Okay, so first I better explain myself. as you've all no doubt noticed, I have added not one, not two, but THREE chapters to this story today. That's because my school recently did these state-wide tests, and so everyone could take them and not miss classes, they started school late everyday last week except for Monday. This gave me some free time, and since i felt like writing Redwall fanfiction, I wrote (and edited ;)) the following three chapters. not only that, I wanted to get past all of the filler and get on with it all. So enjoy.
This chapter has a little bit of action at the star, then slows down a little. Ferrin (who had only been referred to up until now) is introduced. The little section in the middle with Tess and Tim seems irrevelant, but it isn't. Note it, for it'll be referred to again. Also, the little blurb about swan riding is in refernce to another book I've read. Can anybody guess what it is? ;)
Chapter 12
Swayner paced back and forth outside the Infirmary door, impatient. Abbot Mordalfus sat on the floor, watching him, leaning his back against the wall.
"This is taking entirely too long." the squirrel muttered, his bushy tail twitching in nervousness.
"You need to be patient, Swayner." Mordalfus said wisely. "This isn't something you can just speed up because you feel it's taking too long."
"Patient, how can I be patient?" Swayner asked, frustrated. "All things considered, that should be the very last thing I can be."
"I can understand." Mordalfus agreed. "But, clearly, being impatient isn't getting you very far."
"I would be far more patient if I hadn't been kicked out here." Swayner mumbled, jerking his head at the closed door. "I want to be in there, but Sister May won't let me."
"She's only thinking for the best." Mordalfus pointed out. "She apparently thought you would get in the way."
"But I wouldn't." Swayner pressed, "And she should know that I wouldn't."
Mordalfus did not reply immediately, and simply watched Swayner pace for a few moments longer. "You know," Mordalfus said, being thoughtful, "She's not really keeping you out. The door is not locked, you can walk right in if you want to, although..."
"Good idea!" Swayner interrupted, and went to open the door.
Mordalfus quickly stopped him by grabbing his paw. "...although that doesn't mean you should." he finished.
Swayner pulled his paw free from Mordalfus's grasp and resumed pacing. "You're not helping much, Father Abbot."
"Yes, I'm slowly beginning to see that." Mordalfus admitted with a smile.
Swayner froze suddenly as the sound of the Infirmary door's latch starting to turn rang out. He zipped straight to it, as Sister May opened the door and stepped into the corridor.
"Well?" Swayner asked, anxiously.
Sister May stood to one side and permitted Swayner to slip past her. "See for yourself." she said.
Swayner entered the room and immediately found his wife, Marigold, lying awake on one of the numerous beds in the Infirmary. Held in her paws, bundled in a blanket, was a mewling squirrelbabe.
Swayner's face brightened immediately, and he rushed right over to his wife's side, looking down at his new child.
"It's a she, isn't it?" he asked, grinning quite broadly.
"Yes." Marigold replied, sharing her husband's enthusiasm.
"I can tell." Swayner stated. "She has your beautiful face, Marigold."
Marigold blushed, and her grin broadened.
"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, Swayner." Sister May apologized. "But giving birth can be a very long and very tiring experience for both the mother..." she wiped a paw across her brow, "...and the midwife."
"So Swayner," Mordalfus said, joining May in the doorway. "Was it worth the wait?"
"Oh yes, Father Abbot." Swayner replied, all previous hard feelings long forgotten.
Mordalfus grinned and leaned over to Sister May. "It didn't really take that long to deliver, though, did it?" he whispered in her ear.
"It was Marigold's idea." May replied, also whispering. "You know, to recover."
"Of course." Mordalfus replied, doubting it. He then changed the subject. "I shall go spread the news, and thus leave those three to themselves for a few moments."
"I think I will join you." Sister May added as they both turned to leave. "Besides, I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
Meanwhile, both Marigold and Swayner looked down at their daughter, curling up into a ball to sleep, eyes tightly shut. Swayner stroked his daughter's soft, thin, coat of fur, already showing signs of turning golden like Marigold's.
"What should we name her?" Marigold asked.
Swayner thought for a moment. "I dunno." he admitted. "But let's make it something that starts with K."
"Why K?" Marigold asked.
