Song of Silence

[Chak Ku'rill]

?He?s a murderer. He deserves to die.?

The squirrel and mouse looked down at their former slave master, who lay asleep in the sand. Years of experience had taught them how to tell the difference between the slave driver?s pretend sleep and the slow rhythm of deep, oblivious slumber.

?Aye, he?s a murderer,? the mouse answered, careful to keep his voice low, ?but that rat locked us up and never came back. Chak came back, even though he didn?t have a key.?

?Well he shouldn?t?ve given away his key in the first place then!? The squirrel scowled. ?I don?t know why you?re defending him. You, of all beasts??

The mouse watched Chak thoughtfully. ?We would both be dead if not for him.?

?That doesn?t change who he is. All those beatings? All those agonizing hours pushing and pulling ?til our muscles tore? And then he?d go and beat us more!?

?Why, Reedox, you?re starting to rhyme!?

?Don?t change the subject. And don?t you dare break into song or I?ll pummel you with this stick.?

The mouse sighed.

?Anyway, our manacles are off now,? the squirrel continued, lowering his voice again. ?What?s to keep us from making a run for it? There?s no reason to stay with this blaggard. We don?t owe him anything. So what if he spared our lives? I still don?t think that evens things out. The scales of justice are still against him, all things considered.?

?Do you really value your life that lightly?? The mouse lifted an eyebrow at his companion.

The squirrel tested the tip of his sharpened stick with a finger, silent.

?As to why we shouldn?t just run off ? didn?t you hear Crue mention that tribal altar she and Tooley found in the forest with the dead creatures all over it? We?re not alone out here,? the mouse murmured. He watched the grizzled sea otter?s chest rise and fall and his braided whiskers twitch. ?Chak?s a black-hearted creature if ever there was one, but his heart?s still there ? black or not. I?d rather have him at our backs than venture out into that jungle on our own.?

?You mean at my back? with another bludgeon. He never beats you anymore ? his beloved Minstrel.? The squirrel glowered.

?It might help if you stopped defying him openly and trying to stick nails in his eyes,? the mouse suggested off-handedly. ?Besides, I don?t think Robert would allow it. And I think Chak knows that. Things will be different from here on out. Chak?s going to have to change, and I think it can be for the better.?

?You?re not serious. You can?t be serious. After what he just did? I was just thinking, now that the others have seen his true colors, they won?t care much if he ends up dead.?

The mouse turned to look at his companion. ?You?re wrong. They would care. And both you and I would know it wasn?t love for Daggle that caused you to bloody your paws. Nor would it be a desperate bid for freedom, as you?ve been freed. By Chak.?

The squirrel looked away, clenching his jaw.

?It?s interesting,? the mouse added thoughtfully, ?that the one thing you were always bothered most by ? Chak refusing to acknowledge us by our real names ? is kind of what you?re doing now.?

?What?s that supposed to mean??

?Chak steeled his conscience by treating us like flat caricatures without depth or histories. I?m the happy-go-lucky slave, 'Jumpkin' was the nervous slave, 'Stacks' was the slave that collected things? and you?re the bad slave who?s always plotting to kill him behind his back.?

Reedox glared, folding his arms across his chest.

The mouse shrugged. ?I?m just saying, you?re playing right into your assigned role. And you?re doing the same thing as Chak by labeling him a mindless ogre who hurts others for the sheer pleasure of it without cause or reason. There?s more to him than that. And there?s more to you than petty revenge.?

The mouse reached out a paw, resting it against the squirrel?s rigid shoulders. ?We can put it behind us, Dox. Move on with our lives. You don?t have to become something you?re not.?


*******************


Chak awoke, sensing something was off. The sun was not up yet, though the sky had grown lighter in anticipation. He turned and saw Scrufftail glaring down at him from his perch in a tree. The squirrel had armed himself with a variety of creative weapons from pointed sticks to sharp-edged shells. Not entirely unexpected. Chak had hoped the slave would seize upon his new-found freedom, run off into the jungle, and disappear forever. The fact that he lingered was an ill omen.

