A chilly wind blew across the ramparts of Redwall abbey where Tobias was standing, waiting for his son Nathanial's return. It was late in the fall and the trees were quite bare. The first frost has already arrived three weeks ago and sooner or later the first snow would soon be here.
Nathanial had gone off with Strider, Lucky, Billy and Milly, and Hunter, who was now Skipper of otters, to stop an evil group of vermin from ever coming near Redwall again. Of course Tobias was very worried about his son and hoped that nothing bad had befallen him.
Tobias stood there and thought, he remembered the day his son asked to go with Strider on the trip. At first Tobias was reluctant, but then he realized that his son was old enough to take care of himself and let him go along on the journey. Also his son was an excellent shot with a bow and arrow which he learned from Hunter, so Tobias thought that his son would be alright out there fighting with a big badger.
Tobias was just about to sit down for a while when he suddenly heard voices coming from the forest. Tobias listened carefully wondering who it might be. He then smiled when he recognized the chants.
"Reddddddddddddddddwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll," cried some of the goodbeasts.
Logalogalogalogalogalogalogaloooooooooooooooogggggggggggggggg," cried another group of goodbeasts. Tobias then realized that Striders group did not have to fend for themselves; they had help from the shrews.
Tobias then yelled out as loud as he could. "Nathanial is it you?" he yelled.
The bushes began to rustle as his son ran out to great his father. As soon as Tobias saw his son he ran down the ramparts and opened the door as wide as he could. Then the hedgehog ran up to his son and gave him a big hug.
"I'm so glad you're home," said Tobias.
"Me too dad, but you don't have to worry about that group of vermin any more," said Nathanial.
"Oh thank the seasons for that," said Tobias.
"You should have seen Strider slay their leader, that ferret did not even have a chance," said Nathanial.
"Really?!" said Tobias in a surprised expression.
"Yup, I slayed that ferret before he could even draw his dagger," said Strider.
"That is wonderful, and I see you have Log a log and his group with you," said Tobias.
"Oh yes, we bally needed them or the fight would not have been a good one with only six of us to fight fifty vermin wot," said Lucky.
"Of course Strider had half the number destroyed by the time we came along," said Log a log.
Yes but we did need help because poor Milly here hurt her wrist and Skipper here had a wounded shoulder," said Strider.
"Speaking of wounded, how is the little mouse who came to us injured by those vermin?" asked Skipper.
Tobias hung his head low in sadness. "She died a week after you left, too many injuries sustained from those brutes," he said.
Everyone was silent for a moment, they were sad that the child they helped did not survive but were happy that the child was avenged and that Mossflower would be safe for another season or so.
The silence was soon broken by Lily who came running out the door to great her father.
Daddy, Daddy, your home, oh I missed you," she cried.
Skipper knelt down and hugged her daughter tightly. "I'm glad you did or coming home would not have been as fun as I had thought," he said.
Lily giggled and hugged her father again while the inhabitants of Redwall soon ran out to see the warriors. When Log a log saw Abbot Walter he ran over to him.
"Walter, my friend, how is abbot business?" he asked.
"Quite well my friend, I have not seen you all in many seasons, where have you been?" asked Walter.
"In the Northlands, near the mountains, a lot of problems were happening up there," said Log a log.
"Well it is good to have you back here, we have made plans to have the winter feast tomorrow," said Walter.
"But winter is not here yet," said Log a log.
"That is quite alright, it is better to start it early than late," said Walter.
Log a log just nodded while Lucky walked over to question about the feast since he had been eavesdropping.
"So a feast eh, will it be just like always?" he asked.
"Of course Lucky," said Walter.
Lucky smiled then started to jump up and down like he always did when a feast was going to happen. Strider saw this and walked over to Lucky. Lucky was too happy to notice Strider until Strider hit him on the head, just hard enough to knock him out a little. Lucky fell down in a daze while Strider turned to Abbot Walter.
"So is this also a nameday feast?" he asked.
"Yes, but I have forgotten the name, Catspaw knows it though," said Walter who then turned to Catspaw for the information. Catspaw happily answered.
"It is called The Winter of The Icy Branches. I thought of that the other day when we had a frozen rain and it made the branches in the trees quite icy," said Catspaw.
"That is a nice name though, sounds different from previous names," said Strider.
"Yes I know," said Catspaw.
"Well let's bring everyone inside for some nice hot cocoa before we all freeze to death," said Walter.
Catspaw and Strider nodded and told everyone to come on in. Strider then picked up Lucky and brought the hapless hare inside.
They soon arrived in the main hall where a nice fire was burning hot and the chef was mixing cocoa for everyone. The dibbuns were all playing by the fire and when they saw Strider come in; they all ran to meet him.
