6
It had been about an hour since Curieux left Salamandastorn. Almost the whole time he had been walking to Redwall he kept looking back at the bag he was carrying, which contained the letter he was forbidden to look at. His paw slowly crept toward the bag but he caught himself in time. Just to keep his mind off the letter he started humming to himself. Curieux never left Salamandastorn by himself; it was a little unnerving, but he was grateful to have something else to think about. Curieux stopped to rest for a bit when he lived up to his name, and curiosity took over. Taking a kitchen knife he borrowed (since he hadn't been issued a real weapon yet) carefully cut the seal to the letter and was shocked by what he read
Dear Abbess Mhera
I am sending this letter to you as not a threat, but as a warning. I have warned you about that fox, he is nothing but trouble and in the end he will cause something bad. But you have chosen not to heed my warnings , and if anything bad happens, well I told you so. But to the point because I know you are getting impatient (please excuse my attempt at humor) well this is hard for me to say because I don't want to hurt your family's feeling (with the exception of you know who) so I will try and make this a quick as possible. I shall not set one paw into your Abbey, neither will anyone from Salamandastorn until that fox is gone or six feet under. That fox shall not violate Salamandastorn ground either. If he dose I won't promise I won't kill him, but I will do much worse than break a few of his rib's. Once again the letter isn't meant as a threat but a friendly warning.
Lord Snowfur: Badger Lord of Salamandastorn
Curieux leaned back on the tree and thought "A fox at the Abby; is it the same fox from my dream?"
The sun was starting to set in the distance and the air had begun to chill so he decided to call it a day. In his haste to leave Salamandastorn Curieux forgot to bring anything to make a fire. So Curieux sat leaning against a tree cold, miserable, and munching on a stale scone. The hare's eyes had begun to droop and soon he fell asleep.
Curieux was awoken by the smell of smoke and the sound a two creatures laughing, he slowly got up to see who it was. It was a rat, and the fox that looked like the one from his dreams; or at least he thought it was. The rat turned around and spotted Curieux "Ah Curieux! Why are you sneaking around? Not plannin'on scoffin' any vittles while we are asleep now are you?"
The fox shook his head at the rat "Oh go easy on him, he can't help it if he's hungry; here have this."
The fox said tossing Curieux a scone, Curieux ate it gratefully; it tasted real. Though one thing kept on bothering him; the rat he had never seen, and the fox for only a moment, but why did he feel so familiar with these two, and how did the rat know his name?
Curieux sat down in front of the fire and looked at the fox and the rat, left and right; back and forth. "Hey!? What's a matter? Do we got summtin' on our faces?! Quit jokin around!" said the rat.
The fox got up from his spot and got close to Curieux looking at him and putting his paw on his forehead "Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
Curieux just brushed him off "Bah! I'm fine I'm in the long patrol ya know tough ones those chaps are! Yup toughest you chaps had ever seen. By the way just wondering, umm how long have we known each other?"
The fox put a paw on his muzzle as he thought "Hmmm, well we just met about two weeks ago ever since you helped us back at..."
Curieux picked a perfect time to wake up. But he just got up, threw his paws in the air in defeat and started off for the Abbey.
When Curieux made it to the Abbey it was already late noon and tea time was just over, when a loud knock came from the north gate. Skipper and Rabsire opened the gate and Curieux came in trying to look very militaristic. Marching the way all the important hares did: chest out, arms paralel, long even strides, eyes forward. He approached the Abbes and threw a smart salute "Marm, Private Currieux De Accomplir reporting, with an important letter from Lord Snowfur."
The Abbess was quite surprised; what did Snowfur send a letter for when he normally came to talk something over. Curieux looked at the Abbess pleadingly before giving her the letter "Marm, before I give this to you, please promise you won't be to mad at Snowfur, he hasn't been himself lately, please!"
She sighed and nodded her head thinking that it was just some joke; seeing how Snowfur had always had a good sense of humor. The Abbess opened the letter and read it slowly; Curieux had turned around to look at the Abbey, but he was really waiting for the Abbesses response. He already knew it wouldn't be present because he heard the crumbling of parchment behind him. The Abbess slowly walked around and faced Curieux and said in a cold, angry, evil tone "Get out of my Abbey now!"
