OoO( 6 )OoO
Redwall awoke peacefully that day, early to rise and do their chores. The sun had barely made it over the horizon before the Abbess awoke and took her daily walk around the abbey. Every morning, she had the same routine of having breakfast in the kitchens; by herself if nobody was there. Then she took a walk around the walltop, staring placidly at her home with all its elegance and beauty amid the crimson light from the sun. Then, she turned to look out at the countryside of Mossflower.
The path in front of the abbey led from far north, farther than any creature there had travelled. Like a stream, it flowed through the woodland and seemed to wind its way through the trees and far to the south as well. One day...one day, she would travel from Redwall after her duties were over and see where the path ended. But, until then she was still the Abbess of Redwall and needed to keep a clear mind about where her priorities were.
She still sat watching the rising sun when Foremole approached cheerily. "Good sunrois Missum Belle?" asked the kindly mole.
She smiled and looked back at him. He wore a habit the color of green leaves and a smile that would melt any heart instantly. But, he had apparently forgotten to take his sleeping cap off, for it sat perched on his head like an owl on a branch. She laughed to herself and began to speak. "Well hello Foremole, what are you doing up so early?" she asked politely.
"Oi coomed to relieve 'e wall watcher beast. Be you'm comin' oop yur every mornin' it be luverly?" he asked.
"Yes, I do." she said. "I love watching the sunrise, and I love watching all of Mossflower wake in the morning. It gives me such peace." she said.
"Oi'm sure twould marm. No place be more bootiful than Mossflower Woods...'ceptin o' course yon abbey." he said. Then, seeing her expression change from a smile to a look of longing, he changed the subject. "By 'e way, what you'm thinkin' abowt moi poem oi got from 'e wurrier?" he asked.
"To tell you the truth Foremole, I can't really say. The first seems simple, 'The first to come will come from the sky,' is likely to be a bird, but Martin never mentioned wings or feathers. So, it could be something else."
"If'n you'm don't moind moi arskin', what other koind of beast be coomin from 'e skoi?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, thats why I said it was likely that it was a bird. But, as for the others, I'm stumped. Mary didn't get much else out of it either, unless you would believe that we are getting visited by a black squirrel, two fish, and a dragon." she said jokingly.
Foremoles face wrinkled into a smile. "Hurrhurrhurr! Yon Mary be a skwirly one herself, no?" he asked. Abbess Belle laughed at her friends comment. "Don't be tellin' nobeast oi sed that..." he whispered.
"Don't worry friend, your secrets safe with me." she said. "Come, lets go get breakfast ready for the others. The wall watchers are all sleeping anyway." Foremole nodded and together they descended the wall steps and headed for the kitchens of the abbey.
OoOoO
Cloud shuffled in his sleep. He turned over, only to feel a sharp pain in his chin. Opening his eyes, his vision was slightly blurred do to the daylight, but quickly his eyes adjusted, showing what was prodding his chin. It was the blade of a long saber. He stared up the blade and saw a hare scowling back at him.
Cloud's pike had been removed from his possession and he lie on the ground helpless. Like Beovar, the hare wore a military uniform covered in many shining metals and pins from valant acts in battles of the past. But, this hare was older and wiser. And just by looking at the beast, Cloud could tell he was far more deadly as well.
"Cap'n! We found Sergeant Beovar under this chaps cloak." said another hare. Cloud shifted his eyes and saw almost ten other hares withweapons to the throats of his friends as well.
The Captain turned back to Cloud. "What did you do to my officer?" he asked sternly.
"We did nothing to Beovar. We...Agh!" shouted the ferret as the tip of the sword dug into his skin, making blood trickle down onto his throat.
"You dare use his name after killing him! Disgrace! Stand up you scum!" he shouted. Cloud stood, and his weapon was handed to him by two hairmaids. "Now that you are armed, try fighting a beast that can defend himself." Cloud glared at the hare, which was the only thing the Captain needed to see to start the fight.
