The Fallen Star
A Tale of Redwall
{1}
A pale wind picked up across the sunset graced trees of Mossflower Woods. Deep in Mossflower Country, the Abbey of Redwall stood like a silent sentinel, its red sandstone walls reflecting the deep hues of the sun's final orange light. The sky darkened to herald the oncoming night; already stars began to shine like beacons in the twilight, waiting to take their place in the heavens as the sun slowly dipped over the horizon.
Abbot Brian took in the view. He sighed in satisfaction that another perfect day had gone by in Redwall Abbey. Not a thing was out of place there in Redwall Abbey; the abbey dwellers were gathered in Cavern Hole in preparation for the nightly repast of supper, while bees outside were busy returning to their hives near the abbey walls. Huffing and puffing could be heard as Cellarhog Prickle and his assistant, the young mole named Ruff, carried a tankard of October Ale between them to be used for supper that night. A small school of grayling fish were preparing for their own nightly feast as water bugs awaken from a day of sunbathing and burrowing beneath the reeds in the pond. The familiar hearty footsteps of Gruff, Ruff's father and the Foremole of the moles in Redwall, made his way carefully up to remind old Grenwick the Bank Vole that it was time to ring the abbey bells again to remind those in Mossflower of the late night hour.
Brian stood looking off into the sunset as heavy footsteps lumbered up the western stairs and towards his side on the northern wall. Brian didn't even have to glance to his left to know that it was Morwen, the Badgermum of Redwall, coming to remind the abbot of the supper repast that was about to begin. Brian sighed as Morwen stepped forward, her hands to her hips in mock criticism.
"Father Abbot," the great Badger lady said, "You'd think that a mouse your age would know better than to stand here when there is a supper to attend. Come down; the abbey can't start without their abbot."
Abbot Brian sighed aloud. "Forgive me, Morwen," Abbot Brian said, "Sunsets were always a special time to me. Watching the twilight descend upon Mossflower is always a good way to relax the mind, especially for one like me."
"Aye," Morwen said in agreement, "I agree that the sunset's beautiful, but if you watch it any longer the supper will get cold, and you know how Friar Jon is about cold vittles."
Abbot Brian laughed. "Aye," he said, "I know what you mean. Vittles served cold are vittles served spoiled. Every time I come late for supper, he'd always say that. You'd think that he'd take a break every now and then."
"Oh, I agree heartily with him," Morwen said, "I don't want my Onion and Turnip Flans getting cold either. The gravy makes the pastries all soggy. Bleagh!"
Abbot Brian laughed some more. "Come on, Morwen," he said, "Let's get down to supper. I don't want you turning into a giant version of Friar Jon, no sir!"
"I'll see that I do if my flans get cold," she said in mock anger as they both descended the stairs.
Young Ruff watched from beneath the big barrel of October Ale that he was helping to carry as the two abbey elders made their way inside. He huffed and puffed as he tried to carry the big keg, though it was a very difficult thing indeed, even with Cellarhog Prickle, a fine and stout hedgehog, to help him with the back end of the thing.
"Burr, naow," he groaned in his gruff mole accent, "How cummat theys can go insoide an' leave usn's here loik that? Good ol' Badgermum Moawen could helpn' us carry 'tis here barrol, burr aye!"
"Hush now, young Ruff," Prickle complained, grunting as he lifted the back end of the big keg of ale, "Less talkin', more carryin'. Your pap will be 'ere shortly to 'elp us."
"'Im's too scarred o' hights, zur Prickle," Ruff said, "e'll nevvur get doan 'dem stairs farst 'nough. Allus goes slow on way back doan, burr hurr..."
Redwall Abbey was quite abuzz that night. Supper was laid out on the table as always, and everyone was seated on the big tables around Cavern Hole. The fires were stoked up to keep the room warm, mostly to keep the food from spoiling while waiting for the Abbot. The thing different about today, however, was that there was a special occasion worth noticing…
It was young Adrian's birthday today!
Adrian was a fine young mouse, a young 'un born and raised within the stones and timbers of Redwall Abbey. He was 16 years old now; a very fine mouse indeed, having officially come of age. Many elders could hardly believe how quickly and assuredly the boy had grown up, some stating that it seemed like only yesterday when he was brought in as a baby, and orphaned when his mother died about a year or two later. Adrian showed no sign of being hindered by having been brought up without parents. He considered the brothers and sisters of Redwall Abbey to be his family. No mouse had ever been considered more at home at Redwall than Adrian…
His birthday would have been a grand one, if Abbot Brian would arrive and start supper before food got cold.
