Authors Note: This is a new story that has been quite a long time in the making. It isn't finished, but I'm putting it up to see if there's any interest in it. If there is, I'll continue to update. I've only written three chapters and it takes me a while to write so be patient…^_^ Anyway, I hope you enjoy Perhaps They May and remember…REVIEW! Criticism and flames are welcome. Just tell me what you think.
DISCLAIMER : I own hardly anything. I don't own the idea, or any of the characters except Rosabell. And THANK YOU to the respective owners for letting me tell their stories by Rosa's POV. I don't own Redwall…I wish…
Perhaps They May
Chapter 1:
Thief on a Roll
"HA! Wait? Nah, stuff that! I'm going now!" Rosabell Flikpaw
I take what I want,
Take what I need.
They say it's wrong,
But it's right for me.
I won't look down,
Won't say I'm sorry.
I know that only God can judge me.
"The Young and the Hopeless"
Good Charlotte
Normal POV
Soft paws tip-toed silently over rough floorboards, the walker stifling giggles as they crept towards a tiny door. A small brown paw pressed against the uneven surface of the door as a red flecked, brown eye peered into a sturdy-looking lock. Another paw was raised, a strong, but thin wire grasped in it. The young beast murmured the line they had become famous for by their friends.
"If they don't want it stolen…why do they lock it up?"
Soft sunlight from a window high above the beast shone down upon its back as it set to work, inserting the wire into the lock, an ear pressed against the door as it wriggled the wire around.
The beast was a wolf-girl. Not a large or old one, nothing fancy to look at either. She would probably be around ten seasons old, maybe a bit younger, with sleek brown fur that rose into spikes upon her head. A cream coloured pelt covered her palms and the soles of her bare feet, with a cream tip to her tail.
Yes, she was average. And it annoyed the heck out of her, the only unique features she had was a cowlick that graced the front, left side of her head. It caused annoying pieces of headfur to fall down in front of her left eye, it obviously agitated her by the way she kept on tossing her head but no attempt had been made to pull it back. The other unique feature being her eyes, which were brown. Yes, average, but they had beautiful red flecks that seemed to brighten when she was happy and darken, almost turning her eyes black, when she was angry.
At the moment, her eyes were shining bright as the lock she was picking gave a silent 'click' and the door popped open. The wolf-girl gave a tiny cheer of triumph, pumping her fists in the air above her. She was just about to inspect and claim her prize when she heard a loud 'pssst' noise. She looked up to the window to see the face of a young weasel. The weasel whisper-screamed to her,
"Rosabell! Your dad's coming!"
Rosabell's POV
"Your dad's coming!"
Ahhh! Damn! That's the last thing I need, I do NOT want another month of pot-washing. I leapt to my feet, my prize which I had worked so hard to get forgotten. I looked up to my best friend; a weasel called Violet and just about screamed at her.
"What!? How much longer do I have?"
Violet looked down at me confused. Gawds girl, hurry up. It doesn't take that long to see a beast and tell me where the hell they are! She looked down at me, eyes wide.
"He's almost at the door, HIDE!"
Oh, no. Now I'm dead. I mean, I love my dad and all but he's all about discipline, and perfection. Somehow I don't think a guy who chucks a spaz when the damn beakers in our cupboard aren't stacked properly will appreciate my chosen pathway.
I'm a thief.
Okay, enough thinking, move your tail girl! I run to the door, I have to get to my room. At least then I can act like I didn't do it. I turn down the hallway, almost there.
"Rosabell Flikpaw!"
Uh, Oh…
That voice would belong to Dad. Heh, I forgot that to get to my room, I have to go down the hallway which is attached to the entrance door. Stupid Rosabell, S-T-U-P-I-D! Great, now he's staring at me…don't move, Rosabell. If you move, he'll read you like a book. I slowly turn around and smile up at dad.
"Oh, hey dad. What's up?"
He just glares down at me…gawds, if looks could kill I'd be a goner. He knows, oh gawd, he knows. I'm dead. Okay, I'll leave my little dagger to Violet. Err, and my lock picking stuff to-
"Rosabell, get your tail outside NOW!"
Oh yeah, Dad. I'm in trouble now huh? I walk to the front door, trying to look innocent. But how the hell can I look innocent when he's fixing me with a glare that makes me want to melt into a puddle and die? He walks out after me, still glaring. He tells me to stay put as he walks to the side of the house. Hey? Isn't that were Violet is? She'd better have moved or…
I winced as a loud crashing noise sounded, I couldn't help but grin.
She's gonna be in trouble!
Normal POV
Rosabell's father had walked around the side of the cottage to see Violet perched precariously on top of a wood stack peering nervously through a high window. With a sigh he walked to the base of the pile and gave it a mighty kick. Violet of course came tumbling down, along with the pile of wood. She landed hard on her back, several pieces of wood falling down onto her stomach almost winding her. She looked up to see the semi-amused face of her best friend's father gazing down on her. She smiled and stuttered,
"H-hello, Mr. Flikpaw…what's happening?"
Rosabell's father picked her up and walked her around to the front of the house where a grinning Rosabell was standing.
"I think you know what's happening, Violet. Both you and Rosabell."
