First Chapter
A/N: Hi Peoples! Thanks for the reviews. I'm new to this place and never imagined that I'd get a review for a prologue! All right now, I can get on with the story. Just a few warnings that I forgot to put in before. If you don't know the story of Mossflower and Martin the Warrior pretty darn well, go and read them before you read this, or it won't make any sense to you in about 1/3 of the story. Plus if you're one of those people who don't like fighting, action, or blood (in which case I don't know why you're a fan of the Redwall books in the first place) I really don't recommend reading any of my stories. Thanks, and now on with the tale! [Ooppps, I forgot. "Cainwen" is pronounced like this- Cane when, but don't say the h in when.]
Some time later, (for Cainwen really didn't keep track of time. Why should she? She often went traveling with creatures that stopped at her house. She foraged for what she needed. She didn't need to know when to plant. And besides, time would go on whether she kept track of it or not) a band of mice dressed in habits walked by her house. She grabbed a small bag, which contained all of her belongings and joined the end of the group.
"Where are you going?" she inquired.
" To where ever we can find a home," replied a young mouse. " Wanna come with us?"
" That sounds wonderful," said Cainwen, always ready to find a way to leave her home, which was a place where the only memories she had were painful.
Cainwen trailed along at the end of the group, where she altered her appearance. She kept the same loose, pale blue dress that she wearing on, but she put on her lilac headscarf and a large creamy yellow apron, which covered almost all of her dress. She always wore a headscarf when she went traveling, to hide a rather large scar, the mark she received when she fell into the ditch.
About a half-hour later, two squirrels escorted the mice that Cainwen was traveling with to a large underground mansion. The leader of the group recognized the badger that greeted them inside immediately. So did Cainwen. She knew many of the creatures from watching through the bushes as she collected berries. She watched as the badger called Bella, greeted the elderly mouse warmly, calling her Abbess Germaine.
After greeting her old friend Bella turned to the mice that stood before her. She welcomed them and then showed them where they could put their belongings. She watched as they passed her into one of the dormitories. Suddenly she stopped one of them, the last to go in, who was not dressed in a habit.
" Cainwen?! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!!!!!!"
Cainwen gave Bella an exasperated look. She was tired of people telling her she was supposed to be dead.
" It's nice to see you, Miss Bella. As you can see, I am quite alive and have been so all of my life," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. All of the Loamhedge mice turned to look at her. Cainwen knew that soon everyone would know about the fact that she was supposed to be dead.
It was a few days later when Cainwen was at diner when she met Martin. She was sitting next to him, and although she knew that a Martin the Warrior was at Brockhall, she didn't know that she was sitting next to him. She hadn't spoken to anyone since she spoke to Bella and she intended to keep it that way. But she need to get some more soup and it was on the other side of the mouse she was sitting next to.
" Excuse me," she said quietly, tapping him on the shoulder. " Could you pass me that soup?"
Martin picked up the soup bowl and passed it to Cainwen. It was then that they met for the first time.
Martin gazed at the mouse that sat next to him. She appeared to be about his age, and she was strangely beautiful. Her fur was a mahogany color with hints of golden brown, and silky. She was thin, and her face was calm. But it was her eyes that caught his attention. They were a little bigger than most, surrounded by long lashes. The color of them was the strangest part. They were a blue that was streaked with gray and they sparkled silvery in the candle flame. They were the kind of eyes that made you feel calm, but gave you the feeling that they would change colors if she changed moods.
Cainwen looked at the mouse that was sitting next to him. He appeared to be about he same age as she. But Cainwen could tell that he had been through great hardship, much like she had.
That night, those two mice talked of many things but never once asked each other about their history. Neither wanted to talk about it.