The winged-beast descended on the soldiers like the shadow of death, the gusts from his wings threatened to blow them away while the stomps of his feet reverberated through the floor beneath them. Some held ground and launched their crooked javelins only to see them bounce off his scales without a mark, while others dropped their weapons, collapsed to their little pink feet and sprinted desperately for cover in a chorus of shrill and horrified squeaks.
In the corner where two crates met, shielded by the bulk of a large barrel, were four rats who had momentarily escaped the beast's wrath. Three huddled together -- all now weaponless -- with their tails wrapped around each other. The fourth stood guard alone, clutching a jagged shield and a crooked maul as he stared out through the gap to the battlefield beyond. The giants stepped without concern for who was beneath their feet, soldiers disappeared from the battlefield without reason, great blades rained down across the land, and ranks of soldiers collapsed motionless as a ghastly cloud passed through them -- all while the winged-beast screeched and roared, chasing after anyone that ran.
The beast passed by in a blur -- and then skidded to a stop. The rat's heart doubled its pace. The beast stepped backwards until its huge, predatory eye aligned with the gap between the barrel and crate -- staring down at the rat with wicked delight. He relaxed his grip on his weapon, drew in a deep breath, and released it slowly.
The beast pounced, his head slipping through the crack and his jaws gnashing closed mere inches from the rat as its wings jammed in the crevice -- if he lived, he would tell his descendants he hadn't flinched. The beast's breath washed over him like a sickly wind as the jaws gnashed again and again and it's feet desperately clawed at the ground in search of enough purchase to push through and reach his meal.
The rat stared down the beast with as much bravery as he could muster as he tossed his shield aside and resigned to what he must do. He turned to the huddling rats behind him and nodded silently, one let out a desperate squeak, but he didn't allow himself to listen. The moment the beast's jaws snapped closed again, he sprinted forward and leapt onto its head.
With a shrill battle cry, he gripped whatever purchase he could find on the creature's ridged skull and brought his maul down with all of his strength. The beast shook violently, and then swung his head far to either side. Though the rat's feet were flung out from under him and only one hand held him on, he never ceased swinging his maul over and over into the beast as the giants roared above.
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Iris held up an arm to block a volley of tiny javelins, "I said knock it off!"
Victoria's ghostly form washed over the rats as they picked up their next round of javelins, instantly draining what tiny amount of mana they each had and abruptly pushing all of them into unconsciousness. They tumbled to the ground with tiny thumps, building a long pile of sleeping rats.
Killup sprinted across the floor on all fours -- except instead of his hands landing on the planks, it was the tips of kitchen knives which he drove into the wood over and over as he tried and failed to skewer the fleeing rats. A particularly brave and determined band of rat soldiers grouped into a shield wall formation and attempted to hold their ground against him, but he barreled through them without concern or pause.
Adan casually walked through the cargo hold as javelins harmlessly bounced off his metal skin. One hand held a sack he had picked up from nearby, and the other reached out and picked up rats one by one to drop into the sack. The sack was already growing quite full, and convulsed violently as only muffled squeak escaped it.
"Perhaps we should call on Autumn--" he suggested.
"No!" Victoria and Iris shouted in unison.
"She'll burn the whole ship down!" Victoria added.
Adan paused his rat collecting to think about it for a moment, "yes, you are correct. Nevermind."
Iris blipped through another cloud of javelins and appeared atop a crate behind the rats who had thrown them. With a grim smile, she swung her stick down the length of their line and flung them away in a pile that bounced off the wall. She spotted a rat shouting orders in an attempt to rally his troops, and reached out towards him. He appeared in her hand mid-shout, which quickly turned to screeching orders as he pointed his would-be sword at her throat. The rats he command sprinted forward and converged upon Iris, quickly and effortless scaling the crate she stood atop. Iris sighed, and then blipped to another crate.
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"We're getting nowhere!" she shouted in frustration as she tossed the rat aside.
"Speak for yourself," Victoria, dropping another two dozen rats into a slumber.
"I nearly need another sack," Adan observed.
Iris groaned, annoyed that she was the only one who seemed to be having a bad time. Then she spotted Littletooth, frantically stumbling backwards and shaking his head as a rat repeatedly bonked him with a particularly large splinter. She frowned and blipped over next to him in a crouch, where she reached out and picked up the heroic rat by the scruff of his neck.
Littletooth backed up a few more steps and fell into a sit as he shook off his dizziness, and then leapt up at the captured rat with snapping jaws. Iris hoisted the rat higher to evade Littletooth's chomp, and promptly scolded him.
