CHAPTER TWO
Kopec had just delivered the last basket of bread when the soldiers arrived at the village.
His mother had been working hard ever since the break of dawn at mixing the flour, water, salt, yeast, eggs, nuts and spices into a large bowl, kneading the resulting dough into large, rounded lumps and then placing them in the oven, baking them into nice loafs of delicious bread. They were meant for some of the residents of the village who were a bit short of funds at the moment, and since many of them had been so accepting and helpful to the rats when they first came to Conwyn, Nisha, who had saved quite a large quantity of flour, spices and other ingredients in her house, had considered it only right and proper that they should now aid them in turn. The beasts he had delivered it to had been truly grateful, not just for the help, but also because the ratmaid's bread was considered the best in the village and in any of the surrounding settlements.
Kopec had lived with his mother in Conwyn for about fifteen seasons. Before that, they had been travelling with his father and older brother, Liam, as part of one of the pillaging vermin hordes that had been so common in these regions until recently, eking out an existence on whatever loot his father and, later, his brother managed to scrape together from their raids. That had come to an end when the armies of lord Urthblood had caught up with them. He had been little more than a child when the two sides met in battle, cowering with his mother and the other non-fighting beasts at the back of the battle lines. The vermin had fought bravely, but in the end they had stood no chance against the crimson badger's better trained, better organized and numerically superior troops. His father was killed in the fighting, while Liam just barely managed to make it through.
After the battle, the surviving warriors and their families were gathered in front of the badgerlord and his troops. To their surprise, Urthblood had declared that if they laid down their weapons and gave up their villainous ways, they would get help to start new lives and allowed to aid him in his goal of pacifying the lands and bringing woodlanders and vermin together. He would even allow any surviving warriors to join his army to help him directly in this goal. Liam had been so moved by the badgerlord's mercy that he had signed up practically on the spot, and soon afterwards, he bid farewell to his little brother and Nisha to join the crimson badger's crusade.
Kopec, by contrast, had never considered doing the same, even if he hadn't been too young at the time to be allowed to serve in the army. This was partly because someone would have to take care of mother, partly because, to be honest with himself, he was too cowardly to be a warrior, and did not relish the thought of being skewered by a sword, impaled on a spear or pierced by an arrow on some distant battlefield. But perhaps more than that, it was because he still felt resentment towards the badger for the death of his father. He realized of course that it had been during a battle as he was attacking their troops in turn, that Dubhan had belonged to a horde that plundered and terrorized innocent creatures, and that he wasn't the only one who had lost family members that day. And the badger had been very generous in his treatment of his defeated enemies, certainly far more so than most other woodlanders, who would probably have left none of the enemy warriors alive if they'd been able, and then left their families to fend for themselves without anyone to protect them. But he still couldn't help but feel that it wasn't right to serve under the one who had killed his father, necessary as it may have been.
In fact, he had sometimes felt resentment toward Liam for forgiving Urthblood so quickly. But he knew that it was ultimately foolish to nurse that resentment; Liam had grieved as much as he and his mother after Dubhan's death, but he had understood that it was pointless to dwell so much on the past, and instead strove to honour his father by fighting to make sure that other rats and vermin would never have to resort to banditry and pillaging to survive again.
After Liam had left, Kopec and Nisha, along with most of the surviving beasts from the horde that hadn't joined the badger's army, had been guided to Conwyn to settle down and start new lives as productive, respectable citizens of the nation Urthblood was trying to create, on equal standing with any goodbeast. At that time, several of beasts in the village had been recruited into the badgerlord's army, which left quite a few homesteads empty for the arriving vermin to occupy. It was common practice for Urthblood to allow recruited vermin and their families to settle in villages like Conwyn that were previously only inhabited by woodlanders. The badger hoped that letting the two groups live closely together like this would aid in changing the mindsets of the beasts of the Northlands, to help the former enemies to regard each other as friends for the first time. It hadn't always worked, unfortunately; in some places there had even broken out violent riots and fights between them, as the two sides just couldn't let go of their old enmities. But more often than not, the experiment had been successful, softening tensions and warming relations between goodbeasts and vermin and gradually healing the old wounds between the two of them.
