CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR, MUTINY
"Hah," Cravvu sneered, having just finished reading the note that Galea had jotted down. "Stupid Redwallers, not making an attack plan!" He threw back his head and laughed, his yellowing fangs glinting in the rising sun. Galea's friend, Zinkula the marten, looked up from the dandelion roots she was cooking over the breakfast fire.
"Aye, they may be stupid by not makin' an attack plan, but they're quick on wit and long on courage." Zinkula added some sharp cheddar cheese to her dandelion roots. She bit into them, then spat out the roots and decided to eat the meager offering of cheese instead. "They'll give a good fight, Crav. We could lose many."
Cravvu whirled on Zinkula. "Don't call me 'Crav'!" ordered the fox angrily. "And, sure, they'll give a good fight, but they'll die or become slaves in th' end, won't they? So we can beat 'em if they don' surrender to us."
Cravvu turned away from the marten as she snapped a thick twig with her bare claws.
'We'll see who becomes the leader soon, fox. You may make good battle plans, but do you have the wit, the cunning, the courage to act them out?' thought Zinkula angrily. 'You don't know this, and you never will, but we've been plottin' 'gainst ye. I, Galea, Awlae the fox, and most o' the rest of 'em will win. No one is fully on yer side, Cravvu. No one...except for Jalinx and Kabble!' Zinkula threw the twig halves into the fire and stood up. 'But Galea doesn't need to know that her husband Jalinx is a traitor till there's a blade between his ribs and I'm horde leader!'
Jalinx the rat, Galea's husband, knew that there was a sedition going on. And he was going to tell Cravvu as soon as he could get the fox alone.
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Cravvu stepped in front of the Abbey. The wall guards had been changed. Cravvu saw a large, burly female hedgehog standing in front, glaring at him.
"What d'you want, fox?" snapped down the hedgehog, who was the Cellarhog, Louveenia.
"I need to speak wi' that mousymaid we chased yesterday," called up Cravvu. Louveenia called down an order to somebeast on the grounds. A few moments later, the "mouse" came up to the ramparts.
"What d'you want with me?" called down Galea.
"You defied us. You stole our bread and cheese."
"It got lost when I dropped it!" shouted Galea shrilly.
Cravvu glared through angry eyes up at Galea. "You need to pay for it."
"Never," screamed Galea madly. It was all an act.
Cravvu took out a red scarf and held it in his right paw. He waved it twice.
As though by magic, the forest was flooded with vermin, all baring their teeth, waving their weapons, and jeering insults.
'The red scarf. The red scarf!' thought Galea excitedly. 'He has orders for me!'
"Come down here, or we'll kill the hedgehog," snarled Cravvu. Galea saw ten bows with taut shafts on their strings all aimed directly at Louveenia.
"Alright, alright, just don't kill an innocent beast," cried Galea. "What do I have to do? Get you more bread and cheese?"
"Galea, what are you doing!" cried a voice from the ground. Galea looked down to see the mouse Fryungle glaring up at her. Fryungle seemed shocked that he had yelled at a guest to the Abbey, but he knew that something suspicious was up.
Fryungle climbed up to the ramparts. "Both of you get down!" he ordered. Both of them immediately ducked. So did Fryungle as a huge hail of arrows and stones streamed towards them. Arrows clattered against the Abbey's red stones, some flying over to stick in the trees and some hissing down to thud into the well-kept grass.
"They'd attack the Abbey more fiercely if I didn't go and give them what they wanted," Galea tried to reason with Fryungle, but he held her down from the arrows and rocks.
"We can fight them, Galea. Well, the warriors can." Fryungle looked around, his ears twitching, trying to pick up sound. The young mouse stuck a paw straight in the air, over the ramparts so that the vermin could see it.
/i "Ow!" shouted Fryungle painfully, bringing down his paw swiftly. "They just shot a rock at my paw. Ow, owowowowow!" He shook the paw vigorously, as though the pain was a crab that had latched onto one of his fingers and he was trying to shake it off.
"'Ere, Fryungle, lemme see it," offered Louveenia. The pompous Cellarhog crawled over to Fryungle. She looked his paw in hers. Louveenia studied Fryungle's paw for a while, prodding fingers and tapping here and there, checking for this and that. Finally, Louveenia nodded. "Yep, 'tis broken, or at least sprained. Y'should go to th' Infirmary and see Brother Marrev. I have to slay vermin."
