Disclaimer... As I've said once, and will probably say a thousand times, Redwall is the creation and idea of Brian Jacques... Only the characters and plot is mine...

Chapter one….The Great Plague…

Death follows wherever he goes

Destruction in his wake

Creatures fall at his gaze

Bonds and ties do break.

For he is the embracer of the shadows,

The ruler of the night.

Run my friends for the plague is coming…

Run…he's coming for your life….


Plague Blackfoot was coming!

The sky was devoid of all cloud, embracing the great ball of light, which flickered and shone with all its majestic beauty. Bright hues of verdant and emerald green covered the woodland; rows of cowslips, bluebells, and foxgloves emitted great vibrancy, dancing in the light spring breeze. The merry music from a happily gurgling stream drifted through the air, a silver sheen reflecting off the cool waters, glistening with beauty. Birds warbled their morning chorus, giving a display of highly intricate air acrobatics, swooping and souring as if affected by the mad march fever. A low droning of dragonflies could be heard, as they flitted back and forth, dashing between water and shrub. It was an idyllic day, a picturesque scene, but Mother Nature's sheer splendour was lost upon Plague Blackfoot.

Plague Blackfoot was coming!

A rat, with fur as black as a moonless midnight, marched confidently through the woods. Behind him, a whole horde of vermin followed, footsteps in time with his, each looking as bloodthirsty as the next. Foxes, weasels, ferrets and stoats made up the bulk of the army, but not a rat could be spied, apart form the leader that himself. Plague abhorred rats, thought of them as insolent, mindless creatures. He did not see fit to have such weak creatures in his horde, only the strongest would do. Behind the rat's bloodshot eyes was a feeling of great calm. After the seasons of marching, from the great Northlands, through blizzards, storms, droughts and more, he still had an army to show for it. True, many had been lost along the way, but so had there been many new recruits. The horde was increasing towards a number of almost five hundred, a horrific sight to witness. In their wake they left a trail of destruction, villages reduced to smouldering embers, rivers running red. Death marched onwards with the vermin, and they were heading for one place only, to the legendary site…Redwall Abbey.

Plague Blackfoot was coming, and the woods trembled at his feet.