Murder, He Dooked.

[Venril]

Venril stretched his arms, almost sighing in relief.  Rath had been resistant at first o the idea of helping the stoat learn how to fight, but once he had gotten used to the idea had thrown himself into it with surprising vigor.  It was just one training session,and Venril had a lot of work to do, but he felt a little better knowing he had a professional like Rath to learn from.  Even with Bellona?s unwelcome interference, the training session had been exhausting, but in a good way.  In fact, the stoat reflected, this was probably the first time anyone had taken an interest in him.  Well, except Baron Proklyan.   And that had extended only to teaching him to be a clerk, not to keep him on as a clerk rather than turning him into a hordebeast.

And speaking of hordebeasts?uh oh.  Venril felt an ominous feeling come over him as he saw Verand leaning casually against a wall in front of him.  The ferret smirked as he saw the stoat, and Venril felt a little flutter of fear in his stomach.  The ferret strolled over casually.

?Hello, ?Captain.?  I?m here to  have a little talk with you about the pecking order around here??   The ferret?s paw snaked out and clamped onto Venril?s arm, which had started to move towards his waist. 

?Now, now, let?s not do anything stupid, Venril.  If I wanted to kill you I could have done it many times already.  But I don?t.  You know why Captain Matukhana hasn?t killed you already, Venril?  It?s because you?re so weak he can?t take you seriously as a threat.?

Venril opened his mouth but before he could speak Verand backpawed him savagely across the face, splitting his lip open.  ?I?m not finished speaking, Venril!  Now, as I was saying, Matukhana lets you live because you?re not worth killing.  And that?s why I?ve let you live, because I don?t feel like getting into a spat with Matukhana.  So you?re going to stay a ?Captain? for now, but from now on it?s going to be me calling the shots.  My word is the order of the day, not yours.  There?s no horde here, Venril, no Baron Proklyan to go around putting little runts like you in charge of beasts like me.  The first time you even annoy me, I?ll kill you and just deal with Matukhana later.?

Venril snarled.  ?Hey, wait a second, Verand, has it ever?GAACK!?  Venril gasped and choked as Verand slammed his fist into Venril?s side just under the ribs, and then sent a left hook crashing across his face.   Grabbing the stoat?s shoulder, Verand slammed him hard into a wall, and then brought his knee up hard into the stoat?s back before throwing him to the floor and raining several more kicks on him.  As the stoat lay on the floor of the cave, gasping in pain, Verand spoke again.

?There.  You just used up all the patience I have.  Think about what I said.  You may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I?m going to trust that you can learn a lesson when it?s clear enough.  Just remember, Venril, I am in charge now.  Do you understand??

?Y..yes.?

?Yes what??  Verand knelt down and grabbed Venril?s face.  ?Yes, sir, Captain Verand.  I want to here you say it.  Say it!?

?Y-yes, sir, C-c-c-aptain?Verand.?

Verand dropped Venril and stood up.  ?There.  Glad to see we know where we stand. I?ll see you later, Venril.?  The ferret ambled off completely casually.

Meanwhile, Venril tried to sit up, only to feel a wave of nausea overcome him, and suddenly his hantz was back in the cave it had come from.  The stoats eyes teared up, and he had to struggle not to cry.  He had never been this humiliated and miserable in his life.  Verand hadn?t just said that he was a failure as a captain, he had proven it beyond any doubt.  A real captain didn?t let his hordebeasts walk all over him, and certainly didn?t get pounded to a pulp and told he wasn?t really in charge any more.  After a few minutes, the stoat was able to sit up and lean against the wall. 

As he sat there longer and longer, thinking about what Verand had done to him, Venril felt a new emotion washing over him, and he looked at where Verand had gone, feeling an intense wave of almost overpowering hatred.  Verand had made him miserable since day one.    That?s the last time Verand?the last time!  Venril didn?t know how much time passed, but when he stood up he was animated by a new sense of purpose.  He was going to kill Verand.  He didn?t know how, but he was, and before he died Verand was going to know that he had abused the wrong stoat.  Venril decided to try to go try and get some sleep and think up a way to kill the ferret in the morning, but as he was  walking back, clutching his aching side and bloodied muzzle, he suddenly heard the sound of a familiar voice yelling in the darkness.

?Revel!  Revel?!?  REVEL!"

Liza?Verand had taken an interest in Liza?in fact, it was that interest that had partially prompted the current outburst.  His battered muzzle screamed in protest, but Venril couldn?t help but smile.  An idea was forming in his head.  He would go see what ailed Liza, and maybe if he could fix it she would agree to his idea.  The stoat, still clutching his abdomen, hurried in the direction of Liza?s shouts, which continued every so often. 

Venril ducked into the passage from which the shouts had emanated.  Liza was in the water, mostly submerged, with only her head and neck above the surface.  The marteness gasped as he came in and lowered herself further into the water "Don't look at me!"

