~
Fish wept over the bloody body of an old grey rat with a long scraggly beard and wearing an eye patch over his right eye. She held onto him as sets of claws shot out of the surrounding darkness, grabbing her. Cruel horrible laughter came from all around her. Fish put her paws over her ears.
'No, stop it! No!' She screamed, hot tears pouring down her face. 'NO!' She threw herself upon the old rat, sobbing. 'NO! DADDY!' There was a loud crack as everything spun out of focus and eventually became black...
~
Fish woke up screaming, waking up Blaggut who startled, tipped over the chair he had been sleeping on and both landed on the floor with a crash. Fish's head poked over the side of the bed, tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes,
'Blaggy, are yer all right?' Fish asked in a strained, panicked voice. Still not fully recovered from the shock of the nightmare. Blaggut rolled onto his back and smiled up at her.
'Bless yer liddle 'eart, matey. It'll take more'n a fall to 'arm yer ol' pal, Blaggy... Hey wot's wrong wid you, Fish, mate?' The grinning face became a look of concern.
Fish wiped her face quickly on her sleeve, 'Nothin', nothin' at all. Twas only a bad dream, Blaggy.'
'Wot about?' Blaggut asked as pulled himself up on the side the bed and sat next to her.
'I don' wanna ter talk about it.' Fish said quickly. 'Twas just a bad dream, tis all. Jus' a bad dream.'
~
Fish sat the beach staring out the seemingly endless blue-green sea infront of her. The ocean was calm but overhead the sky was swarming with grey clouds. Fish could read the weather, it would begin to rain soon. Fish sighed as she drummed her paws on her knee and dug her footpaws deeper into the sand. Fish was waiting impatiently for Blaggut to return with vittles so they could set off. She began singing softly to herself,
'Fifteen searats on a deadrat's chest,
Yo ho ho an' a bottle o' grog.
Drink an' the devil had done fer the rest,
Yo ho ho an' a bottle o' grog...'
Fish closed her eyes and lay back on the sand. A rain droplet splattered on her nose and she looked up to see that she had been right about the weather. Fish propped herself up on her elbows and looked out to sea. The waves were growing stronger and bigger. Up the beach, they crashed onto the rocks in a spray of white foam. But as Fish looked farther out to sea, what she saw struck terror in her heart. A huge black ship on the horizon, sailing towards the cove. Her eyes became wide with fear as everything began to replay in her mind-the nightmare, what she little she remember about her past- Then a looming face resurfaced from deep inside her mind, scarred, ugly and terrible and the ship on the horizon began horribly familiar.
'Oh no...' Fish scrambled up and ran up the beach and into the forest. She had to find Blaggut, they had to get off of there!
~
Blaggut carried an armful of fruit back to the cove. Then a faint voice made him turn around.
'Blaggut! Blaggy! Ware are yer?!' He recognized the voice almost immediately. He followed the direction of the voice. The voice became louder and louder until Blaggut broke through the trees and saw Fish shrieking his name out.
'Yew git a bit lost there, Fishy.' Fish stopped screaming and ran over to him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly.
'Blaggy! We gotta get goin'!'
'Wot's yer 'urry?' Fish looked franticly about as if something was going to jump out of the trees and grab her.
'I, er, ah, jus' wanna get goin'.' She gave a high-pitched nervous laugh, wringing her paws. 'Tha's all. Com' on now!' She grabbed his paw in a vice- like grip and began pulling him along even though it was the wrong direction. Blaggut managed to get his now numb paw free of her grasp and stopped, rubbing his paw. Fish turned to stare at him with huge eyes and put her paws on her hips,
'Wot are yer waitin' fer? We goin' ter this Redwall Abbey place or not?'
'Yer goin' the wrong way. Tis northeast not southeast. An' wot's the rush?' Blaggut crossed his arms and glared sternly at her, determined to get a straight answer about why she was acting so strangely.
'Oh, I, um, er, I'm jus' excited, I guess.' Fish lied, she was a pretty convincing liar. To a vermin of Blaggut's intelligence anyway. He grinned and clapped her heartily on the back, nearly making her fall head over paws.
'Me too, so let's get goin', shall we. We'll get there in time fer dinner.'
~
The huge black ship pulled into the cove. At close inspection, the BlackDeath, was decorated with the bones of slain enemies and with their blood a skull with criss-cross cutlasses had been painted on the sails. At the front of the BlackDeath was the rotting, decayed corpse of an old sea rat.
In the crow's nest, a stumpy, fat searat with patches of fur missing and wearing a red bandanna looked through his eyeglass to the approaching cove. What he saw made his nearly drop his eyeglass over the side in surprise as he leaned as far as he could over the edge without himself falling off, to get a better look. Sure enough, he saw the same familiar pale grey rat on the beach.
'Hellgates, tis 'er all right!' He muttered to himself then he yelled down to the two searats at the helm. 'Cap'n!'
The larger of the two searats, looked up at him irritably.
'Wot is it, Mange?' He snarled.
'Tis 'er! Cap'n! Tis Rogue! It's 'er Cap'n!'
The searat at the helm grinned as he shouted.
'Sure yer ain't seeing things, cully? Mayhap yer had ter much ter drink las' night.'
'No, Scurge. I'd know yer sister from a mile away.'
'Scurge, is right, Mange. Rogue is at the bottom of the sea by now.' The large rat laughed harshly, a cruel and evil smile spreading over his ugly features.
'But Cap'n...'
'Enough! If it really is Rogue, it doesn't concern me in the least. What is one puny, weak little wench going to do to me. But if she does foolishly come across me again I will kill her in more slow painful ways she could ever imagine and she will get down on her knees and beg for me to end her life. It's the Abbey I want!'
Mange watched the rat as it got up, ran up the beach and into the forest.
