An Alexander chapter as promised, which is mostly covers what has happened to Alexander since we last saw him, as well as set the scene for the next few chapters (which will also be Alexander-centric). This chapter turned out to be much longer than expected, with a few spur-of-the-moments material included, and touches a touchy subject, but one I felt needed some addressing in some manner, so there it is. The chapter turned out well, though, so there you go. :)
Chapter 51
However, back at the very heart of the Followers of Gemini religious sanctuary, no one had any clues that they were actually losing numbers, and possibly about to be forced to face a threat that would be one not to be reckoned with.
Alexander was among the oblivious, and at times, when the fact that he didn't know what was going on outside of this unusual place filled with cult-followers sank in the most, that worried him. Terra kept assuring him that Redwall wasn't going to take having one of their own kidnaped lying down and that they would come eventually. Deni supported these claims, perhaps a little too eagerly, and Alexander wondered if he was only doing that to keep Alexander from losing courage. Whatever the case, Alexander still worried that not even Redwall could resist the Followers of Gemini, and that they would be in no position to even try and come help him.
Because even though it was quite clear to the young squirrel now that the whole Gemini faith was false, they still had a great deal of numbers, and their warriors knew how to fight. The Quorum of Warriors, even though he had never seen it, sounded like quite a powerful army, at least according to what Deni and Terra had told him about it. And even if Redwall had somehow managed to drive the Quorum of Warriors back, it wouldn't be without grave casualties on their part.
It didn't really matter in the end, though. As the days went by more and more, it was pretty clear that no matter what, Alexander was on his own for now, save for the other dissenters such as Terra and Deni.
So he managed. As before, he did what was asked of him, attended the classes, and played the part of a loyal convert to the Followers of Gemini. No one seemed to suspect anything, especially the mouse teacher that had pretty much taken charge of Alexander's well-being since the beginning of the young squirrel's stay here. In fact, the teacher seemed inwardly pleased at Alexander's progress in the religion. So much so that Alexander at times felt slightly sorry that it was all a deception.
But only slightly.
As for his relations with the internal rebellion, things seemed to be going well. Alexander was introduced to the rest of the numbers finally on his third day after his arrival. They were a friendly enough bunch, composed of mostly woodlanders of varying ages, all younger by at least a full season than Terra, who was the eldest. Only a few vermin were present (apparently, they were particularly hard to get them to join the rebellion; they usually became loyal to Gemini surprisingly quickly), also of varying ages, but for being vermin species, they were more optimistic, and at times nicer, than the woodlanders. Their numbers altogether officially totaled somewhere above two dozen, which was a bit disheartening for Alexander, but Terra then explained that this wasn't all of them.
At least, per say. The others were what had been termed as "possibles." They were creatures that were either still torn about which side they were on, and couldn't favor one over the other yet, or they truly wanted out of this just as much as the rest of them, but weren't willing to take the risk by joining the rebellion, as the danger of what the rebellion was doing couldn't be emphasized enough, and therefore did what the Followers of Gemini told them, despite knowing that they didn't like it. And there were plenty of these "possibles" that the rebellion frequently attempted to get them to join them fully. But even if these possibles were included to their numbers, which boost them significantly, they would still be greatly outnumbered against the followers if it came to a conflict.
And then there was the shrew, Surt, who seemed to be on a side all of his own. He outright defied the Followers of Gemini (which made creatures such as Alexander flinch with fear for the reckless shrew whenever he did so, but luckily, Surt had been more or less ignored thus far) to the point that he had thrown a punch at his assigned teacher (a lanky fox that had been fairly recently joined the Quorum of Teachers and thus no one really knew him) and broke the fox's nose. But at the same time, while Surt supported the rebellion to the point that he would be somewhat active in their activities, he was more or less against them as well. His biggest grudge against them was the fact that in his eyes, they weren't taking any action against the Gemini followers. They didn't seem to have enough desire to get out of here. To the shrew, that was reason enough to question their loyalties.
But Surt still helped them. Somewhat. His idea of helping was causing chaos wherever he went. In addition to breaking the fox teacher's nose, Surt had also assaulted every creature that had tried to make him do something he didn't particularly want to (which would always be to no avail), was very outspoken about what he was being taught in classes, and frequently thought up wild, outrageous, and usually, quite impossible escape plans.