Kopec and his mother had the good fortune of arriving at a settlement where Urthblood's experiment had worked rather well. While there had been some cold stares given and unkind words shouted, and even several seasons later a few of its inhabitants hadn't really warmed up to them, the village had generally been accepting of the new arrivals. In particular, a family of mice and a group of otters had been very kind and welcoming to the vermin, and had even helped build a couple of entirely new cottages and cabins for the hamlet's new residents (causing a few of the woodlanders to grumble that the vermin got to live better than they did). Nisha had set up a little shop in their new house to perform a variety of tasks, doing laundry, sewing clothes and preparing fabrics, and of course, baking her beloved bread. In the time since arriving, she had actually become rather well-liked and even respected in the village. Kopec generally helped her to the best of his ability, and performed some work in Conwyn and occasionally in the surrounding settlements, but he had yet to find any permanent calling.
Meanwhile, Liam had travelled as part of the army of the Crimson Badger, visiting his mother and younger brother whenever his missions led him near their home. From what they heard from the other soldiers with him and from any news reaching them from the badger's campaigns, Liam was a very brave and skilled soldier. He had fought valiantly in many battles, and was popular and highly regarded by both his comrades and superiors. It had been a day of celebration for the two rats when they were informed that he had been promoted to sergeant in the rat division, and it was widely assumed that he would rise even further in the command chain before too long, if he kept up his excellent record.
Sadly, that promising military career was literally cut short at the first battle of Salamandastron. Not everyone had appreciated Urthblood's campaign of bringing woodlanders and vermin together, and among those were his brother Urthfist, the former lord of the mountain. He had been so blinded by his hatred of vermin that he became convinced that his brother must have turned wholly evil to even consider taking them under his wing. He had declared Urthblood his sworn enemy and turned the Long Patrol, the small personal army of hares that had protected the badgerlords for ages, against him. The conflict had come to its bloody conclusion when the two sides met on the slopes on the mountain, and despite the crimson badger's overture of peace, Urthfist had charged madly against the line of enemy troops, determined to kill as many vermin as he could. Liam had been stationed at Salamandastron at the time, and in the fighting he had happened to come too close to the mad badger and was cleft in two by his greatsword.
The news of his death had devastated Kopec and his mother to a possibly even greater extent than that of Dubhan. Liam had been the pride of the family, a beast who served courageously in a proper army for a great and noble cause rather than a bandit who stole and plundered from honest creatures to keep his family fed, who was genuinely liked and respected by his fellows, and a living proof that any vermin could rise above his roots to become a true hero and goodbeast. To lose him was to lose the symbol on which they based their hope for the future, the bedrock on which they had planned to build their lives. That it had happened at the paws of a beast who had gone mad with rage at seeing Urthblood treating rats and vermin as proper, decent creatures only compounded the pain.
In one of the many arguments that had followed in the wake of their loss, when they were at their most angry with one another and could barely even stand to look at each other, Nisha had shouted to her son that he should have died at Salamandastron instead of Liam. She had immediately regretted her words and tearfully apologized, but those words had always left a painful impression on Kopec because, in a sense, he felt should have died instead too.
Although he had felt some resentment towards Liam for so easily forgiving Urthblood, as well as a little jealousy of all the praise and admiration he was given while he himself didn't have any real accomplishments to his name, in all other respects he had always deeply loved and admired his brother. Liam had been smarter, stronger, kinder, friendlier and far more courageous than Kopec would ever be. If he had stayed with his mother, he would have been of much greater help and support to her. Kopec had to admit to himself that he wasn't always the helpful and good son he should be; he wasn't always there to help his mother when she needed him, letting his own laziness and resentment get their upper paw of him. He often got into arguments with her, saying things he didn't mean but was too ashamed to take back. Ever since coming to Conwyn, he had never acquired any real friends, and there was no use blaming prejudice against his species for it; the rat was sullen, moody and not easy to approach and get to know. Several times, some of the beasts in the village had tried to be friendly with him and connect with him, and while it usually started well enough, they had often unwittingly said something that offended or irritated him, causing him to lash back at the surprised creature and immediately souring the relations between them, and they would walk away from each other in anger. Nisha had sometimes had to deal with reprimands and rebukes from other beasts over her son's behaviour, leading to further arguments between mother and son which achieved little except leaving both of them in angry tears.
