Disclaimer: 21 chapters and I still don't own any of this world save my own
characters!
A/N: Thanks for all the support please keep it up!
Chapter 21:
Darkness turned fitfully in his sleep in the dank cellar as a dream played out in his mind. He stood in the Great Hall before the armored mouse who had sent him to Sheede in the first place; Dar looked imploringly at the warrior, "I failed you, Lord."
The mouse shook his head, "Hardly, and your part in this war is far from over."
The wildcat threw his paws into the air, "How can I help anyone from in this cell?!" he demanded harshly, his frustration finally showing through. The mouse gave him a calm look that cooled Darkness' heated anger instantly.
"I never said you would remain in here, Cat." Suddenly the dream hall began to meld and shift but the mouse's voice continued with a soft urgency, "Cat, cat!" The tone began to flow into a more feminine tone and Darkness was tossed in to wakefulness.
"Cat!" the soft voice called again, he looked over to the small wooden flap at the bottom of the door where food could be thrust in. Behind the usual tray of stale water and gruel he could the bright, intelligent eyes of a young squirrel.
Young Brokle, had been eager to let Marcy take his turn at feeding the feared feline in the wine cellar. All the way down the ancient staircase, she was terrified that some guard would see her and be suspicious of what she was doing there rather than Brokle. But it seemed that Death only saw the purpose in meticulously guarding the outside of the Abbey and there were no guards at all in the cellar. There was good reason for this of course, if any prisoners escaped they'd be grabbed instantly once they left the Abbey building. Marcy smirked, good thing this prisoner's not leaving, she thought smugly. When she had reached the cellar door, she peered through the flap at the bottom and at the sleeping form of the fearsome Darkness Shadowstrike. After a few moments of quiet calling she roused the dread cat and found herself stunned to silence as she watched him move. It was like she had breathed life into a shadow. His pale full moon eyes searched the room and quickly locked onto hers. In the space it takes to blink, the cat had lain down on his belly before the flap to look the young squirrel in the face.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" his low velvet voice reached her ears easily.
"I'm Marcy, I came to speak with you," she explained, trying desperately to hid the fact that she was testing him. It was no good allowing him to manipulate her.
Darkness was puzzled by the squirrelmaid's terse response but quickly realized that she had come to help him but she hadn't come to do it blindly. He sought throughout his mind to find something that would prove his integrity to his would-be savior; the dreams, he thought with sudden clarity, surely she'll believe in them!
"I know you're testing me and it's the smart thing to be doing; please believe me, I am an ally. Your warrior mouse has been in my dreams, he sent me to be Sheede's ally!" he told her urgently. He had to admit to himself that though this maid was young she was no fool, when she set her jaw and regarded him through narrow eyes but said nothing. Darkness continued, "Please, I want no part of Death's life of blood, I want to be free and I want to see him destroyed as much as the rest of you!" Marcy's expression stayed as hard as the sandstone the formed the Abbey, Darkness groped for words, "I know I sound false and you cannot look in to my soul to see the truth of my words, all I can give you is my word and beg you to trust me." He fell silent and carefully observed the warring emotions in Marcy's eyes and at length she answered him.
"If you betray us, I will be the one to kill you," and with that her face disappeared even before Darkness could register any relief. There were faint clicks on the other side of the door and within five heartbeats it was open and Marcy had slipped inside with a large basket. "Now, stand right here," she commanded, Darkness happily obeyed, "Listen well Cat and do as you're told. Two nights ago the Skipper of Otters slipped out of the Abbey to meet with the Silvercat and give her our plan." Darkness was desperate to ask what it was but knew she'd never tell and he'd lose any chance of escape, so he reined in his curiosity and continued to listen. "So we're short an otter, thus, I'll set you up as an old otter and the guards'll never know the difference." A thought suddenly occurred to Darkness and he voiced it quietly.
"Won't my lack of presence be noticed here?" Marcy gave him a knowing wink and smiled briefly.
"Knew you was a smart one, I thought of that too." And with that Marcy pulled out a variety of odd bundles of cloth and small trinkets; she moved over to the pathetic sleeping pallet and begin to deftly arrange the items on it. "I present your corpse," she said triumphantly and Darkness felt his jaw slacken. To all intents and purposes the pile on the bed looked terribly like the form of a cat lying down.
"That's brilliant! No one ever comes in because Death doesn't care if I live;" Marcy glowed under the praise of the very more experienced wildcat, "Alright," he continued, "now how do we set me up as an otter?" Over the next few minutes Darkness had his tail wrapped in more cloth to give it a bulkier appearance, his ears folded down and held in place by strong tree sap to give them the small round look of an otter's, there was a blackened shell affixed to his nose, and finally ash applied to his snout to age him.
