Sorry for the slight delay in getting this chapter up. Was busy doing homework for most of the weekend, and by the time I was done, was so burned out that I wasn't really in the mood to write much. This chapter's not that spectacular anyway, the real good stuff will come next chapter, and the chapters to immediately follow it. But it gets the job done, nonetheless. In other news, "Warrior of Redwall" is now tied in length (chapter-wise, it's much longer in word count by now) to my last major Redwall fanfic, "Weylan's Family" which up until now has held the record as my longest Redwall fanfic. Looks like it's gonna loose that honor, though. ;)

Chapter 54

The day was actually quite pretty, with a large and bright afternoon sun shining down upon the land with it's usual brilliant rays of heat and light. The surrounding woods were alight with life, as emerald leaves grew big and healthy on the trees, and birds flapped through the air overhead. A warm breeze indicating that the seasons were well on their way on going from spring to summer whisked through the land. It mixed in nicely with the soft rushing sound of the babbling river, which was still cool enough that it kept the area around it.

Kani inhaled deeply, and relaxed, leaning against the rope railing of Tide's raft, the Water Skimmer, and watched as the craft sailed peacefully along down the river, but he knew that the peace wouldn't last, particularly once they reached their destination. He turned around, and looked past the length of the raft to see two more, hastily constructed, rafts following it, crewed by the now rogue Quorum of Warriors.

More than three days ago, back at Redwall, after having convinced the otter commander, Melody, to join sides with the Redwallers, the next several hours had been spent trying to convince the rest of the Quorum of Warriors the falseness of the Gemini faith. Melody, being the commander, did most of the talking. That long wait was filled with tension for the Redwallers, wondering if their plans would succeed.

Ultimately, however, they did. As it had turned out, Melody hadn't been the only creature in the ranks of the opposing army who had started getting their doubts. The new evidence that had been brought forward by the Redwallers about Gemini merely set those doubts in stone. Easily a third of the army promptly switched sides almost immediately, with most of the other two-thirds following shortly thereafter. The remaining stragglers continued to remain in doubt, torn over which side they wanted to be. But none of them were as fiercely loyal to Gemini as they had been before. There was too much evidence to discount the deity.

At that point, there were several things that could've been done next. Now that the Quorum of Warriors would no longer attack the abbey of Redwall, and had in fact volunteered to help the Redwallers with whatever was needed to be done to make amends for what they had done, the Redwallers could have just shrugged off the whole issue, and resumed living in peace like they had done before, acting like the incident had never happened. But they knew that the other Followers of Gemini were still out there, and they still had cause to follow their false idol. They could simply rally together another army and come back to haunt the Redwallers again. And they would also still be going out and harming the lives of other innocent creatures as well, and the Redwallers couldn't live with that on their conscience.

Besides, they were still missing one of their own. Young Alexander, who Melody had confirmed would be taken to the home of the followers somewhere to the northwest, was still captured by the followers, and no one could be really sure what had happened to him. Melody had commented that unless Alexander caused problems, it was doubtful he would come to any serious harm. The idea was to press him to be a follower as well, after all, so no one would be wanting to physically harm him unless Alexander himself forced such action.

But he wasn't where he needed to be, and that was at Redwall. Therefore, the Redwallers quickly made plans to go and retrieve him, and upon rallying some of their forces to go with the Quorum of Warriors to the sanctuary, set off to depart to the sanctuary.

Remembering the offer from Tide that he was willing to give them a lift anywhere they needed to, and that Melody stated that the sanctuary could be reached by water, the first thing they did was approach the sailor squirrel and requested his help. He was willing, though somewhat surprised by the fact there was so many to transport. Enough that they wouldn't all fit on the one raft. Hence the two additional rafts that were hastily assembled.

They had been traveling upriver, heading up a small stream that branched off the River Moss and headed in the necessary direction, ever since. Melody had stated that they were getting close, but Kani didn't need to be told this. He could sense it. He wasn't sure how, but there was a lot of things he hadn't been sure of since this all began.

Something that puzzled Mathoni to no end, not knowing any longer just went through Kani's head anymore.

"I don't get it, matey." he confessed to the fox their first night into the journey. "I thought ye wanted t' recruit th' Redwallers t' go back t' Angola an' overthrow Methusael."

