remark or injury, for once." Vannan always pitied the two and the way their mother treated them. Not enough to ever speak up for them, she wasn't daft, but she did still care what happened to them.

"Just don't let your new self respect show too much once we get to the dining hall, else Silth IS liable to bring out the knives again."

Ascrod and Lantur were asleep. No shenanigans or conversations to be had here. We shall move on.

Mokkan was checking his list of water rats under his direct command, as well as Ziral's.

"Alright, so I'm willing to bet my two lieutenants and three regulars that Gelltor will be the first insulted AND injured. What was your stake again?"

Ziral, who was nibbling on a bone of unknown origin, looked over her list again. "Nine out of ten of the remaining meat sacks. Leave one for me for target practice tonight."

"Not confident in your wager, sis?"

"I'm going up against you, so no. If I lose, though, it won't really matter. Nothing of value going up."

Mokkan glanced at Ziral's list again.

"So why can't I take Deathclaw or Pykespear?"

"Deathclaw is my own personal project. Under my guidance, she has transcended being a normal rat into the most feared beast that isn't me on this island."

"And the other?"

"Deathclaw likes having her around, for what purposes I didn't question. I couldn't bear to see my little baby upset."

The eldest sibling looked over at his most trusted sibling, a look of mirth on his face. "It still astounds me how eloquently you speak when nobeast else is around but me."

"When you talk to a bird, you squawk as it does. When you speak to a mole, you butcher words as it does. When I speak to you, I have to act like I'm better than every beast else, just like you."

"I love you too, sister. Now, let's get ready for this dinner party."

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What did Ziral bet would happen? How is Pykesear doing? Why do I only ever picture Mokkan and Ziral having British accents without writing them any differently than everybeast else? Stick around next chapter and find out most of these answers... hopefully.

Stoaty: You're going to have THIS be a cliffhanger?

What? The reviews said they liked it short. And I'm a slut for my audience, I'll d whatever they say.

Staoty: You sure you want to say that on the Internet?

Well it's too late now. It's not like I can go back and edit this. And as for the audience, thanks for reading.