Blackfire
Prologue
A strong male otter swung his blade. "You'll die at the mercy of me sword, vermin!" He growled. He swung madly as a horde of rats, ferrets, stoats, and other vermin pressed in on him. Suddenly, a maid screamed. His wife came at the vermin, and the last thing he saw was his wife hacking madly at the beasts. Then, somewhere close by, a very small male ferret laughed, as his father laughed at having defeated the otters. The grown beast's name was Strippheth. "Look, Stripheth, we beat the otter holt." He laughed. The son, Stripheth, being only a babe, laughed also, not knowing why he was laughing. Strippheth picked his son up. "Someday, my son, you will be a great horde leader."
A black otter cub lay in a stream. Her father had just been killed, and her mother had been killed trying to save her father. She looked around, and called out. She was scared; her parents hadn't come for her, and she was thirsty. A rustling came within the bushes. Her big fearful blue eyes looked in that direction. A ferret came out. She squealed. She had no way to defend herself. He did something that surprised her.
"Shhh." He said in a calming voice. She stopped crying. He walked over to her and gently picked her up. Her big eyes looked at him, a scar over her right eye. He touched it gently, and she squealed. It hurt her. He smiled down at the small otter. She was a little thinner than most, more lanky. And her tail was less thick. He opened her mouth, and she had canine teeth like a fox's. This otter was special, he could tell. He stroked her head, touched her spiked neckfur, and she knew he was a kind one. Even at this early stage in her life. She smiled a toothy smile, and fell asleep. "I'm glad I ran away from Strippheth's horde. Ain't no way he can find me! I'm glad that I became good." he said to himself. He took the otter back to his camp, where he was also nursing a baby raven.
It was 15 seasons after the ferret had found the cub. His name was Halfear, as the otter soon found out. She grew up with the raven as her friend, and now she was a strong young adult. When he found her, he named her Blackfire. He taught her how to run swifter than the wind on a windy day. He taught her how to use a blade she had found, hidden by her father. She was the best swordsbeast anywhere. She had learned to use her sling better than a squirrel. She was the best fighter anywhere in Mossflower and beyond. The raven, who she had dubbed Crowfeathers when she was little, was her loyal companion. He had grown to twice the normal size of a raven, powered by her love and his love for her. She learned how to become invisible in the shade, where even her scent was smothered. Her eyes were red, from days of crying. They had turned from blue to red. She didn't even have pupils, let alone whites. Halfear taught her to leave her fear, and by this age she had lived with no fear in her heart for 5 seasons. She smiled as she saw a fish. Dinner for her and the ferret. It was a pike, the best fish for eating. She licked her chops, and jumped into the river. She hit the pike one swift, hard cuff to the head, and it was stunned. And she barely used her strength.
"Little more than a touch, Crow." She told the big raven, who cawed in agreement. She picked the dead pike up and towed it to camp. It was longer and heavier than she was, but it didn't seem to be less than a feather to her. Anybeast watching her would see how she carried it with ease. As she brought it back to camp, she heard a soft thud. She dropped the fish, which Crow picked up for her. She ran to the noise, to see the old ferret had died from old age. She sniffed. Then, digging a quick grave, she buried him, formally. She said a few words, and told Crow "This is where we learn to survive without an older beast around us." She smiled. "If'n we make a good reputation, we might be left alone!" she chuckled. Little did she know she would be a living legend.
She arrived at Redwall on a Tuesday. They had taken her in, and she was adjusting well. But she was not well liked. Things were always blamed on her, and the Dibbuns, being babies, made fun of the way she looked. More than once she was brought in front of the Abbot for having had a fight in the Abbey. The Skipper of Otters, currently Rhye, was harsh on her whenever she trained. And she trained harder than other otters to prove herself. And then the day came. She was telling Myre, Skipper's son, of her past and how her father had left her. Then she went into how she was raised by a ferret. She finished her story when she arrived at Redwall, and then Skipper insulted her father.
"Must not have loved you much if he left you to get found by a ferret!" He taunted, and she sprang at him. Her teeth were bared, and she had whipped out her sword before he had time to react. He gained his senses quickly and took out his dagger. They fought for a little bit, Blackfire having scored more cuts on Skipper than he on her. The fight was broken up, and she was once again brought before Abbot Carth.
"'E insulted me father!" She kept insisting.
"That is no reason to start a fight, Blackfire." The Abbot had replied. And then she was hauled back out onto the grounds.
The next day, Skipper announced his retirement, and Myre became the Skipper of Otters. During the ceremony, near the end, Blackfire had shouted her disapproval. That got her kicked out of Redwall. Standing just outside of the gates, she shouted her promise that she would never let a Redwaller that crossed her path go without a fight. The Redwallers, thinking it was just a bluff, ignored her.
Blackfire was now an adult. She had done many things, some of them being her slipping into hordes as a very beautiful female ferret, killing vermin with her teeth and claws, having a fight with the Skipper of Redwall, and finding a way to ride Crowfeathers. When she had fought Skipper, he had insulted her father when she said she was raised by a ferret. Mothers at Redwall told their dibbuns stories about Blackfire to make them go to bed with visions in their heads. They would dream of her, imagining life like her. They would also try to imagine a raven twice the size of a normal one. In the morning, they would tell about their crazy dreams. Little vermin babes would be scared into going to sleep, with things like "If ye don't go ter sleep now, Blackfire will come and slay yer!" The babes would go to sleep instantly. Vermin lords would hunt for her, and she would slay them when they did find her. She enjoyed her life, even the part that she was a ferret-looking otter. She enjoyed it when she had visitors, but they never stayed long. She was always puzzled, until one particular day. This is where her story begins.