Things weren't improved by their economic situation. Ever since Liam's death, it had been more difficult for his mother to concentrate on her work, which led to delayed work orders and assignments and complaints from her customers who often took their orders to others instead. Some of their neighbours were kind enough to help out with their problems, but it still wasn't enough to get back to the level when she was at her best. When Liam was alive, he had sometimes sent packages with food, clothes, tools and other sundry items to them, and occasionally even small purses containing a few pieces of copper or even silver that could be traded if other beasts thought they were shiny and pretty enough. With his death, their delivery had naturally ceased, and while they hadn't been a huge help, they had certainly made their lives a little easier.
Kopec had heard rumours that Urthblood had planned to establish some kind of pension system for the families of the soldiers in his service, as well as for any widows and orphans left behind if they fell in battle. If there had ever been such a plan however, it had yet to come into fruition, which wasn't really surprising; the infrastructure of Mossflower, even after the all the badger's improvements, were still nowhere near developed and organized enough to handle such a large scheme.
Still, for all their problems, they managed to get by. They had enough to eat, a roof over their heads, and they still had the means to make an honest, peaceful living, rather than the meagre existence of a hordebeast, which is all they could have hoped for if it hadn't been for Urthblood. You had to focus on the good things you had in life, rather than all the troubles and misery. It was what his brother, always the optimist, would have said, and while Kopec was too much the cynic to truly take that to heart, it never hurt to keep it in mind.
Little did he know that soon, his life, his mother's life and the lives of all the rats in Mossflower would be changed forever…
He was just returning to his mother's cabin, the empty breadbasket in his right paw, walking over the main street of Conwyn (if a dusty beaten track could be called a "street"), when he noticed the group of armed beasts coming up the road towards the village. Stopping in his tracks and squinting a bit, he could make out that they were all squirrels. He stayed in the middle of the road and waited for them to come closer, wanting to know what they were here for. As they approached, several other beasts noticed them as well, and gathered outside their homes and fields, curious as to why they would get a visit from the badgerlord's troops.
As they came to a stop just inside the edge of the village, Kopec could see from their dress, bearing and posture that they were from the Gawtrybe, the large collection of tribes of northlander squirrels that were allied with Urthblood, and generally regarded as his most fanatical and loyal soldiers. He frowned at this. Although the Gawtrybe were generally held in very high regard by the creatures of the lands, primarily in the Northlands, though their fame and reputation had spread all the way to the farthest reaches of Mossflower and even to the Southsward, Kopec had never liked them. He found them cold, grim and arrogant, and whenever he and his mother had met them in the past, they often seemed to treat them with just barely restrained contempt. He supposed that it was because they had spent so many bloody seasons fighting against the searats, and therefore found it hard to distinguish between them and the "normal" woodlander rats they were supposed to treat like equals.
He remembered an occasion a couple of seasons ago, when some of the Gawtrybe had passed through Conwyn after a bloody rout with the searats. They had spent the night in the village, and many villagers turned up to hear them tell the story of their recent battle. While most of the listeners were impressed and cheered when the squirrels bragged about not leaving a single of the seavermin alive, Kopec, and most his fellow rats, had only squirmed uncomfortably.
While the Crimson Badger's propaganda about the searats clearly distinguished between woodland rats, who were considered misguided beasts that were nevertheless noble at heart, and their seaborne cousins, who were considered evil, vile creatures whose entire society was based around treachery, cruelty and the enslavement of their unfortunate lessers, Kopec knew that there really wasn't much difference between the two. They were both really the exact same species, only that a long time ago, the rats living in Mossflower had split into two groups, with one of them journeying out to sea to establish themselves as searats - or was it the other way around, with the searats coming first and the woodlander rats having settled in the lands? Nobeast seemed to know. As such, when the squirrels ended their tirade about the utter wickedness of the seavermin with a quick reassurance that they weren't talking about the rats sitting beside them, Kopec hadn't felt very comforted. To him, rats were rats, whether they lived at land or sea, whether they were slavers and conquerors or farmers and shopkeepers; when others talked about how horrible and vile the searats were and boasted about how many they'd killed, it still felt as if they were directing their venom, in a sense, to him and his fellow woodlander rats.
