DISCLAIMER: I am borrowing the song 'The Underworld' from Epic The Musical. If you want to skip past the song sequence, look for the words SKIP HERE in big bold red text.
Meanwhile, Silvertongue tossed and turned in the throes of his night terrors, letting out the occasional loud yelp. There would be no comforting him, as these were no ordinary nightmares one could easily wake from. He would have to suffer through the ordeal on his own.
Within the depths of his mind, Silvertongue was having a very vivid and strange dream. Although he frequently experienced them, this night-terror was unlike the others. The young fox found himself standing at the bow of a longship, with about a dozen vermin manning the oars. Former companions from his time on the pirate ship
Sea King. They all stared at him expectantly. The ship sat perfectly still in a river with no current, a barren landscape stretching infinitely in every direction.
“Erm… Full speed ahead?” He suggested.
“Full speed ahead!” They repeated, almost lifeless, taking the oars and rowing the ship down the river.
Silvertongue swallowed uneasily, feeling a lump forming in his throat as he looked around. There were no landmarks to go off of, so he had no way of knowing how far they had gone when suddenly he spotted the only interesting thing around. A tall stone wall that seemed to pierce the clouds, with metal spikes adorning its battlements. The longship stopped at an iron gate within the river, and a strange figure was sitting on the water's edge next to a lever. It was neither woodlander nor vermin, instead some horrifying mass of shadow in the shape of a creature. It stared at Silvertongue with bright white eyes.
“Hail, and well met!” Silvertongue called out to the creature.
“Could you explain where exactly we’re at?”
“Must I explain this every time we meet?” The being seemed unimpressed, even a bit annoyed.
“I am Xerxes, gatekeeper of the Underworld. This is the entrance to the Underworld. Where all creatures reside after death until it is determined whether they are to go to the Dark Forest or Hellgates.”
Silvertongue just nodded as Xerxes explained this, dumbfounded.
“Xerxes, Sir, I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m almost certain that I’m not dead.”
“I know that, you nitwit. You are, unfortunately, being granted access to the Underworld. There is a powerful seer who is awaiting you on the other side. Though I doubt you will make it to them, you have failed every previous attempt.” Xerxes said.
“Hold on… how many times have I tried to do this? Also, what seer do you speak of? The only one I know is Madame Lorelei, and she is also still alive.”
“The Underworld is dangerous, and it will play tricks on your mind. You will hear the voices of your friends and family who have passed, but you must ignore them at all costs. Until you find the seer." Having ignored Silvertongue's questions and speaking his piece, Xerxes pulled the lever, and the gate slowly started to rise. He then floated away and disappeared into the mist.
“Wait!” Silvertongue had more questions, but Xerxes was already gone. He sighed and turned to the vermin rowers.
“Friends, Xerxes instructions were clear. No matter what we hear:”
“Full speed ahead! Until we find the prophet!”
Silvertongue turned to face the gate as it gave way to the supposed Underworld before them.
“My comrades, this land confuses your mind, so no matter who we find:”
“Full speed ahead! Until we find the prophet!”
“Good.” Silvertongue nodded as the rowers started to move the ship past the gate. The land went from a gray and barren wasteland to a massive ocean, the sky a sickly green color, and the water black as night.
All around them were spirits. Some were floating in the water, some were flying through the air, and some were even on spectral ships or boats of their own, but all of them were wailing and gnashing their teeth. The most horrifying thing of all, however, was that once the ship passed into the Underworld, all the vermin aboard the longship started to decay, shedding their skin and flesh, blood spilling from their bodies and spilling out onto the deck, seeping into the wood, until only their skeletons remained. Yet, still, they rowed, staring forward with empty eye-sockets.
Silvertongue grimaced, and he closed his eyes, covering his ears, but nothing could drown them out. He heard a drum beating to keep the rowers in sync, so he started to sing:
“All I hear are screams, every time I dare to close my eyes
I no longer dream, only nightmares of those who've died
Nothing's what it seems-!”
“Nothing’s what it seems.” The rowers sang along with Silvertongue, still rowing to the beat.
“And here in the Underworld, the past seems close behind."
"This land confuses your mind!” They repeated the same ominous warning that Xerxes had given.
Silvertongue looked out at the endless expanse of water, suddenly seeing hundreds of souls approaching the ship. They surrounded the boat, but they seemed unable to get into it.
“When does a todd become a monster?
Five hundred beasts of our crew, who died all because of you!”
Silvertongue sees a vision appear in the air of a battlefield littered with bodies. He sees himself, with his rapier drawn, facing off against an imposing badger with blood-red eyes. He sees himself turn and run off into the darkness. He shook his head. It happened just as he remembered it going.
“Silver! Silver! Silver! Silver!