And of course, the young otter was right. That had been Kani's intention ever since he left his homeland to begin with. Yet when the Redwallers started making plans to leave to attack the sanctuary, Kani offered to come with. Even though managing to stop the Quorum of Warriors and additionally getting them to side with the Redwallers still hadn't gotten to trust him fully, it was enough that they agreed, seeing now that Kani really did wish to help them. He told Mathoni all of this.

"Aye, but, t' be blunt, why are ye puttin' Redwall above Angola?" was Mathoni's response.

Kani didn't have an answer. He had been thinking the same thing ever since he had accepted to wield the sword of Martin. At first, it seemed obvious, to get Redwall in a position to help him. But he had gone and done that already. He was under no real obligation to keep helping Redwall fight its battles anymore. So...why was he still?

The closest thing he had to an answer wasn't really an answer at all. "Because I feel obligated to, Mathoni."

Now, days later, his frustrating lack of a decent answer remained unchanged. He felt no closer to an answer, either. But he did know that when ever he stopped to think about the possiblity of doing things different, about going to take care of Angola first, and leaving the Redwallers to sort out the rest of this mess on their own...he felt guilty, like he couldn't and shouldn't do that. He felt like he had to do this first, and it was instinct that had brought him here, and thus far it had worked out. Even though he wasn't sure why, he was going to keep doing that.

Besides, he did know that he had someone looking out for him, guiding him on the right way. He supposed he had best trust their judgment for now.

Kani continued watching the surrounding terrain pass by, feeling anxious. He turned to face the others. "How much further?" he asked aloud.

"Not far." Melody remarked, from where she sat, leaning against the port side railing of the raft. She was still favoring her injured arm, and her wound was still heavily bandaged, but it was no longer in a sling, mostly at her insistence. "I recognize this area. The followers come and gather water from along here. A little further still, and then we can come ashore."

"I may not be an expert at this yet," Charles commented from the other end of the raft, where he sat working on his repeating crossbow, making more arrows for it as the archers from the Quorum of Warriors had shown him earlier in the journey, "but wouldn't it be logical to come ashore now, and work our way to the place on footpaw? That way we can have an element of surprise on our side."

Melody shook her head. "A good thought, but trust me, I know the terrain. It isn't as smooth and straightforward as it looks from here. In those woodlands is rocky and rough terrain, or swampland hidden just out of sight. The Followers of Gemini chose the location to build the sanctuary for good reason. There is only one safe, quick, surefire way to reach it from this river, and we won't reach that until further on up."

"In other words, vermin, ye just be patient an' wait." Tide told Kani from where he sat at the raft's tiller, leading the way further upstream. "Ain't gonna go faster just because ye wish it."

"I do wish that were so, though." Kani remarked, ignoring the jibe from Tide as he began pacing. "The anticipation for this battle is starting to get to me. I want this to be done and over with already."

"Ye ain't alone, matey, I'm not keen 'bout this battle we're gonna 'ave t' fight." Mathoni agreed, leaning against the wall of the cabin that was built onto the Water Skimmer. "Somethin' tells me it ain't gonna be a fun fight."

"Of course it won't be, Mathoni." Charles remarked bitterly, who knew better. "War is never fun."

"I don't mean it like that." Mathoni corrected. "I mean...I dunno...Somethin' just doesn't...sit right with me 'bout th' whole thing. Like we ain't gonna like wot we find there, when we get there." he shook his head. "I can't explain it anymore than that."

"Judging from what we know about the Followers of Gemini, I don't think I'll be surprised by whatever it is I'll see." Kani remarked.

"Mathoni does bring up a good point, however." Melody agreed, standing up. "This fight will not be a pretty one, even with the advantage of having the Quorum of Warriors on your side. While we are the majority of the followers warriors, a fair number remain at the sanctuary to defend it. And this is not the first time the sanctuary has been attacked. Those defensive troops will be stationed well, and that will give them a upper paw over us." she trailed off for a moment. "I can only hope that the fact that they'll be taking their own forces will catch them off guard enough to give us the edge. If not..." she shook her head, "We could be facing a lot of casualties on our side."

"It's too late for us to turn back now." Charles said.