Kopec was roused from his brief memory trip when the leader of the squirrels stepped forward.
"Greetings. I'm Sergeant Shawn, in the service of Lord Urthblood. We have come to this village bearing an important message, and it's imperative that every citizen of Conwyn hear it. As such, we would appreciate it if you could immediately spread the word of our arrival to everybeast living here, and have them gather at this spot to hear what we have to say."
As the rat observed the Gawtrybe a bit more closely, he could see that they were armed with their usual weapons: bows and quivers of arrows and a couple of combat daggers strapped to their chests. What surprised him though, was that each squirrel seemed to have a small wooden club dangling at their belts; not exactly proper battle weapons. For some reason, those clubs worried him more than any other of their armaments.
The soldiers refused to answer any questions until everyone had been gathered around them, so before long, the beasts who had noticed them coming quickly spread out to pass on the word of their arrival to all the inhabitants of Conwyn. Kopec ran straight to his mother's house to inform her of the soldiers and their call for a gathering, and they soon made their way back to the main road. By the time they got there, most of Conwyn's inhabitants, a little over a hundred beasts, had gathered before the squirrels. Waiting a little longer until it seemed everyone had come together before them, Shawn spoke up again.
"Greetings to you all, citizens of Conwyn! As I have already stated, I am Shawn, sergeant in the service of his lordship, Urthblood of Salamandastron, and I have come here as his representative, bearing a number of very important news and announcements."
As he said this, the rat couldn't help but feel that he was scanning his gaze over the crowd, and seemed to be counting the number of beasts there, paying particular attention to the group of rats that Kopec stood with.
"First of all, I don't know if you're already aware of this, but a few months ago, the searats reached out to Urthblood to begin negotiations for a peace treaty. Tratton had been so soundly trounced and defeated in his recent battles against Salamandastron that he was desperate to avoid complete annihilation at the badgerlord's paws at any cost, and Urthblood was magnanimous enough to refrain from exterminating the searats from the oceans once and for all at his request."
The villagers had indeed heard about such a treaty being worked out recently; some had been furious that the badgerlord would negotiate with the seavermin at all, others had been glad at the prospect that all the wars and skirmishes with them might finally come to an end. Kopec couldn't help but think that the whole affair hadn't been the one-sided surrender from Tratton that Shawn made it out to be.
"A couple of weeks ago, the treaty was finalized. The cost to the searats in order to avoid utter defeat and destruction was high: they will never again land upon our shores to plunder and kidnap innocent beasts, they will never attack peaceful traders on the high seas again, and they will have to deal with their neighbours and the lands completely on Urthblood's terms.
More importantly, however, they have been forced to make a final, huge concession to the bagerlord. To show that they truly intend to have good relations with the lands from now on, they will set free all slaves that they have kept in cruel bondage for so many seasons and years. Every slave on their islands, in their galleys, in their encampments in the lands and everywhere in their empire and beyond, will be released and shipped to Mossflower, where they will begin their new lives as free beasts."
At first, the entire crowd, including Kopec and his mother, were stunned speechless at these news, a few gasps all the response that greeted Shawn's incredible announcement. Soon however, they erupted in a roaring cheer, applauding, jumping up and down and showing their amazement and gratitude at these wonderful news in any way they could.
Shawn smiled proudly as the beasts before him showered the squirrels with praise and affection, and soon held up his paws to encourage the crowd to calm down so he could continue with his announcement.
"Me and my comrades are part of a delegation sent to the Northlands to secure one of the first deliveries of these newly freed beasts and escort them to new homes. I'm happy to announce that some of them have chosen to settle here in Conwyn, and will be arriving here tomorrow."
This caused further cheers from their audience, who were eager to help fellow goodbeasts build up a new life after so many seasons as slaves.
Suddenly, however, Shawn's expression changed from bright and amiable to cold and grim.
