Matt fidgeted in the barkcloth tunic he wore. It was not particularly itchy; it simply felt so unbefitting upon him, especially when Hali had him strap on a leather belt suited with a dagger, pouch of stones, and sling. It didn't even help when Lucy smiled prettily up at him, magnificent eyes dancing, and told him he looked rather dashing.

Todd, Ben, and Hali took the weight of the weapons as a second skin, the gravity of it not affecting their high spirits. Then again, Matt had to remind himself: Hali had lived all her young and pre-teen life in rugged, African country, Ben and Todd entering the same lifestyle before their childhood was up. This probably was their origional skin.

Lucy had refused any weapons to be placed upon her, (Todd convinced Hali this might be for the better; Redwall might not take to each of their party being armed to the teeth.) and she took to the simple homespun frock she was given well enough; Charlie's biggest imposing problem was deciding which angle his own dagger looked best against his forest green tunic.

"Ach, what's got ye doon, lad?"

Matt jumped in surprise and glanced at the small red-squirrel that had – once again – snuck up silently behind him and was now standing next to him by the for'ard end of the long boat. The mouse allowed his gaze to wander back to the vast sea that stretched before him. "Nothing, I suppose," he said after a while, slouching down to rest his chin on his paws forlornly against the starboard side. He scratched Gregory's head absently. "Don't mind me, Deema. Just trying to decide how hard of rain I want to bring on…"

Deema threw her head back and laughed, causing Matt's own laugh to begin to bubble up inside of him. He loved her laugh.

Meeting Johnny and Deem for the first time would have normally been a quite remarkable thing in Matt's life, but the recent events that had tipped said life upside down so uncerimoniously rendered the visitantion as little more than another step in a very long day. Still, they cut an interesting impression on their own; pairing them up was an odd thought that…well, simply worked. Deema was a sprightly little thing, (and when Matt ment "little", he ment little,) her brown fur, set off with red undertones, accented her clear green eyes. She was very pretty, save for the curving scar on the right side of her face that ran from her temple and almost met with the corner of her mouth. The petite squirrel's husband, on the other hand, had had great difficulty walking through doors since the age of 15. His wide girth only added to his ceiling-brushing enormity. His wife, though hardly stretching a head past his ample waiste, was the only beast – save Hali – who could repremand him into shame and guilt. (Deema and Hali did not cheat themselves out of this gift.) They were both cheery creatures and acted with only the slightest of aprehension on the side, though that did not stop them for a moment in accepting Hali's call for assitence in the traveling to Redwall. Deema was always waiting patiently with a smile or the silvery laugh Matt loved so much. Johnny did his own bit of laughing and joining in on the fun, but was the more cautious of the pair; Hali would tease him about being over-protective until he blushed. Matt had grown instantly close to both of the squirrels.

"Ach, cheer oop!" Deema said, punching Matt on his right shoulder. She shivered and pulled her tan coloured tunic closer around her as a sharp gust of wind blew in. "We cannae be far from yon island. Johnny!" she turned her head to the side, her voice almost swept clean away by the wind. "How much longer de ye think, love!"

Johnny grunted and pushed the tiller to the right, setting straight the small turn the sharp wind had pushed them into. His strong, deep American voice shattered through the gale. "Can't be more than an hour from shore! We should land around the ruins of Marshank!" Hali and Ben whooped from where they sat at the top of the mast. They swung down, pulling the sail ropes taut against the straining bluster.

"Not out of the woods yet," Johnny muttered, peering up at the sky. "It's a good thing we're close; big storm's coming on." Todd, his palor already pale and drawn, gave an unhappy grunt. He sat in the middle of the boat, turning his eyes from the deck, to the open waters, and closing them periodically. It seemed no matter where he turned, the upheavals followed. Lucy sat next to him, trying to comfort him as best she could. Charlie was helping nobeast by flouncing about as though on solid ground. Even Matt with his strong stomach felt his innards lurch each time the boat dropped as Charlie stepped. Todd opened his eyes long enough to glare at the impudent mouse and let his paw stray towards the yew bow and quiver of arrows that lay under his seat. Charlie stopped immediately.

