Disclaimer: I do not own Redwall

A/N: This story was originally written for and posted on my Tumblr blog, RedwallThoughts. The italics are taken from the first post I made musing about what might have happened if things had turned out differently in Taggerung. The non-italics are the story that I developed afterward.


Imagine for a moment if Felch hadn't run away in Taggerung and therefore Sawney hadn't ordered Tagg to kill Felch so Tagg didn't have to run away.

Felch hadn't expected anybeast to help him search for Sawney's knife that night, least of all the Taggerung. So when Tagg joined him combing through the underbrush, he was startled. The young otter said nothing, merely worked his way back and forth in a companionable silence. They found the knife just before dark, Tagg pressing the blade into Felch's paw and extracting a promise before disappearing into the dusk. Felch watched him go until the sleek form was lost to view, before turning back toward the camp to make good on his promises. To return to camp and receive the punishment Sawney had planned for him, and to never speak of how Tagg had helped to find the knife.

Tagg lay on his back by the stream, to far from the camp to hear anything and yet with Felch's screams ringing in his ears. He did not doubt that Sawney would follow through with his promise to take Felch's ear, but at least Felch would keep his life. Tagg had made sure of that before going to help the hapless fox. He had also told Felch that his life was forfeit if he ran. Lulled by the sound of running water, Tagg began to slip towards slumber. Before his eyes closed, however, he made a vow to himself that so long as Sawney Rath was leader of the Juskarath he would do everything in his power to protect the weaker members of the clan from Sawney's anger. With that final thought, Tagg slid off into dreams of otters and tall red buildings and a mouse dressed in armor who called him Deyna.