For the first time in weeks, Trillium noticed the sunrise. Brilliant shades of lavender, rose, and orange painted the sky. Colossal mountains standing above the horizon were a deep violet, and droplets of dew sparkled in the golden sunlight. The cool breeze caressed her face, and she was happy to be on the road again.
As she walked through the thickening forest, Trillium became aware of somebody following her. Whoever it was, he or she was not used to tracking someone. Anybeast who had experience in tracking would not be clumsy enough to break twigs or make any other noise. The mousemaid ducked behind a tree and drew her sword. She knew that it was probably nobody dangerous, but she decided to wait until he passed, and then tackle whoever it was. She did not have long to wait.
When the awkward tracker went by, she flung herself from behind the tree to land on him, sword hovering perpendicular to his throat, just a hairsbreadth from his skin. She was surprised to see the grinning face of Daniel, a young Abbeymouse.
"Oh, wow, am I glad to see you," he exclaimed as Trillium stood and put away her sword. She offered a paw to help him up. "I've spent all morning trying to catch up. I've never seen anybody move so fast on a summer morning in the forest."
"What are you doing here?" she queried. "They'll be missing you back at the Abbey."
"No, they won't. Manda told me to go with her blessing."
"Oh, so that's it! You want to become a warrior, so decided to tag along with me. Well, I hope you're ready for a long march.
"Thank you, Trillium, I wouldn't want to learn from anybody else." The warrior maid blushed at the tone in his voice.
"All right, now lets see what you can do. Did you bring any weapons?" She hurried to point the conversation in a different direction.
Daniel proudly displayed his weapons. "A quarterstaff and bow and arrows. Everybeast at Redwall is proficient with those. Oh, and I brought a dagger."
As trillium pinned a leaf to a tree, she gave Daniel some instructions. "Stand back 150 yards, about at that stump. Now, try and hit that leaf. Don't worry if you can't; that's a pretty long shot." But he did hit the leaf, and the arrow stood quivering dead center in the leaf. Trillium cried, "Beautiful! Now, step back fifty more yards, and try again, after I take this arrow out."
Once again, the Abbeymouse hit the target, this time, with the point in the exact same position in which the previous arrow had stood. Now Trillium asked if he could throw his dagger. When he said no, she demonstrated the correct form. Then he tried.
"Well," she said, "you're pretty good at that, but I'd stick to archery. You're amazing!"
"Thanks, Trillium, but--," Daniel began, but his companion cut him off.
"Just call me Trill, if you like," she said, with a rare, shining smile.
"Okay, Trill, but only if you call me Dan. Don't I need to learn paw-to-paw fighting? Or will I ever need something besides my staff and bow?"
"Dan, if you can use that stick half as well as you can shoot an arrow, you're set for life. They must train some fearsome fighting beasts at Redwall. Too bad they don't have an army. Anyway, we need to get on the road. It's getting too hot to stand around and do nothing."
"You mean, we march when it gets this hot?" Dan groaned.
"Of course. When it's hot, nobeast is out to start trouble. The vermin just lay around in the shade somewhere," Trillium explained.
"By the way, when we get to the ocean, are we stopping at Salamandastron?"
"You know of Salamandastron?"
"Every Redwaller worth his salt knows about that," Dan said proudly. "It's the Mountain of the Fire Dragon. A badger lord or lady runs the place, and it is filled with the hares of the long patrol."
"Long Patrol, eh? I met a detachment of them once. My father knew them well-he'd gone to the mountain many times."
"You've actually met those hares?" Daniel was nearly awe-struck. "What did they talk about? Were they on a mission? How many were there? What did they look like?"
Trillium seemed more than a little amused. "Yes, I've met them. They talked about food and were just 'out for a stroll,' as they put it. There were three of them, and they looked like hares. Anything else?" she teased. Her friend obviously viewed the hares as some sort of mysterious band of magic fighters, and Trillium seemed to have gained higher status because of her acquaintance with them.
"Wow, you are so lucky," gushed Daniel.
