Chapter 5

Going Out

The tone of the abbey had altered over the past few days, Song took note. Not to the degree that somebeast strange to Redwall would notice it, but to one who had lived in the abbey their whole life the changers were as obvious as the light of day.

Creatures moved about their business, engaging in the normal polite conversation among their fellows. Yet, one could see the way the eyes were just a tad too wary, or how a smile seemed just a notch forced. The air seemed not thick, but more coated, with tension. Song had made the announcement three days prior, explaining the news Dippler, Log-a-Log of the Guosim, had brought to their gates. There had been great commotion at first, a string of buzzing conversation that had died out by the next day. However, even as she walked among the abbey's halls Song could every now and then see a few abbeybeasts talking quietly among themselves, their hushed tones betraying their topic of discussion.

The abbey was no stranger to the prospect of war, yet the unprecedented events that were told to be happening in Mossflower had most if not every dweller of Redwall Abbey feeling nervous. Song did her best to quell her own fluttering butterflies that seemed to be taking up permanent residence in her stomach.

Today she had several meetings to go to; meetings that would most likely take up the entirety of the day and leave little time for her to care for Leon and Terra. For the moment she had entrusted Halem and Liliam to look over to two ratbabes. The first order of business was to be the housing of the trickle of refugee's from all around Mossflower that over the past days had become a steady stream. Dippler had left the previous day to return to his Guosim and once they had gathered what they could carry return to Redwall to assist in the abbey's defense.

Walking out from the main building's doorway onto the open abbeygrounds, Song looked up at the sky and frowned. The weather had gone from pleasant to somewhat chill. The sky was a drab gray overcast, the kind of day that made the whole world seem duller in color and sap one's energy.

The grounds themselves were quite active, with small collections of tents having sprouted up here and there and many woodlanders moving about upon errands or other matters. The orchards were dotted with beasts hard at work gathering berries to be stockpiled with the grain and other assorted foodstuffs that would be more than needed should the worst case scenario come to pass.

Across the orchards on the other side of the pond Song could see a circle of beasts both young and old, but all within a selective age ground, watching a pair squirrels in the center of the circle. Janglur and Dann spared with quarterstaffs, showing their new recruits a few tricks of the warrior trade. The pair twisted and weaved agley through a series of simple offensive and defensive forms, though Dann seemed to be on defense more often than not. Those around the two watched with rapt attention, especially the younger ones who Song could see watched with an eager light shimmering in their eyes. She sighed, thinking it strange that not too long ago she too had thought the idea of adventure as a romantic concept to be eager about. She felt a short stab of pain when she realized that if things did go badly then chances were most of those young eyes would lose that youthful eagerness, the ones that survived in any case.

Pushing aside the disturbing thoughts she continued on her way, not even looking at the line of beasts Dann's father Rusvul had working with bow and sling at wood practice targets. From the way only a bare few of the arrows actually struck the targets, Song guessed that the group of young creatures shifting under Rusvul's calculating gaze had a long way to go yet.

She did not like the fact that such training was being done inside the abbey. It did seem unnatural for a place dedicated to peace to be in the midst of preparing for war…but Song reminded herself that this scene was not new to the abbey and had played out many times before.

Past the pond near the north eastern edge of the wall Song saw the very creatures she had come out to meet with. Cregga, Redwalls resident badger, was not difficult to spot at all considering how she towered above those she spoke with. Beside her a nervous looking Florain stood, shifting between glancing at Cregga as if expecting the badger to unleash the anger in her blind eyes upon him and glaring at the beasts across from him as if to openly accuse them of provoking the badger's temper. Between his paws he wrung a large red wide brimmed hat.

The creatures in question were three in number. In the center directly opposite of Cregga was a tall, though not nearly as tall as Cregga, mouse with fur of such a light gray that it almost appeared to be white. He wore a simple tattered green tunic and a pair of somewhat cleaner lighter green trousers that matched his eyes that were staring at Cregga with a distinctly vexed look. Beside him a another mouse, this one female, had a look that almost mirrored Florain's. Her fur was a deep brown with lighter patches around her face and paws, such coloration that made her brilliant blue eyes seem almost out of place. If there were any more lighter patches of brown on her they were concealed by her long blue dress that was faded and a little unkempt. On the other side of the mouse stood a hedgehog, perhaps the widest Song had ever seen, which was saying a lot considering some hedgehog's she'd met in the past. Light brown in color and hazel in eye the hedgehog had his arms folded over his chest and had his features creased in a frown.

