Chapter Four
Fangarl pulled her mole fur cloak closer about her shoulders, marching forwards at the head of her army. Of course, under normal circumstances, an army in Mossflower would be noticed, but Fangarl hadn't been so naïve and stupid. She wasn't about to show full force to these pitiful redstone mice yet. She had forced her army to conceal themselves in the brush as they traveled.
Fangarl led the last group heading towards Redwall to the place where she said she would rendezvous with the rest of the horde and camp while she planned their first attack. There would be more than one attack, a first, to get the feel of these woodland creatures and a second to kill.
The ferretmaid was pretty for a vermin, and her middle-aged countenance was only marred slightly by scars. She had always been clever enough to avoid most painful confrontations. Fangarl was a good fighter, but had found that hand to hand combat wasn't always necessary. Stealth tactics were much more convenient.
She chanced a glance behind her, making sure that her horde was keeping up with her. She could hardly see them, though they were visible slightly. You had to look extremely close at the foliage to spot a disguised vermin. Good, the oafs were doing something well for a change!
Fangarl quickened her pace slightly, not particularly caring if anybeast in her horde fell behind. She was determined to get to the redstone house before the creatures that dwelt there found out about her and the sooner her horde arrived at it's destination, the better. Fangarl scanned her surroundings, eyes flicking over the green foliage ahead of her, always on the alert.
The ferret chieftain wondered vaguely how the other groups were faring on their journeys through Mossflower. She had told the horde to spread out, and had appointed different times and places for them to leave at so that there was a less likely chance that they would be discovered. The group that she had taken herself was the one that had left last.
The two other groups had left before her and were well on their way already. She had given one of these to her Captain, Vannin the Ferret, and the other she had given to her other Captain, Erecan the Weasel. Both of these were in line for Second in Command of the horde should she perish. Fangarl had only two Captains, though she had other minor officers to do most of the dirty work for her.
Vannin and Erecan were her number one vermin, her advisors, and her informants of the behavior of the horde. If there was a mutiny, the weasel and ferret didn't take long to find out more. Soon, soon, she could settle her horde down and begin to truly rule until she had the entire woodlands in the palm of her paw!
Of course, she reminded herself, not all of the creatures in Mossflower were peaceful. Otters and Squirrel warriors were abundant. But, she would soon take care of the ruddertails and treewhallopers, and whoever their leaders were. None could withstand the might and ferocity of her horde! None! And if any dared to try, she would squash them as she did so many beetles and ants.
Meanwhile, the ferretmaiden did not realize that she was being watched.
Concealed in the bushes, a hare and an otter watched the progress of the hidden army through wide eyes. Both peered through the foliage, examining every inch of it, counting the vermin and sizing them up without noticing each other. The two creatures had never met in their lives, though their lives would soon be intertwined more deeply than any creature could have guessed was possible.
The otters name was Lucien Streambed. He was a big male otter with smoky grayish fur and a well-built, muscular body. Kyra Longfletch was tall for her species, but this otter was even taller, but not by more than a head. His eyes were not one color, but two, for his left was forest green while his right was ice blue.
The otter was handsome. Very much so, if you ignored the scars that appeared at random places on his body and face. He wore a crimson tunic that had been stained by the green plants of the forest, helping him to stay hidden. He could always wash it later, and staying out of sight was more important now.
The otter's face was large, as was the rest of his body, and his ice blue and sea green eyes peered simultaneously at the vermin that were trying clandestinely to walk through Mossflower. To anyone but a trained warrior, which Lucien was, they would have blended so well into the foliage that they would have passed by unnoticed.
The otter ran a paw through his gray tinted headfur, which stuck up slightly in the back and continued to watch the vermin with anxiety growing in his breast. The otter was uneasy about this traveling mob. No ordinary vermin band would travel thus. Their leaders didn't have the brains to conceal themselves. Besides, it meant that they had a purpose.
What disturbed him even more was the direction in which the vermin were heading. They were walking on a straight course to Redwall Abbey whether they knew it or not. Lucien suspected strongly that they did, and that did not provide any solace for his worries. The Redwallers got on well enough, and he knew that they had allies in the otters and squirrels, who would doubtless protect them against any attack.
Though he was a solitary creature by nature, Lucien Streambed did have one friend. This friend was Swifteye, a squirrel. Lucien had met her long ago, and the two friends had stayed together ever since. However, Swifteye and her friend had parted company a short while ago. She had gone out foraging for food and a shelter for the night.
Upon the warrior otter's back lay his fathers blue fletched arrows, and across his chest and about his waist he wore a brightly colored and beautifully woven fabric that his mother had made for him. In this belt and sash, he wore two circular blades that had also been generous gifts from his well loved but dead parents. These were the only possessions that he had.
