Author's Note:

If it is unclear how the stoat managed to gain possession of the clues in the last chapter, that it because it is supposed to be. I am planning on making a prequel to this story, which will cover, not only how that stoat got the clue, but also how Varo Huska's father, Bane, managed to get the clue that is in the second chapter. And finally, no, I don't believe that the sword ever was lost again after Redwall, but this is an alternate history, so that doesn't matter.

Chapter 4

The searats of the Gutted Eagle lined the rails as their ship approached the Diamond Queen. They outnumbered the mice of the Queen two to one, and were quite confident that success would be theirs. Captain Varo Huska made sure that his ship approached the Queen quite slowly to prevent any further mishaps. After less than a minute, the two ships were parallel.

"Throw the grapples, me hearties!" roared the fox captain, smiling wickedly. "Prepare to booooooard!"

Aboard the Queen, Captain Roran encouraged his crew.

"C'mon mates! Use those oars to smack 'em off the rails when they pop up!" he turned to a group of mouse archers. "If the front line gets broken, you must fire everything you have into the leak to give our side time to regroup!"

The mice gripped their weapons tightly, some of them trembling, as grappling hooks thudded over the rail and were pulled taught. Immediately Roran was running alongside the railing, slicing through every rope that he reached. Suddenly, several arrows thudded into the wood behind the mouse captain. He threw himself to the ground, cursing, as more grappling hooks found their marks.

Aboard the Gutted Eagle, spirits were high. The rat archers were keeping the mice from chopping through the grapple lines. Varo Huska turned to his crew.

"On my call, buckoes!" he hollered, relishing his command. "One! Two! Three! Swiiiiiiing!" The searats leapt off their ship, crashing into the Diamond Queen's side. They began to swiftly rappel up, under cover of archers.

"Get ready," whispered Roran to his crew. They could hear the rats clambering up the side of their ship. Suddenly, a rat's head popped up over the railing. Roran whacked him hard in the face with a wooden paddle. He turned and saw others following suit. However, the defenders were greatly outnumbered. They would soon be overrun.

Roran turned to his left and saw a mouse fall. Several vermin leapt over the side, howling with triumph. Roran turned to his archers.

"NOW!" he yelled urgently. A dozen arrows struck their targets. Roran leapt in the air, whooping for joy. He turned back to the rail, and received a hard bash in the face from a club-weilding searat. He fell to the deck, and blacked out.

When Roran came to, he was strapped to a chair in the captain's chamber. Varo Huska was sitting opposite him, staring at the mouse intently. Upon seeing that he was awake, the fox stood up and began to circle the merchant captain.

"So…" he began. Roran interrupted him.

"So what?" he spat. Varo smiled.

"So… I knew that I would win in the end… the more cunning beast always wins," he smirked at the mouse, who was struggling against his bonds.

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with!" demanded Roran angrily.

"Oh, I won't kill you… yet," the fox said icily. He continued, "I still have a use for you, mouse." He pulled the riddle off of his desk with a flourish. Roran looked at it, interested.

"What do you want me to do with it?" asked Roran, who was still focusing on the riddle.

"What do you think?" asked Varo sarcastically. "Decipher it, of course!"

Roran sighed. "If I help you, you have to promise me that you won't harm my crew."

The fox kept his face blank as he replied, "Done. You have my word as a captain and a pirate that I shan't lay a paw on your precious crew."

"Well, that's a relief," said the mouse under his breath. However, he consented, and, taking the sheet, began to think. He quickly saw the answer. However, he pretended to be having great difficulty, in order to scare the fox.

"Hmmm… this is a tough one. I mightn't be able to solve this," he said, glancing at Varo to see his reaction.

The fox stared back at him for a moment, and then said quietly, "Fine. I guess I'll have to kill your crew."

"No, wait," said Roran quickly, looking back down at the paper lest the fox read his eyes. "I think I have it. This riddle speaks of a place by the name of Redwall Abbey."

"How do you come to see that?" asked Varo doubtingly.

"Well, it says that giving ants die for instead helps you. Ants die is simply instead with the letters mixed up. So, Bell Bared Way is simply Redwall Abbey mixed up."

The fox looked impressed. "But how did you even get to start thinking about this Redwall Abbey?"

Roran explained. "Well, at the bottom of the page, it says Moose Sword Flows, with some trees. The trees made me think of forests, which led me to see that Moose Sword Flows was actually Mossflower Woods, the place where Redwall Abbey is."

"Hmmm…" Bane studied the sheet, making sure that the anagrams worked. "Tell me about this 'Redwall Abbey,' mouse."

"I've never been there myself… but I hear that it's a place where all goodbeasts can live in peace and harmony, farming and living off of the fat of the la-" Roran was interrupted in his fantasy by Varo.

"Sounds very nice," he said dryly. "Now, where can I find this 'Redwall'?"

"It's in Mossflower Woods," began Roran. "Mossflower is to the east of here, south of the cliffs. Redwall shouldn't be too hard to find. Go east over land until you reach a path. If you follow that path, you'll eventually reach Redwall Abbey."

"You make it sound easy, mouse," said Varo skeptically. "Are there no pitfalls or traps that would stop me from reaching my destination?"

Roran considered for a moment before answering, "Just the woodlands, fox. They can be pretty deadly to a beast that doesn't know their way around in them."

The fox captain smiled. "I'm sure that won't be a problem."

Roran was getting nervous from looking at Varo's smile. He decided to act. "Now, fox, our bargain?"

Varo smirked and beckoned Roran to the doorway. He opened the door and booted the mouse out. Roran looked up to see his entire crew, lying slain on the deck. He whirled around to face the fox, his eyes blazing.

"You filthy scumbag! We had a deal!" he roared, leaping at the fox. Before he could lay a paw on the captain, however, two burly rats grabbed him. Roran struggled, still straining to get at the fox. Varo, however, was grinning triumphantly.

"I never broke our deal, mouse!" he shouted evilly. "I said that I'd never lay a paw on your crew; I never said nothin' about my crew not touchin' 'em!" The fox turned to the two rats who were restraining Roran.

"Toss him overboard!" he said, grinning. They dragged a struggling Roran to the railing. Before they threw him off, he yelled back at the still-smiling Varo.

"I'll kill you one day, fox! I'll kill yooooooooooooou!" Roran's voice was cut abruptly to a halt as he hit the water; the Gutted Eagle quickly left him treading water in its wake.