New minor character… Sella and the non-existent dibbun crew © me. Or something. Good news… I've edited the other chapters and I will KILL someone if they still don't work.

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SAVING ROSE 2: Journal of a Hope

Chapter Five

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One hour had passed, and Brome and the others were deeply worried. Rose wasn't really the type to wander off on her own without telling anybeast. After telling Starwort and Marigold, the group, now lowered to three, went back to the woods to look for the mousemaid.

Pallum squinted about the forest, calling her name. The others walked behind him as they also looked around, with Brome bringing up the rear. He paused for one second, trying to identify a shape behind the trees further away.

Grumm noticed. "Burr, whut iz it, surr?"

Brome stared for another moment, but the figure had melted into the trees. Seeing nothing anymore, he shook his head. "I thought I saw a… never mind."

The faithful mole looked at Brome curiously, then turned to catch up with Pallum.

…Leaving Brome completely alone.

Pallum and Grumm heard the sound of a beast choking, and instinctively turned around. Instead of seeing Brome, as they expected, they saw nothing but air and a rustling bush to the right of where Brome had been. Thoroughly frightened, the mole and the hedgehog clung to one another as they cautiously approached the bush.

They would have gotten further, if two extremely well-aimed pebbles had not connected with the top of their skulls.

A silhouette silently creeped out of the surrounding foliage and slinked up the two crumpled creatures. It prodded them with a keen digging claw until it was satisfied that they were truly unconscious. Then it raised the other paw and gestured for another beast to come forward. There was the shaking of leaves and branches, and said beast dropped from the nearby tree, throwing some pebbles it held in it's paw on the ground.

"C'mon, man, takes this one," said the first creature, pointing at Grumm. All it's features were shielded by the long dark green cloak it wore, except for its shortness and pudginess. The beast had a rough voice that suggested overuse.

The second grumbled, donned in the same garb as the other. "Don't youse tell meh whut to do. Whah do I gots to have teh weakling?"

"Man, don't argue with me, fool," snapped the other, and picked up Pallum with distaste. "I shouldn't even be doing this dirty work at all."

They two argued quietly as they disappeared into the forest.

- -

Some time later, the abductors arrived at some sort of battle camp. It was located in a small clearing, with crudely constructed tents scattered across it. In the center of the camp was the biggest tent, with two flags on either side of the entrance. The flags, as well as the entire camp, seemed to be made out of old, rough hides. Some still had bits of fur on them, while others hadn't been properly washed out of blood. Yet, the main attraction was the five ominous poles in front of the huge tent, which stood roughly seven feet tall and were encircled by heaps and heaps of firewood. The entire camp faced these poles as if they were religious totems.

The two dragged their load to the center of the settlement and dumped them unceremoniously to the ground. The first, being undoubtedly the smartest, loudly thumped on the entrance flap.

- -

Despite the time that had gone by, Rose had still not identified her visitor as a friend or foe. She could safely say from the voice that it was a male, and a rather polite one, but he had no intention of letting her knowing more. Although she was not tied up, Rose's freedom was limited. The captor was still blocking the entrance, and didn't feel like moving much.

"May I please get some fresh air?" Laterose pleaded for the third time. Ah, verbal synonyms. Yet, the stranger shook his head.

"I'm afraid not," he laughed. Perhaps it was meant to be reassuring, but Rose found it creepy. "It's dangerous outside. You might get hurt."

Rose could vaguely see the glint of a menacing smile within the shadows of the stranger's hood. Was this supposed to be a joke? Was she being amusing? This thought suddenly angered her.

"By killer insects that feast on maids being held against their will, I'm sure," She remarked coldly.

"I doubt you are familiar with the terrain, miss."

Rose frowned. Okay, maybe, but it still seemed stupid.

Wait…

"You've been watching us all along?" She exploded. How else would he know she was not from the area?

"Ah…" Apparently Rose's question hit the mark.

She would have implored further, but a hard thump interrupted their conversation. Rose fumed at missing her chance while the figure lifted the flap. "Yes?" he asked coldly.

"Sir, we've got the rest of them, man," spoke somebeast outside.

The stranger's voice indicated that he was pleased as he replied, "At last. Make them comfortable while I compromise with our friend here."

"You mean –"

"Yes, you buffoon, that's what I mean. Don't waste my time!" The cloaked beast roughly pulled the flap down, discontinuing any further talk.

The mousemaid gulped. The others… well, that could only mean one thing, couldn't it?

"What is there to compromise about?" Rose's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. You have barely any say in what happens, and neither do your friends. You are merely… props. Well, miss, please make yourself comfortable first. I have a few things to explain." Rose grudgingly did so as he continued.

"Of course you know about Redwall Abbey. Well, it's not what it's made out to be. You see, a few seasons previous to now, when the founders of Redwall were still only planning to build the abbey, they captured a great number of my people to build it for them. Why they did such a cruel act, I do not know, but I figure it's because the woodlanders were too weak for construction themselves.

"You would think that the so-called peaceful creatures would let them go once the abbey was complete, but it was not so. They proved to be far more cruel than they let on, as they still have not let my people free to this day. The founders refuse to barter for my kind, and we can only imagine what they are treated like within that place."

Rose wasn't really buying it. Martin himself was supposedly a founder, and she simply refused to believe he would let such things happen inside his abbey. "And?" She asked snootily.

"Quiet!" he roared, enraged he didn't believe him. Rose's nerve failed her and she scooted away from him, cowed.

The cloaked beast continued. "I understand you are close with a specific founder?"

Rose's eyes went wide.

