Author's Notes: Hey guys! Here's another really late chappie. Oops. Anyhow, regardless of the lateness, I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Redwall in any way. It belongs to Brian Jacques.
Original POV
"Hey, don't fall over the side, fox."
Zale looked up in irritancy. "Okay, if you're going to be traveling with me, let's get one thing straight. My name is Zale, and that's that."
Eamon shrugged.
They were on a longboat Damon had given them, and they were slowly cruising along a small stream. They were only a half-hour away from the Guosim camp, and they were already arguing.
Eamon wanted Zale to row, Zale refused.
Zale asked Eamon to stop calling him 'fox', Eamon wouldn't listen.
And the heat didn't help their tempers either.
The white fox grumbled. "Hey, shrew, where are we going?"
The shrew stopped rowing and fixed him with a look of pure and genuine bewilderment. "You mean you don't know!"
Zale raised an eyebrow. "Not really…"
Eamon scowled. "You-"
"Hey, just row. You wanted adventure."
Zale's POV
The next few minutes were spent in silence. The shrew was practically fuming, which was pretty entertaining, if I may say so.
Suddenly I heard I noise in the bushes around the stream. "Hey, Eamon. Did you hear that?"
The shrew frowned. "Yeah. Think we should go investigate or something?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I promptly hopped out of the boat and onto the bank, keeping a firm grip on the sword hilt of Martin's blade. My paw was sweaty, probably from the possibility that something exciting was going to happen soon.
I took a deep breath and without giving a second glance at the shrew, walked into the thick undergrowth.
Eamon's POV
I frowned.
I hopped out of the longboat and tied it to a rock on the riverbank with a piece of rope. I worked quickly, using a knot Damon had taught me. After making sure it was secure, I ran after the fox, cursing.
When I arrived at his side the fox glanced at me but didn't say a word. He had drawn his blade. Sensing the possibility of danger, I drew my rapier and was vigilant.
Original POV
Xento was hungry. Ever so hungry… He slithered on the forest floor slowly, venomous fangs visible. He narrowed his eyes at the birds in the sky…
Xento had always wondered what birds tasted like. He had often imagined their taste. He felt a certain hatred for them, yet also respect. He respected them because the winged creatures were the only beasts that could see him, and live to tell the tale. He hated them for exactly the same reason.
You see, Xento was ambitious. He couldn't stand the fact that the birds were untouchable. The scaly beast collected just about everything, and he always wanted more.
And that particular day, he wanted food. He wanted flesh. Xento could go a long period of time without eating, but now he needed food. His hunger put him in a bad mood.
Sliding along, Xento stopped when he saw a pair of furry beasts through some bushes. They looked big enough to provide him nourishment for a month or so. And the sword in the white fox's hand would be a valuable prize.
Eamon's POV
I was the first to spot the adder. Letting out a startled yelp I yanked the fox's arm with my left paw and indicated the adder in the bushes with my rapier.
"What?" asked the fox, slightly irritated.
I scowled. So the ignorant fox had no idea what kind of danger we were in.
"Adder." I hissed.
That one word made the fox open his eyes wide in astonishment. "What?" he hissed back, though he knew perfectly well what I was talking about.
I gulped. "It looks hungry…."
Zale's POV
The adder sprang out of the bushes without warning. I just saw a pair of long fangs and a pink tongue lunge at me so quickly that I barely had the time to block it with Martin's blade.
The shrew gave a small squeak next to me, but regained his senses quickly and stabbed at the adder with his rapier.
He didn't manage to cut the adder due to the scales, but the adder obviously didn't like the rapier that was being repetitively stabbed into him. With one sweep of its powerful tail, it knocked the shrew against a tree and turned its attention back to me.
My arms just didn't have the strength to hold off the adder. But somehow I found strength I didn't have. Maybe it was the fear of death, but I knew I had to survive this.
I snarled at the adder and, uttering a cry of utter determination, pushed it back with my blade against its fangs. The adder retreated a few metres and hissed at me.
I set my lips in a grim smile and narrowed my eyes. The adder was grayish in colour and it was a fairly big one. Too bad.
The added raised its head and hissed a few words at me. "X…Xento… foxxxiess. Sss…shrew. Eatiesss…"
Oh, so the adder had some sort of vocabulary. Big deal. It was still an added, and it still wanted to kill me. I allowed myself a glance to my left. The shrew was still lying against the tree truck, rubbing his head.
Eamon's POV
Hum, who knew adders were so strong? It had knocked me off my feet with incredible force.
I had dropped my rapier in midair, who knew where it landed.
The impact with a solid tree trunk wasn't exactly pleasant either. The bark was rough and hard.
I heard a snarl, a cry of rage or something, and a few words being hissed. I imagined the fox and the adder fighting.
I rubbed my head with my right paw slowly before opening my eyes cautiously. "W-Wha?" I said softly.
As my eyes opened I saw the fox and the adder facing each other in some sort of weird stand-off.
I slowly got on my feet and spotted my blade not too far from where the fox was standing.
Zale's POV
I kept my gaze on the adder lest he try some sudden move. Yet, through the corner of my eye, I was relived to note that the shrew was now on his feet. He was pointing at something frantically.
I frowned. I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me until he mouthed, 'Rapier.' I raised my eyebrows and looked down. Sure enough, a few feet away from me, was a gleaming iron rapier with a copper hilt.
I edged towards the rapier slowly, still keeping an eye on the adder. It wasn't until I bent down to pick up the small blade that the adder struck.
It was a fast snake, but I was swift as well, I sidestepped to the right. The adder's mouth closed on thin air, inches away from my arm.
Xento's POV
Flesh. I had expected to feel the delightful sensation of flesh in my mouth when I snapped my powerful jaws shut. Instead, I felt nothing, and worse, I bit my tongue. A sharp pain filled my mouth in the place of flesh. I cried out a sharp hiss and my pupils fixed the fox angrily.
The beast had dared stand up to me! I would make sure he died a painful death. Normally, I would kill my prey swiftly, but him… I would inject my venom into him, and watch him writher in pain as the poison slowly kills him. Yes, that would be a fitting death for such an incompetent creature. It would also give him the chance to regret opposing me.
I opened my mouth and hissed. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the rapier which he had attempted to retrieve and had almost died as a result. I also saw the shrew, now on his feet, fixing me with anger and… uncertainty.
I would have laughed if I wasn't so angry at the fox. The shrew was angry at me for attacking him and his friend, but was too much of a coward to do something. Or maybe he was just smart and knew that attacking me was pointless. No, if he was really smart he would have fled by now. Or maybe he's one of those stupid beasts with 'a sense of duty' towards his companion.
I turned my attention back to the fox. He was clutching the blade as if his life depended on it. Well, actually it did, but it was hopeless anyways. I could see drops of sweat from on his forehead. I hissed at him just to scare him, but to my surprise, he didn't flinch.
Instead he tensed and fixed me with a defiant stare. His lips were set in a growl.
I widened my eyes in confusion. I had to admit he impressed me. Normally, vermin of his kind would run. Come to think of it, why was the fox traveling with a shrew in the first place? It didn't make any sense to me.
I quickly shook the thought out of my head. No matter. A vermin was a vermin and a meal was a meal.
I opened my jaw again and prepared to deliver the death blow.
Author's Notes: So how was that? Personally I like adders. LOL. So… R&R! Oh, and the next chappie might be late as well. Hey, at least I won't abandon this fic. How could I after all the attention it has drawn? Besides, I love it.