Ch.13: Rift and Adrift

I shivered in the brisk air as our ship forged through the wine-dark sea, though not with cold but with… something else, as tendrils of energy ran up and down my goose-bumped flesh. There was an energy in the air that revived me despite my recent exertions. Here on deck I could feel and see the motion of the vessel. Salty sea-spray kissed my cheek as the winds buffeted my body, blowing away any cobwebs, as it were. I looked up and around in wonder as my head cleared. Above us, the strangely bright-dark sky seemed to pulse and weave, with the stars not only twinkling but outright glowing. Little bursts of rainbow light would shoot out from them, arcing across the heavens for untold distances. More than that, not only could I not spot any known constellations, but even if I had they wouldn't have been around long enough to matter, for the stars were moving.

"Ah! Good afternoon, little one!" Archax stood proud and tall amidst the seafarers, riding the waves as if he'd been born to them. He grinned down at me, in high spirits despite his earlier displeasure. "You can feel it, can't you?" he asked, gesturing. "The power, the dweomerlak? It's invigorating. I am enchanted with your world, small one, but the call of my home's reaches cannot be denied."

"Dweomer… lake?" I said, trying to copy his words.

"The dweomeric — you would say magical — energies from the Realms. It's bleeding through into your world through rifts like this one. It's that aura giving the air its distinctive… flavour." Archax searched for the right words momentarily, gesturing with a talon. "It's like wine! Heady! Rich! Ah, I've missed it!" Archax tilted back his head, took and deep breath and roared, flames surging skywards and momentarily turning the oddly bright night into day.

"Magic, huh?" Suzy blew into her cupped hands. "I dunno if I could tell you it was magic I'm feeling from that lightshow, but I can't deny the sea air's making feel a lot better than earlier. Brr, it is chilly though." Suzy shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her shoulders. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, turning to me.

Strangely enough, I wasn't. I felt… warm? I didn't know, really. I could feel the bite of the wind, but it didn't seem to affect me. I shrugged, then pointed. "I wanna get a better look, Daddy!"

"Uh, I dunno, it looks… dangerous? I thought we were just gonna take a peek and go inside." Suzy's brow was furrowed with concern.

Archax chuckled, flapping his wings. "We're going through it, Mistress Suzy, there is little help in cowering below decks. No, you should stand tall, keep your back straight and your wings out!"

"I don't even have wings you goof," Suzy chuckled, her countenance brightening, "but I guess you know what you're talking about."

"I have made this trip many times, mistress Suzy, so have no fear! I shall protect you. Peter, you too may shelter beneath my wings, little one."

Suzy chuckled, striding to Archax. She grabbed one of his wings and pulled it around her like a blanket. "You're boisterous today! It's really making you feel good, huh?" she said to him, grinning as she leaned against the dragon. "Mm, warm," she mumbled, snuggling closer.

"It's kind of doing the same to me. I really do wanna get a better look." I had an itchy feeling all over my body, like I couldn't sit still. Archax must have sensed my nervous energy, as he pointed upwards.

"Would you really want a better view? I can give that to you, if you trust me." Archax fixed me with a hard stare, not angry, just intent.

I followed his pointed claw, and felt the blood drain from my face. "Uhh… that's… that's really quite high up. What happens if I fall?"

The dragon shook his head slowly. "Ah ah ah, did I not say to trust me? Well?"

"I..." I looked up at the crows nest, riding far up at the top of the tallest mast, then back down at Daddy. I nodded, slowly. "I trust you."

"Then take hold of the rigging… yes, that's right! Hold on tight now! Alley-oop!" The dragon gestured with a claw and I gasped in shock as I suddenly felt my legs fall up from under me. The ship, heaving as the deck was, had thrown me into the air. Daddy's spell had made me all but weightless. "Up you go, little one! Climb!"

It was a good thing my diaper was so tight… however, with all the weight taken off them, it was indeed simple for me to pull myself up the rigging, using just the 'mighty' power stored in my noodly arms, and eventually heave myself into the bucket-like space right at the top of the mast. I swore I could feel my finger-bones cracking as I kept a death-grip on the top lip. "I made it Daddy!" I cried, my voice sounding thin and reedy even inside my own head. I could feel myself shaking, Daddy was so small all the way down there!

"Well done, little one! Stand tall! The untempered schism approaches!"

"I-I-I will, Daddy!" I called, shaking, my knees practically knocking together. Well, they would have knocked together, except for the truly exceptional amount of padding between my legs. It was almost enough that I could've landed on my butt without sitting down. Almost. As it was, I did my best to straighten my back; I swear the weight between my legs was dragging me down, never mind that I could barely feel it.