He usually presented these plans to Alexander, as, seeing that he knew that Alexander hadn't been here for long, he figured the young squirrel would be more likely to sympathize with him. It didn't take long for Alexander to shoot down the ideas, and knew that open rebellion wasn't going to work, and strove to try and side with the dissenters, although he was sure to try and be positive with Surt anyway. It seemed to help, although it didn't seem to change the shrew's opinions about anything.
Time went on. Alexander was officially assigned to help Deni keep an eye out for any new creatures to join the legions of Gemini. This proved to be an easy enough task, as it didn't seem any new members were coming in at present. Deni attributed it to the fact that Gemini's current target was Redwall Abbey, and that it's resources was currently being stretched thin by dealing with them. This didn't help Alexander to feel anymore optimistic, so Deni also pointed that long stretches of time could go by before any new members were added to their ranks, so he urged Alexander to not get discouraged.
At highly irregular times, they would all gather to meet, report, and plan ahead if need be. When they did, they met in secret in a special, naturally formed, underground cavern, the entrance hidden out of sight in a usually abandoned hallway of storerooms. One had to actually enter the storeroom and step into a completely unsuspecting alcove in one corner that at first glance didn't look deep, but actually led into the cavern when one wriggled their way in just right. Terra suspected that the cavern had been used as part of the construction of the entire sanctuary they now resided in, and had later been sealed up. That seal had eventually degraded to the point of crumbling, and the seal had broken enough for a creature to enter. It didn't seem that the Followers of Gemini knew about it, much less Gemini himself, which Terra used as evidence that the deity was completely fake. So the rebellion was pretty much free to use it.
Still, they had to be careful. Word of a meeting first had to secretly circulate through their numbers, and as you never could be certain when someone might be listening who shouldn't be, this could take as long as a day. Once word seemed to have gotten around sufficiently, the group would start arriving at the cavern...but not all at once. Usually, only about one at time, coming from anywhere between fifteen minutes to a full hour after the creature before them. They wouldn't officially meet until everyone had arrived that was going to arrive. It would take them so long to gather that they didn't do it often. Furthermore, with all of the religious practices that went on here, it was hard to find enough time to do it, without interfering with a certain creature's time schedule. Which actually doubled as an advantage, as some creatures would have to wait until they were out of classes or the such to arrive, which helped to make sure they didn't arrive at the same time as someone else.
Whatever the case, the meetings weren't frequent, nor were they very long. Since Alexander had arrived before today, there had only been two, and he had only been able to go to the latter of those two. Not because he didn't have the time...he actually had plenty of time at the moment, as it was during his lunch break, but Terra had not allowed him to join. He didn't really give a reason why, but Alexander could figure it out anyway. What was discussed in the meetings involved very sensitive information about the inner workings of the rebellion. If the Followers of Gemini were to hear any slip of this information, it would spell disaster for someone, if not the whole group. One had to be extremely careful who they trusted into the group or not. They were simply making sure Alexander was as trustworthy as he seemed.
By the next meeting, they were apparently satisfied, as Alexander was allowed in, escorted in by Deni who had to show him the way. So, when it came time for the following meeting, Alexander was, of course, on his way there. He knew the way, and didn't need any help. Still, he had accompaniment anyway. In the form of a particularly irritable shrew.
"I fail t' see 'ow this is goin' t' be productive." Surt grumbled as Alexander led him down the empty hallway to the sight of the meeting. As Alexander now knew where everyone met, he had been given the job of showing Surt where it was, as per Terra's instructions earlier that day. "Y'all never do anythin' that's gonna git us out o' 'ere."
"That all depends on how you look at it." Alexander pointed out, not really wanting to argue about the matter. But of course, this was a shrew he was talking to. No shrew was happy unless they had something to argue about. "It keeps us organized at least."
"Aye, but fer wot?" Surt argued. "Yeh ain't interested in gittin' out o' 'ere! Yeh just sit around on yer tails, lookin' pretty fer 'em Gemini worshipers. Wot good is that gonna do us?"
"It keeps us safe, for one thing."