"Strider, where have you been, I have been worried sick about you," said a silly little mouse named Brink.
"I was out protecting Redwall," said Strider.
"Really, tell us about it," said a vole named Harpo.
"Burr aye, tell usns aboute it," said a mole named Muddypaws.
"Alright, Alright I will tell you, gather round the fire and listen," said Strider who was then given a cup of hot cocoa; he took a big sip before starting to talk.
"I went many miles away from here with, Lucky, Skipper, Billy and Milly, and Nathanial. We had to go fight some dangerous vermin that had hurt a young one like yourselves," said Strider.
"You mean dat one dat we had to bury?" asked a hedgehog named Spike.
"Sadly yes, but I did something for her that I might have to do again one day. Kill bad beasts," said Strider.
All the dibbuns stared at him in shock and backed away a little because Strider had shown off his large paws.
"So did you die when fighting these bad beasts?" asked Brink.
"Of course not silly. I remained brave and strong, I fought like ten beasts with Lucky here by my side," said Strider who then grabbed Lucky and held him tight. Lucky just smiled and waved. The dibbuns laughed at him, they always liked how Lucky was fun and comical.
"Did Lucky make them laugh to death?" asked a female squirrel named Swift.
Strider laughed and hit Lucky in the back. The wind was nearly knocked out of Lucky who tried the same thing but Strider did not even notice and kept talking.
"So the battle was fierce, there were vermin to the left of me vermin to the right of me; I moved this way and that. I would stab, punch, and kick until the vermin ran off and we would have to go after them," said Strider.
The dibbuns all listened in amazement, not one averted their eyes. Strider took a quick drink of his cocoa before he continued.
"Finally I knew there was only one thing that should be done, destroy the leader so the others would no longer pose a problem and not know what to do. It took me a while to catch him but when I finally did, I raised my sword and with one stroke I...." but Strider was quickly cut off by Catspaw.
"Strider, stop telling the dibbuns what happened, you could give them nightmares," said Catspaw angrily.
"Sorry mum, I just got a little carried away," said Strider.
"I can tell, now why don't you just make up stories that are fun without any killing," said Catspaw.
Strider nodded while all the dibbuns whined at the thought of not hearing any more of Strider's heroic deeds. But Strider quickly amused them with a story about a mouse who got lost in Redwall and all the adventures he had while doing it. The story lasted for quite a long time and by the time he finished; all the dibbuns had fallen asleep, including a few inhabitants. Strider then helped Catspaw bring the dibbuns to bed and then went back to the great hall for a while to chat with the inhabitants. Soon he was too tired to stay awake so he went to his dormitory and fell asleep.
He watched as the huge badger fought left and right, and he noticed how this battle was much more gruesome than the ones he had fought in before. As Strider watched, he suddenly saw a stoat leap up with his sword in hopes to slay the huge badger.
Instead the badger stopped the entire battle, every creature stood frozen, even the stoat that was now hanging in midair. The badger then walked over to Strider and smiled at him. The badger was using an ax as a weapon and had many scars on his body from earlier fights and battles. But one marking stood out more than any thing on him. It was the stripe going down his face. Normally it was supposed to be white, but this one was red, not from blood but a natural color.
Strider stood there amazed as the giant badger spoke.
Strider, my son, I have been waiting for you to come and help us," said the badger.
"Who....who are you?" asked Strider surprised that the huge badger knew his name.
"Why Strider, I am your father, Lord Blaze the Mighty from Salamandastron, I have been waiting for you to come and help us rule this mountain," said the badger.
Sala- what?" asked Strider.
Salamandastron, the home of badger lords. I have been waiting for you and your mother to join me here and I believe now is the time for you to come and help me," said Blaze.
But I have to help Redwall, they need me here too," said Strider.
"Don't worry, they will be fine, Martin will tell you if any problem arises and when you should go back," said Blaze.
Strider just nodded as Blaze returned to the battle and every creature came back to life. He watched as his father, was able to slay the stoat before he could even lay his sword on him.
Strider was amazed by his father's ability to fight and not give up. Every time one vermin stabbed or shot him, he would just turn right around and finish them off. No wonder he was called Lord Blaze the Mighty.
"So I see you're still alive," said a voice behind him.
Strider turned around and saw a wolf with a missing ear and a large scar on his face, holding a dagger.
"What? Who are you?" asked Strider.
"Just an old enemy come back to slay you," said the wolf. Without warning the wolf threw his dagger at Strider before he could even react.
Back in the real world, Strider woke with a start.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A/N: Well there's chapter 12 for you, sorry it was boring at the beginning, hopefully the next chapter won't be like that. And hopefully that next chapter will be up by Friday. Uh I think that is all I have to say, so please review and have fun writing. :)