A/N: Yea….haven't updated in a long long while and can't give definite dates, so I'll post whenever I finish a chapter which the next one will be done in a few months give or take.
In addition to the pressures of college apps and emotions running high at home, I've begun to lose interest in the Redwall series, making it harder and harder for me to put ideas on paper for Redwall fanfiction. After Eulalia, it just felt like the books were being written in an enormous rush while at the same time, trying to "diversify" which species would be the next champion.
Don't get me wrong, I love Redwall and the world I've found myself insatiably immersed in and grew up with, but I really don't think Brian Jacques should come out with a new book every year, it just starts to get: you expect, you read, you put it away and forget and the cycle repeats.
Many thanks for all of you taking the time to read and review
Chapter Five
Days passed, weeks turned over, and months flew by as the year began to renew its seasons. Old Beast Winter was beginning to fade away for Graceful Spring who was maturing into Lady Summer. Snowdrops and other hardy plants were the first to grow followed by the more delicate Spring flora of mayapples and buttercups. Unusually heavy April showers brought about a intense revolution of Paz Norte and its surrounding areas. Dogwood, silverbells, redbuds, and numerous other trees blossomed with flowers of the creamiest of white and the vibrancy of magenta pink. Traditional trees like oaks and beech sprouted their yearly foliage, covering the forest floor in a hue of emerald sunlight. Birds returned to their homes after their thousand league migrations, bringing back mates and young ones. Snow turned into rain and the cycle was began anew, all was peaceful.
Well, almost peaceful…
A flash of red fur that blurred by was followed by a brown one, the speed of both objects making dewdrops fall from petals as flowers were swayed by the afterwind. Mud splattered everywhere as foot paws slapped into the wet ground. Suddenly the red figure leaped onto the trunk of a beech tree and scampered up into one of its low branches causing the other figure to stop swiftly or crash into the unyielding wood of the tree.
Looking up, the kit shouted up to the small squirrel swaying by her tail on the branch. "Hey, 'dats no fair Zaira! Ye said 'dat ye wudn't climb when we ah playing tag!" Azaira made face and shouted back,
"Di'not!
"Ye did too!"
"Di'not!"
"Did too!"
"Di'not!"
"Did too!"
"Di'no---woah!"
As they were both arguing, Azaira's tail was loosening its hold on the branch and by the time she noticed, it was too late. Her tail uncurled from the branch and she hung in the air for a moment, like a floating feather on the wind, before the laws of gravity compelled her to obey nature.
SPLAT
She fell with a hefty smack into the mud below and gave dazed groan of confusion.
As she gathered her senses from her mud dive, Streamak was in gales of laughter, holding his stomach as he rolled all over the soft ground.
"Ahahahahah you ahahh fell ahaha in ta the mud! Ahahaha!!! Ah kan't believed that harppened! AHAHAH!!!""
Azaira wiped the mud from her eyes and mouth as she shouted back, "Keep laughing Mak! Jus'joo wait! I'll get ya back!"
As Azaira rose from the mud puddle, wiping the mud away from her eyes, Streamak stopped laughing for a moment to glance over to where Azaira had fallen, he nearly choked on his spit and his eyes bulged out in mirth as he regarded her appearance. She was covered in mud from head to tail with globs of mud just sticking to her, all in all she looked like a veritable, moving mud mound with eyes. Streamak roared with laughter again, tears streaming down his face; Azaira just crossed her muddy arms and gave Streamak a sullen glare, before rushing towards him.
Streamak stopped laughing as a squirrel-like shadow appeared on his stomach, "Wot the…?" He gave an 'oof' as Azaira landed on top of him and promptly began wrestling with her as Dibbuns of their age usually do. They rolled back and forth all over the muddy ground, each trying to get the upper paw, despite the slickness of the slippery muck.
Suddenly Streamak gave a twist to the left and neatly pinned Azaira down with his rudder like tail and foot paws. "Haha, ah gotcha now Zaira!" Azaira wiggled furiously like a fish and made a roll to the right, escaping Streamak's hold. Using all the agility of a young squirrel, she leaped over and trapped Streamak beneath her, using her weight to hold him down.
"Aha, got ya back!" But Streamak pushed off the ground using the strength of his rudder like tail and flipped Azaira, but she countered by wrapping her arms around his legs, momentum pulling Streamak along as well. They both went flying headfirst into a giant mud hole, eyes wide open in surprise.