However, the last thing Chak wanted to do was kill one of his two remaining slaves. He had fought hard to save them. Plus, he had enough blood on his paws as it was. His sleep had been fitful and full of haunting images despite his conviction that Daggle had deserved to die. Violence was no stranger to the otter ? nor death ? but never had the otter allowed himself to reach the point of actually killing another beast. He was not like his former slave master. He knew when to stop. But Daggle was different. Chak had not allowed himself to stop for Daggle. Robert was right that all lives were valuable, and Daggle had doomed over fifty. It wasn?t an even trade by any measure, but it was all Chak could do.

The sea otter stood and stretched, grimacing as sand sifted down his shirt and breeches. A cool rinse would clear his fur and his thoughts. He glanced around, checking to see if anyone else was up before he headed for the nearby stream to relieve himself and wash up. Robert, Minstrel, and the other squirrel were asleep where they had bedded down the night before, but Plink and Tooley were missing, the leaves they had so carefully arranged in the tiny shelters lay bare and unused. Chak?s brow furrowed. Tooley was enough of a ninny to wander off in the middle of the night, but he had thought the little rat was smarter than that.

Little rat.

He had missed it. Of course she would be disturbed at seeing another rat die in front of her eyes. Probably any beast, actually. He remembered the first time he had seen someone killed ? by a slave driver, no less. He had been as young as she. A chill ran down his spine despite the warm weather. He was the villain now. Chak the Cruel. A name adopted to inspire fear.

Force and fear had always helped Chak ? not just to control his slaves, but to garner respect in the midst of some of the most back-stabbing and bloodthirsty crews of pirates. It was the language they spoke. It was the language he had learned in order to survive. Yet Robert did not use fear or intimidation to control others.

Chak had watched the hedgehog carefully the evening before, albeit from a distance. At first he resented Robert taking over the group, but after the funeral it became evident the hedgehog had a level of experience Chak did not. He had organized the camp site; he had wood gathered and a fire started. Some beasts collected edibles and others found leaves for bedding and to cover lean-to shelters. Robert knew the stars and where the sun would rise, how to find water and most important of all, how to win beasts over. With little prompting, the others sought his leadership and counsel. Robert seemed to do more with a pat on the back than Chak could with a dozen lashes. It was enviable. Yet it hadn?t worked, had it? Two of the group had run off, despite all of his efforts. Granted, they were not part of the Waverunner crew, but Chak wondered how Robert would react.

After cleaning up, Chak approached the dozing hedgehog, noticing how he held the broken oar close, even in his sleep.

Chak cleared his throat.

Robert snored just as loud.

Chak nudged the hedgehog with his foot.

Robert jerked awake, grabbing reflexively at the weapon. On sight of Chak he leapt to his feet and brandished the oar warily.

?You?d better back off, sea scum, ?less you be wantin? a cracked skull!?

?Easy thar, mate.? Chak held up his paws. ?Ye don? want ter be doin? summat regrettable afore yer fully cog-ni-zent.?

?Cain?t say I?d regret busting your sorry hide,? Robert growled, but lowered his oar. ?What?s the big idea, wakin? a bloke before the sun?s even up??

?Thought ye might want ta know Tooley an? Plink be missin?. Run off in the middle o? the night? from what I cain tell.?

Robert hurried over to the empty shelters, kicking up sand. Crue and Minstrel sat up, wakened by the noise.

?We have to find them,? Robert declared, face etched with worry. ?Gather what supplies you can, everyone. We?ve a search an? rescue to conduct.?

Surprisingly, everyone reacted with unquestioning obedience. Apparently they did not see the desertion as a failure on Robert?s part. Even Scrufftail dropped to the ground and started filling coiled shells with water from the stream. Chak was the oddbeast out. Again.

?Minstrel!?

?Aye!? the mouse answered, but he was obviously in the hedgehog?s paw. Minstrel had tied the shirt scraps from his ankles into a sort of strap with which to carry a cluster of elongated red-brown fruits half his size, and was hoisting them over his shoulder with a grunt.

??Ere. Lemmee take that. Ye?ll be faster wi?out.? Chak offered a broad paw.

Minstrel hesitated, then brightened, as the sun peaking over the horizon, and handed the bundle to the otter. ?Alright. Thanks!? He met Chak?s eyes with a searching look, then scurried off to help Robert cover the remnants of their fire.

