TK sez: I'm back! And with the next chapter, too...

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As he entered, he was also sure that someone had just jeered at him from the beach. He wondered if the beast responsible would have done it had he been closer to him or her. Veil doubted it.

The tent was larger inside than it looked, with two wooden benches set up opposite one another in the center. Percy was sitting on one laconically; Myst sat beside him. Veil sat on the opposite bench.

Percy had hung a lantern from the ceiling of the tent. In the evening light, it cast soft, flickering shadows over them all. Veil was forcefully reminded of Cavern Hole.

So it begins, he thought.

Silence reigned a moment longer before Veil spoke. "I'm not really one to stand on ceremony, so I'll be blunt. What's it with Middledune and Fargan?"

Percy adjusted his monocle, and replied offhandedly. "Hard to get any blunter than that, doncha know. Well, to be brief, he saved our lives."

Veil looked back, surprised. "He doesn't seem the type."

"Not naturally, no. But about fifteen seasons back, we were all oarslaves. Kept by a very unpleasant rat named Besbarr, cap'n of the Seahammer. The ship was enormous, and it took a large amount of slaves to keep it moving.

"Veil, the life of a slave is a tale not worth telling, so if you don't mind I'll skip that bit. But the long and short of it is that one day, a skiff pulled alongside of us. There were only a score or so of them, and about seventy on the Seahammer. But you've seen how well trained Fargan's people are. In less than three minutes, all the crew was dead.

"Usually, pirates will just sink the ship with the slaves still on board. But Fargan did the unthinkable. He unchained us. He took us on board his ship. He freed us.

"But even while we were still cheering for Fargan, he marooned us all here, in Middledune. He gave us one thing: The Pact.

"Middledune is surrounded by desert. There isn't any lumber to build a ship with, and though we can farm and fish all we like, we'd never have enough to last on. But there are other goods here. All the gold, iron, and silk you could wish for.

"The Pact is simple: We mine iron and gold, and produce silk, and Fargan gives us food for a good two seasons. Two seasons later, he returns, and so on.

"That's really all one can say, Veil. Anything else?"

"Yeah."

Percy peered at him over his monocle. "Mmm?"

Veil's response caught them like a slap in the face. "Do you people have any balls whatsoever? Have any of you tried fighting?"

Percy looked uncomfortably at Myst. "We actually did have an uprising. That's a horror story for another day, I think."

For the first time, Veil noticed Myst wasn't looking at him. He knew that behind her discomfort there lay a tale that was as horrific as his, if not more.

The steely glaze came back into Veil's rich blue eyes. "Percy, would you excuse us?"

The old hare took one look at those eyes, and left without a word.

Veil's eyes whirled around to blaze at Myst. "Tell me how Fargan knows you. Tell me why you and I are the only vermin here." Gone was the kind, caring feeling from his voice. Replacing it was a cold, businesslike tone.

Myst just stared at the ground. Tears were beginning to rise in her eyes. "V - Veil, I can't. I – It's too painful."

"Myst, look at me."

She did.

"I spent six seasons of my life trying to keep my own story from everyone. I thought that burying the ghosts of the past would silence them forever."

Myst looked up at him, pain etched in every corner of her pretty face.

"That's shit, and I think you know it as well as I do. You have to let it out sooner or later, Myst. It's too painful to hold on to. Let it go."

He could see Myst didn't want to, and he thought he knew why. She was afraid he would hate her for what she had to say, flee in horror from her past. In essence, the same fear that had plagued him.

"Myst, my story is probably worse than yours. Don't be afraid."

He rubbed his red paws against his temples, sat back down on the bench, and told her his story.

He had meant for it to come out slowly, but as he remembered the feelings his past arose in him, it came out in a torrent. He told her of Redwall, of his exile from that happy place. He told her of his journey to the sea. He told her (and this was hardest of all) of how he killed his father. And he wound down by telling her of his exploits ever since, the Southsward Campaign, and every skirmish in between.

After he was done, he sat down, spiritually exhausted in every way.

Myst had stopped crying, but she carried the face of one who feels like they are marching to their death.

"M-my story's s-so similar, Veil, but also so different. I was the daughter of Fargan's second-in-command, and I spent my life just living off of the Dunefolk. Until one season, that is.

"The skiff had needed repairs that one season we sailed into Middledune. They were all so afraid of us, I remember. We told them we'd be staying there a while, until they got enough wood together to fix our ship. My father put us up in the dwelling of a hedgehog who was about twelve seasons old, four seasons older than me, Julia Goodspike. I'll never forget her. Never. I can't go a day without forgetting her.

"She hated us, to begin. Fargan had killed both her parents for not gathering what they needed. But she took care of us anyway, until the ship was ready. But she did more for me.

"Julia showed me all of the fun places to play at Middledune. She taught me songs, and games, and how to make skilly 'n' duff, even." Myst smiled with the memory. "And so once we left, we were about as good friends as could be. And whenever we came back every two seasons for the plunder, we would see each other. Far from being a perfect friendship, but it was…nice.