"Hey Daddy!" I called down, as my gaze rose skywards.

"What is it, little one?"

"I forgot to ask! Why's it night already? And what's wrong with the stars?" I pointed upwards, for a brief moment, at the scintillations above me.

"Ah, you've noticed! The sky is strange because it's not night! This is the ridge between worlds, we're adrift, lost between realities! Can you feel the call of the void? Those aren't stars above you, they're Outsiders! Distant dwellers between the walls of reality."

"They're what!?" I shouted. I gazed up into the darkness with new eyes. Whatever these 'Outsiders' were, they scared me almost more than the rift we were approaching. Were they big? Small? Huge? Gargantuan? Titanic? Did they eat pets? Or planets?

"Beyonders!" the dragon called. "Pay them no mind, we seek to cross the rift, not stay in it!"

I looked at the boiling cloud of light that had been visible on the horizon. It had depth now, a weight that drew my eyes as much as it drew the ship. "It's getting closer!" I shouted back down. "I can feel it on my skin, it tickles! How quickly do we pass through it?"

"We are already in it, little one! The rift is not what you see, the rift is what is!" Archax was holding tightly onto Suzy with one arm, gesturing with the other. As we neared the glittering portal, I swore I could hear something akin to music, just on the edge of hearing.

"What do you mean?"

"You think mere mortals can fathom all of reality? Even for a dragon like myself such things are beyond us! No, we are not nearing the rift, we are already in it. That tear you see, that mighty doorway, that is the light of other days shining upon us from the real world. Leaving your world, that is simple. Entering another, ah! Therein lies the rub! Hold fast, it comes!"

By now, the 'music' in the back of my mind was rising to a crescendo. My breath caught in my throat as the ship surged forwards through this sea-that-was-not-a-sea under a night sky filled with daemons, in a mad dash for safety by throwing itself through a tear in reality — or was it another tear? So little of this made sense! — before whatever those lights were became… interested.

My fingers twitched spasmodically as I kept them gripped tightly on the crow's nest lip. I stared down at them, hissing in pain, as little flickers of energy leaped between my digits. Experimentally, fearfully, I lifted one hand up to look at it. Instantly the warmth intensified. It was such a rush, as if I'd dipped my arm in hot wax, that I instinctively let go with the other. It was like being wrapped in the softest, warmest towel you can think of. Like sitting in a sauna with a cold beer. Like plunging head first into a cool pool after sunbathing on parched rocks. I felt ten foot tall, twenty, a hundred! I barely recognized the sound of my own voice whooping in excitement as streamers of light flickered over my entire body, evaporating skywards as much as they bolted down into my fingers, down my arms and through my body. With a laugh, I flicked my fingers. Sparks flew, my sparks, whizzing and fizzing like rockets. I pointed, the sails themselves billowed with light. I wondered, power throbbing through my head, if I were to make the sea light up, would all of the water glow, to the horizon and beyond? Heedless of the shouts from below, I reached out and… and grasped. It was strange, as if I knew what water was. I could feel the wood of the boat, taste the metal bolts riveting the superstructure. With a gasp, I realized I could somehow see the levitation spell Daddy had put on me. I prodded it and information flooded into my brain; bright, burning glyphs in a language I almost understood, if only I could… all of a sudden, the dam burst and a torrent of arcane knowledge flooded into my brain.

"Too much!" I cried. "Too… too much!"

I put my hands to my head as the prow hit the breach in reality, and what felt like a million volts blasted through my brain. The world tumbled as the lights turned to darkness.

***

"He's coming around!"

The voice was Suzy's, laced with concern. It sounded odd, as if I were hearing it down a cardboard tube, or from an out-of-tune radio.

"Oooh, my head!" I tried to open my eyes, the world swam before me. "What's wrong with my voice? And what's wrong with my face!?" My voice did indeed sound strange, but in putting my hands to my face I found a large lump in front of it. I clasped it, then found I couldn't talk. "Mmf mmf wf mf ff?" I asked.

"Do you want to try that again, without a claw on your muzzle?" Archax tenderly bent down and grasped a small coppery claw, pulling it from the strange protrusion in front of my face. As my grip was loosened, I realized it was my claws that had been holding my muzzle shut.

"What… uhh, oh, that's weird… that's a lot of teeth. Umm… what, uh, what happened?"

