A/N: I haven't been on in quite a while, sadly. I recently came back, and started writing a Mario fic. I re-read this story, and well, I'm going to pick it up and make some major changes. When I was originally writing SotS, I wasn't sure where I was going with it, so I inevitably lost interest (which explains why I haven't updated in forever). HOWEVER! I've had a break-through and now have an outline written for SotS, so I'll be working on this story on and off between school and my Mario fic ACG. So, here's an updated, reviewed, and changed version of the first few chapters of SotS. I actually combined a few of the chapters, because they weren't very long and fit together just fine. Reviews and well-constructed critiques are always welcome! Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Aftermath and a New Beginning
Redwall Abbey was bustling after the final struggle between Matthias the Warrior and Cluny the Scourge. Numerous chores needed to be tended to, and there was not one pair of idle hands to be found in the great abbey. The bodies of slain creatures had to be carried and piled out on the bloodstained lawn by a group of Redwallers, whose operation was headed by Foremole and Ambrose. They were scheduled to be buried the next day. Any and all manner of weapons were collected by Jess and Basil's company and were, by the wishes of Brother Mordalfus, thrown out, for the time of their use had passed. Then there was caring for the injured creatures that had bravely fought in the battle, which was quite an enormous task and required a good majority of the remaining workers. There were so many that the sick bay was filled to the point of bursting, and dormitories were kindly given up for the use of the injured so they would be able to heal in comfort.
After those chores were completed, it came time to deal with the bell tower. It was in obvious need of repair after the great fall of the Joseph Bell that had ended the fighting. The bell itself was to be taken out of the tower for inspection and repairs if at all possible. Constance the badger led the group of creatures in charge of lifting the huge bell so it could be moved.
As the bell was slowly lifted from the small crater it had been resting in, the corpse of the Scourge himself was revealed, right where Matthias had left him. The black rat's features were twisted in pain and shock, with his green and yellow eye rolled upwards into his skull. Most of the rat's limbs and paws were bent in ways that they shouldn't have been able to, his tail was smashed at the tip, and his battle armor was completely ruined and smashed into his body. There was no way the armor could have been removed unless it was actually cut from the rat's frame.
When Constance saw it, she wrinkled her nose in disgust, with most of the other helpers doing likewise. "We've found another body for you, Ambrose," she called down the stairs.
The hedgehog in question poked his head around the corner. The kindly creature had been on the body collection team, but they had finished their duties a few hours prior. He took one look at the rat's body and shuddered. "I think I'll let Foremole have the honor of collecting this last one." On that note, he wandered off to inform Foremole and his crew of the new job he had found for them.
A few moments later, Ambrose returned, with Foremole behind, prodding him with a long digging claw. "Alright, alright, you crazy earth eater! I'll help you!" Ambrose gave Constance a pitiful look, like she could get him out of moving the dead rat.
Constance shook her head, a small smile on the corner of her lips. "I would take him down to the yard myself, but as you can see-" she shook the bell in her hands, which got her some muttering from her fellow workers. "Oh, sorry. As you can see, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."
The cheerful mole responded in his odd dialect. "It'm foin, Missus. Oi 'n yon 'edgepig kin 'andle this un," he looked at Ambrose. "Hurr, git a 'old o' tem arms, quik loik." Ambrose grimaced and reluctantly obeyed. He grabbed the rat's broken arms while Foremole picked up the smashed legs.
"And I thought he was ugly from a distance," Ambrose muttered, wrinkling his nose. He began to lead the way out of the tower and down to the lawns. "At least your job is clean, Constance," he stated.
"Look at the bright side, tonight is Brother Alf's Abbot Orientation feast. The sooner we finish our duties, the sooner it begins," Constance reminded him.
"Yeah, I guess that'll get this disgusting feeling out of my spikes-"
Foremole cut the conversation with a quick shove, which sent Ambrose out the door. He gave a nod to Constance. "We'lm be sein yur at the feast tonoight." Constance returned the nod and smiled as the two friends clumsily made their way down the bell tower.
