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Look who's back. It's the trackers. Look what's happening. It's relationship shit.

Gonna try and focus on ItSotV. I'm so close to finishing it.

"Four man in a rock and roll band,
fly at night in the morning we land."

---

Tojenka had had a very difficult week or so. Her daughter’s kidnap, her mate’s capture, and now there was a huge crowd of felines streaming into the town. A few she recognized, and of those most were tired and battered looking. She bit her lip. Whenever such a large influx of felines happened here, a battle was not far behind.

Zif and Zik were exhausted by the time they finally marched through the valley. It was almost morning, the few early rising insects already stirring. As much as the twins wanted to follow their comrades into the barracks and pass out for eight hours, they needed to report back to the Regent. They walked past the sleeping gate guard and wearily shoved the doors open and trudged through the building, Zik leaning on the wall as Zif knocked on the door to Zhoe’s chamber. Both hoped that he wouldn’t answer, giving them an excuse to go sleep, but there was a growl and a crash from the other side of the door. “What is it?!”
“Sir! Zif and Zik reporting!”
“My trackers! Come in! Come in!”
They entered. The regent looked terrible. Neither knew what the cause could be, but whatever it was it was plainly showing on the Regent. He was sweating profusely, and his eyes were blackening around the edges. The fact that he was already awake or had easily been awoken said something too. Zik and Zif exchanged a glance which contained an entire conversation. The Regent gestured to his table. “Come on, sit down and have some wine, and we’ll discuss execution plans.”
The two sat. Zif leaned over the table. “Sir, we don’t have Marten.”
The regent froze mid drink. He put down his chalice and leveled his eyes on Zif and Zik. “What?”
“He escaped us.”
“How the fuck did an old man escape forty of my best trackers?!”
Zif wiped his brow as Zik took up the conversation. “He had help, sir. A highly skilled canine warrior and a couple others. There was also the slave ship…”
“A slave ship?!”
Zik nodded. “He captured it and-”
The Regent roared, flipping the table and all it’s contents onto the two brothers. “YOU INCOMPITENT DOGS! WHEN I CHOOSE PEOPLE TO GET SOMETHING DONE THEY GET IT DONE!”
Zik scrambled up, helping Zif to get his leg out from under the table. “Sir, one of them had these sticks-”
“I don’t care! Give me one reason not to have you flogged and beheaded!”
Zif stood and rubbed his bruised leg. “We brought reinforcements from Stone Wall’s division. Plus we’re reasonably sure Marten is coming here to get his daughter back.”
The regent turned away to ponder this and hide the pain on his face from flipping the table with his bad arm. “Not much left of her to re-claim…”
He stroked his mane. “How do you propose to feed all these new soldiers, hm?”
“I don’t know… take it from the canines?”
The Regent turned around. “Great idea. Now listen close… get that table up!”
Zik and Zif quickly righted the table, and the regent leaned against it. “Listen close. If Marten does not show up here before we have to inevitably abandon this place, you will both die. If he does show back up, we’ll kill him and you’ll never go back on a mission again. Understood?”
Zik gulped as Zif held up a paw. “Sir, he may have escaped slaves following him. We don’t know how many, but he won’t be alone.”
“So we’ll kill them all! You brought reinforcements, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Get out.”
The turned to leave, and the Regent remembered that there should have been three tracker brothers. “Say, where’s… the other one?”
Zik and Zif froze. Zik looked down as Zif shook his head. “Zip didn’t make it.”
“Hm. I suppose it was a hard journey then.”
“Yes, it-”
“I don’t care. Get out.”
They quickly left, glad to have left with their hides intact.

~~~

Flasu was an early riser, normally. As such, even though his body might have needed more sleep thanks to the alcohol, his injury, and the fact that he lay sleepless for at least an hour before drifting off, he still awoke early. His muscles ached, his arm hurt and he was trying to remember why. He went over the previous night’s events carefully as he sat up and crossed his room to wash his face. There was much to be done that day. He exited the room and jumped. “K-Kathresh?!”