As they headed into the steaming jungle in the direction Tooley and Plink?s tracks pointed, Chak hung back, bringing up the rear.  Scrufftail kept pace with the other squirrel, though both were too surly to strike up much of a conversation. Robert hacked at the vines blocking their path while Minstrel utilized his small build to scout ahead.

Biting flies and blood-sucking insects tortured them every step of the way, and even breathing became a chore as the air grew thick with humidity. After about an hour Minstrel and Robert stopped, unable to find further traces of the rat and weasel. The overgrown trail had split, and it was anybody?s guess which direction they took. Chak swatted a mosquito humming in his ear and smacked his neck where another fly was helping itself to a chunk of his skin.

Minstrel pointed left and started down the path that seemed to open up further down. Chak was taking another swing at his insect entourage, wondering how in Hell?s teeth he had ended up in this situation when a crack and a whizzing sound echoed through the vines and trees ahead, followed by an alarmed cry. Everyone surged ahead to see what had happened.

Robert sat on the forest floor, cradling a gasping Minstrel who had a sharpened stick protruding horribly from his throat.

?It was a trap o? some sort ? spring-loaded, ? Robert explained quickly, cautioning the others to stand back. Chak could see other spikes sticking out of the trunks of the surrounding trees, but was not deterred. He knelt beside the mouse as the healer squirrel pushed her way in beside him. She stilled at the sight then snapped into action.

?Put pressure on that wound. Try to stop the bleeding, but don?t pull the spike out ? that will only make him bleed more.?

Robert did as she said, trying to staunch the wound with his bare paws. Minstrel?s body shook and he gurgled, red bubbles filling his mouth.

?Oh Gates. His airway?s filling with blood?? Crue stepped back, running a paw through her headfur. ?He?s going to suffocate. I? I?m sorry. I can?t stop this.?

Chak leaned in, his vision blurring. He had never in his life felt so helpless. Even surrounded by sharks. Even being beaten half-conscious. Even finding his mother?s body floating on the waves. Minstrel was still alive, but fading fast, and there was nothing he could do about it.

?Minstrel?? his voice broke.

The mouse?s eyes rolled to look at the otter as he choked.

?I shoulda been up front. I shoulda gone firs?. I shoulda been leadin?,? Chak whispered urgently.

The mouse shook his head. His mouth worked, but no sound escaped. Chak enveloped the slave?s trembling paw in his own as spasms wracked his small frame. Slowly Minstrel?s body relaxed and his head lolled, though his eyes remained open and his footpaws twitched. Chak bowed his head, touching his forehead to the mouse?s and bellowed with grief. A consoling hedgehog paw was tentatively laid upon the big otter?s back, leaving a bloody print to soak into the rough material of his corsair shirt.

*******************

The four defeated beasts carried Minstrel?s body back to their camp. There was little hope now for Tooley and Plink, and Robert was a wreck at the loss of yet another life. They held a second funeral. Thankfully, Robert did not insist on burying the mouse near Daggle. Chak sat at the grave long after the last pawful of soil had been pushed onto the mound. Crue returned to her lean-to shelter and curled up inside, though she did not seem to be sleeping, Scrufftail sat in a tree nearby, the last of sixty-one slaves, and Robert sat with Chak, silent and grieving.

Chak found he was no longer afraid of appearing weak in front of the hedgehog. Robert treated everyone the same, no matter their strengths or weaknesses.

?Ye?d be surprised ?ow ?e could sing.?

Robert nodded.

?Better ?n any I ever be ?earin? in me life. Ye weren?t there fer ?is funeral song. It be??ard ter describe. But it be summat else entirely. Full o? beauty an? sadness all at once.? Chak paused, trying to remember the words. ?Summat ?bout bein? free an? no more pain er ?ope?? He winced at the clumsy description. ?Don? seem right that there be no music fer ?im.?

Robert shifted so his forearms rested across his knees. ?I?m no singer, by any means, but me daughter, Maribel ? she has a voice that could calm the most anxious soul ? sweet an? golden, an? true. She even composed a song for me before I shipped out, though there weren?t time for me to hear it. Maybe if?n we get back, she can write a song to remember him by.?