"Redwall does indeed have a need to be here." Kani agreed. He looked at Melody reassuringly. "However, you and your quorum do not have to be. In fact, you are probably going to be at a greater risk than we are, because you'll be betraying them. It's not too late for you and your forces to turn back. We certainly don't want to make you do this."

Melody, however, shook her head. "We've been following a false deity and killing innocent creatures for that deity for untold seasons now." she said darkly. "The blood of those innocent creatures is on our paws. The least we can do to make it up for those fallen is to strike back at the organization truly responsible for it."

"That's reason enough for me." a new voice said, as a creature stepped out of the raft's cabin.

Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, and the reaction to his appearance was mixed. Kani groaned. Mathoni stifled a laugh. Tide didn't even bother to hold it back, and let out a loud guffaw.

"Ye can't be serious, matey!" he exclaimed as he shook with laughter at the sight of the creature. "Ye wouldn't last a second in battle!"

Linus lifted the visor to the borrowed helmet he wore, along with the rest of the disheveled armor he wore and gave the fellow squirrel a glare. "And why not?" he asked, grumpily. "I have the armor! I have a weapon!" he motioned to the spear he carried, the only real weapon the Redwall recorder knew how to use, "I think I stand a pretty good chance, thank you!"

"Linus, with all due respect, I think Tide's right." Kani objected, stepping forward gently. They had already discussed this many times before to no avail, and it seemed like Linus was going to stand his ground, but Kani still tried. "You heard Melody. This will be an extremely lethal battle. We don't know if we can even win it yet, not until we have a better idea of what we'll be up against. It'll be like the battles we had with the quorum at Redwall, only this time, we'll be the ones on the ground, with no wall to duck behind." he paused. "Linus, we don't want to see you get hurt."

"I won't get hurt, not with all of this confounded stuff." Linus told the fox hotly, motioning to the armor he wore. "Seriously, I can barely move in all of this, I'm so well protected." he walked around experimentally for a few moments, then tripped and fell, sending Tide into another laughing fit.

Mathoni helped the squirrel get back up on his feet. "Linus, ye don't know anythin' about warfare." he told the recorder as he did this. "I know why ye came, but ye really shouldn't 'ave. Ye're putting yore life on th' line, ye realize that, right?"

Linus shrugged off Mathoni. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Linus, you realize that once you play your part in this war, there will be no turning back." Charles commented from where he stood, idly watching the argument. "Once you have spilt the blood of another creature, good or evil, there will be no way to take it back. Don't make the same mistake I did. You need to be absolutely certain you want to do this."

"I am certain!" Linus declared. "My son is in that sanctuary, or whatever you want to call it! And the day that I just stand back and not help get him back is the day this Gemini fellow is real!"

And no one could argue that point.


About an hour later, Melody declared that they had arrived at the necessary spot, and they all came ashore, and grouped together on the riverbank. As they did that, Kani and Charles quickly scouted ahead. They didn't go far enough to see the sanctuary itself, but they did find lots of evidence of creatures had passed through the area.

Charles stooped down the closer examine the footprints that were scattered all over. "They're fairly recent." he remarked.

Kani gazed over them. "And not belonging to any one particular species, either." he said. "I see the tracks for a rat, a squirrel, a mouse, even a fox. Possibly more." he straightened. "That fits, seeing that the followers are a very mish-mashed bunch."

"Think they might still be about?" Charles inquired.

Kani glanced around just in case. "I'm not sure." he said. "If they are, I don't think there are that many of them."

When they returned to where the others were at, however, they saw that the party in question was still about, and had stumbled upon the armies waiting at the riverbanks while Kani and Charles were scouting ahead. Kani had been right though; they weren't great in numbers, totally to about five. Two of them were teachers, a squirrel and a fox, the rest were guards. When they had stumbled upon the encampment if you could call it that, the five were quickly overwhelmed and captured. Melody and Linus had been in the progress of interrogating them when Kani and Charles returned.

"They were out searching for somebeast who had gone missing, thinking that this creature had ran away." Melody explained a little later. "They, of course, weren't expecting to find us instead. I find it curious that they had someone run away, and that he or she seems to have gotten away with it."

"Think everythin' might not be alright in th' liddle ol' sanctuary 'cause of it." Mathoni added, pleased with this new information.