"And so I really began to see the harm of our work at Middledune. Julia suffered tremendously from her efforts to come up with the goods. Sometimes I would see that she hadn't slept just so she could make what she needed to. And so, one day, I decided to try and start a resistance.

"I told my father that I needed to go ashore. I wasn't gone long, but it was long enough. I told my plan to Julia, and she leaped on it with enthusiasm. The Middledune Freedom Fighters were born.

"Every time we came back, I offloaded weapons for Julia. Every two seasons, the freedom fighters were that much stronger.

"But Fargan found out. I was sneaking weapons into a crate when he caught me. He'd known all along.

"The hoard pillaged Middledune. Any house that had weapons in it was burned, and its inhabitants were flogged. My father killed himself rather than face Fargan. They told me that he cursed me with his last words.

"But that wasn't enough for Fargan. He had me beaten as well, but that wasn't all. The next day, he took Julia and me out into the desert. He gave me his sword, and he –"

She began to dissolve into helpless sobs. "H-he made m-me k-kill Julia!"

Veil's jaw dropped. He began to understand the real aim of the punishment.

She began to steady herself. "A-after I had done it, I asked him if he was going to kill me. In fact, I asked him to. I begged him to. I knew I couldn't live with myself."

Veil understood perfectly. He had felt that same feeling of self-disgust after his battle with his father.

"But he didn't. He told me in eight words what he would do. He said, 'Kill you? Better I let you kill yourself!' And he left me there.

"And he was right. After I had buried Julia, I found that the whole village hated me. I had, after all, brought them from a completely acceptable agreement to terrorism. And so, that day, I went out to the desert where I had killed Julia, and took out my knife. I had it right next to my throat when something stopped me.

"I realized that Fargan had caused all this, not me. It didn't seem right to die for evil that wasn't mine. And so hate kept me alive. I've stayed alive on hate ever since."

She seemed to calm down, and then her head sank into her shapely paws, as she dissolved into another fit of miserable sobs.

"Veil, I'm s-so sorry –"

And Veil had sat in sympathetic silence, crying with her inwardly until she stopped.

Even since that day he had come here, he hadn't found another acceptable home other than Myst's, and so he still had a mat in her room. A plus, were it not for the indescribable shame he now.

He lay on the floor with his eyes open, just thinking, as usual. He had hoped to feel forgiveness within himself, but all he could feel was more guilt, as he had also reopened old wounds for the unfortunate girl beside him.

But was this pain good for him? He could remember Friar Holdburr telling him about bitterroot ointment used for healing. He had mentioned how it stung quite a bit when you used it.

"Then why bother?" Veil had responded snidely.

"Better a sharp sting for a little bit than living with the light sting for the rest of your life, Veil," had been the answer.

Could it be that his current misery was nothing but the temporary sting? Had he "healed" the light sting of his past?

He was interrupted from his reverie by the soft yet unmistakable sound of Myst talking and crying in her sleep.

He slowly got up from the floor, going over to her. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes despite the fact that they were closed. Half-dazed mutterings came from her lips.

"Julia…gotta run, he's seen us now…you can make it…we've lost, Julia…"

And followed were the softest, most pitiable words yet spoken in Veil's lifetime.

"Oh, Julia…I-I'm so sorry…"

Veil was overcome. He could see it no more. He shook her vigorously by the shoulders, hoping dearly she would wake before he heard any more.

"Myst!" he whispered harshly. "Myst, wake up!"

Her bleary emerald eyes slowly opened.

"Myst, it's okay, you had a nightmare –"

Without a word she flung her arms around his torso, burying her face into his chest as another fit of sobbing gripped her. "Oh, Veil, it was horrible, I should've told you –"

"You did what I would have done, Myst. Cut yourself some slack." I'm a fine person to talk about that, he thought.

Slowly, she calmed down as her breath slowed to normal. She looked up at him with her clear, pale emerald eyes. "You're right. I've lived like this long enough."

"When you wake up tomorrow, it'll all be different. I promise."

"I know," she said. "But it still hurts now."

He felt his entire burden slip from his shoulders as he realized that it was indeed the sting of healing that they both felt now. He began to rise.

Myst stopped him with her paw, pushing his chest back down. "No, please –"

He looked at her, composed and calm, but scared at the same time, too.

"I'm sorry Veil, it's just…"

Veil knew what she needed, for he needed it so desperately as well.

"I-I don't think I can be alone any more. C-could you stay?"

"Of course I would," and he meant it with all he had.

And so they lay on her bed, her head snuggled against his chest, slowly drifting into sleep. Before they did, however, Myst said one more thing.

"Veil, what happened out on the boat…?"

"Yes?" he said quietly, waiting for her response.

"I-it was nice."

He grinned. "Yes," he said contentedly. "It was."

He was here, giving comfort to someone who needed it.

Hey, he thought. Maybe I'm not so bad after all.

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You like? Please let me know.

TK