Fryungle nodded painfully and, crouching to keep his head low, he raced down the stairs, tears of pain welling up in his eyes and the mouse scampered towards Marrev the Infirmary-Keeper, whom was standing out on the grounds, tending to the wounded.
"Hoi, you there, stop!" a voice rang out. Fryungle jerked his head around so forcefully that it felt like something hot was slithering down the inside of his neck, but he ignored it. Galea was streaking across the ramparts.
"'Hold fire!" roared a voice from the vermin horde. "She's gonna come to us." The last arrow ripped through the leaf of a tree and then slammed into an apple from an apple tree, snapping the fruit from the tree and having it whirl across the lawn. The last stone zip right past Foremole's ear, almost taking it off in the process.
Louveenia leapt up and darted past those who were trying to catch Galea, yelling, "iGalea, stop, don't give in to vermin!/i"
Galea leapt over the last two steps of the rampart stairs, hollering back, "I gave them my word. I wouldn't break my promise to anybeast, goodbeast or no!"
'These /i Redwallers!' Galea almost laughed aloud as she thought this. 'When we conquer Redwall, I should become an actress!'
Louveenia began running down the steps, but then, deciding to impress everybeast and to catch up with the rat pretending to be a mouse, she leapt off of the side of the staircase, landing agonizingly on her ankle. She gave a gasp of pain.
Marrev patted Fryungle's uninjured paw – his right paw – and ran over to Louveenia, who was clutching her ankle, pulling a face that looked like she was in great pain.
Without warning, Fryungle's mind went back to the beginning of the season, which seemed ages ago, when he had thought to himself, 'I am the swiftest Abbeydweller. No ottermaid can defeat me. I just come in second all the time because I had been untrained. But I raced Skipper, who beat me last year, as part of my training, and I won against him. I can win.' Fryungle saw a mouse clad in armor standing next to Galea as the "mouse" whizzed past.
"Stop Galea, Fryungle! Save the Abbey," cried the armored mouse.
Fryungle ignored his injured paw as his footpaws lashed at the ground. Fryungle ran lightly and quickly, barely touching the ground. To flabbergasted observers, Fryungle seemed to have both footpaws in the air sometimes as he loped after the running rat.
Fryungle put on an extra spurt of speed and leapt into the air, almost grabbing Galea. The mouse tripped over a stone and fell with a scream. He hit his head on a rock that had been slung by vermin and remembered no more.
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Tyrossa was amazed at the tracking skills of Moonflash. When Tyrossa had pointed out a snapped branch, Moonflash had picked up the branch and sniffed the edge of it.
"Nay, it smells like wildcat. We should hurry out of this area." Moonflash carefully replaced the branch and pointed towards a rock. "See this rock? Well, there are some exposed bugs that I believe used to live underneath this rock and there's not as much dust motes here. These look like hare footpawprints. Let's follow 'em." Moonflash hurried ahead.
Tyrossa was speechless, but Redrudder just laughed.
"Moonflash likes you, matey. She's just showin' off." Redrudder grinned and followed his sister, calling, "'Ey, Moonflash, wot 'bout that pile of leaves? There are more yellows'n reds. Wot d'you think that means?"
Moonflash glanced at the pile of leaves. "Wot it means, thickhead, is tha' somebeast likes red dried leaves and doesn't like yellows! It smells like bankvole. D'you see the small river through the clearing? That's where the bankvole went, smart one!"
Redrudder winked at Tyrossa. "See, she's a good tracker, I suppose, but she does it to impress ye. C'mon, Tyrossa, gotta find a badger and three hares!"
Tyrossa bounded after Redrudder and Moonflash.
() End of chapter. Either chapter twenty-five or twenty-six, most likely twenty-six, will be called "Martin's Prediction Makes Sense". I think that some of you might know what it is about. I love making predictions in stories, with Seers and such, because you can mystify your readers/reviewers and then reveal to them all, and they think, 'Hey, that actually does make sense! Great synonyms!' That makes me happy. ()
)( I know that, in one of these little doodads down here, after el storyo, I did: iXD TYROSSA!/i It might not happen. If it doesn't happen, I will tell you what it is. I've been trying to think about ways for it to happen, and I just got a BRILL idea. Well, see ya on the reviewin' side! )(
"Hah," Cravvu sneered, having just finished reading the note that Galea had jotted down. "Stupid Redwallers, not making an attack plan!" He threw back his head and laughed, his yellowing fangs glinting in the rising sun. Galea's friend, Zinkula the marten, looked up from the dandelion roots she was cooking over the breakfast fire.