Soon, though he did not know of it yet, his destiny would intertwine deeply with the fates of Kyra Longfletch, Skythistle Morningdew, Kilt Fourclaw, Razorfang, Clairethye Windwhistler, and countless other creatures, some that haven't yet entered into this narrative. All too soon, Lucien's peaceful enough and simple world would be disrupted for a second time by hatred, death, loss, blood, and love.
The eyes from just across the way did not see the otter. The creature watched the horde, not noticing anything else. His destiny would also be interwoven into this tale. The strange creature had not forgotten the painful memories that wracked his brain constantly. He would never forget them. He would never forget her.
The hare, for that was the second creature's species, was also male, but older than the otter. This hare, despite his age, was a warrior, and had the look of a creature who had once been of the noblest and most impressive breed of hares. The gallant old hare had dark gray fur covering his body, though it was ridged and matted and rough, the shade dark and morbid appearing.
He was tall, with gray brown eyes and a handsome face, or a face that looked noble, picturesque, and dashingly mature in old age. The hare had indeed been a fine beast at one point, a beast that had made many female hares swoon. The very mature and handsome face of the veteran hare hid many things, things that would make the bravest fall to their knees.
Woodshire Meadowsong was back in Mossflower, back from the high seas. Woodshire hadn't been in his old home, which had been Salamandastron and the surrounding Mossflower country, in seasons upon seasons. He had not returned to Mossflower since his young seasons, when he had been a gallant and foolhardy captain of the Long Patrol.
The hare was back. Back from the time his wife, son, and entire patrol had been slaughtered by vermin. The memory of that day had been one of his worst. After the slaughter that had taken place on that fateful day that had distorted his life, he, the only survivor, had been a galley slave to the vermin that had so carelessly killed the creatures that meant the world to him.
What happened afterwards. . . what happened afterwards was what had changed him for life. Not only loss had distorted him, but his own guilt and decisions had changed him too. What happened afterwards? That was a secret. A secret that he would only let one creature bring into the light, and one he hoped would never be revealed afterwards.
But, the honorable, or so he seemed, Woodshire Meadowsong had not only been blessed with a son by his now long dead wife. He had also had a daughter, and he had named her Skythistle Morningdew. And the whole reason that Woodshire Meadowsong was back in Mossflower was because of this beloved daughter.
The war would be a perfect opportunity for him to get into the Abbey, and close to Sky. If he pretended to warn the Abbeydwellers of danger, then they would let him in. All of his plans would be much simpler. The hare's slightly twisted mind had worked it all out beautifully. All he needed to do now was count the vermin and gather as much information as he could to report to the abbey.
Once he had gotten into the Abbey, his past would unfold before his beloved daughters eyes before she could be allowed to close them. After watching the vermin for a few more moments Woodshire ran from the bush where he had been hiding and dashed off towards Redwall, taking shortcuts wherever he could remember them, determined to reach the Abbey before the vermin.
He was still careful to be quiet though. If he was captured, his plans would all be ruined, and he couldn't let that happen. Not after all the suffering he had endured to find Sky and to tell her the truth. He had to warn them and get inside to Sky. He just had to!
Meanwhile, across the path of Fangarl's army, Lucien Streambed's thoughts were running along very similar lines to those of Woodshire's. His thoughts, however, were a good deal less sinister. He had to get to Redwall as well, if only to warn the good Abbeybeasts. Perhaps he could stay and help them defend the abbey if he was lucky. It would be good to sleep in a warm bed again and to eat some fresh food too.
And so, the otter walked through Mossflower, making his way through slightly more quickly than Woodshire.
Later, Lucien Streambed pounded his fist against the door of Redwall Abbey. The otter had waited, hoping for Swifteye to find him, but she hadn't arrived yet. Lucien wasn't extremely worried about the squirrel. Concerned, yes. Worried, not at all. His confidence in his friend was great. Lucien knew that she could take care of herself.
When no one opened the gate for a few seconds, he knocked again, still louder. Behind him, the foliage rustled. Lucien looked over his shoulder, his paw reaching for a blue fletched arrow from the quiver on his back just in case. A dark, gray furred hare stepped out of the green trees, grinning broadly and waggling his ears in a most comical manner.
He twitched his nose and stepped forwards toward the gate, grinning from ear to ear. "Beastly hot day, isn't it, laddie buck? Very bad weather, doncha know! Redwall has th'best kip fer miles around an' I couldn't help but stop by while I was patrollin' in the area."
Lucien nodded, and smiled. "Aye, hot it is, friend. I too am stoppin' at Redwall, but I've got other business here than pleasure. Some strange things 'ave been goin' on in Mossflower of late, and I've got to make sure that the current H'Abbot or H'Abbess knows of 'em so that Redwall c'n be prepared," the otter paused for a moment to take a breath before continuing in an urgent and informative tone.