"Well I don't want to say I told you so, but… yeah. You kind of got hit by lightning?" Suzy explained. Archax' rumbling growl of disapproval made Suzy flinch a little. She hissed her own disapproval back at him, scowling.

"Despite appearances, Mistress Suzy, his elevated position had nothing to do with the wild magic surge that went through him," Archax huffed. "However, the head injury may have been."

"Head injury?" I mumbled. "My head doesn't hurt, but it's got to be a pretty bad head injury because I seem to be hallucinating a muzzle and claws. And why does my tail hurt when I don't have a tail?" I blinked a few times, and the scene around me came into focus. Bright blue skies, fresh and salty air, noisy seabirds and a heaving deck full of scrambling sea… people as they set about tying knots in ropes and adjusting sails. Yes, people. My vocabulary wasn't really up for non-human persons, but I resolved to try.

"Can you get up?" Suzy asked.

"I-I-I think so. A little help?" My head swam as, with Suzy on one side and Archax on the other, I was more or less bodily lifted up and dropped onto my feet. I wriggled side to side, peering back at a coppery tail at least a foot long as it wound around behind me, cocking my head in confusion. I then looked up at Suzy, about a full foot taller than whatever height I was now, then up at Archax who seemed practically enormous, not that that had changed much. "Okay, what happened? Are we through the rift?"

"Well first I want to know if you're okay, sweetie?" Suzy held the back of her hand against my head, peering into my eyes. "Dizzy? Feel sick?"

"Nuh uh," I said, shaking my head. Then I swayed a bit as the world swam more than the heaving deck implied. "Okay, a little…"

"Take it easy, little one." Archax knelt down, running his paws over my body. I felt a rush of energy and then my head cleared a little. I gathered he'd performed some sort of healing spell.

"Whilst you were up in the crows' nest, you were hit by some sort of… uh?" Suzy gestured, concern and confusion written large across her blonde haired and brown-eyed face. She looked over at Archax for assistance.

"A wild magic surge. I have my suspicions what may have attracted the energies to you in particular, but it could have happened to anyone, anywhere, at any time. They are a lot more common within the interstitial spaces, but it will likely never happen again."

"And this is why I'm a… uh… a what?" I looked down at my hands, now claws, peering over the lump of my pointed muzzle. I flexed them, the coppery sheen of almost-scales reflecting in the bright sunlight.

"I don't know. I thought you might be a dragon, but Archax says he's not actually sure. You could be a dragon, you could be a kobold. You could be… something else." My babysitter and my daddy shared a look.

"Am I stuck like this?" I asked, looking from one to the other.

"I do not know, little one, but fear not, for you are safe and well, and that is all that matters. You fell, and for that I am truly sorry. Luckily my levitation spell was still active, but…" Archax wrung his claws out nervously.

"What? Tell me?"

"I… I injured you catching you."

I looked up at him, serious concern reflected in his shining eyes, and I started laughing so hard I began to cough. "I wanted up the crows' nest! Me! And you caught me! Otherwise, what, I'd be in the sea? Or worse, in the rift still?" I grabbed his leg, hard, and he picked me up, sniffling. He stood up, pulling me close, sobbing quietly. He didn't bawl, not like I would have, but he was clearly choked up. I hugged him back. "It'll be okay, it will! I'll… I'll be okay. Umm. Whether I'm stuck like this or not, it'll be okay."

"But you are my charge! Mine! An-and I-I hurt you! I let you get hurt! I-I-I let this happen to you! Forgive me!" The mighty dragon, impervious and aloof sounded, for a brief moment, scared and vulnerable.

"Could it really have happened anywhere?" I asked him, trying to meet his gaze.

"Yes! But… Suzy is right! I should not have let you somewhere so dangerous! You are my cu—" he paused "—my pet. I should be responsible!"

I chuckled to myself, patting him as he squeezed my padded backside close to him. I was the one that had been changed and thrown off the crows' nest, but Daddy was the one who was upset.

"Is okies," I said, my voice muffled by being held so tightly. "I forgives! Just let me breathe a little!" I squeaked. Archax chuckled too once he noticed my expression, then he looked urgently into my eyes, searching my expression.

"Are you really alright?"

"I… I think so. I mean, I'm… whatever this is, but for some reason I don't feel bad about it. Maybe I'm in shock?"

"Maybe. But I will be here for you. I promise to get you changed back, alright?"

I blinked, looking down again at my claws as I opened and closed them. "You mean that? You can do that?"

"I can't, but I know someone who can, if need be. It will not be cheap, but I promise, we can get this sorted out."

