Chapter 1

The young mouse's eyes flickered open. His senses told him that outside, the sun was setting to the west. Nearby him, a hedgehog was attempting to give a young mole something. "It's for your own good! Come on, the sooner you take this, the sooner you can have some of Brother Honeystickle's candied chestnuts!" The young mole happened to look past the hedgehog and noticed the young mouse staring at him. "Motha Franna! He's awake!" Mother Flanna turned to face the young mouse, who was trying to sit up. "Oh no, don't waste what strength you have! Here, let me help you." While the hedgehog helped the young mouse out of his bed, the doors to the Infirmary opened. A group of seasoned beasts stood inside the doorway, trying to catch a glimpse of the young mouse. "Is that him? The one Martin spoke to us about?" "It must be." "Father Ignus, why don't you go in and speak to him, you're the one who found him on the path." An old squirrel nodded to his companions. "I shall do so." Father Ignus made his way into the Infirmary, while the otherbeasts looked on.

"What is your name, young one?" Mother Franna stepped back from the young mouse, giving him a chance to speak. The young mouse gazed at the old squirrel before him, and immediately liked the frail old beast. "My name is Link Forester. I come from Hyrule Kingdom…where am I, old one?" Father Ignus smiled and took the young mouse's small paws in his. "You are at Redwall Abbey. I found you laying outside on the dirt path two days ago. I imagine that you must be hungry, so I have requested that a feast be held, for most of us have been hovering around these doors for two nights, waiting for you to awaken." Ignus turned from Link, and began walking towards Skipper and Friar Douglas, smiling to himself. One by one, the beasts filled out of the Infirmary, talking to each other, until the young mouse was left alone. He looked around the room and marveled at the set tile and brick and marble. Then, he heard a voice. It sounded familiar, like a long lost kin. "Danger approaches. Link, I ask of you to take up my sword, and fight for Redwall. Only when you vanquish the great evil of old will you return to your homeland." A mouse in armor appeared in front of Link, wielding a shield and sword. The mouse raised his sword in a salute. "I am Martin, warrior of Redwall. My body may be long gone, but I will stay here as long as these red walls stand. Tonight, during the feast, the symbol of both your and my people will combine, and so will my sword and shield. Make me and your ancestors proud, Link. Farewell." Then Martin disappeared, and the room returned. Link shook his head, then walked towards the double doors.

"I need lots of Hotroot! Now! Those otters and hares will eat us out of house and Abbey!" "Past Friars have dealt with the rogues, you can as well, Douglas." The distraught mouse turned from an oven to face Link. "Oh! Hello! What do you need, Link?" he smiled. "So, you have heard of me already?" Friar Douglas reached out and shook Link's left paw, then gestured around the kitchens. "Heard of you? Of course I've heard of you-Skipper came running in here roaring like a madbeast about how you had awakened and because of this, his clan and the hares of Salamandastron are coming here to celebrate." The smells of the goods baking in the stone ovens suddenly overcame Link, and he swayed slightly. Friar Douglas noticed this and yelled at somebeast to bring him a chair. "Here, sit on this. I can't have you falling over in my kitchens!" Douglas turned to a table and turned back with a bowl containing something. "Eat this. If you still want something, don't be afraid to ask." The young mouse took the bowl from Douglas and attacked the soup with vigor. A few minutes later, he looked up from the now empty bowl. "…I forgot to thank you, didn't I? What is this? It's fantastic!" The older mouse grinned with pride. "I've never meet a mouse that liked Hotroot Soup! Wait until Skipper hears about this!" The mouse took the bowl from Link and filled it again. When the Friar turned around, the young mouse had wandered off, no longer feeling faint from hunger. "Huh, I never saw anyone recover so fast from not eating for so long either."

