YAY finally got this done! I wasn't really sure how to go about this chapter, but it got finished! I'd like to thank both of my reviewers. To the anonymous reviewer: Thanks for the help! I always appreciate some help. And…. Yes, the countries WILL become animals! And I haven't thought of them all yet, so I'll take suggestions, too.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything.
"I hope they come back soon…" Stephin the hedgehog sighed as he looked out over Mossflower Wood. The sun was setting, illuminating the trees that had not been destroyed by Fauve's horde. He sighed and sat down on the wall top steps. "Most of the Redwallers don't even know what's been goin' on at Salamandastron, much less with Fauve's army. We're gonna have ta tell the others soon if you don't get back with those countries…"
A little Dibbun mousemaid came bounding up the wall steps up to him. "Whasa matter mista Stepin?"
He looked up and smiled sadly at her. "Ah, nothin' much, little Dinah, just missing my friends is all." He picked her up and she started to giggle and squirm to get free.
"C'mon, you little ruffian, let's go have tea in Cavern Hole. Sound good to you?"
"Anyfink sounds good to Dinah!" She giggled, jumped out of his paws, and ran down the wall steps. "Catch me if ee can!"
Stephin chortled and chased after her, his previous worries forgotten for the time being. "Hey, sillypaws, wait for me!"
Redwall sighed and flopped down in one of the chairs in their hotel room, her hair damp from the shower she'd taken. The shower had startled her at first, but she'd gotten the hang of it after a bit. This world's technology was rather strange. Helpful, but strange.
Redwall took a look at the room. There were two beds, one of which had Moss in it, asleep. He looked pretty pale right now, the poor guy. Salamandastron had left for a little while, but he hadn't said why. Maybe he's gathering information about the world before we go back, Red thought. Or maybe he ditched you and Mossflower so he could go back home, a little doubtful voice saidin her head. She shook her head. Redwall knew Sal would never do that, he was too kind and protective to do that, right?
She started when she heard the door unlocking. Redwall was never very good at fighting, but nevertheless, she took up a fighter's stance and prepared herself for an attack.
Salamandastron opened the door to the hotel room and laughed when he saw Redwall. "I come back with surprises, and get one myself. C'mon Red, didja really think that old craventailed, droopy-pawed buffoon Fauve herself was going to bust down the door and demand you to surrender?"
Redwall blushed, embarrassed at her simple and obvious mistake. There was absolutely no way that demon wildcat could get to the human world. They'd hid the entrance well enough so that no one could find it without prior knowledge. At least, she hoped it was hidden that good.
"I'm just teasin' ya, Red. It's perfectly fine ta be cautious an' all, just don't overdo it, wot." Salamandastron ruffled her damp hair and shut the door. He set a bag on the little desk and started pulling things out of it.
Redwall peered over his shoulder. "What in Martin's name is THAT?" She pointed to a pale green bottle that said, "SIERRA MIST NATURAL" on the label that Sal had set on the table.
"That," he said with a grin, "is something humans call 'soda pop'. It looked interesting, so I bought it along with Mossy's medicine."
"You bought human medicine for Moss." It wasn't a question, more like a statement.
"Ya, I figured it might help him get over this fever long enough for us to get him back to Redwall." Salamandastron set the small bottle of pills on the desk. Red quickly snatched them up and put them in a pocket of her dress.
"We cannot give Mossflower this stuff. We don't even know how he might react. He could be allergic, or it could kill him, or-"
"Red-"
"Or it could keep him stuck here as a human forever, or-"
"Red -"
"Or it could give him amnesia, or-"
"ROSE!"
Redwall stopped her nervous rambling when Sal shouted her actual name. She was shocked that he even knew it. She certainly didn't remember telling him, but she had told Mossflower. Maybe Mossy had told Sal?
"Listen, Red, I get it. You're nervous about this whole ordeal, and you don't want to do anything that might damage the expedition. I won't give Mossy the medicine."
Salamandastron turned back to the desk and handed Redwall a bottle of the strange drink. "Here, I got one for each of us. Try it."
Redwall took the bottle and looked at it strangely, trying to open it but failing. "How do I drink this? It's been sealed."
Salamandastron smiled and shook his head. His ploy to distract Red from the still sleeping Mossflower had worked. He didn't want her to have to worry yet. There would be plenty of worrying to do once they made it back to Mossflower.
Redwall gnawed on the cap and twisted it until she'd opened it. The bottle began to fizz violently.
"AHHHH! I broke it!" she cried, the soda getting all over her hands.
Sal laughed and went to get a towel. When he came back Redwall was taking a drink, after which she had a huge grin on her face.
"This stuff is great!" she exclaimed. "It's all citrusy and fizzy like strawberry fizz. I love it!"
Salamandastron grinned and handed her the towel. She set down her bottle and quickly dried off.
"Hey Sal, looks like you came back." Mossflower said weakly but happily as he sat up in the bed.
"Hey, Sleepyhead, looks like you're finally awake." Sal smiled warmly at him. He grabbed Mossflower's soda from the table, opened it, and handed it to him. "Here ya go. Red says it's absoballylutely scrumptious!"
Moss took a drink and grinned. "Wow, this IS really good." He quickly downed it in a few gulps. "I feel a lot better now, so we can probably head out soon."
Redwall had finished her drink as well. "Are you sure? I don't know if we should go back so soon. It's only been a few hours, so they might not be done discussing the issue yet."
Sal broke in. "Well, I think we should go back anyway. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go 'ome and defeat that tyrant Fauve."
Mossflower jumped out of the bed with renewed energy. "Yeah! Let's go!"
So they left for the conference hall, ready to face whatever met them there.
What they didn't expect was a giant game of what we like to call 'table tennis'.
Apparently the countries, namely America, Prussia, and Sealand, had gotten extremely bored whilst waiting for the strange new countries. They managed to find a table cloth and some poles to create a playing field. They proceeded to commandeer the tables and created a giant table tennis table. Sealand found some tennis racquets, but don't ask where. America dragged Canada with him for his team, and Prussia got stuck with Sealand. Thus started the strangest game of pair's table tennis the world has ever seen.
"What in Martin's name is going on?" Redwall asked a very agitated Germany when they walked in.
"I don't even know anymore." Germany looked like he wanted to strangle his brother.
"So, Mr. Germany, um… What did you decide on?" Redwall asked him cautiously.
America beat him to it, yelling from atop the table. "As heroes, we're gonna help you and save your planet from evil wildcat aliens!"
Redwall took that as a yes. She beamed. "Thank you all. You don't know how much this means to us."
