Mhera passed out food to the otters, while Friar Broggle served the shrew.
Skipper rubbed his sling absentmindly, as if he were in a trance. Speaking
slowly, he said, "Well, mates, we in deep- there are about five or four
score out there--"
Log-a-log banged her clenched paw on the sturdy wood table. "There was fivescore! And their leader, that searat wearing a green tunic, 'e was yelling to slay us. Aye, mates, we're in deep!"
Mhera shook her head. "Er, some beast have never seen war here. Can you help, Log-a-log and Skipper?"
Skipper toyed with a barley scone. "Abbess, we have never given up a chance to help Redwall. Right, me maties?"
The crew yelled their answer. "Blood and viniger, mates!"
"We'll rudderwallop them!"
"Show 'em the streamdog way!"
Log-a-log nodded. "Yer clan can shout, but ours are better! Log-a-looog!" The shrews heartily replied in loud baritone voices. "Paddles to the vermin!"
"Guosim Guosim Guosim!"
"Log-a-looooooooooog!"
The Dibbuns, some with smocks wrapped around their heads, saw a chance to speak.
"Budd and baffs!"
"Hurr, and choppa off them nosers, hurr aye!"
"Lorra gogga wrooogg!"
Deyna laughed at the babes, who were poking at the air with tails and silverware. "Lookit them, like petals in a gale!"
Skipper caught a molebabe on his heavy and sturdy rudder. "I imagine that they will slay a few in their day!"
ShadowSong smiled at a mouse Dibbun attempting to ride an otter tail of an otter called Veystreak. Veystreak turned, and was seen with a squirrelbabe hitched on his ears. "I tell you, missy, these beasts are savage!"
Mhera and Sicliy sheperded the babies up to the dorms, for night was falling, and the sunset had passed without notice. Skipper looked out the window at the camps and shuddered. "A hundred beasts. We can't fight that much. How much do we have, Log-a-log?"
Log-a-log glanced over at her tribe. "We have about fifty, counting me. Yore crew is about... oh say thirty, plus a few helping Redwallers, we have about ninty beasts. That's the lot, Skipper."
Skipper stared at the glimmering campfires with solemness. "Ninty. From the tops of the battlements we can snip with bows and slings, but hand to hand combat--"
ShadowSong waved a black paw. "I'm joining in too. I can't avenge my family and pack without vermin in every step."
Skipper looked at the wolf maid, really looking. She had a gray tunic on, and carried many weapons. Skipper saw determined eyes and many fights under her belt. The glaive she held at ease, though the blade was sharp and had the impression of a battle worn weapon. He bowed. "Yore pack?"
"MoonSky wolf pack. They were slain, by the Juskabor."
Skipper nodded. "Juska. Me mate Deyna saw'em once, dincha?"
Deyna, instead of telling the story of capture and escape from the Juskarath, he told her the whole story, from the fjord meeting to when Russano came. She sat through the whole thing listening.
"You are the Taggerung? The one that slew a giant eel and defeated Vallug Bowbeast?" Tales like that traveled far.
Deyna laughed. "Slew a giant eel? Hah, it was normal sized."
Nimbalo, sampling a mint potato and cheese sauce playfully thumped the former Taggerung on the head then slumped down in a seat. "He just wore it out, it was really me who slew it!"
Deyna pushed him off the chair. "Nimbalo the Slayer, you are a dreadful liar!"
Nimbalo popped up from underneath Deyna's chair. "Not really. I was a horrible liar, but someone slayed me, and now I'm a dreadful liar."
A rat named Rukkug who fired the arrow that nearly caught Log-a-log stamped down on a dry pine twig. "I almost got that shrew with an arrer!"
Suru, pushing a stray twig in the fire, laughed dully. "Almost? Yew missed, and a miss is a good as a league off!"
Rukkug scoffed. "This Redwall place ain't worth is. Lookit us, living off the land while we could be out'n the sea!"
Cuttail protested. "We don't have no ship! What now, Rukkug?"
Rukkug had an idea forming. "We asks the stoopid mice for some building stuff. When dey comes, we slay most them and take a few beasts to build our ship. Mebbe some of us could rule Redwall!"
Suru nodded, but had a sarcastic reply. "Oh, a grand ould idea, but did yer see the otters and squirrels? There was a wolf up there!"
Cuttail shook his dirty head, picking an apple off the ground and spearing it one a sharp stick. "They die as easily as anybeast. My grandfather saw a wolf once. It didn't do nothing to 'im!"
