Jaden's whiskers twitched. "My goodness..." Why would he do this! Out of all things - he just died right before me, but this...! He set his jaw and looked up at Gregshaw again. "He won't find out. Mossflower is going under. Those hares - they won't be able to protect their Badger Lord and child for long, less themselves! Who knows what the King of the Hellsman would do if he found this!"

Gregshaw nodded in agreement. "Aye laddie, tha's mighty good thinkin' ye're doin'! Them fools of rabbits an' whatnot in thar - y'know, that Badger Lord - they'll jus' be fightin' time. An when their time runs out - aye, starvation an' lack o' water an' vittles. Oi, it's a hare's nightmare t' go that way..." He shook his head and sighed forcefully. He reached down and pulled the badger babe out carefully. "This little un' would die out thar. ...Oi, 'e'll be a good sea otter... badger. Heh."

Jaden wasn't listening to Gregshaw, though. He was racketing his mind until a lightbulb went off. "The Abbot did suggest more than what he gave me..."

Gregshaw cradled the badger babe. It was merely half a year old. He stroke the gold stripe with a claw and the badger babe sneezed, groping for the finger. "Aye, wot's that lad?"

"Well, the Abbot did follow the crowd of Abbey dwellers. I guess in their flurry of zeal for the hunt, they didn't notice that he did. Well I guess they couldn't have, because he was carrying what's on my back... would've been dragged behind by it. But why on earth did he even give them to me?"

The question perplexed the otter Captain further. He glanced at the objects on the tod's back, and frowned. "So wot's on yer back?"

A sudden, sharp voice not of Jaden's sounded - from the doorway. It was an ottermaid, standing in shock at the sight in Gregshaw's arms. She caught sight of the striped snout as the babe yawned.

"Oi thar laddie, wot the blazes are ye doin'? Wot's that in your arms!"

Gregshaw looked up at Jaden, his eyes twitching. He turned around slowly, not to disturb the badger babe in his arms. "Well, er, ah, it's a long story-"

The ottermaid cut him off. "Well aye reckon' it be, since ye're holdin' none other than the son of the Badger Lord!"

Gregshaw stood there for a moment. He frowned. "Violet, naoh, we didn't go an' steal 'im or nuthin'-"

Violet approached Gregshaw and took the babe delicately from his arms. "Ye're holdin' it wrong! Aye, that's 'ow ye arn't supposed t' hold a babe." She began to gently rock him in her arms. Slow smile spread across her face. "-Wot are ye, a Captain ore somethin'?"

Gregshaw reached out, opened his mouth to say something, but declined not to and dropped his arms. He retried: "Oi, don't let 'im out of yore sight! No tellin' if-"

Violet cut him off again. "Ye think I'd do that?" She tickled the badger babe's nose, and he sneezed. The smile got larger. "Oi, I wouldn't be able t' 'old 'im if I tells anyone!"

Gregshaw glanced at Jaden with a look of irritation and concern. He turned back. "Violet, ye better not, cuz if'n's 'ee runs off an'-" But she was gone.

Jaden smiled coyly at Gregshaw. "Don't worry about it, I trust her."

"Ye do? Why?"

Jaden untied the straps of the cloth holding the sword and the tapestry on his back. He handed the sword, still clothed, to Gregshaw. "She looks like she could beat you in arm wrestlin'. Did you see the size of her muscles?"

Gregshaw felt the weight of the object passed to him. He looked sidelong at Jaden. "Aye - not only she c'n haul ropes an' anchors," He paused. "-She did beat me! Har, but I lets her. - Oi! Wot's this lad? Feels like a sword from the weight o' it, or somethin'."

Jaden looked at Gregshaw knowingly, and flipped off the cloth to the tapestry. It unrolled as the cloth fell off. The staring picture of Martin holding his sword stood above the cowering form of some vermin with a trident. Gregshaw gawked at the tapestry. He then looked at the object in his hand, and flipped off a portion of the cloth to uncover the pommeless hilt. He then withdrew the rest of the sword and moved it up in the air.

"Great heavens! Ye're full o' surprises, aye!"

