Hope you all are enjoying the story! I had to change this chapter up a few times, to make things make more sense with what I plan on doing with the next few chapters, but I'm super excited to see what happens next for our weary vermin!
Please let me know what you think and what I can improve on. Enjoy!
Samuel scarcely breathed. He had seen firsthand the savageness of rats, weasels, foxes, and stoats before now. Every time he had been chilled by their love of slaying and tormenting other beasts. His memories flashed to seasons ago when he lost Esther. His instincts and any reason he had acquired from the books in his library told him to turn tail and run as fast as he could. But his admitted fear and a strange curiosity held him in place.
He and Eli watched and listened in stunned silence as the arguing and fighting broke out amongst the vermin. Samuel scarcely blinked the entire time, his ears straining to hear every word that was said. The curses, the brawl, and the eventual banishment, he couldn't hear the fine details but he gleaned a general idea of what transpired. The silence was only broken when Samuel squeaked in shock, seeing the white rat for the first time. Although he couldn't see most of the fight, as part of the low wall and some shrubbery had blocked his view. Samuel was certain that the vermin were seasoned and competent fighters. Morbidly he wished to have had a better vantage point to see and hear everything that was said. He figured it would be smart, to write a study on how vermin settled their disagreements. It might be useful for prospective warriors. It might also be suicide.
The brown-furred searat was ruthless and demanding. Those were positive traits in a vermin warlord. But even the searat was terrified of the white giant as if most of his authority was derived from him. What mystified Samuel was how such a large beast appeared from thin air. The weasel that had been run off was lucky to have been given such an opportunity. Thinking about what the white rat could have done made Samuel want to puke.
Truly rotten creatures. Samuel thought to himself as he peered around the oak he and Eli were hidden behind. The two of them hadn't said a thing since spotting the vermin. Samuel was too scared, and Eli was too focused to do so.
Eli accidentally swayed into Samuel on account of his missing leg. Snapping Samuel from his trance.
"Savages. Scrapping over a bite of food." Samuel shook his head but remembered something important.
"Where's Brin and Dane?"
Eli shushed him and pointed to a wide oak a short distance away. Ferns and bushes, lightly dusted in snow, were growing in between its gnarled roots.
"Brin climbed up to get a better view," Eli whispered.
Samuel looked towards the bare and dead branches above him. They cut across the grey and cloudy sky like a disturbed spider's web. Looking up at them made him dizzy.
"I can't find her!" Samuel said his head on a swivel. "I hope she didn't fall!"
Eli hushed his brother.
"She didn't she's climbing back down now. Follow me, quietly."
With a crooked yet rapid gate, Eli turned from the tree and headed toward Dane and Brin. Samuel hurried to keep pace with him. Eli rushed through the snow careful to not make any noise or obvious tracks. He slid to a stop behind a cluster of bushes next to Dane and Brin. Samuel tumbled into him immediately after. Eli roughly moved Samuel out of sight, behind a bush a short distance from Dane. The bush was large enough to cover him if he squatted awkwardly, and was covered in berries Samuel knew nothing about. Dane stood pressing his back to the oak, his javelin ready to be used at a moment's notice. Samuel rubbed his wrist where Eli had grabbed him when Brin gracefully leaped from a branch just out of paws reach and landed softly in the snow. She quickly scrambled out of sight next to Samuel.
"Those vermin scum! This close to the holt, we should be clearing them out not hiding like scared babes!" Dane growled.
"We're lucky to have seen them before they saw us."
Dane ignored Eli's more positive outlook. "What d'ye think they need all those spears for! I'm certain they plan on attacking the holt in a few days' time!"
Brin dusted herself off, "They didn't know about the holt. Until that weasel that ran off told them."
"Where'd he go? I'll make sure he never lays eyes on it!" Dane was quickly hushed by Eli.
Brin removed a twig that was caught in her tail. "I don't know. The vermin disappeared as soon as he entered the trees."
"How could he do that!"
Once again Dane was hushed by Eli.
"I don't know but more importantly it didn't sound like those vermin are planning on leaving any time soon."
"Why is that?" Eli asked as he peered through the ferns toward the vermin.
"That brown rat looks like an old corsair. He wanted them to leave when he heard about the otter holt. But the other vermin shouted him down. They said that they had some injured beasts and that they weren't afraid of crossing blades with otters." Brin had continued to remove twigs that had gotten into her fur and her cloak.
"The fox we first saw even said he wanted to fight all of Redwall!"
Eli laughed softly, "Now where have we heard that one before, Samuel."
Before Samuel could ask Eli what he meant, he turned back to Dane. "What could you hear?"
"I heard enough," Dane gruffly responded. "Making spears, the holt, attacking squirrels, and then vermin fighting with each other for some stupid reason."
Eli nodded. "Sounds similar enough, but I thought I heard one of them say there's more of them than what's in the camp."
"What I didn't hear tha-" Samuel was cut off.
