The red squirrel had been captured on an island some ways from the northern coasts. She was not from there; the squirrel had been visiting relatives on that island. Her mate had not been with her, he had remained at the house when she decided to take a walk along the coasts.
The squirrel was brawny yet lean and though she was pregnant, she was so skinny that it was difficult to tell whether she was with child or whether she had just eaten one too many scones. The squirrelmaid was perhaps less than twenty seasons old, and her fur was dark red, almost brownish. She had deep brown eyes and had been said to be the prettiest maiden where she came from. As she strolled along the beach, one gentle paw on her tummy, footpaws shuffling in the warm sand, she failed to notice a big ship coming from the southern shore of the small island.
Aboard the ship was a murderous searat that had spotted the tiny island from afar. He pointed the slip of land out one of his officers.
"Look yon', Ingria. Land, at last!"
"Ay capt'n, yon island full of plunder, vittles an' slaves! I bet there be fresh water too!"
The captain, Glovern, nodded. He was in an exceptionally good mood, as the crew would finally have their paws on ground. Five of his crew had been washed overboard during a storm, and several slaves had also been lost. The ship was also running low on food and water supply. The spotting of the island had thus been almost godsend to him. He could barely contain his excitement to get to the island. With a brief paw gesture, he dismissed his officer with commands to row faster.
Glovern gave the island one more look and smiled to himself. His crew would certainly enjoy wrecking fear into the inhabitants. He needed more crewbeasts; any rat, weasel or stoat would be forced to work in the crew, or be made an oarslave.
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The Northern Woods were silent in the calm of the night. The small hut in the woods were barely visible in the soft moonlight. In it, the inhabitants were sleeping, snoring, dreaming…
Cavan tossed slightly in his bed as he sucked his thumb as he dreamt.
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Cavan stood by the stream which he had grew up near. At first it seemed calm, but after a while he saw two heads emerge from the water, creating ripples. Then the two figures stood chest deep in the shallow stream. A young rat and a dibbun squirrel was playing in the stream. Arguing, the two dibbuns splashed water at each other.
"I won the race! You liar, you lost!"
"No, I won! Yer can't swim as fast as me!" The rat retorted and stuck his tongue out at the squirrel.
"Oh yeah? Yore just sore cause you lost, loser!"
"Did not! Yore the sore loser, baby!"
"Yore the baby! You suck yore thumb in yore sleep! I saw you!" Seeing the rat's face turn red with embarrassment, the squirrel made a face at her companion and ducked underwater, emerging about three feet away, leaving the rat in bewilderment.
"You can't catch me!" The squirrel yelled as she swam away.
The rat swan after her like a fish and caught up with the squirrel. With a triumphant shout, he ducked the squirrel underwater and held the squirrel there as she struggled.
"That'll teach yer to make fun of me!" After a minute, he released the squirrel, who broke surface, gasping for air. There was no harm done as the pair had grown up swimming in the stream and could hold their breath for a longer time than most beasts.
"You meanie!" the squirrel yelled as she climbed out of the stream. "I'm telling mama!" she whined as she stalked off back to the little hut. Suddenly, a current came and swept the rat away. "Hellplugglug!" He screamed as the stream carried him away.
Cavan, alarmed, who had been standing at the bank made a move forward to aid the floundering rat, but suddenly, a red figure appeared out of nowhere. It was the squirrel. She raced along the bank with astounding speed for a dibbun until she was nearly ahead of the rat. Then, picking up a long branch, she lay face down on the bank stretching out as far as she could to save her rat companion. The rat, upon seeing the outstretched branch made a lurch to grab it. He managed to get a firm hold onto it, but the strong currents pulled the small squirrel into the water alongside with the rat.
The two floundered in the water together. They had lived there long enough to know that the stream would soon go to a river and they would be lost. However, the squirrel knew that further downstream there would be a low-hanging branch they could grab to save themselves. She had been there a few times berry-picking and had noticed the abnormally low branch.
The branch was only a few yards off. The squirrel and rat looked at each other and nodded, and in synchro, jumped and grabbed onto the branch. Then slowly, the two had crawled onto the back, panting heavily and thoroughly drenched. Cavan heaved a sigh of relief as he felt a pain on his thumb and snapped back to reality.
Cavan awoke, and upon realizing that his thumb was in his mouth and he had been biting it, he quickly pulled it out of his mouth and turned red, glad that Misty was asleep and not awake to tease him.
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Floania too, had a dream. Her eyebrowns frowned a little as she rolled over in her sleep.
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Floania found herself in a misty wood. She looked around her, bewildered. The thick woods that surrounded her were unfamiliar; she was not in the Northern Woods. Floania was surrounded by utter silence, there were no sound of crickets, no sound of birds. Then suddenly, she heard the sounds of knives and daggers. Running towards the sound, she saw a band of foxes attacking a small hut. Her hut. She heard cries and suddenly, a figure appeared beside her. The rat turned, and Floania found herself facing a mouse clad in armour. His eyes were shielded by a helmet and he carried a fearsome sword by his side. She gasped and took a step back in fear and reverence at this mystical figure.
"Don't be afraid of me, Floania." The mouse spoke in a deep voice that somehow calmed her down, though his soothing words reverberated through her like an echo.
"How… how did 'jer know mah name?"
The warrior mouse seemed to ignore her question. Instead, he gestured towards the band of foxes surrounding the hut. Now she saw a rat on the ground, being kicked, being prodded by the attackers. She gasped as she saw the rat collapse into a heap.
"Floania, you must leave this place. There is evil coming to this place; you must flee. Bring your two children with you and leave quickly, while you still have the chance. Your lives will be in peril if you remain here!"
The mouse continued. "Heed this, Floania. Travel south from hence to Redwall Abbey where you will find peace and safety. You must leave soon; your home and family will be attacked and destroyed if you linger. Rememer this, Floania…"
With that, the mysterious mouse disappeared into the think fog. "Wait!" Floania called after the amour-clad figure, but it was already gone.
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Floania woke up late to see the sun already shining ever so brightly through the window; the birds and bees were already at work. Casting a look at the two empty beds in the hut, it was obvious that the Cavan and Misty were already up. Thats strange, normally I take forever to get those two up. Disappointed in herself at having overslept, she climbed out of her bed.
Then, her dream all came back in a rush to her. She suddenly remembered the warriormouse's warning, the urgent tone in which he spoke. All of a sudden, she felt a need, an urgency to pack up and leave. She had to go, or their little family would be in danger. Floania never once doubted the warrior's words and quickly ran out, looking for the two siblings. She needed to tell them, inform them, warn them.
They were not outside the hut as Floania assumed they would. Checking at the back of the hut, she noted that they were not there as well. Dashing back into the hut, she saw the empty corner. The corner in which the basket which was used to collect food was placed. The corner in which the makeshift fishing rod, the fishing net, was placed.
Floania's heart sank to her footpaws as she realised that they had already left on their daily foraging trip. Had she really overslept that much? She could have slapped herself in exasperation. Wringing her paws in impatience, she panicked. How was she to let them know of her strange dream now?
She would have to wait.
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Okay! What do you think? The first bit, in case you haven't realized, is in the past, aboard the Stormbrew, before the shipwreck, before Misty was born. Yupp. There're lots of dreams and flashbacks here, what do you think of the transition?