OoO( 10 )OoO
The fire mountain on the western coast was quiet. Everything inside was still and unmoving. Lady Faye sat at the head of a room in a giant stone chair, staring at the faces of all the hares in the mountain as they were all crammed tightly into the chow hall.
Faye stood to her feet, anger sweeping her features. Captain Tenneal stood next to her, completely dwarfed by her size. She stood at her full height, staring at the sea of faces. "My warriors, it has come to my attention by the good Captain Tenneal that there is a vermin horde roaming the land of Mossflower. This horde is not as massive as some of the vermin we have faced, but from the information I have received, they are ruthless when it comes to innocent lives. They kill all in their path without taking prisoners."
Josiah nudged the large hare Jaoford. "You think she's gonna draft more into the Long Patrol?" he asked.
"You could wait and find out for yourself." said the giant hare.
Lady Faye continued with her speech. "As the guardians of this land, it is our job to erradicate these beasts. So, what I plan to do is expand the long patrol and send them to find the vermins camp. Once they find out the location, they are to immediately report back to Salamandastron. Once we have their location, we will move a force large enough, headed by myself. to crush them." she said.
The faces of the younger recruits lit up at the mention of the possibility of joining the Long Patrol. There was a large murmur across the chow hall, which was soon silenced by Jaoford as he slammed his fist upon a table, making a loud Bang! echo across the hall. Next to Captain Tenneal stood another slightly larger hare wearing a read velvet tunic with medals of every different color and shape upon it and a large black beret over his ears. He marched forward and stopped.
"The list will be placed in 12 days. So all of you who are eligible be sure that you are prepared to leave!" he shouted. "I swear, by my oath to Lady Faye and by me pride as a soldier! Before the end of this season, that vermin horde will be wiped from the face of Mossflower!" he shouted.
"We're with you to the end Colonel!" shouted Jaoford. Then, others began shouting as well.
"Give 'em blood and vinegar!"
"Beware vermin! You 'ave the Long Patrol on your heels!"
The Colonel shouted once more. "What do we say to those vermin?"
OoOoO
Seagulls were bouncing hungrily along the sands outside, looking for shellfish to pry open. Two of them began to snap at each other as they fought for a fish that was unlucky enough to be skimming the water top when it was hunting. Suddenly, the gulls all took flight rapidly as a frightening call rang from the mountain, almost shaking the ground.
"Euuuuulaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
OoOoO
At the request of the ferret warrior, Abbess Belle called another meeting in the Great Hall. This time, Cloud sat next to the Abbess with Zango on his other side. All the creatures of Redwall, save the dibbuns, were gathered in the hall to have a council.
The abbess stood and called everyone to attention. "My friend and guest here at Redwall has just informed me of some grave news." she said. Every eye in the hall was now on her, and the silence was almost unnerving. "It seems that a threat to Redwall could possibly be roaming Mossflower. Cloud has warned me of a vermin horde large enough to take Redwall seige could be anywhere in the woodland."
The audience gasped in horror at the proclomation. Cloud waited until the din died down before he spoke up. "I'm afraid that I'm no good at sweetening bad news. So, I'm going to tell you strait to your faces. This band is run by a wildcat, more fierce and ruthless than any beast can imagine."
"So this is the one you spoke of then?" asked Ivan. Cloud looked at him. "Back at our cave, you mentioned someone you were looking for, but couldn't find. Is this wildcat him?" he asked.
Cloud was silent for a moment. Standing strait, he looked at Ivan and spoke again. "Yes. Truthfully, I know of the wildcat from my homeland..." he said, but was cut off.
"So you were in cahoots with that cat! Foxes, cats! It doesn't..." shouted Ruddik. But he stopped talking immediately. Cloud gave him a look that would have killed a lesser beast.
"Don't you dare put me in league with that cat. The only thing that I have to do with that cat is that I'm going to be the one that ends his days." he said. "There was only one beast in this land that I ever told this story to. But it must come out eventually. The reason I'm in this land is because my group here and our leader, who is somewhere in the woodland, are chasing this cat to the end of time if we have to. In my land, there is nothing but war and conquest. That is why I am the warrior you see today. But I didn't want to always run around defending myself, sleeping with one eye open at night. So, I settled down in a relatively peaceful part of the land. I found a mate and had a son, and for the longest time I was happy. But then, while I was away from the village, this wildcat attacked and left none alive." he said, now with his head hanging down.
The entire crowd was horrified at the ferrets story. "We buried the dead, took what we could salvage from the village, and began to chase him. Two seasons we have been chasing him. Finally, we found a group of vermin that he had left behind in our land. We learned that he had sailed across the sea, so we found a ship and gave chase. That is how we landed here in your country." he said as he finished. "That howl everyone heard was our leader, and it signifies that he has found the wildcats location. Which is bad news for Mossflower. If he finds Redwall, I am sure that he will try and take it for himself. He will stop at nothing to rule everything he finds. Which...which is why I must go."
