They have a name of hate and vile
Their legends ever told
Of warlords, evil, bad, and bile
Each one more brave and bold
Some have tried to defeat the best
But whenRedwall comes into play
Many vermin are laid to rest
Vermin can't change their ways!
Book One:
The Goodvermin
----
Chapter One
Gerhaf was a silvery-gray fox, with pale-green eyes. She was the Abbess of the Goodvermin, and herself was kind and understanding, and a good leader. Gerhaf had never wanted to be vermin, so she gathered up a band of reluctent ferrets, weasels, foxes, rats, every kind of vermin imaginable.They had camped just outside of Mossflower woods, not too far from Redwall Abbey.
"Benad, we are going to Redwall." she said to the ferret that sat on the log next to her.
Benad raised his eyebrows in a 'are you joking' way.
"Mother Abbess, do you understand that the Redwall beasts would lock the gates on us and do everything the could to defend their precious Abbey." he grunted.
Abbess Gerhaf side and got up from the log, her green habit with the gold trim ruffled in the breeze. She seemed to be considering Benad's words. Finally she turned to him.
"We are goodvermin, Benad, and we'll just have to proove it to the abbeybeasts of Redwall." Gerhaf said.
The ferret just shrugged and went over by the fire that they had built. Gerhaf coughed and rubbed smoke from her eyes as the wind blew it towards her. Then she motioned for a young sea-rat, mearly a 'Dibbun' as Redwallers called them, to come over to her. The sea-rat obeyed.
"What ik it, Abb'ess Ger'haf?" he asked, the taste of the word 'Abbess' making him grimace.
Gerhaf didn't see the look on his face and just smiled at the thought of her band finally warming up to calling her their Abbess. She turned to him slightly.
"Dindfledge, there is an abbey with red walls that is very big. It lies just a small way away. I want you to go there. Knock on their gates, and talk them into letting you inside. They will think you are innocent because you are but a Dibbun, and let you in. Then, Dindfledge, I want you to tell them about our band of Goodvermin, and nicely ask if our band could come and stay at the abbey. Tell them anything they want to know." she said with a kind smile.
Dindfledge, notwanting to disobey the Abbess of Goodvermin, did as he was told and scampered off through the woods. Gerhaf smiled again, her dream of peace between Woodlanders and Vermin may come true sooner then she thought.
Dibbuns sat apon the grass, eating apple pie with meadowcream on the lawn. Abbot Unad had told the squirrelnurse, Kristveren to keep watch over them. She corrected a disobedient mole as it spread the thick meadowcream on the crying mousemaid before him.
"Now Burrtit, it isn't nice to rub your food on the beast in front of you. No more pie, understand?"
Burrtit sighed quietly, nodding to Kristveren. "Miz Kistvern, oi zurry."
"Say sorry to Jissfer."
"Zurry Jizzer." he sighed.
Jizzfer stuck her nose in the air. "I no foegive yu."
The squirrelnurse gave Jizzfer a swift swat on the hindquarters and scolded her sharply. Brother Lamgret had just came out of the abbey to check on things, he wiped his paws on his apron, for he had been helping Friar Perglan in the kitchens. When he saw the mess of meadowcream and apple pie he chuckled quietly. When Kristveren wasn't looking he snuck up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She jerked in suprise, and he gave her a swift tweek on the ear.
"Lamgret you sneaky squirrel you! You are no better then these dibbuns!" she scolded.
He laughed, "They've sure made a mess out of that pie I made."
She rolled her eyes, and pinched his cheek. "How could you tell?" she giggled.
"Tchah! They no betta den Dibbuns!" snickered a young mouse.
"Lamget love Kristiiii!" taunted another.
Kristveren gave a mock look of shock, she playfully pounded the bottoms of a few dibbuns, and said in an undignified voice: "I do not!"
Lamgret chuckled, "You do and you know it!"
A knock came on the main gates of the abbey. Lamgret saw that the gatekeeper, Thornre, was no where to be found. Carefully, he opened the gates just a crack, seeing a young rat outside, he shut them quickly. He ran back to Kristveren, yelling.
"Get the Dibbuns inside, we've got vermin!"
Kristveren did what she was told with haste. The Dibbuns, however, wanted to stay and fight the vermin, so it took a bit of convencing in order to get them inside.
"I'll make you strawberry tarts if you get inside...now! You naughty Dibbuns!" she yelled.
Finally, the Dibbuns decided that eating strawberry tarts was much more fun then fighting vermin, and went inside the Abbey. Lamgret soon noticed that there was only the one rat, still knocking on the gates. Cautiously, he opened the gates once more and spoke in a harsh whisper.
"What do you want, vermin?"
Dindfledge opened his coat to show that he had no weapons. He was about the size of mousechild as well.
"Dindfledge want come in, pwease?" he begged.
