Running to Survive
Contains: Attempted Soft Vore and Soft Vore
 
Nate quickly spun around, his rudder thudding against a small sapling behind him. As the otter spun, his sword�s blade swiftly cut through foliage in the forest. He then proceeded to leap forward and bring the sword down over his head, promptly cutting the sapling in half. �I guess that�s enough training for today.�
Nate was the same as any other otter that lived in these woods. He talked, acted, and looked like every other otter, save for three things: The black irises that made you look right at his eyes, his sword, as no other otter carried one, and that he could succumb to a condition called Bloodwrath when exposed to enough anger.
He started down the path back to his home, the path he had taken many times since the first time as a pup. He had never known his mother, who had died when he wasn�t even a week old, and knew little of his father, who had died when Nate was only five years old.
He was sixteen now, and thought to himself as he continued to walk down the path. �Wonder what I should make to eat tonight. Shrimp are in my part of the stream this time of year. Maybe I should fish for some of them.�
Shrimp was Nate�s favorite type of seafood. He always fished for them this time of year, and never turned down a chance to make his favorite meal: Fish and Fire soup. He had been taught how to make it by his father, and the otter�s love for anything spicy made it a special treat.
Having no parents, he knew it was either adapt or die, and he wasn�t about to die. He taught himself how to do everything an otter needed to know and had taught himself how to swordplay. As he walked, he thought he had heard something.
He stopped walking, and the noise he had heard was no longer audible. �Hmmm, must have imagined it.� He thought aloud, and kept walking. Again, he heard the noise and stopped, and again the noise was no longer heard.
�Now, I just need to be sure,� He thought to himself, and took one more step before stopping. Then, he heard the noise: leaves crunching, not to far behind him. He whipped out his sword and spun around, nearly taking the squirrel�s head off that had been following him.
�Ciara, what in the hell are you doing here?� �I just saw you walking by and decided to see what you were up to. How have you been?� �I�ve been fine. I just finished training and I�m heading home to fix myself some Fish and Fire soup. Care to join me?�
Ciara and Nate were childhood friends. Ciara�s parents liked Nate, aside from the fact that he had got their daughter into weaponry. He had shown her his prowess with his sword, and she had asked what other weapons he could use that well. �I am an otter, so javelins of course. I can sort of use axes and bows, and I can really sling a stone.� �A sling? Can you show me one?� �Sure.�
That�s how Ciara got into slings, then into javelins, and finally into swords like Nate. The two also had feelings for each other, though they never admitted it. �Sounds great, what kind of hot vegetation are you going to put in it?� �I found a certain kind of root with a pretty hard kick, so I figured I could grind it up into a powder and mix it in. See how it tastes.�
"Sure Nate, but first, could you show me how you're coming along with your sword fighting?" "No problem. En Gaurde!" Nate's blade flashed as he removed it from the sheath, and Ciara's came out in a flash as well. Not as detailed or distinguished as Nate's, it did what it was meant for.
 Nate�s sword was ornate. It had a triple skull hilt, and the handle was made of fine steel. Ciara�s was plain, except the scarlet gem in the middle of the hilt. They crossed several times; then, Nate slid his sword under the squirrel maid�s and disarmed her with a twitch of his paw.
Ciara�s tail waved back and forth in a huff. �You always beat me. It�s not fair that you have had more training than me, so you can do better.� �You are getting better, though. You just need to improve a little more and you might be able to disarm me. Maybe.�
They arrived at the otter�s home, and Nate went in, and emerged with a net. �Just let me get some shrimp, and I�ll make some of my soup. Then, we can talk.� �Alright, I�ll wait here.� Was her reply. He headed outside and threw the net into the stream. Minutes later, he was coming back in with a huge haul of shrimp and crawfish.
�I�ll throw these into my pot, and get those roots ground up.� He took them out back, and put them to his grindstone, normally used for sharpening his sword. When the roots were powdered, he took them in and threw them into the pot.