Venril sat down on a rock, wiping away a trail of blood from his face.  ?What happened, Liza?  Do you need help with something??

Liza?s frown deepened.  ?Yes! That wicked toad Revel stole my dress! I left it on the rock when I went to bathe, and she took it!? The marten's tone softened. "Please, Venril, could you get it back for me?"

Venril couldn?t help but feel that this was a slightly less serious problem than his own, which tended to involve beasts  (or birds) who wanted to kill him.  However, he needed Liza?s help, so he put on the most sympathetic-yet-chivalrous expression he could muster after being punched in the face and shoved into a rock wall.

"Alright. I think I know where she might have gone."  The stoat started walking off to find Revel. 

It didn?t take long to find the small cave chamber where the cavebeasts had originally put Revel?and him!  It turned his stomach to even think about what must have prompted the cavebeasts to put them together.  Even I am not NEARLY that desperate.  Upon reaching the entrance Venril stopped to listen, and was surprised to here the sound of?crying?  Venril  walked into the room and was surprised to see Revel curled up in a ball, Liza?s extremely ill-fitting dress hardly covering her at all, despite several tears in the fabric. 

Forcing his paws to stop clutching his aching sides and stomach, Venril tried to put on his most authoritative expression, no small task since his face was still bruised and bloody.  ?Now, see here, Revel.  Give me back Liza?s dress right now, or I?ll?be very angry about it.  I might even yell.?

Revel didn?t seem to be paying attention to him.  Instead, she sniffled a few more times, clutching her stomach.  Venril decided to try again.

?Revel, give me back Liza?s??

?Fine!  You can 'ave Pine?s stupid dress! It doesn't fit! I don?t want it!?  Revel, with not a thought to her modesty, grabbed the dress, pulled it off and flung it at Venril.  ?Stupid Pine and 'er stupid dress! Jus' take it an' go away, bloodychops! Prissy-face! I never want t'see you again, stickstoat!?

Venril grabbed the dress and made a very hasty exit, not wanting to spend any more time in the presence of the increasingly bizarre female any longer than he had to.  His side muscles screamed in protest at his speed, but he didn?t care.  For the briefest moment, he thought he heard Revel whisper after him "Wait...come back..." but all that made him do was hurry even more.

Heading back down to the rock pool, he decided to try to get a little cleaned up before going back to talk to Liza.  Looking at his reflection in the pool, he frowned.  His face was bruised and cut up in several places, with plenty of crusted blood in his fur.  Still, this wasn?t the first time Venril had been on the wrong end of a larger mustelid?s fists, and some of the other times had been worse.  Venril cupped his paws and splashed some water up on his face a few times, trying to clean off the blood.  Finally deciding he looked presentable enough to perform a dress delivery, he picked the garment back up and walked back to where Liza was.

?I got the dress.?

?Thank you.?  The marteness started to move towards the shore, but paused.  ?Well??

?Well what??

Liza rolled her eyes.  ?Put the dress on the ground and then go somewhere else.?

?Oh.?  Venril put the dress on the ground and then walked a short ways over and sat down behind a rocky outcropping.

"Alright, I'm coming out of the water now. Don't look."

?I won?t.?

?I mean it, don?t lo??

?I heard you the first time!?  Venril snapped back.?

  What?s she so worried about?  Venril thought to himself.

Right.  Like you aren?t even a LITTLE tempted.  A little voice inside him whispered sarcastically.

I?m not!  Venril thought back.

Oh?  Is that why you?re edging closer to the side of the outcropping?

Well, okay, maybe a LITTLE tempted.  But she?s a marten and I?m a stoat!  It didn?t sound convincing even to Venril, let alone to the little voice.

Close enough.

Venril slid his face slightly around the side of the outcropping.  Just one quick look?what harm can it do? [/i]

A few moments later, Liza called for Venril to come back, and he did.  The dress had been somewhat mangled by Revel, but it was still wearable. Liza finally seemed to notice that he was injured.  ?What happened to you??

?Verand happened.?

Liza looked vaguely disgusted, and Venril bristled. ?Hey!  He?s been a hordebeast his whole life!  I was a clerk until about two weeks before we met.?

?You mean before Verand abducted me.?

Venril nodded.  ?About that?I?ve been thinking.  I?ve had just about enough of that ferret, and I?ll bet you have too.?

?I had had about enough of him the moment I saw him.  But what are you going to do about that?  Make him tire himself out beating you up until he has no energy left to bother me??

Venril ignored the insult, and leaned in close.  ?How would you like to be rid of him for good??

Liza looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  ?Umm, Venril, I appreciate the effort, but I don?t think you can beat him in a fight.?

Venril smirked.  ?Who said anything about a fight?  We know Verand?s sweet for you, right??

Liza shuddered. "Unfortunately. Why? What are you thinking?"

Venril told her his plan.  It wasn?t the bravest of plans, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.   It took some persuading, but when she finally agreed, Venril had to smile.