"However, I also have a difficult proclamation to make in relation to these delightful news. The slaves who arrive here will need places to stay, and it seems that there isn't enough room for that here at the moment. As such, in order for these poor beasts, who have lived for so long in abject misery, starvation and oppression, to be able to enjoy the warmth and comfort of a proper home, some of you living here now will have to make some sacrifices for their sake. By the authority invested in me by Lord Urthblood, I must insist that all rats living in Conwyn pack up their belongings, evacuate their homes and come with us."
If the crowd had been speechless before, it was nothing compared to the stunned silence settling over it now. And nobeasts, of course, were more silent than the rats that Shawn had directed his unexpected order to. Kopec literally couldn't believe his ears at first. They would have to leave their homes that they had worked to maintain for so many seasons, and the village that they had been respectable members of for so long? Why? It made absolutely no sense!
Just as the stunned beasts stirred from their silence, and started to protest, the squirrel again held up his paws to speak.
"Now, don't worry! You will be taken to new homes not far from here where you will be allowed to settle down again. But for now, we have to look to the best interest of these hungry, weary creatures from the searat slave camps first. If you just follow us in a calm, orderly fashion, everything will turn out fine!"
A mouse by the name of Alwyn, one of the village elders and one of the beasts who had been most welcoming and accepting of the vermin when they arrived at Colwyn, stepped forward and spoke up.
"But I don't understand… How many beasts are arriving to this village?"
"At this time, only about a pawful. But this is only the first shipment of many that will release the thousands of creatures kept in bondage by the searats. It's very possible that more will arrive here in the near future."
"But surely we can manage to find room for them here without expelling these poor creatures from their homes? We can have them stay in our houses, and we can help to build new cottages for them, and…"
"No. It's more difficult than you think to find quarters for so many in your little village," the squirrel responded, apparently unaware that the people of Conwyn had managed to do just that fifteen seasons ago. "This isn't up for discussion; I have to insist that the rats come with us!"
"But why just the rats?" Another voice was raised from the crowd, this time from one of the rodents who had just been told that he would have to leave his home. "Why are we rats the only ones who have to leave?"
"Aside from the need to find new lodgings for the arriving beasts," the squirrel answered, "the foremost reason that you have to move is because having them come face to face and forcing them to live in proximity with rats would cause unnecessary tension and conflict. You have to understand, the only rats these former slaves might have ever known are the ones who enslaved and brutalized them. If they saw you, it might lead to blows and bring violence and strife to this peaceful village. Now, I know you have no relation to the seavermin who treated them like that," - he didn't sound very sincere at this - "but we have to look at this from the perspective of creatures who would see all rats, unfortunately, in the same way as their captors. To avoid such an unpleasant experience for both of you, it will be best if you move somewhere else."
The rat who'd asked the previous question wasn't mollified by this. "Well, I'm not moving out of the home that I have toiled and worked hard for, that I've maintained by honest living! If they're so damn offended by me being a rat, they can move somewhere else! I'm not gonna leave everything I've…"
As the rat took some challenging steps toward the soldiers, and was about to be followed by some of the other gathered beasts, the squirrels quickly moved their paws to the daggers at their chests and the clubs at their waists. Everybeast gathered froze. Would the soldiers really use violence to get their way, and force peaceful beasts out of their homes?
Shawn gave a cold, harsh look to the rats standing in the crowd, and continued talking in a bitter tone, sounding almost like a parent giving a stern reprimand to a bunch of ungrateful children.
"I would remind you, rat, that the reason you and your fellows have been able to live so prosperously here for the past several seasons, is because of us! When we put a stop to your pillaging and terrorizing of innocent creatures, we showed you mercy and pity, where most others would have been content to put you in your grave and have your family starve or freeze to death! We put in a large amount of effort to find proper homes for you and help you start new lives, benefiting from the woodlanders' goodwill and forgiveness that we had taught them to show! You owe us, and Urthblood, your entire lives!"
He then turned his gaze to the crowd in general.
"And not just the rats. All you people of Conwyn have been under the protection of the forces of the badgerlord. We have made sure that you do not have to fear rampaging hordes or murderous bandits descending on your community at any moment. Thanks to us, you have been able to enjoy peace and plenty, where before you would have lived in abject poverty and at the mercy of any villainous beast who would demand that you give up your hard-earned property to him. We have made great, painful sacrifices, we have seen close friends and comrades die on the battlefield, and risked our lives countless times, all in order for you to have decent, proper lives.