"Anything else new that we learned?" Charles asked.

"Just that they aren't expecting any problems." Melody replied. "And that these five weren't happy to see that the Quorum of Warriors had switched sides while we were away." she turned to glance back at the guarded group of creatures, and at Linus, who was still actively trying to interrogate them. "And that they don't know anybeast by the name of Alexander, apparently. I am not surprised; names aren't relevant with the followers. But I can't get him to see that."

Kani patted the otter on her shoulder. "That's because it's his son that we're talking about." he stated. "And Linus has already made it clear that he won't stop until he has his son safely back where he belongs."

He then stepped over to where the group of captured creatures were kneeling on the riverbank, guarded, Linus looming over them.

"Where is Alexander?" Linus repeated, clearly not for the first time. The squirrel paced back and forth before the group, still fully decked out in armor, and looked frustrated.

One of the two captured teachers, the fox, and apparent spokebeast for the group of prisoners, answered simply, but also annoyed. "I have already told you, I know of no Alexander." he said. "And even if I did, I would not tell a wicked creature such as yourself where he is. If he truly is among our numbers as you suggest, then he has no part in your life anymore."

Offended, Linus moved to strike the creature, but Kani deftly caught the recorder's paw and stopped him.

"Linus, control yourself." the fox instructed calmly. "I know you don't want to, and I most definitely know that you have more than enough cause to. But beating these defenseless creatures senseless for an insult and probably genuinely not knowing something isn't going to gain us anything."

Linus frowned, made a growl, but nodded, and restrained himself, turning his back to the group and walking away. Kani watched the recorder go, then turned back to the group of captured followers. They looked back, with narrowed, determined eyes, clearly not frightened by the fact that they were prisoners and had no hope of escape. Kani sighed, and sat down on his haunches to be more on their eye level.

"If there is anything else of use you could tell us about the sanctuary, now would be the time to tell it." he remarked plainly.

"I have already told you wicked creatures more than enough." the fox teacher spat. "It won't change anything, however. Gemini will not allow you to succeed."

"Yes, so he claims." Kani mumbled to himself.

"Are you the leader of this group?"

"One of them. Why do you care? We're all so wicked, after all."

"Outstandingly wicked, actually, particularly seeing that you have managed to lead away most of the Quorum of Warriors astray to wickedness." the teacher narrowed his eyes at Kani. "I have never seen a greater wicked act before. But you will all be doubly cursed for your deeds by Almighty Gemini for daring to betray him."

"Yes, well, if there's anything I've learned about Gemini these past few days, it's that he's not very good at keeping his promises." Kani said, standing up and stretching. "Last chance to tell us everything you know."

"I believe I already stated I will not tell scum such as yourself our secrets." the teacher remarked bitterly. "You are not worthy to hear them."

"Yes, well, you are not worthy to be a proper fox, then." Kani remarked back, an unnecessary insult, but in Kani's mind, a truthful one. He turned to leave.

"It doesn't have to be like this, you know." the fox teacher stated quickly, making Kani pause again to listen. "There is still time to repent of your sins. All you have to do is confess them, and admit that Gemini has complete control over everything of this world."

Kani glanced back at the captured fox. "I'll do that as soon as you can genuinely prove to me that Gemini even exists." he stated.

"Let me free, and I will." the teacher promised, a venomous look in his eye.

"Try it, and I'll cut you down where you stand."

"Impossible. No wicked creature can kill a teacher belonging to Gemini's order."

"Last teacher to tell me that did die at my paws."

This brought up the fox teacher a bit short. "He must have become corrupted like you, then." he reasoned lamely.

"Then why did I kill him?" Kani asked rhetorically. Leaving the fox to chew on that for awhile, he went and rejoined the others.

"So what should we do with them?" Charles asked curiously as Kani approached.

Kani glanced back at them for a moment, and sighed. "Bring them with, I suppose." he said. "They might still prove to be useful." he turned to the otter commander. "Melody, about how much further until we reach the sacntuary?"

"Not far, a quick, brisk march, and we'll be at their doorstep." the ottermaid replied.

"You make it seem like it's a mere afternoon stroll." Kani remarked, then sighed, stepping forward, the others following. "All right, then. Let's get this over with."