"Yes, I see. In that case, I intend on trading you for m- their abbey."

Rose's eyes went wider.

"I know it sounds impossible," he said silkily, "it may sound like much, but their abbey is a fair price to pay for their unfair enslavement of my people, don't you think?"

The mousemaid shook her head. "Wouldn't it make more sense to just ask for your people back?"

"No, it has been far too long. Things have gotten to the point where their abbey is the only price left to pay for their deeds."

"I don't believe you."

"Ah, no matter. My demands stand firm."

"What if they refuse? What did you do to my friends?" She said fearfully.

"Well, that's exactly it! I plan on using your other little friends to… persuade Redwall's founders. You see, if they give up their abbey and my people, they'll get you and your friends in return. If they do not comply with my wishes, you and your friends will… well, you'll see."

Rose gulped. Nothing sounded fair or made sense. He was probably insane.

- -

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Pallum and the others weren't all that better off. They were bound together by a lengthy piece of rope and under the somewhat watchful eye of yet another cloaked guard. They were connected by their paws in a triangle, with Brome in front, and Grumm and Pallum to his right and left, respectively. Grumm came to first, and was followed by Brome and Pallum. The guard, not yet.

Grumm groaned softly, rubbing his aching skull. Eyeing the semi-conscious guard suspiciously, Pallum nudged Brome. "Where are we?"

He shrugged. "Heck if I know. Maybe we can ask our friend over there." He took a deep breath and yelled out in his famous loud voice, "OY!"

The guard came fully to, grunting and looking sleepily about. "Huh, whut?"

In a softer voice, Brome tried a polite approach. "Sorry, my friend, but I thought I heard somebeast coming. Didn't want you yo get in trouble, you see."

The guard nodded. "Huh, okays. Thank youse." Then he was quiet, as he apparently didn't know what else to say.

"So, uh…" Brome looked around innocently while Grumm and Pallum tried to understand what was happening. "Where is this anyway?"

"A tent in Mosspedal or whatevers wood," said the guard cheerfully.

Brome sighed inwardly. He had hoped the guard was slow and gullible, but not completely stupid. "Uh, I mean… where in Mossflo- ah, Mosspedal?"

The guard cocked his head to one side. He was becoming rather suspicious. "Huh, whats do youse care?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just wonderin'." Brome shrugged, but inwardly seethed. Great! His one chance had been ruined by a stupid answer.

"Huh, I sees." The guard nodded, revealing a long, black furred muzzle as the hood moved with his head. A blink of an eye later, it was gone.

Pallum, Grumm, and Brome looked at each other, trying to see if one of them had recognized the revealed feature. Grumm and Brome were clueless, but Pallum looked around with wide eyes, indicating that he had something to say. Hoping to get a chance to tell his friends, he tried to distract the mysterious guard.

"Well, turns out nobeast came," Pallum said slyly. The guard looked at him and scratched the top of his head through the hood.

"Oh yeahs, I fergets about that,"

"Hurr, you'm can go back to whutchin' nao, zurr," Grumm butt in helpfully.

Although he had tried to help, the guard was instantly suspicious of the mole. "Psh, Ah dun trusts yer kind."

The three friends looked at each other, worried. Things had been going somewhat well…

"Um, he's right, though." Brome said quietly. "You should get all the sleep you can, because no doubt a strong beast like you has a lot of fatiguing duties."

The guard cocked his head to the side again. "Fah-tee-ging?"

"Tiring," Pallum said quickly.

"Huh, right," The guard agreed. "Ye'll calls meh agin if anybeast comes, huh?"

Grumm nodded and Brome said "Absolutely!" in what he hoped was a trustworthy voice.

Satisfied, the guard sat down by the door and nodded off.

All three let out quiet relieved sighs. "What did you find out, Pal?" Brome turned his head to face his friend.

The hedgehog shrugged. "Not much, really. I just thought that, you know, his nose is the same shape as Grumm-chum's."

Brome scrunched his face in thought. "Yes, now that you mention it, they did look alike!"

The mouse, hedgehog, and mole looked at each other. What was this cloaked creature, and why did he resemble Grumm?

- -

Martin, meanwhile, wasn't too happy. No other beast was too worried, since they did not even know who was coming. Yet Martin knew all too well.

"Shouldn't they be here yet?" Martin asked somewhat angrily the next day.

Gonff shrugged. "I don't know, mate. What's sinking your boat?" He asked while wiping his son's muzzle from whipped cream.

Skipper, Amber, Gonff and Martin were sitting in the orchard, looking after the dibbuns and enjoying the sun's shine.

Martin looked away and sighed. "Nothing. Never mind."

The other three looked at each other. His moods again. "Of course," Amber said softly.

Martin tried to shed his worries and turned his attention to his charge, a dibbun named Sella. She was a cute little otter that couldn't speak, but moved quite fast to make up for it. "Hey, hey!" the warrior scolded as she tried to slip away for a dip in the lake.

Laughing and without a care, they all took advantage of the rest of the sunny day. Well, almost all of them.

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WAS THAT LONG ENOUGH! I just want you guys to know that if I DO write longer chapters, they will take longer to be put up. So, what do you guys rather? Shorter chapters and quicker updates, or the opposite?

OK, I really need feedback on the foe's plan here. It was really hard for me to lay it out so that it made sense, for some reason. Does it stick for you guys? Please tell me how I could improve it, if possible. Also, the whole 'back at the ranch' thing is a metaphor to mean 'wherever we left off last'. Ever read A Series Of Unfortunate Events? Either way, I hope that clears it up.