author's: I do not own Redwall Brian Jacques does so I hope you enjoy.
The legend of Finn
prologue: the traveler.
Mossflower woods stood silent and cold in the gray winter day as snow fell continuously from the sky causing a snowstorm. At this time all the woodlanders would be in their homes with their loved one's getting warm from their fireplaces, the Redwallers at afternoon lunch in the well insulated great hall, and so the woods remained empty of all life, all life except one. An elderly rat walked thru the mass of trees, covering his body with a long dark brown colored wool cloak that protected him from the freezing wind.
This rat was old and had fur almost as white as snow which was basically unheard of in Mossflower woods, most rats had brown, reddish brown or even black colored fur but not white, he wore a gray wide brimmed hat with one of rims drooping down that cover a bit of the left side of his face, his upper torso was dressed in a thick long shabby wool robe and wore sandy colored wool trousers under it.
Clutching the inside of his cloak with his left paw and grasping his wooden staff in his right, the elderly rat marched on almost unaffected by the cold winds, in truth he was use to the cold, the land where he came from was very cold in the winter, but he was out of food and the blizzard would only become more fierce when the starless night came, he needed to find food and shelter before then, so he continued heading east gazing at each tree he passed hoping to find at least some type of berry or even a leaf to appease his growing hunger but every tree was bare with no fruit, no barres, not even a single leaf.
Ignoring the rumbling in his stomach he continued on in a steady stride. he then heard a loud thump from behind him and in the blink of an eye he had his sword out it's sheath that was attached to the leather belt around his waste clutched in his right paw with his staff now in his left as he turned around and moved into his defensive stance, all he saw was a large tree branch on the snow covered ground, he realized that the noise was just from a fallen tree branch and sheathed his sword.
His sword had a twenty-nine inch blade with a single-handed hilts and a strait Cross-guard made of iron and silver, it was not heavy like a broadsword nor thin like a rapier, it was good for speed and power. heheld his staff in his right paw again, turned around and moved back onto his original path heading east. after several hours he saw an opening from the wood twenty paw-steps away. he picked up his pace moving his wooden staff as quick as he could with his sight set on the opening using the last bit of hope he had at finding shelter before the night.
His hope was rekindled like a large piece of wood to a dieing fire, when he emerged from the vast woods to see an abbey made of red stone strongly sticking out in the bleak snow covered land. he smiled, he had seen many abbeys on his journey but this one was different from rest, it looked so welcoming it made him raise his head to the snowy sky and give out an extremely grateful thanks to Wotan the king of the gods.
then he had to remind himself that the red stone abbey was most likely to be home to woodlanders who the elderly rats knew from immense experience would probably be violent towards his kind, but he would have to take the risk, it was ether the abbey or starving to death so he began his tired march down the snow covered path leading to the the main gates all the while wondering if he had made the right decision or if he had made a decision that would cost him his life.
Meanwhile at Redwall abbey some of the Redwallers where enjoying evening tea while the Dibans played games games thru out the the rooms and halls of the abbey while the rest went about their own business, only one was outside taking a walk along the walls of the red stone abbey, this beast was a hedgehog named Branden who was in a long green tunic which was the common clothes of the Redwallers.
Branden was barely in his thirteenth season, and had never left Redwall, he was always curious in what was out there beyond the safe walls of Redwall, he sighed with his breath becoming steam in the cold air as he hunched over the wall looking across snow covered field, as his eyes roamed towards the path to the main gates he spotted a creature he couldn't recognize because of the falling snow which made it so all he saw was a blur walking down the path towards the gates.
As the creature came closer Branden could make out it's fur which was white which Branden thought was a mouse, but when the beast came closer he realized by the long snout and naked tail that it was a rat. He rushed from the wall back inside down some of the many corridors of Redwall to the room where father abbot, Layna the elder badgermaid, skipper of the otters and Kipplen an old haremaid who was a retired member of the Longpatrol, where having evening tea.