�So, how are your parents?� �Great. They ask about you a lot, like how you are doing all on your lonesome.� �I have told them a million times, I am just fine. I got to this age by myself, I�m sure I can keep myself going.� �They know; they are just worried since your dad died so mysteriously.�
Nate tasted the soup, and then huffed as he stirred in more of the powdered roots. �My dad died from drowning. Yes, it is hard for otters to drown, but it happens. I have fended for myself just fine. I don�t see any problems with my life. C�mon,� He said, tasting the soup and determining that it was just right. �Soup�s done. Let�s eat.�
Jake Bloodfang, the leader of a band of assassins, sailed his giant vessel into an inlet. �First,� the jet-black falcon said to his crew, while he tightened one of his talons into the railing of his ship. The other was pointed at the crew. �We kill those squirrels that interfered last time. We took serious casualties from them and the otter, and even though we drowned the otter under the ship, we didn�t accomplish our goal.�
�This time, we�ll be more cautious. We�ll kill the squirrels first, and then take the otter�s den over after.� His right hand beast, Matt Shadestrike, said. �Right, so none of you numbskulls mess it up this time.� Jake snarled. They moored the boat into the shore, and headed toward the home of the squirrels.
�Well, that was the best meal I ever had, Nate.� Ciara said, picking up her plate and taking it over to the water bucket, her tail going back and forth, creating little gusts of wind. �Glad you liked it, Ciara.� Nate said, thumping his rudder on the ground. �Well, we better get you home. Your parents will be worried.�
At this exact point in time, Matt, being a fox and the fastest land beast in the crew, got to Ciara�s house. He snuck in the back door and killed both of her parents in cold blood. �Sir, it�s done! But it looks like we didn�t get all of them. There is evidence that a younger one lives here as well!�
Jake landed and dug his talons into a branch. �Well, she�ll have to die as well. We can�t allow slip-ups this time.� �Sir, an otter and a squirrel are headed up the path, right this way!� �Ciara, wait.� Nate whispered, �Something�s not right, I just saw a fox looking at us. They�re in your house.�
�What�ll we do, sir?� a stoat that had been assigned to come along asked the captain. �Kill them. We can�t afford to let them stay alive.� �Stay here, Ciara. I�m gonna see what�s going on.� �Nate, be careful, I don�t want you to get hurt!� �I�ll be fine. Stop worrying.�
Nate laid flat on his stomach, and his rudder made a trail in the dirt. He slowly crawled toward the ladder that led to the house, and pulled out his sword. Suddenly, he felt wind from above and jumped backward.
A stoat had narrowly missed his head, and was now circling him, looking for an open opportunity to kill him. Nate jumped at him, to which the stoat gave a shocking response. He came around the back of Nate, and put his knife to his jugular, the vital vein of the neck.
�Where is your little friend? Don�t play dumb with me either, we�ll get her eventually.� �She�s in a place where you�ll never reach her, scum!� Nate shot back with a bitter sting in his words. �You�re lucky we were only ordered to kill you, waterdog, because death is to good a reward for you.�
�So, this is how it ends. Fending for myself so long has brought me to die like this. I just hope Ciara can get away and stay safe.� He felt the bite of the blade as it started to dig into his flesh, reaching for the vein that would snuff out his life.
Suddenly, the blade fell from his neck and the body of the stoat knocked him to the ground. Nate realized that he felt no pulse in the carcass on top of him, and he felt something warm running down his neck.
 He pushed the body off of himself, and saw what had caused the stoat�s demise: A sling stone had been lodged into the back of the corpse�s neck. �Glad you taught me how to do that, or you would have been dead.� Ciara told him.
Nate climbed the ladder leading to the door, and was shocked at what he saw lying before him: both of Ciara�s parents, dead from being stabbed in the heart. Nate assumed that both had been killed without proper chance to defend themselves, as both had knife wounds in their backs.