The sword was in surprisingly good shape. Apparently, it had been given a hasty clean up job, though - half of one side of the blade looked polished as the rest was dusted with rust and oxidation. It dripped with excess oil as well. Jaden looked at the tapestry, holding it to his side, and chuckled dryly to himself. "Sadly though, I have no use for this junk. 'Tis just bits of history that them Redwallers clung to. Worthless I'd say. Aww well, will be just taking up room on the ship."

Gregshaw turned the blade a few times, and lowered it slight to feel its weight. "Aye, 'tis a beauty of a sword. Though could use a little bit o' elbow grease an' a new one of those stone thingys." He tapped the empty bowl-shape of wire at the end. The wire was twisted and stuck out oddly. The wrap on the handle was mostly decay, but the metal of the hilt and the rivets were still intact. "No laddie, we's be keepin' it. I think ye Abbot had somethin' bigger in mind than jus' ye usin' it as anchor weight!"

Jaden frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That badger babe. Ye know them badgers an' their strength an' swords."

Jaden's frowned deepened, and his brows furrowed. "You mean, train him? Well I just have basic training with swords. And this is the first time I've touched one in decades. Last time I had a sword in my paw was when I dropped sword fighting for archery."

"Laddie, don't worry 'bouts it. I've th' best corsair otters in all these 'ere soon-to-be burnin' lands... Aye." He sighed. "Aye, 'twill be sad leavin' 'ome, but eh, it happens to the best of us."

"Yeah."

"Well lad," Gregshaw said as he wrapped the sword back up in the oil-soaked side of the cloth. "We've got somethin' bigger on our 'ands naow. Them badgers an' swords an' stuff c'n wait fer laters. We gots me crew t' get shape-ship an' prepare's fer the sailin'." He set the sword aside and held out his hand for the tapestry. "Ye give me that, an' I'll stow's it nice an' tidy. An' ye go an' tell the crew me word: that we's be on the river in two hours time, so they best be makin' themselves an' their holt ready fer sailin'!"

"What?" Jaden hesitated giving the tapestry over. "I hardly even know all of them. I don't remember even half of them. In fact, I think there's some new one's here that probably won't even listen to me! Did you see how they were looking at me? They're so supsicious, and-"

"Aye, Jaden," Gregshaw said as he took the tapestry from the unwilling fox. He grinned. "'Tis an' order. An' don' worry 'bout's them be listennin'. Aye, I've given them an earful 'bout ye while's ye be gone. They look at ye funny 'cuz they're curious!"

Jaden sighed sharply and shook his head as he walked out. "I don't think it will work..."

Gregshaw chuckled to himself. "Aye, it will. If they don't, they gots me to contend with."

The crew were milling about the pier. Some had jumped in the water and were swimming about. A few more were fishing, while others simply didn't even bother with line and hook - they took to it with their bare hands.

"Arg! I's got a big one!" One otter held up the trout, wriggling fiercly in his strong paw. "Beat that, ye fishin' line lovvah!"

Jaden emerged from the holt with sudden anticipation. Eyes quickly went on him - some he recognized, most he didn't. He cleared his throat and gestured. "Listen here, your Captain has something he wants me to tell you all."

Ears perked, and a few were forced up out of the water. "Oi! Watch it!"

"Shush! Matey 'as word o' th' Cappy."

Jaden cleared his throat again. "The Captain says... That we'll be sailing in two hours time." He paused. The eyes still looked, but no voices sounded, which made it all the better for Jaden. "He says to make ship ready and gather up all you will need for sailing."

A very rough looking otter poked his head up around the bottom of the pier. In the paw not holding himself to the pier was a hammer. "An' wot possessed the Captain this time? Aye, too much rum? S'weeks afore we be sailin' out!"

The basso voice of the Captain rumbled as he emerged behind from Jaden. Jaden stepped aside promptly. "Oi laddies, Mossflower 'as takin' a turn O' events. It ain't wot it used ta be, an' sadly it ain't goin' ta be fer long!

"The 'ellsman are comin' as reportin' by me friend 'ere Jaden. Yon black foxxy says that the King usually lies when he gives quick commands such 'as this." He looked at Jaden. "Why don't ye tell yer crew?"

