Stones of Serg
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of Redwall, nor any characters created by Brain Jacques. I created all off the characters featured in this chapter, minus the people, titles, or places of Redwall.
AN:Thanks Acoustical Ferret for your review! Do you mean that the hares' scene was better at the end because there was talking or that I got better at the hare speech towards the end? Anyways, thanks and enjoy!
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Fergunn leered craftily across his tent at the two attentive stoats standing across from him. "Trulac an' Malok, corr'ct?"
The stoats nodded curtly. "Tha's us Master Fergunn sir!"
"An' yew two know this area well?"
Trulac, who was the taller of the two, and appeared to be the brighter one, replied in the affirmative. "Tha's righ', Master Fergunn."
"Good, b'cause I've got an imp'rtant 'ssignment for th' both o' yew. I wan' yew to go 'head o' th' rest o' th' horde to make sure there's nobody 'ho can al'rt th' Redwallers o' our pr'sence, unnerstood?"
Trulac and Malok nodded as they replied, "Aye Fergunn sir!"
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Rowan glanced below her to the stoat army camp from her high perch in the tree she was hiding in. 'I wonder where that Fergunn is,' she thought as her black eyes searched the area. 'Ah ha, there's the villain!' she thought excitedly when she saw him exit the middle tent as he shook the paws of two stoats who were leaving the tent as well.
Rowan leaped quietly from her tree and crept silently towards the middle tent, where there was apparently a meeting being held. Rowan went up to the side of the tent with her ear to the material in order to hear better.
"Now, Cap'n Puscust, when we get t' th' fut're fort, I want yew t' take a division wit' yew an' go t' th' eastern side o' th' wall, where yew will create a diversion. Cap'n Wipwol an' Cap'n Lehid will each 'ave a 'andful o' soldiers a' both th' northern an' southern gates. When th' diversion is successfully unnerway, yew will each giv' me a signal tha' lets me know so tha' I an' th' rest o' th' soldiers will know t' use th' batterin' ram on th' main gate. So, are our battle plans fo' th' conquerin' o' Redwall unnerstood?"
There was a chorus of "Aye!"s as Rowan fled speedily from the camp.
'These vermin are planning on attacking Redwall! I must inform them at once!'
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The Skipper of Otters woke up to a beautiful sunrise and he just couldn't resist taking a stroll along the bank of the river Moss, off of which his family and crew's hold was located. As he was exiting the cave, he found his second son Vero awake as well.
"Where are you goin' Father?" he inquired.
"Just out for a stroll Vero. Care to join me?" Skipper asked good-naturedly.
"Really? I'd love too!"
Father and son walked slowly down the riverside, chatting softly about the weather when their seemingly peaceful morning was disrupted by a body falling out of the trees above and landing on Skipper's head.
"Oh dear! Is anyone hurt?" Vero asked hurriedly as he untangled the creature and his father. Once both were back on their feet, the two otters looked down on the newcomer, who turned out to be a squirrel.
"Are you alright Miss?" Skipper asked politely.
The maid dusted her apron off as she replied. "Yes, yes. I'm fine thank you. Are you all right though sir? After all, it was I who fell on you."
Skipper smiled good-naturedly. "Not to worry at all! I've had worse than a young squirrel falling on my head. By the way, I'm Skipper of Otters, and this is my son Vero."
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Skipper and Mr. Vero. My name is Rowan Stonefurl of the Serg Drey. If you'll please excuse me now, not meaning to be rude or anything, but I really must get going now."
"What's the hurry Miss Stonefurl?" Vero inquired.
"Well, there's a vermin army marching towards Redwall Abbey with thoughts of plundering it and I must warn them! Tootles!" Rowan suddenly vanished into the treetops, leaving two very disgruntled and confused otters.
Skipper blinked rapidly, then shook his head and spoke. "Well, gather the family together Vero! Looks like Redwall is in need of our help!"
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Yenno and Quienta stopped for their midday meal by the riverbank. While the vole searched the area for any seeds or fruit they could munch on, the shrew took out his line and tackle and proceeded to fish for, well, fish. "I'll catch you a great big grayling, how does that sound Quienta?"
"Tha' sounds very yummy now, don' it?"
Yenno tensed as he felt cold steel on his throat. Eyes rolling back, he saw a stoat rummaging through his and Quienta's bags. The creature who was holding Yenno captive was a stoat as well. There wasn't a sign of the watervole anywhere, for which the shrew was thankful.
"'Ere now, mousey, yew don' min' if we take this, do yew?" the second stoat asked him with a malevolent grin as he held out the fishing gear.
The first stoat rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Malok, we're no' 'ere t' plunder! We're 'ere t' kill this mousey creature an' 'is companion afore they can warn anyone abou' us! Yew can take the fishin' stuff after! Now, mousey, where's yer lil frien', eh? Where'd 'e go?"
Yenno tried to make an angry face at the stoat and snarled back, "Firstly, I'm not a mouse, I'm a shrew, and secondly my friend is not a he but a she and she is going to get the rest of the shrews to kill you two!"
The second stoat, Malok, laughed hardily at Yenno's response. "Ho, ho! Bett'r watch ou' Trulac! Bett'r no' call 'im a mousey! No, 'e's a shrew! An' 'is lil shrewy g'rlfrien' is goin' t' get th' res' o' them an' kill us! Ho, ho, ho!"
Trulac glared at Yenno scrutinizingly. "I don' believ' yew shrew. There's on'y signs o' two 'ere. No, it's jus' yew and yer frien' 'ere. So, where is she then? Lef' yew 'ere by yersel', eh? Ha, ha, h- Yowch!" Trulac dropped the knife he had held at Yenno's head and clutched his face where he had been hit by a stone.