"Oi!" said Danfur, a young otter and one of Adrian's good friends, "What's keeping the Abbot this time? I'm hungry enough that I could start a three season famine soon if I don't get some grub!"
"I agree," said Daniel, a young mouse a season younger than Adrian, "I appreciate the fact that Abbot Brian should get some time alone, but does he have to do it every night and get supper cold? I'm so hungry!"
Adrian nodded his agreement. He was just about to say something when he heard the door to Cavern Hole open up. He turned around and smiled at the recognizable figure of Morwen walking through the door.
"Looks like we won't have to wait any longer," Adrian said, "Here they come now."
The Abbot strode to his chair at the far end of the table, while Morwen took her place on the opposite end. The Abbot sat upon his chair and sighed, quickly enjoying the comfort of his seat, before rising and opening his paws for grace. Everyone did likewise, holding out their paws and standing in respect as the Abbot began to say grace over the food.
Fur and Whisker, Tooth and Claw,
All who enter through our door,
Enjoy food, comfort, love and rest,
And a meal cooked by our very best,
Seasons pass upon life's stage,
And today we celebrate a come of age.
This, of course, was followed by a grateful "Amen!" and with that, supper began.
Adrian was rather excited about today. Since he had come of age, the other abbey beasts treated him like an adult. As such, he was able to drink things like October Ale, and sit with the elders, instead of being stuck with the dibbuns every supper meal. Adrian was to take his status responsibly; he wasn't going to shirk around with it. He wanted to make the Redwallers proud.
Of course, there was no saying that he wouldn't enjoy the benefits of being an adult.
Adrian helped himself to an oat farl, quickly putting some hazelnut and herb cheese into it and adding some gravy inside. Dipping it into a bowl of mushroom and potato soup, he chomped down, enjoying the supper repast. To Adrian's left, Daniel helped himself to a turnip and carrot pastry, while to his right, Danfur helped himself to the world famous Watershrimp and Hotroot soup.
Danfur took a sip, furrowing his brow and smiling with pleasure from the taste. "Ah," he said, "Hotroot soup…it's always hot and tasty, even if it does get cold. Here, Adrian, dip your farl into this and have a try. It's real tasty today!"
"No thanks," Adrian said, chuckling. He knew better than to trust Danfur and his Hotroot. The otter was addicted to the stuff. Many a supper had been almost ruined because the young otter snuck extra hot Hotroot Powder into the soup, even going so far as to dip whole Watershrimp inside the stuff. Even the other otters, the Skipper included, had to cover their noses out of fear that they'd lose their sense of smell from one of Danfur's concoctions.
"Suit yourself mate," Danfur said, grabbing an oat farl of his own and dipping it whole inside of the soup. Adrian couldn't help but wince at the sight of Danfur greedily eating the Hotroot soup.
"Eugh," said a mole nearby, "Ow can 'otters stand that stuff, burr hurr?"
"Oi dunno," another mole said, "Oi moind me own buzzniz 'bout otters. Otter food iz 'orful, burr aye. Now, Turnip n' 'Tater poi, 'dat's food!"
Abbot Brian sighed in satisfaction as he dug into a leek and mushroom pastie. With a sigh of enjoyment, he looked around at the table, checking on those at the table enjoying the repast.
Morwen, of course, had her hands full. With an onion and turnip flan in one hand, and a dibbun on her lap, she was more interested in being busy than relaxing.
"Come on, young 'un," she said, "You'll love this. Eat up, now. Don't you want to get big and strong like me? Come on, try some onion flan."
The dibbun, a feisty little squirrelmaid, stuck up her nose to the flan.
"Don't you know us likkle maids are tiny and pretty, not big and strong?" she asked cheekily.
"There now," Morwen said, "You shouldn't be so cheeky, young one. How else do you get as pretty as young Rosaline over there?"
Rosaline was a mousemaid, and a fine one at that. While most mice in Redwall had brown fur, hers was speckled with red upon her head and down her back. She was said to have been descended from the line of mice that came from Noonvale, specifically from the ancient Brome, and through him, Rose, who was said to have been a lover of Martin the Warrior. Her ancestors came to the area of Mossflower long ago. She was said to be the last of their line, though she had never seen Noonvale herself. She was born outside of Mossflower country, found as a dibbun in the darkness of the Forest when she was but a few seasons old. In fact, if Adrian could remember correctly, he was the one that found her, while they were out berry picking.