Suru, stabbing a pear, asked a very sarcastic reply. "And did 'e find himself eated after that, or was the youse stoopid brain forgetting somethin!"
ShadowSong and Deyna were training the normally docile Redwallers in combat. There was a full armory in the belltower, and even great amounts of pebbles near the Abbey pond.
ShadowSong shook her furry black head. "Sister Rosabel, the lance end points the other way."
The squirrel Sister bashfully tilted the tip toward the apple that she was supposed to be aiming at. She pulled her arm back for the throw, but the sleek yew wood slipped out of her paw's grasp. Blushing a deep crimison beneath her fur, she bent down to pick it up.
A slingstone fell to the grass next to her face. ShadowSong grabbed a bow, clipped an arrow on, and swung up and loosed over the battlements. An agonized scream split the air. ShadowSong shot three more, but to no avail. Every beast present heard the shout from Suru. "This is war!"
ShadowSong hooked another arrow on the beeswaxed string, but Deyna placed a paw on her shaft. "Wait. They're slinging stones, because we have rounded pebbles on the Abbey pond area, and this one was sharp and irregular." He turned. "Everybeast inside, it ain't safe nomore out here for a while!" Redwallers quickly streamed in the oaken door, Broggle slamming it shut for the second time that day.
There were two thousand hares on the mountain. Icebright, ignoring all rules, stormed into the widest part of the mountain, the training arena, and shouted, "I want Colonel Jegat, Sergant Rulnear, and Captain Uglar to round up three hundred hares each. Don't stand there all day, do it!"
They officers stood smartly at attention for a minute, then the Badger Lady slammed the door. Colonel Jegat slumped down on a carved rock chair, which was scarred and dented from miss thrown daggers. "Super dooper, wot, we have to round up nine hundred beasts! Where do we start, Rulnear?"
The Sergant snorted. "Easy, old chap. Listen up, wot wot!" He took in a breath, then bellowed: "Listen up, chaps and chappesses! You want to fight in the bally old Long Patrol, eh? You sloppy rabbits need some experience, not chopping away at some fire hole, wot! I want nine lines of a hundred, here, here and here! Euillliiiaaaaaaa!"
A roar exploded from the vast chambers of the dormant cavern. An echo erupted from the sides, detonating everywhere. "Euillliiiaaaaaaa! Euillliiiaaaaaaa! Euillliiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Log-a-log banged her clenched paw on the sturdy wood table. "There was fivescore! And their leader, that searat wearing a green tunic, 'e was yelling to slay us. Aye, mates, we're in deep!"
Mhera shook her head. "Er, some beast have never seen war here. Can you help, Log-a-log and Skipper?"
Skipper toyed with a barley scone. "Abbess, we have never given up a chance to help Redwall. Right, me maties?"
The crew yelled their answer. "Blood and viniger, mates!"
"We'll rudderwallop them!"
"Show 'em the streamdog way!"
Log-a-log nodded. "Yer clan can shout, but ours are better! Log-a-looog!" The shrews heartily replied in loud baritone voices. "Paddles to the vermin!"
"Guosim Guosim Guosim!"
"Log-a-looooooooooog!"
The Dibbuns, some with smocks wrapped around their heads, saw a chance to speak.
"Budd and baffs!"
"Hurr, and choppa off them nosers, hurr aye!"
"Lorra gogga wrooogg!"
Deyna laughed at the babes, who were poking at the air with tails and silverware. "Lookit them, like petals in a gale!"
Skipper caught a molebabe on his heavy and sturdy rudder. "I imagine that they will slay a few in their day!"
ShadowSong smiled at a mouse Dibbun attempting to ride an otter tail of an otter called Veystreak. Veystreak turned, and was seen with a squirrelbabe hitched on his ears. "I tell you, missy, these beasts are savage!"
Mhera and Sicliy sheperded the babies up to the dorms, for night was falling, and the sunset had passed without notice. Skipper looked out the window at the camps and shuddered. "A hundred beasts. We can't fight that much. How much do we have, Log-a-log?"
Log-a-log glanced over at her tribe. "We have about fifty, counting me. Yore crew is about... oh say thirty, plus a few helping Redwallers, we have about ninty beasts. That's the lot, Skipper."
Skipper stared at the glimmering campfires with solemness. "Ninty. From the tops of the battlements we can snip with bows and slings, but hand to hand combat--"
ShadowSong waved a black paw. "I'm joining in too. I can't avenge my family and pack without vermin in every step."
