OoO( 4 )OoO

The rain continued for days, seeming endless in its attempt to blow the red stone walls down. Wind hammered against the walls of the main building like many paws wanting inside, and unable to find an entrance. But Redwall sat calm and unmoving in the ferocious storm as if mocking its strength.

Inside the sandstone walls of the main building, creatures were either asleep in their dormitories or wandering around looking for something to do around the giant abbey. Cavern Hole glowed with warmth as the fireplace spilled light across the room, making the shadows of the chairs where creatures sat lengthen greatly. In one particular chair sat a mole with its huge digging claws relaxed on the arms of the soft arm chair. He stared into the fire as sleep began to come over him and force his eyes shut. He tried to stay awake, but his attempts were futile to say the least. As soon as his droopy eyes closed, he instantly slipped into slumber.

The mole awoke to find himself standing out on the roof of the abbey, right next to the weather vein. Common knowledge told him not to look down, but he did anyway; only seeing mist covering the abbey grounds. Although relieved he couldn't see how high he was, he still grabbed a hold of the roof and held on for dear life. Then, he noticed somebeast standing in front of him, seeming to glow with the beautiful sunrise behind them. Looking up, the mole saw a familiar figure clad in armor standing on the roof as if it were solid ground.

The mouse looked down at the mole and smiled gently, instantly calming the frantic moles nerves. Then, taking his legendary sword from its scabbard, the mouse pointed towards the rising sun and began to speak softly.

Many warriors travel far from home,
Searching for one with the amber eyes.
They travel sea and land unknown,
First to come, will come from the skies.

The second will be as black as night,
But mistake him not for an evil heart.
Within his paws lie ferocious might,
And in this legend will play his part.

The third will come from mighty sea,
Not as a lonely creature, but two.
Travelling from far to come see me,
Together they search for home anew.

The fourth, a beast of the gallant band,
From the mountain of fire he is born.
Saved by friends from a faraway land,
From the path of old this one is torn.

From across the vast ocean of green,
And from the land of the rising sun.
Come warriors and friends to intervene,
Against the darkness that will come.

Martin the Warrior sheathed his sword, then began to walk towards the sun, which was now rising above Mossflower. The mole watched him go, then closed his eyes tight. When he opened them again, he was back in Cavern Hole, in the soft chair he had fallen asleep in. He quickly got to his feet and ran into the Great Hall, looking around for somebeast. When he spotted nobody, he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him across the large room and up the stairs.

Clovy was walking down the stairs leading to the Great Hall. He had appointed himself the duty of making sure the food was prepared for the morning, and making sure it tasted good enough for the other beasts. Quickly, he stepped onto the floor of the Great Hall and made for the kitchen, but didn't make it far before a small ball of velvety fur crashed into him and sent him sprawling.

The hare panicked, thinking he was being punished for attempting to raid the kitchen. "Oh no! Please don't lock me up! I wouldn't be able to survive on the food they give a chap in the confines you know! I would wither away to nothing." said the hare pleadingly.

The mole raised his paw and clamped the hares mouth shut. "Be quoiet loik! Youm be wanten to wake 'e entire abbey?" asked the mole.

Clovy looked at the mole and smiled comically. Slipping out of the moles grip, the hare stood up and dusted himself off. "Ya know Foremole, its right unsportin' of you to knock a feller over and not apologize." he said.

Foremole glared at him. "Oi surpose...but what were 'e doin' sneakin' arownd in 'e dark furr?" he asked curiously. The hare immediately looked around and acted like he didn't hear the mole.

"Anyway, were you lookin' for somethin'? Or were you just out for a jog, wot?" asked the hare.

"Oi needin' Sister Mary!" shouted the mole trying to get past the hare.

"This late?"

"Oi be visited boi Marthen 'E Wurriur! 'E tol' oi summat important!" he said as he stumbled up the stairs.

At hearing this, Clovy's ears stood strait up in surprise. "I say, you mean that fellow on the painting in there?" asked the young hare, but recieved no answer. "Poor little fellow. He must have knocked his beezer good to make him start seein' things. Oh well, he'll find Sister Wotserface and get it all fixed up." he said, then headed back towards the kitchen.

OoOoO

In the morning, everybeast was gathered in the Great Hall so that the Abbess and Sister Mary could tell them of Foremole's dream. All the inhabitants of Redwall stood packed inside the Great Hall murmering and conversing among themselves until Abbess Belle stood before them and cleared her throat. Everybeast looked up at her and the room went quiet instantly.