"Aye, they may be stupid by not makin' an attack plan, but they're quick on wit and long on courage." Zinkula added some sharp cheddar cheese to her dandelion roots. She bit into them, then spat out the roots and decided to eat the meager offering of cheese instead. "They'll give a good fight, Crav. We could lose many."
Cravvu whirled on Zinkula. "Don't call me 'Crav'!" ordered the fox angrily. "And, sure, they'll give a good fight, but they'll die or become slaves in th' end, won't they? So we can beat 'em if they don' surrender to us."
Cravvu turned away from the marten as she snapped a thick twig with her bare claws.
'We'll see who becomes the leader soon, fox. You may make good battle plans, but do you have the wit, the cunning, the courage to act them out?' thought Zinkula angrily. 'You don't know this, and you never will, but we've been plottin' 'gainst ye. I, Galea, Awlae the fox, and most o' the rest of 'em will win. No one is fully on yer side, Cravvu. No one...except for Jalinx and Kabble!' Zinkula threw the twig halves into the fire and stood up. 'But Galea doesn't need to know that her husband Jalinx is a traitor till there's a blade between his ribs and I'm horde leader!'
Jalinx the rat, Galea's husband, knew that there was a sedition going on. And he was going to tell Cravvu as soon as he could get the fox alone.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Cravvu stepped in front of the Abbey. The wall guards had been changed. Cravvu saw a large, burly female hedgehog standing in front, glaring at him.
"What d'you want, fox?" snapped down the hedgehog, who was the Cellarhog, Louveenia.
"I need to speak wi' that mousymaid we chased yesterday," called up Cravvu. Louveenia called down an order to somebeast on the grounds. A few moments later, the "mouse" came up to the ramparts.
"What d'you want with me?" called down Galea.
"You defied us. You stole our bread and cheese."
"It got lost when I dropped it!" shouted Galea shrilly.
Cravvu glared through angry eyes up at Galea. "You need to pay for it."
"Never," screamed Galea madly. It was all an act.
Cravvu took out a red scarf and held it in his right paw. He waved it twice.
As though by magic, the forest was flooded with vermin, all baring their teeth, waving their weapons, and jeering insults.
'The red scarf. The red scarf!' thought Galea excitedly. 'He has orders for me!'
"Come down here, or we'll kill the hedgehog," snarled Cravvu. Galea saw ten bows with taut shafts on their strings all aimed directly at Louveenia.
"Alright, alright, just don't kill an innocent beast," cried Galea. "What do I have to do? Get you more bread and cheese?"
"Galea, what are you doing!" cried a voice from the ground. Galea looked down to see the mouse Fryungle glaring up at her. Fryungle seemed shocked that he had yelled at a guest to the Abbey, but he knew that something suspicious was up.
Fryungle climbed up to the ramparts. "Both of you get down!" he ordered. Both of them immediately ducked. So did Fryungle as a huge hail of arrows and stones streamed towards them. Arrows clattered against the Abbey's red stones, some flying over to stick in the trees and some hissing down to thud into the well-kept grass.
"They'd attack the Abbey more fiercely if I didn't go and give them what they wanted," Galea tried to reason with Fryungle, but he held her down from the arrows and rocks.
"We can fight them, Galea. Well, the warriors can." Fryungle looked around, his ears twitching, trying to pick up sound. The young mouse stuck a paw straight in the air, over the ramparts so that the vermin could see it.
/i "Ow!" shouted Fryungle painfully, bringing down his paw swiftly. "They just shot a rock at my paw. Ow, owowowowow!" He shook the paw vigorously, as though the pain was a crab that had latched onto one of his fingers and he was trying to shake it off.
"'Ere, Fryungle, lemme see it," offered Louveenia. The pompous Cellarhog crawled over to Fryungle. She looked his paw in hers. Louveenia studied Fryungle's paw for a while, prodding fingers and tapping here and there, checking for this and that. Finally, Louveenia nodded. "Yep, 'tis broken, or at least sprained. Y'should go to th' Infirmary and see Brother Marrev. I have to slay vermin."