Skipper looked at the wolf maid, really looking. She had a gray tunic on, and carried many weapons. Skipper saw determined eyes and many fights under her belt. The glaive she held at ease, though the blade was sharp and had the impression of a battle worn weapon. He bowed. "Yore pack?"
"MoonSky wolf pack. They were slain, by the Juskabor."
Skipper nodded. "Juska. Me mate Deyna saw'em once, dincha?"
Deyna, instead of telling the story of capture and escape from the Juskarath, he told her the whole story, from the fjord meeting to when Russano came. She sat through the whole thing listening.
"You are the Taggerung? The one that slew a giant eel and defeated Vallug Bowbeast?" Tales like that traveled far.
Deyna laughed. "Slew a giant eel? Hah, it was normal sized."
Nimbalo, sampling a mint potato and cheese sauce playfully thumped the former Taggerung on the head then slumped down in a seat. "He just wore it out, it was really me who slew it!"
Deyna pushed him off the chair. "Nimbalo the Slayer, you are a dreadful liar!"
Nimbalo popped up from underneath Deyna's chair. "Not really. I was a horrible liar, but someone slayed me, and now I'm a dreadful liar."
A rat named Rukkug who fired the arrow that nearly caught Log-a-log stamped down on a dry pine twig. "I almost got that shrew with an arrer!"
Suru, pushing a stray twig in the fire, laughed dully. "Almost? Yew missed, and a miss is a good as a league off!"
Rukkug scoffed. "This Redwall place ain't worth is. Lookit us, living off the land while we could be out'n the sea!"
Cuttail protested. "We don't have no ship! What now, Rukkug?"
Rukkug had an idea forming. "We asks the stoopid mice for some building stuff. When dey comes, we slay most them and take a few beasts to build our ship. Mebbe some of us could rule Redwall!"
Suru nodded, but had a sarcastic reply. "Oh, a grand ould idea, but did yer see the otters and squirrels? There was a wolf up there!"
Cuttail shook his dirty head, picking an apple off the ground and spearing it one a sharp stick. "They die as easily as anybeast. My grandfather saw a wolf once. It didn't do nothing to 'im!"
Suru, stabbing a pear, asked a very sarcastic reply. "And did 'e find himself eated after that, or was the youse stoopid brain forgetting somethin!"
ShadowSong and Deyna were training the normally docile Redwallers in combat. There was a full armory in the belltower, and even great amounts of pebbles near the Abbey pond.
ShadowSong shook her furry black head. "Sister Rosabel, the lance end points the other way."
The squirrel Sister bashfully tilted the tip toward the apple that she was supposed to be aiming at. She pulled her arm back for the throw, but the sleek yew wood slipped out of her paw's grasp. Blushing a deep crimison beneath her fur, she bent down to pick it up.
A slingstone fell to the grass next to her face. ShadowSong grabbed a bow, clipped an arrow on, and swung up and loosed over the battlements. An agonized scream split the air. ShadowSong shot three more, but to no avail. Every beast present heard the shout from Suru. "This is war!"
ShadowSong hooked another arrow on the beeswaxed string, but Deyna placed a paw on her shaft. "Wait. They're slinging stones, because we have rounded pebbles on the Abbey pond area, and this one was sharp and irregular." He turned. "Everybeast inside, it ain't safe nomore out here for a while!" Redwallers quickly streamed in the oaken door, Broggle slamming it shut for the second time that day.
There were two thousand hares on the mountain. Icebright, ignoring all rules, stormed into the widest part of the mountain, the training arena, and shouted, "I want Colonel Jegat, Sergant Rulnear, and Captain Uglar to round up three hundred hares each. Don't stand there all day, do it!"
They officers stood smartly at attention for a minute, then the Badger Lady slammed the door. Colonel Jegat slumped down on a carved rock chair, which was scarred and dented from miss thrown daggers. "Super dooper, wot, we have to round up nine hundred beasts! Where do we start, Rulnear?"
The Sergant snorted. "Easy, old chap. Listen up, wot wot!" He took in a breath, then bellowed: "Listen up, chaps and chappesses! You want to fight in the bally old Long Patrol, eh? You sloppy rabbits need some experience, not chopping away at some fire hole, wot! I want nine lines of a hundred, here, here and here! Euillliiiaaaaaaa!"
A roar exploded from the vast chambers of the dormant cavern. An echo erupted from the sides, detonating everywhere. "Euillliiiaaaaaaa! Euillliiiaaaaaaa! Euillliiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"