"Creatures of Redwall! Last night, our faithful Foremole was visited by our guardian, Martin the Warrior." she said. There was an audible gasp from the audience, but still there was silence. "Martin has told us that we will be getting a few visitors of great importance. There will be watchers placed at the walls until they arrive at the abbey, so if anybody should hear them shouting, immediately alert either Foremole, Skipper, Sister Mary, or myself." she said. A thunderous din started over the Great Hall as she finished.

Everybeast went about their chores after the meeting, leaving only the dibbuns and those with chores already finished to wander around the abbey. Mel was one such beast, who sat next to one of the windows in his dormitory, listening to the rain beat against it in rhythm. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. Looking towards the door, he answered, "Yes, who is it?"

A young male hedgehog about Mel's height opened the door and walked in. "Whats going on in here, you were thinkin' so loud I could barely think myself!" he said.

Mel looked at his friend confusedly. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean, you're done with your chores and haven't come with us to pops cellar. You and me was supposed to help him test this seasons cordial." he said. Mel stood to his feet and stretched.

"Sorry Balfred, I've had a lot on my mind lately." he said. The hedgehog smiled and put his friend in a headlock. "W-What are you doing?" asked the young mouse surprisedly.

Walking towards the door, Balfred dragged the mouse along with him. "You and that infirmary maid, when are you goin' to ask her to tie the knot already?" he asked sarcastically.

Mel's eyes widened, then his face turned to anger. "Does everybeast in the abbey know about that?" he shouted.

"Everybeast with ears does mate." he said. "And to tell you the truth, I think Miss Mary knows it too." he said as he dragged his friend down the stairs. Suddenly, he stopped as he felt Mel go limp. Turning, he looked at the mouse and saw a horrified expression on his face. "Whats a matter with you?" he asked.

"Please tell me your joking!" he said frantically.

Balfred let go of the mouses head and shrugged. "Don't know about that, never asked her miself." he said. Mel got to his feet and ran down the stairs in panic. Balfred watched Mel run down the stairs, then yelled after him. "'Oy! What about pops?" he shouted.

Mel stopped and turned around. "Sorry, I'll have to take a rain check." he said, then took the stairs three at a time.

"But it is raining!" shouted the hedgehog after him. But he recieved no answer as the mouse disappeared from view.

OoOoO

The travelling had been unusually easy for Cloud and the others. The rain fell strait down, not providing any resistance to the travellers. They had made good time and were now inside Mossflower Woods, sheltered from the rain by the trees above them.

As Cloud walked, he couldn't help but look back and forth through the wilderness to make sure there were no ambushes awaiting them. But the path was clear, as was the air after the heaviest part of the storm had passed them. Cloud walked in front of the others, cutting the shrubs too thick to walk through with his long bladed spear, while Zango and Liska followed. Ivan and Songcrest brought up the rear, both happy and cheerful after soaking in rainfall.

Eventually, Cloud stopped in a small clearing and turned to the others. "Do you two know this country well?" he asked.

They both nodded, but Ivan did the talking. "Not as much as you'd think. We never really been this far from the sea before." he said.

"I see. Well, it looks reasonably quiet, so I guess we can camp here." he said. Setting the pack his pack down, he turned to the woods. "You wait here. I'll go and see if the area is safe." he said. Quickly, he ran off with his spear tightly grasped in his right paw.

Ivan looked at Zango curiously. "Is he always this cautious?" he asked.

The fox looked at the otter, then nodded gravely. Then returning to the pack he was digging through, the black fox pulled out a flint, then his small sword. Turning to Ivan, he held up the two items as if he were showing him what they were.

"You want me to hold those?" asked the otter. But the fox shook his head. Taking the flint, he slammed it against the sharp blade of his sword and made several large sparks appear. The sparks vanished in an instant, but Ivan finally got what the fox was getting at. "Ah, you want me to collect firewood." said Ivan, and he got an approving nod from Zango. Stretching his limber arms, the otter walked away mumbling. "I'll get yur firewood ya great layabout." he said jokingly and walked into the woodland.

It was starting to get dark before the ferret warrior returned. He had a frantic look on his face as he ran into the camp. "Quick, we must get out of here!" he said.

The others looked at him strangely. "But we just got settled down, why do we have to leave now?" asked Songcrest.

"There are beasts in these woods that will eat us if we do not!" he said. Both foxes and the ottermaids face went from confused to surprised.

"E-Eat us?" asked the small fox. "What kind of creature would want to eat us?"

"I don't know what they are, but they are here and we...where's Ivan?" he asked suddenly. Scanning the camp, he noticed no sign of the otter.

"He went out for firewood some time ago." said the ottermaid. Cloud's face went pale under his fur. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Did you not hear me? If he is out there then those...those savages will get him!" he said pulling his spear in front of him. "Which way did he go?" he asked frantically. Zango pulled out his sword as well.