"Ahh, Todd has never been much of a sea-faring beast," Hali teased, grinning maliciously. "More like sea-fearing…" Todd stiffened, eyes shifting from the waves, tops beginning to splash over the side, to Hali.

"I'm not…afraid," he gave another small dry heave, closing his eyes again, as though not being able to witness his death would make it less painful. "Just don't like it."

"Ach, don' ye be leavin' yer brekkist fer us," Deema said as she sauntered by to aid Johnny with the tiller, jovially giving Todd a thump on the shoulders. Todd, just at the mention of anything entering his churning stomach, gave another sickened grunt. Hali gave him a strange look, caught between the start of pity and becoming sick herself.

"Don't sit there and think about it," she called from up in the rigging, where she was pulling in the sails upon order from Johnny. "Come up here and take your mind off of it, help me with these sails…" Todd looked extremely aprehensive, but coaxing from Lucy had him up there eventually. Howard and Gregory scurried underneath it as another surge of wind blustered by.

The wind had increased at a startling rate. It was now tossing the boat around like some small toy for the waves. Both Johnny and Deema had their backs thrown into the tiller, struggling to keep the vessel on course. Charlie and Lucy were bailing furiously to rid the boat of the water that had begun to rise around their footpaws. Matt stopped in his aid to them and peered in the direction they were going. His strained his eyes, the darkening sky making it difficult to determine whether or not it was –

"Ben!" Matt shouted to be heard over the raging winds. "What do you reckon that is?"

The otter lept from the mast and landed with a small splash next to Matt, peering in the directiong Matt was pointing. "Haha! That would be land, my good friend!" he said. A large raindrop splattered across his muzzle. He swiped it away and called out, "And none too soon. West and fourteen degrees north, Johnny!"

More rain was blown into the small group as Johnny lashed the tiller on its course. The giant of a squirrel reached up and grabbed Todd and Hali by the footpaws, pulling them both down to the deck. "Stay down!" he shouted, the wind increasing its already impossible fury, now thickly spackled with rain. "Nobeast is getting blown off my boat!" From their position on the deck, the fox and vixen completed their task of tying down the sails with Johnny's help. The rudder, the intense strain the waves were putting it up against amounting to too much, folded up against the long boat, snapping the tiller free from its restraining bond. Deema was nearly knocked overboard as it came sweeping towards her; Ben and Charlie lept to her aid to regain control.

Matt stood stock still, staring at his surroundings with glazed eyes, not taking any of it in. Lucy grabbed on to his arm and handed him a bucket with which to bail out the rising water. Her mimicked her motions numbly, fumbling about in the cold water. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky followed closely by a sharp clap of thunder. Matt stood and watched as the cliffs on the shore were silhouetted in another bright flash. Somebeast called out his name; he turned just in time to a spar swing at him, knocking him squarley in the midriff and send him tumbling over the edge of the boat.

Water filled his mouth and nose when he tried to replace the breath that had been knocked from him. Upon instinct, he tried to cough and gag it out, only allowing more to rush in.

Cold. Dark. The water tossing him about. Then, a pair of arms grabbing him about the waist, and all went black.

Matt groaned miserably and brought his paws to his throbbing head. He tried to call out for somebeast, but his mouth and throat were parched and shrivled from the salty water. Slowly, he pulled his paws away and, at an even slower pace, opened his eyes. Hali was leaning over him and grinning broadly.

"Hello, Sleepy-head," she said jovially, turning and opening one of their water-pouches. With her help and several spills, Matt swallowed enough to regain voice to croak, "What happened?"

Lucy popped up on the other side of him and told him to shush. She dabbed his brow with a cloth dipped in something that made a cut on Matt's forehead sting and burn. "Are you going to make a habit out of this, Mr. Woods?" she berated him with an airy smile. "Because if you are, I am going to need to stock up on medical suplies before we go any farther on this journey. You took quite a good hit with a piece of driftwood, but it was most likely the whole tide that you swallowed that caused you to pass out."