"Oh, grow a spine, will yeh Alexander? Wot we need t' be doin' is fight back! Strike 'em good an' 'ard afore they git a chance t' think! We gotta take a chance!"
"But Brother Surt, we are outnumbered easily fifty to one." Alexander pressed, trying to keep his demeanor calm. Surt could really try one's patience at times. "We wouldn't stand a chance in a fight."
"Then we'd die tryin'!" Surt snapped back, then grumbled under his breath, "T'would be better than t' continue livin' this nightmare."
Alexander couldn't argue that point. He didn't want to be here anymore than he did, and by all accounts, Surt had every right to be angry. The followers had killed his father after all, and the shrew had promised revenge, something a shrew usually takes seriously. And they weren't letting him. Granted, it was for his own safety as well as theirs, but Surt didn't seem to care about that.
"Look, I know you want to get out of here." Alexander said, as he led the way into the storeroom in question, with was lined with wooden crates containing parchment, save for the corners, which were clear. "I do too. I want nothing more to return to Redwall Abbey and forget all of this had ever happened. But at the moment, we don't have the luxury. We fight back now, it would all be in vain. Nothing would be gained from it. The Followers of Gemini would live on, and probably act like nothing had happened, and only bring more creatures in to this fate. You don't really want that, do you?"
Surt sighed, and rolled his eyes. "Well...no." he admitted. "I want t' stop these blighters dead in their tracks. It's just...there must be somethin' more we can do! I ain't goin' t' let these blighters off so easily for wot they've done!" he folded his arms, as he watched Alexander step into one corner of the room. "I'm goin' t', at th' very least, t' give every last second of these creature's live a livin' h..."
"I get the idea." Alexander interrupted bluntly, annoyed. "You're just going to get yourself killed, though."
"'Or worse.'" Surt remarked with a frown, remembering Deni's constant reminders of such. The shrew shook his head. "Worse wot? Wot could be worse than death?"
"I don't know, but I assure you that Gemini knows it." Alexander remarked, and pulled Surt into the corner with him. "Now, just follow me."
In the corner they were in, right where one wall joined with the other, there was a small space barely wide enough for a creature to slip into. At a first glance, it didn't look deep. In fact, an outsider would think that no creature, regardless of size, could fit their whole body in the space, tail and all. But Alexander knew better, and so did Surt. Alexander turned sideways, and wriggled into the space as far as he could, then turned his body and used his shoulder as a wedge, and slipped even further into the space, sliding into an abrupt turn in the gap that twisted sharply to the left. Alexander carefully started to slither through this, Surt following him.
For a brief moment, they were both engulfed in darkness as they moved through this very narrow space. But only for a moment, because soon they just as quickly popped out into the cavern. It wasn't incredibly big, only about as big as the storeroom they had just left, but it was big enough to fit everyone that needed to be there. The moment Alexander stepped in, he saw that everyone else had arrived, and that they had been waiting on him and Surt. Terra, who was standing at the front of the cavern, looked back at them. Alexander nodded to him.
"Right, let's get going on this." Terra said. "Shouldn't take long. Anybody got anything they need to tell, that we need to know about?"
"The worshipers seem to have gotten particularly interested in me as of late." a tall harvestmouse spoke up, who was only a few seasons younger than Terra. "They've been putting me through more studies than usual. I was told they intend to train me to be a priest when I come of age."
Terra winced at this. "Resist." he said simply. "Do badly in those studies. Anything. Just get them to decide you aren't the creature they want. You do not want to end up in the Quorum of Priests, not if you want to continue to be a part of this rebellion."
"Why not?" Surt asked loudly.
Terra gave him a glance. "No creature here ends up in a quorum and stays our side." he explained sternly. "The Gemini worshipers do something to guarantee that every creature that goes in a quorum will not turn against them. I don't know how, but they do it." he paused, and sighed. "We've already lost two creatures to quorums before, and they both switched sides, nearly getting us caught both times. I'm not going to let that happen again. Not now." he paused and surveyed the group. "Anyone else?"
"There have been no new creatures coming in, which tells me that the focus of the worshipers has been directed elsewhere." Deni spoke up. He glanced apologetically over to Alexander. "I think the reason is Redwall, I'm sorry to say."