As she approached, Song paused to listen to their conversation. Best to know what she was getting herself into before diving in.

"It was you, master Lindin that accepted the sanctuary offered by the abbey. If you're blinder that I am then maybe I'd believe you didn't see the fact that we're getting a bit crowded." Cregga's tone had the note of somebeast who had said the same thing a dozen times already and was getting quite tired of the process.

The mouse, Lindin Song guessed, raised a calming paw. "You know very well and good Cregga that I'm not blaming you or anybeast for this problem, but the plain fact of the matter is that my family, indeed all of our families, need some reassurances. I look to my left and see abbyebeasts preparing for a fight…I'll tell you now that I came here to keep my family safe, not see them slain in a battle that we might have been able to avoid."

The hedgehog huffed and shifted on his feet, his great bulk not swinging much at all which told Song there was more muscle under there than fat. "It ain't just that Lin, not only do we got a bunch of vermin running about the woods, we come here to find shelter and next thing we know we're sleeping on the ground outside."

"We've slept outside before Gabe," said the female mouse in a strong if somewhat worried voice "You should not be complaining so. Redwall has ever been known if its kindness and assistance to all in need, I can't believe you'd insult these good creatures because you have to sleep in the dirt."

Gabe turned his gaze to her, his expression softening a bit and showing a little shame "You know it's more than that Sali. Winter ain't too far off you know and you got to remember I'm not from Mossflower. I've seen some bad wars where I come from, sieges on castles bigger than this abbey that lasted months. I don't want our children starving and freezing out here when the snows hit."

"And none shall," said Song in a firm tone, deciding to get in on the conversation. All eyes turned to her and she saw Florain's obvious relief, the hare going a little slack as if he'd been extremely tense. Cregga regarded her with thankful eyes that looked right at Song despite their lack of actually sight. Cregga could 'see' well enough with her other senses. The other three had mixed looks, though a certain amount of awe was in each of their eyes. After all, this was the Abbess of famous Redwall Abbey standing before them.

Song felt foolish suddenly, but set aside the feeling and continued. "Lindin is it? Allow me to apologize on behalf of the abbey, I did not wish for such measures," she gestured at the training "To be needed, but I assure you that such precautions are warranted considering recent events."

Taking a place in the group next to Cregga, Song looked at each of the three in front of her, trying to gauge their feelings. Sali seemed truly glad to see her, though Song had never before met the mousemaid before. Song was surprised to notice that despite their appearances, it was Sali who was significantly older than Lindin, who from the occasional look they exchanged, were husband and wife.

Lindin's face was unreadable, set in an expression that she decided Florain would declare as a 'poker face'. It made her wonder why he wanted to keep his feelings hidden, but she dismissed it as unimportant for now.

The hedgehog, Gabe, still had his arms stubbornly crossed over his chest, but his expression was softened and his spikes bristled less than they had a moment earlier.

Song opened her mouth, to make good on the apparent calm she'd instilled in the concerned representatives of the refugee's when she saw a creature fast approaching out of the corner of her eye. It was one of the few abbeybeasts that Dann had assigned to keep lookout on the walls, both for more creatures who would be coming to take sanctuary at the abbey and for any possible danger. From the urgent look on the young squirrel's face and the way he clutched a wood staff tightly in his paws as he ran up to the group, stumbling over his habit, Song had a sinking feeling in her gut that her worst fears were about to be realized.

"Huff, huff…sorry Abbess…huff…I…it's…." he stammered and gasped for breath, completely winded from his sudden sprint. Song noticed that all three of the refugee's were looking at the young squirrel with intense interest. Florain's nervous look returned but it was clouded by a kind of odd light in the hare's eyes. Song well remembered his flamboyant actions during the time of the Marlfox's and Song held back a groan, glad at least that Rusvul had convinced the hare to forgo "assisting" with the training this time around.

Cregga, not one for being patient with important matters, said in a deep tone. "Out with it young one. What is it you have to tell us?"

