Disclaimer: The world and idea of Redwall is solely the property of Brian Jacques. My characters, ideas, and even this prologue, idiotic though it is, belong to me. If you use it, may a rabid dog chase you down the street.

Author's Notes: Oook... I decided I didn't like the other prologue at all so I completely rewrote it. And I daresay that this one is much better. I hope you all agree? Well, if you haven't read the other prologue yet (seeing as I have no reviews yet, that's very possible), that's all good because I didn't like the other one at all.

Still, warning. I have my own style of writing, and it probably isn't at all like Brian Jacques's, great man though he is. I can't write as well as him (yet! I hope. Haha) and my style and preferences in writing is just different. Don't bite my head off, please.

So read on, and I hope you like it. Suggestions, flames, or helpful comments (a.k.a. reviews) would be appreciated, but not necessary. XD. If you see any mistakes, whether it's in grammar or logic or anything, please tell me. Though maybe in the later chapters, I'll beg for reviews... haha. Here goes.

A DARK REDWALL TALE

By: Katoni Heshimi

Part One, Prologue: Don't Pull Our Bobtails!

A hare, obviously far past his fighting seasons, wrote by candlelight on a piece of parchment. He seemed utterly frustrated by how his work was progressing, continuously scratching his head in an irritated manner, adjusting his spectacles, and mumbling to himself, though what he was saying wasn't clear.

Finally, he threw down his quill pen, grumbling, "Forget it! Historian, shmistorian, I'm stuck, and I can't think of a way to clean up this mess without starting all over again!" He pushed away from the desk and stood up.

"I'll go get myself dinner – it should be about dinner time now, I think – and then go back at it. Damnit, so frustrating!" He walked slowly to the door, about to open it, when it suddenly burst open and a stream of young hares came barging in. The old hare blinked. "Wot in the hells are you lot doing here?"

The young hares grinned, and a tiny brown hare piped up cheekily.

"History class was s'pose t'be before dinner, Sah B.!"

"Sah B." reached up and tugged his spectacles off his nose. "Isn't it before dinner right now?"

The young hares burst out laughing, tittering among themselves before the same brown hare piped up again.

"Dinner just finished! We figured y'were busy with one o' yore projects 'gain, so we decided t'bring you dinner and listen to you while you ate!" The young hare popped her head out the door and shouted down the hall. "Hurry up! Sah B.'s hungry!"

A couple minutes later, two hares, apparently also students of Sir B's history class, came struggling in, weighed down by dishes of various foods from dinner. They carefully set the food down and grinning widely, gave the older hare flourished bows.

Sir B. blinked at his students before grinning widely.

"Thank you young uns. Make yourselves comfortable, then... let me find the history lesson for today...." He dug through the piles of parchment on his desk, muttering to himself. "Now where did I put that parchment about how Lord Sunflash made farms on the mountainside...."

Hearing this, the young hares groaned and complained.

"C'mon, Sah B.! We wanna hear 'bout th'wars, not th'boring farms!"

"Yeah! We even brought you your food!!"

"Tell us 'bout yore project! Th'one you forgot about dinner for!"

"Yeah! How could you forget about dinner unless th'topic was interesting? I mean, c'mon... it's FOOD we're talkin' 'bout, f'bally sake!"

The ancient hare laughed good-naturedly and sat down in the chair next to his table, clearing away some parchment to make room to put down the many dishes his students had brought.

"Alright, alright. Let's see... how to begin...."

"What're you writin' about, Sah B.?" asked one his students. Sir B. blinked, then shrugged.

"As good a place to start as any, I suppose." He poured himself a drink from the bottle of cider that was brought up with the food.

"Did you know that Salamandastron had once fallen?"

This was received with quiet shock before the hares protested the truth of that statement.

"Nah, really? That can't be true!"

"Salamandastron can't fall; th'vermin are too weak!"

"Stop pullin' our bobtails, Sah B.!"

The ancient hare calmly sipped his drink and ate his dinner until the hares were quiet. This, admittedly, took quite awhile.

When quiet finally restored itself, Sir B. replied, "I'm not fibbin', young uns. Ah-ah-ah!" He raised his paw for quiet when his students threatened to complain again. "If you want to learn, be quiet. I'll tell you everything." The hare drained the rest of his drink, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and turned completely to face the young hares.

"It was centuries ago when the land of Mossflower and Salamandastron had been quiet and peaceful for a long time."

"Eeeh... what kind o'start is that?" came a complaint from the middle of the group.

The old hare glared into in the direction of the complaint. "Nevertheless, it is true. Now will you listen or not?" He waited, and when there was no reply he nodded. "Good.

"The land of Mossflower and Salamandastron had been quiet and peaceful for a long time..."