Marcy gave him an appraising look and nodded resolutely, "You'll surely pass for an otter under this cloak, just make sure to keep your claws hidden and not to twitch your tail too much. Come on, follow close." The squirrelmaid led him out of the cell, re-locked the door and began to move stealthily back up into the Abbey without being noticed.
The plan worked beautifully until they reached the Great Hall and they were stopped by two stoats who looked like they were in the mood for trouble. "Well Rasp, looks like that old riverdog's back," one said with wicked joy.
"Aye Ackly, so he is, heh heh, wonder where e's been?" Rasp answered with a cruel chuckle, before pushing Marcy out of the way. She felt her heart fly to her throat in terror that they'd be discovered so close to safety.
Ackly narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, "Prally shirking from 'is duties!" He prodded Darkness with the butt of his pike cruelly. To Marcy's great relief, he reacted just as an aged otter would.
Doubling over with a muffled gasp he croaked out, "'Ere now cullies, spare sum sympathy for an old 'un" Rasp sneered and made a move to inflict further punishment but was stopped by the curt voice of his superior.
"Heyla! Both of you quit playing with the slaves! Get to yur duties lest I flay the lot of you!" the big ferret barked from across the hall. Marcy and Darkness took their escape quickly and were soon away from anyone.
"Nicely played Darkness," she whispered over to him as they walked to the orchard and gardens where most of the slaves were working on the fall harvest.
"Well I've had practice at being something I'm not and please, Marcy, call me Dar."
Far across Mossflower a great army continued it brutal pace to the Abbey where Death and his evil hid. And hurrying to meet that force head on was the true Skipper of Otters; he was nearly faint with exhaustion but still he walked forward. There was no stopping him from his destination.
Another sun set over Mossflower and the level of tension rose in everyone's bellies. The elders of Redwall were proud of Marcy's actions though they had lightly scolded her and they barely trusted the cat. Any ally was welcome in times like these. Sheede was thinking the same thing as she looked to the stars from her pallet; she suddenly found herself thinking about the gifts that the phantom BadgerWarriors had given her so long ago; perhaps they would prove to be the deciding factor in the oncoming war.
A/N: OoO, the plot thickens even further! But, yeay, Darkness is good! Still like it? Tell me!
A/N: Thanks for all the support please keep it up!
Chapter 21:
Darkness turned fitfully in his sleep in the dank cellar as a dream played out in his mind. He stood in the Great Hall before the armored mouse who had sent him to Sheede in the first place; Dar looked imploringly at the warrior, "I failed you, Lord."
The mouse shook his head, "Hardly, and your part in this war is far from over."
The wildcat threw his paws into the air, "How can I help anyone from in this cell?!" he demanded harshly, his frustration finally showing through. The mouse gave him a calm look that cooled Darkness' heated anger instantly.
"I never said you would remain in here, Cat." Suddenly the dream hall began to meld and shift but the mouse's voice continued with a soft urgency, "Cat, cat!" The tone began to flow into a more feminine tone and Darkness was tossed in to wakefulness.
"Cat!" the soft voice called again, he looked over to the small wooden flap at the bottom of the door where food could be thrust in. Behind the usual tray of stale water and gruel he could the bright, intelligent eyes of a young squirrel.
Young Brokle, had been eager to let Marcy take his turn at feeding the feared feline in the wine cellar. All the way down the ancient staircase, she was terrified that some guard would see her and be suspicious of what she was doing there rather than Brokle. But it seemed that Death only saw the purpose in meticulously guarding the outside of the Abbey and there were no guards at all in the cellar. There was good reason for this of course, if any prisoners escaped they'd be grabbed instantly once they left the Abbey building. Marcy smirked, good thing this prisoner's not leaving, she thought smugly. When she had reached the cellar door, she peered through the flap at the bottom and at the sleeping form of the fearsome Darkness Shadowstrike. After a few moments of quiet calling she roused the dread cat and found herself stunned to silence as she watched him move. It was like she had breathed life into a shadow. His pale full moon eyes searched the room and quickly locked onto hers. In the space it takes to blink, the cat had lain down on his belly before the flap to look the young squirrel in the face.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" his low velvet voice reached her ears easily.
"I'm Marcy, I came to speak with you," she explained, trying desperately to hid the fact that she was testing him. It was no good allowing him to manipulate her.
Darkness was puzzled by the squirrelmaid's terse response but quickly realized that she had come to help him but she hadn't come to do it blindly. He sought throughout his mind to find something that would prove his integrity to his would-be savior; the dreams, he thought with sudden clarity, surely she'll believe in them!