"No! We don't eat prisoners!"
Littletooth leapt again in a vain attempt to catch the dangling prey, landing in an awkward heap as he crashed back down.
Iris looked at the little rat in her hand. His chest thumped rapidly with his tiny heart, she could see fear on his face but only grim determination in his eyes. Even now he still clenched his weapon, and stared at her is if she were a giant he intended to slay for the good of his people. Her gaze panned across the battlefield and the hundreds of rats -- some fleeing for their lives, others frozen in place, while more still fought valiantly to pretend their kingdom.
"Stop!" she shouted, "everyone stop! You too, Littletooth."
The little wyvern whined, but obeyed. Victoria diverted from her sweeping paths through the cargo hold and floated nearby, while Adan paused with a rat in hand just before placing it into the sack. Killup continuing stabbed for a few more seconds, then finally rolled into a seated position against a crate to catch his breath. The rats mostly scurried out of sight as the battle paused, though some still grouped into defensive formations and marked out sections of the battlefield as their own.
Iris looked at the brave rat in her hand, "you want this to end?"
He squeaked.
"I believe that was a yes," Adan said.
Iris nodded at the rat, and blipped across the battlefield to stand before the rice bucket throne. A tentacle held her walking stick to free up her other hand, which blipped the current Rat King into her grasp. She delicately placed the brave rat down atop the rice, and then removed the tiny splinter crown from the other rat and placed it atop the brim of her hat.
"I am now King Rat," she declared, "command your soldiers to stand down."
The brave rat seemed confused for a moment, but then nodded. He squeaked loudly to the rat forces, who slowly but surely seemed to accept the orders. Weapons were dropped to the ground, formations were relaxed, and a few wary heads poked out of hiding places.
"Good," she nodded, placing the former rat king down nearby where he quickly became just another rat.
Next she stepped up to the rice bucket throne and knelt over it on one knee. With one hand extended flat, she pinched a few grains of rice with the other and dropped them into her palm. After delicately counting out nineteen pieces of rice in a pile, she pointed at it.
"Ours," next, she pointed to a singular grain of rice off to the side, "yours."
The brave rat furiously shook his head, leapt onto her outstretched hand and began moving the pieces of rice. He moved six from her pile to his and stomped his foot onto her palm as if to emphasis his demand.
Iris sighed, "Vic?"
"Yeah?" Victoria answered as she floated over.
"Have you seen any sign of the artifact Killup was talking about?"
"Oh, yeah," she floated away for a moment, and then walked back in human form holding a large blue gem shaped like an egg and polished smooth, "based the matching auras, I'm pretty sure it's this."
"Yes, yes," Killup confirmed, "the Sapphire of Knowing, from -- uh-- some temple."
Iris lowered her hand onto the rice pile and gently pushed the brave rat out of her palm, and then stood tall and took her walking stick from a waiting tentacle. After a brief twirl, she jammed the end of the stick against a crate -- which promptly exploded inwards and spilled flour from the ruptured bags within. Many rats squeaked in terror, but the brave rat only stared up at her in defiance. She twirled the stick again, this time placing the end of it against the large sapphire in Victoria's hands.
"You will take the deal I give you, and I will crown you King Rat in return -- or I will destroy what makes you strong."
"Iris--" Victoria began, "maybe we shouldn't--"
"Do you accept?" Iris shouted at the brave rat.
He reached down picked up his maul from the rice at his feet, standing tall and staring back at her defiantly. Then he panned his gaze across the many rats assembled before him, and the insurmountable forces they faced. With slumping posture and a dejected expression, the brave rat bowed to Iris.
"Good," Iris said flatly, "the treaty is decided. I suggest you honor it."
The brave rat did not yet rise from the bow. As agreed, Iris removed the tiny crown from her hat and lowered it onto the brave rat's head.
"You are now king. We look forward to a long and prosperous peace between the Rat Kingdom and the-- uh--" she struggled to think of what to call herself and her friends.
"Lords of the Galley," Killup suggested.
"Between the Rat Kingdom and the Lords of the Galley!" Iris finished her proclamation.
The adventurers promptly made their exit -- a pair of Abby's tentacles scooping up Littletooth before he could get himself worked up into another rampage -- and began the climb up the stairs to the deck above, leaving the confused and shaken rats to lick their wounds.
"That was kind of fucked up," Victoria observed, "you basically just colonized their kingdom."
"Yeah, well, they pissed me off," Iris defended, "and I'm starving."