"Is this Martin? He must have been a great warrior." "He was. His spirit still resides here, watching over the Abbey. When danger approaches, he appears in the dreams of somebeast, telling them to take up his sword and rid the land of evil." Link half turned from the tapestry to see Skipper walking towards him. At the otter's words, the young mouse was reminded of his vision of Martin. "Skipper…he…came to me. I think he chose me to be your guardian…" Skipper nodded towards Link and moved towards the tapestry. "There's word from Salamandastron about an army staying nearby the shore. A huge beast leads them." The otter reached up and unhooked a cloth-covered object from its brackets. Skipper then turned to Link, and held out the object to him. "If Martin came to you, and he asked you to protect us, then there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to wield his sword. Take it." The young mouse reached out and took the object from Skipper. He then removed the cloth-a blazing sword was laying in his paws. "…That's odd…the Sword of Martin…its glowing…." Skipper raised his gaze from the sword to the beast holding it. The mouse was staring at the sword, then his left paw closed over the hilt. The aged cloth fell to the floor and Link lifted the Sword of Martin to the sky. Then he stepped back, lowered the blade, and swung the sword. Skipper steps back a few paces. "A leftie? I don't think any of our warriors have been lefties…" Link swung the blade again and looked at Skipper. "My whole family is left-handed. Where I come from, my ancestors have…I guess you could say that they were born warriors. We have saved our kingdom over and over again, saving the Princess who ruled during the Hero's life, and defeating a returning evil. If I'm here…then I have to defeat whoever is here." By now, tons of Abbeybeasts had gathered in the Dining Hall, and they all moved towards the tapestry. At the exact moment when Father Abbot Tintson reached Skipper and Link, the young mouse swung the sword again, and to everybeast's horror, Martin's sword struck the Abbot.

"I didn't mean to…." Tintson looked at the young mouse, who was still holding the sword that was keeping him alive. "…Even though you did this by accident, I can see that you follow your ancestors…" The old mouse put his now-trembling paws on Link's shoulders. "I think that I shall survive this. You, are here for a reason. Martin appeared to me in a dream, sometime last night. He said this to me, and the second that I saw you holding Martin's sword, I knew that you were our next warrior. 'Link! Link! The Princess has been taken! Oh where, oh where can she be? Ganon, the Savage Demon King, has taken her to his Darke Tower nearby the Sea! Find the Abbey, find the blade, for history shall soon be made. Fight for honor, fight for glory, fight with all your might, for the Evil Demon King must be slain upon this very night. Swing the sword, wield the shield, and the enemy might just yield. Use the blade and slay the King, then the bells shall truly sing!' …I can't make head nor tail of it, but it must relate to you. What do you make of it?" Link drew back the Sword of Martin and Abbot Tintson waited for an answer. "….He is here? In Mossflower? ...No wonder Martin asked me to take up his sword..."

Just then, outside of the Abbey, a fox was hovering outside the window. Upon hearing Link's words, he smiled. "So, the mouse learns that his foe has come to Mossflower. Excellent. Lord Ganon will be pleased." The fox sprinted away, the Abbeybeasts completely unaware that there was a spy among them.

"Fox! Outside!" "What?" "There's a fox outside the window!" Link raced over to a stained glass window in time to see a fox running in the opposite direction. His eyes narrowed. "I'll get him." He turned to Skipper. "Do you have a bow?" "No, but we have slings." Link nodded. "Give me one."

THACK! The fox fell, never to return to the Evil One's land. The Abbey doors opened, and Abbeybeasts poured out of them. "That was great, Link!" "How'd you learn to shoot like that?" "My father taught me. And his father taught him, and so on, and so forth." The Dibbuns crowded around the sling-holding mouse. "Can you hit something else?" "I want to use it!" Link managed to free himself from the mob of small beasts. "Not today. Perhaps when you're older." The young mouse began to walk towards the open doors of the Abbey when from the ditch nearby the path sprang a massive beast, which reached behind him and uncovered a golden trident. Ganon, the Savage Demon King, had come to Redwall!