Branden burst open the door into the room panting heavily from the sprint almost making everyone drop their tea in surprise, "r..r..rat" was all he could say as he breathed heavily trying to catch his breath, "easy there Brandon, what are you saying?" abbot Bayin asked placing a calm paw on his shoulder, everyone leaned in a little bit closer to hear about what had made him so frantic. Branden inhaled heavily then exhaled to catch his breath than he tried again "there is a rat on the path heading towards the abbey" he answered.
The second he said rat Kipplen mood went from curious to serious, jumping from her chair "vermin here at Redwall abbey, don't worry young'n we'll send this foul beast to the black gates where it belongs" Kipplen stated that was almost a shout. "please Kipplen we do not choose violence if it can be avoided, that is the way of Redwall abbey" abbot Bayin said trying to calm Kipplen down.
Kipplen sighed "i know abbot but this is vermin, you know they can't be trusted," "i agree with Kipplen, ever since this abbey was built vermin have always been it's enemies" skipper said agreeing with Kipplen's opinion, "i know but Redwall abbey has always stood for peace, to help and to show compassion to any beast that's needed it" Bayin replied peacefully getting out of his chair.
Layna chose this time to interrupt this small argument "let us stop this argument and see what this rat wants." "nothing good I tell ya" Kipplen stated heading towards the the door as everyone fallowed into the corridor with Branden in the lead. abbot turned to skipper "fetch a few members of your halt and and a couple of the Redwall guards and meet us at the wall facing the path as quickly as you can" Bayin said to skipper while they rushed towards the exit to grounds.
Skipper nodded and dashed off down another hall. When they got outside they headed strait for the stars that lead to the top of the west wall. Making it up the stairs they all peered over the wall to get a good look at the rat heading down the path towards their abbey. " I have never seen a white furred rat before" Kipplen stated with astonishment.
The elderly rat was now only ten paw-steps away from the main gate, he was still nervous about how the Redwallers would react to him since he was a rat. When he was only a couple of paw-steps away from the large gates he heard a voice coming from up above him "halt! Vermin! State your your name and business with this abbey." the rat looked up to see the owner of the voice and saw a haremaid with a stern look on her face.
He also saw that she wasn't alone, there on the wall with her was an elderly mouse, a badgermaid, a tough looking otter and a young looking hedgehog along with at least seven armored beast that where armed with swords and bows, some looked anxious to notch their arrows, take aim and fire on the elderly rat.
"have I the pleasure of addressing the leader of this abbey?" he asked gripping his staff steadily "no." the rat turned to see the elderly mouse move to stand next the haremaid "i am Bayin father abbot of this abbey" abbot Bayin stated adjusting his spectacles "and as Kipplen said what is your name and purpose here?" he asked.
"I am Owyn Valrax of the Valrax clan from the Nedrenii tribe in Northinland to the far north in the northern sea and I have come to seek food and shelter" Owyn answered hoping they would grant him shelter and especially food. "how do we know your not trying to trick us rat" Kipplen asked aggressively, she was almost certain that this rat was trouble for the abbey.
"this is not a trick, I need food or ill die of starvation" he replied and as if on Que his stomach began giving big rumbles as if calling out to him, begging him for food. "then you'd better do it, this world would be better off with one less vermin, leave and never comeback" Kipplen said with a pitiless voice. "Kipplen!" abbot Bayin shouted angrily at the haremaid for her ignorance "that is not how this abbey lives by" he said regaining his calm voice.
He then turned his attention back to Owyn "the code of this abbey is to help any beast that is in need. I will permit you entrance into this abbey but we will have to relieve your weapons if you have any" Bayin announce. Immediately some of the others began murmuring their doubts about the abbot's decision. But it was Kipplen who actually spoke out loud against Bayin's decision "but! Bayin this is vermin, if we let him in Redwall he will murder us all in our sleep, it will be better just to send him away."
Bayin shook his head in disagreement "no Kipplen, we have a code to fallow." he turned to two of the guards "open the gates and let him in but make sure he gives you all of his weapons" he told them. they nodded in return and headed down the stairs towards the gate gripping their spears tightly just in case the rat became violent. But of course Owyn had no intention of being violent as he waited for them to open so he could take shelter from the freezing winter weather.