She hadn’t left last night, evidently. She slept on a few quilts from a nearby basket, curled up in a ball to ward off the cold. He crouched and shook her. “Wake up, it’s morning.”
She stirred, blinking slowly. A smile crossed her face when she saw who it was, but in a moment her expression hardened. She sat up and straightened her clothing. Flasu crossed his legs on the quilt. “Don’t be mad…”
“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at the world.”
She collected her equipment as Flasu watched. “Listen… I take back what I said yesterday. If you want, you can stay here with us. I know you won’t cause trouble.”
She thought about the offer. She desperately wanted to take it. “I’m sorry, Flasu. I get what you were trying to say yesterday, and I couldn’t live here happily knowing all the things that were going on on the mainland. I think I can make a real difference with Marten. I don’t know why.”
He nodded. “Alright. I understand.”
She pinned on her cloak and stretched. Flasu looked down, then back up at her. “Come here.”
She stepped forward and sat in front of him. He reached out his paw, and she grabbed it, allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. “Come back some day.”
“Of course I will. Oh, Flasu…”
“Shhh…”

At that moment, Marten was being dragged by Pil up into the wheel room. He sat his tired form down in a chair and clasped his paws together. “I thought about what we’ll need all night. I almost didn’t get any sleep! Listen-”
“Pil! Pil, please let me wake up a bit first before you begin to confuse me.”
“Ach! Fine. But once you’re done ‘waking up’ you need to bring anyone interested up here to me and we can fix this tub!”
“Okay. I’ll be back.”
“Good!”
Marten stood and shambled out of the room. He went below to where a few early risers were chowing down on the few fruits and plants that had been stored in the ship prior to the discovery that the island was inhabited. Marten sat with them and grabbed a large fruit. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he ate some anyway. Harimau was there, as well as Petal and Arbalest. He looked around the ship and spoke softly as not to wake anyone. “Have you seen Kathresh? She didn’t come back to the ship last night.”
They all shrugged. Harimau didn’t seem to hear. He shook his head. “Anyway, Pil says he’s thought of a way to get the ship fixed. Any of you want to hear him out? He’s waiting upstairs.”
“Yes, of course!” Petal said.
Arbalest nodded, and a couple of the nearby escaped slaves murmured in interest. Marten looked to Harimau. “What about you, Harimau?”
He looked up. “What? Yes, I’ll go.”
Marten stood. “Alright, we don’t want to keep him waiting.”
They filed towards the door.
Rita had had a tough go of that night. She hadn’t had a lot of sleep. And what sleep she did catch was unsatisfying and riddled with images of her father and Harimau. It did give her time to think, though. She watched the procession and hauled herself up, feeling stiff thanks to her rib, but it seemed to have settled into a dull ache. She followed them up to the cabin, waiting by the door as everyone filled up the table. Harimau sat with his back to her, and she leaned against the wall and listened as Pil began. “Alright, we won’t need many more people than this to help with my plan. First! We need wood! And someone who can carpend… That’s not a real word, is it? Whatever! I need a carpenter!”
There was a short hushed discussion between a couple of the canines, and one stood. “We know someone. Al is a carpenter by trade, and a skilled one at that. Never did boats though.”
“Doesn’t matter! We’ll work it out. Now, the next thing is to get the help of the locals in harvesting sap-rich trees, preferably ones at the height of their reproductive age for maximum tenacity!”
The congregation looked at one another for help. Marten coughed. “Layman’s terms, please.”
“We need young sticky trees!”
The assemblage murmured among themselves. Harimau stood. “It’ll give us something to do.”
Everyone else stood up. Pil pointed to Rita. “You look diplomatic, go talk with that elderly fellow and ask for tools and such.”
Harimau glanced behind him, then looked back at Pil. “I’ll-”
“Marten, would you join me?” Rita said.
He nodded. “Right, let’s go then.”