"Because I like that letter." Swayner replied. "Some of my favorite things have the letter K in them, like cake, cookies, cordial..."
"There isn't a K in cordial." Marigold objected, interrupting.
"There isn't?" Swayner asked surprised. "Well, whatever the case, I just like K. It's so K-ish, and K-th..." he hesitated for a moment, looking for the right sound. "...ee."
"K-th." Marigold repeated to herself, intrigued by the sound of the made-up word. "That's what we'll name her." she said decisively. "Kaeth."
Swayner smiled again. "Perfect." he replied.
And thus it was final.
Word of Kaeth's arrival spread quickly throughout Redwall, and much excitement was generated with everyone. Several creatures tried to crowd around both Infirmary doors, whispering excitedly, trying to catch a glimpse of the newborn squirrel, until Sister May finally banned everybody from the room except for herself, Swayner, the abbot, and anybody else May was willing to make the occasional exception for.
Tess was among those "occasional exceptions", but understood the need for both babe and mother to rest and recuperate, and thus only stayed long enough to see the baby, give Swayner and Marigold both her congratulations, and left to help Tim in the gatehouse, who still hadn't finished organizing the records.
"It's exciting, isn't it, having a new member in Redwall?" Tess asked, as she took books off of stacks and put them back on their shelves.
"Huh?" Tim asked, who was only half-listening. "Oh yes, most certainly. Tess, hand me that book on the Summer of Shining Sun."
"'Shining Sun?'" Tess repeated, retrieving the book and bringing it to Tim as he sifted through the many records he had on his desk.
"It was an abnormally hot season." Tim explained.
"Hm." Tess said, not really interested. She yawned broadly, leaning on the desk.
"Tired?" Tim asked.
"Yes, I don't what it is, but lately I've been getting these peculiar spells of sleepiness." Tess said.
"Maybe you should tell Sister May." Tim suggested, focusing on the records.
"No, I'm fine." Tess assured her brother. "It probably just means I haven't been resting much. It has been quite busy around here the past couple of days."
"Yes, you do have a point." Tim relented. "There was you being wed to Mattimeo, Kesmin passing on, bless her heart, Weylan getting all depressed like that, your dream, it's connections to Southsward, Weylan, Mattimeo, and Matthias leaving for the sea, and the birth of Marigold's child." he paused, and took a breath. "I'd be tired after all of that, too."
"Well, there you go." Tess said recovering, and returning to what she was doing.
"I thought ye said the river would lead us straight t' th' sea." Weylan remarked, as he and Mattimeo carried the canoe over their heads as Matthias lead on through the thinning woodlands.
"I said 'I think.'" Matthias pressed in his defense. "And it did get us most of the way. You smell that? That's the salty sea you smell. We're close."
Weylan paused and sniffed the air, making his whiskers twitch. "Reminds me of th' time Cheek dumped all of that salt in Ambrose Spike's stew last season. By the fur, that stuff was salty."
"Ah-ha!" Matthias cried out as the woodlands suddenly ended and they found themselves on a sandy beach.
The jaws of both Mattimeo and Weylan dropped as they saw the sea for the first time.
"Sink me rudder!" Weylan exclaimed. "I knew th' sea was big, but I didn't think it was this big!"
"It just...keeps going." Mattimeo remarked, gesturing to the horizon. "Does it ever end?"
"Nobody has ever sailed far enough to find out." Matthias said, leaning on his cane as he looked around.
"I'm not surprised." Mattimeo said, gazing out at the never-ending body of water. "I doubt even a fish could swim that far."
"Bet an otter could, if he 'ad enough t' eat." Weylan remarked.
"Ah-ha!" Matthias cried again, pointing at a dark shape further up the shore. "We're closer to Ferrin's dwelling than I thought."
He lead the way towards the dark mass as Weylan and Mattimeo followed, carrying the canoe.
"Wot is that?" Weylan asked.
"It's a ship." Matthias replied. "No doubt Ferrin's."
Sure enough, that's exactly what it was, and what a grand ship it was, Weylan thought as they drew closer. Anchored just off the shore, far enough away that it wasn't grounded into the bank but was close enough that one could wade to it, the ship was by far bigger than anything Weylan had seen before, yet was sleek enough that Weylan knew the craft had to go fast. He wanted to get closer, but Matthias lead them away from it, heading towards a small shack built closer to the woodlands.
