The Newcomer of Redwall
Book 1: The stranger (or Heaven, interrupted)
Chapter 3
The sunlight filtered through the dust-covered window, setting all the wooden surfaces aglow with the afternoon's rays. The two figures sat at the tale under the glass. One was taller, wider than the other, sitting across from him. He cupped a large, wooden mug. The other, smaller and female, had her paws wrapped around a glass filled with amber liquid. She pushed her glass over to the first, who placed his hand, wrapped tightly in leather straps, forming some sort of glove or gauntlet, onto the mouth of the glass. Two perfect cubes of the drink separated and solidified themselves, floating to the top with the tiny bubbles trapped in them, at least until they melted. "I love how you can do that." She said, taking her glass back. The sunlight flickered through the drink, reflecting and refracting, setting little amber splotches onto her fur as she sipped at it, and shivered. "Makes it a lot stronger as well as colder." He nodded slowly, taking a longer quaff of his beverage than her, setting it back on the table with a solid clunk. "There's a subatomic explanation for that." He paused, then said, "But I suppose you don't care about that." She smiled, shaking her head and watching the ice clink about in the glass. "No, not at all." She set the glass back onto the table, trailing her fingerpad around its rim. "You went against your code." She said solemnly. He shrugged, drinking again. His arm came up and wiped off his lips. "Given the circumstances, I think I can make an exception." She took several more sips of the hard liquor in her glass, almost finishing it, and said, "You still killed her." He sighed in frustration. "I...I know, but she HAD to die, and...." He swallowed the rest of his drink quickly, and threw ten silver down onto the table, far more than was needed for both their drinks combined. "And I shouldn't have to argue for or convince anyone that my actions were the right ones." He stood, walking past her quickly. She looked at where he had been sitting for a moment, then jumped to her feet and went after him, crying, "Wait!"
what is this?
A lone creature stood before a pair of huge wooden gates. Its face was shrouded in the shadows of its hood, but there were two bright ovals of red glowing like hot embers, full of power and hatred and
and rage
It put its hand on the center of the solid oak gates, fingers splayed wide, covered in blood and dirt and grit, the embers disappearing momentarily. Seconds passed in total silence before the gates expanded and exploded outward, one rat instantly crushed under the corner of the left gate, the right bouncing on the hard dirt road, exploding into splinters, long and deadly slivers of wood blowing outward into the dark mass of creatures on the opposite side of the road, seeking out eyes, ears, throats and
The female otter with the missing ear stood over him, her foot on his chest, laughing as she pressed the tip of her sword against his throat
Three weasels stood at the helm of a ship, one of them huge and muscle-bound, as big and as strong as the badgers, the second looking at land with blind, all-seeing eyes, the very air around him rending itself to insanity, the third rubbed his paws together, energy crackling around them, spilling over with
The wolf, the dark wolf, the evil wolf, the hated wolf the wolf the wolf thewolfthewolfthewolfthewolf
WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE?!
He could smell it, the acrid scent of burn flesh and hair settling around him like a robe, burning the hair in his nose and singing the ones in his sinuses, reaching into his very MIND as the ground, the grass, the trees, even the AIR burned!
MOM?! DAD?! SIS?!
"You know where they are." Ross's voice come from beside him, entwined with the stench to form some hybrid of sensory input that made him want to vomit. "Look." He pointed to Simon's right, and he turned, they turned, simultaneously, unwillingly (in Simon's case) unable to turn away or even close his eyes as he looked over the three charred, blackened corpses, the skin burst open in ugly patterns like mountains and valleys, the peaks turned a sooty black, the blood a darker red than the meat, still pumping from the bodies.
NO! KEEP THEM AWAY!
"You know I can't do that, Howard." Ross said, sneering and picking up the smallest of the three corpses, the only one with its head still whole, pinching her bloated cheeks to make her mouth form words. "Howey," He said in a high-pitched, vaguely female voice, "You stupid fucking prick, you killed me." Simon staggered back, his legs coming free, falling heavily, trying to scream and failing, the cry hardening into a lump in his throat.
No Katie I swear it was Dad I swear Dad did it I saw him please don't be mad I-Now the other two corpses were rising. The female of the two had a huge, gaping hole, almost a crater in the back of her head, her left eye gone entirely, the bits of gray matter dripping through the empty socket. The male counterpart had a similar hole, this one right between his eyes. Simon could see, in some sick double vision, the back of his father's head, completely missing the back portion of skull, still pulsing blood, the brain completely obliterated by the bullet, the top of the spinal column visible. They stumbled to join Kate and Ross in some sick, burning family portrait, His mother's left cheek raised in a sick grin, the right cheek torn off by the shard of bone that had been pushed forward and out of her head by the .44's fist shot.
God o no god o god o god o god stay back I'm sorry ross did it I swear it wasn't me I loved you Katie I loved you I loved
Ross walked over to him, putting something heavy, cold, and familiar into his hand. "Howard, you little bastard, there's nothing to worry about." Simon flinched, knowing what the thing was. The .44 they had used that night, the night of fire and smoking skin and "Get. Up." Ross demanded, "Get up right now." Simon shook his head, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
PleaserossnoohnojustgoawayanddiealreadypleasediediediedieDIE!He leveled the gun in between Ross's eyes. He smirked. "Just like Dad?" He asked. "Go ahead, prove me right, show me that we did the right thing, that you ENJOY doing the right thing." Simon shuddered violently, the gun shaking visibly.
don'twanttoshootyourossDIEalreadykilledyouonceDIEwhycan'tyoujustDIE?!Ross's face turned to a mask of fury. "FUCK RIGHT YOU KILLED ME ONCE!" He screamed, his eyes showing the painful hatred he felt towards his twin.
ididntmeantokillyouididntyourestillaliveinmeALWAYSINMYHEADOUTOFMYHEAD!!
Simon gasped, throwing the gun aside and screaming soundlessly at his brother, wanting to kill him, wanting to kill him AGAIN, the hate and evil building up inside his chest and spreading to his arms, wanting to be released, hurting HIM as he would hurt OTHERS. He would last out and grab Ross's neck, snapping it in two, in three, in TWENTY!
Ross and Mom and Dad and Katie were burning higher now, really burning, making Simon sweat, their skin bubbling and melting away like wax, exposing their perfectly white bones beneath, and even those burned, the marrow popping and crackling, turning to ash to be blown away, fertilizing the steel blades of grass in this red field of hell. He felt something heavy on his shoulder, and he didn't dare turn, he KNEW what would happen if he turned, the dark wolf would look into his eyes and, and....
and what?And the wolf would drown him, throw him into some deep black expanse of water and let him sink to the bottom, cold and alone with the water burning through his lungs and mouth and nose, thrashing in the straightjacket and weight that kept him tethered to the bottom, settling there to have his blue and bloated corpse worried away by fish and crabs and water demons, bits of flesh and organs floating to the surface to be eaten by gulls, his bloodshot eyes looking up at the faint sunlight, freedom far above his head until they, too, would rot or be eaten. He shook the paw off and ran, ran at full speed, the razorblade grass ripping and cutting the flesh of his feet, but the wolf was behind him, the wolf was faster, the wolf was stronger, the wolf would drown him, shove his head underwater and hold it there, laughing deeply as Simon sucked water into his lungs.
Simon Gilnom
Simon snapped away, sitting ramrod straight. His eyes budged as he looked around wildly, before realizing that he couldn't breath! He leaned over the side of the bed he was in, the stuff in his chest sloshing around, water pouring from his lungs and splashing on the cold floor, mixing with his panicked tears. He lay back, panting heavily, covered his eyes with his hands and screamed "FUUUUUUUUUCK!"