Chapter 2

Go on take it!

Inas blinked blankly up at the tapestry in the Great Hall of Redwall for a moment, contemplating how he'd gotten there. The stone under his paws were cool to the touch after the hot afternoon sun, and soothed his paws considerably. The tapestry flapped against the wall as a light breeze swept in. Inas smiled; the atmosphere was so peaceful.

The smile vanished instantly when realization shot through his mind, 'The Redwallers don't leave any doors or windows open. Where'd the breeze come from?'

He turned each way and stared at the windows in scrutiny. But there were no cracks in the windows, none were broken either, and the doors remained solidly shut at the front of the Great Hall. The only entity which managed to find its way into the great hall was the bright, white light of the moon which filtered in on both sides of the tapestry through the windows that flanked the artwork like guards.

There was Martin in the bottom right hand corner that had apparently drawn him to the location of the tapestry. Martin, in his glorious armor with a sword, posing with it, an amused smile touching his handsome face as vermin fled behind him. Foxes, ferrets, wildcats, martens, stoats--and weasels; weasels were apart of the scourges of the earth.

'Weasel's,' Inas thought savagely and bitterly to himself, 'My kind are so evil that it's been embedded in our blood. The plague of evil will not leave us alone!' And nor would the oppression his kind received. While the Redwallers did stand behind their pledge to help all creatures in need, they treated any creature they considered vermin like an enemy trying to infiltrate their home. Distant, suspicious, and scrutinizing; that's what the Redwallers were.

'Will I never gain the respect I deserve? I'm not bad, but they treat me that way… They all do. Why? Why should I put up with it?! The corruption in their own society has blinded the way they see creatures! They ignore Trat's rude personality and focus on the good traits he brings into the Abbey. Me? They just see a fearless Warlord sizing up the pleasures and comforts of their home! But why do I stay?'

Inas nearly jumped out of his skin as these thoughts ran through his head. Suddenly, everything came back to him; the beatings he'd received, the accidents Trat accused him of, the dibbuns and children's scorn at him. It all came back! And vanished from his mind again, as thought it never existed. The weasel's eyes had glazed over in that moment and blinked, then looked around him, having no recollection of the rebellious thoughts that had flooded his mind.

Inas jerked back to the tapestry when he was sure he had felt as if his mind was being probed. The weasel leaned in closer to get a look at Martin who was smiling so easily.

Clip, clip, clip.

The young weasel jumped at the sounds that echoed down the hallway towards him and he turned. The sight made his breath catch in his throat. It was Martin! The brave warrior mouse was dressed in his armor, with a royal red cloak flowing behind him as he walked towards Inas. His expression was solemn, as if some creature he treasured had died. The mouse continued walking until he stood only a foot away from Inas.

Martin was a few inches taller than the weasel, but he radiated authority and bravery and tranquility. The mouse seemed to size him up as he looked him up and down with sadness reflected in his eyes as studied Inas. After a while he said, "Little mouse, you hide from the monsters that control your life."

Inas opened his mouth to protest, "I'm not a--"

Martin raised his paw to tide his speech, then began again, "The friends of Redwall abuse our trust and yours. The vermin haters have become vermin themselves by forcing you to serve them without pay. They cruelly beat you for mistake and supposed insubordination. They are no better than the vermin they stereotype you as and hate."

Inas finally said, "But, Martin, how am I supposed to fight them? The Redwallers side with identical thoughts about vermin. They do not treat me so nastily as my Masters, but they still think I am a troublesome vermin that should be watched at all times. How can I change that?"

Martin didn't answer this time he only stared into Inas' eyes. His black eyes made Inas feel tiny; he wavered on his paws and nearly drowned in those intent eyes. And the probe came again--the weasel jumped and reeled backwards for a few feet before he balanced. Martin had been the one probing his mind!

"Martin--what are you doing!? Stop it, please."

Martin only stared into Inas' eyes, then said, "I'm trying to open your mind. See the light, Inas."

The warrior mouse mentally probed his mind again, and the walls that had surrounded the memories came crumbling down and suddenly Inas was enlightened. Before his eyes he saw the beatings, the hard labor, Trat's mocking, Aeno's lessons. They all came back to him. And suddenly everything was very clear to the weasel. Aeno had kept him in control and relatively happy by brain-washing him. And he figured out how he did it, every night he came to Inas and gave him a drink of Tairefen Herb.

Inas saw his memories. 'It's all coming back to me. The true nature of those squirrels. It's all coming back to me.'

He rocked back and forth on his heels as he absorbed the mental impact of the painful memories that rocked and beat his brain. Then his eyes cleared and he looked at Martin with a stunned expression on his face. The mouse warrior only stared back sadly until he stepped backwards, then finally turned and made his way around the hallway. When Martin had probed his mind mentally, he'd gotten some of Martin's own memories and jobs, he knew the mouse was making his rounds in the hallways of dreams where he checked on each creature that slept peacefully.

As soon as Martin disappeared from his view, Inas allowed his true feelings to bubble up into his mind and his eyes clouded with blood. He wasn't just angry, he was furious! All this time, the devious squirrels were wiping him of his memories nightly! He only remembered whatever happened eons ago. His paws clenched and stood riveted stiffly to the floor as he imagined what he would do to Aeno and Trat. They wouldn't get away with this so easily.