Fryungle nodded painfully and, crouching to keep his head low, he raced down the stairs, tears of pain welling up in his eyes and the mouse scampered towards Marrev the Infirmary-Keeper, whom was standing out on the grounds, tending to the wounded.
"Hoi, you there, stop!" a voice rang out. Fryungle jerked his head around so forcefully that it felt like something hot was slithering down the inside of his neck, but he ignored it. Galea was streaking across the ramparts.
"'Hold fire!" roared a voice from the vermin horde. "She's gonna come to us." The last arrow ripped through the leaf of a tree and then slammed into an apple from an apple tree, snapping the fruit from the tree and having it whirl across the lawn. The last stone zip right past Foremole's ear, almost taking it off in the process.
Louveenia leapt up and darted past those who were trying to catch Galea, yelling, "iGalea, stop, don't give in to vermin!/i"
Galea leapt over the last two steps of the rampart stairs, hollering back, "I gave them my word. I wouldn't break my promise to anybeast, goodbeast or no!"
'These /i Redwallers!' Galea almost laughed aloud as she thought this. 'When we conquer Redwall, I should become an actress!'
Louveenia began running down the steps, but then, deciding to impress everybeast and to catch up with the rat pretending to be a mouse, she leapt off of the side of the staircase, landing agonizingly on her ankle. She gave a gasp of pain.
Marrev patted Fryungle's uninjured paw – his right paw – and ran over to Louveenia, who was clutching her ankle, pulling a face that looked like she was in great pain.
Without warning, Fryungle's mind went back to the beginning of the season, which seemed ages ago, when he had thought to himself, 'I am the swiftest Abbeydweller. No ottermaid can defeat me. I just come in second all the time because I had been untrained. But I raced Skipper, who beat me last year, as part of my training, and I won against him. I can win.' Fryungle saw a mouse clad in armor standing next to Galea as the "mouse" whizzed past.
"Stop Galea, Fryungle! Save the Abbey," cried the armored mouse.
Fryungle ignored his injured paw as his footpaws lashed at the ground. Fryungle ran lightly and quickly, barely touching the ground. To flabbergasted observers, Fryungle seemed to have both footpaws in the air sometimes as he loped after the running rat.
Fryungle put on an extra spurt of speed and leapt into the air, almost grabbing Galea. The mouse tripped over a stone and fell with a scream. He hit his head on a rock that had been slung by vermin and remembered no more.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Tyrossa was amazed at the tracking skills of Moonflash. When Tyrossa had pointed out a snapped branch, Moonflash had picked up the branch and sniffed the edge of it.
"Nay, it smells like wildcat. We should hurry out of this area." Moonflash carefully replaced the branch and pointed towards a rock. "See this rock? Well, there are some exposed bugs that I believe used to live underneath this rock and there's not as much dust motes here. These look like hare footpawprints. Let's follow 'em." Moonflash hurried ahead.
Tyrossa was speechless, but Redrudder just laughed.
"Moonflash likes you, matey. She's just showin' off." Redrudder grinned and followed his sister, calling, "'Ey, Moonflash, wot 'bout that pile of leaves? There are more yellows'n reds. Wot d'you think that means?"
Moonflash glanced at the pile of leaves. "Wot it means, thickhead, is tha' somebeast likes red dried leaves and doesn't like yellows! It smells like bankvole. D'you see the small river through the clearing? That's where the bankvole went, smart one!"
Redrudder winked at Tyrossa. "See, she's a good tracker, I suppose, but she does it to impress ye. C'mon, Tyrossa, gotta find a badger and three hares!"
Tyrossa bounded after Redrudder and Moonflash.
() End of chapter. Either chapter twenty-five or twenty-six, most likely twenty-six, will be called "Martin's Prediction Makes Sense". I think that some of you might know what it is about. I love making predictions in stories, with Seers and such, because you can mystify your readers/reviewers and then reveal to them all, and they think, 'Hey, that actually does make sense! Great synonyms!' That makes me happy. ()
)( I know that, in one of these little doodads down here, after el storyo, I did: iXD TYROSSA!/i It might not happen. If it doesn't happen, I will tell you what it is. I've been trying to think about ways for it to happen, and I just got a BRILL idea. Well, see ya on the reviewin' side! )(