The squirrel nodded once, taking one last deep breath, "About five minutes or so ago marm me an' me partner were going about our rounds up on the east wall when we spotted some movement in the woods. A lot of movement. Weren't long before a bunch o' vermin came out of the brush. Could have been a little over a score of them."

There was a sharp gasp from one of the three gathered refugee leaders, but Song did not see who it was because she was staring right at the squirrel. It was as she feared, but she held onto some hope.

"What are they doing now?" she asked, keeping her voice level and calm.

"Well marm, they stood there for a moment, I think to make sure we saw them, and then just vanished back into the forest. I left me partner back on the wall to keep an eye on things and spread word to all the other lookouts."

Song let out a sigh, digesting the information. Perhaps things were not as dire as she had thought. A score was not that many and it was entirely possible this was just a hungry and tired group of vermin with no intention of fighting.

"Were they armed? What was their condition?" this from Cregga, ever the pragmatic one.

"Condition marm?" asked the squirrel, obviously confused, but then his eyes cleared with realization "Oh yeah, well they looked as dirty and unkempt as most vermin I'd guess, an' a few looked a little thin like they didn't get much food lately. 'Fraid I didn't get a real good look at them from up on the wall and such but I saw that most if not all carried a blade of some kind."

Cregga was first to speak after the long silence that followed. She kept her face and tone carefully calm as she addressed the three refugees. "It would be best if you three returned to your tents for the moment."

Gabe was the first to scoff and state quite bluntly. "I think we deserve to be apart of any talk involving vermin around the abbey."

Before Cregga could say anything Song quickly intervened, holding up a placating paw. "I assure you, all of you, that any decisions on how to proceed in this matter will not come to pass without you and your families being a part of the discussion. I understand your concerns more than you know and you can trust that myself and all of Redwall will do what it may take to ensure peace and safety for all within it's walls."

Gabe looked like he was not completely convinced, but held his silence as Lindin smiled thankfully and bowed slightly to Songbreeze. "Thank you Abbess," the mouse said with sincere gratitude in his voice "It means much just to hear you say that. Please don't think we were doubting your abbey and all of you fine creatures, we were just worried with all that's been happening." He laughed slightly, but it was a quiet and half-hearted sound. "I was elected as the speaker for everybeast that's come here, but to tell you the truth Abbess marm, I feel more like a helpless babe that's been tossed into the middle of a river."'

He paused then, his head dropping a bit to stare at the ground as if he was a bit ashamed to have admitted that. His wife put a comforting arm around his shoulders and looked up at Songbreeze. Sali didn't say anything but the look in those deep and clear blue eyes told Song volumes. Sali was even more worried than her husband, almost to the point of true fear. Despite that, however, Song could see that Sali was willing to place her faith in Redwall, in the well known fact that even in the darkest of times the abbey had shone brightly as a beacon of peace and a haven for those who truly desired it. Those two eyes that looked like a patch of sky seen through a window showed Song that regardless of what Gabe, or even her husband, might decide Sali would believe in Redwall.

As the three refugee's left, Cregga turned her head to regard Songbreeze, the badger's eyes already telling Song what the badger was about to say. "It is not likely that these vermin would be roving armed unless they intended to use the weapons. It also bothers me that they would reveal themselves intentionally only to vanish again."

Song's face creased in a frown but she could not totally refute the badger's logic. After all, Dippler had said himself that most the vermin in the massive wave moving west were unarmed or too ragged to pose much of a threat. This small band, though obviously weary from the road by the wall guard's description, was clearly better off and better armed than the other vermin about in Mossflower.

"We can't know for sure what they're intentions are Cregga," Song reminded the badger in a smooth tone of voice, hiding her uncertainty. "So far all they have done is show themselves to us. That may be a good sign, considering they could have just as easily tried to sneak into the abbey or attack directly without warning."

Cregga snorted at the absurdity of the claim, not even believing vermin foolish enough to attack Redwall in so small a group, but the badger did have something else to say, "Speaking of sneaking into the abbey, has it occurred to you Abbess that maybe our visitor from a few nights past might have some connection to this?"

Song winced, but only slightly so. She had heard all about the events with the strange dark squirrel from her father. Though Song did not know why it bothered her that Dann did not tell her of it himself. Indeed her friend had apparently been avoiding her since that strange event several nights ago. And Song realized that Cregga would easily be right and that the intrusion by the unusual squirrel might be connected to these vermin who had so suddenly shown themselves to the abbey.

