Claimer: I own all the characters in my story except Martin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Redwall, Martin, Juska, or Mossflower.

So yeah, Here's This.

Chapter 6

Amber set off from the camp at a brisk pace, with Mallory behind her doing her best to keep up. She should have realized that the small mouse would not make it very far at their current speed, but had been too caught up in escaping to give it any thought, After two hours, Mallory collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Amber, who was used to long exercise, scolded herself for assuming the same about Mallory. She knew they were still too close to the vermin camp to settle down for the night, so she picked Mallory up and kept moving.

After three more hours, Amber realized that she could not go on any longer, so she found the nearest tree and climbed up onto a thick branch that would serve as a place to camp. Mallory, who had fallen asleep immediately when amber had began to carry her, opened her eyes and looked around drowsily. She managed to keep her eyes open long enough for Amber to give her some food, then snuggled up right next to Amber and fell back asleep. Amber watched Mallory's chest rise and fall for a while, then decided to get some sleep herself.

Amber was awoken by the sound of loud voices drifting through the trees. The harsh edges of the words were enough to tell her that this was a group of vermin. She panicked and was about to jump out of the tree to flee when Mallory stirred beside her. Amber thought on what to do. She knew she wouldn't be ready fast enough to get away with Mallory, so she had two choices. I can either leave Mallory here and save myself, or stay with her and hope we won't be seen. She had made her decision before she could even think about it. She was not going to leave Mallory to fend for herself. She gently shook Mallory's shoulder to wake her. Amber put a paw to her mouth, telling her to be quiet, and pointed down at the vermin. Mallory's eyes widened and she nodded. The two of them backed up to where the tree branch met the trunk, and held their breath. Instead of passing the tree, the vermin made camp right next to it. Amber decided to wait until they were all asleep and then climb down the tree and slip away, but there were two sentries at the edge of the camp the other ten in the group fell asleep. Mentally screaming at herself, she realized that she was going to have to wait for them to leave.

The vermin stayed there for many hours, and there was always a guard standing watch. They seemed to be expecting something, as the guards were always completely timid and alert, unlike the droopy eyed slacking vermin that normally stood guard in any camp. Amber had begun to fall asleep again when the guards began waking the others. She watched as the group picked up their belongings and dashed out of the area, with two of them covering their tracks in the back.

Mallory had seen this unfold, and she, like any young one, had a question. "Why did the rats leave so quick?"

Amber shrugged, having no idea whatsoever. She was about to climb down the tree and investigate when somebeast leapt into view below the tree she and Mallory were in. The creature stood up and dusted its coat off. Looking around, it seemed to be searching for something. Only then did Amber realize that this was a hare.

The hare wore a red tunic with an embroidered belt wrapped around it. Attached to the belt were a dirk and a sling. He had golden fur, and his ears stood straight up. The hare signaled to someone Amber could not see and two more hares bounded into view. They were dressed similarly to the other, but one carried a rapier and the other sported a small knife and a bow with a quiver.

The first hare turned to the others. "Where've those flippen' vermin got to, I wonder. Wot, Wot?"

The hare with the rapier poked at the one with the bow and said "I bet Lid scared 'em off when they got one look at her ugly mug!"

The hare with the dirk glared at both of the other two. "You two better stop messing around an' stand to attention, or I'll send you both back to Salamandastron." Both of them stood up straight and saluted immediately. "Much better. Now, we need to scout this area to find out where those bloody vermin got to, Wot, wot!

The other hares nodded and bounded away. As they left the area, Amber could have sworn that she had made eye contact with on of them, but it must have been a trick of the light, because the hare had no reaction to it.

Some time later, the hares regrouped, and a whispered conversation was held. Then they left the area again, and before Amber knew it, her tree was surrounded by the three hares.

One of them shouted up at her. "We know you're up there, so why dontcha come down here, Wot, Wot?"

Amber sighed and picked up Mallory, Climbing one-armed down the trunk of the tree.

The hares had obviously not been expecting her to comply, and just stared at her.

Mallory began to wiggle around. "Can you put me down onna gwound now?"

Amber nodded, setting the small mouse on the leafy floor. Mallory's small paw grabbed hers again, which made the hares even more confused.

Mallory seemed to be getting annoyed at the uncomfortable stares and complained about it. "My daddy says it's rude if you don't intwoduce yoursewf when you meet sombeast new." When she didn't get an answer, she sighed. "I guess I haff to intwoduce us then. I'm Mawowy, and dissa Ambow."

The Hare with the dirk stepped forward. "Well, I can't argue with that logic, wot, wot? This here's Lidya," he indicated the hare with the bow, "this is Summer," he pointed at the hare with the rapier, "and I'm Casey."

He smiled at Mallory, who smiled back, but when he looked at Amber, it was obvious that he didn't trust her.

Well, we've been goin' all day, and I think we're gonna stay the night here. Would you like to join us?" Casey asked.

Mallory was delighted. "Yeah! Can we Ambow, pwease?"

Amber thought about it. "I guess so… but we need to leave first thing in the morning, or we might not be there in time."

….

After a while, a fire had been lit, and Mallory was asleep. The hares all looked at Amber, making her feel awkward.

Summer ended the silence. "Amber, would you take a walk with me?"

Amber nodded and stood up, following Summer away from the camp. She trusted the hares enough to watch Mallory.

Summer and Amber walked in silence until Summer once again broke the silence. "How did you end up with Mallory? I've never known rats to care for anyone except themselves, but she acts like you've been taking very good care of her. Where are you headed anyways?"

Amber sighed. "It's a long story."

There I finished it… I've been putting this off for way too long… Expect another chapter pretty soon because I feel bad about that. Also, someone mentioned to me that Alek was asleep at Redwall for two days, and that from when she left, she would get there before he woke up. So I fixed it. Yay! Delays, delays, and what's that? More delays!

I'm going to sleep now…