I blinked again. For Archax to say something wasn't cheap made me feel slightly sick, but I swallowed that feeling, for him. "You mean it?"

"I do."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his body. "Then I trust you. I've come this far, how could I not?"

He studied me silently for a moment, then came to a decision. I felt his body relax. "Good. Come, we are through the rift, we are in the Realm of Morendia. There will be more to see later, when I am sure you are healthy. Not to mention, you need new diapers now you have a tail."

Daddy was right, my backside was indeed feeling a little… breezier than it should. I craned my head over my shoulder — right over my shoulder, something else which would take getting used to — and saw my tail poking out through the leggings I was wearing. The thick, meaty appendage had forced my already sagging diapers down, the plastic stretched.

"Oh no," I said, my voice weak.

"What?" Archax sounded concerned at the worry in my voice. "What is it?"

"None of my diapers or clothes will fit!"

For a brief moment, the dragon held his breath… then burst out in hearty laughter.

***

"Oh my stars, what's happened! What has… oh! Is he hurt? Let me see, let me close!"

I was feeling tired now, so maybe I was in shock, but I was dozing as our little troupe made our way below decks to the cubs only area. Sesame was, predictably and understandably, all in a kerfuffle over one of her charges getting hurt.

"Can… can you help him?"

Archax was reluctant to let me go as Suzy and Sesame spoke, but the werebear carefully reassured the dragon with a deft touch as she lifted me from his claws. I reached out for her almost instinctively, clutching at her thick fur. She stroked the back of her paws over my body, humming softly to herself as I felt a wave of power flow through me in some sort of diagnostic sweep.

"Sesame does not think she can fix all his problems, no, no… wild magic surges, such things are unpredictable. Deary me, Sesame does not like this at all! Not at all! Little one, look at Sesame! Yes, eyes are clear, scales are shiny, toes are tickly! Well, Sesame is glad to say little lizard is at least healthy!"

"But you can't fix him?" Suzy asked plaintively. Archax for his part had been silently waiting and observing. He shook his head before the bear could utter a single syllable.

"Nay, Mistress Suzy, I fear Madame Sesame's abilities do not match mine in their breadth or depth, no offence to you, my dear bear, despite her skill with the healing arts."

"None taken, good sir dragon. In truth, Sesame is a meagre spellcaster—"

"However do not sell yourself short, Madame," Archax interrupted, every inch the implacable dragon once more.

"Harrumph. Be that as it may, Sesame has not the skill to reverse magic such as this. She can, however, see to the little one's padding problem! Yes she can! She can give her little one fresh, clean diapers to keep his shiny new tail dry when he takes a nap! And she can give him a warm bottle and cuddle him and…"

I wriggled as the bear efficiently, and with lots of friendly pats, tickles and kisses, saw to my overly soggy padding, jabbering the whole time as she sought to keep my attention from the change. It was only afterwards I realized this, and figured that it was a technique honed from years of looking after fussy cubs. As for the change, it was a bit more of a chore than usual — at least for me, outside of morning changes — as I'd leaked profusely out the legs and back. My ruined leggings would need quite the washing before they would be suitable company for a needle and some thread, if they could be salvaged at all.

"There we are! All dry! Would my little cub want to go with Daddy and Mommy? Or is he ready for a nap?"

"Umm, umm… hungry?" I whispered.

Sesame chuckled, then lifted me up into the air, spinning around as if I weighed nothing, before handing me off to Archax. "Little cub is hungry! This is good! Papa will feed you, let Sesame fetch little cub a bottle. Miss Suzy may sit down by the fire, or you may help with the other cubs? Sesame wishes to be sure Papa dragon is able to feed cub when little cub's muzzle has changed."

"I can… I can go in? In there?" Suzy pointed through the inner door. Sesame nodded.

"If Madame Suzy could be a dear and help Sesame, then Sesame will allow it, just this once!"

Suzy straightened herself out, then nodded solemnly before heading through the door. I watched her go, finding the nipple of one of my bottles teasing its way into my new muzzle before she'd even disappeared. I don't remember finishing it, but I guess I did, as the next thing I remembered was waking up with the empty bottle lying in the crib next to me.

***

Yawning and stretching, it took me a moment before I remembered what had happened the previous day, mostly because I also stretched my wings.

