Chapter Five

'Redwall'

Mervo, obviously, did not fit in with the other dibbuns.

To start, he was the only fox. Furthermore, he was quite odd. He did not enjoy eating, playing, or mis-behaving as much as the others. Instead, he spent most of his time on the abbey's lessons, which he found fascinating, and in the archives with the Wiltuds.

Needless to say, the other dibbuns resented him.

Mervo had been hanging by himself, crying, after a few otter dibbuns nearly drowned him in the abbey pond. He was soaking wet and sad, and had walked out of the abbey gates, wanting to find peace in the forest. He found a big oak and leaned against it, and opened his book. It was one of his favorites, of Martin the Warrior, and the wildcats of Kotir. As he read, a thought came to him. What if he could find Brockhall?

He had known others had found it. King Sarengo, Bikkle, Ruggum, Dirva. Truth be told, if he did find it, he definitely would not go in. It was probably filled with adders and such.

He passed the burnt remains of Saint Ninian's. He walked around in it, and a tug of sadness pulled at him. This was a great historical site, but it was burned to the ground. All because somebody had got themselves killed in here.

As he looked, he found an old box on the floor. It had a rusty lock Mervo accidently broke when he picked it up. It must have been fireproof, and Mervo did a quick test to find out how old it was.

Hundreds of seasons old. It must have been there before Luke the Warrior inhabited it. He gingerly opened the box, feeling excited. Inside was an ancient scroll. He unrolled it, finding it to be in a very different language, to his disappointment. He tucked inside the leather bag he used to carry books. He would show it to Uggo and Posy when he got back.

Then he felt something sharp touch his back. He turned and saw a villainous-looking ferret with dark fur holding a cutlass to his back. He let out a whimper of fear.

"Hah. Got you!"

The ferret forced young Mervo into a vermin camp.

"That's a fox," said a dark-furred rat that seemed in charge.

"'e was from the abbey," replied the ferret.

The vermin grinned wickedly at the small fox. All except one. Nightrip instantly remembered Mervo, and Mervo remembered him. They stared at each other, until the dark-furred rat walked up and grabbed Mervo by the arm, and tugged him to a wooden pole, then tied the young fox around.

"I reckon you'll be useful," said the rat.

Redwall

"YOU WHAT?" shouted Abbess Fern.

"I've learned to trust Martin's word. Don't let you emotions clog your wisdom," replied Uggo calmly.

Fern shook her head. "Skipper!" she called.

Moments later, the sturdy otter ran into the archives. "What do you want, Abbess?"

"Send your platoon. Tell them to deliver the message and help Anera once they catch up."

The otter nodded. He called for his daughter, , who was in charge of the platoon.

"Got it, Skip. Just give us a few minutes to pack our bags."

Skipper and the Abbess nodded, but Uggo said, "Please, Fern, this is a bad idea."

Fern shook her head. "No! Uggo–"

"Abbess! Listen, Martin's word is the truth. Believe me!"

Fern sharply shook her head. "They're going, whether you agree or not."

Uggo growled ferociously. "Abbess..."

Fern had never seen the old hedgehog so angry. She carefully took a step backward. "NO! Uggo, what could go wrong? The platoon is already being organized. Skipper's probably sending his best otters. Brookstream, Sturgeon, Tetra, Tench, Rasbora, and the like. Nothing wrong. They'll be gone within the next hour."

Uggo shook his head. "Something will go wrong. I feel it in my quills."

Posy nodded her agreement. "Aye. Trust Martin's words."

Fern shook her head, but then Zeela came in. "Has anybody seen Mervo?"

Erzvin followed. "He's been missing for an hour. We haven't seen him anywhere."

"He was in here earlier. I gave him a leather pouch to hold all his books," said Uggo.

"I remember that," said Posy. "He posy carrying so much it looked like his arms were about to break."

"Ask the other dibbuns," said Fern. "They'll probably be playing by the pond. Or frolicking by the trees."

The fox parents nodded and ran off. By the pond they saw three otter dibbuns swimming around. "Have you seen Mervo?" asked Zeela.

One snickered. "No, miss. 'Aven't seen 'Ervo," he replied.

Another laughed. "No, no. I 'aven't seen 'Ervo nowheres."

The third gave a giggle. "'Ervo 'issin. No' anywhere. Mebbe 'e wint fer a swim."

With that all the otters laughed loudly and paddled away. Zeela shook her head and moved on to the next group at the pond. Holly was bullying some squirrelbabes because they couldn't climb yet. When she caught sight of Zeela she squealed in fear and fell back in the pond, soaking herself. The squirrelbabes cheered, and Zeela chuckled a bit.

"Have you seen our son?" asked Erzvin.
"Hmmm? Oh, Nerdo Mervo." asked one of the squirrelbabes.

At the name 'Nerdo Mervo', Zeela almost went berserk again, but controlled herself. "Yes. Where is he?"

"Pwobabwy weading somewheres," said one squirrelbabe.

"In 'is dorm," said another, "or-"

A loud voice interrupted the mousebabe. "Abbeyfolk! I am Darkblood the rat. I declare war on this abbey. And, I have a hostage..."

Zeela, Erzvin, and a few others ran to the top of the wall. At the bottom, bound and gagged to a stake, was Mervo, tears streaming down his face.

oooooooooooooooooo (A few hours later)

The bells rang, symbolizing war coming. The gates opened for what would be the last in a long time. Woodlanders poured through them, trying to get inside. Four were shot down by the vermin, though they dared not charge yet.

Then the gates shut.

War was in Mossflower!

The Great South Stream

Anera was enjoying herself immensely. She sat happily in her boat. The little thing completely bypassed the vermin camp she saw. Uggo had given her some books, but most of the she spent sightseeing. Blaggut's design was so simple, she really did not have to worry about letting the little boat go awry.

She had never been this far from the abbey; Fern had been too overprotective. She loved the smoothness of the river, the beauty of the forest, and the overall joy she was feeling.

Life was good.

Brookstream and the otters were enjoying themselves immensely. They sung otter tunes, had hotroot eating contests, and more. Their boat was fairly fast, and would catch up to Anera quickly.

"There she is!" called an otter named Sturgeon.

Sure enough, Anera's small boat was just ahead. Then they would get help from Salamandastron and save the abbey.

Life was good.

Mossflower Woods

Fyron, the ferret that caught Mervo, and had recently been promoted to captain, was enjoying himself immensely. He enjoyed his newfound power. After just a little bit, he heard some songs.

He looked through the trees to the river. An otter shop was moving quickly downstream. He smiled. This was his chance to prove Darkblood was right to promote him. He pointed at his platoon. "Everybody, get bows and go downstream. Get ready to shoot at that boat. I think it might be tailing master Silvertung."

The archers nodded and ran, then drew their bows. A few seconds later he heard twangs, coupled with otter's screams.

Life was good.