Charging forward, the hare thrust his blade forward. Cloud smacked it to the side with his spear haft, but caught an unexpected blow from the hares rocket-like footpaws. He went sailing backwards and hit the dirt hard, sending the wind flying from his lungs. Gasping for air, he quickly got up and watched as the rest of the hares watched as well. The Captain slashed at Cloud several times, and once hit Cloud across his left paw leaving a deep gash. But Cloud countered by thrusting the spearbutt into the hares chest. The blow landed with a loud thud and the beast gasped loudly as pain lanced through his chest.
The Captain was then taken off his paws as the spear shaft swept and knocked his footpaws out from under him. Cloud raised the spear and thrust downward, but the end only hit dirt as the warrior rolled out of the way.
Beovar yawned under Cloud's cloak and sat up. The cloak fell from him as the twin hare maids that held Cloud's weapon before gasped in shock. Beovar looked up at them surprisedly. "I say, Beatrix! Amavira! What are you two doing here?" he asked.
All the hares turned at looked at the Sergeant, including the Captain. "Beovar? Aren't you dead?" asked the Captain.
"Well, if I am bally konked, I'm in the wrong place. There's supposed to be food here..."
"Then, why are you sleeping with these vermin?" he asked.
"No disrespect intended Captain, but watch who you call vermin. These are my friends." said Beovar.
"Friends?" asked one of the maids.
"Yes, they saved me life last night. If it weren't for them, I would be vermin chowder for sure." he said. "I was out scouting when the Flitcheye caught me by surprise." he said standing to his paws.
The Captain was speechless. Turning back to Cloud, he scratched his ear. "Well, I guess I owe you an apology then..."
Cloud raised his paw, stopping the Captain in his tracks. "No apology required, but I could use something to help stop this..." he said holding his other paw over the wound.
"Amavira, wrap this chap up quick-like!" he snapped. The pretty haremaid instantly walked over and started to dress Cloud's injury. "You wouldn't mind telling us what happened...would you Sergeant?" he asked.
"As long as we get some vittles in the old tum. Can't be lettin' a prisoner of war starve now, wot?" he said with a grin.
The Captain sighed. "Indeed. Lancefer, get him some trail rations, that'll hold him over for a while."
Another hare, slightly taller than Liska but shorter than the other hares, grabbed a pack and started to rummage through it. Pulling out a small loaf of stale bread and a flask of water, then handed them to the grounded hare.
"Not very generous ol' friend. How about some..."
"You will eat that and report what happened last night." said the Captain sternly. Beovar nibbled the loaf huffily, then took a drink of water. After finishing the measly meal, he began to tell the story.
"Well, I was scoutin' out along the river cause I had caught signs of vermin tracks. Then, somethin' knocked me clear into next season. I woke up and was tied to a stake by those bloody mongrels, the Flitcheye. After a while, they brought in this otter chap that they had layed out as well and tied us together to hang over their bally dinner pot." he said. The Captain and the others listened intently, waiting to hear about the ferret and foxes part. "So the otter...Ivan was his name, wakes up and says that he has friends in the forest. So here comes this shady lookin' fox and he says...well, implies that he's goin' to go get his friend the ferret over there. They both come back in a short time and spill the pot of boiling water over onto the blighters heads, and help us escape."
"So, they helped you to escape the Flitcheye and took out some of the ranks as well?" he asked. Beovar nodded and the Captain stood. "Hmm...it seems I have misjudged you friends. I hope you accept my apologies." he said turning to the ferret and foxes.
"Don't worry about it, we are used to it." he said. Zango and Liska nodded. "My name is Cloud Longspear, this is Zango and his daughter Liska. The two otters are our good friends, Ivan and Songcrest." he said.
The Captain stood up strait and shouted, "'Tennnshun! Long Patrol! Introduce yourselves to these beasts after my call!" At this he saluted. "Captain Tenneal Fornsworth at ya service!" he shouted.
A large hare next to him that was literally covered in weapons saluted as well. "Jaoford Rocklar! Weapon collector of the Long Patrol!" he shouted.
The twins came next. "Beatrix Fornsworth! Long Patrol runner!" she shouted.
The second one saluted, then shouted, "Amavira Fornsworth! First class healer and cook for the Long Patrol!"