Weylan stopped several feet from it, not entirely liking the look of the shack. Mattimeo, who didn't want to met up with Ferrin at all, did not object and set his end of the canoe down almost defiantly. Matthias, however, walked straight up to the shack's door and politely knocked.
"Arr, who is it?" an annoyed voice called out. "If yore that weasel again, I'll run yer through."
"Nope, no weasel." Matthias replied, unconcerned by the threat. "It's me, Matthias."
"Matthias?" the voice said, and the door suddenly swung open. "Why, it is you, yeh ol' warrior mouse! How yah doin'?"
Weylan blinked at the sea rat he presumed was Ferrin. He was heavily tattooed, scarred, and tattered, walked like vermin, talked like vermin, even smelled like vermin. The only difference with Ferrin and other vermin was the fact that Ferrin currently held Matthias in a bear hug, which the warrior mouse was hesitantly returning.
"By th' fur and claw, it's been too long, mate!" Ferrin was exclaiming, releasing Matthias.
"So it has." Matthias said, using the opportunity to pull away. "Ferrin, I'd like you to meet some fellow creatures I know." he turned Ferrin around and pointed at Mattimeo. "That's my son, Mattimeo. Remember? I told you about him."
"Ah, yes, that mouse that yeh said rode a swan or sumthin' or other." Ferrin said, running up to greet Mattimeo with another bear hug, which Mattimeo quickly dodged.
"Excuse me?" Mattimeo asked, who knew he had done no such thing as ride a swan. He wouldn't dare.
Ferrin seemed oblivious to this fact, however. "Ha!" he exclaimed, pointing a dirty claw at Mattimeo. "Yeh talk funny, like yer father over there! That warrior mouse, there, yeh see? He slew a snake! Bet yeh didn't know that, now did yeh?"
"Actually, it's common knowledge at Redwall." Mattimeo stated, remembering the tale well, but Ferrin had his attention turned elsewhere now.
"An' who's this great riverdog?" the sea rat asked Matthias, looking Weylan up and down as weylan leerily did the same to Ferrin.
"That's Weylan Riverstryke." Matthias replied, coming over to stand next to his son. "A friend of ours."
"Ha, wot a funny name yeh got there Westlee." Ferrin said, also grabbing Weylan in a bear hug.
"It's Weylan, sir." the otter gasped out in reply, gagging on Ferrin's foul breath.
Again, Ferrin was oblivious to all of this. "Ah, yeh talk like a real seabeast, matey!" he exclaimed, clearly pleased with the sound of Weylan's accent. "Now, I'm Ferrin, th' best sailor an' boat builder around these parts! An' that over there is Zatas, me shipmate." Ferrin pointed to the left of him, where there was nothing but sand. "An' that's Lick, me annoyin' weasel neighbor." he pointed to his right, again where there was nothing but sand and a single rock.
Mattimeo and Matthias both forced grins, but Weylan looked at the places Ferrin pointed at, as if he expected to see something there. Finally, the otter stated the obvious.
"There's nobeast there." Weylan said with a shrug.
Ferrin found this immensely funny. "Ha ha! Of course there is, ya silly otter! Yeh must be blind! Ha! A blind otter! Wotever will I see next!" he chuckled for several moments.
"Ferrin, we need your help." Matthias said, taking control of the conversation again. "Mattimeo and Weylan need to get to a place called Southsward. Have you heard of it?"
"Heard of it?" Ferrin repeated, "By golly, warrior mouse, I've been there! Mighty nice country, 'specially this time of year! Natives don't like me much, though. They all think I'm a sea rat. Ha! I think they're all crazy."
"Not unlike yourself." Mattimeo muttered, drawing a disapproving glance from Matthias.
Ferrin didn't hear. "Well, c'mon then, you lot. Let me show yeh me ship. Best one I've got!" he walked off to the moored ship at the water's edge.
Matthias followed. "Looks like it's the only ship you have currently, Ferrin." he mumbled to himself.
Weylan stared at the sea rat. "He really is crazy." he said, slightly stunned, as he followed.
"I told you!" Mattimeo said, bringing up the end. "I told you!"