With another audible splat, they both landed in the mud headfirst and emerged covered in the icky mixture of dirt and water. Looking at each other, they both began laughing raucously, falling back into the mud from doubling over in laughter. Streamak extended a muddy paw, "Truce?" Azaira shook the proffered limb, "Truce." As they both began clambering out of the mud hole, Azaira started another game, "Race ya back t'the village!" and began sprinting away. Streamak rolled his eyes comically and shrugged his small shoulders in the Dibbun way of saying, "Whatever, I'll still beat you easy." and chased after his squirrel friend.
They both arrived in Paz Norte breathless and stiff as the mud sticking to them began to dry in the afternoon sun. Breathing heavily, Streamak managed to gasp out, "Hah...ah win."
Azaira, too tired to argue, could only nodded her head wordlessly. Suddenly, two paws clamped down on both their scruffs like visors causing both Dibbuns to squeal in surprise. Tera's voice sounded out above them. "Mah word, lookit t'both of ye, covered tipp t'toe in mud. Wha t'av ye bin doing? Jumpin' int'a mud holes?"
Azaira looked down, sliding her footpaw back and forth over the pebble covered ground, "Well I wuddin say we purpuloosilly jumped ina mud holes, we akseddintally fell in?" Tera looked to her kit and gave him a questioning stare; Streamak nodded vigorously as if his life depended on it. Tera narrowed her eyes and looked at the both of them, "Hmm, fahne, ye two ah telling t'truth..." Azaira and Streamak gave a sigh of relief. "...But ye two ah still getting' bathed!"
A lone figure was coming up the path to Paz Norte, his hooded cloak billowing and fluttering lightly in the headwind of spring's deceivingly cold gust, his rucksack a quarter full on his back, and a bundle of seasoned oak firewood in his hands. As he passed the sign which marked the boundary of the village, he decided to take a short break from his travels.
Setting his pack and kindle down, Kaiju removed his hood and stretched his neck, massaging it with both hands. Simultaneously, his stomach rumbled thunderously, announcing its hunger for food; taking some cheese and oat bread out of his almost empty pack, Kaiju sat down on the grass next to the path and began to munch reflectively. It felt good to be home.
As Kaiju passed by Tera's home, he noticed bubbles floating aimlessly out of her front window, followed by yells and splashes of water. Kaiju went up to her door and knocked loudly, wondering if he was prepared to meet whatever sight was inside, "Hello? Tera? Are you alright in there?"
Amidst the splashes and tells, he barely heard Tera call back, "Git yore bottom in here Kaiju an' help mah wi' yer fiend of a squirrel!"
Swinging the door open cautiously, Kaiju mentally winced at the mess inside, Tera's normally neat dwelling was virtually destroyed with bathwater. Bubbles escaped through every possible opening in the home, whether it was the window or the chimney, suds covered the walls, and puddles of water were prevalent through out the living room of Tera's abode. Closing the door behind him, Kaiju continued to look the water soaked home.
A flash of red suddenly whipped by him, almost knocking the bewildered ferret off-balance, followed by Tera's sharp voice cutting through his bemusement, "Catch him!"
Snapping out of his initial surprise, he immediately saw another bundle of fur and bubbles rushing towards him. Stepping two paces to the side, he arrested the otter's living room sprint, trying to keep a firm grip on the slippery mass. Streamak struggled and gave grunts of effort, trying to break out of Kaiju's unerring grasp, but it was in vain. Strolling over to where Tera was holding a squirrelmaid by the scruff of her neck, the two exchanged their charges wordlessly, much to the chagrin of the two young ones. Giving a curt nod in appreciation, Tera pointed at the wooden tub in the center of the living room, "Let's pu' these little ruffian's back in while ah finish washing 'em."
Wielding lilac soap and loofah, Tera scrubbed at the two Dibbun's roughly, not sparing a single patch of hide nor a strand of fur. The two unwilling young ones crossed their arms and looked at each other in vexation, each being held by their respective guardians. After cleaning and dressing them, Kaiju helped Tera clean up the watery mess around her home, all the while telling news of his travels.
"The west country is getting pretty bad, viscous gangs and small armies are roaming the land, killing and fighting each other over territories and supplies. Last I heard, the fortress of Redwall was gearing up and training recruits, but things have gotten so bad around Mossflower country that there are few woodlanders left to even seek sanctuary, let alone fill an army. Yet they still intend to go out with whatever they had and 'purge' the land clean of this corruption as they call it."
Tera could only nod sadly, "Ah yes, the Redwallian pride, ah still remember when they woren't so ahverzealous, placing peace ahver unneeded war. The qualita of their fighters back then was only matched by the fighters of Sala'ndastron. Now they continue t'cling onto pride, training every single beast they have t'fight and kill, trying to duplicate the qualita of the warriors during the Reformation."