65th of Spring, 522 A.V.
They had attacked during the night. Fierce blue eyed men and women that surrounded the sloop before anyone had even known they were there. D’Varrus had been the first to hear them as they coordinated quietly in the night. Then as they came aboard, the slaver’s heard them too and everything got a whole lot louder above deck. Shouts, screams, metal banging off of metal, D’Varrus wanted to shut his ears to the clamor but couldn’t as he was kept in his jaguar form by a thick leather collar. All he could do was listen, wait, and watch the quickly emptying darkness below decks as men rushed above to join the fight.
Just when it seemed the last of them were about to depart, the man turned around, squinting about the dimly lit hold for a moment before he crossed over to the cage D’Varrus was kept in. Of course, D’Varrus didn’t like this one bit. He tried to shrink away from the man, backing away into a corner as much as was possible while he bared his fangs. The man hesitated, raised a hand and fished in his satchel for something while his eyes never left D’Varrus. He reeked of sweat, the kind that often coated the poor souls that were lead into his cage for demonstrations. D’Varrus wrinkled his nose even further, taking in a breath to growl at the man when he produced a piece of dried red meat that was about as big around as his hand, and smelled faintly smoky. D’Varrus allowed his expression to relax someone although he still kept his lips peeled back around his fangs as he took a couple of sniffs in the man’s direction.
“Easy now Tomva, you know me? I always make sure you’re well fed don’t I?” The man said in a voice that was far from calm. It shook as much as his hands did as he tossed the piece of meat into the cage. D’Varrus took another long sniff at the offering, and then without looking away from the man, devoured the morsel in one bite. This time he did growl, a deep reverberation that appeared to rattle the man even further. D’Varrus almost could have smiled, but he was too busy looking at the sharp stick in the man’s other hand.
“Come on, I’ve got more where that came from. I just need you to take care of a little something. You hear that upstairs? Bad men have come aboard to kill you, and make a pelt out of your pretty, pretty coat. You don’t want that do you? So heres what were going to do. I’m going to let you out, and you’re going to help us take care of these men, and afterward I promise to give you all the red meat you could ever want.” The man said, taking a step closer to the cage as his hand fished inside of his satchel once more. D’Varrus snarled again, but not as loudly this time as he shifted so his shoulders were square with the door to the cage.
“Easy boy. I just need a bit of assurance from you before I open the cage. Here I’ll even put this down.” The man said as he put down the half spear, and then fished out a set of keys from his satchel. D’Varrus studied the man’s face carefully, pointedly looking from the spear back to the man as he got up onto his haunches. Whatever this was, it didn’t seem like a trick to him, although all that did was to make him more wary about what was really going on above decks. Subtly, he got ready to spring into action as the man fumbled with the lock to the cage, but hesitated to turn the key all of the way.
“What do you think boy? You going to help us out there? Give me a nod, something alright?” The man asked cautiously. Their was a noise from upstairs that quickly carried downstairs as a man tumbled through. This man had sun kissed hair with blue eyes, and almost as soon as he hit the ground, he sprung back to his feet to charge the man that loitered by D’Varrus’ cage. D’Varrus watched as the man kicked the blue eyed one back, then hastily turned the key in the lock before yanking the door open. As soon as there was a large enough gap, D’Varrus leapt through clear over the blond man, landing on the edge of the stairs with his front paws. Continuing on with the momentum, he pushed off with his back legs to climb up the stairs in two quick bounds.
Suddenly he found himself above deck, with men on every side fighting, screaming, dying. Something slapped against his flank causing him to jump as the stinging pain radiated up his backside. His little maneuver brought him closer to the edge of the ship so he simply continued on, avoiding men wherever he could as he zigzagged across the deck until he had enough clearance to leap over the side of the ship. Heart hammering, stomach dropping, he saw that there was naught but water underneath him as he plunged into the dark blue. With almost frenzied strokes of his fore and back paws, D’Varrus climbed back to the surface of the water before orienting himself toward the beach which was only a short crossing away.
The pain in his side was intense, but manageable as he saw as quickly as possible till at last he had solid ground beneath him, at which point he began to bound a short ways onto a drier patch of sand before looking back at the ship that he had just escaped. The sloop was now listing badly away from him, towards the sea, and parts of its sail had caught on fire. As far as he could see, the men on board were still in the thick of fighting off the invaders, who by the looks of things now outnumbered them two to one. D’Varrus gave the sight one slow blink before he turned around towards the jungle that seemed to wait for him.
He didn’t wait another tick to cross the sandy strand of beach to shelter in the lush foliage, although he resisted probing any deeper than superficially at first as he navigated along the edge of the jungle in the direction that lead away from the ship. Keeping the sea on his left, D’Varrus walked throughout the night for as long as his paws would carry him until finally the ache in his backside was too much to handle.