Why would you let the badger live?
When ruthlessness is mercy!”
Silvertongue turned away, singing again to drown them out.
“All I hear are screams, every time I dare to close my eyes.”
“I no longer dream, only nightmares of those who've died."
“Nothing's what it seems.”
“But in the Underworld, the past seems close behind... I keep thinking of the battle on that night, I keep thinking of the battle on that night.”*
Silvertongue plopped down against the rail of the ship, holding his head, trying desperately to think about anything else when suddenly he heard the familiar strings of his lute..?
“This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms.”
“Grandfather…” Silvertongue gasped, standing up and peering out over the waters. He saw the spectral form of an old black fox wearing a tricorn hat, clothed in a black bard doublet and pantaloons.
“Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart.
No matter the place, we can light up the world
Here's how to start:”
Silvertongue suddenly sees a vision of himself as a child, holding out his arms as his grandfather hands him the lute.
“Greet the world with open arms,
Greet the world with open arms.”
The specter of his grandfather faded away as the ship continued deeper into the Underworld.
“Grandfather…” Silvertongue held out his hand for a moment before stopping himself. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. He turned back to the front and saw a floating island in the distance, with a few dead trees and a ramshackle hut near the shore. This had to be the prophet.
“Waiting…” A wavery female voice echoed across the waters, and Silvertongues' heart dropped into his chest.
“That voice, it can’t be…”
“Waiting…” A little rowboat bobbed into view, rowed by a skeletal rat, and the other occupant was the ghostly form of a vixen, wearing a blue silk gown and holding an umbrella over her head.
“Mom?” He didn’t want to believe his eyes; he didn’t want it to be true. He knew it wasn't true- and yet here she was before him.
“Waiting,
My Silvertongue, when you come home, I’ll be waiting
Even if you’re the last thing I see, I’ll be waiting....”
Silvertongue walked along the sides of the ship, his eyes fixated on his mother.
“I’m right here, Mom-”
“Waiting…”
“Can’t you see I’m-”
“Waiting..."*
Silvertongue bit his lip and took his hat from his head, unable to look away from her.
“I took too long..”
“I'll always love you.”
“And ventured too far…”
“I'll stay in your heart.”
“While you were-”
“Waiting, Waiting, Waiting..."*
He could only watch helplessly as the rowboat drifted across the lake, further and further away.
“Bye, Mom…”
He looked at the floating island. He was so close, but he turned away, running towards the back of the ship and diving into the black waters. Immediately, he felt dozens of paws clawing at his chest, arms, and legs, but he fought them off. Looking down, Silvertongue was horrified to see the specters had morphed into that of his new crewmates. Morgan, Vihma, Ralynn, and even Talinn.
“All I hear are screams! Every time I dare to close my eyes!"* He shouted, still hoping his singing would protect him.
“All I hear are screams!" The specters surrounding him mimicked his words as they tried to drag him under the water.
Silvertongue desperately tried to paddle after his mother.
“I no longer dream-”
“I no longer dream!”
“Only nightmares of those who died!”
“Nothing’s what it seems!”*
“Nothing’s what it seems!”
The rowboat was getting further away, and Silvertongues strength was failing him. The specters surrounded him, pushing him under the water. He struggled to the surface, hearing one last eerie chant from the spirits before he was dragged down into the depths:
“But in the Underworld, your past is always close behind!
Your past is always close behind!
Down in the Underworld!”
*Note, mixed color text are two or more characters singing in unison
SKIP HERE
Silvertongue shot up with a sharp gasp, clutching his chest. He looked around at the room, his eyes resting on each injured beast. Greeneye with multiple bandages wrapped around his arms, legs, and waist. Ralynn getting stitched up, Talinn bleeding from his head, and Morgan- Morgan with some horrible tube sticking from her chest.
Silvertongue then took the time to check his own body for injuries, only to find none. He trembled and started to weep, tears flowing fast and freely down his cheeks.
"It's all my fault!" He choked out through his cries. "I alone am responsible for the sordid state of affairs that have befallen us now!"
He tried to stop his tears, but it was in vain. "All of this would not have happened if I hadn't foolishly pranced about on the rails! What a wretched beast I must be, that you have all been injured for my sake!"
He stared at his paws once more. "The Blessed Saints may have smiled on me, but in doing so they have doubled- no, tripled my troubles and passed them to all of you. Here I lay, unbesmirched, while your bodies are marred with the wounds of war. I do not deserve to have such a mercy bestowed upon me when I am the one who caused all of this in the first place!"
Silvertongue hung his head in shame, still trembling from the cold, but now equally so in embarrassment. "I am a truly terrible burden to you, my friends, and I can do nothing save to beg your forgiveness for my idiocy."