?Aye. That?d be?fittin?.? Chak tried to imagine having a daughter. Plink came to mind, and he felt a pang of guilt. He knew next to nothing about children, save his own childhood experience, which was obviously a poor model to go by. His slaves were the closest he had to children, despite their being full-grown. Minstrel, however, had developed into something more than a simple ward.

??E were a friend,? Chak reflected aloud. ??E were the only beast what understood me.?

Robert nodded. ?Well, he certainly had your back??

??E knew I be treatin? ?em fair. Allus ?ad me back on the ship too, ?elpin? ta keep rogues like that ?un in check.? Chak nodded up at Scrufftail, who shot him a dirty look. ?T?ain?t fair that I be left wi? the scabby tree-crawler what ?ates me. I only brought ?im along as ?e be chained ta Minstrel. Minstrel deserved ta live.?

The scraggly-tailed squirrel landed on the ground with a thump, having evidently heard enough. He stood in front of Chak, boiling with fury.

?Minstrel was the good slave, Minstrel had a voice of gold, Minstrel understood me,? he mocked with a whining lilt, then his voice sharpened. ?You?re right that he understood you. He understood you better than any of us. That?s how he could play you so well.?

Chak stiffened, his lip curling. Robert put a cautioning paw to his arm.

?You think he was your friend? You don?t even know his real name!?

?Yarrrr!? Chak lept to his feet. ?I be knowin? ?is name, squirrel scum! It be?Thimble.?

?Wrong!? shouted the squirrel. ?That?s the name you gave him before he started singing and you changed it to Minstrel! His name was Nimbleton! Nimbleton hated your guts! Nimbleton played you like a fiddle!?

?That be a lie!? Chak roared.

?Minstrel is a figment of your imagination. He didn?t exist! Minstrel was the eager-to-please toady who sung his heart out to keep you happy enough so you wouldn?t beat his friends to bloody pulps! Nimbleton was the mouse who united us all behind your back with promises of revenge and freedom!? Scrufftail clenched his paw into a fist. ?In fact, if everything had gone according to plan and the ship hadn?t spontaneously exploded and sunk to the bottom of the sea that night, you?d be dead! At Nimbleton?s paw!?

Chak?s chest heaved with anger and the veins of his neck stood out. ?Yer jus? jealous ?cause I be treatin? ?im better ?n ye! Minstrel weren?t like ye!?

The squirrel laughed. ?You?re right! He was a much better liar. And a far better singer too, though I?ll try my best to do this one justice.?

With that the squirrel broke into song. The notes were off key and the rhythm was stilted, but there was no mistaking the tune of Minstrel?s ?Slop Song.?

?Oh the lummox we call Chak Ka-rule,
Is a loathsome piece o? residue,
He?s a great big arse ? smells like one toooooo -
Oh watch out for Chak the Fool!

Chak Ka-rule, a fiend most cruel,
Makes us squirm beneath his shoe,
Clueless that he?s just a tool -
Oh watch out for Chak the Fool!

?Yo ho ho! Yoo hoo hoo!
What spurs a slave to continue?
Dreams that Chak be paid his due,
When we take down Chak the Fool!

Hope with me ? imagine too,
visions of him turnin? blue,
Cause there?s nothin? else we?d rather do,
than strangle Chak the Foo---?

?Enough!? Chak snarled, cutting the squirrel off and charging towards him. Scrufftail merely danced around the otter?s swings, then shot back up into his tree, laughing derisively.

Scrufftail was certainly no poet, and could never have come up with something so articulate on the spot. He obviously had the song memorized. Had they all been imagining these substitute lyrics when he had them sing the slop song every day?

Chak seethed and swore at the squirrel, chucking a couple choice rocks into the foliage, then he stormed off towards the beach.

*******************

He had been duped. He should never have trusted that mouse. His affection had made him weak. Chak decided that from now on, he would offer no leniency or rewards. Let everybeast under him cower and weep. He would cut their mocking tongues out for fish bait and make them sleep on bare, piss-stained floors. Let them eat week-old scraps and moldy wormy bread like he had. He could even make a profit on the younger, fairer ones. There were a variety of appetites aboard a pirate ship, after all. Vulpuz knew he had turned down many an offer. And to what end? They had all still hated him and conspired to kill him. All of them. Even Minstrel. Or Nimbleton. Whoever the hell he was.