The shortest hare stepped forward. "Lancefer Delvaron! Second runner of the Long Patrol!"
Another hare the color of autumn stepped forward and saluted. "Viggo Fengar! Camoflauge and reconnosaince expert of the Long Patrol!"
A beautiful haremaid stepped forward and saluted with her spear. "Wendora Fleetstar! Veteran warrior and lance fighter for the Long Patrol!"
Beovar stepped forward and saluted. "Sergeant Beovar Tamora Vermandala at ya service chaps." he said.
The last hare stepped forward. He saluted and shouted out, "Josiah Mizpaw Crowell! Expert tracker and forager for the Long Patrol!"
Cloud was astounded by the show of autority that the hare captain had demonstrated. Before, he was ignorant about the Long Patrol, thinking them a band of roving do-gooders. But he was wrong, these beasts were not only trained in fighting and forest ways, but they had one thing very few creatures he knew were born with. Honor.
Captain Tenneal finally shouted, "At ease!" And all the hares seemed to shrink. When they were doing the roll call, they stood strait up with their long slender ears stiff in the air like two battle flags. But now, they were more relaxed. Smiling at Cloud, the Captain winked. "So, what do ya think of that Longspear?" he asked.
Cloud was still in semi-shock when the Captain had dismissed the patrol, but hearing his name brought him back to reality. "That was amazing! I've never seen anything like it..." he said.
The hare named Wendora walked forward with a grin. "Aye, thats the Long Patrol for ya. We're the fighten hares of Salamandastron."
As soon as they heard the name, Cloud, Zango, and Liska all shivered. The name, whatever it was, seemed so mythical to them. "What is Sala...Sala..."
Beovar winked at the small fox. "Salamandastron. Its the great fire mountain by the shore, ruled by the Badger Lady Faye Moonblade. She is the fiercest warrior in the entire Mossflower Country." he said proudly.
Cloud raised a paw, "Wait, if you are from this fire mountain, then what are you doing all the way over here in midland?" he asked.
"Searching lad." said Tenneal. "We got word that some new vermin horde was rompin' around Mossflower. We came to see if the rumor about it was true. But so far, our search has been fruitless." he said.
Cloud and Zango's gaze darkened. For a moment, they looked as if they had just gone into a trance, but Cloud began to speak in a completely different tone than before. "It's true." he said.
Taken aback, the Captain raised his eyebrows. "Pardon?"
"Its true." he said looking up at the hare. "This horde you've heard of is the band of Dregg Ironclaw."
"How do you know this?" asked Beovar.
"We are chasing him as well. Me and my friend here have a little score to settle with that wildcat." he said darkly.
The entire Long Patrol gasped in shock. "A wildcat you say?" asked Beatrix. Both Cloud and Zango nodded.
"Hmmm, this is more serious than I thought." said the Captain. He looked up at the ferret questioningly. "Would you happen to know how many this wildcat has behind him?"
"His original number was around one thousand. But, he left half of his army behind in our land to keep it occupied and controlled until he got back. But you don't have to worry about them anymore." he said.
The Captain nodded. "Then that leaves around five hundred left. We have to inform Lady Faye of this news." he said.
"Can we ask a favor?" asked Cloud. The Captain nodded. "Where is Redwall Abbey?"
"Oh, is that all?" he asked. Turning, he pointed north. "Just follow this path north. You should be there in about a days march." he said.
Cloud bowed his head. "Thank you friend. I hope we meet again someday."
"Likewise." said the Captain.
"Permission to speak sir!" shouted Beovar. The Captain was startled, but mearly nodded. "I would like to request accompanying Cloud and the others to Redwall sir!" he said.
"Absolutely not! We need every hare available if we are going to fight off an army of vermin. Request denied." he said without hesitation.
But Beovar persisted. "Sir! If the vermin horde should find out about Redwall, then they will surely attempt what every other vermin who has layed eyes on Redwall has tried to do. They will attempt to conquer the abbey and take the woodlanders into slavery, if not kill them." he said. Captain Tenneal thought about this for a moment before nodding.
"Continue..."
"I think that somebeast should be stationed at Redwall incase such an occurance happens sir. So that the said beast may report to Salamandastron with the news of the hordes location."