Now we ask for a small thing in return. We ask that some of you, who wouldn't be here in the first place if it wasn't for us, move aside in order for beasts who haven't been able to enjoy a decent meal, a roof over their heads or proper clothes in seasons to finally get to live decent lives. And we will escort you to your new homes and help you settle down again, just as we did fifteen seasons ago. I really don't think that's too much to ask for."
The squirrel's tirade made most of the crowd fall silent; while they still weren't happy with the orders Shawn had given, it was pointless to debate such things with Urthblood's soldiers, and reluctantly, they also knew that he had a point. They did owe their peaceful and relatively prosperous lives to Urthblood. Perhaps it was only reasonable that the rats should move to make way for the new arrivals, and to prevent conflicts with them.
When it seemed he'd managed to force the crowd into submission, Shawn continued with his previous orders:
"Now, in order to get this over with as quickly as possible, I want all rats to return to their homes and gather their belongings for the trip. Only take what possessions and affects you can personally carry; anything else, like furniture or large stocks of sundry items will either be sent for you at a later date, or you will receive compensation for them. You will meet back here within one hour."
After some hesitation and grumbling, the rats in the crowd separated from their fellows to do the squirrel's bidding, and the rest of the gathering soon dispersed, disheartened at the prospect that so many of their fellow villagers would be forced to leave. Although Kopec had always had a hard time to connect with other beasts, several of the other rats had forged close friendships with the woodlanders. It was a testament to the effectiveness of Urthblood's experiments, that even with all the bumps and obstacles that still remained, creatures of two species that had previously lived in conflict and hatred for each other since times immemorial could reach out and form such close bonds of friendship and respect. And now, when it seemed that the two groups really had put all enmities aside, the rats would be forced to leave their adopted homes simply because some arriving beasts couldn't stand the fact that they happened to be rats? It felt so demoralizing, as if they would have to go back to square one when it seemed that the goal of the experiment had practically been achieved.
Kopec and Nisha made their way back to their cabin with heavy hearts, and started packing their belongings in couple of sacks and baskets lying around. Per the squirrel's instructions, they didn't take any of the heavier objects in their home, fervently hoping that he had spoken the truth when he said they would be sent for later. As it was, they mostly packed things needed for the journey, like extra clothes, food (including a few loafs of his mother's wonderful bread) and drink, a cooking pan so they could have some warm meals, some tools that could be useful in the forest, some simple jewelry and pieces of copper for trading and a few personal trinkets that held some meaning to them. His mother took a few books that she'd bought from passing merchants, mostly travel accounts and poetry collections; although Kopec had never learned to read, his mother was usually kind enough to read aloud for him.
Kopec brought with him a small wooden flute, which he'd owned since before he came to Conwyn. His brother had carved it in his youth and had been a good player; when he noticed that Kopec loved hearing him playing his instrument he had taught him how to play as well. When he had left with Urthblood, he gave the flute to his little brother as something to remember him by, encouraging him to continue practicing. He had done so, and through lots of diligent effort, and quite a bit of helpful instruction from Alwyn, he had become quite skilled at it, able to play several pretty notes and melodies. One of the few times when he was actually well-liked and popular with the people of the village was when he would play the flute during weddings, feasts and other joyous occasions. He had also played the instrument during a couple of funerals, as the melody that he was the best at performing was a very sad yet eerily beautiful dirge; ever since his brother's death, he had often been heard playing it alone by himself.
If there was something that he might have wished to dedicate his life to, some calling or profession that he might have wanted to enter, it would probably be playing the flute. But he had known that that would be absurd; in a small village like Conwyn, you weren't of much use to anyone if the only thing you were really skilled at was playing an instrument.