"How long have I been asleep?" he said with difficulty. Hali pulled away the canteen and looked at him with grave sincerity as she said, "We were really beginning to worry; it's been nearly two days!"

Matt's eyes shot open and he sat up sharply. "What!" Lucy sighed as Hali fell back on the sand, laughing hysterically.

"Would you please cut that out!" she snapped at the vixen, who laughed all the harder. Matt picked up a pinecone and sullenly lobbed it at her, smiling vindictivly as it connected with her head with a thwock! Rubbing his own head, he took account of his surroundings. They were in a small cove, the beach a stone's throw away. Their long boat sat just ouside. The sky had cleared and the moon cast a greenish-yellow glow as a light rain fell. Charlie lay among the packs on the right side of the cave, snoring uproariously. Howard laying on his stomach and rising and falling with each breath. Lucy rolled her eyes at him.

"You would have thought he was the one knocked into the sea…" she muttered, but she was once again smiling for some reason unknown to Matt.

"Where are we?" Matt asked Hali, watching her toss the pinecone he had chucked at her from paw to paw. She shrugged.

"We are not really sure. The others are out searching right now. I would be with them had I not kicked that stupid piece of driftwood when I jumped in after you." She indicated her right footpaw, which was wrapped in a linen bandage. "Just bruised and a few, er, splinters, --"

"'Splinters' the size of my finger," Lucy interjected.

" – but I should be alright for when we travle tomorrow." It was a few moments before Matt realized he was gaping at her.

"That was you?" he exclaimed softly. He must have been looking at her incrediously, for she shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

"Just here to help," she said carlessly as she lobbed the pinecone at Charlie, who gave a startled grunt as he was brought sharply back into consciousness. Lucy and Matt sniggered under their breath, further confusing Charlie as he picked up the offending item. He was in the process of pulling back his arm to return it when Ben and Johnny came barrelling into the small cave, shaking rainwater from their fur. Hali squinted her eyes against the droplets as they came at her, asking the pair, "Did you find anything?"

Ben blew droplets from his whiskers before replying, "No, and I suppose that's a good thing; we've landed somewhere along the North Cliffs, and, if Matt's right, that means the pygmy shrews' encampment is somewhere above us."

"No use parleying with them," Matt commented wryly. Johnny grinned and agreed, "We'll move out first thing in the morning; best get some sleep before then. I vote Hali takes first watch." Ben concured and they both flopped down at the back of the cove against the rock wall. Before Hali could work up an argument, the remaining two of their party joined them.

"Och, ah dinnae think coomin along woulda gotten meh this wet!" Deema sighed loudly, rubbing herself vigorously. "Ah do nae know whether ah'll ever be dry'n'warm agin!" Sympathizing very little with the squirrel as she told Ben to "scudge oop", Hali asked – very impatienly, "Anything to report?"

Todd accepted a blanket from Charlie and used a corner of it to vigorously rub his ears and head dry, headfur sticking up at odd angles as a result. He answered, "Marshank lies not half a leuge south; Johnny's calculations weren't much thrown off in the storm. We should be able to reach it without much trouble. I think a fire would be alright as well."

Deema gave a feeble cheer and set a pile of driftwood that had been drying and lying in wait at the back of the cave in the center of the small clearing. Using the piece of flint in his belt pouch and striking it against his knife blade, Johnny set the tinder aflame. A small fire was crackling merrily a short while later. "Guid call on that rain, Matt!" Deema teased, eyes dancing as brilliantly as the flames.

"Oh, hush up," the mouse grumbled, rubbing the bunp on his head remosfully. That had been the second time the situation had gotten the better of him. Cursing himself silently under his breath, he vowed never again to be caught in such a way.

Todd had shooed Gregory away from one of the packs he was poking his nose into. "Not much was lost, then?" he asked. Hali shook her head. "All in all, we were rather fortunate. Care to whip us up a hot dinner, Johnny?"