"Ohh, those are a thing," I said to myself, peering over my shoulder at them. "Are you new?" I flapped them, experimentally. I didn't remember seeing them the previous day — assuming it was now morning, as there was golden light streaming through the round portholes — but then I hadn't been entirely lucid after my tumble, or maybe they'd grown in. Had I grown more? Was I taller? I stood up in my bed, heavy cloth pampers sagging between my knees and tried to measure myself against the bars of my crib. It was only after I had my claw held against the bars that I realized I had zero references to measure against. I sighed, then stretched and yawned again.

"Hey honey! Good morning! Do you want some num-nums or a change first?"

I blinked as I spotted a familiar figure outside my crib. "Suzy?" I yawned her name, then tilted my head, rubbing my balled-up fists against my eyes before taking a second look. She slid the bars down with a practiced ease, then leaned in and gave me a hug. She also gave my heavily diapered backside a quick squeeze. She sniffed and made a face.

"Phew! Ohh boy, well, knowing you, you're hungry after emptying your tummy like that, huh? Thank goodness you're — oof! — easier to lift like… like this. Huff! Oh! Oh, thank you, bunny. Take my lil buddy to the changing table, okay? I'll get him a bottle he can enjoy whilst we get him clean from last night."

After lifting me out of my crib and staggering her way to the changing tables, Pandora had  paf paf paf'd up to us and wordlessly offered to take me from Suzy's grasp. I was smaller than I used to be, but apparently not that much smaller. Still, for Pandora even my full size hadn't been an issue, so I swiftly found myself ensconced on a padded changing mat with my mushy tushy mush-side down.

"Thank you, bunny… person," said Suzy, as she wandered back over brandishing a bottle.

"That's Pandora, silly!" I said, grasping at the bottle. I grabbed it in my hands and feet and suckled on it greedily.

"Hey now! Nicely, or I'll spank you too!"

"Sowwy," I said, giving a burp before going back to drinking as Suzy chuckled, shaking her head. She then set to dealing with my diaper change.

"How'd you know her name's Pandora? Did Sesame tell you?"

"Uh huh, but also Pandora told me herself!"

"Uh huh, rriiight," replied Suzy skeptically as she rolled me onto my side to release the tail snaps for the thick plastic pants before pulling them very carefully down my legs. She then — also very carefully — unpinned my cloth diapers. "I think I need to renegotiate my baby sitting rates, huh, you little stinker?"

"Shooshyyyy!" I complained around the bottle in my muzzle. I don't know if I actually blushed, but I certainly felt my cheeks grow hot as the blonde set to cleaning my butt-scales with a cold, wet rag. Whilst disposable diapers stayed warm and soft, the cloth diapers were cold, clammy and uncomfortable. They also smelled quite a bit more, unluckily for Suzy. I squealed and wriggled at her thorough touch, but she was a professional baby-wrangler and had no real issues. Pandora supplied some cream but also some oil for my nether regions along with sweet-smelling powder which altogether banished the remaining whiffs of fudged huggies.

"You know, if we can't get you back to normal, we're going to have to either return all those diapers of yours, modify them, or sell them. Thank goodness I have contacts for other big cubs like you, cutie! That way your daddy isn't out too much, hmm? I guess that means you're stuck with cloth and I'm stuck with washing them. But I'll get my own back, because now everybody will see your laundry on the line!"

"Nooo! Shoooooshyyyyyy!" I complained again, louder, before she plucked the now-empty bottle from my grasp.

"Too late! Everybody will know what a cutie-patootie cub I have to look after! Muwahahahaaa!" She pretended to twirl a moustache whilst I pouted at her. "Such a cutie!" With some difficulty, she sat me up, then inspected her handiwork by sticking a couple of fingers through the leg gathers. "There, that should hold you. I'll say one thing for disposables, they're simpler, but with a big poofy butt like that it makes you waddle like even more of a cub!"

She sighed, smiling as she held me by the paws. Her gaze grew distant for a moment, and she grew wistful. Suddenly, she pulled me close, enfolding me in a hug. Her size now was almost the same as when Archax had held me before. I stiffened, then fell into her embrace, putting my head against her ample chest, listening to her heart beat. A thumb went to my muzzle before I knew it. I felt… little, in a way that I hadn't for a long time, even with Archax keeping me in diapers constantly for the last few months.

"You know," Suzy said, softly, "your daddy and I, we'll… we'll look after you, okay? Whatever happens, to—" There was a sudden lurch, throwing Suzy and I to one side. She stumbled, but caught herself on my crib. "What was that?" She said, looking about in shock. I gripped her tightly, whimpering before I could stop myself.

