Mission:
I was half asleep on the deck of the Seaslayer, the ship I was enlisted on. It was a bright, hot summers day and I hadn't been assighned any tasks for that day. I was just about to drift completely into sleep when a rat boarded the ship and came over to me. " Get up, Emperor Ublaz wants a word with you." He said, kicking my footpaw none too lightly," An you best be quick about it, the Emperor doesn't like to be kept waiting." I quickly got up and was just shouldering my pack when he said,"You best be leaving any weapons you've got right here on board." So I shrugged and let my pack fall back to the deck.

I rapped once on the door leading to Ublaz's throne room and heard a voice say,"Come in." I opened the door and quickly walked foreward and bowed."Majesty?" I asked,"You wanted to see me?" " Are you aware of anything...unusual, that has happened on my island, lately?" He asked softly. Wondering what I should do I answered,"No, Majesty. No, I can't say I have." He stood and turned from me, looking out his window. "Hare have landed upon my island. I know not how many. I want you to send scouts, gather our forces, even build weapons if you must, but I want you to stop those hares from even leaving. And I want you to bring their leader brought back to me." "Yes Majesty," I said,"Is that all?" He nodded dismisively. I began walking out the door when he called out,"And Moonshadow," I replied "Yes?" "If you fail me," he said,"you will find yourself in need of a new head." I gulped visibly as I bowed."As you wish, Majesty." And took my leave.

I went back to my ship and gathered my weapons, wondering what I could do to fufill my mission. I put on my pack, which was filled with food, water, a dirk, and containers of poison. I put on my knife belt with 5 poisoned throwing knifes and picked up my long-staffed scythe. I went to the tavern and got 4 of my closest friends and waited till dark.

When night came I had my friends cover themselves with black cloaks and we set off around the island to try and find these hares. At about mid-night we found the hares at the northern part o the island. They numbered 15 in all. I could tell by their number that they were mearly a scouting partie. I looked further out into the tide-line and saw a ship ancored there.' That ship would look nice among Emperor Ulaz's fleet' I thought. I looked back to where the hares were and saw only two senturies and all the other were asleep. I signaled That two of my friends, a rat named Ripear and a ferret named Greyrun should stay there and took the other two back to report to Ublaz.

As my friends, Silverbolt a wolf and Daystar a redfox, and myself entered the throne room, I could tel Ublaz was not happy to have been waked in the middle of the night, even for a report. "What is it?" He asked sharply. "Highness, I have found the hares! They number fifteen in all." His mood changed instantly. "Did You leave anyone there to make sure they didn't go anywhere?" He demanded. "Yes Mightyness I left two beasts to watch them while I came back here to make my report." I responded. "Do you think you would be able to take them quickly?" He asked. "Yes, I belive it would be easy to take them by night." I replied confidently. "Good," he said,"Tommarow night I want them gone." I grinned wickedly."I swear, by tomorrow night, you will see no beasts but those under your command on this isle!" And Silverbolt,Daystar,and myself left.

I went back to where the hares were alone, having left the other two to get some rest for the next night. Half way there I encountered Greyrun who was paniked and had obviously been in a fight. "Where is Ripear?" I demanded. Greyrun, who was in shock, shakily replied,"They got him! The hares, they waited till you and the other two were gone, then they attacked! The two sentries left the others sleeping and circled behind us and attacked! They took Ripear hostage!" I curesed and sent Greyrun back to the docks. I went up to the hares, through the shadows, being perfectly hidden by the color of my fur and tunic. When I came upon the hares' camp I tried to slip through the shadows twards them, but one saw me and called out, "I see ya! Walk upright like all decent creatures ya vile vermin,wot!" I smiled disaringly and steped into the fire light, standing my full height, and put my hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. "Drop the weapons, scum." said the other hare. I took my scythe from it's back strap and droped it to the ground. "The knives too." So I droped the knife belt in a manner that let me slip one in my belt in my back. One of the hares came up to me with rope and I held my hands in front of me. I let him get them looped once around my wrist and then I used the rope to pull him in close to me, spun him around so his back was facing me and put one arm around his neck, pinning him too me. The other hare started twards me but I pulled the knife from my belt and put it against the captives neck and the hare stoped. He opened his mouth to shout to his sleeping companions a small distance away but I spoke before he could yell."One warning noise to them from you and I'll kill this one." I said gesturing with the poisoned knife to the struggling, gasping, hare in my grip. "What do you want?" He demanded, still looking at his companion in a paniced way. I smiled wickidly."Tomorrow I want you to have my friend here and I will excange captives." I said. He glared into my face. "Tomorrow evening, then, scum! But, I swear, If he is harmed in any way, I swear I will kill you!" I laughed none too pleasently as I backed away with my struggling captive.

