Salamandastron stood gleaming in the sunset. The rays bounced off every crevice in the mountain, making it radiate with shining prisms of color. The sea sparkled like glass as gentle waves lapped the shore. Mossflower Wood lay silent; a beacon of peace and wellbeing as the sun tinted its leaves gold.
However, down on the sand, all this beauty was lost. There were bodies everywhere. The entire shore was tinted red, as it was fated to remain. This was the result of a great battle with Corsairs. The enemy had finally been defeated, but at a terrible price. Many a gallant hare had been lost.
Two hares were patrolling the shore, searching among the heaps of bodies for any signs of life. They worked silently, prodding limp figures with their spear butts. The older of the two sighed deeply, his deep blue eyes reflecting the scene of death and destruction around him. The younger hare kept her eyes to the ground. To her everything still seamed unreal.
The pair was approaching a large piece of driftwood. Draped across it was a fine specimen of a hare; light gray with specks of brown, long muscular legs, and a tidy mustache. His ripped velvet jacket was laden with medals.
The old hare grunted and sped up, coming to a halt in front of the dead hare. His eyes grew moist.
"Major Swiftpaw…" he muttered, looking helplessly about. The younger hare came up behind him. The old hare turned to face her.
"My brother," he said, scowling to prevent himself from crying. "We'll take him back to the mountain. Steady on, m'gel…"
The two hares gingerly lifted the hare and carried him back to Salamandastron.
That evening, up in Salamandastron's crater, a memorial service was being held, the first after the battle. The deceased hare was lowered gently into a hole overlooking the ocean. A Badger Lord read a eulogy to the hares grouped about him. After covering the hare's final resting-place, the hares, with much grief, went back into the depths of the mountain.
All save one.
A small haremaid in a brown habit emerged from behind a rock. There was a tear down one of her cheeks, but there was a resolute look in her eyes. She walked over to the spot where the hare was buried. On the grave, the hare's personal possessions were laid. The haremaid took a leather sash decorated with engravings of hares, badgers, and foebeasts, and put it on. She picked up his short sword and stuck it in the sheath on the sash. She donned his green cape, and put on his white hat.
Staring at the sea, she said in barely more than a whisper, "You can't go t' Dark Forest, Daddy. I bring y'back. Eulaliaaaa!"
The haremaid stole silently down the mountain, tripping every few paces, until she reached the ground. She hitched up the cape meaningfully, and disappeared into Mossflower Wood.
Disclaimer:
Salamandastron, Mossflower Wood, Corsairs, Badger Lords, and Dark Forest are copyright (c) Brian Jacques, doncha know! Major Willum Swiftpaw and Ace Swiftpaw are my own characters... so is the plot.