Trillium laughed a little. "Not really. All they did was eat up my lunch."
****
The evening was cool, and Dan was obviously glad to rest.
"Where do you think we should make camp, Dan?" The warrior was testing her new pupil.
"Um, how 'bout here?" he said, pointing to a pleasant, open grassy area.
"Whatever you say. Dinner is carrot and turnip pasty with blackberry cordial."
"Sounds good." Daniel began to build a fire and set out the bedrolls. Soon they were sitting before a crackling fire, happily eating. The younger mouse fell asleep immediately thereafter, leaving Trillium to sleep sitting up, with one eye open.
****
The mousemaid awoke to Dan's snores and a familiar stench. As she watched through slitted eyelids, a small rat slowly pulled the pack Daniel was using for a pillow from under his head. When his head thumped to the ground, he was just as quickly on his feet, staff in hand. With a hefty crack at the base of the neck and a sickening thud, the rat slid to the ground.
"That's what you get for picking the wrong campsite, Dan." Trillium's voice was stern. "Had that been a whole group, we would be the dead ones now. Luckily, he was just a theif."
Her friend looked as if he had been struck. "Dead? You mean, I killed him?" His voice was small and he began to sweat, for the heavy oaken staff had done its work well: the rat was indeed dead.
"It's okay, everything's fine, Dan," the mousemaid soothed, wrapping a cloak around him and making him drink some warm cordial. "You're in shock, that's all. It happens the first time anybody sees something die, much less kills. I had it, too. But don't worry too much, because if we had given him a chance, that scum would have murdered us, and many innocent beasts, as well. Too bad you're so young, but at least you're older than I was." Dan had stopped shaking and was visibly better.
"Does it always feel this bad?"
"Well, you won't get shock anymore. You didn't get a bad case, so you're lucky."
"Really? I don't feel that lucky. It's a terrible thing to end a life."
"I know, Dan. But that is the warrior's life. By the way, I'm proud of the way you reacted. That was very brave, and could have saved our lives. Now, let's move into that hollow tree and get some sleep."
Once again, Dan was quickly asleep, while Trillium stayed awake, realizing that she nejoyed Dan's company immensely.
As she walked through the thickening forest, Trillium became aware of somebody following her. Whoever it was, he or she was not used to tracking someone. Anybeast who had experience in tracking would not be clumsy enough to break twigs or make any other noise. The mousemaid ducked behind a tree and drew her sword. She knew that it was probably nobody dangerous, but she decided to wait until he passed, and then tackle whoever it was. She did not have long to wait.
When the awkward tracker went by, she flung herself from behind the tree to land on him, sword hovering perpendicular to his throat, just a hairsbreadth from his skin. She was surprised to see the grinning face of Daniel, a young Abbeymouse.
"Oh, wow, am I glad to see you," he exclaimed as Trillium stood and put away her sword. She offered a paw to help him up. "I've spent all morning trying to catch up. I've never seen anybody move so fast on a summer morning in the forest."
"What are you doing here?" she queried. "They'll be missing you back at the Abbey."
"No, they won't. Manda told me to go with her blessing."
"Oh, so that's it! You want to become a warrior, so decided to tag along with me. Well, I hope you're ready for a long march.
"Thank you, Trillium, I wouldn't want to learn from anybody else." The warrior maid blushed at the tone in his voice.
"All right, now lets see what you can do. Did you bring any weapons?" She hurried to point the conversation in a different direction.
Daniel proudly displayed his weapons. "A quarterstaff and bow and arrows. Everybeast at Redwall is proficient with those. Oh, and I brought a dagger."
As trillium pinned a leaf to a tree, she gave Daniel some instructions. "Stand back 150 yards, about at that stump. Now, try and hit that leaf. Don't worry if you can't; that's a pretty long shot." But he did hit the leaf, and the arrow stood quivering dead center in the leaf. Trillium cried, "Beautiful! Now, step back fifty more yards, and try again, after I take this arrow out."