The squirrel laughed and obliged immeadiatly. He pulled one of the food packs towards him and commenced chopping up vegetables and setting them to simmer in a pot over the fire with a pawful of dried shrimp, making use of a sodden loaf of bread and using it to thicken the broth. While he was doing this, Hali had snatched up her own pack. Matt watched as she untied a bundle from it. Uncovering revealed it to be the violin that had sat on the stand in her library. She carfully inspected it for water damage, scratches, dents, and bumps. Satisfied, she plucked its strings, tuning them skillfully. Charlie looked up at the noise and shook his head.

"You can't go anywhere without that thing, can you?" he said. Hali shook her head and held her ear closer to the string as it vibrated, twisting the peg at its scroll and lowering the pitch. Ben had no objections to Hali's relationship with her instrument.

"Care to play us something?" he asked hopefully. Hali bit her lip.

"I don't know if I dare," she said slowly. "I don't know how sound travlels out here…"

"You should be alright," Todd said, laying down against the far wall of the cove. "We couldn't hear you until was were nearly on top of you. If it was Johnny singing, though, that would be a different matter…ouch!" Johnny indignantly threw the wooden bowl he was about to fill with the prepared stew at the impudent fox. Deema gave a hearty laugh; Matt followed suit and accepted the bowl she held out for him.

Matt's first experience of Johnny's miraculous cooking abilities was not short from blissful. He turned something as simple as vegetable soup into one of the most fabulous things he had ever tasted. Hali graced them as they ate by striking up a lively little melody that she was encored to play again, which she did happily along with a few others until she pleaded starvation. Playful banter and happy conversations were exchanged as they all comsumed Johnny's impromptu – but none the less fantastic – meal. Todd had fallen asleep against the far side of the cove and, as she asked Ben about her home and how everybeast there was, Hali snuck over and worked his still-damp hair into even odder angles, the end result looking comically like a mohawk. Charlie and Deema both had great difficulty in holding in their laughter. Johnny soon followed his suit, though, snoring softly. As to not wake them, Hali and Ben sat with their backs aginst the back wall, talking softly.

Matt sat with his back against a large rock, facing the sleeping forms across the fire of Todd, Lucy and Charlie; Hali and Ben, fighting sleep off as they whispered to each other, were stretched out at the very back, Johnny in the corner to the right of them and the left of Matt. Deema walked over and plopped herself in the sand next to the sleepy mouse. A thought that had been poking at him surfaced.

"Why is Hali so much more open with Ben than Todd?" he asked the red squirrel. "She seems to be holding a grudge of some sort against him…" Deema smiled listlessly.

"Ach, weel," she said, stretching her paws above her head tiredly. "Todd jus' crossed her path too manee-a time. Despite what ye see, Hali is a bonny wee friend teh both o' meh boys. Todd got her guid an' mad afore she left us fer Spain, though; adden on teh the several times he'd tell meh what sort-a trouble she'n'Ben'd get inta when I'd worm it outta 'im, Hali worked herself into a guid dislike agin him. Todd is still true teh her 'till the end, though, as all frien's are." She sighed and stood, telling Matt to get some sleep, she would take the first watch.

He lay down, all too grateful to follow her orders. As he looked around the cave before sleep overcame him, he suddenly felt extremely content. He knew in an instant that this was what Redwall Abbey was about: friends sharing good times with friends, enjoying life, the true happiness one never sees anymore. Words couldn't describe the joyful peace he felt inside him; these were the things one never felt when reading the history from the books your grandfather read to you as you sat on his knee as a wide-eyed, captivated child. Hate for any creature who would dare to oppose such a happy feeling and life as Matt was experiencing now bubbled up inside of him. Knowing what side he stood for and what he must do in the short days to come allowed him to rest easy and forget all his troubles until Hali would wake him at dawn. Come what may.


A/N: Wasn't that lovely? Hopefully, questions were answered, loose ends were tied up, and you truly enjoyed it. (Tell me in a review!)

When writing this, I felt it would be very important at this point for Matt to accept the responsibility he has upon him and come to terms with it. If I didn't express it well, let me know in a review and I will pretend this chapter is fabulous anyways and fix it later.