Disclaimer: I don't own Redwall or Mossflower or anything created by Brian Jacques, because he owns that. I own the OC's, and any town that came from my mind.
Rain. In the darkness it plummeted from the thick clouds, drenching the city of Odigin in the darkness of the cold night. Most civilian beasts were tucked away safe in bed, but not Edwin Grib.
Grib was teller of an old bookbinders shop and he had been working late. The Lady of the City had decided the palace library needed to be "refreshed" and now he had an order to bind at least 25 books on her laws, history about her and her family and a large tome containing her family trees, most of which he knew had been embellished quite a bit. And he had just two months to work.
It was a gruelling job, seemingly impossible for him, but he was being paid daily in gold for it, and so, nervously did his best. Tonight he had been working upon the final pages of 'The Laws of Execution in Punishment' and was glad when he had finished, but now the old mouse had to trudge through the dark alleys at night, in the downpour to get home.
He was only a short distance from his home when he heard it. It was the soft click of a crossbow being cocked. This was followed by a point at his back and the words "Money pouch. Now or I drop ya!"
Without turning he began to remove his pouch, trembling and too nervous to speak.
The paw of a large stoat snatched it quickly and the point was taken from his back.
"My thanks, mouse. Your donation is appreciated."
Edwin closed his eyes, breathing a sigh as he heard the stoat begin to shuffle away into the dark, but before the pawfalls faded, there was a cry and a thud.
The mouse turned quickly to see the stoat lying against a wall, unconscious, his money pouch on the ground near to Edwin. A small red ribbon fluttered and sagged in the wind and rain underneath the bag and Edwin looked around to see who had done this. Of course, the answer was already in his mind. He caught a flash of a red cloak upon the roof of a building before it was gone.
"Thankyou..." He whispered as the Scarlet Wraith vanished. He stood for just a little while feeling some shock and recovering his breath and confidence. The stoat groaned as he began to resurface from unconsciousness and Edwin decided it would be a good idea to get home quickly now. He walked hurriedly, unaware that above, amongst the high rooftops, a pair of amber eyes watched him from behind a blood red mask.
With fluid movements, the entity moved across the roof and hopped away to glide to another, it's hooded cloak flapping once gently upon landing. It rose onto its hind paws and walked gracefully across this roof before leaping from the edge and disappearing into the rain and shadows.
Quietly watching from his high tower, the night guard, a fox, shivered in his duty armour. He was not fond of this spectre. It was unnerving, the way it disappeared and moved, and now he had to be on the night shift, in cold uncomfortable armour, in the rain and the knowledge that the wraith was indeed haunting tonight.
"I should have been a librarian..." He muttered between clenched teeth as he shivered, remarking to his partner, an owl "I don't like night shifts... Just us two while that thing runs around..."
The owl turned his head, large eyes glinting as he spoke. "I must agree with you my friend... We owls are spectres in our own rights, but even we seem out matched by the Wraith... I shall be glad for the dawn."
The fox shuddered and put his paw fingers to his muzzle as the owl spoke.
"Ssshhh! Don't say the name. It'll get us!" He whined. "It'll get us just like it got Benny and Radasc!"
The owl shuffled "A thief and a clumsy lower guard... Not to be missed now, are they? They died because they were clumsy and foolish. Stay alert and the Wraith, yes see, I used its name, will not be able to kill us. It is a solid being after all; it can be harmed itself..."
"But... Hey, how'd you know that? It might be a ghost." The fox protested.
"A ghost is not solid. It can't leave boot prints in the mud. The Wraith does. A ghost couldn't harm anything and besides there's no such thing as ghosts." The reply came, the owl sounding a little annoyed.
"There is," The fox retorted "I know 'cus there's all those stories about them that beasts told me."
The owl shook his head, preparing for a long and pointless argument and tried to shuffle away from the fox to the other side of the tower as his partner continued to tell him the "evidence" that ghosts existed.
Dawn. The light gently filtered into the city as it awoke. Beasts made their way to work or duties and the streets bustled with activity.
Farda watched from the high window of the palace, her main servant, a rat by the simple name of George, beside her.
"Look at them George. They bustle about impatiently, gathering wealth, wasting it and trying to gather it up again... They have taxes, yet still, some waste their money. No matter, it all ends up in the same place..."
"Indeed my Lady."
"Such pointless lives... Wake up, work for a meagre amount, home and repeat. Birth, growth, work, die... Pointless, worthless, wouldn't you agree?"
The rat nodded "I would my Lady."
She smiled coldly "And that is where you are wrong. You see, their pointless lives are of most importance. Those miserable creatures are what keep this city, and me, in wealth. They must be kept alive and allowed what they need in general, yet treated in such a way that they will fear to rise up and demand more."
"They could never defeat you, my Lady."
"Hmmph... It is only because I keep them afraid. They do not dare to oppose."
George opened his mouth as he thought of something "The Wraith does not obey your rules." As soon as he said it, he was sure he'd regret that.
"Only because my beasts have not caught it yet!" She spat angrily "I shall be reducing the guard pay and doubling shifts until they do." She turned on the rat. "Now, you know I do not take kindly to beasts accusing me of fault."
Hastily, George backed away, bowing and shaking his head. "Oh, My Lady, I know, I was not accusing, honestly."
"It's okay. I know you weren't, now, come back here," She smiled coldly, patting the wall beside her "I'm not going to hurt you."
Reluctantly the rat did as she said, knowing that if he ran, the guards would take him to punishment anyway. As he reached her, the Lady's paw flashed from her long black robes towards his back. The sharp point of a short dagger penetrated in, not deep enough to kill him soon, but enough to cause excruciating pain. He bent over in pain and then reeled forwards out of the open window as Farda's boot connected with his head.
"The dagger and fall will cause the pain" he heard the words spoken as he felt the sensation of open space. His bloodied body plummeted to the cobblestone ground below with a horrid crunch as his skull split and his vertebrae cracked, knocked out of place. Blood stained the stones around him as he laid dead, his open eyes staring up at Farda's satisfied smile above.
(Author) Well, I hope that was okay for you all. I wasn't sure while I was writing it; I hope it's not too stereotypical or anything. The chapters will get better as I write them I'm sure.
My thanks for the reviews.
Tate-The-Warrior: I am pleased you liked my introduction bit. Yes, it will probably be move to a higher rating on one of the next two chapters.
Avlblu: Thankyou for the review. I was not aware there was a show named Dragnet; I just used the name because it came into my head and I needed a name for him. I am trying not to make it too corny and keep it quite dark. Think 'Batman/ Gotham City' style of dark only a little nastier perhaps and without the strangely altered villains (for the most part)...
I am working on another fanfic which will detail the origins of 'The Scarlet Wraith' and that will probably be uploaded soon. I want to get a couple more chapters of this story up first.
Okay, well, hopefully I shall update again soon. Thanks again for the reviews.