They left. Harimau scratched his head. “I guess the rest of us should look for those trees, then…”
Pil went for the door. “Right! I hope to have this wrapped up before nightfall, so we can navigate using the stars. Er, assuming the weather- Oh! I almost forgot! I need a fire, and a really hot one!”

Rita and Marten didn’t talk on the way back to the village. She didn’t speak, and her mood seemed cloudy. Marten didn’t want to annoy her with chit chat. When they reached the loose collection of large huts, Elder Laurel was already walking towards them, being helped along by Kathresh and Flasu. He spotted them first, and stopped walking. They met, and he sighed. “Thank goodness I didn’t have to walk all that way. I have a very important question for you, and I need a solid answer. Are you staying here on our island?”
Marten shook his head. “No.”
The Elder nodded. “I’m sorry for what happened.”
He turned around, but Rita stopped him. “Wait a minute!”
“Yes?”
“We need your help with something. Out vessel is damaged, and she won’t float. We need some saws or axes to take a few trees for repairs.”
The Elder looked between the two for a moment. “Yes, of course. Don’t cut down any fruit bearing trees, and you can take as much wood as you need. Flasu, show them where to get tools.”
The Elder turned around. “I must warn you: if you ever return here, do not bring bigotry.”
He left without another word. Flasu gestured. “Don’t mind him. We’ll find some tools in here.”
He went ahead. Marten caught Kathresh’s attention. “Hey, where were you last night?”
“Working some things out.”

By the time the four had returned to the ship with the tools, Pil was already dancing around a massive fire. “Careful with those marlinspikes! Don’t let them fall into the coals! Ah! There are the tools.”
A group came forwards and began equipping themselves with the axes and saws. Pil scampered up the incline, shouting for his newly formed workforce to follow. Marten, Rita, Flasu, and Kathresh sat around the fire for a rest. Arbalest and Harimau had both grabbed saws and followed Pil, and Marten was fairly certain Bronze was still asleep. Rita rubbed her side. “How’s your rib?” Marten asked.
“Fine.”
“What’s got you wincing and paining then?”
“Nothing.”
She didn’t sound very convincing. Marten decided to just let the issue drop. He didn’t know Rita very well, anyway.

Harimau quickly strode out ahead of Pil, heading for the small grove of trees they had found. Harimau took an axe and swung it into the trunk with a low thunk!. Sap oozed freely from the wound. Pil snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Cut ‘em down!”
The workers went at it with zeal, and Harimau had his tree down in a few minutes. Al, the carpenter, shoved Harimau out of the way when he saw someone had felled a tree. He tasted the sap, and took out a small dagger, cutting into the wood a bit. “Aye. This’ll do nicely for boats.”
“I thought you didn’t do boats.”
“Don’t question meh sonney! I know wha I’m doin.”
In an hour, they had five trees of varying sizes and were hauling them off. Harimau carried two of them. As they re-entered camp, Harimau ended up carrying most of them over to where the rock had crashed through the hull of the ship. Rita watched him stack them up as Al yelled at him. He really wasn’t anything like Garth. How could she have forgotten that?

Bronze had decided that it was best not to make a scene. He liked long goodbyes with plenty of drink and song, but he had a feeling he should just slip away. He didn’t want risk being talked out of this. He avoided the people hauling off trees and trudged across the fields. When he arrived, the place was deserted. There was probably a lot of work to be done elsewhere, perhaps farming. Someone approached from a nearby building. He looked apprehensive. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to speak to the elder, please.”
“He’s in the large hut, just there.”
“Thanks.”
Bronze entered the hut, walking through a few curtains until he found Elder Laurel, who was scribbling with a twig. He looked up. “Yes? Do you need something else?”
Bronze sat in a nearby chair. “Yes… Um, I was wondering if you need any help.”
“Me? Not particularly.”
“I’m a farmer myself, sir. My silkmelons grow bigger than any you’ve ever seen.”
The Elder laid down his twig. “What are you getting at?”
“I want to stay here, elder.”
Bronze met the Elder’s surprised expression with one of optimism. The elder straightened his back and faced Bronze directly. “You’re not joking?”
