Prologue

The winter sun shone down upon Redwall Abbey, reflecting off the twin bells Matthias and Methuselah – and into the eyes of one Umfry Spikkle, official gatekeeper and temporary bell ringer for the abbey. He mumbled to himself as he shielded his eyes against the hot glare and prepared to ring the bells for breakfast.

Bong! Bong!

He needn't have bothered; all the abbey beasts were inside with the exception of himself. Not that he could blame them. It was the first day in two weeks that it wasn't snowing, but a chilly breeze was all that was needed to keep the creatures inside. Not even the troublesome Dibbuns had complained when it was announced that everyone was to stay in Cavern Hole unless specifically given permission. That is, not at first.

His job done, Umfry made his way back down the tower. Umfry was a fairly large hedgehog, though he wasn't as literate as he would like. He had only started learning how to read and write a few seasons before, and he wasn't very good at it yet.

Umfry shivered as he opened the bell tower door and pulled his cloak tighter about his body. Then he regretted it. He had 'borrowed' the cloak from Brother Torilis, and Brother Torilis did not own hedgehog cloaks. Umfry reached the door of the abbey and removed the now-useless cloak, and couldn't help thinking of what the abbey's herbalist would say. The squirrel was hardly the nicest of creatures at the best of times, and Umfry finally made the decision to avoid him until later.

Entering the abbey, Umfry looked around to make sure that Torilis wasn't anywhere nearby. Thinking that the Great Hall was deserted, he entered quietly and shut the door behind him.

"Bit chilly, is it not?"

Umfry spun around at the sound, and relaxed as he saw whom it was. "Greetings, Samolus." he said.

The old handymouse smiled as he rose from his sitting position and walked over to shake Umfry's paw. Despite his age, Samolus was quite spry, seeming to defy his many seasons. His eye was steady, his paw firm, and mind sharp, and he was well liked by all in the abbey. "So Umfry," he inquired with a twinkle in his eye, "who are you hiding from."

The hedgehog started. "Hiding? Wh-who says I'm hiding?"

"Well," the old mouse began, "when a beast is looking around a room before entering, and them proceeds to enter very quietly, and starts at the slightest noise, I can't help but assume that beast is hiding from someone." Samolus chuckled. "Especially when that beast is Umfry Spikkle."

Umfry chuckled, too, and then sighed. "I'm hiding from Brother Torilis."

"Ah!" Samolus replied in a tone of understanding. "I see."

"You see," continued Umfry worriedly, "I sort of . . . borrowed . . . a cloak from him. Only he doesn't know it yet, and now I've damaged it, and when he finds out, . . ." Umfry trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Samolus took the cloak and examined it carefully. "No problem, Umfry." he said, smiling. "I think I can fix this up before Torilis gets back."

Returning to his seat by the Great Hall Tapestry, he proceeded to take some materials from a satchel he had at his side. "It just so happens that he is out chopping firewood with Bosie." He commented encouragingly. "And with how that hare talks, I doubt that they'll be back any time soon."

Umfry looked puzzled. "Chopping firewood before breakfast? Couldn't it have waited?"

Samolus winked at him. "Of course it could. But Bosie missed supper last night, and Dubble was afraid that there wouldn't be enough for all the abbey beasts and an extra hungry hare besides. So the Abbess suggested that we send him out for firewood. With any luck he won't get back until breakfast is over. Then he'll satisfy himself with the leftovers, and we won't have to clean up."

"And Torilis went with him?" Umfry continued perplexedly.

Samolus sighed as he began sowing the torn cloak. "Yes, that was Dwink's idea."

"Oh." replied Umfry, finally understanding.

As if on cue, a crowd of Dibbuns ran up the stares connecting Great Hall to Cavern Hole at that very moment, making a beeline for the door, with Sister Violet hot on their heels. "Help!" she cried when she saw the two creatures by the door.

Immediately Umfry ran to the door and bolted it, and then turned round to face the stampede advancing on him. Crossing his arms, the huge hedgehog made an imposing site. "Stop!" he shouted, his voice booming through the hall.

The Dibbuns hastily put on the brakes, tumbling over each other as they did so. This allowed Sister Violet to catch up with them. Having done so, she immediately sat down on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Are you alright, Sister Violet?" Samolus kindly asked her from his position.

"Yes . . . yes." she panted, "I'm just . . . out of breath . . . that's all. Oh . . . oh my. How is it . . . that such short legs . . . can run . . . so fast."

Behind her, the Skipper Rorgus, his black-furred warrior wife Zaran, and Abbess Perrit the squirrel walked up, taking in the situation.

Perrit sighed as she caught sight of her own daughter, Mittee, among the runaways. Walking over, she swept up the young squirrelmaid into her arms. "Mittee, what are you doing!" she reprimanded. "You were told to stay in cavern hole!"

All the assembled Dibbuns let out a groan, and Mittee declared, "But Mama, it boa-wing down der!"

"She's right, you know." a voice said agreeably from the upper stairwell.

Turning around, Perrit saw her husband Dwink and his friend, Bisky the mouse, coming down from the infirmary. Not to far behind them were Bisky's wife Spingo, and daughter Andio. Andio had broken her arm earlier that year, and had just come from the infirmary with her arm in a fresh sling.

Perrit smiled in greeting as they walked over, then sighed in frustration. "Very well then, I won't disagree with you. But what can we do about it, except wait?" she asked.