The gate opened as the two mice pushed it opened and Owyn headed towards the entrance to abbey, but before he could go in the two guards stopped him "remove any weapons you have on you and hand them to us" the one on the right said holding his spear out defensively in front himself. Owyn nodded and reach into his wool cloak and unstrapped his sheathed sword from his belt and handed it to the mouse. The mouse took it and stuffed it under his arm.
Owyn then reached in again and unstrapped his sheathed Seax which was a knife that had a foot long blade and handed it to the second mouse. "is that all?" the mouse asked still suspicious that he might have a concealed weapon somewhere on his person. Owyn nodded in reply opening his cloak to reveal no other weapons and let them check his traveling sack finding no weapons. The mouse nodded "fallow us please" the mouse said gesturing with his hand for Owyn to fallow and Owyn fallowed them in threw the gates and silently gave an even more grateful thanks to Wotan.
Once threw the gates he was met by the beast from the wall, Bayin was the first to came forward to greet him holding out his paw for Owyn to shake "welcome to our beautiful abbey and I am sorry for our suspicion, we have had bad history with vermin" he said shaking Owyn's hand politely. "i understand sir and thank you" Owyn replied shaking the abbots paw in return. Owyn then adjusted his hat to reveal that he had a long scare running down the left side if his face into his left eye socket showing that he was missing a left eye.
Branden and a couple of the others cringed a little bit at the sight of it but said nothing. The abbot was surprised by the sight to but pushed the feeling away "is there anything you need?" Bayin asked. "food please, I would really be grateful for some food" Owyn answered almost immediately. Bayin nodded "it will be almost time for the winter feast, there will be lots of food and drink, I will announce your stay among us to the rest of the abbey-dwellers then." Owyn nodded breathing a sigh of relief, finally after so long he would be able to satisfy his horrible hunger.
Bayin then pointed to the other abbey-beast " you haven't been acquainted with others, well you already know Kipplen" he said pointing to the haremaid. Kipplen turned her head and held her nose high with her eyes closed ignoring Owyn's presence. Abbot sighed Kipplen still held her grudges against vermin. He then pointed to the others "this young hedgehog is Branden, he is the apprentice of our scribe" he said gesturing towards the hedgehog. "hi" Brandon said waving his hand making a parcel smile on his face, never in in his whole life had he expected to make a polite acquaintance with a rat.
"this is Layna, she may look fierce but she's got a kind heart." Layna smiled "hello" she said waving her hand as well. "this is skipper of the otters." skipper nodded neither smiling or frowning his face was unreadable. Bayin then turned to the guards that had relieved Owyn of his weapons "show our guest to the a dorm where he will be staying for the night."
Kipplen looked as if as if she was about to protest but said nothing, knowing that it was useless to argue. The two guards began walking towards the doors that led into the interior of the abbey motioning for Owyn to fallow them. Owyn fallowed them inside marching down the halls of the abbey. By then word had spread to some of the abbeybeast that a rat had been granted entrance into Redwall. Owyn saw some of these Redwallers staring at him, some of them with curiosity, others with suspicion, and even a couple with revulsion on their faces.
Owyn just ignored the stares and kept walking. Eventually they reached a door that led into a room. The guards stood aside from the door for him to go into the room "this is where you will stay, the feast will start in few minutes, come down when your done unpacking and remember no funny business or your stay at Redwall will be very uncomfortable" he warned. Owyn just nodded as he went into the room and closed the door behind him.
Looking around he saw that there was just a bed with a small table with a lantern, next to the bed and a chair with a desk in front of it. Owyn unstrapped his leather traveling pack and set it on the bed. His pack was almost empty with just a few small sculptures made of wood and stone. The small figures where sculptures of some of the gods of his Tribe. His fellow tribebeast believed that when you left your homeland you must take an image of some of the gods with you to have good fortune.