Malok immediately was on his alert. Though not very bright, he was smart enough and dangerous enough when in a cornered situation. Now he scanned the foliage not to far from the river. "'Ho did tha'? C'mon, show yer lil cowardly face! 'Less yer too scared!"
He suddenly reached up into an oak tree that had shaken slightly and pulled Quienta down, much to Yenno's horror and distress. In his worry over the vole, Yenno was not aware of Trulac, who ambushed him from behind and brought his dagger back to the shrew's neck. Malok held Quienta in a similar fashion. The stoat was laughing manically. "Ha, ha, ha! Caught yer I did! Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho!"
"Aye, an' now we kill 'em! Say yer las' wor's shr- ARRG!"
Once again, Trulac had been hit by a stone. In fact, both stoats were being pelted by rocks and pebbles of different shapes and sizes. Soon both stoats had disappeared, running willy-nilly around and clutching their very sore bottoms.
Yenno and Quienta approached the trees and shouted up their thanks. "Thank you for helping us there!" they said.
"No problem mates!" a voice replied. There was a rustling above their heads and out leapt a young squirrel maid. Yenno and Quienta goggled in astonishment at her.
"You were the one who helped us? But-but how? There was so many stones raining down that we thought it had to be at least ten of you, if not more!" Yenno exclaimed in surprise.
The squirrel blushed slightly. "Oh, why, um, thank you."
Quienta smiled. "Thank you. You were the one who saved us. Thank you a thousand times over Miss..."
"Oh! I'm Rowan Stonefurl of the Serg Drey," the squirrel said.
"Oh, nice to meet you. My name is Quienta Watervole of the Northern Watervoles. My friend here is Yenno Shrew of the Guosim. So, Miss Stonefurl, what brings you here?"
Rowan smiled sweetly as she shook both Yenno's and Quienta's paws. "I'm heading to Redwall. I have to warn them that a horde of stoats is coming to attack them!"
"Oh, we're going to Redwall as well," piped up Yenno. "Maybe we should travel together. You know what they say! Safety in numbers!"
"Yes, I suppose you're right Mr. Yenno-"
"Please, call me Yenno!"
"Well, I'd be delighted to have company, that's for sure. But we must hurry! I fear those two stoats were just the forerunners!"
"Say no more! Let's get on to Redwall at once!"
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Nerum was wrapping up his dinner1 when he heard a rustling in the bushes ahead. Turning to Lefaera Luileur Lecout, who was a pretty young hare maid and the object of Nerum's affection, he inquired, "Did you hear that?"
Lefaera raised a graceful ear up into the air and concentrated. Then, turning to Nerum, she nodded. "Yes, I heard it! Who do suppose it could be, wot?"
Nerum shook his head. "Not sure. Mayhap we should approach the jolly old Sergeant, wot wot?"
Nerum and Lefaera hopped up to Mushat, who was consulting his maps at the moment. "Sergeant sir! We heard a noise over there by the bushes and thought you ought to know about it sir!" Nerum said officiously.
"Thank you Whippscut, for that report. I'll go have a look and see if it's a villainous vermin or a friend," Mushat replied and then crept towards the bushes, where he jumped out and collided with the being hiding behind it. There was a few seconds struggle before both creatures realized what the other was. Sergeant Mushat got off the otter he had ambushed with many apologies. "Sorry there old chap! But then, you can never be too careful these days, can you? Not with stoats and foxes roaming the countryside, wot?"
The otter was very gracious about the whole thing. "Not at all, not at all. Perfectly understandable, Mushat old chap! What was it you said about stoats and foxes?"
Mushat looked at the otter in puzzlement. "How'd you know my name?"
The otter smiled. "Don'tcha remember your old pal Skipper?"
Mushat grinned back. "Skipper? You don't say! Now, what did I say about stoats and foxes? Oh yes, well, you see, we-the Long Patrol and myself- are searching for a certain Fergunn Zlaybeest, who killed my good friend Lord Breekferno."
"You don't say! Why, he and his army are headed to Redwall as we speak! Me and my crew are going there to warn them now! I'm just scountin' ahead."
"Really now? Well, the Long Patrol will join you on your journey, as we are headed for Redwall as well! I'm sure the peaceful Abbey beasts could use our help when those wretched vermin arrive!"
Skipper smiled grimly at his old friend. "I'm sure they could, Mushat. Let me call my crew!" The otter leader gave a large bellow that didn't seem to be any word but more like a jumble of vowels mixed together. Soon there was some more rustling in the trees and a group of otters, both male and female, stood beside their Skipper, and all armed to the teeth with various weapons. After Skipper explained the proposition of the hares traveling with them to Redwall, both forces marched southeast to the red-stoned abbey.
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Footnotes:
1 "Dinner" in this sense is the same as lunch, midday meal, etc. "Supper", then, would be the equivalent of evening meal. Same as in olden times, where they didn't have a "lunch". Just in case you thought it was dusk already.
Yeah, well, that was unexpected. I really didn't see Skipper and his otters joining the story. I had planned to have it hares in this story and otters in the prequel (yes, there is going to be a prequel), but whatever! The otters are here to stay it seems! Well, the abbey beasts can expect a lot of visitors! It seems my characters are joining forces, doesn't it? The Guosim and the Watervoles, Rowan and Yenno and Quienta, the Long Patrol and Skipper's crew of otters, and it doesn't end there folks! Nope, for another group of characters will be meeting in the next chapter! Maybe two! Oh, I can't wait!
Well, until then, review please!
Thanks!
Rowan and Sakura