When they had finished gathering their possessions, the two rats left their home to walk back to the gathering point, Kopec carrying most of the burden. On their way, they met up with Alwyn, the mouse who had always been kind to them and helped them, even when some of the other citizens of Conwyn demanded that no rats should ever be allowed to live in the village. He had helped them build their house, supported them both financially and emotionally when times were rough, and he had always been kind and gentle with Kopec, even when the rat hadn't been the nicest and warmest of beasts, including of course taking so much time to help him with his flute-playing. He was probably the closest to a real friend that he had ever had in the village, and the reason that it couldn't be called a true friendship was entirely the rat's own fault; he had never really returned the mouse's affection and warmth, and so it felt as if Kopec was the one who had gotten everything out of the relationship without giving much back in return.
Nisha gave tearful goodbye to the mouse, thanking him for all he had done for them as she wrapped her paws around his shoulders. Afterwards, the mouse looked at Kopec, who had put the sacks and bags on the ground while trying to think of something fitting to say.
"Eh, I… thank you for all the help you've given us and… I really appreciate how good you've been to me. I hope we'll see each other again someday and… and…"
The rat trailed off in his clumsy attempt to give a proper farewell when he noticed how Alwyn was looking at him. His eyes were so concerned, so sympathetic and pitying and sad over the rat's situation, that seeing it made something burst in his heart. It reminded him of how much he truly owed to the mouse, all the things he'd done for him and what a wonderful friend he had always been to him and his mother… and how little Kopec had done to repay him.
Kopec was usually steadfast in not letting anyone besides his mother see him cry; it was a sign of weakness, as far as he was concerned, and since he wasn't exactly highly thought of in the village most beasts would probably react with scorn and contempt to his tears rather than pity. But now he couldn't help himself; he felt water starting to well up within his eyes and his body start to shiver, and he cast down his eyes to the ground in shame as tears started streaming down his cheeks.
There was no trace of either scorn or contempt in Alwyn's voice as he spoke, only utmost concern and compassion:
"Kopec, what's the matter? Why are you so upset?"
Kopec looked up again with tearstained eyes, his lips pursed and quivering, before he finally managed to summon up the strength for a response:
"I'm… I'm so sorry, Alwyn… You've been nothing but kind to me ever since I came here… and I have done so little in kind… shown you so little gratitude… I've been so cold and unpleasant to the people living here… They hate me, and it's entirely my fault… They're probably only glad that I'm leaving, and they should be… You're the only one who still consider me worth having around and being with… and I've been so ungrateful and tried to push you away, just like I did everybeast else trying to be nice to me… I don't deserve your… I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…"
At first, the elderly mouse could only stare at the crying rat in amazement. Then he quickly walked over to him and held Kopec in a tight embrace, and the rat wrapped his own paws around Alwyn's back. Alwyn wasn't very tall, even for a mouse, and the rat was naturally larger in growth, standing almost a head taller. But as Kopec leaned over the shoulder of the smaller rodent, his tears flowing onto his tunic, the mouse seemed like the stronger, larger beast. He rocked the rat slowly back and forth, almost like a baby, caressing the fur on the back of his head in a gentle and comforting gesture.
"Sshhh, it's alright Kopec, it's alright… There is no need to be so upset. You've had a difficult life, I know, and some beasts just don't have an easy time being friendly or make connections with others. It doesn't mean that you're a bad person or that you don't deserve compassion and respect. I know that beneath that moody exterior, you're a truly good creature…"
Kopec wished he could believe him, but he was so unsure if it was really true. Was he actually a good person? As he hadn't shown true selflessness and courage very often, he just didn't know.
Alwyn continued comforting him: "Listen, no-one hates you. It's true that we can sometimes get upset or irritated with you when you get angry at things we thought were friendly questions or harmless jokes, but that doesn't mean we hate you. You do have a strong temper, and maybe you should try to control it better, but lots of beasts have that. I know you don't say these things to hurt anyone; you just can't help but be offended by some things, and it's difficult for you to express it any other way."
He then leaned back and took Kopec's face in his paws. "And as for not showing me proper gratitude for what I've done for you, I never expected anything more. Talking with you, guiding you through life, teaching you how to play the flute… all that has meant so much to me, and it's been such a joy for me to do it. You have given me so much in return. You have nothing to apologize for that in that regard.