One of the figures was the fox Rowan god war and storms, and another was the rat Wotan king of the gods. The last figure was a female weasel named Gallica goddess of beauty and battle, even as a stone sculpture her features where beautiful. Owyn set them on the table and took off his wool cloak and left the room heading back down the hall to find his way to the dining hall. On his way he saw the hedgehog Branden from the wall waiting down the corridor. When he reached the young hedgehog it had turned out he was waiting for him. "Abbot wanted me to escort you to the Dinning hall." "thank you" Owyn replied with gratitude and fallowed Branden to the dinning hall.
When they got to the dinning hall Owyn could hear the loud noise being made by all the abbeybeast sitting down waiting for the feast to begin. Branden spoke to skipper who was standing outside the door to the dinning hall "tell father abbot that the ra-I mean Owyn has arrived." skipper nodded and entered the hall heading strait for Bayin. When he told him what Branden said the abbot stood up from his chair called for silence to speak.
"my friends and fellow abbeybeast, a little while ago we gave entrance to a beast from a far land who needed help into the abbey. his name is Owyn and I hope you make him feel welcomed." he turned his head towards the entrance and Branden gestured for Owyn to fallow him into the hall. Once Owyn entered the dining hall many shocked gasps came from the Redwallers at the sight of the rat.
A lot of murmurs broke out among the abbeybeast "the abbot let a vermin into Redwall, is he crazy?" he heard one rabbit murmur to her companion and another Redwaller leaned in to say something to his friend "if we let that rat stay here he will kill us all, they should have just killed him" said with hostility. Owyn decided to just ignore the hostile comments and fallowed Branden to an empty space to sit.
They both sat down on the seat, Owyn sat with Branden on his right and a squirrelmaid on his left who edged a bit away from him when he sat down. He picked up his plate and filled it's surface with food and filled his glass with a drink the abbeybeast called strawberry-cordial, he had never heard of the drink before. where he came they had many types of mead like grape-mead, strawberry-mead, cranberry-mead, apple-mead and many more.
He took a sip of it and the sweet taste filled his mouth, this was one of the best drinks he had ever tasted. he had never thought that there could be any drink that tasted as good as the mead the Northinian tribes made but it appeared that he was wrong. He then took a bite out some of the food and it was delicious. some of the best food he had had in a long time and his stomach eagerly welcomed the delicious food.
"so what is the land you from like?" Branden asked a little curious, "it's huge with big snowy mountains, green and yellow fields, gorgeous valleys, large forests, nice beaches and the Gragnyn river." "what's the Gragnyn river?" Branden asked inquiringly "the Gragnyn river is a massive river that is the border between Northinland and Icillania" he answered simply. "what's Icillania?." "Icillania is the land of the wildcats which is mostly made up of dense woodlands."
the second he mentioned wildcats a lot of the abbeybeast siting at the table turned their attention towards Owyn. "you have cats!" a shrew said with shock "yep" he replied calmly. "what about woodlanders?" Branden asked wanting to know more about the inhabitants of the lands the rat came from. "no, there are no woodlanders" he answered in a tranquil voice, "why?."
"because nether woodlanders nor vermin are natives to Nothinland or Icillania or the outlands. The real natives are the wolves, wildcats and other creatures. Every time woodlanders tried to settle in ether lands they where driven away, but fifteen thousand seasons ago the tribes migrated to Nothinland and we wouldn't leave. You see we tribebeast tend to very stubborn so we decided to fight and that's what started claw-war, and the wolf-war some time after that."
"what about the wolves are they worse than the wildcats?." "yes much worse, the wolves are a savage, bloodthirsty race who treat their enemies like prey. Luckily we drove them into the outlands" Owyn replied calmly. "what about the wildcats?" the shrew who had been shocked to hear about wildcats asked again. "the claw-war I mentioned about a minute ago was our war with the wildcats. Pitranus was king of the Noonbii tribe who had successfully managed to unite the tribes together to do battle with the wildcats and after tons of gruesome battles we beat them and made a treaty with them to have the border of our two lands be the Gragnyn river. Grag was one of our river gods, and Nyn was an Icillanian river god, so we we combined both of their names to name the river as a sign of peace between our two races."