"Will you stop goin' so fast, mate? You're gonna make me trip and get us both killed!"
"Killed? Hurr hurr, it'm bes only gurt stairs, Ambrose!"
"Only stairs? If we fall, then they'll only be the deadliest stairs!"
The two friends walked out onto the lawns, bickering back and forth. The sky was turning a pink and purple hue as the sun began to set. "Look, Foremole. They're going to start the feast without us!" It was true, their fellow abbey dwellers and woodlanders were heading into Great Hall. Delicious aromas and the sound of laughter and music wafted out of the great doors. The sights and sounds spurred the companions to run the rest of the way to the pile of bodies. They unceremoniously tossed the defeated Scourge onto the pile. Ambrose smiled at his friend, and then dashed off across the lawn to Great Hall. "See you at the feast, slowpoke!"
Foremole jogged after him, yelling indignantly. "Hurr, yew sneakin' likkle traitor! Wait!" Ambrose stopped and laughed as he reached the steps leading up into Great Hall. When Foremole caught up, the hedgehog threw an arm around the mole's shoulders and led them both inside.
But because of the good food and enjoyable company inside, no beast was around to notice the movements on the lawn.
XXXXXXX
An hour into Abbot Mordalfus' feast, a single green and yellow eye slowly rolled back into its place.
Cluny blinked a few times, becoming aware of himself. He had experienced close calls before, but that collision with the bell was one he hadn't thought was particularly survivable. By a devil's blessing, he was still painfully alive and breathing.
He began to rise from the pile of bodies, but his head began swimming with a sharp pain from the effort, and it almost made him collapse. Determinedly, he sat up. After a moment of rest to let the pain sink in, Cluny carefully tested each of his limbs to see what the damage was. The results were not pleasing. He was no doctor, but he could feel both his arms were broken in different places, with the right paw shattered, and the left shoulder felt dislocated. After applying a little pressure to his legs, he decided something was wrong with his left ankle. It didn't feel as painful as his broken arms, so he settled on a sprain or twist type of injury. Cluny felt his tail tenderly, and found that the tip was smashed, and he couldn't even feel that part of it. He felt a very sharp pain in his chest, and guessed he had acquired a couple broken ribs as well. From the pain he kept feeling in his skull, and by the way he couldn't entirely think straight, he assumed he had received a concussion to top off the impressive list of injuries. The quick inspection left Cluny feeling hopeless; he might as well have been dead.
He tried to examine his surroundings, but something was very wrong. Whichever way he turned his head, he couldn't see anything. He checked to make sure his eye was, in fact, open. It was as if some creature was cupping a paw over his eye. The sensation made Cluny feel disoriented, so he shut his eye to make the darkness feel more natural and self-inflicted.
In his state of blindness, he had to take advantage of his other senses. Cluny remained still and pricked his sharp ears. He could hear the sound of water which, if his memory served, meant that he was near the pond. Chattering and laughter reached his tattered ears, and he assumed it was coming from the Great Hall. Despite his entire body screaming out in pain, the rat gritted his sharp teeth and carefully rose to a standing position. He tested his legs, and found he could still walk, though it would be excruciatingly painful. Cluny began to slowly limp his body away from the sounds of the Abbot's Orientation feast and toward what he hoped was the outer wall. He tried to stay as quiet as he could, even though each step made him bite his tongue to keep from shouting out in pain.
He abruptly reached the stone outer wall and began to guide his broken body along it, feeling for one of the small gates that he had used to enter Redwall Abbey with his horde. What seemed like hours later, the Scourge finally found one. He ran his good paw up the gate and grasped at every bolt, unlocking them as silently as he possibly could. "How ironic," he growled to himself. "To be leaving just as eagerly as I came." The gate squeaked a bit as he pushed it open. Once Cluny was out on the road, he let his hand slip by mistake, and the gate slammed loudly behind him, as if glad he was gone. He jumped at the sudden and loud noise and let out a stream of curses; not just directed at the noise, but at his situation, and at the Redwallers who had made the once powerful and legendary rat into a broken has-been.