The ottermaid stood up and ran into the forest, with both foxes and the ferret trailing her. "Follow me!" she shouted, and together the warriors began tracking the otters trail.

OoOoO

Ivan woke up in a daze unlike any he had been in before. He opened his eyes slightly and saw that everything around him was blurry. Blinking, he also felt a slight pain in his head. He attempted to move his arms, but found that they were bound to his sides by something.

Opening his mouth slightly, he groaned. "Oargh...what happened?" he asked to nobeast in particular. But he was surprised to get an answer from an unfamiliar voice.

"You got a large knock on the hooter, thats what happened." said a voice very close by. "You're lucky they didn't swing any harder or else you might be short of a melon right now."

"Wha? Who's that?" asked the otter. Suddenly, he felt a sweltering heat come over him and almost suffocate him.

"The names Beovar, and I seem to be your fellow course." he said. Ivan didn't completely understand until his vision came back to him completely. He was suspended over a boiling cauldron of water with different vegetables and other nauseating things swimming around in it. The heat from earlier was only the steam rising from the surface of the water.

"Uh...I don't suppose you have a way out of here friend?" he asked the beast that he was tied back to back with.

"If I did, would I still be floating here?" asked the creature. "My patrol is too far away from here to hear my battle call, so that wouldn't do any good..."

"Wait! I have friends in the woods, maybe they can..."

"You! Waterdoggie! Closa mouth!" shouted a high pitch voice from below them. They both looked down and saw a very short unrecognizable type of vermin. It wore vines wrapped tightly all over its torso and had a mask of green and black painted onto its face, making it almost invisible in the forest.

"I say, what do you think that little doodad is?" asked the second creature. Ivan shrugged.

"Long ears! You shutta mouth afore Dafarga eat you now!" it shouted again. Both Ivan and the hare said no more until the little rodent disappeared into the crowd of almost invisible army of vermin. It looked as if the forest was alive and dancing in front of them.

"Cannibals..." said the hare. Ivan mearly nodded. "Bad luck today chap, chose the wrong day to scout the river for those vermin we were lookin for." he said.

"Don't worry, I have friends in the forest somewheres. They will come and help us." he said confidently. The hare looked around at the trees as the two spun in a slow circle while dangling from the rope.

"Well, I hope they come soon. Or there won't be much left of us to help." he said noncheerily.

OoOoO

Cloud, Zango, Liska, and Songrest had split into two parties to search for the missing otter. Liska had gone with her father Zango and went southward looking for any trace of their friend. Cloud and Songcrest searched west smong the thick trees of Mossflower.

The searching lasted for hours. But finally, Zango and his daughter had finally found the camp of small vermin. It wasn't really a camp, more like a gathering in the forest. A large cauldron sat on top of a bed of ashes. The meal for the day had been eaten and they were all now dancing and singing some strange chant around a few campfires. Zango looked at the cauldron, then noticed the two figured hanging above it on a rope.

Ivan's limbs had long before fallen asleep, as had he. But Beovar the hare stayed gallantly awake looking for a way to escape. Searching the knots that had been tied around him, he could find no weakness in their structures. Whoever had tied these knew exactly what they were doing. Finally, the hare gave up on the ropes and looked into the forest as if the answer would come to him from there. Suddenly, his ears stood strait and his eyes widened.

Elbowing the otter as gently as he could, but hard enough to wake him; the hare began to speak. "Hey old chum, theres a shadow movin' about over there." he said in a low voice. The otter shook his head awake and looked around at his surroundings.

When he saw himself still suspended in the air, he groaned. "Oh boy, and here I thought it was just a dream..." he said.

The hare elbowed him again, except harder. "Did you here me? I said theres a bally shadow moving around over there! Looks like a ghost or something of the sort." he said.

"Ah don't be rediculus. There's no such thing as ghost's." said Ivan irritatedly. But the hare persisted.

"I say, its coming closer! It almost looks like a...fox." he said.

Ivan's eyes shot wide open and he began to struggle with his bonds. "A shadow-like fox? That's Zango! He can help us out of here!" said the otter in a quiet tone.

"Are you sure? My mater told me never to trust a fox as far as I could throw one." he said. "And this one doesn't look to friendly at that, wot."

"He will help us, just tell him to get us out of here." said Ivan impatiently.

The hare snorted. "Alright..." he said before looking at the fox now standing behind the large cauldron, out of view of all the dancing vermin. "Hey, you down there. Yes, you the ghost chap. Do you think you could give us a paw with these ropes? I would be very greatful to a fine spirit such as yourself." said the hare. The fox looked up at the hare silently. "I don't think he heard me..."

"He heard you. He's a mute, so he can't respond." said the otter.