the shrew nodded amazed by the story. "and what about the wolves?" Branden asked curious to know about the wolves. "we fought the wolves in the wolf-wars." "was it worst than the claw-wars?" "yes, the wolves used stealth-like warfare almost like hunting, and their territory is made up of dense woods making their attacks even more unpredictable. It was even worse when they made attacks at night. After so many ferocious battles we began to have more losses than victories and we had to get help, so we had to swallow our pride and ask the Icillanian wildcats for help. At first they refused, still bitter from losing the claw-wars so we had to make a deal with them and they accepted it, and so Felcrix king of the Icillanian wildcats and Dahnnus the son Pitranus who had been killed by the wolves when he was young, shook paws as a symbol of the alliance between the tribes and the wildcats, and together we crushed the wolves and drove them back to the outlands."
"do they still war with you tribebeast?" Branden asked. "yes but they are now divided and are only able to make small raids, not large wars" Owyn answered, "what about the deal that the tribes made with the wildcats?." "the deal was that we would teach them how to make weapons and armor better because in the claw-wars they only had weapons made out of bronze and we had weapons made out of iron, so we showed them how mine for iron and how to forge it into weapons, and the wildcats taught us how to hunt for food and to know when the time was right to plant seeds and harvest the crops, so in the end we both benefited from one another."
Branden nodded amazed by the story "how many tribes are there?" he asked, "oh there are a lot but sometimes over the many seasons a few die off" "so what are the occupations for the tribebeast?" "there are farmers, warriors, elders, the kings and queens, the Schamanes who are the spiritual leaders and healers in a tribe." another question entered Branden's mind "earlier you said that you where part of a clan and a tribe, whats the difference between a clan and a tribe?"
"a tribe is community of beasts who live together on the same territory and share the same lifestyle and customs. A clan is basically a giant family of tribebeast who share the same ancestor, my last name is Valrax so I am from the Valrax clan and my ancestor is the mighty warrior rat known as Valrax." "so did all the clans first appears at the same time or where they created at different times?"
"they first appeared at different times, I think the Vercinjetorex clan was the first. Or was it the Orcryx clan?, I don't know, it was ether the Vercinjetorex or the Orcryx clan, they might have both appeared at same time" Owyn chuckled remembering how the Vercinjetorex and Orcryx would argue while drunk about who was the oldest clan, that would often turn into a fight with them hurling food at each other.
"what happened to your eye?" this question came from a small mouse that looked no bigger than seven seasons old. Owyn sighed "there was a battle, long time ago, not very appropriate for a feast" he answered calmly but Branden could tell from his one good eye and facial features that the question had upset him, but why?. After desert was finished it was time for the telling of a story. Abbot Bayin stood up from his seat at the head table to speak "it is now time for storytelling and I think it would be a great idea for our guest to tell a story, if that is okay with you Owyn." "yes sir I don't mind telling a story" Owyn said nodding his approval.
But there where some abbeybeast who where muttering to themselves "is he seriously going to let a vermin tell a story, what kind of stories can a vermin tell" an otter muttered a little bit to loudly to not be heard by Owyn. "hes probably going to tell us about all the sick, disgusting things his kind has done." Owyn just ignored the the snide comments and fallowed Branden from the table to the the exit of the dining hall.
He continued to fallow him down the corridors until they went into a large room with places to sit and a chair in front of them all. Other Redwallers began inter the room, a majority of them where young'ns eager to hear a story, then some more of the older abbeybeast came to hear what type of story a vermin could tell, even Kipplen, Layna and Bayin came to hear a story. Owyn sat down in the main chair thinking of a story to tell,. There where so many stories he knew from the Northinian tribes, but there was one that he just had to tell. "i will tell all of you the story of Finn Vanerax, a story of tragedy, courage, revenge and loyalty. This is the story of one of the greatest heroes of his time."
author's note: this will be the last time Redwall will appear in this story unless I make an epilogue. I don't know if this is correct in the books but in this story a season is basically their equivalent to a year, and I would like to dedicate this story to Brian Jacques who passed away some days ago. please review