Without having been told twice the hare was gone in a flash. As she passed Skipper she said quickly "I'll be in my room, send for my brother and his wife. I want no other disturbances, understood!?"
Skipper dumbly nodded his head, as the Abbess stamped across the Abbey lawn to her room. A few minuets later Deyna and Melina came in. The Abbess was sitting in her armchair and looked toward the doorway; she took out the letter and spoke only two words "Read it!" she said sharply.
Deyna took the letter and read it aloud, his voice got more and more tense after each word "How foolish! Something's different about Snowfur. I don't know why but he's going overboard with this. Mhera what should we do?"
The Abbess buried her head in her hands. There was a knock on the door, and when Melina opened it Methuselah came in; still quite wobbly though he was almost completely recovered. Mehra looked up, shocked to see the last beast she wanted to show the letter to. "I was stretching out my legs when I heard yelling. What's going on?"
Deyna looked to the Abbess, she said nothing, just nodded her head slowly. Deyna handed the letter to Methuselah. He said nothing as his eye's passed over each line, yet he showed no sign of emotion, it was almost as if he were expecting a letter like this. He set the letter down on the night stand beside him and said in a calm tone "I'm going to go back to the infirmary." and just walked off.
Deyna followed Methuselah up the stairs and helped him up them "Methuselah, when you saw that letter were you the least bit angry?"
Methuselah stopped and sat down on the stairs "Well, yes I was a little angry. But if you are trying to ask if I hate Snowfur for all he has done to me, even though I have done nothing to him...well no. No I don't hate him, I don't despise him, I don't wish him any bad what so ever."
Deyna was quite confused by Methuselah pacifism toward the Badger Lord "Why, why don't you hate him. He's hurt you, insulted you, threatened you, and yet you don't care?"
Methuselah shook his head "You've got it all wrong. It's not that I don't care, I certainly do care. The thing is that Snowfur hates me. He hates me so much that he is doing harsh things, he's doing this to try and punish me, unfortunately I am getting you involved to, and I'm sorry....truly sorry. But if I start to hate him then eventually it will lead the clouding of my judgment as well, thus in the end I will end up doing foolish things as well, just to infuriate Snowfur. That is not a life I'm willing to live, and I know deep inside you would have told me the same thing; am I not right?"
Deyna smiled and chuckled to try and liven up the mood "I'll tell you what Methuselah, you're a one of a kind fox."
Methuselah let out a fake sigh of sadness "Let's hope not, if you know what I mean."
The two sat there and laughed for a bit. The mood suddenly changed, Methuselah started to cough a little, then it got more frequent, and more violent; Methuselah's eye's grew wide with fear, and so did Deyna's. Deyna rushed Methuselah to the infirmary. When they got there Sister Siggle wasn't there, Deyna madly rushed around the room as if the devil himself were chasing the otter, franticly looking for something he could use to help Methuselah. He found some old October ale from the party a day ago. Deyna made Methuselah drink the hot drink until he stopped coughing. Methuselah lay down on one of the beds breathing a little heavily.
Deyna sat down on the bed beside him "Whew, you had me worried to death."
Methuselah chuckled "I had you worried to death?! I thought you were going to set the room on fire with that running back and forth." Methuselah said with a scratchy voice.
Deyna ran a paw through the fur on Methuselah's head "You've grown so much. Look at you now, assistant recorder of Redwall. I'm sure that it is a first." Deyna hugged his adopted son "Don't ever leave us...don't listen to what other beasts say about you, ignore them."
Methuselah couldn't find the will to speak; if he tried he would probably break down and cry, so he merely nodded. Methuselah had gotten the last thing he wanted, a reason to look back.
Later that night Methuselah was having trouble sleeping; he was tossing and turning in his sleep. In his dream he was in a beautiful forest, this was a land of plenty. There were trees everywhere, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and a stream with fish. He had a strange feeling, he knew this place, but he didn't know where it was or what was so important about this land. He was walking around gazing at the scenery, there were fox's everywhere, he felt like he knew them, and then there was a bright flash.