I knocke the hare out and tide him up and put him aboard the Seaslayer under gaurd of Greyrun and Daystar. I took Silverbolt with me to the taverns and rallied up about thiry vermin, ones I thought would blend well with the islands' colors and made sure at least ten of them were got shot with longbow, ten with regular bow and arrow, and ten who were quick and could fight hand to hand well. I made sure all of them had good daggers or knives for close fighting. I sharpened my scythe and went to Ublaz with the captive and told him of my plan.

"I am goin to situate thirty vermin in three lines. The ten best at close combat will be in front and be the closest to the hares and will attack in the center. The second line will be the archers with regular bow and arrows and will fire on them from their left. And the third line will be a fair distance and will fire upon the with longbows so they can pick them off out of the hare's fireing range. I will use this hostage as bait and will go after the leader my self. When I think we have wore them down enough I will give the signal and all three lines will rush them with daggers, dirks, and knives and inish them off at close combat." Ublaz smiled and nodded his approval and I went off to set my plans in motion.

I got the troops into position and went up with only Greyrun, Silverbolt, and Daystar as my only visible back-up. One hare with Ripear stepped foreward and I stepped foreward with the hare hostage. "First you let ours go and then we'll return the rancid rat,wot!" the hare said. "Actually I was plannin on getting back my pal first and then givin back yore preciouse hare buddy, wot?" I said mocking the hares' speach. My friends sniggered as the hares' ears stood up with indignitation. He looked back at whom I guessed was the leader and the leader nodded. The hare looked disusted. "Heres your foul friend, you feined." He said as he released Ripear. Ripear dashed across and behind me and stuck his tounge out at the hares. I smiled and took out one of my knives and roughly cut the ropes holding the hare and its gag. Then I pushed the hare foreward with my footpaw and sent him stumbling to his side. Then I raised my knife into the air and droped it and the hidden vermin jumped up and began their attack. five hares, including the one just set free, were felled imeditally and the other hares begain retreating twards their ship. I had counted on the hares to stand up and fight. "Come on!" I shouted to my four friends and we rushed around to the ship and were lucky enough to cut them off. The ines moved forward enought to continue attacking and the hares, surrounded, began fighting back. They tried, a couple of times, to get past the five of us, but more and more of the hare were dropping. I signaled for the troops to go into combat and left my four friends to gaurd the hares' ship. I went into the melee and recieved a blow to the side by a hares' hind foot. As I continued weaving through the fighting, looking for the leader, I had a dirk thrust into my left shoulder and sent the offending hare sprawling into a rat with a blow to the head with my right and the rat finished the hare off. I finally found the leader and drug him off to the side and knocked him out with a hefty blow with the staff part of my scythe and drug him back to the hares' ship and left him under my friends' guard. I went back into the fight with two poisoned knives. When it was all over, thirteen out of the thirty-four toops I started with were dead. And eight out of the twenty troops were injured, not including me. I took the remaining troops and sailed in the captured ship back around to the docks. I then handed the captive hare leader and ship over to Emperor Ublaz. The hare was publically exicuted and the ship named the Shadow Wave.