Berganashio - Chapter 5

Not terribly far from the meerbirds, there were nefarious sea-wolfs onboard a ship. Most of their time was spent catching and eating their prey. The rest of the creatures in the land shuddered at the thought of their continual cruelties. It was overcast and it was raining lightly. As the wind blew powerfully, the ship bobbed up and down on the waves. The ship was bleak and tattered in appearance and the anchor had been down at the bottom of the seabed for days.

"Ya orphan-of-a-sea-wolf! A blasted shame to his breed and kind!" yelled an especially cruel sea-wolf at Cotton who was hanging his head low. The sea-wolf’s had put Cotton in a cage and they had surrounded the cage as if he were on trial for judgement.

"He'll never measure up or amount to anything!" howled another sea-wolf vehemently.

"Off with his head... kill him and leave him for the buzzards!" shouted another one.

"If'n ya can't kill...then you'll surely be killed yourself!" barked an ugly old sea-wolf, sneering straight at Cotton.

“Ya’, that’s shark-y right!” agreed another sea-wolf from the back.

“He doesn’t even eat meat, much less kill anything!”

"Ya, all he eats is blasted stringy seaweed... nasty!"

“Eeeewww,” cried several kid sea-wolfs in unison.

“Worthless!” yelled another sea-wolf lounging in the back lazily.

"No more mercy... he had his chances."

All eyes were on Cotton, and he had no one to turn to.

"I knew he was trouble as soon as I saw him come out as an albino pup..."

“So weak and pitiful…” mocked a voice.

"I called it, but no one listened to me then! Drown the weak, shy ones, and then you won't have to deal with em' later in life... I always say!" yelled a female sea-wolf.

"He's no better than the teeny-tiny-ugly-idiot fairies who live in the trees!" Screeched one of the sea-wolfs. The rest of the rowdy sea-wolfs burst into a rapturous round of laughter.

Three young feisty sea-wolfs mocked Cotton and jumped at him as he lay miserably in an iron cage on the ship deck. With each gust of cold wind, there was another insult, both of which only made Cotton feel more alienated and alone. Hopeless, he lay in the cage, wishing he could just disappear from their jeering, hideous faces forever. Captain Cragg jumped down from his typical post at the hull of the ship and faced Cotton in the cage. Rage and disgust were burning in his evil eyes, so much so that Cotton could have sworn that he felt heat singeing his white wispy coat.

“Only the strong ones survive! Only the vicious will make it. Sea-wolfs are the purest… strongest species in this world.” His breath smelled like death. He threw a dead sea animal into the cage. He commanded him, “Eat it! Then, I’ll spare your life!” The sight of the blood alone was enough to send shivers down Cotton’s back and he turned away his head. He held his breath, so he didn’t have to smell the dead animal. Flies quickly buzzed around the animal’s body and Cotton started to dry heave. The sea-wolfs roared rapturously with awful laughter at his distaste. This terrible laughter was not the good kind, but the kind that sticks with you through sad, dark nights and haunts your dreams forever. “You… don’t… belong here. Enjoy your last night because tomorrow… you die!” He let out one last savage snarl and walked away proudly.

All the sea-wolfs rowdily left him. Packing themselves into the ship cabin, they hungrily prepared for a feast of various sea animals that they had scavenged up with nets. Sea-wolfs were especially fast, as they could run fast on land and on top of the sea. With lungs made of steel, they could also swim down into the sea for long periods of time. They never stopped attacking sea animals. They had completely killed off many species of sea animals altogether.

Still feeling sick to his stomach, Cotton breathed out quietly, “At last, they’re gone…” He moved further away from the poor lifeless sea animal that had been left behind. “He whispered to the dead sea animal, “I’m so sorry.”

“You could be great if you just tried!” Behind the shadows stepped Fangreen. He was a sea-wolf who was close in age to Cotton. Standing alone, he faced Cotton in the cage. “My first kill was hard…but the taste of blood slowly became thrilling the more and more I tried it. The same could happen for you too Cotton if you just tried… Block out the thoughts…the feelings… separate yourself in a way…and you can do it!”

“I’ll never be a killer like them!” Cotton looked away sadly.

“You know…they’re going on another land raid soon. This time it will be in the south. This could be a perfect chance to prove yourself…and make your first kill.” The ship swayed in the heavy breeze that was picking up.

“I can’t… I won’t… I’d rather die,” cried Cotton passionately. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what death was like.

Shaking his head, “That’s a shame…” and Fangreen started to walk away. "I tried hard to be your friend but you're being unreasonable... and now your insanity is going to be the vary thing that takes your own life!" He looked back a few times while shaking his head, disapprovingly. Cotton couldn't bring himself to say anything. He sat in the cage, feeling numb and hopeless.

Inside the cabin the sea-wolfs continued to feast and sing terribly off key. “We roam the land! We roam the sea! But roam through the skies, we can never be!” they sang rowdily. The chanting echoed through Cotton's ears and continued to add to his terrible state. He wished he'd never been born a sea-wolf. He didn't look, behave, or think like any of them. He felt utterly ashamed of their evilness and all the terrorizing that they caused. Oddly, he was not afraid to die the next day because he didn't want to be around the other sea-wolfs wicked ways any longer. He laid his head down, pinching his nose intermittently, so he didn't have to smell the stench of the dead sea animal in the cage.

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