When Methuselah's eyes cleared he gasped at what he saw and felt. The forest was on fire, and there were vermin of all kinds fighting a group of fox's. Everything sounded, smelled, and felt real; even the heat from the fire. Then there was another flash, it appeared that the battle was over. It was a horrifying sight, the fire was extinguished but the smell of smoldering wood still filled the air, the lake had dried up, and armor and weapons littered the ground. Everything was gone, or was it? As Methuselah was surveying the damage he found grass. A spot of grass no larger than the Abby pond was left from the carnage, but there were very few survivors. Before the battle Methuselah estimated that there were at least seventy maybe eighty fox's, now he only saw twenty-two. His mind was facing with thoughts.
Meanwhile Abbess Mhera, Dyena, and Melina were sitting outside discussing what they should do. "That poor thing" said Mhera looking through the infirmary window "He has been through so much, now ever since Snowfur met him everything has changed."
Deyna was looking at the stars "Well they say that change can sometimes lead to good things."
The Abbess looked up to the heavens as well "Yes, well so far I haven't been able to see any good in this."
They heard foot steps approaching, it was Rosabell "Am I disturbing you three?" the Abbess shook her head and beckoned the old squirrel recorder to sit with them. The Abbess informed her about everything that just happened to Methuselah. "Well this is quite a problem indeed." said Rosabell. Mhera was getting up to go to bed "Well what do you think we should do?"
Everyone was thinking when Melina thought of an idea "How about we send a letter to Snowfur and try to convince him that Methuselah isn't like the fox's he thinks he is."
They agreed to try the idea, and Rosabell got to work in the Great Hall because she said that she wasn't tired because she had slept in her armchair in the Gatehouse all day.
While Rosabell was working on the letter in the Great Hall, Methuselah was working on another one in the infirmary. When Mehuselah had finished he slipped out of the infirmary and went to the Great Hall. He didn't know why but every time he sneaked around the Abbey he felt like he had to poke his head around every corner, and he had to walk quietly past open doors, if he heard the slightest sound he quickly hid behind something until he was sure it had left, and tonight was no different.
When he got to the Great Hall the only thing he heard was the sound of soft snoring. Methuselah crept over to ever careful not to wake her. He noticed the letter by her paw, so he picked it up and read it "Dear Snowfur..." and that was all "Either she was very tired. Or she said she knew exactly what to write; translation I'll need to think about it." Methuselah couldn't help chuckling a little as he switched the letters.
It had been about an hour since Curieux left Salamandastorn. Almost the whole time he had been walking to Redwall he kept looking back at the bag he was carrying, which contained the letter he was forbidden to look at. His paw slowly crept toward the bag but he caught himself in time. Just to keep his mind off the letter he started humming to himself. Curieux never left Salamandastorn by himself; it was a little unnerving, but he was grateful to have something else to think about. Curieux stopped to rest for a bit when he lived up to his name, and curiosity took over. Taking a kitchen knife he borrowed (since he hadn't been issued a real weapon yet) carefully cut the seal to the letter and was shocked by what he read
Dear Abbess Mhera
I am sending this letter to you as not a threat, but as a warning. I have warned you about that fox, he is nothing but trouble and in the end he will cause something bad. But you have chosen not to heed my warnings , and if anything bad happens, well I told you so. But to the point because I know you are getting impatient (please excuse my attempt at humor) well this is hard for me to say because I don't want to hurt your family's feeling (with the exception of you know who) so I will try and make this a quick as possible. I shall not set one paw into your Abbey, neither will anyone from Salamandastorn until that fox is gone or six feet under. That fox shall not violate Salamandastorn ground either. If he dose I won't promise I won't kill him, but I will do much worse than break a few of his rib's. Once again the letter isn't meant as a threat but a friendly warning.
Lord Snowfur: Badger Lord of Salamandastorn
Curieux leaned back on the tree and thought "A fox at the Abby; is it the same fox from my dream?"
The sun was starting to set in the distance and the air had begun to chill so he decided to call it a day. In his haste to leave Salamandastorn Curieux forgot to bring anything to make a fire. So Curieux sat leaning against a tree cold, miserable, and munching on a stale scone. The hare's eyes had begun to droop and soon he fell asleep.
Curieux was awoken by the smell of smoke and the sound a two creatures laughing, he slowly got up to see who it was. It was a rat, and the fox that looked like the one from his dreams; or at least he thought it was. The rat turned around and spotted Curieux "Ah Curieux! Why are you sneaking around? Not plannin'on scoffin' any vittles while we are asleep now are you?"