"Y'see, friend, I've got to warn the H'Abbeybeasts that a horde of vermin marchin' through these parts. I guess that means I should warn ye too, master hare, seeing as you don't want to run into th'scum durin' yore patrols."
Woodshire nodded as he stood next to the otter. "Well, what a bally odd coincidence, isn't it?" The hare's nose twitched, and his ears stood straight up, pointing towards the high above blue sky, his lithe frame the picture of nonchalant feelings, though he made it clear that he was prepared, every muscle tensed. Lucien took note, as Woodshire wanted him to.
"I saw the scum sneakin' through th' trees very early this morning, doncha know!" The hare continued. "I came here to alert th' jolly ol' Abbess too, eh eh! It is an H'Abbess, y'know, laddie buck. Surprising you don't know Abbess Samara, wot! How strange. Well, I s'pose that theres no harm in both of us warnin' th' dear creatures what they're up against, wot wot!"
Lucien smiled, nodding and opening his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by the opening of the Gatehouse Door. Both creatures turned their heads to watch the great heavy door creak open, and a shadowy figure come into view. A pretty and tall ottermaid with dark fur had been the one who had opened said door, a bow with green fletched arrows in a quiver fitted comfortably on her back.
These she adjusted as she walked out, for they had been moved while she had opened the door. She smiled warmly at the hare and the otter, putting a paw to her lips and signaling them to be quiet in their speech. The two nodded their consent, promising to lower their tones.
"Sorry we didn't answer you before, friends," the ottermaid said sorrowfully. The truth was that not many of the creatures of Redwall had been in a position to hear the knocking. "We've just had a feast last night, and everyone is sleeping it off, even at this late hour!"
The ottermaid grinned rather sheepishly, trying to hide the horrible headache that she had obtained, from too much Damson and Elderberry wine, with a broad and friendly smile. It worked well enough. "Most of us have only just gone to bed. I'm Kyra Longfletch, Skipper o' River H'Otters at your service. And who, may I ask, are you two?"
Woodshire stepped forwards first as Lucien watched, a smile upon his face and his countenance the picture of nobility and friendliness. The hare twirled a paw, making an elegant leg to the ottermaid. "Oh, 'tis a pleasure to be sure, marm," he said in a friendly and respectful tone. "I'm Woodshire Meadowsong, doncha know! Long Patrol Cap'n, or at least, I used t'be. Long story, eh."
"Like Woodshire said," Lucien said, "'tis a pleasure t'meet you, Skipper." Kyra nodded her greeting to the strange male otter as she had done to Woodshire. "I'm Lucien Streambed," he continued, "a warrior of Mossflower, an' we've both come 'ere t'warn you an' th' H'Abbey about th' vermin that are comin' this way. We saw quite a few of them. . ."
With this comment, Kyra cut him off. "Damn! Sooner than Rhyna and I expected," she muttered partially to herself and partially to the two visitors. Grinning slightly, she explained her sudden outburst. Lucien and Woodshire listened intently as the ottermaiden told of her adventures with Rhyna Reguba the previous evening.
"Why don't you two come inside with me while I wake our other leaders," she finished. "I suppose that it's a good thing we had the feast now. All of the important rulers of Mossflower seem to be here. Perfect timing for a council or war, it is. This is something that they'll just have to be interrupted for. Perhaps you two could tell us all you know of the vermin, and help us to plan a retaliation?"
Both nodded, and followed Kyra as she led them into Great Hall and sat them down to wait.
Not that much later, Rhyna Reguba, Kilt Fourclaw, RazorFang Ferret, Skythistle Morningdew, Queen Skystar Sparra, Log-A-Log Raivine, and Abbess Samara, the squirrelmaid mother of Redwall Abbey, had arrived in Cavern Hole to join Lucien and Woodshire. All sat around a great wooden table, Kyra at one end with Lucien and Woodshire facing each other one seat down.
Next to them sat Log-A-Log Raivine, with Skystar perched delicately on the chair opposite her. Kilt and Raze followed, both wearing grave countenances. Sky sat facing Rhyna in the next two chairs with Samara on the end opposite Kyra. All were present, and the meeting was about to begin.
"Now," Samara said to start the meeting, "you all know why we have gathered here." Samara was young for a Mother Abbess, but she was a good one. The squirrel was of slim build, with reddish brown fur. There were a few murmurs throughout the hall. "Good. Now, we will hear Lucien the Otter and Woodshire the Hare speak and tell us what they have seen. Would you do the honor of starting, Lucien?"
The otter nodded and stood up, coughing softly and looking around the assembled group of people. Despite his appearance of slight shyness, he spoke in a loud and clear voice that echoed around the Hall. "Well, I'm afraid I can't tell ye much, H'Abbess..." with that, he recounted all that he had seen and told the council all that he knew.