He gave a pointed glance at Rosabell who walked over, muttering something about 'child abuse'. When they were both in front of him he opened his mouth and began to speak.
Rosabell's POV
Geez, have you ever gotten a really bad lecture? Well, multiply that be fifty-gazillion and you'll get the one me and Violet are about to get.
"I'm very disappointed in you two…"
Yeah, have I mentioned I have heard it a million times? No? Well, I have. I just about know it by heart now…Ok, after disappointed is,
"You should both know better!"
Yes, Dad. I know better, but I just don't like the aforementioned 'better'. It's boring frankly.
"Especially you, Rosabell. You were taught by me, and sorry to say it but you're becoming a failure…"
Hey, you know the first time I heard that it really hurt. Because apart from the obvious self-esteem crushing thing about calling me a failure, he also implies that Violet isn't as good as me…something which I can say truthfully is false.
"Stealing is not a way of life, and you two have to realize this."
Now THAT is the biggest load of bulldust I have ever heard. I bet I could steal a way of life…easily!
"So, I've decided that if I catch you two stealing again…you're going to get worse punishment than the usual month pot-washing!"
Whoa! Calm down, that was new…Worse punishment? Is that even possible? I look across at Violet and I can see that she is thinking the same thing. I wish Mum was here, she always stood up for us…but she won't be back from the mountains for five more seasons…or was it six? Tell you the truth I can't remember, pretty bad huh?
Finally Dad lets us go…with pot-washing for a month, I swear me and Violet have the cleanest paws in our village. She starts talking whilst we are walking,
"Hey, Rosa'. Do you wanna go to the waterfall?"
I look across at her and see she is staring at me; I look up to the sun and see it's about mid-afternoon, good. Nobeast will be there. I turn back to Violet and smile,
"Yeah, sure! Let's go!"
Normal POV
The young beasts of the village have always liked the waterfall. But two exceptions to that was Rosabell and Violet, they practically lived there. In the morning they would go there to eat breakfast, they would go there after they stole something to split-up their cache. Then in the afternoon they usually relaxed with a swim. Even in the middle of winter when the water was frozen, they went down and tried to run on the ice.
Now they were visiting in the afternoon, a good time to come they had decided. Because most other young-beasts were getting ready for the big evening meal, nobeast was there.
Violet was swimming, Rosabell was just sitting by the narrow stream that ran down the small cliff face. This stream ran for a long way, her father had once told her it came from the north mountains, then ran through a great inland sea before it even reached their village. It then continued south until it was assumed it reached the sea.
Rosabell was now gazing wistfully upstream, she was so absorbed in her thoughts, and she didn't notice that Violet had climbed up next to her. But she was soon alerted to her friend's presence when Violet shook her head, showering Rosabell with water. The young wolf let out a surprised squeak before turning and glaring, aggravated at the weasel.
"Do you mind, Violet?" Violet just grinned at her before sitting next to the wolf-girl on a large, flat stone.
"No, not really. But what's wrong with you? Your zoning out all the time, it wasn't that lecture your Dad gave us because you're used to them…what's wrong?" Rosabell sighed and shook her head, she couldn't lie, Violet knew her too well and would be able to tell. Ahh well, truth is best.
"I miss my Mum…" Violet groaned, this wasn't a subject she really wanted to get into…
"Well, Rosa'. Sorry to say, but you can't do a thing about it. You can only wait until she comes back from the mountains."
"HA! Wait? Nah, stuff that! I'm going now!"
Another groan sounded from Violet, and then turned into giggles.
"Would you like me to get you a fresh pack or will you just use the one you took last time?" The weasel then burst out laughing.
Rosabell scowled, sure, she had attempted to go out on herself before. A few times. Several…Six. But five out of the six she had been found and dragged back, yelling and complaining, by her friends and relentless father. The other time she had forgotten to take anything, Violet hadn't let her forget this, and constantly annoyed her about it even now.
"I'm being serious!" She practically yelled, "I'm going to the North Mountains to find my mother. Then I'll help her with…whatever it is she's doing up there. And I'll come back with her!"
This just caused more laughs to escape from Violet, who was now rolling around in hysterics. She rolled too close towards the edge of the small cliff and fell into the waterfalls plunge-pool below but emerged laughing again. Rosabell just rolled her eyes,
"There's nothing funny about it. I'm leaving. And I won't be coming back for a few good seasons as well!"
Violet stopped laughing and climbed out of the water. She ran behind the waterfall and pulled out a haversack, she threw it roughly at Rosabell who caught it. "Fine," she said. "I'll see you in a few good seasons…or a few short hours."
Rosabell's POV
I angrily shouldered the haversack and walked off into the surrounding woods. How dare Violet take me for a fool like that! I'd show her! I paused and thought about where to go next. All of the previous times I had gone, I had just followed our stream north. But each if those times, I had been caught. I knew from my limited knowledge of the surrounding area (mainly gotten from travellers and elders) that there was a path that ran north to south around three days walk west of out village. That's where I would go!
Now, lesse…the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. I turned my head towards the sun and, with the fading light glaring into my eyes, began my journey.
Three days, straight walking, no problem.