A/N: Hello I'm back with the next chapter. I forgot to write a disclaimer
for my first two chapters so here it is: I do not own Redwall, the great
Brian Jacques does. Some of the characters are mine though.
Also I would like to flame a reviewer by the name of Agravaine: Methinks
you are a nitpicker and should not worry about those little errors.
Methinks if you don't like this story then don't read it. Me also thinks
that you should try to write a story and see how hard it is to find those
little errors. In other words SHUT UP AND LET ME WRITE.
Any way on with the story.
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Skipper the otter rose early the next morning to do his daily exercises. He quietly tip toed down the hall near the dormitories and slowly opened the door to the Redwall grounds. Once he stepped out he took a deep breath of air and sighed happily. He looked around at the grounds and noticed the many puddles that had formed from the heavy rain.
"Quite a rainstorm we had last night," he said to himself as he walked over to the large heavy gate where Tobias a young hedgehog gatekeeper was sitting on a chair and snoring gently.
Skipper smiled at him and shook him gently. "Wakey, wakey Tobias," he said.
Tobias woke with a start and nearly fell off his chair. "Skipper, you're already ready to go out and exercise? But the sun is barely up and I want to sleep some more, that rainstorm last night kept me awake for quite a long time," he said.
"Oh you can sleep while I'm gone, I'll just yell when I get back, now open the gate for me so I can go out," said Skipper.
Tobias sighed and made a quick stretch before getting up and opening the gate. Once it was opened wide enough, Skipper walked through and said goodbye to Tobias who waved slowly, yawned at the same time and then nearly fell flat on his face.
Skipper, who was always easily amused, laughed at him.
Tobias just grunted at him and shut the gate. He then went straight to his chair and fell instantly asleep.
Skipper continued on his way into Mossflower, once he felt all his bones and muscles were ready, he began a swift jog through the woods.
As he ran he thought of Tobias and how he was so tired, he chuckled at the thought of Tobias almost falling. Skipper was always happy; he would laugh at jokes and silly mishaps. He was a favorite among the dibbuns who crawled all over him when he played with them and would often tell them stories about Martin, Matthias, and Deyna. He was almost like their badger mother or as it should be put, otter father.
Catspaw, the badger mother, liked all the help from Skipper since there were many dibbuns in Redwall at the moment, last time they counted there was at least twenty or so and all of them were very bouncy. How he could handle them sometimes he never really figured out, but at least he had a calm personality or he would have gone insane by now.
While Skipper thought of the fun times he had done with the dibbuns, he suddenly heard a faint cry coming from a nearby rocky area. "Sounds like a traveler coming through the area, I wonder if she wants to stay at Redwall?" he said to himself and went over to investigate.
When Skipper arrived, he saw the horror that lay before him. Rosemary was lying on her back with a huge gash in her chest. Strider was next to her, crying and moaning sadly. His fur was very wet and his little paws were caked in mud.
Skipper ran over and picked him up. Strider felt the otter's warm body and instantly curled up against him. "Poor little Strider, you lost your mother and we have no idea what happened to your father," said Skipper who held Strider tightly. Strider then sneezed violently; Skipper did not like the sound of that. "Oh we need to get you to Redwall before you catch your death of cold," he said and raced as fast as he could back to the abbey.
Tobias was still sleeping when Skipper arrived, but jumped at the sound of Skippers voice coming from the other side. "Are there vermin afoot, shall I get Martin's sword?" asked Tobias. "No just open the door quickly please," said Skipper.
Tobias opened the door as fast as he could and saw the bundle in Skipper's arms. "What is it?" he asked. "It's Strider, I found him a few ways back, his mother was killed by vermin," said Skipper. "Oh dear," said Tobias who followed Skipper into the abbey.
"Do you know if Sister Clarence is up yet?" asked Skipper.
"I have no idea," said Tobias.
"Well she better be, I don't want to see this child die," said Skipper who soon found his way into the sick bay. Luckily for him Sister Clarence was up tending a dibbun mouse who fell out of bed and hit his head.
"Sister Clarence," said Skipper quickly as he walked up to her.
Sister Clarence the infirmary keeper was a squirrel who was very specialized in her work and loved curing dibbuns. When she heard her name, she looked up at Skipper and then at Tobias.
"Oh dearie me, did Tobias get a bad splinter again from trying to open that gate?" she asked.
"No marm, it's worse, I found Strider here in the forest, his mother is dead and he has been out in the rain all night, I don't want him to die from the cold," said Skipper revealing the young badger in his arms.