The crowd gasped. "B-But why? What will we do if he comes here while you are gone?" asked a scared squirrel.
"I give you my oath that he will never reach inside the gates of this abbey. But, in order to keep that oath, I have to leave this beautiful place and make sure that he doesn't head this direction." he said.
"And that'll be where I come in old lad." said Beovar as he stood. "I am coming with you. The Long Patrol and Lady Faye will want to know of this hordes location." he said. Cloud nodded.
"Me, Beovar, and Zango will all go together and deal with this problem. The rest of you stay out here, and make sure that you don't go too far outside your abbey." he said as he turned from the table with the hare and walked away.
OoOoO
Sister Mary, Balfred, Danpin, Ivan, Skipper, Songcrest, Liska, and many others that had grown fond of the warriors all gathered at the gate to see them off. Sister Mary handed each of them a pack with supplies in it for the journey. She hovered behind Cloud as the others gave them parting gifts for the trip. Cloud turned to Mary and smiled. "What is it Sister?" he asked.
She glared at him. "Don't call me sister...it makes me sound so old!" she said.
He grinned broadly and held his paws up defensively. "Alright, Mary it is then. Is there something I can do for you before I go?" he asked.
She nodded, then took a red scarf from around her neck. Walking forward, she placed it around his neck and said gently while looking down. "Please come back alive." Cloud stared at her momentarily, then lifted her chin.
"Don't worry beauty. It's gonna take a lot more than one wildcat and his army to keep me from missing another breakfast here and another of your songs." he said. She looked at him and hugged him tightly. Patting her on the back, Cloud sighed. She let go and backed into the crowd again. They grabbed their weapons, and walked out the gate. They all waved off the travellers before closing the gate behind them.
Danpin stayed behind with Mary after the others had left for the abbey. "Don't worry lass, he'll come back. I've seen him swing a sword around, and I know he will handle himself well out there." he said.
Mary nodded. "I know, he is very strong. I can see it in his eyes. But it worries me. The story he told said that this wildcat is a monster. I just hope that he doesn't get caught up in something he can't get out of." she said sadly.
Danpin stared at her a moment, then smiled broadly. "Ahhhh hogwash. He'll clean up this country, then come back wearin' that cat as a cloak. You just wait and see. Now, you need to get to the infirmary missy." he said.
She looked up at him surprised. "And why is that?"
"Cause, yur breakin' my heart with that sad face of yours and I need someone to fix it." he said jokingly.
She chuckled and started to chase him back to the abbey. "Danpin you old pinpig, I'll give you make sure you are infirmary bound for the next season!" she shouted.
Danpin ran towards the abbey building. "Ahhh...Cloud! Help! I've got a tyrant on my tail!" he hollered as he put a burst of speed on.
OoOoO
"So, you think they heard it?" asked Shinrah. Willow was wiggling a paw in her ear when he asked the question.
Looking up at him, she shouted, "What!?"
He glared at her. "You heard me..."
"Yes I did, loud and clear. And I guarantee with as loud as that was, I'd be surprised if the beasts in our country didn't hear it." she said looking up at him.
"Good. I want to make sure they heard it. Now, I'm going to scout ahead and see if I can't find something to eat." he said.
"Alright. I'll stay here and watch the camp." she said. He nodded to her and began sniffing around, then took off into the woodland. Willow sat down and set her bow down next to her. Taking off her quiver, she leaned back and relaxed. After a while, Shinrah had not returned. She sat there thinking about her past life in the village.
Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and pulled her bow up as she heard a twig snap. Pulling an arrow back on her bowstring, she scanned the area in the direction of the noise. She saw figures moving back and forth along the brush. "Show yourself or risk getting pinned to a tree!" she shouted.
Suddenly, a rat charged at her from behind. She spun around and fired her bow. The arrow flew quickly and hit the rat in the shoulder, making him drop his weapon and fall to the ground shrieking in pain. Four more rats ran out from cover and charged her. She spun and shot another rat in the gut, making him gasp in pain and fall to the ground. Dropping her bow, she jumped and kicked out at a stoat that had a spear aimed at her, slamming her footpaw across his jaw and sending him crashing to the ground.