"I saw 'em, an' then I thought to come warn you Abbeybeasts," he concluded. "They are headin' straight for you, so my guess is that they are well aware of you. Kyra confirmed this guess when she let us into the Abbey."
It was then that Lucien sat down, and Kyra interrupted. "Aye, Abbess. They do know about us! Rhyna an' I were trackin' 'em before the feast yesterday. We ran across about a score of 'em, an' there were two weasels there who were talking to the others. They had apparently been spyin' on our Abbey, marm! An' so Rhy an' I went out an' killed 'em all, or so we thought."
The otter banged her fist on the table, raising from her seat. "We must have missed one of them, an' that one went an' alerted Fangarl to our presence! Now th' vermin scum an' her whole army are almost upon us!"
Skystar Sparra clacked her beak angrily. She, like all female Sparra, was dun brown, though a little larger than most. She was Queen by blood, being the daughter of King Brownfeather, who had died seasons ago. If you traced her bloodlines back far enough, you would find that she was a direct decendant of the great Queen Warbeak of seasons past, a fact of which she was very proud.
"Yes, Ottaskippa! You right to be angry. Wormferret attack our Abbey, so we killum all! Killum all vermin wormscum! Killie um all. Sparra good warriors. Sparra fight for Redwall!" All applauded at this short speech by the brave Sparra Queen.
Rhyna nodded gravely, agreeing with the bloodthirsty little warrior completely. They would have to defend the Abbey. What else could they do? Rhyna was not going to surrender to a great bunch of sniveling vermin cowards. By the Claw, Rhyna would bring in her entire fighting force of squirrels to defend this Abbey!
"Aye, Skystar," she said grimly and resignedly, "we'll kill 'em all an' give those scum sommat to think about, so we will! Now, we've got to think of a way to do it, don't we? I suggest we find out what the hare knows, an' then start plannin' a strategy. How does that sound?"
There were murmurs of approval to the Reguba's suggestion. When they had died down, Woodshire stood up. The hare, though he had other things on his mind, didn't find fault in helping the goodbeasts. His daughter had grown up among them, after all. Besides, he didn't want the Abbey to fall so easily. The longer and harder the war, the easier it would be to get Sky out and to continue with his own plans.
"Well, I really can't tell you much more than Lucien here did," he admitted. "I too saw a ferret, presumably Fangarl or one of her captains, leading an army of camouflaged vermin through Mossflower. I saw 'em an' came here, wot. These vermin aren't to be taken lightly, though. You'll need to defend yourself!"
Kilt nodded and stood on his paws. "Aye, so we will, but the question is how? It's all nice and good to sit here, waiting for Fangarl to make the first move, but we've got to take some action for defense, an' even to retaliate! We'll need to guard the Abbey somehow. Mount watchbeasts, hand out weapons, harvest enough food to prepare for a siege. Redwall's an ideal place to withstand a siege, because of the orchards and all. Raze would know quite a bit about fighting. Former corsair, y'see. Corsairs are always fightin' each other, either fightin' with those of their own crew or with other ships 'n crews altogether. I suggest we ask him. He'd know more than most, anyway."
Raze nodded, standing too to support his friend. Kilt was right. Corsairs did have quite a bit of experience in this type of thing. Raze had always scorned being a corsair. He felt that it set him apart, and that it tainted him somehow. It was something he could never escape. However, for the first time, his experience would be put to good use! He was eager to show that he could fight and plan along with the best of them.
"Kilt is right, mateys," he said enthusiastically. "We've got t'do sommat! So lets stop sayin' that an' start planning! I suggest that we get Kyra an' Rhyna to tell their warriors th' news, an' set a constant guard on the walltops, while we all have our weapons at the ready. Since we're not the ones attacking, there isn't much we can do but wait."
Sky, who had been silent until now, decided that it was her turn to speak. This was rather unusual, since Sky- like most hares- was extremely talkative by nature. Still, Sky had been thinking hard, and had finally realized that reinforcements were right under their very noses! And so, she decided to voice her ideas and thoughts to the others.
"But there is somethin' I c'n do, ol bean!" All eyes and heads turned towards her, waiting for her to continue. "I'll gladly send a message to Salamandastron to ask for some hares to come up here an' help us. We'll need all the help we can get if we're facin' an entire bloomin' horde now, won't we?"
"Aye, an' you can use MacPhearsome to send it, Sky." Kyra suggested. "Give that eagle a message and he'll see that its delivered and be back in time for the fighting. We make a great team, an' I wouldn't fight without him at me side, so I wouldn't!" And so, the friends stayed talking for hours as the Abbey began to stir from the post-feast slumber.