Friar Hern bustled about busily for the spring feast. The dormouse gave out orders as quickly as a squirrel gathered nuts, all the while stirring the batter of the Springcake. The Springcake was a new tradition, where the Friar took advantage of the spring's fruits to make a cake. Hern was also trying to sort out the berries he was going to decorate the cake with, when he realized he had a problem. He was out of wild mint. Hern rapped out instructions to the nearest beast, a young mouse named Erra.
"Erra, could you gather some wild mint for the Springcake? I am all out and I must use something to liven up this cake batter." Erra grabbed a basket and headed outdoors. She ran into Mossflower, unaware that a pair of eyes was watching her.
Arethra gazed curiously at the little mousemaid. It was so unlike a ferret, with normal teeth compared to Arethra's sharp canines, and a thin ropelike tail so different from her own bushier one. Erra continued to skip, until her paw met the edge of a ditch. She hurtled in, screaming. Without thinking, Arethra shot out from a nearby bush.
This only made Erra scream louder. "Eep! Vermin!" She tried to scramble away, but the sides of the ditch were too slick for her. She cowered from the ferret. Arethra, however, had no intention of harming her. She looked down at the creature. Erra shuddered. "Don't hurt me!" Arethra stared.
"Why would I hurt you?" Erra looked up. "You're a ferret! Friar Hern always told me as a Dibbun that ferrets are vermin, and vermin can't be trusted. You're probably going to skin me alive and boil me!" Arethra scratched her head. "Is Friar Hern part of your family? What's a Dibbun?" The words bursted out of her mouth before she could stop them.
By now, Erra could see that Arethra was only a child, around her age. She was still suspicious, though. "I come from Redwall Abbey, that big brick building. Friar Hern is the head cook, and Dibbuns are Abbeybabes. There's others there too, like an Abbess, and the Skipper of Otters, and Foremole. Everybody's family." Arethra gaped. "You must have a big family. Is Hern your mother?" Erra blinked at the odd question.
"Who taught you? We're a community. My mother is Jana, a kitchen helper." Arethra shrugged. "My friends are the birds, the robins. They told me about families. I thought Hern was your mother because the robins said that mothers do the cooking. I'm Arethra. Here, let me get you out of that ditch." She held out a paw. Erra now knew she could trust Arethra, if the birds did. The ferret pulled her out. Erra looked curiously at her.
"Where'd you come from, anyway? Vermin don't usually wander near here." Arethra frowned. "Vermin. I don't like that name. Why does Hern call me a badbeast? Am I supposed to be bad?" Erra shook her head. "Vermin is the term for badbeasts, which are basically stoats, ferrets like you, foxes, rats, and weasels. You're the first nice ferret I've ever seen, or even heard of." Arethra blinked. "Is that bad?" Erra smiled. "Not at all. Maybe the Abbey could take you in, if you're really a goodbeast."
At this, Arethra almost jumped up and down with excitement. "You really mean it? You mean I get to have a family?" Erra nodded. "First though, you have to tell me something. Where are your parents?" Arethra closed her eyes, trying to remember. "I dunno. I've been here as long as I can remember. Whenever I try to recall my parents, I just remember someone carrying me and running. Then something flies through the air. I hear it hit something. Then the beast drops me, and all is black. I probably crawled here. The birds taught me to speak." Erra pursed her lips. When Arethra had mentioned her memories, she guessed that the ferret had been the daughter of a couple of soldiers, probably part of a vermin horde. Perhaps they deserted, and the leader had hit them with an arrow.
She took Arethra's forepaw. "Don't worry, it won't matter, so long as you've got decent company. First, though, I'll need some wild mint. Friar Hern told me to gather some." Arethra looked at her. "Mint? I love mint. Plenty of it grows in these wood. I was collecting mint when you arrived." She walked to a bush, rummaged beneath it, and pulled out a bushel of green mint. "Here you go." Paw in paw, the two friends loped off to the Abbey.
A/N: Yet another chapter written on the same day I published this fanfic! XD At least that means I won't be getting writer's block anytime soon. I promise you though, the next one will be focused on Gellar and his horde. We haven't seen him for sometime. See ya!