Terra, however, brightened at this. "We haven't heard or seen hide or tail of the Quorum of Warriors since they left for the abbey either." he pointed out. "I think those Redwallers are giving them a real run for their money at the moment, so I'm not too worried right now. Anyone else?"
"Given any more thought 'bout gettin' out o' 'ere?" Surt remarked.
"I think about it everyday, Surt." Terra replied. "But unfortunately it's not so simple. If and when I get a plan to get out of here, I'll let you know. 'Til then, just sit tight."
Surt wasn't happy to hear this, but he did not verbally protest.
"Anything else?" Terra continued.
It was then that a tentative, quiet, female weasel with silver-grey fur that was among the closest to Terra's age stepped forward, and quietly raised her paw into the air to call Terra's attention. It did indeed grab the mole's attention, but he waved it off without letting the weasel speak.
"I already know of your situation, Silverpaw, we'll talk after the meeting." Terra assured her.
The weasel, Silverpaw, nodded in understanding, and silently stepped back. Alexander watched her for a few moments, wondering what her situation was, and how Terra knew of it already. Furthermore, Silverpaw seemed at ill ease, and Alexander somehow sensed that whatever it was about her, it was important and apparently worrisome. Alexander wondered that if this was so, then why not let everyone know, so they could be aware of what danger there was. Then Alexander realized that Terra already knew about what Deni had to report, which was the lack of new arrivals. In fact, most of them did. And yet Terra hadn't prevented Deni from speaking anyway. So why stop Silverpaw? What was it that she had to say that was different?
The meeting went on while Alexander was musing. There was little else from everyone else to report. The only other real highlight was that one of their numbers, an otter named Sarias that was about Mathoni's age and was a helper in the Quorum of Healers (but not an actual member of said quorum) said that the fox teacher whose nose Surt had broken had been treated, and that the nose would heal well. She had also heard that the reaction to this broken snout was not good, and everyone agreed that the shrew had better not repeat the stunt. It was not long thereafter that the meeting drew to a close, and everyone started filing out in a similar manner to how they came in; one at a time, with great stretches of time between each creature that left.
The only two that did not prepare to leave was Terra and Silverpaw. The mole had pulled the weasel aside to a quiet corner to discuss while everyone prepared to leave. Alexander hung around, waiting for everyone else to leave, then he planned to ask Terra what the story was with Silverpaw. He tried to act inconspicuous about it, but Terra noticed anyway as the last few creatures filtered out.
"Alexander, why don't you stay behind as well?" the mole asked. "I see no reason why you can't help with this. Should probably tell at least somebody anyway."
Alexander was puzzled by this, but joined the mole and weasel in their corner of the cavern, watching the last few creatures leave. Once the last one had slithered through the gap, the young squirrel turned to Terra.
"What's this about?" he asked curiously. He pointed to Silverpaw. "Is there something wrong with her that I need to know about?"
At this Silverpaw started crying. Not seriously, just a small amount, allowing salty tears to leak from her eyes, but she was clearly saddened. She started to reply to Alexander's question, but choked on her own words and eventually gave up. Terra gave her a sympathetic look.
"Don't tell anyone this, Alexander," the mole began to explain, "but Silverpaw is mature enough now that the Followers of Gemini have selected her to go into the Quorum of Mating."
He then looked at Alexander, awaiting some kind of reaction. All Alexander had to give was a furrowed brow.
"What do you mean?" the youth asked.
"You do know what I mean by the word 'mating,' right?" Terra asked calmly, knowing that the squirrel was young enough that he might not understand.
Alexander gave it his best shot, however. "I know that the otters back home call everybody their mateys." he stated weakly.
"Not that kind of mate, the other kind."
Alexander's brow furrowed again, but this time in a slightly different way. "What do you mean?" he asked again.
Terra sought a way to explain it simply and in terms Alexander could easily comprehend without getting too detailed. "Your parents are mates, right?" he finally asked.
"You mean wed?" Alexander said. "Of course."
"And they mated to get you, right?"
The comprehension suddenly donned upon Alexander. "You don't mean..." he began, but trailed off, unsure how to phrase it himself, as his knowledge of the subject was limited.
"The Quorum of Mating is used to...produce offspring to add to the numbers of the Gemini worshipers." Terra explained. "They take that offspring and then raise them however they please."