"I shall have to think on this," she stated finally "For now," she said to the squirrel "you are to return to your post and continue you lookout with your friend. You did well in telling us of this quickly."

The squirrel smiled and with quick goodbyes rushed off, eager to get back to his friend and see if anything else exciting might happen today.

Song, watching the squirrel go, felt a deep twisting in her gut. It was indeed possible that this meant nothing and that these vermin, though looking better off than the rest of the vermin flooding through Mossflower, might just be looking for a place that would grant them shelter. It was even possible the father, or other realitives of Terra and Leon were among the number of the vermin.

"Cregga," Song said, schooling her face into a serene calm suitable to the position of Abbess "A meeting must be called to discuss what should be done about this development. You know who to bring."

Cregga nodded once with a wave of her massive paw, "Of course Abbess, but may I say something?"

Song could not hold back a slight smile. She did appreciate Cregga's usually blunt advice and comments, which had helped Song a great deal during her first few months as Abbess. The badger well understood that Songbreeze was still very inexperienced, but also understood the young squirrel was willing to listen to the wisdom of those who did have experience and respected Song for that, which was why the badger's tone, while perfectly blunt and grim, did not match her respectful expression.

"I know you would like to believe otherwise Songbreeze, but vermin by their nature are deceitful and there are no creatures better at creating ways to cloud one's judgment. Be wary, even if these vermin appear as friends you must remember that they bear weapons and rarely have problems using them if they think they can gain from it."

Song raised a paw, indicating that she understood what Cregga was trying to say, but she had her own thing to say "I know Cregga, but don't forget what happened at the island of the Marlfox's. Those water rats were just as quick to throw down their arms and live in peace as they were to take up their blades at the Marl's beck and call. Once the oppressive rule of the Marlfox's was gone they were more than willing to live in peace."

Cregga looked as if she wanted to sigh but merely shook her massive stripped head once. "I don't doubt that Abbess, but even if a vermin acts proper and even takes up a farming hoe instead of a blade, they are still vermin at heart…"

With that the badger turned and strode away, leaving Song with Florain. The hare watched the badger go and wrinkled his nose as if at a bad odor.

"Nothin' tae be sayin' tha' she no' be a fine badgermum an' all, but I gots tae tell ye Abbess marm tha' ah' think her wrong n' this. Florain Dugglewoof Wilffachop 'ill stand by ya in mattahs o' judgin' vermin charactah, wot wot! Tha' little Leon o' yours is a' right good sort, born for th' stage by my recokin' wit a' bit o' trainin'. An' Terra' she's be th' sweetest little thing ye evea did clap eyes on I do be sayin' myself, wot. Now ah' can't be sayin' tha' ah' know me vermin, but by them two ah'd say ye can't be judgin' nobeast by looks."

With that the hare placed the hat he'd so thoroughly wrung upon his head, bowed slightly to Song, and left, to return to the small camp set up by his troupe Song guessed. She watched his retreating back with no small amount of surprise etched upon her features. The hare was prone to flourishing speeches and declarations, always delivered with flare and gilt, but he had said all of that with a look of such pure sincerity of the like Song had never seen on the hare's face. She knew at times Leon would play around the troupe's camp, and that Terra occasionally did so as well, but she had no idea the twins had made such an impression.

Her step lighter now, even though it seemed life was about to get even more complicated, Song walked on through the abbey grounds back to the large main building of the abbey, greeting those she met along the way with an easy and relaxed smile. Dibbuns ran by, children of the refugees playing at a tag-like game and laughing as they darted about the bushes and tents. So many had been brought into the abbey that such scenes were even more common place than they had been before and it made Song smile to see it. However, Song felt a small twinge of worry that dampened her lightened mood, hoping that whatever was to come that she would be strong enough to face it. She did not like the idea that some of those dibbuns might soon become orphans.

A cold wind made the leaves of the tree above her head rustle with the sound akin to a distant waterfall. The sound relaxed Diane. She stood less than half a mile from the great red sandstone building, watching the procession walking past her from the shade of the forest tree line. Vermin marched by, only three score but all armed and all wearing mixed looks of eagerness and much more apparent worry. She doubted any of them liked their chief's plan any more than she did. At the rear of the small band of vermin a half dozen woodlanders were being prodded along by a pawfull of guards. Each woodlander was tightly bound, their paws behind their backs and their necks linked by rope. Diane noted most were mice, with only two being squirrels and the last of the dozen a tall female otter who glared at any vermin who so much as glanced her way, though there was little she could do bound as she was.