�Ah, so the otter shows his face to me. Do you want to be the next to die?� These words made Nate come back to reality and look up, seeing a pure-black falcon and a fox of normal color. �You did this? What could these innocent creatures have done to you?�
�I suppose I should let you know why these creatures had to die, as well as you and that squirrel friend of yours will.� Jake told him. �I came here almost twelve years ago in hopes to get the sword of the Royal Family of the North. I slaughtered all but one of the Royal Family Members before coming here, but couldn�t find the sword among them.�
�What does this have to do with any of us?� �Ah, you see, that�s where I was getting to. I demanded that the last living creature tell me where the blade was, and he informed me it was in the southlands now, taken from them by a powerful otter warrior.�
Matt chimed in, �Of course, we had to investigate. So, after killing the informant so that no one but us would know where it was, we headed south. When we arrived, we had looked for the den of the otter. After searching for a long time, we found a den that seemed to be it, but we had to be sure.�
Jake took over again, �The den belonged to a male otter and his young pup. We waited, and found out that it was indeed this otter that had the sword. We fought against him with all of our numbers, but with the help of these squirrels, he killed more than ninety percent of my assassins.�
�So what? Just because you couldn�t get a sword that didn�t belong to you in the first place means you had to kill these squirrels?� Jake ignored Nate�s questions and continued.
�After drowning the otter with our ship, we returned to the North, and took refuge in the fortress of the Royal Family. We took it over, and recruited more than twice the number we had before. So, we trained them. Now, it looks like these creatures sins have caught up with them.�
Nate began to shake uncontrollably, a red mist slowly filling his eyes. �So, my father didn�t die by accident. He drowned trying to protect me from you scum! Well, now I have the blade you seek, and as long as I'm alive, you'll never get it!" Jake looked slightly shocked, and then sneered and said, "So, your that otter's son? That means I have a score to settle with you. You can take your father's place for his crimes. Oh, and if I won't get the sword unless your dead, that can be arranged."
Nate, now under the full control of Bloodwrath, charged the creature that was almost four times his size. Nate swung at the falcon, who took to flight, and came down hard on the otter's back. Knocking the wind out of him and freeing him from Bloodwrath, Nate was now fully aware and unable to make a sound. What happened next did all but suprise him. As the bird lifted him from the ground, he said. "I don't know how, or when, or by whom, but you will pay for your crimes against my and my friend's family."
The bird ignored him, opening his beak wide enough to get his victim into. He held the otter tight in one talon, and removed the sword with the other. "Now, enjoy the rest of your life, waterdog. I think I will quite enjoy this." Now, Nate's head was inside of the bird's beak, which he closed to hold him steady while he tipped his head back. He opened his beak, and the otter was pulled into his open maw by gravity.
Jake clacked his beak shut, and started to work the otter over with his tounge. He wanted to swallow him whole so that he would feel the pain of his digestion. However, even with his fur all matted down and being thrown this way and that, Nate had managed to take hold of the falcon's tounge, preventing him from being pulled down into the throat, which waited for its prey to get just the smallest part into it.
Just then, Ciara came into view. She knocked Matt unconsious, and then charged right into the bird's stomach. Jake was forced to spit out the otter, and grabbed both his dead crewbeast and his unconcious one before taking to the sky. As he flew away, he called back. "We'll be back soon enough. When we do, I will have two new meals for my stomach to enjoy!" Nate and Ciara just looked around, and saw the carnage that lay before them. "Ciara, we have to run." "Why?" "If they come back with more than just three next time, we won't stand a chance. We have to run. We have to run to survive." Nate picked up his sword and stared at it, only stopping when he heard Ciara's voice. "How?" "I have an idea. Come on, I always knew I would need this boat."
Jake flew back to his ship, landing on the deck. He set down Matt, and ate the stoat without too much trouble, as his fur was slick from blood. After finishing his meal, Jake told his crewbeasts, "They got lucky, but they can't escape us all. We will get the sword from that otter, no matter what it takes! For now, we will head back north and rally our forces!" "Well, the preparations are all done, but I still don't have a name for our ketch." "What about Avenger?" "Avenger. I like it. I hearby chrisen this boat Avenger." "Where will we go Nate?" "They said they were from the north. Our best bet would be to head south and get some help before coming back. I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of a greater war."