Jaden looked up at Gregshaw, and back to the otters. He glanced back at the doorway leading inside the holt. Several heads had poked out of the doorway to listen to the commotion. "Well, the King usually gets ahead of himself when he gets ideas, and this time he's bent on the Abbey. From being with the King's armies - and don't get me wrong, I'm not in a hurry to go back. Eh.. heh. Well, the King put a two-week ultimatum on Mossflower, and by two weeks he means several days. It's no telling when he'll strike, but when he does... Let's just say it be best if we leave."

Mutterings, and murmers started. "Oi, wot's this?"

"Mossflower's my 'ome! - An' the sea, but i's me 'ome!"

"The King is comin'. Great, my pier will be wrecked again."

"Wot about the badger babe?"

Heads flung. Violet stood in the doorway holding the swadling babe. Gregshaw stepped aside and cleared his throat rather nervously. "Well mates, Jaden also 'appened on this lad. Found 'im in his pack, probably was flung in there on last notice by the Abbot 'imself - rest 'is soul. Oi, times be changin', aye..."

Silence hung over the stunned otters. Some looked expectantly at their Captain, while others just looked off. The Captain broke the silence rather loudly. "We be sailing fer Portstown today! Two 'ours! There we'll board the real Potsly Mudclaw an' sail over the blue yonder t' safety. We'll be 'eadin' west past the Isles of Carnine an' Ambrosia, an' stop along th' way thar fer any victuals an' such we c'n find. But we won't stay long in either place - from my friend 'ere says, when the King 'an itch, 'ee itches it until it bleeds. This itch's Mossflower lads. There's no tellin' wot 'e'll do. The best we c'n do is leave with what we've got an' who we got."

An otter maid piped up. "But... what about Mossflower? Can't we be warnin' them of this?"

Jaden spoke up. "I tried telling Redwall but they chased me out. Tried to kill me, that lot. Last I saw they were running West. No telling how many towns and villages they'll come across and rile up. They would get to them before we ever could - and especially since the King and his armies could be in Mossflower right now!"

"Aye," The Captain agreed. "Now laddies, ye know wot to do. Get to work!"

The large holt only needed an hour and thirty minutes to prepare everything with the amount of hands available. Pots, pans utensils, and herbs and dried fish and fruits were stowed; along with the minor necessities of the otter's needs, and one of the Captain's chests, filled with maps and tools for navigating. The sword of Martin and the tapestry were locked in there, as the Captain showed Jaden out of view of the others.

The waters of the Bohladaira, or Sister Southsward as the otters called it, was smooth going. The large flat-bottomed boat was packed with beasts and belongings. Jaden brushed shoulders until he made it to the Captain. The Captain was looking over a map of the Western Seas with great scrutiny at bowside. . He rubbed the lens of the magnifying glass in his hand with a thumb, and looked again. The cutter moved along swiftly with aid one sail propped up. The mainsail was tied up; the other two jib sails were up and billowing.

Jaden sighed as he breathed in the fresh air. Different wildflowers and plants grew along the banks of the Sister Southsward, merging from the grassy marsh-soil by the Potsly trading post and holt. The Captain leaned back on the keg he was using as a seat and rubbed his neck.

"Arr, we best be sailin' fer the uncharted seas. No tellin' 'ow far th'King's ratcrews will sail. Them clammy fools 'ave proven themself afore's, an' we need every bit o' distance t'keep their claws off o' me holt."

Jaden nodded slowly. He looked the map over once and said, "How long will it take to get out there?"

"Oh, les' see. From where we are naow-" He glanced up and around. "-t' Porttown, s' be 'bout two t' three hours at the clippin' pace this river boat be goin'. Portstown t' the delta 'twill be nuthin', from the delta o' the Sister Southsward t' Carnin an' Ambrosia 'twill be six hours, an' from thar it'll be... forever an' a day, may'aps!"

Jaden nodded. "So it'll take us about two days, right? It's afternoon now. We'll be getting to Portstown well before dinnertime, and then we'll be sailing all night, correct?"

"Aye. No stoppin' cept fer me large boat an' victuals we could scavange at Carnine an' Ambrosia.

Jaden nodded again and sighed. He took a seat on an empty barrel and scratched his head. "I really do wonder what is wrong with Sala."

"I dunno, laddie. Could be anythin'. I've wondered that meself, an' jus' finally decided to stop. They be askin' fer it. Aye?"

"Yeah, I guess."