Diane thought again over Darr's plan for taking the red structure. The woodlanders had been captured not more than a few hours ago, an unfortunate group that had been making its way along the path to the abbey when Darr's band had ambushed them. All had been captured in short order. Diane could hear the sound of wood being chopped and hammers at work in the distance to the west towards the red building, Darr's little surprise for the woodlanders within.

"T'bloody risky an' wasteful tae' boot." She muttered to herself as she kicked the ground in front of her.

"Do mine ears deceive me?" an all too familiar voice reached her ears, "Does the ever emotionless and inaccessible Diane Shadowdancer lament the need for such an ineloquent venture by her oh so cruel and malicious compatriots?"

Diane turned her head with a scowl painting itself on her face as Hal, though today his name could be anything, appeared beside her. He wore a thick wool jacket and dirty and torn trousers today, so plain in comparison to what he had worn before. "What name are ye callin' yerself by t'day?" she asked, trying to put into her voice the fact that she did not really want to talk.

The stoat flickered his eyes over to her with an amused smile that reached across his face. "Oh for you my fair and fiery Diane, simply Hal shall do." Diane resisted the urge to punch him, and instead turned her look back to the passing band of vermin and their woodlander prisoners, a frown deepening on her features.

Hal took note of it and Diane heard his lighthearted chuckle. "You feel pity for them perhaps?" he asked, obviously meaning the woodlanders. It was Diane's turn to chuckle. "Pity? Them? Ha!" she placed her paws deep inside the pockets of her own black trousers, for she indeed was clothed this day in her usual attire of black on black. "Tha' lot be gettin' no tears from me. Chances is th' lot o' em 'ill be dead soon 'nough an' then their troubles 'ill be over. Hmph, why ye even askin'?"

She wasn't looking right at him but Diane could see out of the corner of her eye that Hal had turned to face her fully. Slowly, she eased her muscles and slowly moved her left paw, the one Hal could not see properly, towards one of the hidden folds of her tunic where she could draw and let fly with a throwing dagger before the stoat could even blink.

That proved unnecessary as she heard Hal chuckle once more and he said, "Diane, Diane, Diane, what reason does one need to ask you anything other than the delightful privilege of your company? If a reason you do indeed require beyond that I shall only tell you this my dangerous and delightful shadow, I ask because it would grieve me to no end to see you do something foolish out of old sentiment for those who were once your kind."

Diane spat on the grass in front of her, her face a mask of annoyance and anger. "Then ye be a' bigger fool than I would o' thought. Donnae ya be lettin' yerself think for a' second tha' ah even be feelin' a lick o' sympathy for anybeast!" she was surprised by the heat of the anger in her tone. She really did feel like hitting the blasted stoat. How dare he ask questions like that when she'd worked herself beyond exhaustion and shed her blood countless times to attain any level of status in the horde. Stomping away in a huff, confused by her own level of anger and even more enraged because of it, Diane did not get a good look at Hal as he too walked away to join the band of vermin that had past by. She did not see his satisfied grin that was wide from ear to ear.

Leon wasn't sure just what the fuss and bother was all about. The more he looked at the situation the more the ratbabe could not fathom just what had all the bigger creatures so worked up. Over the past few interesting days more and more creatures had arrived at the abbey. More friends for him to play with! On top of that all the extra creatures around meant that Friar Kal would be cooking even more food! Leon had yet to figure out just how that weird thing called on "oven" worked, however he sure did enjoy all the things that came out of it. The Friar had gotten so upset with him when Leon had climbed into the oven, determined to understand how it worked. It wasn't like it was his fault that he was in there, he was just curious. Leon was sure it had something to do with those fires the Friar lit when he used the oven, something about the heat that affected the stuff he put in there to make all that delicious food.

Leon, along with his friends Cali and Gil, had experimented with it, mixing a bunch of stuff they'd found in bags and jars. Leon had been so sure he had things figured out, but Friar Kal had stopped them then to before they could try their recipe for "Dibbun Surprise". It bothered Leon a bit but the ever optimistic ratbabe was not too perturbed for he knew the Friar would leave the kitchen alone sometime again.

