Snake Slayer

Chapter 3

Author's note: I have recently been told that my chapters are a bit too short. This is probably because chapter 1 was written when I did not have most of the story formulated in my mind, and chapter 2 was more of a background story on the village of Blaygan. But I'm going to make up for that with my longest chapter addition to this story so far. Before I begin, allow me to tell you that I have written another Redwall fan fiction titled, The Samurai of Redwall. I think that if you enjoy reading this story, you'll defiantly enjoy that other fan fiction that I have written. Also Samurai needs more reviews so it would be most appreciated if you read and reviewed it. On with the story...

The mousemaid entered the bar slowly and carefully. Her head was filled with paranoid thoughts of how the vermin in the bar would react to the sight of a mouse in their midst. She began to look around the bar when her attention was diverted to a gruff voice behind her.

"Looking' for someone, miss?" asked the barkeeper behind the counter. He was a gray rat, slightly taller that she was. She thought that the rat would give her a rude look, but his face looked friendly. However this did nothing to improve the young maid's paranoia.

"Um, y-yes. I was just, um, l-l-looking for...well ya see the guy I'm looking for is..."

"She's with me, Joe." said a low voice from behind.

It was the ferret that the mouse had talked to earlier. She turned to look at him. He leaned leisurely on the counter as he spoke. The barkeeper shot a smile to the ferret. It seemed as though they knew each other.

"Oh, I see. This would be the lovely lady that you spoke of earlier?" inquired the rat.

"The one and the same. Listen, me and the lady ave got a little business to settle, so I'll just take my usual table."

The rat nodded and the ferret and the mousemaid walked off to the table at the back of the bar. Along the way they passed three stoats playing cards, a lone fox mixing something in a metal flask, an otter and a squirrel looking around the bar with suspicious eyes, and four rats each participating in a claw wrestling tournament. The ferret sat down and leisurely leaned back his chair so that the two front feet of the chair were not touching the ground. The mouse maid sat down across from him, her cheeks red from the comment that the barkeeper had made earlier.

"Lovely lady?" she asked.

"What was I supposed to call you? I don't know your name after all. Besides, it's true." replied the ferret.

"I do suppose introductions are in order. My name is Mary Ann Elizabeth Beatrix Jane..."

The mousemaid was cut short by a wave of the ferret's paw.

"Stop, stop, stop. That's going to be to long for me to remember, luv. How about I just call you, Beatrix. That's my favorite out of the name's you said."

"Very well then. And your name would be?"

"Nathan, or Nate if you prefer."

"Alright, Nate, let's get down to business. As you know, I am a potential client. Also, you probably know that being a potential client, I have a problem with snakes."

Nate nodded, hanging on the mouse's every word, though his features did not show this. This was because of his glasses.

Probably the strangest thing about Nate (besides the fact that he had a knack for slaying snakes) was his eyewear. He wore glasses, but these glasses differed in many ways from other creature's glasses. Most creatures wore glasses due to pore eyesight. This was not true for Nate. Also, most glasses had clear lenses; another difference from Nate's spectacles. The lenses in his glasses were tinted black in such a way that Nate could see clearly, but other creatures could not see his eyes. They were made for the purpose of reflecting the light from the sun form Nate's eyes. Also, Nate thought that they made his look rather stylish.

"But before I can be sure that you can handle the job, I need to ask you some questions." said the mousemaid. She had a slight tone of annoyance in her voice due to the fact that it looked as if Nate was not paying the slightest attention to what was going on.

"Fire away." was Nate's reply.

"Firstly, when did you start snake slaying?"

"I've been slaying for as long as I can remember. Don't exactly know when I started."

"Secondly, what type of weapons do you use?"

"I'm skilled in using many weapons."

"Such as?"

"Crossbow, bow and arrow, throwing knives, quarter staff, pretty much most weapons. But my favorite weapons to us are good old hack and stab."

The mousemaid looked quizzically at Nate. Realizing that he had not fully explained himself, Nate pointed to the twin scimitars stuck into his belt.

"Thirdly, what was you latest assignment?"

"Besides the one you saw? Well, I'll be honest with you. It was one of my few failed assignments." said Nate, suddenly looking slightly ashamed.

"What was the assignment? Tell me anyway. I don't care if it was failed"

Beatrix continued to urge Nate until finally he gave in.

"OK, I'll tell you. This old gipsy fox gave me an assignment to go down to a sandstone quarry and go after an adder that had nested there. The adder was infamous throughout much of the region. It was said that he could turn a beast to stone with one glance of his eyes. The gypsy had a large sum of money to offer me, so I of course took the job."

"Wait you don't mean that this old gypsy sent you after..."

"Asmodeus? Yes, if I remember correctly, that was its name. I'm a bit surprised I can remember that. I usually don't pay to much attention to the names of my prey. I figure, what good is knowing their names when they're going to be dead anyway? Getting back on topic, I failed my assignment because someone beat me to it. When I arrived I just found the body lying in a cave with its head a few feet from its body. Whatever sword had cut it, it must have been very sharp."

"But why didn't you just take the head and claim the reward?"

"Because I don't do my business like that, luv. When I say I'm going to do a job, I either do it, or don't take credit for the task when it's done."

"Did you go after the creature that killed it? You know, for revenge or something like that?"

"No. That's not in my policy either. Besides, the guy had far better reasons for killing that adder than I did."

"But I thought all vermin sought revenge over things like lost money and...oh I'm sorry. I forgot that...I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's OK, luv. I get that a lot. Creatures tend to think that every vermin is a blood-thirsty murderer. I can't say that I blame them, though. After all of the foolish warlords that have come and gone, it's no wonder that woodlanders tend to stay away from places like Blaygan village."

The young maid continued to apologize to Nate and Nate continued to give the same answer. After much apologizing Beatrix continued with her questioning.

"Lastly, how ma..."

Beatrix was cut short by Nate.

"Hold on, I just remembered something. Hey, Joe!"

The gray rat form earlier turned to face Nate's table.

"Yea?" asked Joe

"I think I'll have a drink tonight."

"Ok, what will you be havein'? Does the young lass want anything?"

Nate turned to Beatrix to ask her if she wanted a drink. She shook her head before Nate could ask.

"I'll just 'ave a Blaygan sprit."

Joey nodded and turned to his large collection of drinks to begin mixing the infamous Blaygan sprit. Beatrix began to continue with her questions.

"As I was saying, how many snakes have you killed?"

"That's a tough one. I'm not completely sure."

"That makes two of us." Beatrix said under her breath.

"What?"

"I meat to say that I'm not sure of how many snakes we need killed."

"Wait, you mean that you're not sure if you even have a snake to deal with. Am I right?"

"No. I'm saying I have no idea how many snakes need slaying because there have been so many attacks form different snakes."

Nate's glasses almost fell off the brim of his nose. He turned to Joe again.

"Joe, make that a double."