"Are we all here? Sesame is telling you all to stay inside! Do not be looking for trouble! Sesame is back soon!"

I looked around as the were-bear first stomped into the nursery from her post in the other room, took a swift look around to check on the cubs, give the warning, and then stomp back out again. Suzy watched the bear go with a worried look on her face, took a step, then looked down at me.

"Ah... yeah, you better stay here. You're still hurt from yesterday… I'm gonna go find your daddy and find out what the heck that was." Before I could reply, Suzy plumped me back down on my crib, gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and jogged her way out of the nursery following Sesame.

Needless to say I didn't listen to either the bear or Suzy. I hopped up out of the bed, clambering over the lowered rails, and waddled my way towards the empty door frame.

"I wouldn't do that," said Trash, a small smirk on her face. She stood lounging next to the exit, flipping an old dagger end over end in her paws. "You look different though. Did you oil your scales?"

I'd taken a couple of steps closer to the doorway, but that brought me up short. I turned, raising an eyebrow sarcastically, or at least I should have been, I wasn't entirely sure what with my new body and all. "Really?"

"Dumb baby," Trash snorted, grinning a little. "You got hit by wild magic, I can smell it on you even though I'm no magic user. I'd have guessed that even so, after all I'm pretty sure I'd remember if you had a tail or not." She gestured with her knife, sniggering.

"You're pretty observant, huh?" I stuck my forked tongue out at her, she followed suit.

"Go on then," she said, pointing innocently over her shoulder, "what are you waiting for?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What's the catch?" I stepped closer, apparently close enough, because what felt like an electric shock travelled right up my foot to the tip of my horns and back down out my tail. "Yipe!" I jumped backwards, landing on my butt. I shook my head, seeing stars. Trash burst out laughing.

"Ahh, that was worth it. Come on, up ya get." She leaned down and pulled as I clambered to my feet. "Ya won't get out that way. Means nuffin's gettin' in either. Which is, like, mega-boring. Let's go catch up with the others and take a look-see."

"Catch up? Where are they?"

"Already escaping."

I shook myself out, still feeling a little bit frazzled. "Nice of you to wait for me, then."

"Heh, it was mostly so I could try to see just what Sesame does when she doesn't want anybody going in or out. Maybe my lil bro Makari could figure out the lock if I could tell him."

"And the rest was to see me get my butt zapped, huh?" I crossed my arms, scowling.

Trash giggled. "Yup. So, you wanna go for a butchers?"

"Uhh… I guess? How're we gonna get out? The windows?"

"Portholes? Nuh uh. They're sealed."

Trash started walking, I skittered to follow. As I caught up I gave another guess. "The…" I lowered my voice, "the dumb waiter?"

"Ooh, good guess. But no."

"Let me guess, sealed also?"

Trash nodded. "The lockdown spell is pretty thorough, hits every entrance and exit." She turned into the kitchen and I followed, scowling in thought.

"Okay, so… if we can't get out through any doors or windows, I know I can't get out through the flu, it's way too small." I ran into Trash's fluffy tail as she stopped short, peering at the tall metal tube coming from the range.

"Huh, hadn't thought of that."

"What? It's tiny!"

"Yeah, but that's not really a problem for me."

I stood there, mouth agape, as she started walking again. "Wait, what?"

"I know you were told I'm an anklebiter. These ears aren't just for show, kid."

"Sooo it doesn't just mean you're, you know, a rugrat?"

"Naa, Rugrats are another group of rogues. It means I've been trained in a few tricks that let me get out of tight jams. And into them. Come on, up we go!" Trash had turned right into the pantry. It was a darkened, oblong room with inset shelving around every wall, no windows. She pointed up the sturdy shelving in the far corner, then started climbing herself.

"You're really a… a rogue?" I huffed, kicking my annoyingly tiny legs as I strained to heave my padded crotch over the first of the shelves whilst she was already half up the third. "What, like a thief?"

"Yeah, like a thief, but… more lovable." Trash batted her eyes at me as she reached down to help haul me up. Together we clambered right to the top shelf, cramming ourselves in amongst some cans. "Okay, right, normally I'd get you to swear a blood oath, but we haven't got time for that."

"What, like swearing I'll only use whatever this is when I'm up to no good?"

She looked at me funny for a second, then snorted. "Yeah, something like that. Come on, move this junk, carefully. And remember how it was, you might need it again one day."

With my help, she swiftly cleared a small area in the far corner. She then took out her knife, grinned mischievously and stuck it in a small crack in the wall between the boards and the ceiling. Wiggling it around, there was a soft click, and she expertly caught the whole panel as it dropped down to reveal a crawlspace. I whistled appreciatively.