Once again, the Abbeymouse hit the target, this time, with the point in the exact same position in which the previous arrow had stood. Now Trillium asked if he could throw his dagger. When he said no, she demonstrated the correct form. Then he tried.
"Well," she said, "you're pretty good at that, but I'd stick to archery. You're amazing!"
"Thanks, Trillium, but--," Daniel began, but his companion cut him off.
"Just call me Trill, if you like," she said, with a rare, shining smile.
"Okay, Trill, but only if you call me Dan. Don't I need to learn paw-to-paw fighting? Or will I ever need something besides my staff and bow?"
"Dan, if you can use that stick half as well as you can shoot an arrow, you're set for life. They must train some fearsome fighting beasts at Redwall. Too bad they don't have an army. Anyway, we need to get on the road. It's getting too hot to stand around and do nothing."
"You mean, we march when it gets this hot?" Dan groaned.
"Of course. When it's hot, nobeast is out to start trouble. The vermin just lay around in the shade somewhere," Trillium explained.
"By the way, when we get to the ocean, are we stopping at Salamandastron?"
"You know of Salamandastron?"
"Every Redwaller worth his salt knows about that," Dan said proudly. "It's the Mountain of the Fire Dragon. A badger lord or lady runs the place, and it is filled with the hares of the long patrol."
"Long Patrol, eh? I met a detachment of them once. My father knew them well-he'd gone to the mountain many times."
"You've actually met those hares?" Daniel was nearly awe-struck. "What did they talk about? Were they on a mission? How many were there? What did they look like?"
Trillium seemed more than a little amused. "Yes, I've met them. They talked about food and were just 'out for a stroll,' as they put it. There were three of them, and they looked like hares. Anything else?" she teased. Her friend obviously viewed the hares as some sort of mysterious band of magic fighters, and Trillium seemed to have gained higher status because of her acquaintance with them.
"Wow, you are so lucky," gushed Daniel.
Trillium laughed a little. "Not really. All they did was eat up my lunch."
****
The evening was cool, and Dan was obviously glad to rest.
"Where do you think we should make camp, Dan?" The warrior was testing her new pupil.
"Um, how 'bout here?" he said, pointing to a pleasant, open grassy area.
"Whatever you say. Dinner is carrot and turnip pasty with blackberry cordial."
"Sounds good." Daniel began to build a fire and set out the bedrolls. Soon they were sitting before a crackling fire, happily eating. The younger mouse fell asleep immediately thereafter, leaving Trillium to sleep sitting up, with one eye open.
****
The mousemaid awoke to Dan's snores and a familiar stench. As she watched through slitted eyelids, a small rat slowly pulled the pack Daniel was using for a pillow from under his head. When his head thumped to the ground, he was just as quickly on his feet, staff in hand. With a hefty crack at the base of the neck and a sickening thud, the rat slid to the ground.
"That's what you get for picking the wrong campsite, Dan." Trillium's voice was stern. "Had that been a whole group, we would be the dead ones now. Luckily, he was just a theif."
Her friend looked as if he had been struck. "Dead? You mean, I killed him?" His voice was small and he began to sweat, for the heavy oaken staff had done its work well: the rat was indeed dead.
"It's okay, everything's fine, Dan," the mousemaid soothed, wrapping a cloak around him and making him drink some warm cordial. "You're in shock, that's all. It happens the first time anybody sees something die, much less kills. I had it, too. But don't worry too much, because if we had given him a chance, that scum would have murdered us, and many innocent beasts, as well. Too bad you're so young, but at least you're older than I was." Dan had stopped shaking and was visibly better.
"Does it always feel this bad?"
"Well, you won't get shock anymore. You didn't get a bad case, so you're lucky."
"Really? I don't feel that lucky. It's a terrible thing to end a life."
"I know, Dan. But that is the warrior's life. By the way, I'm proud of the way you reacted. That was very brave, and could have saved our lives. Now, let's move into that hollow tree and get some sleep."
Once again, Dan was quickly asleep, while Trillium stayed awake, realizing that she nejoyed Dan's company immensely.