“No. I’ve been seeking a peaceful place to call my own.”
“Well you can’t call this place home!”
“What?!”
The Elder stood. “Frankly I’m tired of all you being here in the first place! We moved here for a reason, to be away from the dangers of the mainland!”
“But… you welcomed us with open arms!”
“Yes, I know. I was naive. Then someone died.”
“That… that had nothing to do with me!”
“I’m sorry but I’ve come to a decision about you people. For the betterment of the island, we’re not letting anyone else land here.”
Bronze couldn’t believe his ears. “How could you say that? That’s something a feline would say… Wait-”
“See, this is what I’m talking about.”
“That’s not what I meant! I meant… That’s the kind of thing that people on the mainland say to each other. The kind of things people say that add to this problem.”
The elder sat. “I’ve made up my mind. You’re no longer welcome here. Until the war has ended, you will not return.”
“I…”
Bronze turned around and stormed out. Elder Laurel sat down and heaved a heavy sigh.

Al worked furiously and without rest, but the task required some pace and skill, so the work was still progressing slowly. A few watched him as he measured the lengths he would need only using his eye, helping him even out the hull planks that had been smashed by cutting them in strategic places, and watching in wonder as he cut thick boards to exact length with ease. Pil was cooking. He had collected a small quantify each of an array of seemingly random materials and thrown them into a pot. After he had done so, He had Harimau help him harvest all the sap they could and pour it over the cauldron. After it had been mixed, they placed it on the marlinspikes and sat back to wait.
“That’ll take about an hour to set, then we’ll have a watertight adhesive! Oh, aren’t I just brilliant?!”
Harimau nodded. “Sure you are.”
“Don’t patronize me!”
Harimau wasn’t really listening. He wandered off towards the ship again, climbing aboard and avoiding the noisy parts. He found a nice spot on the roof of the cabin overlooking the sea. The first sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was fighting over which colour it should be. He tried meditating to clear his mind, but before he could get into it, the wood behind his creaked. Rita climbed up and walked across the roof, sitting next to Harimau. Both watched their legs dangle off the side. Rita spoke first. “Harimau, I’m still mad at you.”
The waves’ spray tickled their feet. “But… I forgive you. I- Ee!”
Harimau hugged her suddenly. She drew her arms up instinctively, then gently placed her paws around him. He was shaking. “You’ll never know how truly sorry I am…”
His arms could easily crush her, but he seemed to know exactly how much pressure to apply. She guessed he needed to be careful of how much of his strength he used for situations like this. “I think I have some idea…”
She had never seen this side of Harimau before. He didn’t stop the hug, and when she started to feel his tears, she began to tear up herself. She sniffled. “I didn’t know… you had a sensitive side.”
He pulled her into a more comfortable position. “You thought I was just a hard military type through and through?”
“A little.”
“I’m sorry for that too, I guess.”
Rita didn’t know what she was feeling then, but whatever it was, it was good. No. He wasn’t like Garth at all.

At that moment, Garth was not on the ship. In fact, he was in the village. Even if he was being sincere, his efforts were in vain. His best bet was to try and start fresh someplace. This island was a good place to start. Someone had had the same idea as h8im, however, and when he got to the elder’s hut, there was a shouting match going on. He heard every word. He ducked behind a bush as Bronze came storming out of the hut and back towards the ship. Garth followed him back and sat by the fire with a few others. Now what? He people he was with gave him looks. Dirty ones. He couldn’t stand it. He excused himself. Maybe there was another longboat he could steal? In any case, he couldn’t stand being with this group anymore. He climbed aboard and searched the deck. There was indeed a second longboat. He went below deck, took as much food as he could and stowed it away. He grabbed a weapon from the armory. The night was closing in, so no one was about, or cared. He pushed the boat to the aft end of the ship, where the water was closer to the deck, and pushed it out, jumping in before it floated away. He grabbed a paddle and held it in his paws, just letting the current take him for now. He glanced back to the ship. “Goodbye. Rita.”