At the moment Leon was thinking of something else that had him fascinated, with Cali and Gil beside him.

"Isa somat ta' do wit litta iron thingamagig." Leon stated firmly as he eyed the small south gate to the abbey from the cover of some bushes. Next to him Cali's face went into a profound frown as the little female mouse cocked her head to once side. Her face was dainty even for one her age, but she was taller than most and had creamy white fur that was unusually curly. She and Gil were a good season older than Leon, as were most the others, but that never seemed to matter.

"Y'sure Leo?" she asked, sounding unconvinced. Leon nodded his head with surety. He had been studying this gate for quite some time and was positive he had the secret of how it opened. Normal doors he'd figured out long ago, just turning the odd metal knobby thing on them would have the big wooden objects swinging wide open.

Of course…the gate was a tad more difficult. "Isa mettle thiggy der." He said, pointing at the gate latch so Cali could see. The young mousemaid squinted her hazel eyes and gave Leon a doubtful look. On the other side of him Gil twitched his nose, blinking and glancing around nervously. The otter was always so jittery, constantly shifting his look around with his deep brown eyes and his even darker fur always standing up at odd angles. Leon didn't really mind it, though it sure got annoying sometimes.

"Leo," said Gil, his head ducking down low in the bush as if afraid some adult might see him even though all of them were perfectly hidden out of sight, "Ow's y' gonna git t' gate witouts big beasts spottin's ya?"

Leon giggled in his simple and content way. "Sis'," was all he said in explanation. Cali smiled then, understanding what Leon meant and soon she too let out a purely dibbunish laugh. Gil still did not looked convinced but from the way he settled down somewhat, meaning he looked out of the bush every other ten seconds instead of five, Leon knew Gil trusted that things were being worked out.

Speaking of which…Terra ought to be doing her part of the plan right about…

"My goodness! What is that babe doing up there?"

…now

Terra was happy. She did not know exactly why Leon had asked her to do this but she was glad to do so just the same. Leon had all sorts of odd ideas and Terra never saw a reason to question, though he sure did get yelled at a lot more than she did. She smiled slightly, though it was not overly apparent. She was likely to be the one yelled at today.

She hopped, skipped more like, from one rampart to the next. She was up on the north wall, contently jumping on the ramparts with a slight spring wind slowly brushing over her face, causing her small pale green dress to flap slightly. She liked the wind, it always felt so good.

"Somebeast get her down from there! Call the Abbess! Call the Abbess!"

"Hey, stop that little one! It's dangerous!"

Terra frowned, letting the smile slide away. She never did like being yelled at. Leon was going to owe her extra drawing stuff for this. She did not think much on what Leon was planning this time around, though she supposed it had something to do with the door on the south wall. He'd been staring at it for days now. He stared at so many things. Why couldn't he just stay in one place and listen to the wind sometimes? The wind always said interesting things to her. She sighed as she made another easy leap to a rampart. Maybe Leon couldn't hear what she did. Nobeast else seemed to. She thought about it often, the things the wind told her. Sometimes it was funny, even made her smile. Other times what the wind said frightened her. Maybe it was better Leon couldn't hear what the wind said, because sometimes it was about him. Terra could not understand what the wind said about her brother but it never did sound good.

Her thoughts were distracted as she noticed that down below in the courtyard many beasts had gathered, all watching her, not a one looking in the direction of the south wall. She could also see that a group of creatures were making their way from the main building towards the stairs up to the north wall. Her mother was with them. Terra rarely noticed anybeast else other than her mother or Leon, but she did note that the friendly sword squirrel was there…but so was the big scary squirrel who was the sword squirrel's father. That one frightened Terra almost as much as what the wind sometimes said. He did not have friendly eyes when he looked at her.

Just as her mother and the others with her made it to the stairs and stared up quickly, Terra hopped off the ramparts and onto the walkway on the wall, and calmly sat down to wait for them. She'd done her part, she'd be yelled at, and Leon was going to owe her extra fun drawing stuff for this….

As soon as Leon saw that all attention was cast towards the north wall he made his move. With surprising speed and dexterity he scampered on all fours from the bush and towards the small south gate. Cali and Gil were soon to follow after giving each other an exchange of looks.