Lamgret sighed, obviously a baby sea-rat with no weapons couldn't do much harm. He opened the gates a crack and let the young sea-rat in. He sat down on a log and motioned for Dindfledge to do the same.
"Now, what is it that you want?"
Dindfledge smiled, puffed out his chest, and announced: "Abb'ess Ger'haf sent me here!"
Tigraner Nightdark had followed Gerhaf and her band of Goodvermin ever since they had left his horde. He despised Gerhaf deeply, and had vowed to one day kill her and put an end to all the 'Goodvermin' nonsense. Tigraner, or Tigran as he was called, was a sable. He was black with gray fur on his head and a tawny color on his throat and belly. He was long and thin, and wore a deep maroon colored tunic. Behind him a jet black cape lined with gold trim flowed down to his footpaws. He marched swiftly through Mossflower woods with many vermin behind him. He stopped as he heard rustling in the woods, he drew his rapier quietly. He hid in a bush and his followers did the same.
Four hares emerged from the trees, each of them armed with a bow and some arrows. All of them carrying haversacks full of food. These were hares of the Long Patrol from Salamandastron. As Tigran ducked he created a sort of rustling noise which the hare in the front seemed to detect.
"Watch your backs, chaps. I think we have some company, wot! Vermin, I can tell. Don't ask how." he whispered. Automatically the hares behind him pulled out their arrows and set them upon their bows.
"Right then," said a female hare, "Youthree distract whoever is hidden in those bushes. And I'll go around the backs of them and plan a suprise that'd take the very hide off a badger lord, wot wot!"
"You be careful now, Gretach, those are foebeast, wot. Wouldn't want you to end up dead, what would Wintrig think?" whispered another male hare.
She snorted, then sighed at the mention of Wintrig. "I'll be fine." she murmured, a starry look in her eyes.
The three male hares sighed all together, then went into hiding as Gretach snuck up behind Tigran. With a glent of battle in her eye she let out the fur tingling battle cry of Salamandastron.
"Eulaliiiiiaaaaaa! Blood'n'vinegar, chaps!" she yowled.
Tigran jumped from the bushes at the speed of lightning. He and his troops sped away, but not before the Long Patrol landed a few arrows in some of them. The sable growled as an arrow struck his footpaw, he pulled it out, threw it on the ground, and continued to run.
Gretach was rolling on the ground, laughing and holding her footpaws. Tears were streaming down her face, and her body was racking with laugh after laugh.
"Oh, oh my, chaps. We scared the very fur off those vermin, wot!" she said between giggles and laughs.
The final male hare, whose name was Tivigin, hadn't said anything until now. He patted his haversack, "'bout time to eat, wot. I'm hungrier then ascore o' flippin' wolve'rines!"
The other hares agreed, and ate, still keeping their ears pricked for any sounds of danger. Tigran snarled darkly as he heard them conversing and laughing a good ways away. His black cloak whirled as hegrabbed an unfortunate rat.
"Kinktail," he breathed angerly, "You gather up fourteen hordebeasts and you kill those four rabbits!"
The rat nodded, and yelped as Tigran dropped him on the forest floor. The warlord's eyes narrowed to slits. Three of his hordebeasts killed by those rabbits, and another few wounded. He wouldn't let them suprise him again, oh no, he would get him this time. He watched with a sinister grin as Kinktail took fourteen of the horde, mostly ferrets and rats, and went off to destroy the hares.
The Long Patrol hares were having a lovely time, chatting and eating. Kinktail waved the beasts under his command over to him. They all raised their bows, quietly. Kinktail shot the first arrow right into the tree near Tivigin's head.
"Grab your weapons, chaps! Looks like they've planned us a jolly good suprise, wot!" he commanded.
The hares mounted arrows on their bows, but not before the hordebeasts began firing. The lead hare, Sarter, was felled by an arrow directly in his head. Tivigen shot back into the bushes and a rat fell with a yelp. There was obviously no hope, so Gretach decided to go heroically. She stood up, fired into the bushes, and shouted:
"Eulaliiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Kinktail was shot in the chest by her arrow and fell. A ferret who was named Flitchear shot poor Gretach, and she fell, dead, on the ground. A cold sweat broke out on Tivigen as the other male hare, Hertref, was shot in the side and chest. Tivigen knew he was all alone. He shouted the Salamandastron war cry and shot down a ferret. He contiued to shoot like mad, until the vermin sped away. By that time, he had an arrow in his left footpaw, and arrow in his shoulder, and in another assortment of places. Tivigen fell back on the sand, talking to no one.
"We've got 'em, chaps...we've got 'em..."
He blacked out on the forest floor. The last thing he saw was a sable, standing over him with his sword pointed at his throat.
I've noticed a few stories that have good vermin in them, but Gerhaf and her band arn't as good as they seem, as I will tell later, vermin just can't change their ways. Just so you know my personal favorite character is the Long Patrol hare Tivigin.