Though he wouldn't admit it, Adrian had a liking towards Rosaline. Save for Daniel, Rosaline was his only peer mouse friend. Every other mouse in the abbey was either a dibbun or an adult, the majority of youngsters in his age group being otters, squirrels, and hedgehogs. Still, it didn't really matter in the end; friends are friends, no matter what species they were.
Adrian had enjoyed his first beaker of October Ale when Friar Jon, a Hare with a cooking skill that was as big as his appetite, walked up to the Abbot's chair. Adrian couldn't help but smile as Friar Jon chided the Abbot for being late again.
"Tsk, tsk, Father Abbot," the hare said chidingly, "You should know by now that vittles served cold are vittles served spoiled, wot? I say, you should bally well either skip the summer sunset gazing or serve supper at a later hour, or an entire abbey's worth of creatures would be rather angry at you for getting their food cold."
"Now, now, Jon," Abbot Brian said, "It's alright. I understand that I have been getting carried away lately. Wasn't it only yesterday that I didn't come until well after sundown and caused your best trifles and pastries to go cold?"
"Indeed it was," the hare said, "That was the same night that the dibbuns tossed all of those soggy flans at me, followed soon by Morwen. I still haven't cleaned up all of the gravy out of my ears. Save for a salad you can't bally serve a good meal cold, wot?"
"I remember now," Abbot Brian said, "I'll try to keep my reflections a little shorter next time. Don't worry. It won't happen again."
"I hope it bally won't," Friar Jon said, "Well, better get back to the kitchens before my 'surprise' gets burnt. I'll be out in a jiffy, wot, wot!"
Friar Jon left, heading back into the Kitchens. Adrian couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered the predicament that happened yesterday. One of the dibbuns, a little rascal otter named Barm, and his partner in crime, a hedgehog named Twill, had convinced the dibbuns that Friar Jon was a mighty vermin cook and that he was going to poison them with his cold food. In the end, Friar Jon ended up being soaked in gravy, while the dibbuns got the worst dressing down ever recorded in Redwall Abbey. Badgermum Morwen was still mad at those two, and was keeping a very close watch on them both.
When Friar Jon came out again, he had Cellarhog Prickle and Ruff the mole help him take three trolleys full of cakes out into the tables. Passing them around, Friar Jon called for silence and began a short speech.
"Today is a very special day for one in our number," the hare said, "It is not often that we have one of our fine abbey young ones bally come of age, and so I speak for all of us when I say that is a cause worth celebrating. I am not good at singing, nor am I good at making presents, so my gift to you, Adrian, is my latest concoction; Hazelnut Creamcake. Enjoy, and have a happy birthday."
Everyone applauded. Adrian smiled, and suddenly noticed that Rosaline was looking at him, and was smiling back. Adrian blushed. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, especially not from someone as pretty as Rosaline.
"Beggin' your pardon, Friar," the Skipper of Otters asked, "but what exactly is Creamcake supposed to be?"
Friar Jon walked up to the Skipper, who was right across from Adrian and Danfur; Danfur, of course, happened to be the Skipper's son.
"Well, Skip," the Friar said, "it's actually just an ordinary hazelnut cake, made with cinnamon, some spices, a few candied apples and, of course, a lot of candied hazelnuts. It's called Creamcake because of my newest frosting; Cream Cheese Frosting."
Adrian was about to have a bite of his cake before he stopped and looked up at the Friar. Everyone was waiting for Adrian to take that bite before eating.
"What's Cream Cheese, Friar?" Adrian asked.
"It's not much to look at," the hare replied, "but that doesn't mean it tastes bad. In fact, it's delicious. All it is really is Meadowcream stirred thickly and added with sugar, to make it almost like butter. Then afterwards I add powdered sugar and a dab or two of honeyed milk along with it. That simple! Go on, try it!"
Adrian looked at the bite of cake at the tip of his wooden fork, shrugged, and plopped it into his mouth. An explosion of flavor burst into his taste buds, and he beamed like the sun at noon.
"It's delicious!" he said, "This is the best cake I ever had, Friar Jon! You really outdid yourself. Thank you!"
Anything further he had to say had to wait, because everyone else started cheering and feasting upon their own pieces of delicious cake.
Over on the other end of the table, Barm and Twill were eating their own pieces of cake with gusto, ignoring the silverware and eating it with their paws. Barm licked his whiskers clean of the delicious stuff when he had a sudden idea.
"Hey, Twill," he whispered, "Wanna toss some cake at big britches Friar Jon likka we did last time?!"
"Ooh boy!" the hedgehog dibbun squeaked, "I wanna get him in the bottims 'gain! I luv da look on hissa face las' time! Teeheeheehee!"