Another vermin grabbed her from behind, while a fierce looking ferret swung a sickle at her. She leaned back and kicked the sickle from the ferrets paw, then locked her legs around his throat. The ferret struggled as her legs tightened around his windpipe, making it near impossible to breathe. The weasel that had grabbed her from behind let go when he saw his comrade being choked. But, Willow used the momentum to swing low and launched the ferret into his partner. They both crashed to the ground in a heap. Willow glared at them. "Fools." she said, not noticing the rat with an arrow in his shoulder raise to his knees and grab a spear.
The rat drew back the spear to throw at the squirrel, when suddenly a white flash made him scream in pain. Shinrah grabbed the rat in his jaws and crushed him with amazing power, making the creature fall limp and drop the spear. Tossing the vermin aside, Shinrah looked at Willow with a smirk. "You usually aren't that careless Willow." he said.
Willow looked at him with a glare. "Well, usually I fight with friends at my back." she said as she placed her paws on her hips. He laughed briefly, then sat on his haunches. "So, did you find anything?" she asked.
He nodded. "Aye. About an hours trot west of here, there is a group of boats on a river with some strange little mice on them. I could smell that they have food, but from the reactions of most creatures in this place I doubt they would act too friendly towards me. Maybe they will to you, but if not, I'll watch you from the woodline." he said. She nodded, then grabbed her weapon again and jumped on his back.
OoOoO
Truvo the otter and his family were having a joyous afternoon. Since the rain had stopped, the days had been dry and warm on the coast. They were in their cave, having a healthy lunch of shrimp covered in a small ball of dough, left floating in a steaming pot of hotroot stew until they cooked into a golden brown.
Juna grabbed one using a spoon and popped it into her excited sons mouth. Garf, sitting on his mothers lap, munched on the crispy shrimp bobber happily. Truvo was standing outside the cave next to the doorway with one of his brothers, the oldest otter named Shardo. The older otter was staring out to sea at the sails coming in from the horizon.
"What do you think mate? More pirates?" Shardo asked.
Truvo shrugged. "Well, either way this cave has been spotted. Too bad we don't have Cloud and Zango here to help again. But, no point in looking for solutions, we just gotta make our own." he said.
When the ship finally arrived on the coast, the armed otters stood arm to arm on the coast, waiting for the small longboat heading towards the sandy shore. At the bow of the small boat stood a fox with a large blade across one shoulder. When they beached, the fox dove off the boat and approached the otters, followed by a sturdy mouse with two giant blades on his back and more creatures of all sorts. The fox stopped a few feet from the otters and put a large smile on.
"Weel, look wot we 'ave 'ere lads. You lookin' fur a fight waterbeast?" he asked in a strange accent.
"That depends." said the otter. "What are you doing on these shores?" he asked.
The fox stuck his sword into the sand and stretched his arms. "Mebee ah came lookin' fur a tussle." he said. "But no need to mek a war oot o' it. Tell yur kin to back up a bit." said the fox. Truvo waved his arms, dropped his weapon and squatted. His brothers all backed up as the two went at it. The fox dove onto the otter and locked him in a headlock. Truvo flipped the fox over and landed on him, driving a clenched paw into the foxes stomach.
The fox momentarily gasped, but put both footpaws into the otters stomach and launched him across the sand, making him land hard on his back. The fox ran and grabbed the otters feet and began swinging the otter in circles. Letting go, the fox sent him rolling through the sand before tipping over and falling face first in the sand from his own dizziness. Lifting his head to the otters brothers, he said "Mebee tha' wasn't such a good idea." The otter brothers smirked a little.
Truvo jumped up and pounced on the foxes back, grabbing one of his footpaws and stretched it over his back, putting him into a leg lock. The fox yelped and pounded the sand with his fists before finally shouting, "Alright! Ya got me lad, no need to break mah paw!" he said.
Truvo let go of him and backed up. "Had enough have you? So, what are you doing on this coast?" asked the otter.
The fox sat on his rear and massaged his leg. "I see the creatures of this country aren't as defenseless as I thought." he said with a smile.
"This country? You came from across the sea?" asked Truvo. The fox stood and grabbed his sword again.
"Aye, that I am." said the fox. "The name is McGyle. Good to meet you." he said holding his paw out.
Truvo smiled and shook the foxes paw. "The names Truvo mate. I suppose you'll be friends with Cloud Longspear then?" he asked.
The foxes face brightened instantly. "You knoo of 'im then?" he asked surprised.
"Aye, I do. He saved us from quite a situation a while ago." he said. "How do you know him?"
"Me and the ferre' goo way back to childhood. Did ya happen to notice a black fox with 'im?"
"Zango you mean?" asked Shardo with a smirk. "I know him, he owes me from a game of shells." said the otter.
"Tha' would be mah cousin. Hope he wasn't too much trouble, boyo talks too much if'n ya ask me." he said in a sarcastic tone. All the otters burst into laughter at the comment.