Reaching the gate, Leon waited for his two friends to catch up. Gil looked over at the crowd at the north wall nervously, and Cali looked up at the gate that towered over them. "Wasa' now?' she asked.

Leon grinned and pointed up at the latch. Cali and Gil were both quick to understand. Moments latter Leon was being held up by a straining mousemaid and otter, held high enough so that he could do his work on the latch. Now as he figured it the metal bolt should be moved out of that clamp thing. He looked over it, trying to asses how to move it. Running a paw over the latch he found the bolt, to him a piece of metal the seemed out of place. Maybe if he moved that. He griped it, heaving up. The metal bolt slid out of the lock and Leon held it there as he pulled back, the latch coming out of the clamp that held the small gate shut.

Which was good timing because Cali and Gil had gotten tired of holding him up and fell down with a crash, Leon landing sideways on top of both of them. After the dibbuns untangled themselves, giggling the whole time, Leon made his announcement. "Dora s'no lockied no mor! We's opens it."

Gil rubbed his head and looked up at the handle to the gate. He looked at Leon with the question of how to open the gate even with the latch unlocked plain on his face. Cali did not bother with such a look, and instead turned her attention to the crowd at the north wall. It looked like Terra's distraction was coming to an end, with the Abbess having recovered her daughter from the wall. The crowd was dispersing.

"Betta 'urry up Leo." She said. Leon nodded once and reached into the fold of his gray tunic. He'd planned well ahead for this. Pulling out a small spin of rope he bid his friends to hoist him up briefly one more time. Looping the rope through the handle of the door, Leon got back down and soon he, Gil, and Cali were all pulling on the ends of the rope. Seconds latter the gate swung open slightly, enough to admit a dibbun or two.

"Hehehe, nowsa we's cun play ina woodises." said Leon with equal parts joy at the prospect and pride that his plan had worked.

Five minutes latter, when an old hedgehog walked past the south gate on his way to his family's tent, he noticed that somebeast had left the south gate wide open. "Hmph, silly youngsters these days," he muttered "always forgetting to close the door behind them. Hmmm…I wonder why the Abbess would send out anybeast with all this talk of vermin the woods." He closed the gate and soon walked away, but could not help but feel a bit of worry at the oddity of it all. Why would anybeast go out into the forest at a time like this?

This was even better than he had thought it would be. So many new sounds and sights and smells! Leon ran through a dense bit of brush, Cali not far behind him. "Isa' gonna get's ya!" she cried happily, determined to tag her friend this time. Leon had already guessed this was just a trick, and she was driving him towards Gil.

Tag was a common game among dibbuns, but Leon and his friends had made a few changes to it. First being that both Cali and Gil were "It" and Leon was the one to run away. That kind of became a necessity when they'd first started playing, with Leon always being the one to outrun them. It was a fun game called "Leo Tag!" where all the other dibbuns had to catch Leon. With him being the scampering champion of the abbey, it was not an easy game, but one where everybeast had a really fun time. And that's what mattered to Leon most, having fun.

Dropping down to all fours to give himself a burst of speed he rounded around one tree, zipping back and past Cali who had to skid to reverse her course. As expected, Gil who had been waiting behind a bush to ambush Leon now burst form his hiding place in fast pursuit, with Cali lagging behind.

Leon knew he was in trouble, even having seen the obvious tactic. This area was so dense with thick bushes, fallen logs, and leaves still slick from a light rain sometime last night, that Leon could not use his greatest ally in this game, his speed. He was forced to slow down to avoid obstacles and keep from slipping on the wet forest ground.

A quick look behind him showed that Gil was gaining ground, the nimble little otter also on all fours and deftly dodging through and about the various small bushes that Leon tried to use to slow him down. Up ahead Leon saw a massive trunk from a tree, maybe fallen from the storm that seemed so long ago. Instead of slowing down or turning to veer from it, Leon speeds up, getting on idea. He heard Gil's fast footfalls close behind him, with Cali's not too far behind.

As he neared the great fallen trunk that to Leon looks like a majestic wall of nature, he sprung with his hind legs, flying off the ground and towards the trunk he flipped his body into a vertical position in the air. He hits the trunk with enough force to knock the breath out of him, but not so hard that he could not keep his hold and scramble upwards. Reaching the top of the trunk he turns around, catching his breath and looks down behind him.