Suddenly, the fox reached up and made a drawing in the air with its fingers. The hare stared at the fox flabberghasted. "This is no time for charades! Get us out of here!" he said.

"What's he doin' over there?" asked Ivan.

"He's doin something with his bally paws, like he thinks he can draw or somethin'."

"What's it look like he's drawing?" asked the otter.

The hare watched Zango perform the charade again, then muttered, "Looks like he's drawing a pie...no, a sun...no?" he asked as Zango shook his head. Zango made the shape again, then pointed to the sky. Beovar looked up and saw the light blue sky turning a dark purple. Then he noticed something similar to the shape the fox was making. "Oh, very well then! He was drawing a fluffy cloud." he said.

Ivan thought for a moment before responding. "He's saying he is going to get our friend Cloud."

Beovar looked down at the fox, who was now nodding. "What kinda name is Cloud for a creature?"

"The kind of a hero, now quiet down before they decide to have sup' now." he said. The fox vanished like the darkness under sunlight.

OoOoO

Everybeast at Redwall was abuzz with news of visitors. After chores, most of them sat and pondered the puzzle that the great warrior had left for them, each trying to solve it and be given the reward of a large cake made in their honor by the Abbess herself.

They all sat across the abbey lawns with a copy of the poem on parchment. But the closest creatures to figuring it out were Mary and her friend Aluma, a peppy young squirrelmaid. They both sat in the gatehouse, sipping cordial and going over the lines of the poem; attempting to solve one at a time.

"Okay, it says in several lines that they will come from far away..." said the squirrelmaid.

Mary nodded and took another sip of pennycloud cordial before saying, "And the one from the sky must be a bird of some kind."

"Right, but what about the second paragraph? 'The second will be as black as night' doesn't sound too friendly to me."

"But it warns us not to mistake him for evil. He must look like evil, but has a really good heart. I wonder what kind of beast he would be." said Mary.

"Oh, I hope its a handsome dark furred squirrel! One with green eyes and has seen the world!" Aluma said hopefully. "What do you think of it?" she asked.

Mary just sighed and pulled her paws off the floor and onto the bed she was sitting on. "I don't know, I just hope its somebeast that I can relate to. I don't think that I would talk well with a bird, or two fish either. What about the fourth one?" she asked looking at her friend.

"'The fourth, a beast of the gallant band'. I'm not sure what that could mean, but it says that it was born in the mountain of fire. Could they be talking about that mountain to the west? What was it called?" she asked as she scratched her ear; trying to think of the name.

"Salamandastron." said Mary. The squirrelmaids eyes lit up.

"Thats it! Samalanderstren. Maybe its a badger lord." she said.

The mousemaid laughed at her best friends attempt to pronounce the name of the mountain. "Maybe, or maybe its a hare. Or it could be some other beast born in the mountain, like a dragon or something." she said playfully.

Aluma, though not a dibbun was still very gullible. "Really? A dragon? That would be fantastic!" she shouted. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to the gatehouse. Aluma opened the door and the Abbess walked into the room.

"So, have you figured anything else out?" she asked.

Mary smiled. "Yep!"

"Well? Who is going to give us a visit?" asked Abbess Belle curiously.

Mary grinned like a dibbun that had stolen a candied chestnut. "A bird of some sort, a black squirrel beast that has green eyes and can relate to me, two fish that are looking for a new home, and a dragon from the west." she said. The Abbess looked at her sternly.

"Now Mary..." said the Abbess. Mary had expected to get a lecture about being serious. But the Abbess smiled. "You know that dragons come from the north, not the west." she said jokingly. Mary smiled and both of them began to laugh. Aluma was left in the dark about the joke.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing young one. So, I assume you have found as much as everyone else?" she asked.

"With about half the effort too. Does that account for something?" asked Aluma jokingly.

The Abbess patted her softly. "Of course it does, both of you go and get yourselves first pick of lunch from the kitchens. You deserve it." she said humbly. Both of the maids jumped to their paws and raced each other out the door to the gatehouse and to the main abbey building. Still smiling fondly, the Abbess slipped her hands inside her habit sleeves and sighed. "Poor poor Aluma." she said, and followed them out, closing the door behind her.

OoOoO

Riverfox237: Yep, you were right about that part. And thanks for the good wishes and compliments, I really appreciate it. As for 'arigato', it means 'thank you' in Japanese. I speak it partially, and yes I like to brag about it. Anyway, thanks for the snack as well.
Willowisp: Thanks for helping me with the story a little. And thanks for reviewing as well. I hope you liked this chapter too.

Thanks all my fans! I am working hard on Chapter 5 as you read this, now a line from Kuno.

Tatewaki Kuno: Weep not for lack of this script, for soon you shall have another dose of thy need.