The fox shook his head at the rat "Oh go easy on him, he can't help it if he's hungry; here have this."
The fox said tossing Curieux a scone, Curieux ate it gratefully; it tasted real. Though one thing kept on bothering him; the rat he had never seen, and the fox for only a moment, but why did he feel so familiar with these two, and how did the rat know his name?
Curieux sat down in front of the fire and looked at the fox and the rat, left and right; back and forth. "Hey!? What's a matter? Do we got summtin' on our faces?! Quit jokin around!" said the rat.
The fox got up from his spot and got close to Curieux looking at him and putting his paw on his forehead "Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
Curieux just brushed him off "Bah! I'm fine I'm in the long patrol ya know tough ones those chaps are! Yup toughest you chaps had ever seen. By the way just wondering, umm how long have we known each other?"
The fox put a paw on his muzzle as he thought "Hmmm, well we just met about two weeks ago ever since you helped us back at..."
Curieux picked a perfect time to wake up. But he just got up, threw his paws in the air in defeat and started off for the Abbey.
When Curieux made it to the Abbey it was already late noon and tea time was just over, when a loud knock came from the north gate. Skipper and Rabsire opened the gate and Curieux came in trying to look very militaristic. Marching the way all the important hares did: chest out, arms paralel, long even strides, eyes forward. He approached the Abbes and threw a smart salute "Marm, Private Currieux De Accomplir reporting, with an important letter from Lord Snowfur."
The Abbess was quite surprised; what did Snowfur send a letter for when he normally came to talk something over. Curieux looked at the Abbess pleadingly before giving her the letter "Marm, before I give this to you, please promise you won't be to mad at Snowfur, he hasn't been himself lately, please!"
She sighed and nodded her head thinking that it was just some joke; seeing how Snowfur had always had a good sense of humor. The Abbess opened the letter and read it slowly; Curieux had turned around to look at the Abbey, but he was really waiting for the Abbesses response. He already knew it wouldn't be present because he heard the crumbling of parchment behind him. The Abbess slowly walked around and faced Curieux and said in a cold, angry, evil tone "Get out of my Abbey now!"
Without having been told twice the hare was gone in a flash. As she passed Skipper she said quickly "I'll be in my room, send for my brother and his wife. I want no other disturbances, understood!?"
Skipper dumbly nodded his head, as the Abbess stamped across the Abbey lawn to her room. A few minuets later Deyna and Melina came in. The Abbess was sitting in her armchair and looked toward the doorway; she took out the letter and spoke only two words "Read it!" she said sharply.
Deyna took the letter and read it aloud, his voice got more and more tense after each word "How foolish! Something's different about Snowfur. I don't know why but he's going overboard with this. Mhera what should we do?"
The Abbess buried her head in her hands. There was a knock on the door, and when Melina opened it Methuselah came in; still quite wobbly though he was almost completely recovered. Mehra looked up, shocked to see the last beast she wanted to show the letter to. "I was stretching out my legs when I heard yelling. What's going on?"
Deyna looked to the Abbess, she said nothing, just nodded her head slowly. Deyna handed the letter to Methuselah. He said nothing as his eye's passed over each line, yet he showed no sign of emotion, it was almost as if he were expecting a letter like this. He set the letter down on the night stand beside him and said in a calm tone "I'm going to go back to the infirmary." and just walked off.
Deyna followed Methuselah up the stairs and helped him up them "Methuselah, when you saw that letter were you the least bit angry?"
Methuselah stopped and sat down on the stairs "Well, yes I was a little angry. But if you are trying to ask if I hate Snowfur for all he has done to me, even though I have done nothing to him...well no. No I don't hate him, I don't despise him, I don't wish him any bad what so ever."
Deyna was quite confused by Methuselah pacifism toward the Badger Lord "Why, why don't you hate him. He's hurt you, insulted you, threatened you, and yet you don't care?"
Methuselah shook his head "You've got it all wrong. It's not that I don't care, I certainly do care. The thing is that Snowfur hates me. He hates me so much that he is doing harsh things, he's doing this to try and punish me, unfortunately I am getting you involved to, and I'm sorry....truly sorry. But if I start to hate him then eventually it will lead the clouding of my judgment as well, thus in the end I will end up doing foolish things as well, just to infuriate Snowfur. That is not a life I'm willing to live, and I know deep inside you would have told me the same thing; am I not right?"