"I know you're testing me and it's the smart thing to be doing; please believe me, I am an ally. Your warrior mouse has been in my dreams, he sent me to be Sheede's ally!" he told her urgently. He had to admit to himself that though this maid was young she was no fool, when she set her jaw and regarded him through narrow eyes but said nothing. Darkness continued, "Please, I want no part of Death's life of blood, I want to be free and I want to see him destroyed as much as the rest of you!" Marcy's expression stayed as hard as the sandstone the formed the Abbey, Darkness groped for words, "I know I sound false and you cannot look in to my soul to see the truth of my words, all I can give you is my word and beg you to trust me." He fell silent and carefully observed the warring emotions in Marcy's eyes and at length she answered him.
"If you betray us, I will be the one to kill you," and with that her face disappeared even before Darkness could register any relief. There were faint clicks on the other side of the door and within five heartbeats it was open and Marcy had slipped inside with a large basket. "Now, stand right here," she commanded, Darkness happily obeyed, "Listen well Cat and do as you're told. Two nights ago the Skipper of Otters slipped out of the Abbey to meet with the Silvercat and give her our plan." Darkness was desperate to ask what it was but knew she'd never tell and he'd lose any chance of escape, so he reined in his curiosity and continued to listen. "So we're short an otter, thus, I'll set you up as an old otter and the guards'll never know the difference." A thought suddenly occurred to Darkness and he voiced it quietly.
"Won't my lack of presence be noticed here?" Marcy gave him a knowing wink and smiled briefly.
"Knew you was a smart one, I thought of that too." And with that Marcy pulled out a variety of odd bundles of cloth and small trinkets; she moved over to the pathetic sleeping pallet and begin to deftly arrange the items on it. "I present your corpse," she said triumphantly and Darkness felt his jaw slacken. To all intents and purposes the pile on the bed looked terribly like the form of a cat lying down.
"That's brilliant! No one ever comes in because Death doesn't care if I live;" Marcy glowed under the praise of the very more experienced wildcat, "Alright," he continued, "now how do we set me up as an otter?" Over the next few minutes Darkness had his tail wrapped in more cloth to give it a bulkier appearance, his ears folded down and held in place by strong tree sap to give them the small round look of an otter's, there was a blackened shell affixed to his nose, and finally ash applied to his snout to age him.
Marcy gave him an appraising look and nodded resolutely, "You'll surely pass for an otter under this cloak, just make sure to keep your claws hidden and not to twitch your tail too much. Come on, follow close." The squirrelmaid led him out of the cell, re-locked the door and began to move stealthily back up into the Abbey without being noticed.
The plan worked beautifully until they reached the Great Hall and they were stopped by two stoats who looked like they were in the mood for trouble. "Well Rasp, looks like that old riverdog's back," one said with wicked joy.
"Aye Ackly, so he is, heh heh, wonder where e's been?" Rasp answered with a cruel chuckle, before pushing Marcy out of the way. She felt her heart fly to her throat in terror that they'd be discovered so close to safety.
Ackly narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, "Prally shirking from 'is duties!" He prodded Darkness with the butt of his pike cruelly. To Marcy's great relief, he reacted just as an aged otter would.
Doubling over with a muffled gasp he croaked out, "'Ere now cullies, spare sum sympathy for an old 'un" Rasp sneered and made a move to inflict further punishment but was stopped by the curt voice of his superior.
"Heyla! Both of you quit playing with the slaves! Get to yur duties lest I flay the lot of you!" the big ferret barked from across the hall. Marcy and Darkness took their escape quickly and were soon away from anyone.
"Nicely played Darkness," she whispered over to him as they walked to the orchard and gardens where most of the slaves were working on the fall harvest.
"Well I've had practice at being something I'm not and please, Marcy, call me Dar."
Far across Mossflower a great army continued it brutal pace to the Abbey where Death and his evil hid. And hurrying to meet that force head on was the true Skipper of Otters; he was nearly faint with exhaustion but still he walked forward. There was no stopping him from his destination.
Another sun set over Mossflower and the level of tension rose in everyone's bellies. The elders of Redwall were proud of Marcy's actions though they had lightly scolded her and they barely trusted the cat. Any ally was welcome in times like these. Sheede was thinking the same thing as she looked to the stars from her pallet; she suddenly found herself thinking about the gifts that the phantom BadgerWarriors had given her so long ago; perhaps they would prove to be the deciding factor in the oncoming war.
A/N: OoO, the plot thickens even further! But, yeay, Darkness is good! Still like it? Tell me!