It was then that he decided to find some shelter along the beach, settling for a thick bush to bed down upon where eventually he fell into a deep sleep.
WC - 1,139
Just when it seemed the last of them were about to depart, the man turned around, squinting about the dimly lit hold for a moment before he crossed over to the cage D’Varrus was kept in. Of course, D’Varrus didn’t like this one bit. He tried to shrink away from the man, backing away into a corner as much as was possible while he bared his fangs. The man hesitated, raised a hand and fished in his satchel for something while his eyes never left D’Varrus. He reeked of sweat, the kind that often coated the poor souls that were lead into his cage for demonstrations. D’Varrus wrinkled his nose even further, taking in a breath to growl at the man when he produced a piece of dried red meat that was about as big around as his hand, and smelled faintly smoky. D’Varrus allowed his expression to relax someone although he still kept his lips peeled back around his fangs as he took a couple of sniffs in the man’s direction.
“Easy now Tomva, you know me? I always make sure you’re well fed don’t I?” The man said in a voice that was far from calm. It shook as much as his hands did as he tossed the piece of meat into the cage. D’Varrus took another long sniff at the offering, and then without looking away from the man, devoured the morsel in one bite. This time he did growl, a deep reverberation that appeared to rattle the man even further. D’Varrus almost could have smiled, but he was too busy looking at the sharp stick in the man’s other hand.
“Come on, I’ve got more where that came from. I just need you to take care of a little something. You hear that upstairs? Bad men have come aboard to kill you, and make a pelt out of your pretty, pretty coat. You don’t want that do you? So heres what were going to do. I’m going to let you out, and you’re going to help us take care of these men, and afterward I promise to give you all the red meat you could ever want.” The man said, taking a step closer to the cage as his hand fished inside of his satchel once more. D’Varrus snarled again, but not as loudly this time as he shifted so his shoulders were square with the door to the cage.
“Easy boy. I just need a bit of assurance from you before I open the cage. Here I’ll even put this down.” The man said as he put down the half spear, and then fished out a set of keys from his satchel. D’Varrus studied the man’s face carefully, pointedly looking from the spear back to the man as he got up onto his haunches. Whatever this was, it didn’t seem like a trick to him, although all that did was to make him more wary about what was really going on above decks. Subtly, he got ready to spring into action as the man fumbled with the lock to the cage, but hesitated to turn the key all of the way.
“What do you think boy? You going to help us out there? Give me a nod, something alright?” The man asked cautiously. Their was a noise from upstairs that quickly carried downstairs as a man tumbled through. This man had sun kissed hair with blue eyes, and almost as soon as he hit the ground, he sprung back to his feet to charge the man that loitered by D’Varrus’ cage. D’Varrus watched as the man kicked the blue eyed one back, then hastily turned the key in the lock before yanking the door open. As soon as there was a large enough gap, D’Varrus leapt through clear over the blond man, landing on the edge of the stairs with his front paws. Continuing on with the momentum, he pushed off with his back legs to climb up the stairs in two quick bounds.
Suddenly he found himself above deck, with men on every side fighting, screaming, dying. Something slapped against his flank causing him to jump as the stinging pain radiated up his backside. His little maneuver brought him closer to the edge of the ship so he simply continued on, avoiding men wherever he could as he zigzagged across the deck until he had enough clearance to leap over the side of the ship. Heart hammering, stomach dropping, he saw that there was naught but water underneath him as he plunged into the dark blue. With almost frenzied strokes of his fore and back paws, D’Varrus climbed back to the surface of the water before orienting himself toward the beach which was only a short crossing away.
The pain in his side was intense, but manageable as he saw as quickly as possible till at last he had solid ground beneath him, at which point he began to bound a short ways onto a drier patch of sand before looking back at the ship that he had just escaped. The sloop was now listing badly away from him, towards the sea, and parts of its sail had caught on fire. As far as he could see, the men on board were still in the thick of fighting off the invaders, who by the looks of things now outnumbered them two to one. D’Varrus gave the sight one slow blink before he turned around towards the jungle that seemed to wait for him.
He didn’t wait another tick to cross the sandy strand of beach to shelter in the lush foliage, although he resisted probing any deeper than superficially at first as he navigated along the edge of the jungle in the direction that lead away from the ship. Keeping the sea on his left, D’Varrus walked throughout the night for as long as his paws would carry him until finally the ache in his backside was too much to handle.
It was then that he decided to find some shelter along the beach, settling for a thick bush to bed down upon where eventually he fell into a deep sleep.
WC - 1,139