Deyna smiled and chuckled to try and liven up the mood "I'll tell you what Methuselah, you're a one of a kind fox."
Methuselah let out a fake sigh of sadness "Let's hope not, if you know what I mean."
The two sat there and laughed for a bit. The mood suddenly changed, Methuselah started to cough a little, then it got more frequent, and more violent; Methuselah's eye's grew wide with fear, and so did Deyna's. Deyna rushed Methuselah to the infirmary. When they got there Sister Siggle wasn't there, Deyna madly rushed around the room as if the devil himself were chasing the otter, franticly looking for something he could use to help Methuselah. He found some old October ale from the party a day ago. Deyna made Methuselah drink the hot drink until he stopped coughing. Methuselah lay down on one of the beds breathing a little heavily.
Deyna sat down on the bed beside him "Whew, you had me worried to death."
Methuselah chuckled "I had you worried to death?! I thought you were going to set the room on fire with that running back and forth." Methuselah said with a scratchy voice.
Deyna ran a paw through the fur on Methuselah's head "You've grown so much. Look at you now, assistant recorder of Redwall. I'm sure that it is a first." Deyna hugged his adopted son "Don't ever leave us...don't listen to what other beasts say about you, ignore them."
Methuselah couldn't find the will to speak; if he tried he would probably break down and cry, so he merely nodded. Methuselah had gotten the last thing he wanted, a reason to look back.
Later that night Methuselah was having trouble sleeping; he was tossing and turning in his sleep. In his dream he was in a beautiful forest, this was a land of plenty. There were trees everywhere, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and a stream with fish. He had a strange feeling, he knew this place, but he didn't know where it was or what was so important about this land. He was walking around gazing at the scenery, there were fox's everywhere, he felt like he knew them, and then there was a bright flash.
When Methuselah's eyes cleared he gasped at what he saw and felt. The forest was on fire, and there were vermin of all kinds fighting a group of fox's. Everything sounded, smelled, and felt real; even the heat from the fire. Then there was another flash, it appeared that the battle was over. It was a horrifying sight, the fire was extinguished but the smell of smoldering wood still filled the air, the lake had dried up, and armor and weapons littered the ground. Everything was gone, or was it? As Methuselah was surveying the damage he found grass. A spot of grass no larger than the Abby pond was left from the carnage, but there were very few survivors. Before the battle Methuselah estimated that there were at least seventy maybe eighty fox's, now he only saw twenty-two. His mind was facing with thoughts.
Meanwhile Abbess Mhera, Dyena, and Melina were sitting outside discussing what they should do. "That poor thing" said Mhera looking through the infirmary window "He has been through so much, now ever since Snowfur met him everything has changed."
Deyna was looking at the stars "Well they say that change can sometimes lead to good things."
The Abbess looked up to the heavens as well "Yes, well so far I haven't been able to see any good in this."
They heard foot steps approaching, it was Rosabell "Am I disturbing you three?" the Abbess shook her head and beckoned the old squirrel recorder to sit with them. The Abbess informed her about everything that just happened to Methuselah. "Well this is quite a problem indeed." said Rosabell. Mhera was getting up to go to bed "Well what do you think we should do?"
Everyone was thinking when Melina thought of an idea "How about we send a letter to Snowfur and try to convince him that Methuselah isn't like the fox's he thinks he is."
They agreed to try the idea, and Rosabell got to work in the Great Hall because she said that she wasn't tired because she had slept in her armchair in the Gatehouse all day.
While Rosabell was working on the letter in the Great Hall, Methuselah was working on another one in the infirmary. When Mehuselah had finished he slipped out of the infirmary and went to the Great Hall. He didn't know why but every time he sneaked around the Abbey he felt like he had to poke his head around every corner, and he had to walk quietly past open doors, if he heard the slightest sound he quickly hid behind something until he was sure it had left, and tonight was no different.
When he got to the Great Hall the only thing he heard was the sound of soft snoring. Methuselah crept over to ever careful not to wake her. He noticed the letter by her paw, so he picked it up and read it "Dear Snowfur..." and that was all "Either she was very tired. Or she said she knew exactly what to write; translation I'll need to think about it." Methuselah couldn't help chuckling a little as he switched the letters.
