Peridot sat in her prison, trying to formulate an escape plan. She had done everything she could to break the bars of her cage but it had been no use.

As she listlessly stared through the bars at the vermin passing by, she suddenly overheard one of them say, "Damug ain't half the leader his daddy was. It's time for him to go."

Peridot perked up. This could be interesting.

The beast who had spoken was a weasel named Borumm. He was standing with a fox named Vendace and a stoat named Lugworm.

Lugworm looked apprehensive. "Yore talkin' mutiny an' murder, Borumm. Wot makes you think I want any part in it?"

"Because we've seen how Damug treats you, Lugworm," Vendace said. "You're supposed to be his most trusted adviser, but he's always yelling at you, beating you, kicking you. Are you really telling us you wouldn't be glad to see him meet with an… accident?" He winked slyly.

Lugworm gulped. "What'd Damug say if'n somebeast told 'im I was sittin' 'ere talkin' wid you two?"

"Who's gonna tell him?" Vendace said. "There's nobeast around."

Lugworm jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Peridot in the cage. "What about her?"

"Her? She's nobody, just a prisoner. Even if she's listening to us, I'm sure she hates Damug more than anybeast here. He did capture her, after all. Probably nothing would please her more than to see him killed. Look, all you gotta do is tell us where Damug'll be sleepin' tonight an' how many guards'll be around, an' anythin' else y'think we should know. Leave the rest to us, matey."

"Vendace is right," said Borumm. "By tomorrer it shouldn't make any difference who saw yer talkin' to us. Damug won't be around to throttle yer again, 'e'll be searchin' for 'is daddy in Dark Forest!"

Lugworm took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, of course, Damug always sleeps in his tent, but he has two sentries watching over him every night. We'll have to get them out of the way. I could offer them some grog at the start of their shift and slip some knockout pills into it. Then they'll sleep like a couple of Dibbuns, and you'll be able to slip right in."

"All right," said Borumm. "We'll do it tonight."

The three of them walked off. About an hour later, Damug came over to the cage. He peered through the bars at Peridot. "Well, Gem, are you ready to tell me what you're doing on this planet?"

"No," Peridot replied calmly. "But I've got some other information you might appreciate."

"What's that?" Damug said.

Peridot leaned closer to him. "Somebody wants to kill you. Actually, three somebodies."

"That's nothing new," said Damug. "There's lots of creatures who'd like to kill me."

Peridot smiled. "Ah, but these three are members of your own army. I heard them talking a while ago. Their names are Borumm, Vendace, and Lugworm. They plan to drug the guards standing watch over your tent tonight, sneak in, and murder you."

Damug frowned at her. "How do I know you're not making this up?"

"Well, you just wait till tonight and you'll see I'm telling the truth."

The rat warlord studied Peridot curiously. "Yer an odd one. Assuming you are telling the truth, why would you do this fer me?"

"For my freedom," Peridot said simply. "I'm saving your life, so I want you to spare mine. Let me go."

Damug went quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Well, first of all, let's make sure your story is actually true. If those three really do try to kill me tonight, I suppose that'll be the proof. If that happens, I'll consider releasing you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, at Redwall, the animals were throwing a party out on the lawn, to celebrate their triumph over the Flower Monsters. Tables had been dragged outside, and they were piled high with food.

Joshy Stag Hare had two platters in front of him, loaded with salad, bread, cheese, cake, and pasties. "My, my, what an ingotyable meal," he was saying. "I would like to partake on that scoff."

Shad was sitting next to him. "Here, Gramps, have you tried some o' this plum slice with blackcurrant sauce yet? 'Tis my favorite."

Tammo was seated across the table from them. He wasn't eating. He was just gazing sadly off into the distance.

Joshy took note of his friend's melancholy mood. "Here now, chin up, old chap," he said. "You still thinkin' about that Gem girl?"

Silently, Tammo nodded.

"You can't keep beating yourself up about this, Tammo," Pearl said. "You did your best to help her. At least you were able to heal her halfway. That's more than any of the rest of us have ever managed."

A Dibbun mousemaid named Sloey came running up to where Pearl sat. She had a ping-pong ball taped to her head that wobbled when she walked, and she carried a stick in her paw, which she fondly imagined was a sword.

Pearl smiled at her. "Hello, little one."

"I wanna be a Gem just like you!" Sloey said. "Look, I've got my own gemstone and everyfing!"

Pearl was flattered that this young mouse wanted to emulate her. "I see you do."

A mole Dibbun named Gubbio ran up and stood beside Sloey. A giant magnet hung around his neck on a string. He was pretending to be a Gem too, but he had decided to be a little creative. Instead of being one of the three Gems that were at Redwall, he had invented his own Gem type. "Hurr, Oi'm a Crystal Gem too! Moi name is Magnetario!"

Amethyst came over to the table. "Come on!" she said to Pearl. "Garnet wants to teach the Redwallers how to play volleyball, and we need your help! Can you believe, they've never heard of the game before?"

Pearl stood up. "Well, we'll have to rectify that, won't we?"

"Hmm, bolley ball, you say?" Joshy said. "Sounds intriguing."

"Not bolley ball," Amethyst laughed. "Volleyball, with a V. It's the greatest game ever! You've just gotta try it!"