Chak turned to pace the other way and found Robert standing there, oar held loosely at his side.

?Before you return to spit on Minstrel?s grave?? Robert paused, noticing the new club hanging at Chak?s side. ?I thought I might try an? talk some sense into you.?

The urge to pummel someone had passed, though Chak still stewed. He snorted and continued to walk, but at a slow enough pace for Robert to join him.

?I don?t think Scrufftail is tellin? you the whole truth.?

?Do it matter??

?Aye. I know it hurts to hear o' Minstrel?s betrayal on the ship, but he was a captive then, makin' a bid for freedom. The question you should be askin? is why he didn? betray you on the island.?

Chak grunted. ?Bidin? ?is time, mayhaps.?

?Maybe.? Robert swung the oar like a walking stick, touching the damp sand at their feet, ?but he coulda slipped that shiny li?l dagger o? his between your ribs at any time. Instead, he used it to stop me from knockin? your block off with this chunk o? wood the other night. That jus? don?t sound like a beast who?s eager to see you dead.?

Chak thought back to the previous morning when he had armed the mouse with such trust and confidence. He had been sure Scrufftail was the greater threat, but Scrufftail would have had a much harder time sneaking up on Chak. His loathing was obvious, whereas Minstrel ? Nimbleton ? hid behind a smiling mask.

?So ?e were lyin? ta me face most o? the time, but not all o? the time, yer sayin?.?

Robert breathed a frustrated sigh. ?What I?m sayin? is, even if Minstrel had been planning to turn on you before, somethin? between there an? here changed his mind.?

Chak stopped and turned to walk back the way they had come. ?I went back fer ?em on the ship. Pulled ?im an? Scruff out an? swum ta land.?

?Well that be it then, boyo, you saved his life!"

?Don? seem ta inspire Scrufftail none.?

?Some beasts hold a grudge tighter than others,? Robert suggested. ?He was wantin' your head today. Seemed to glory in it, even.?

?Aye, ?e be full o? devil?s poison. Ne?er could learn ta keep ?is ?ead down an? ?old ?is tongue. I don? make it a point ta kill me slaves, mind ye, but ?e be pushin? me all thur time. It be like ?e be darin? me ta end ?im.?

?Some beasts would rather die than be slaves.?

?Ye cain count me in that lot,? Chak answered darkly.

Robert cocked an eyebrow. ?If you hate it so much, why?re you part o? it??

Chak glanced down at the hedgehog, then ahead at the shoreline. ?Jus? sort o? fell inter it. It be complicated. Le?s jus? say?I knew if I be in control o? the whip, I b?ain?t be under it.?

?I see. So you jus' fell into somethin' you hate out o' bad luck.?

"T'were the key ter me freedom."

"Freedom to enslave others."

Chak growled. ?I be better ?n that gates-damned fox what be o?er me most o' me life. Me own slaves ne?er knew ?ow good they ?ad it. Buncha ingrates??

?They jus' couldn' see it that way!? Robert contended. ?All they knew is you took 'em from their homes an? families an' forced 'em onto some bleedin' boat at sea. Bad is still bad. You cain?t expect a beast to be grateful that you don? treat them worse'n you could.?

Chak processed the hedgehog?s words with a deep frown.

?Why air ye tellin? me this??

?'Cause I don? think that?s who you're wantin' to be, is it? Chak the Cruel??

The sea otter came to a halt, studying Robert intently.

?I ain?t like you, Robert,? He finally said. ?No one be choosin? ta follow me wi?out bein? forced.?

Robert gestured excitedly with his oar. ?But that?s jus' what I?ve been tellin' you! Minstrel was choosin' to follow you, all on his own! You protected him. You valued his life. And you valued the lives of those he cared about. You did something no other slaver would o' done, an' he respected that.? Robert dropped one end of the oar back into the sand. ?Not that I be agreein? with your exactin? revenge, mind. I?ll always believe your killin' o? Daggle was wrong??

Chak looked away, though he could sense Robert?s eyes locked on him.

?But I think every beast deserves a second chance.?