"Don't tell me, this ship used to be a smuggling vessel."

"Used to be? Is, more like. Just this access hole is mostly unused as it goes to the nursery, and the bigs don't wanna get caught sneaking in here. Sesame's a softy with cubs, but there wasn't much left of the one guy that did get in once. We still don't know how he did it, but it wasn't this way. I think there's another entrance, or maybe there was. It was after that the barrier spells got beefed up, both directions, but the caster didn't know about this one. Come on, in you go, I'll cover up our exit. Don't go too far or you might die."

I'd clambered in a few feet, but stopped cold as she said that. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Do I look like it?"

I gulped. "Uh… you wanna lead the way?"

"Naa, but go slowly, we'll be out in a few minutes if you listen to me."

Gingerly, Trash guided me through the almost pitch-black tunnel system. The idea that anybody larger than a cub could move around in here seemed frankly ridiculous, but maybe they just crawled, very slowly. A few minutes later, she had me toggle a lever and then very slowly ease up a similar flap in what appeared to be a dead end. We emerged into another part of the ship, a corridor I didn't recognize. Making sure the coast was clear, the pair of us exited the secret passage and dusted ourselves off. Trash swiftly closed and reset the hidden panel, then hid any sign of it. I knew it was there and couldn't spot it.

"Come on, I know the way!"

I could hear shouting and metallic clangs very shortly after as we scrambled up the ladder-like stairs and emerged into bright sunlight. I almost tripped over makari's tail as he and the owl-kid were blocking the stairs, staring at the full on cutlass and broadsword fights going on up on deck.

"Pirates!" I said dumbly, pointing.

"Well, at least we know you're probably not a kobold," snarked Makari, "or you'd likely be blinded a bit longer. Not sure about whether your noggin-meats says you are or aren't though."

"Are you saying I'm smart, or stupid?" I grumbled, ducking as a green-skinned creature cackled as it swung a ratty cutlass in a vicious arc towards one of the snake-men that I'd seen loading the hold.

"Guess," scoffed Makari. He hefted an apple that he'd stolen from somewhere, finished eating it, then lobbed it at the goblin. The creature squawked as it struck her on the head. The snake-man took the opportunity to run the goblin through before kicking her off the blade. I hissed, wincing.

"Uh, are you sure this is safe?" I said, gulping. I was pretty sure the goblin was actually, really and not-playing-make-believe dead, or at least mortally wounded and dying.

"What part of this could possibly be safe?" scoffed Locano. He notched an arrow, drew back on his bow and fired it at a scurvy looking minotaur aiming a throwing dagger at one of the crew from up on the rigging. He fell with a cry onto the deck and didn't get up. He, too, was swiftly run through by one of the crew. Several more arrows followed as the diapered dynamo moved out and hid himself behind cover. Trash had already vanished.

"So you're gonna just… murder these people?"

"Unless you want to go hide and hope you don't end up in their bed-chambers, yeah. Welcome to the realms. Grab something you can use to keep yourself safe, remember your lessons from playtime and try not to get killed. If you don't wanna have a go at pirates, go mess up their boarding efforts or something!" Makari dived over the railings and scampered out of sight.

Feeling a little sick, I picked up the nearest sword from a fallen body, I wasn't sure if it was one of ours or theirs. The blade was a curved scimitar of some sort with a wicked edge.

"Sesame has told cubs to stay below!" roared the werebear as the thundered past, I couldn't even give her a guilty look as she reared up then bit down on the shoulder of an assailant, some sort of bird-creature similar to Locano. She lifted and shook him like a ragdoll before throwing him away with a mighty jaws.

"Petey!" I heard Suzy shout. "Get over here!"

I turned and leaped in her general direction. She was crouching near a large hatch, also with a sword in hand. Suddenly a shape loomed above me, it had to be nine feet tall and stank of rotten meat. I pegged it for a troll of some sort, at least that was the word that sprung straight to mind. It brandished a club almost larger than I was, raising it to strike.

"No!" whimpered, throat dry, cowering. As I cowered, I felt something large swish past over my head, slamming into the troll. There was a meaty thwack and the deck shook. There was a sudden loud roar and Archax towered over me, having swiped the troll from the deck and almost certainly from this life with his tail.

"Run, little one! You should not be here!" his voice thundered, I was still shivering, but nodded.