In answer, Dwink turned to Bisky, who in turn went over to Samolus. "Grandunk," Bisky inquired, sitting next to the older mouse, "did you find anything else out about Gonff when you looked through that other diary you found a week ago?"

Samolus looked up from his work confusedly. "Aye, what's that?" Then his face cleared. "Oh, you mean Gonff the Second's journal! Yes indeed, I found out quite a bit." With that, he went back to his sowing.

Bisky was not daunted. "Did you learn of any more adventures that Gonff the First had?" he asked, winking at the Abbess.

"Well, if by adventures you mean did I find a list of times he stole things, then yes I did." Samolus answered without looking up from his work. "But other than that, there wasn't much new about him. After he stole the doomwyte gems, he finally settled down to a peaceful life, to the end of his days."

Bisky sighed in defeat. "So much for that idea." he mumbled disappointedly.

"What idea?" Spingo wanted to know.

Bisky sighed again. "Well, I was thinking we could occupy the youngsters with a story or som . . ."

"Oh it's a story you want!" Samolus interrupted. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions on their faces. "Well, you said . . ." Bisky started.

"I said I didn't find anything interesting about Gonff the First in his son's diary." Samolus interrupted again. "But that doesn't mean I didn't find something worth knowing." With this cryptic remark, the old handymouse put his work into his side pouch, and got up, motioning for the others to follow him.

Skeptically, the others trailed after him as he walked along the length of the tapestry. Finally, he paused at a section not too far from the picture of Martin the Warrior. Pointing at the tapestry, he asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

Abbess Perrit looked at him quizzically. "Martin the Warrior, of course."

"No, no, no!" the aged mouse interjected with annoyance. "Not that part, this part! Here, where I'm standing."

Everyone looked, and saw a picture of a group of woodlanders and vermin . . .

"Dancing!?" exclaimed Skipper. "What in the . . ."

"Exactly." said Samolus, smiling knowingly. "Dancing. Very unusual, don't you think? Most other pictures on this tapestry depict these two species fighting or something, but here they are clearly dancing. Now, notice that figure that stands apart from the rest?"

There, to the side, stood a rat in a habit and wide brimmed hat with a feather in it, and a lute in his paws, which he was clearly playing. Or at least it looked like a rat at first . . . but upon closer examination, it was clear that he was a mouse.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Zaran asked.

"It is the beginning of an interesting tale that took place after the death of Gonff the Mousethief, which was recorded in the journal of Gonff II." replied Samolus, as he sat down in his new spot and resumed his sowing. "You see, even as Martin the Warrior started upon his journey to find his father, there were other adventures happening in the far east. There, in the remote but important country of Optinerph, the king there was informed of a conspiracy against him, led by none other than his own second-in-command, who had turned almost the entire army against him!

"Needless to say, things looked pretty bleak. The king had no army, and all who were still loyal were trapped in the castle. Meanwhile, the traitors began to call in a large group of corsair recruits, so as to storm the castle and kill all within. These corsairs were from all over the known world, captured from wherever they came from and given the choice of helping in the revolt, or being secretly left to rot in the dungeons of Peckrand. The king was forced to make a hard decision."

Here Samolus paused to restring his thread. The Dibbuns were all sitting quite still on the floor around him, leaning forward eagerly. Bisky held back a chuckle as he compared their present state to the condition of but a few moments previous.

Finally, Samolus picked up his story again. "While it is very rare for there to be a goodbeast vermin, there have been some cases in the past when the existence of such creatures has been more or less proven. In the large scale recruiting done by the revolters, many such beasts were discovered, though almost all at completely different parts of the world from any other. Still, there were a few, and many of them knew the art of battle. So, when they offered their assistance in fighting the traitors in exchange for their freedom, the king was forced to agree.

"The replacement army immediately began organizing the people left in the castle into a defense. Under the command of one Rat Singer, a mouse whom had been mistaken for a rat and hence been thrown into the dungeon, the 'Goodbeast Army' were soon able to push back the line of attackers."

Samolus looked up at his listeners. "This much was told to Gonff II, in explanation, several seasons later. What transpired afterward was not detailed, but the end result was that the revolt was destroyed, and the city of Peckrand was saved, not to mention the entire country of Optinerph. There was only one disappointment. The villain who had started the conspiracy had escaped, along with the corsairs who had survived the battle.

"The king was greatly grieved at this. Determined to bring the villain to justice, he charged the Goodbeast Army to capture or kill him. In return, he would give them three ships of their choice from his fleet. Singer and his friends were pleased, and they promised the king that he would indeed track down the outlaws, and protect the seas from any danger that came upon them until the day they disbanded.

"So began the seasons long chase between the Goodbeast Navy, and the Mosquito Corsairs, the latter living in great fear of the former. So it was for a long time that the evil doers could not stop in one place for more than a few days, and therefore were unable to bring together any force of strength. Yet Admiral Singer was not satisfied. He wanted to put an end to the scourge of the Eastern Sea. But he was never able to do it; not, that is, until something happened to lead both him, and his enemy, to the same place at one. And that place . . . was Redwall."

With that, Samolus began the tale of Rat Singer, Thomas the Traveler, Gonff II, Iddo the Leader and General Leek, and how they all came together in Mossflower, in one of the most impressive large scale adventures they had ever had.


Right then, this is my first fanfiction, but it will certainly not be my last. So if you can't stand something about my writing, then don't expect the problem to go away on it's own. Tell me about it, and I'll see what I can do. If you have any questions about anything at all, just let me know and I'll try to answer them, that is if doing so would not make for spoilers. Good night! 7/6/2013