Like any beast, you have faults and problems, things that you may need to work on to grow and improve. That's part of how we all are, and doesn't say anything about our worth or whether we're good or bad. And let me tell you something: the fact that you are so deeply sorry for it, that you recognize your faults as such, is pretty clear evidence to me that you really are a goodbeast, deep inside…"
He bid Kopec to stand up and lifted his paw to his cheeks to wipe away his tears. "Now dry your tears, my friend. What's done is done, and there's no point bemoaning the bad choices you have made in the past. All that matters is that you learn from your mistakes, and strive to do better in the future." He gave a warm smile. "It's what your brother would have said, isn't it?"
Kopec couldn't help but give a little chuckle at that, knowing that it was true, as corny as it might sound. He gave a last, grateful hug to the mouse, and then lifted his bags and walked over to his mother. Her eyes were brimming with tears too, but they were tears of joy, not the angry, hurtful ones that often followed when they had argued with each other. She suddenly wrapped her arms around her son, forcing him to drop his pack a second time to return it. When they turned back to Alwyn, he was once again giving them his concerned, mournful look.
"Take good care of each other. You will need it for the journey ahead."
"We will," the two rats said, almost in concert.
"And when you have settled in your new homes, wherever it is, and once we have convinced the former slaves that will arrive here that you are nothing like the rats who ruled over them, will you come and visit?"
"Of course."
"Well, then I guess this is goodbye…" He went up and took their both their paws in his own, giving them one last loving look, before turning around and walking back to the centre of the village.
Kopec and Nisha gave each other a warm smile, and lifted up their things to continue to the meeting place. Around them, the other rats of Conwyn were walking with heavy steps to the spot where Urthblood's soldiers would escort them to places unknown. Despite the dreary atmosphere around him and the unknown future to which he was going, Kopec felt better than he had in a long while. It had truly felt good to open his heart to someone, to be able to apologize for things that had long weighed on his conscience, to know that Alwyn still loved and cared for him. It had given him hope to better himself, to be a better son and friend than he'd been before. He smiled as he felt that Alwyn's, and Liam's, bright and cheery advice perhaps hadn't been so foolish after all.
When they arrived at edge of the village, they had to wait a little longer for all the rats to show up. Shawn had sent about half of his troops into Conwyn to "aid" them in collecting their belongings more quickly. There was a lot of grumbling among the gathered beasts who hadn't had time to get all their things in time. Apparently, some rats had attempted to use carts to be able to load on more and heavier objects to take with them, but the squirrels had told them to cease that, an order which no-one liked but no-one dared to challenge.
When the rats were all gathered, Shawn made a quick count of them. There were twenty-two rats living in Conwyn, and twenty-two rats were gathered in front of him. Assured that all the beasts they'd come to collect were with them, he ordered his fellows to form a ring around them, "to better guide and protect you", and then turned toward the road leading out of the village.
"Alright, we'll walk for a few hours to the coast, where we will take a short rest and get some food, before we continue to for few hours more. With any luck, we should be at your new homes before evening. Now, march!"
Kopec put a comforting paw on his mother's shoulder, before he hoisted his packing on his shoulders and followed the retinue out of Conwyn. He hadn't heard of any settlements around here so close to the coast, but then he didn't visit the sea very often, so maybe there was some newly built place he didn't know of. With bags over their shoulders and baskets under their arms and a mixture of uncertainty and hope in their hearts, the two rats began the journey to whatever future the fates had decided for them.
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If this chapter had been written today, and Wing had helped with editing, I would definitely have tried to tone down the ridiculous wall-of-text at the start. "Show, Don't Tell", indeed… But this was my first attempt at a real novella, and since these characters had only appeared in this fic I couldn't think of any better way to tell their backstory. I hope you were able to read it without too much trouble anyway. It's another part of this story that, despite it's amateurish quality, still means quite a lot to me.
Also, by the time this was written, I had a rather loose grasp of just what separated Mossflower from the Northlands and Southsward. I just thought they were all part of Mossflower, and the other two were just the northern and southern parts of it. I edited some of that for the posting on this site, but I think it still pops up in places. It's really frustrating that there's no real name for the part of whatever world the Redwall series takes place; "The Lands" just seems far too vague and confusing.
Thank you for your kind reviews. I really appreciate them.