Winter.

This was the most hated of all seasons in the land of Mossflower, the time where food became scarce and the foliage was replaced by bare, dark gray branches. The least colorful of all seasons, swamped in snow and colored white and gray; that was winter's title. Truly, it was the king of all the seasons, while summer was the queen.

Takeru Stormston was a ferret, and despite what her name may or may not have suggested, she was female; a thin ferret with a coat of pale gray, ice-cold eyes that were surrounded by silvery circles. And she wasn't your average ferret; she was a mercenary and assassin. It didn't matter to her what a beast wanted her to do. If she was paid well, she would do it, even if it involved assassinating her own little 'gang' of vermin, who were, after all, completely worthless.

Right now, the gray ferret was sitting on a log, waiting for her next employer. It had become routine; she had the worthless vermin who followed her lined up in the trees, and if the visitor presented a threat, he or she would be dead before they knew it. Her tail swished once as she lay back onto the trunk of a tree that was handily growing behind her. She pricked her ears and listened; from in front of her came the crackle of twigs. Her gang was lined up behind her-they couldn't have made that noise-so she knew her 'employer' would be coming out of the trees before long with a remark to speed them on their way.

"I can hear you," she called lazily, examining a claw on one of her paws. "Stop wasting my time and get on with it."

The bushes rustled and a stoat slunk out of them. She smirked-this was usually the kind of lower class life form that came to her for help-and stared the beast in the eyes. "Well? What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to kill Arawolf Rainclaw for me." The stoat stuttered in reply.

The lean gray ferret smirked. "Where have I heard that name before…ah, yes, that troublesome river otter." She grinned wolfishly. "Her occupation is vermin slayer, if I'm correct."

The stoat nodded quickly. "Aye. She's been troubling me and my horde for a while and I need you to get rid of her-"

He was cut off in mid-sentence, for the ferret had leapt up. "Hah! You, lead an army? Don't make me laugh, stoat."

The stoat jumped slightly. "N…no…I was the one sent here to hire you…"

Takeru frowned slightly and slowly sat back down, slouching against the tree trunk again. "All right then. I need to kill this Arawolf Rainclaw character." She smirked again. "And in exchange?" she asked sharply. She was pretty sure the stoat hadn't come without payment…that was, if he wanted to keep living.

"Yes!" the stoat replied quickly, fumbling in a small pouch before pulling out a beautiful, multi-faceted emerald that glittered softly in the sunlight. Tak examined it from a distance.

"That should do nicely," she said, her voice approving. She stood, and the stoat held the crystal out to her, but she didn't take it.

"I take my payment after the otter is dead. You will give it to me then. And if you don't…well, let's just say…I'll have a lot of cold blood on my paws. Some of which will be yours." Tak finished.

The stoat nodded slightly.

"Get going. I'll tell you when the otter's dead." The gray ferret snapped, and the stoat scampered away back into the woods. Tak's eyes watched every step of the vermin's flight.

She would not need help from her gang-she was taking the otter down by herself. She hated vermin slayers, who went around acting all righteous and the like, thinking they were protecting the world from danger.

A sudden, vicious smile crossed her face, and she turned to the trees behind her.

"You will all stay here. The otter…I'm killing her by myself."

She stood up, drew her scimitar, which was an iron blade run through with streaks of gold, and marched off, melding into the green leaves of the forest like firesmoke.


A.N. Prologues are short. What can I say? This is the first time my Redwall alter ego, Takeru Stormston, is in a story I've written. So yes…please R&R so I write more. =D