~
Fish wept over the bloody body of an old grey rat with a long scraggly beard and wearing an eye patch over his right eye. She held onto him as sets of claws shot out of the surrounding darkness, grabbing her. Cruel horrible laughter came from all around her. Fish put her paws over her ears.
'No, stop it! No!' She screamed, hot tears pouring down her face. 'NO!' She threw herself upon the old rat, sobbing. 'NO! DADDY!' There was a loud crack as everything spun out of focus and eventually became black...
~
Fish woke up screaming, waking up Blaggut who startled, tipped over the chair he had been sleeping on and both landed on the floor with a crash. Fish's head poked over the side of the bed, tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes,
'Blaggy, are yer all right?' Fish asked in a strained, panicked voice. Still not fully recovered from the shock of the nightmare. Blaggut rolled onto his back and smiled up at her.
'Bless yer liddle 'eart, matey. It'll take more'n a fall to 'arm yer ol' pal, Blaggy... Hey wot's wrong wid you, Fish, mate?' The grinning face became a look of concern.
Fish wiped her face quickly on her sleeve, 'Nothin', nothin' at all. Twas only a bad dream, Blaggy.'
'Wot about?' Blaggut asked as pulled himself up on the side the bed and sat next to her.
'I don' wanna ter talk about it.' Fish said quickly. 'Twas just a bad dream, tis all. Jus' a bad dream.'
~
Fish sat the beach staring out the seemingly endless blue-green sea infront of her. The ocean was calm but overhead the sky was swarming with grey clouds. Fish could read the weather, it would begin to rain soon. Fish sighed as she drummed her paws on her knee and dug her footpaws deeper into the sand. Fish was waiting impatiently for Blaggut to return with vittles so they could set off. She began singing softly to herself,
'Fifteen searats on a deadrat's chest,
Yo ho ho an' a bottle o' grog.
Drink an' the devil had done fer the rest,
Yo ho ho an' a bottle o' grog...'
Fish closed her eyes and lay back on the sand. A rain droplet splattered on her nose and she looked up to see that she had been right about the weather. Fish propped herself up on her elbows and looked out to sea. The waves were growing stronger and bigger. Up the beach, they crashed onto the rocks in a spray of white foam. But as Fish looked farther out to sea, what she saw struck terror in her heart. A huge black ship on the horizon, sailing towards the cove. Her eyes became wide with fear as everything began to replay in her mind-the nightmare, what she little she remember about her past- Then a looming face resurfaced from deep inside her mind, scarred, ugly and terrible and the ship on the horizon began horribly familiar.
'Oh no...' Fish scrambled up and ran up the beach and into the forest. She had to find Blaggut, they had to get off of there!
~
Blaggut carried an armful of fruit back to the cove. Then a faint voice made him turn around.
'Blaggut! Blaggy! Ware are yer?!' He recognized the voice almost immediately. He followed the direction of the voice. The voice became louder and louder until Blaggut broke through the trees and saw Fish shrieking his name out.
'Yew git a bit lost there, Fishy.' Fish stopped screaming and ran over to him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly.
'Blaggy! We gotta get goin'!'
'Wot's yer 'urry?' Fish looked franticly about as if something was going to jump out of the trees and grab her.
'I, er, ah, jus' wanna get goin'.' She gave a high-pitched nervous laugh, wringing her paws. 'Tha's all. Com' on now!' She grabbed his paw in a vice- like grip and began pulling him along even though it was the wrong direction. Blaggut managed to get his now numb paw free of her grasp and stopped, rubbing his paw. Fish turned to stare at him with huge eyes and put her paws on her hips,
'Wot are yer waitin' fer? We goin' ter this Redwall Abbey place or not?'
'Yer goin' the wrong way. Tis northeast not southeast. An' wot's the rush?' Blaggut crossed his arms and glared sternly at her, determined to get a straight answer about why she was acting so strangely.
'Oh, I, um, er, I'm jus' excited, I guess.' Fish lied, she was a pretty convincing liar. To a vermin of Blaggut's intelligence anyway. He grinned and clapped her heartily on the back, nearly making her fall head over paws.
'Me too, so let's get goin', shall we. We'll get there in time fer dinner.'
~
The huge black ship pulled into the cove. At close inspection, the BlackDeath, was decorated with the bones of slain enemies and with their blood a skull with criss-cross cutlasses had been painted on the sails. At the front of the BlackDeath was the rotting, decayed corpse of an old sea rat.
In the crow's nest, a stumpy, fat searat with patches of fur missing and wearing a red bandanna looked through his eyeglass to the approaching cove. What he saw made his nearly drop his eyeglass over the side in surprise as he leaned as far as he could over the edge without himself falling off, to get a better look. Sure enough, he saw the same familiar pale grey rat on the beach.
'Hellgates, tis 'er all right!' He muttered to himself then he yelled down to the two searats at the helm. 'Cap'n!'
The larger of the two searats, looked up at him irritably.
'Wot is it, Mange?' He snarled.
'Tis 'er! Cap'n! Tis Rogue! It's 'er Cap'n!'
The searat at the helm grinned as he shouted.
'Sure yer ain't seeing things, cully? Mayhap yer had ter much ter drink las' night.'
'No, Scurge. I'd know yer sister from a mile away.'
'Scurge, is right, Mange. Rogue is at the bottom of the sea by now.' The large rat laughed harshly, a cruel and evil smile spreading over his ugly features.
'But Cap'n...'
'Enough! If it really is Rogue, it doesn't concern me in the least. What is one puny, weak little wench going to do to me. But if she does foolishly come across me again I will kill her in more slow painful ways she could ever imagine and she will get down on her knees and beg for me to end her life. It's the Abbey I want!'
Mange watched the rat as it got up, ran up the beach and into the forest.
~