Sister Clarence looked down in shock. "You mean Rosemary is dead?" she asked sadly.
Skipper nodded sadly. "She had been dead for a while, it looks like vermin stabbed her in the chest," he said.
Sister Clarence looked as if she was about to break into tears. She really liked Rosemary and her kindness.
"You two had just started to become friends too and she hoped that she would see you again too," said Skipper sadly.
Sister Clarence quickly choked back tears and took Strider from Skipper's arm. "I was a friend of her and I will remain a friend to her by helping her child," she said.
Skipper patted her shoulder and walked out to the door. "I'm going to tell the Abbot what happened, I will return soon to check up on him," he said.
Sister Clarence just nodded and took Strider to a table where she began to check up on him.
Skipper and Tobias wandered the hall looking for any abbeybeast that was awake and luckily for them they ran straight into Catspaw who was heading down to the kitchen for some food.
"Good morning Skipper, how was your run?" asked Catspaw.
"Not good marm, I found Rosemary's body by a rock formation, her child Strider was still alive, he's in the sick bay right now," said Skipper.
Catspaw stared at Skipper in shock. "I knew she should have waited to leave until morning, well go get your otter companions and let's go out and bring her back here to bury her," said Catspaw.
Skipper nodded and ran back out to Mossflower woods and to where his holt stayed most of the time. When he arrived, his brother Hunter was up and fishing in the river. Hunter saw him immediately and smiled.
"Hello oh brother of mine, come to help me fish?" he asked.
"Not today, I need your help in bringing back a body to Redwall," said Skipper.
Hunter's eyes widened. "Oh dear who died?" he asked.
"The badger Rosemary, some vermin I believe had killed her," said Skipper.
"I'll go get the others," said Hunter and ran over to the camp were most of the otters were just waking up but were ready to go and help once they had heard.
A while later Skipper and the crew were just about ready to go when Catspaw arrived with a cart. "I told the Abbot what happened and he will be waiting for us when we get back, we can put her in this cart so it won't be too difficult bringing her back," she said.
"That's a good idea, well let's get on with it then," said Skipper who then lead everyone down to the rock formation to get Rosemary.
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Abbot Walter stood by the gates waiting for Skipper and Catspaw to return with Rosemary. A few other Redwallers were there too and most were crying from the terrible news.
Skipper and Catspaw soon arrived with the rest of the otter crew who all held solemn faces and did not say a word when they walked through the gates.
The cart that held Rosemary moved pass Walter who paid his respects by putting his hand over his heart and bowing. When Walter looked at Rosemary, he saw that a cloth was over her which would be used to bury her with. It did not look like she was even under there. He then led everyone to the graveyard where many other Redwallers had been buried.
Digger the foremole had just finished digging the new grave and popped up. "Grave 'olready to be used sir, burr aye," he said.
"Thank you Digger," said Walter who then motioned for Catspaw and Skipper to put Rosemary in the grave.
Carefully Catspaw and Skipper picked her up and lowered her slowly in. Once Rosemary was settled, Foremole began to close the hole until he was satisfied that she was covered enough.
Everyone was quiet for a moment until Abbot Walter began to speak. "We only knew Rosemary for a little while but she brought joy to us all. She was very kind and never showed any anger. May she rest in peace and watch over her son who will never know her, but will learn of her kindness."
Walter finished speaking and everyone stayed were they were, not knowing what to do or say until a hare named Milo spoke up. "Well I'm blinking famished, who wants to go in and have some breakers," he said.
Everyone murmured agreement and walked away from the graveyard to the kitchen where food was waiting on the table for them.
Skipper was hungry but he was more concerned about Strider who he ran up to see.
When he arrived at the sick bay, he burst in and began speaking very loudly. "How is he? Will he live?" He asked.
Sister Clarence shushed him and pointed at the little bundle in a nearby cradle. "He is going to be fine, he only has the common cold, if you would have found him later, he would have caught pneumonia which is very hard to cure," she said in a whisper.
Skipper sighed with relief and walked over to the cradle. Strider was sleeping soundly with one paw sticking out from under the blanket. Skipper picked it up and held it fondly. Strider wrapped his hand around Skippers finger and remained sleeping. Skipper smiled.
"I had a dream about you a few nights ago; I wanted you to live because Martin told me that you would be special. He has big plans for you, he told me. I will make sure those plans are met too," said Skipper who then released his hand from Strider and slowly walked out the door.
"Sleep tight future warrior of Redwall," said Skipper who then silently closed the door and walked down to breakfast.