"So they want Silverpaw to be one of the offspring's parents." Alexander guessed.
This sent Silverpaw into another barely controlled crying fit.
"And take her offspring, yes." Terra said, gravely. "Worse still is that they don't care about the parents there. They just throw males and females together at random, and take the resulting youth. They're treated more like pets than intelligent creatures there. The sole purpose of whomever ends up in that quorum is to give the worshipers offspring to...to...steal and raise to be like them." Terra growled quietly at this. "It's not right. Of all the things they could do, this is among the worse in my opinion. And it's the one thing that I won't stand by and let happen."
Alexander and Silverpaw looked at him.
"What are going to do?" the female weasel asked quietly.
"I'm going to take a page from Surt's book." Terra explained, getting down on his knees. "I'm intervening."
"And why tell me all of this?" Alexander asked, understanding now why Terra had not let it be publicly announced in the meeting.
"Because it's time someone else knew about this." Terra replied, rubbing his hefty digging claws together as if preparing to lift something.
"What do you mean?"
Terra grinned. "There's more to this cavern than what you see here."
"There is?"
Terra nodded, and bent down and grabbed at a lip in the stone floor they stood upon and pulled. The lip started to rise out of the floor, revealing that the lip in the stone that Alexander had presumed was just part of the natural formation of the rock was actually the edge of a rock that covered another tunnel. Terra removed the rock and set it to one side, then slipped into the gap he had revealed and into the narrow and dimly lit tunnel beyond.
"C'mon in you two." he told the two creatures watching him.
Silverpaw hesitantly clambered into the tunnel after the mole. Alexander followed, more curious than ever. Terra took the led, and started leading down the lengthy tunnel that led deep into the heart of the cliff the sanctuary was built out of. Alexander moved to stand beside him, visibly bubbling with questions he wanted to ask.
So Terra started explaining. "Five or so seasons ago, I found this tunnel after a meeting." he said. "Our numbers were much smaller back then, and I was under stress. So I hung behind to kind of sort things out in my head. It was then that I realized that the rock covering the entrance to this tunnel even existed. Most creatures don't even notice it, but being a mole, I'm more prone to notice these kind of things. Glad I found it, actually, because it has proven to be incredibly useful."
"Where does this lead?" Silverpaw asked, her curiosity overcoming her grief now.
"Oh, nowhere special." Terra said with a grin as they reached the tunnel's end. "Just here."
They then stepped into a massive cavern, naturally formed like the one they had left, but several times the size of it. It was big enough that their voices echoed in this cavern, and could comfortably hold twice their numbers in the rebellion. In the center of the cavern, where the rock turned into a brown dirt, several food-producing plants grew. They were all clumped together and looked to be a little overgrown, but it was clear that it was no accident that these plants where here. Four to five lanterns sat scattered around the cave showing recent use, but they were currently unneeded, for there was a hole in the roof of the cavern that allowed sunlight from outside to shine inside, shining down on the makeshift garden that grew there. At the far end of the cavern lay a pool of spring water, or possibly water collected from rainfall, though Alexander doubted the latter as the water looked too fresh to be mere residual rainfall. The cavern then jutted to the left of the pool and out of sight past the cavern's left wall, indicating that the cavern possibly went even deeper into the cliffside.
"Great seasons aplenty." Alexander murmured, impressed.
"It's so big." Silverpaw remarked. "And it looks all set for a creature to live in."
"And believe it or not, I found it exactly like how you see it now." Terra said with a proud grin. He paused long enough to put his claws to his lips and blow a shrill whistle that echoed down the length of the cavern before continuing. "The Followers of Gemini clearly don't know about it, but somebeast had to have put this together."
Alexander examined the plants in the garden, seeing the same variety of plants the followers grew back in the sanctuary. "But who?" he asked.
"I think it was other creature who were like us, and trying to rebel." Terra said. "The cave's naturally formed, and so are those springs you see back there. Further down the cavern there are some more springs that give off heat that's good for the winter, and that's all natural as well. But the rest I think rebelling creature like us put together, clearly for use. I don't know what they were planning. Maybe they wanted to hide. I don't know what happened to them either. Either they escaped, or the Followers of Gemini discovered them and dealt with them. But whatever the case, this was all left here. And I've been putting it to use."