"A Stag Hare is willin' to give anything a go once, wot wot," Joshy said, getting to his feet.

Pearl looked over at Tammo. "What about you, Tamm? You coming?"

"You guys go ahead and play," said Tammo. "I think I'll just sit here for a while."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Pearl asked.

Tammo shook his head. "No. Don't worry about me, just have fun. I don't want to spoil the party."

"Okay!" said Amethyst. "Later!"

Garnet had strung up an otter fishing net between two of the trees on the grounds. She picked up a ball and stood on one side of the net. Pearl and Amethyst went and stood on the other side.

"Okay, this is how you play volleyball," said Garnet. "The rules are simple. You just have to hit the ball over the net with your hands, and your opponent hits it back to you. You keep doing that until someone misses. When your opponent misses, you get a point, and if you miss it, they get a point. 'Kay?"

She tossed the ball up into the air. As it came down, she batted it across the net with her hands. On the other side, Pearl hit the ball back over to Garnet. The Mossflower creatures quickly caught on to the game and joined in. They played volleyball for a long time.

After that, the Redwallers taught the Gems some of their favorite games, like Buzz-Darts, which was pretty much like regular darts, except that you stood on a ladder and dropped the darts down onto the dartboard from above, and Tickle-Toss, a mock jousting match where instead of swords, the combatants used giant feathers and tried to tickle each other. Of course, the Gems always won that one, since they couldn't feel ticklish.

As the sun sank low in the sky, everybeast wandered back to the tables to sit back down. Some moles went and fetched a cask of October Ale from the cellars. They set it down on a table and cracked it open, and everybeast lined up to fill their glasses.

Amethyst took a big swig from hers. "This is good stuff. What's in it?"

Foremole started tapping his footpaw on the ground. He began to sing, and all the other moles joined in.

"October Ale, 'tis brewed when summer's done,

From hops 'n' yeast 'n' barley fine,

With just a pinch of dandelion,

A smidgeon of good honey, a taste of elderflower,

An' don't forget the old wild oat

Culled at the dawn's first hour."

Perigord thumped the tabletop with his tankard. "Splendid, well sung!"

"I've heard that hares can't sing," Gingko the Bellringer called out. "Is that right?"

Joshy jumped up. "An' where pray did y'hear that, sah? Right, listen to this…"

He sang loud and speedy:

"Oh mother, dear mother, oh mother come quick,

Calamity, lackaday, bring a stout stick,

There's hares on the mountain, they're all rough 'n' big,

A cuttin' up capers an' dancin' a jig!"

As he sang, he waved his wand, and magical music from an orchestra of invisible instruments filled the air, accompanying him. "Hares on the Mountain" was a well-known song both at Salamandastron and Redwall. Joshy's enthusiasm was contagious, and everybeast present suddenly felt the urge to get up and dance.

Everybeast except Tammo. He was still sitting in the same seat he'd been in all evening, brooding. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he be happy like everyone else?

Suddenly Pasque was standing before him, holding out a paw. "Care to dance, Tammo?"

Her voice was so soft and her smile was so gentle that Tammo didn't have the heart to refuse her. Before he knew what he was doing, he had stood up and taken her paws in his. They began to dance together, along with all the other animals on the lawn.

Tammo was just starting to enjoy himself when he tripped over his own feet. He stumbled, and Pasque caught him in her arms. The two of them began to laugh. Their foreheads touched. Tammo's gem began to glow…

Suddenly, Tammo and Pasque fused into a single form! Where the two hares had just been, there was now one really tall hare that looked like a combination of the two of them, wearing Pasque's shirt and Tammo's pants.

Abruptly, Joshy stopped singing. The music ceased. Everybeast stopped dancing and turned to stare at the new fusion.

"What happened?" Tammo/Pasque cried, grabbing their ears in shock. They ran their paws along their legs, hips, and stomach.

A huge grin broke out on Garnet's face. "You've become a fusion!"

"What's a fusion?" Abbess Tansy asked.

Garnet explained, "Sometimes, when two Gems love each other a whole lot, they become one Gem." She sounded as if she was speaking from personal experience.

"But I never knew it was possible for Gems to fuse with other creatures!" Pearl exclaimed. "I always thought Gems could only fuse with Gems."

"It must be because Tammo's half-hare," Garnet said.

Amethyst said, "Wow! You two look great together! How does it feel, Tammo? Pasque? Tasque!"

"It feels amazing!" said the fusion. "Tasque is the perfect name for me, because it's a combination of both our names!"

Tasque then started to run around on the lawn, grinning wildly. They were so pleased that they started turning cartwheels and doing somersaults. They were enjoying their strange new form…

And then they accidently rolled into one of the trees that the volleyball net was tied to. Whump! When they hit the tree, they broke apart and turned back into Tammo and Pasque.

Pasque sat up. She started laughing nervously, and then hysterically. Tammo stared at her for a moment, then he started laughing too. Lost in euphoria, they continued laughing raucously, ignoring the stunned crowd staring at them.

Finally, Pasque got herself back under control. "That was fun," she said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "We should totally do it again sometime."

Tammo smiled. "It would be my pleasure, wot wot!"