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There's chapter two for you. Sorry if it was a little slow I just wanted to tell what happened after they had found Rosemary. Please review my story and just to let you know, those who flame my story will be flamed as well in the next chapter the same way I flamed Aggravate or whatever that persons name was. Any way have a nice week, the next chapter will be up soon. Hope you all have fun writing.
Any way on with the story.
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Skipper the otter rose early the next morning to do his daily exercises. He quietly tip toed down the hall near the dormitories and slowly opened the door to the Redwall grounds. Once he stepped out he took a deep breath of air and sighed happily. He looked around at the grounds and noticed the many puddles that had formed from the heavy rain.
"Quite a rainstorm we had last night," he said to himself as he walked over to the large heavy gate where Tobias a young hedgehog gatekeeper was sitting on a chair and snoring gently.
Skipper smiled at him and shook him gently. "Wakey, wakey Tobias," he said.
Tobias woke with a start and nearly fell off his chair. "Skipper, you're already ready to go out and exercise? But the sun is barely up and I want to sleep some more, that rainstorm last night kept me awake for quite a long time," he said.
"Oh you can sleep while I'm gone, I'll just yell when I get back, now open the gate for me so I can go out," said Skipper.
Tobias sighed and made a quick stretch before getting up and opening the gate. Once it was opened wide enough, Skipper walked through and said goodbye to Tobias who waved slowly, yawned at the same time and then nearly fell flat on his face.
Skipper, who was always easily amused, laughed at him.
Tobias just grunted at him and shut the gate. He then went straight to his chair and fell instantly asleep.
Skipper continued on his way into Mossflower, once he felt all his bones and muscles were ready, he began a swift jog through the woods.
As he ran he thought of Tobias and how he was so tired, he chuckled at the thought of Tobias almost falling. Skipper was always happy; he would laugh at jokes and silly mishaps. He was a favorite among the dibbuns who crawled all over him when he played with them and would often tell them stories about Martin, Matthias, and Deyna. He was almost like their badger mother or as it should be put, otter father.
Catspaw, the badger mother, liked all the help from Skipper since there were many dibbuns in Redwall at the moment, last time they counted there was at least twenty or so and all of them were very bouncy. How he could handle them sometimes he never really figured out, but at least he had a calm personality or he would have gone insane by now.
While Skipper thought of the fun times he had done with the dibbuns, he suddenly heard a faint cry coming from a nearby rocky area. "Sounds like a traveler coming through the area, I wonder if she wants to stay at Redwall?" he said to himself and went over to investigate.
When Skipper arrived, he saw the horror that lay before him. Rosemary was lying on her back with a huge gash in her chest. Strider was next to her, crying and moaning sadly. His fur was very wet and his little paws were caked in mud.
Skipper ran over and picked him up. Strider felt the otter's warm body and instantly curled up against him. "Poor little Strider, you lost your mother and we have no idea what happened to your father," said Skipper who held Strider tightly. Strider then sneezed violently; Skipper did not like the sound of that. "Oh we need to get you to Redwall before you catch your death of cold," he said and raced as fast as he could back to the abbey.
Tobias was still sleeping when Skipper arrived, but jumped at the sound of Skippers voice coming from the other side. "Are there vermin afoot, shall I get Martin's sword?" asked Tobias. "No just open the door quickly please," said Skipper.
Tobias opened the door as fast as he could and saw the bundle in Skipper's arms. "What is it?" he asked. "It's Strider, I found him a few ways back, his mother was killed by vermin," said Skipper. "Oh dear," said Tobias who followed Skipper into the abbey.
"Do you know if Sister Clarence is up yet?" asked Skipper.
"I have no idea," said Tobias.
"Well she better be, I don't want to see this child die," said Skipper who soon found his way into the sick bay. Luckily for him Sister Clarence was up tending a dibbun mouse who fell out of bed and hit his head.
"Sister Clarence," said Skipper quickly as he walked up to her.
Sister Clarence the infirmary keeper was a squirrel who was very specialized in her work and loved curing dibbuns. When she heard her name, she looked up at Skipper and then at Tobias.
"Oh dearie me, did Tobias get a bad splinter again from trying to open that gate?" she asked.
"No marm, it's worse, I found Strider here in the forest, his mother is dead and he has been out in the rain all night, I don't want him to die from the cold," said Skipper revealing the young badger in his arms.
Sister Clarence looked down in shock. "You mean Rosemary is dead?" she asked sadly.
Skipper nodded sadly. "She had been dead for a while, it looks like vermin stabbed her in the chest," he said.
Sister Clarence looked as if she was about to break into tears. She really liked Rosemary and her kindness.