"And Lady Faye can send help as soon as possible..." said the Captain.
"Aye sir!" shouted Beovar.
The Captain mulled this around in his head for a moment before looking up. "Very well Sergeant. You are now on dispatch to Redwall. You will guide these beasts there and report to Salamandastron immediately with any news of the vermins wherabouts." he said. "Off you go then. Good luck Sergeant."
Beovar bowed his head slightly then saluted. "Aye sir! Good luck to you as well sir!" he said. Then the Long Patrol left after saying goodbye to Cloud and the others. As soon as the hare squad was out of sight, Beovar shrank. "Good grief! I must have been mad!" he said.
Cloud and Zango looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?" asked the ferret.
"Hounding the Captain like that...if the cause had been any less serious, he would have my tail as a badge!"
Cloud smirked. "A harsh leader huh? I've known a few in my day." he said. "Well, lets get going to Redwall. We still have a days travel before we arrive." he said. All of the others gathered their things from the camp and began to walk along the path.
OoOoO
Farther down the path, Redwall sat happily re-preparing the festival events. They had already had a feast on the day of the original festival, but the festivities had to be called off due to the rain. Renewed excitement ran amuk in the abbey as the Skipper and his team of moles and other beasts set the talent show stage again.
Abbess Belle no longer had to lead the activity, and instead occupied herself with playing with the dibbuns on the wall stairs. She had been a troupe actor in her younger days (though she was still very young for an abbess) and was marvelous with magic tricks. She raised her hands in the air to show that she was not hiding anything in them, then reached down quickly and pulled a candied chestnut out from behind a baby squirrels ear. She smiled at the look of shock and excitement that spread across their faces. The baby squirrel grabbed the sweet and started nibbling on it happily, leaving the rest of the dibbuns to crowd around Belle and demand the trick be tried on them.
But, what she hadn't noticed was that two dibbuns, especially mischievous in their antics, had gone up the wallstairs and now dueled each other with sticks on the ramparts. A baby mouse and a baby squirrel clacked sticks back and forth attempting to outdo the other.
"Ha, you fink you can beat me Martin? I be Gonff da mousey thief!" shouted the baby mouse.
"I Martin am strongest of all warriors! You not beat me in a million bajillion seasons you pie snatcher!" shouted the squirrel. They dueled on, unaware of the eyes watching them from the forest below.
"What you thinkin' mate?" asked a fox next to the first one.
The other fox, who had an eye missing, smiled cruelly. "Hand me your sling Bletch, lets see if my aims is as good as it used to be." he said. The second fox obeyed and the first grabbed the stone handed to him. "Now, take yur cloak out there and catch this little beauty in it." he said. Not taking his eyes off the two dibbuns, the fox began to swing the weapon in circles making it blur like a whirlwind. When Bletch gave him the thumbs up, he hurled the stone and it smacked into the squirrel babes footpaw with a loud CRACK!
The squirrel babe instantly dropped his stick and wailed in pain. Holding his footpaw, he lost his balance and fell from the wall landing directly in the evil foxes cloak. Bletch quickly wrapped the babe up and ran for the cover of the forest, knowing that the squirrels crying was bound to attract a lot of attention from the abbey.
Abbess Belle had heard the cry and ran up the stairs to see the little mousebabe crying. She swept him up in her paws and comforted him. "Whats the matter Surry?" she asked worriedly.
The mousebabe sobbed again and pointed at the stone laying on the walltop. "Rock fly and knock Azlu offa wall!" he shouted. The Abbess froze when she heard this. Slowly, she looked over the wall ramparts to see two foxes laughing and running wildly with a little bundle into the forest. She felt every ounce of energy drain out of her as the foxes ran away. She would have collapsed had Skipper not run up behind her and catch her before she hit the stone.
Looking at what she had seen, he saw two orange and white tails vanish into Mossflower. Growling, he picked the Abbess, with Surry still in her arms and carried them both down the wall. "Blasted vermin, always pickin' a fight. Well, this time...they got one." he said visciously as he returned to the abbey building, followed by all the dwellers still outside.