After his rant, the rat panted as he composed himself. The sudden, oppressive silence made Cluny realize that he was alone, and in unfamiliar territory that he couldn't even see. There was no way he could defend himself in his current state; he could hardly walk! Cluny pondered his situation, weighing his options. What could possibly be hiding out here that wouldn't immediately turn tail and flee at the sight of Cluny the Scourge? He briefly remembered a report that had been given to him by a couple of his troops of an adder, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Before he could change his mind, Cluny pressed forward, limping into the depths of Mossflower Wood.
Only a few minutes had passed before Cluny became completely disoriented. The trees seemed to hold a sort of grudge against the rat. They constantly scratched at him with their low-hanging branches, his paws would get tangled in their roots, and he'd bump his broad shoulders against their trunks.
The big rat stopped his trek, feeling like he had wandered far enough away from Redwall Abbey and its cursed inhabitants. Cluny was tired, frustrated, and in an extreme amount of pain that any normal rat would have already passed out from. Not in the mood for running about blindly in the wood, he tenderly set himself down against the trunk of one of the irritating trees that surrounded him. After a few moments of listening to the night sounds of Mossflower Wood, the Scourge was enveloped in the midst of fitful slumber, reliving his defeat through nightmares.
XXXXXXX
Sleeping in the middle of Mossflower Wood was never a very clever or intelligent idea, especially at night and out in the open. There were countless unfortunate things that could happen to oneself, what with the varying vermin that prowled about looking for easy prey. Luckily for the Scourge, his attack and defeat at Redwall Abbey had scared most of those vermin out of the premises, leaving only the unthreatening creatures to stumble upon him.
Nevra was a small, young squirrel that inhabited Mossflower Wood with her parents and older brother. Her fur was a dark brown, with a single white spot surrounding her right eye. She had recently turned 13 years old, which was not very old to be wandering about the Woods alone.
She was out on a stroll through Mossflower Wood, conveniently forgetting what her parents told her about staying home with her brother that evening. As she walked along, she gathered various plants and berries and tucked them inside a small sack she had slung over her shoulder. Nevra began to hum a nameless tune to herself. She made it up as she went, but found the song not to her liking. The humming stopped, and she was about to strike up a new one when she found herself falling face-first into the forest floor, her bag of herbs and berries flying toward a nearby tree with its contents spilling out.
Nevra outstretched her arms in reaction to the fast approaching ground. As she caught herself, pain shot through her paws. She sat back and tried to inspect the damage. It was hard to see in the darkness, but it seemed that she had a few scrapes; nothing too serious.
The squirrel turned her head around to see what had caused her to fall. What she saw made her jump to her feet and hastily take a few steps backward. Was that a snake next to that tree? After looking closer at the object in question, she sighed as she realized it was… a tail. Much like a mouse's or rat's, but longer and wider than any she had seen before. She must have stepped on it by mistake and lost her footing. What was surprising to her was that the owner of the tail hadn't cried out when she had trodden upon it. Slowly, Nevra began to follow the tail to its master.
She rounded the tree trunk and found the owner. From what she could make out, she had found a rat; and a big one at that. He was black, and he wore an eye patch, but she couldn't make much else out.
"Hello?" she asked, tentatively.
Cluny quickly became very alert. He snapped his one eye open, but it was evident his vision was still lost by the continuing darkness.
"Hey! Sir, did you hear me?" Nevra persisted.
The rat suddenly jumped to his feet and snarled at her. "Of course I heard you! Who the hell do you think you are?" In surprise, Nevra fell back a few paces, and then dropped to the grass. This rat wasn't big; he was huge! He was almost twice as tall as her, and at least twice as thick.
After shaking her head to clear away her surprise, Nevra stood. She brushed off her fur and turned her gaze back to the rat, swishing her tail nervously. "S-sorry sir. I didn't mean to startle…" He was staring straight at her, teeth bared and fist clenched. It was a rather intimidating sight, and Nevra did not feel safe. Slowly, she backed into a tree, and then scurried up it quick as she could. When she looked back down at him, the rat was still staring at where she had been. She quickly put two and two together, and smiled. This rat's blind!