"You two had just started to become friends too and she hoped that she would see you again too," said Skipper sadly.
Sister Clarence quickly choked back tears and took Strider from Skipper's arm. "I was a friend of her and I will remain a friend to her by helping her child," she said.
Skipper patted her shoulder and walked out to the door. "I'm going to tell the Abbot what happened, I will return soon to check up on him," he said.
Sister Clarence just nodded and took Strider to a table where she began to check up on him.
Skipper and Tobias wandered the hall looking for any abbeybeast that was awake and luckily for them they ran straight into Catspaw who was heading down to the kitchen for some food.
"Good morning Skipper, how was your run?" asked Catspaw.
"Not good marm, I found Rosemary's body by a rock formation, her child Strider was still alive, he's in the sick bay right now," said Skipper.
Catspaw stared at Skipper in shock. "I knew she should have waited to leave until morning, well go get your otter companions and let's go out and bring her back here to bury her," said Catspaw.
Skipper nodded and ran back out to Mossflower woods and to where his holt stayed most of the time. When he arrived, his brother Hunter was up and fishing in the river. Hunter saw him immediately and smiled.
"Hello oh brother of mine, come to help me fish?" he asked.
"Not today, I need your help in bringing back a body to Redwall," said Skipper.
Hunter's eyes widened. "Oh dear who died?" he asked.
"The badger Rosemary, some vermin I believe had killed her," said Skipper.
"I'll go get the others," said Hunter and ran over to the camp were most of the otters were just waking up but were ready to go and help once they had heard.
A while later Skipper and the crew were just about ready to go when Catspaw arrived with a cart. "I told the Abbot what happened and he will be waiting for us when we get back, we can put her in this cart so it won't be too difficult bringing her back," she said.
"That's a good idea, well let's get on with it then," said Skipper who then lead everyone down to the rock formation to get Rosemary.
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Abbot Walter stood by the gates waiting for Skipper and Catspaw to return with Rosemary. A few other Redwallers were there too and most were crying from the terrible news.
Skipper and Catspaw soon arrived with the rest of the otter crew who all held solemn faces and did not say a word when they walked through the gates.
The cart that held Rosemary moved pass Walter who paid his respects by putting his hand over his heart and bowing. When Walter looked at Rosemary, he saw that a cloth was over her which would be used to bury her with. It did not look like she was even under there. He then led everyone to the graveyard where many other Redwallers had been buried.
Digger the foremole had just finished digging the new grave and popped up. "Grave 'olready to be used sir, burr aye," he said.
"Thank you Digger," said Walter who then motioned for Catspaw and Skipper to put Rosemary in the grave.
Carefully Catspaw and Skipper picked her up and lowered her slowly in. Once Rosemary was settled, Foremole began to close the hole until he was satisfied that she was covered enough.
Everyone was quiet for a moment until Abbot Walter began to speak. "We only knew Rosemary for a little while but she brought joy to us all. She was very kind and never showed any anger. May she rest in peace and watch over her son who will never know her, but will learn of her kindness."
Walter finished speaking and everyone stayed were they were, not knowing what to do or say until a hare named Milo spoke up. "Well I'm blinking famished, who wants to go in and have some breakers," he said.
Everyone murmured agreement and walked away from the graveyard to the kitchen where food was waiting on the table for them.
Skipper was hungry but he was more concerned about Strider who he ran up to see.
When he arrived at the sick bay, he burst in and began speaking very loudly. "How is he? Will he live?" He asked.
Sister Clarence shushed him and pointed at the little bundle in a nearby cradle. "He is going to be fine, he only has the common cold, if you would have found him later, he would have caught pneumonia which is very hard to cure," she said in a whisper.
Skipper sighed with relief and walked over to the cradle. Strider was sleeping soundly with one paw sticking out from under the blanket. Skipper picked it up and held it fondly. Strider wrapped his hand around Skippers finger and remained sleeping. Skipper smiled.
"I had a dream about you a few nights ago; I wanted you to live because Martin told me that you would be special. He has big plans for you, he told me. I will make sure those plans are met too," said Skipper who then released his hand from Strider and slowly walked out the door.
"Sleep tight future warrior of Redwall," said Skipper who then silently closed the door and walked down to breakfast.
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There's chapter two for you. Sorry if it was a little slow I just wanted to tell what happened after they had found Rosemary. Please review my story and just to let you know, those who flame my story will be flamed as well in the next chapter the same way I flamed Aggravate or whatever that persons name was. Any way have a nice week, the next chapter will be up soon. Hope you all have fun writing.