A/N: Written for the first week of the Redwall Challenge on AO3
Prompt: Exploration
"'Splore!"
Pasque Valerian of the Long Patrol sighed as she followed baby Russano down the gallery hall for what seemed the umpteenth time. He'd begun to toddle about on unsteady footpaws just a few days before and, despite constant supervision, he was already becoming quite the escape artist. Twice she'd had to retrieve him from the gatehouse, and thrice from the cellars. He'd made his way out to the gardens and orchard, and just yesterday he'd had to be rescued from the abbey pond when he decided to take a dip in the water. This time, however, Pasque knew where he was headed, as much as she didn't like it.
"'Asque!" Russano's baby name for her would be rather endearing if she didn't already know what he wanted. He tapped gently on the large wooden door of the infirmary. "In. In."
The young haremaid carefully gathered the young badger cub into her arms as best she could, cooing at him while he watched the door over her shoulder as she walked away. "No, Russano. That's a quiet room, we can't go in there."
Russano had no qualms about the necessity for quiet. "'Splore!" he whined.
"No, Russano, not that room." Pasque turned the corner and tried to shut her ears to the babe's whimper as the door disappeared from view. Why he was so interested in the infirmary was beyond her. There were hundreds of other rooms he hadn't yet explored, so what was it that kept drawing him to the one place he was barred from? She sighed again, shifting Russano's weight as she headed down into the kitchen.
Mother Buscol was standing near the oven, fanning a steaming flan with her apron. "Deary me, now what's weighing so heavy on a beauty like yourself? It couldn't be that little 'un, could it?" She left off fanning the flan and gently took Russano from Pasque's weary arms.
"Thank you Mother Buscol," she dropped down into the chair that sat next to Russano's basket bed, "He is getting rather heavy."
Mother Buscol tittered and smiled at the baby badger, pulling a candied nut from her apron pocket for him. "Oh, just goes to show he'll be a real badger lord when he grows up, the little sweetheart. Though if'n he keeps bolting food down at the rate you hares eat he'll be a fat badger lord too."
Pasque giggled at the thought. She helped Russano into his bed and began rocking it gently. The kitchen was warm and quiet, and Pasque found herself growing sleepy in the heat.
Mother Buscol watched them out of the corner of her eye as she returned to her flan. "So then, my dear, where's our little lord been off to, hm? This is at least the twelfth time you've brought him back here since breakfast, and that wasn't too long ago mind you."
"He keeps trying to get into the infirmary," Pasque said. "It wouldn't be a problem but," her voice trailed off as she thought of her patient, sleeping the day away in the infirmary.
"But you don't want him disturbing her ladyship, is that right?" Mother Buscol finished for her.
Pasque nodded. "In time, perhaps, he'll be able to go up there and meet her, but she needs rest, Mother Buscol. I've never seen a creature that badly wounded who lived."
"I see," Mother Buscol said. She patted Pasque gently on the shoulder and slid a warm scone into her paw. "Now, now, my dear, you've been up half the night taking care of your badger lady, and now you've spent half the day chasing after the little lord, I think it's about time you took some of your own advice and got some sleep. I'll keep an eye on Russano for you."
Pasque stood slowly, smiling down at the kindly squirrelwife. "Thank you, Mother Buscol."
Pasque slept deep and long, and didn't wake until some time after dinner had ended. Cavern Hole was quiet as she made her way to the kitchens, most of the dibbuns having been carried off to bed by their parents, or else involved in the story abbey recorder Craklyn was telling at one end of the hall. A platter of food had been set aside on one of the tables for her, and Pasque found her thoughts wandering as she ate. In her mind's eye she traveled back to her beloved Salamandastron, curious of what Russano would think when he finally traveled there. It was then that she noticed his cradle was empty. Finishing her food quickly, she left the kitchen.
The abbey halls were quiet as she walked through them, the few creatures she encountered giving her only silent nods before continuing on their rounds. She walked the length of the grounds before turning to the stairs. It wouldn't be the first time the little rouge had wandered into places he wasn't supposed to go.
"Russano?" she whispered as she opened the infirmary door. Soft moonlight filtered through the curtains to make swirling patterns on the worn sandstone floor. Mother Buscol sat sleeping in a chair by the window. Pasque gently took the empty tray from her paws and set it on the windowsill where it would not fall. The room was quiet aside from the soft breathing of sleeping creatures and her own pawsteps. Russano was nowhere to be seen.
"Who's there?"
Pasque rushed to Cregga's side, kneeling next to the bed. "My lady, you're awake."
Cregga's massive head turned slightly, as if she were trying to see with her bandaged eyes. "Is that you, Pasque?"
"Yes, my lady. Do you need anything?' Pasque held very still as Cregga's paw passed over her face.
Cregga smiled at her. "I do not need anything, but I think perhaps you are looking for something?"
"How did you know?" Pasque asked, standing.
Cregga turned her head again to face the ceiling. "You were walking with purpose when you came in, but not anymore."
Pasque nodded, then remembered that Cregga could not see the gesture. "Yes, my lady. I was looking for somebeast."
Cregga nodded, chuckling to herself. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for a little dibbun who's only just begun walking and has an insatiable desire to explore, would you?" Pasque opened her mouth to ask how Cregga had known when the badger lifted a corner of the blanket. There, tucked in next to Cregga and snoring peacefully, was little Russano. He whimpered as the cool air outside the blanket rushed in, and snuggled closer to Cregga's warmth. "He came up with Mother Buscol," Cregga said quietly. "Don't be too hard on her, Pasque. She tried to keep him out, but he snuck past her anyways."
Pasque looked at her paws, feeling silly. "You knew I was trying to keep him out of the infirmary?"
Cregga laughed again, gently reaching out a paw to ruffle Pasque's ears. "It makes sense when one thinks about it. A rambunctious babe isn't likely to let wounded warriors get their rest so better to not let him in. But this little bundle was already tired out from his day of exploring. He climbed right up here and settled down while I ate supper, hasn't made a peep since." She smiled in Russano's direction and stroked the white stripe on his head. "I know that I will never see again, Pasque, but I think this little one may be my eyes once I recover. He can teach me about Redwall, what it looks like and the creature in it. And in turn I can teach him how to rule the mountain of Salamandastron, though that'll be many seasons coming. Let him stay here for now, where he's warm. He's not causing any trouble, I promise."
Pasque smiled at the two badgers, one old and one young, as she pulled up the coverlets. "Yes, my lady." Ever so gently, she woke Mother Buscol and led the old squirrelwife from the room, leaving Gregga and her young charge to dream the night away in peace.