Cali and Gil stood at the bottom of the trunk, both looking up at him. Cali looked genuinely surprised, her eyes wide. Gil just looked frustrated. Leon hadn't been sure, but he had bet that neither of them could have made that jump or at least would not have been willing to.

"Yosa comin' down?" asked Gil after a second, finally losing his look of frustration and letting a smile onto his face that told Leon that he'd gotten lucky this time and Gil wouldn't let him get lucky again. Cali didn't say anything but instead looked around at the forest around them, obviously still a little worried. Gil was usually the nervous one, but that was only when there were adults around to catch them.

Leon was about to hop down from the tall fallen trunk when a sudden force lifted him clean off the ground, raising him high into the air above his friends. A sour and terrible stink filled the ratbabe's nostrils and he wondered how he hadn't noticed it sooner. A rough and unpleasant voice laughed behind him.

"Harharhar! Wat' do we got here? Hey Touse come 'ere an' look at wat I jus' caught!" Leon was being held aloft by the single arm of a huge and hulking…well…Leon wasn't sure what it was. A male Leon guessed by the voice, but not any kind of creature he'd ever seen before. Not that he could get a good look held by the back of his tunic as he was, but he caught glances at the beast as he swung around. He was dressed in ragged and dirty clothing that looked like it had seen better seasons. His form was lithe, kind of like an otter, but the coloring and size was all wrong.

Leon turned his attention away from the smelly creature when he heard Cali scream. Not the surprised or startled yelp he was used to hearing sometimes from her, but a high and almost wailing sound filled with fear. That sound was not something he'd ever heard before but once was enough to set the idea firm in his mind that he never wanted to hear it again. He saw that another creature, no better dressed than the one that held him, had entered the area and was firmly holding onto Cali. Gil was nowhere in sight.

"Hellsteeth! Stop yer' gabin' kid! Rasp where'd the other one get off to?" this one was also male, but Leon felt something in his gut sinking as he saw it's physical features. The long snout, the large round ears, Leon realized this one looked not unlike him or his sister. The ratbabe did not know what that meant but it did not make him feel good at all.

The one called Rasp said something that Leon did not understand, and then said "Ah' blast it all! Nothin' we can be doin' about it now if one got away. Darr ain't gonna be likin' it but he's expectin' us to catch woodlanders so we catch woodlanders. Guess there ain't no need to tell 'im we lost one eh?"

Touse laughed once, nodding his head and adjusting his grip on Cali so he could sling her over his shoulder. "Yer right there. Two babes is' a good catch anyways. Darr said the younger the better." Touse looked like he was about to turn to leave when he paused and took a closer look at Leon, squinting his dark eyes.

"Hey Rasp…ye be knowin' if any or our females be missin' a tike?"

Rasp frowned and shook his head, "Why you askin' a question like that? Course der not! That'd get 'em rushing about and yelling like a windstorm and we'd not be missin' something like that. Wat's got ya all worked up?"

Touse looked up at Rasp and then back to Leon. Seconds past with Leon staring at those dark eyes like a pair of black pits, and he felt suddenly like squirming. He didn't like having to stare at a face that resembled his so much. After a time Touse backed off and shrugged, "Must be my imagination or somthin'. Come on, let's git goin' 'fore the deadline hits. Show's supposed to be startin' at noon."

At this Rasp laughed, and Leon understood well why he was called Rasp, with that laugh sounding more like a saw going against a thick block of brick than any kind of actual laugh. Cali had stopped her screaming, and had gone deathly quiet, which bothered Leon more than her screaming had. As Touse and Rasp started walking deeper into the forest, moving along the south wall towards the north Leon noted, Touse took the lead. This meant that Leon could look at Cali face to face as they were carried, and he saw her all too clearly. She looked at him with a kind of desperation in her eyes, but also a startling certainty. With a feeling of a big cold rock dropping into his stomach Leon realized she was fully expecting him to somehow figure out a plan to get them both out of this mess.

Her hazel eyes were filled with the simple faith that one way or another things would turn out all right because Leon was there to think of a plan. Behind that faith was a sheer desperation, because Cali knew full well that if Leon couldn't think of something both of them were in real trouble…