It was then that two other maidens suddenly entered the cavern from around the turn it made to the left. They looked cautiously at Alexander and Silverpaw, but they clearly trusted Terra, so they carefully made their way towards them. One was a rat, who seemed skiddish and ready to flee if need be. The other was a badgermaid, who clearly could fight back if needed to, but she too seemed on edge. They were both older than Terra, which was a surprise, and while they wore the trademark sky blue habits of Followers of Gemini, the garments were dirtied and worn enough that it was clear both maidens had been here for awhile.
"This is Whyteflower and Slewtail." Terra introduced, pointing to the badger, then the rat. "Maidens, this is Silverpaw and Alexander."
The two maidens greeted the pair cautiously, and didn't say a word more. Terra gave them a sympathetic frown.
"They were both in the same situation as you, Silverpaw." the mole explained quietly. "Selected to be a part of the Quorum of Mating. They both wanted no part of it, and I wasn't going to let them be put through that. So...I hid them here."
"You hid them?" Alexander repeated. "Here?"
"I know, they deserve better lives than that, but they most certainly didn't deserve the fate that awaited them at the Quorum of Mating." Terra stated. "What else could I do? Besides...I didn't make the final choice...they did." he pointed at the two maidens that had been hiding here without their knowledge. He then turned to Silverpaw. "Now I'm giving you the same choice, Silverpaw."
Silverpaw, the two maidens Whyteflower and Slewtail, and Terra, talked about the matter for awhile, but it didn't take long for Sliverpaw to decide. She was quick to decide that she would rather stay here than be a part of the Quorum of Mating, and she didn't want to have any part of unwillingly adding to the numbers of the Followers of Gemini. Once she made that choice, Terra left the weasel to talk with the badger and rat that would be her roommates so to speak. Alexander joined the mole, watching the three converse.
"How long have you been doing this, Terra?" the squirrel finally asked.
"Awhile." Terra replied. "Whyteflower has been in here for four seasons. Slewtail has been here for only two. It's not the best of lives for them, but I visit them frequently, and they get along better than you might think, actually. They're safe here. That's all that really matters to them anyway."
"But...the Gemini worshipers," Alexander began, "didn't they notice when they went missing?"
"Of course they did, and it caused a great hubbub each time. But they don't know this cavern is here, so they can't ever find them, and they have no evidence to accuse anyone of helping them to hide or escape. So eventually they just drop the subject, publicizing some explanation that suppositively comes from Gemini himself that explains their absence, and life goes on." Terra shook his head. "Regardless, they're still at risk. If word of this place were to ever get out, it would mean death for them and me for defying the will of Gemini. That's why all the secrecy, Alexander. Trusting a creature with knowledge about the rebellion is one thing, but trusting one with this secret is quite another."
"How many do know?" Alexander asked. "Does Deni know?"
"No, he doesn't." Terra replied. "In fact, the only other creature who knows this place even exists besides them..." he jerked his head at the maidens, "...and me is you now, Alexander."
The young squirrel was shocked. "But...why tell me?" he asked.
"Because Alexander, you're like me." Terra said, bending down to be at the same eye level as the squirrel. "You see things in a different light from the others, you understand things in ways that they don't, you know and comprehend just how bad the things the Followers of Gemini do here. Like I said, you're very smart for your age, and you probably don't even realize it."
"But...but...why tell me?" Alexander repeated. "Especially now, when I'm so young?"
"I was older than you when I found this cavern..." Terra admitted, "...but not by much. Besides, in my opinion, age doesn't matter. You know what to do about this. Besides, your heart's in the right place, Alexander, I know I can trust you with this secret. Besides..." Terra sighed, "...there's one other secret I have, and that's the fact that I know that sometime soon, I'm probably going to have to join these maidens down here in hiding."
"What? Why?"
"Because I'm about to come of age, Alexander, and when I do, they're going to want to put me into a quorum. And I want not part in any of their quorums, especially the one they have in mind for me."
"Why, which quorum is it?" Alexander asked. "The Quorum of Priests?"
"No, they want to put me in one even more prestigious than that, one of their most powerful and most loyal quorums of all." Terra explained. "The Quorum of Teachers."