"Thank you thank you!" I cried, trying not to burst into tears. "I d-didn't know, I—"

"ARCHAX!" Suzy suddenly shouted, causing both of us to look in her direction. She was being manhandled down the hatch. With another furious roar and gout of flame, the incensed red dragon dove after her and they all disappeared below deck.

"Your owner is right," I heard Pandora say, as she spun and twisted, her ears both brandishing blades, her voice strangely clear through the din. "You should get to safety!"

A lucky parry from a human pirate sent one of her blades spinning. In response, she flicked the other sword through the face of a gnoll, reached out with both her ears and twisted. There was sickening scream and a crunch and the bloody wet rag that was what was left of the pirate was dropped contemptuously to the floor. I decided discretion was the better part of valour, but was blocked from fleeing, so bravery outside of battle — in other words as far from actual risk of death as possible — was my best course of action. I sneaked and rolled my way from hidey hole to hidey hole until I was ducking and breathing heavily against the gunwhale.

Above me was a claw-like hook digging into the superstructure of our ship. I stood up, raising the sword I still held to cut the rope holding it, but discovered it was a hefty chain. I followed it with my eyes to the foreign vessel, where I could see it was tied off to some sort of stanchion. Taking a deep breath, I hopped up onto the gunwhale then leaped across the gap, heart beating nineteen to the dozen as I imagined all manners of sharks, giant squid and sea-beasts beneath me ready to pounce. My wings spread instinctively and I found myself gliding far further than I expected. I tumbled onto the deck and cowered for a moment, expecting trouble, but it was deserted. I waddled swiftly to the stanchion and found it to be one of several, anchored securely to the frame of their ship. They'd used cannons of some sort to fire the grappling claws at our vessel, using the stanchions — actually winches — to haul them back from any misses as well as to draw the two ships closer together. That had been the initial crash, as the two vessels crashed against each other. I studied the nearest winch for a moment, then pulled a large lever experimentally. There was an audible clunk then a loud rattling as the device spun. I ran swiftly to the other two, repeating my actions, before jumping up on the gunwhale of the pirate ship.

"Guys! Guys! I did it!" I called, seeing my friends turn and pump their fists. My celebration was not without hubris, however, as thanks to a combination of stupidity and wet, slippery rails, I found myself losing my footing when the wind caught the sails of the pirate ship and I was jerked off my feet. With a scream, I fell, yet somehow finding purchase with my claws. "Heeelllppp!" I shouted as I dangled by my claws over the heaving ocean.

"Come on, up you get, hero. Bro, you got him? Locano! Cover us!" There was a sudden shadow above me blocking out the sun, and I looked up into the face of Trash and my friends.

"I got him. One, two… heave!"

Trash and Makari were a welcome sight above me, pulling me up. Locano stood behind them with his bow triple-loaded with arrows, sweeping the deck. The clank-clank-clank-clank of the chains suddenly ended in a loud scraping, followed by three distinct sploshes and several more screams as the chains ran out and they unspooled.

"Ohhh shit, that's not good. Ow!" Makari winced as Trash lifted her paw from where she'd swat the kobold.

"Language! But, yer right. Locano, can ya do anyfink?"

"Do I look like a sailor?" the owl replied.

"You like you're gonna get a spank if you don't go check the wheel. Get! It's better visibility from up there anyway!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Bro, go check for stragglers. Don't be a hero, okay?"

"Sis." Makari saluted.

"And you, come help me see if we can get ourselves out of this pickle."

"I'd ask who put you in charge, but… yes ma'am."

There were a few indistinct splooshes, and a few minutes later Makari caught up with us as Trash and I tried our best to set the sails. However, it was all for naught as even with the three of us cubs, we weren't a couple of dozen seasoned sea-dogs.

"Locano, can you do anything?" Trash called out.

"Not really," the owl replied. "If you can't furl the sails, I don't think I can do much but keep us steady. They've lashed the wheel for starters, though you guys can help fix that, but I don't want to know what'll happen if we try to fight the wind in this. I don't wanna capsize… I'm sure the Maiden's Virtue will catch up with—"

In the distance, there was a sudden boom from the other ship, followed by a horrendous crack as one of the two main masts fell.

"Well, shit. Ow!" I rubbed my head as Trash swatted it, feeling a pit in my stomach grow ever larger as our appropriated pirate ship sailed further and further away from safety. I watched as flames roared up from where I'd last seen Archax and Suzy dive below decks… where the gunpowder had been stored.

"That's not good," I whispered to myself, "Please be safe, Daddy and Suzy..."