Suddenly, he saw a gleam out of the corner of his eyes and he turned to face it fully. It was Martin's sword placed decoratively on iron hinges that were built into the wall next to the tapestry. The moonlight filtering in seemed to become absorbed into the magical metal of the sword and it pulsed with the light. Pulsed without appearing to. The sword seemed to call to him; or was it Martin…?

Take it, Inas. What have you got to lose?

Suddenly, he felt the scruff on the back of his head get yanked up and Inas was suddenly stood up on the tip of his paws before the dream world disappeared in front of his eyes. "Aaaaah," Inas woke with a start, bucking as the creature continued to grip the nape of his neck.

"Whoa, boy, what're you doing? Stop that moving or you won't receive a single meal tomorrow," Aeno had purposely yanked him, almost literally, out of his sleep to give him the Tairefen Herb. The squirrel reached for a cup at his side and placed it in Inas' paws, "Drink."

Inas looked at it as if it were a venomous snake, he gingerly sniffed the concoction, and smiled thinly at the cup in his paw. His memories were his and he would not so willfully lose them again. Bringing his army back slightly, though he was sleeping on his stomach, he hurled the cup at the wall. It hit it with a thud then tipped completely over on its bottom and spilled the contents out on the wood floor.

Inas' lips began to curl with immense satisfaction then there was a sharp pain in his ear, and he twisted around to see Aeno had tweaked his ear and was twisting it harder and further back, wrenching the weasel's head upward. The squirrel smoothly unsheathed the belt knife at his side and he brought it up to tickle Inas' nose. The weasel only continued to sneer at him and the object in his paws.

"Vermin, when I tell you to drink something, you drink it! You will not show me any insolence! Now, drink the next cup, or I will lash you so hard your skin will fall off," Inas only growled at him, the menace and hate in his eyes. Aeno stared into them for a moment, his own teeth bared too, before he stood up and filled up another cup.

Inas threw it away in spite as well, reveling in the dissatisfaction he was instilling in the squirrel. Shaking with rage the squirrel only stared at him for a moment as he gazed back with haughty smile plastered over his features. Aeno seemed to snap suddenly, and he darted forward. Inas jerked back, plainly surprised by this move, but he was laying down in a basket; he couldn't get out of the way in time!

Aeno brought the knife down in a strike. Inas nearly gasped in shock when he felt the sharp edge come in contact with the side of his head, it sliced a fairly deep line in his head just above his left ear. For an instant, Inas thought he was dead. His head was cut open! Then he seemed to jerk out of his shock and his eyes turned calculating before he said, "Is that all you got, Master?" The emphasis of 'Master' voiced his contempt and amusement at the current situation.

The squirrel only remained stationary above the weasel, then he violently grabbed the weasel's thin, fraying linen shirt and began dragging him across the wooden floor. Aeno's face was rigid with rage as he stepped out the door without a light and made his way around the cottage, not once letting the weasel get to his feet. Inas didn't fight though, he did as much as he could to hamper his way which included clinging to a root.

Aeno rounded the corner to the wood house, then with a burst of energy and strength that was unheard of for a beast his age, he hoisted Inas up by the scruff of his neck and threw him against the structure made there. The weasel was unable to save his balance and was temporarily stunned as his he knocked his head against the back of plywood. Aeno took the time to tie Inas' wrists with rope to the other structures, and then his ankles. Inas had recovered his senses by then, but submitted without a fight. He only sneered at the squirrel defiantly, thinking, 'Well, here come my lashes!'

The weasel slicked his ears back to hear Aeno's switch slash his back. He caught the swish of it as the squirrel picked it up, which was his cue to begin relaxing. Inas began breathing deeply and laboriously, he let his mind wander and his muscles slacken.

Swish, crack!

Swish, crack!

The raising of the whip and the snap of its switch against Inas' back soon got lost on his drifting mind. His eyelids felt heavy as he continued to slump further in his wrist binders that were beginning to cut him. His back, already embedded with some splinters for the trip across the floor mingled with the open sores of the lashes that were now decorating the weasel's back.

Suddenly, the pattern was interrupted by silence and it caused the weasel's eyes to snap open fiercely. His lashes suddenly washed over him with pain, but he built up a dam in his mind to ebb the flow and brought his head up in alertness. When Aeno cut his ankles loose first, Inas ensured he could stand on them, then moved his wrists once they were loose. "Now get back inside to take your medicine," Aeno snapped as prodded the weasel's back with the whip, purposely rubbing the sore wounds for more pain.

The weasel turned to glare into his Master's eyes, his own black ones burned holes into his head as he ferociously held out against the squirrel. Aeno only trembled as he tried to maintain control of his patience and temper as Inas stubbornly and ruthlessly began pushing beyond his rights. The squirrel asked him though as Inas finally turned to go back into the house, "What is wrong with you, weasel? You never misbehaved so!"

Inas turned around and smiled evilly at him, "I figured that if you're going to forever treat me like a vermin. Then I should act like one. The actors must play their parts." Laughing uncontrollably and naturally, the weasel stepped into the house.

Aeno shuddered from what seemed to have happened. Inas was transformed into some crazed beast. The weasel was insane, he decided. Inas needed to be disposed of before something drastic happened. A plan began forming in Aeno's head as he entered his home.