Both dibbuns got up on their bench and raised a fistful of cake each to aim at the unsuspecting Friar Jon. However, their smiles turned to looks of horror at the sight of Morwen directly in front of them, her face scowling in disappointment.
"One throw and it's a spanking and bedtime for both of you," she growled.
The sight of a mad badger is enough to make any brave warrior cringe in terror. Just imagine how scared the otter and hedgehog dibbuns were when they saw the mad look in Morwen's eyes. Their pieces of cake fell flat on their seats, and the two dibbuns quickly ducked under the table, heading for the safety of Rosaline's and Adrian's laps. Adrian put little Barm on the seat next to him, giving Morwen a wink to let her know that he wouldn't let the little otterbabe get into trouble. The badger grunted her response, and returned to her seat and the dibbuns she was attending to.
In a forest far from Redwall, in a place beyond the great sea, all was calm and peaceful as the mid-afternoon days began to wane towards sundown. Not a sound could be heard as the sun drifted slowly downwards, the forest looking almost like a painting in its stillness.
It was quiet…too quiet…
A rumbling sound could be heard as trees parted from the girth of a massive creature. Birds took to the air as the monster in the forest rumbled as fast as its legs could take it, following the tracks of five individuals and the drag marks of a pair of large creatures being taken east. Blood stained the ground from one of the drag marks, signifying that whatever the intruders were carrying, it wasn't firewood from the forest.
Blood was in the monster's eyes as it ran as fast as it could towards the eastern shores. It grunted and growled as its mighty front and hind legs carried it swiftly across the ground, bringing it to its destination in seemingly record speed. Its eyes were misted over in red as it worked up a powerful rage, chasing its target with all of the frenzy of a Bloodwrath gone wrong.
As it reached the sands of the coast, it slowed to a stop, staring out beyond the water. It got up upon its hind legs and looked about, trying to spot the creatures that took what the monster loved dearly with all its heart.
It spotted it. Whatever it was, it was nothing like the creature had ever seen before. It was a gigantic wooden whale, its girth above the water's edges and floating as if it were hollow. Sprouting from its back were trees the size of redwoods, their massive trunks holding branches that extended from the creature's back. It was unlike anything the monster had ever seen.
It suddenly spotted what it was looking for, as it saw intruders rowing upon a tinier wooden whale, dragging a separate one using strange vines like spider webs. A pair of brown bundles were in this one, neither moving nor struggling as the intruders brought it closer to the big whale.
The monster growled as it saw one of the bundles struggle while more intruders attempted to drag them both up using the spider-web vines. One of the intruders struck at the bundle twice with a big stick, and the brown bundle lay still, revealing a furry brown arm with claws from within the bundle's reach.
The monster's eyes went wide, and soon, all was taken by the red mist. All that was on its mind was the great wooden whale, its mighty girth moving as its huge trees suddenly caught several black clouds, dragging it across the sea. It sucked in its breath and made a tremendous roar that shook the countryside, causing birds and beasts to flee from its mighty wrath. All it wanted was death…and revenge…
Furborgg was coming…
Kerian: Few have ever gone as far to the west as Green Isle, the legendary island of otters in the book High Rhulain. Fewer still know of the lands that lie beyond in that strange new world, or of the creatures. What kind of beast or monster is this Furborgg? What exactly is this giant wooden whale, holding great trees atop its back and carried by great black clouds? What was the creature that Furborgg so cared about that he would give into the cursed bloodwrath, know to all as the curse of the angered badger lords?
Ever since the book Rakkety Tam showed Redwall its first Wolverine, I always thought it would be awe inspiring to see a mighty creature such as that face off against a Badger Lord. Then it occured to me; what was bigger than a Badger and a Woverine combined? What else than this creature that is about to make its way east on a terrifying journey after the strange ship with black sails? Now, now; no spoilers for you. If you wish to review, keep your thoughts about what kind of creature is to yourself, though if you like you can put up a list of the three most likely things it could be (this will make sure that people who read the reviews don't come up and guess spoilers about the story and end up feeling a bit one-sided about the whole story).
Adrian has destiny written about him. That's all I'm going to say for now, but one will soon find that Redwall will need all the help it can get in this story. Until chapter 2, me out!
-Kerian
p.s. Barm and Twill were inspired by the infamous dibbun otter twins, Bagg and Runn, from Mariel of Redwall. Though they are different animals altogether, they will act very much like annoying brothers in this story. Poor mother Morwen. She's going to have her paws full with those two!