Cluny couldn't tell if he had scared the pest off or not, but didn't move just in case. In an answer to his unspoken question, the young voice reanimated close to his right side; just out of reach. "Um, sir, I don't think you should be standing. It's hard to see, but it looks like you're in a lot of pain." A paw pushed on Cluny's dislocated shoulder, trying to get him back on the ground. In response, he snapped his pointed teeth at it.
Nevra quickly removed her paw from his shoulder and scampered up the tree he had been lying against. "Hey! I'm just trying to help you!" she called, watching him from above.
The voice had come from above him, and Cluny let out a groan. "Squirrel." He still hated squirrels, ever since that one and her rabbit friend had stolen back their tapestry and made the Scourge look like a fool.
"Yes, I am." The voice was now across from him, where it had first started.
Cluny growled angrily, trying to scare the pest away. If he had been able to see, he would have already ripped her apart with his claws. "Listen, pest, I don't need your help. You better get lost before you really irritate me," he threatened.
Nevra smiled. "Sorry, but from what I can see, you are in need of a lot of help."
Cluny snarled menacingly, and the squirrel took a backward step. "What do you want, kid?" He didn't say it as a question, more like a command.
"I want you to come with me. My parents can help you-"
The rat burst into laughter; horrible, cruel laughter, that caused Nevra to step back even further. "Nice try, but I'm no fool. I ain't goin' back to that damn abbey."
"Redwall Abbey? I wasn't going to take you there-"
"Don't try to trick me!" Cluny snapped. "Where else would you're helpful parents be? You must take me for an idiot!" This was completely infuriating. A single day earlier and this girl would have been dead as soon as she had said 'hello'. Now he couldn't do anything but bear the irritation.
Nevra began to explain. "Well, my family has a little hollow a ways over there." She pointed, but the rat didn't make any notion that he saw the gesture. "We practice the same things as those who live in Redwall. We help the injured and tend to the sick. We help them so they don't have to worry the abbey. If the individual patient has a problem that we cannot help them with, then we take them to the abbey," Nevra looked over the rat. "You may be such an individual-"
Cluny cut off the squirrel by turning away from the pest. He began to walk haughtily into the woods, ignoring her protests. It wasn't a very dignified farewell. A few paces and his paw caught on a tree root, which sent him sprawling on the forest floor. His entire body exploded in renewed pain, and he couldn't help crying out. He tried to make the cry sound angry, but Nevra could tell it was from pain, not frustration.
"Listen to me!" Nevra called as she ran to try and aid him. "If you don't want me to take you to Redwall, then at least let me take you to my parents. You're in no condition to be out in these woods alone!" The rat swiped at her with his sharp claws as he stood up.
"They wouldn't help me. And I don't need their help," he stated coldly.
"And how do you know that?" Nevra returned.
Cluny whirled around to face the squirrel. Was this pest serious? "Do you know who I am?" he roared at her.
"A-actually sir. I don't." Nevra replied sheepishly, backing away. The rat seemed to be surprised. "…Should I know who you are?"
Cluny's mind was racing. There had to be some way to use this brat to his advantage. "Should you know who I am? Why, of course not. I'm just a regular, wandering old rat." He reached out and grabbed hold of the squirrel, heavily resting a paw on her small shoulder. "You got a name, kid?"
Nevra shuddered under the rat's touch, her discomfort seeming to cause the big rat some pleasure. "Nevra… and what is yours?"
"You can just call me Sir, Nevra. Names are a trifle thing that I gave up years ago." Cluny grinned. "Now… how's about you take me down to see your folks?"
Glad to see the rat had changed his mind, Nevra returned his ferocious grin with a kind smile. "Of course, Sir. I'll lead, seeing as you can't see yourself."
Cluny froze. "How did you know that?" he demanded angrily.
"I just noticed that you weren't following me with your eye while I was moving about is all."
After a moment, Cluny allowed Nevra to lead him through Mossflower Wood. He chuckled to himself and his incredible luck.
What an idiot.