Chapter 1

The journey begins, I think? It's been a while.

  " I don't get it."

  Plop. The young otter threw a pebble into the lake. He was fifteen and well built with dark brown fur. He had blue eyes and his upper body was exceptionally strong from working in gardens. He wore a dark green vest with black shorts, and a sling with a stone pouch around his waist.  He was resting by the lake after a hard day's labor.

  "Don't get what, Flattle?" Asked his companion. He was Moac, a chameleon from the northern country of Egrain. The swampland in that area was raided by sea rats and his great great grandparents were taken as galley slaves. Around the coast of Yaswin, the ship sailed into a storm and his parents escaped. After turning up in the companions' village, his parents arrived at Flattle's house. Moac's mother, already far into pregnancy, laid a solitary egg. His mother died immediately after and his grief stricken father ran off into the night. The otters vowed to raise the child as their own, even though they had one son only two years old and another on the way. In a matter of days, the family's second son and Moac were born. Moac was not quite as strong built, but was more helpful around the home. He simply wore brown shorts.

  "Why I completely panic whenever I am in simply knee deep water. I mean come on, I'm an otter," Flattle responded.

  "I think the better question is when are you going to stop asking that question. You ask it every single day!" Moac stated.

  "I'll stop asking it when I get the answer. Until then, the question stands."

  "Personally I think you consider pursuing Moss. She is quite a pretty girl."

  Moac had that right. Moss, like Flattle, had a strong upper build. Unlike Flattle though, she was an exemplary swimmer. She was about Flattle's age and spent her days fishing in the stream. Flattle's favorite trait about her was her accent. Her nickname was Stone, because though she may seem soft as moss, her body and will were as tough as stone. She was wearing a blue shirt and a short brown skirt. 

  "Yeah, she's quite the girl alright," Flattle mentioned. "We had probably head back to the village. Mom will want some help on dinner."

  "Let's hope the wolves haven't come to collect more food. They keep their daily demands up and no one will be able to survive through the winter."

  "Well it is only the middle of summer. But you do have a good point."

  They walked the rest of the way back to the village in silence. The village covered a small area and had about thirty families in it. Most lived in houses made from wood from what used to be a forest. Others dug into the side of hills for their houses. The village's streets were made of stone from the river. The companion's house was right beside town square. The square had a few shops for food, clothes, and other useful items. The center had a well where the town's women liked to gossip. It was over all, a fine place to live. 

  When they arrived back they saw the wolves were back. The wolves, led by King Kronge, the third generation wolf ruler of Yaswin, and Queen Kelta, had come every day of the summer for food. The army was mainly made up of foxes, but the majority of the officers were wolves. His highest officer,  Fancal, was sent with the patrols assigned the job of gathering the food.

  "Of course, they had to send the patrol again to gather food. Somebody has got to stop this madness," Moac complained.

  "I'm tired of this. We are all about out of food for ourselves. I'm going to stop Fancal," proclaimed Flattle.

  "Wai-. Wha-. You can't d-. And off he goes. If Fancal doesn't kill him first, I will. I think I'll go get everyone else," Moac declared. And back to the lake he ran.

  Flattle ran to where the crowd was gathered in the village square. He heard Fancal shout out,"Get the food, riverdog, or your wife won't enjoy the sunset!"

  "Let her go!" Flattle screamed. He then attacked Fancal with his strong tail, dealing Fancal a good blow to his head.

  Fancal turned slowly. He calmly asked,"Would you like to fight, pup? Because I'm always up for a good challenge. I can even make it fair. You have a sling and I can borrow one from one of my soldier. They would stay out of the fight because if they didn't, the stone would hit their head instead of yours. And as you can see, I'm not wearing any armor. Does that sound fair to you?"

  "Sounds great. Just don't expect to win," Flattle retorted. The crowd widened the circle around the two.

  "Good, good. Then let's fight!" Fancal shouted his last word and attacked overhead with his sling. Flattle swiftly whipped out his sling and blocked the attack. He untangled his sling and attacked Fancal's right side. Fancal lazily dodged and struck Flattle in the arm. Flattle growled and went for Fancal's left leg. Fancal jumped and landed on Flattle's foot while also striking him in the back. Flattle cried out in pain and went down.

  "Get up, pup!" Fancal shouted. Flattle kicked out and made contact. He then jumped up and swung his sling upwards. Fancal leaned back and brought his sling down and around to Flattle's right side. Flattle cried out in agony and bent over. Flattle's world turned blue, and all he could see was Fancal standing there, waiting for his next attack. Flattle regained his breath, then turned around and charged Fancal.Fancal easily dodged his attack. But Flattle, once on Fancal's blind side, spun around and whacked him hard in the back.  Fancal howled in pain and decided enough was enough. He brought the sling down on Flattle's head and Flattle's world suddenly went black. The wolf regained his breath and straightened up.

  "Anyone else interested in challenging me. I can even fight on your terms!" Fancal challenged. Nobody responded. Everyone was scared of Fancal.

  "Good. Then I'll take the food and leave you here to tend to your evening meals."

  As Fancal and his troop marched off, he commented to himself,"That boy would make a great soldier. He has the spirit of another otter warrior I know. He had better keep his work up in the fields.

Author's Note

You ever gone back and read your old writing and cringed? Yeah, basically. Have fun with this crap.