"I thought I heard them say that too," Dane said scratching his whiskers. "Then that means there's more vermin patrolling the woods!"
"They did say there are others. But it sounded like they were all hurt somehow." Brin interjected.
"From what I saw there were five vermin in the camp. One is now banished so we don't have to worry about him, and somebeast mentioned a baby," Brin said counting off on her paw.
"Is that all you could see?" Samuel asked kneading his paws to keep them warm.
"The one with a sling mentioned that some other vermin couldn't walk. But that's all I could see without joining them around the fire."
"So, five vermin in camp with a baby, and most likely a few more scattered around searching for food," Eli said scanning the forest around them for any unwanted visitors.
"How many of them are injured? Might give us an upper hand if they try and fight." Dane asked.
"I don't know exactly. Most of the beasts in the camp were probably hurt somehow. There was a weasel with a nasty face in a sling, and the mean-looking corsair is fast asleep now."
Brin pulled out her sling and searched through a pouch on her hip for a stone that was to her liking.
"There was also the ferret that got the worse end of the fight."
Samuel peaked through the bushes. The vermin in the camp seemed to continue with their duties as if nothing happened. He could see the top of a second makeshift tent which he assumed the searat was lying in. The cloaked ferret shakily crawled into the tent that leaned against the stone wall. The weasel with his arm in a sling and the fox appeared to be bickering about something. All of this happened under the watchful gaze of the giant white rat, who sat warming himself next to the fire. Samuel realized that none of them seemed to be wearing anything that would protect them from the bitter cold. He mentioned it to Eli.
"Hmmm… Now that you mention it. They don't seem prepared at all for the snow."
"There can't be enough scraps of cloth between all of them to stitch into a winter coat. All that white rat has is a thin vest and some dirty trousers." Brin reported.
"Stupid vermin. That'll get'em killed in this weather." Dane quipped.
"Yes," Eli said slowly. His brow knotted in thought.
The four beasts remained quiet, watching the vermin dawdle about their camp.
A rush of wind blasted Samuel's face. They were thankfully downwind of the camp so it would be difficult for the vermin to pick up their scent. Looking at the sky above thick grey and white clouds moved with incredible speed. He pulled his coat tightly around him thankful to have it.
Dane gnawed on his lip in an uptight silence before speaking.
"I think we should take them on now before more of them show up. What do ye think Eli?"
Redwall's champion was silent and stayed focused on the vermin a short distance away.
"I agree with Dane. We could probably scare them off without much of a fight. All we'd have to worry about is the fox with the axe and the white rat." Brin added as she joined Samuel and Eli watching vermin from the bushes.
"I bet the corsair would go without a fight." Samuel wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
Samuel swallowed hard. The last thing he wanted was to leave the vermin near his friend's home. But something about attacking the vermin didn't sit right with him.
"But, I don't think we should." He quickly added. "I-I don't like the look of that giant rat, and I don't want to see the three of you get hurt."
"Of course, you don't want us to get hurt. But there will be bloodshed if we let them stay. I guarantee it." Dane snapped.
Samuel quickly closed his mouth, suddenly not wanting to speak anymore. Brin shot Dane a withered glare.
"Something doesn't sit right with me either. We haven't seen any vermin all fall then suddenly, a band of them show up within a day's march from the Abbey." Eli's eyes thinned to narrow slits.
"Something else is going on and I don't like it."
"Then what do you think we should do?" Brin asked.
"We should stay quiet for one, they're heading towards us."
Samuel felt his heart skip a beat. He peered through the ferns to see the injured weasel and fox walking toward the bushes they were hiding in.
"Don't make a sound, and don't attack them unless they notice us," Eli whispered.
The two vermin approached, unaware of the Redwallers in the bushes. Samuel was able to clearly hear their conversation.
"I don't get why Seabane didn't kill Muckfur when 'e had the chance. I bet Marrow wanted him to spill his innards."
"I don't know. I think he hopes Muckfur will freeze to death. Nice and slow. It's the least he deserves."
The fox spat. "Well, I would've killed him. If he attacked me, I'd turn him into a warm coat!"
The weasel rolled his eyes. "If he attacked you, you'd be dead an' we'd all be better off."
The fox jumped in front of the weasel and pointed his axe at him. They were a few paces away from the bushes Samuel was hiding in.
"Shuddup Crooksnout yer lucky yew still have yer arm! Yew've done nothing but complain the entire time while I've done all the work!"
The weasel sneered at the fox. "Ye mean when ye got knocked out from a fallin' tree branch. Ruddy, yer dumber than ye look and less threatening than a mouse."
The fox's shoulders drooped. "Well, yer no better. At least I'm helping around the camp. All you do is sit on yer tail and complain. Yew has two legs and an arm why don't yew gather kindling or forage or sharpen spears? Why do I get all the work?"
"Because yer the youngest and the dumbest. It takes years of experience to get to where Seabane doesn't force ye tah do everything!" The weasel brushed past the fox and stared at the bush as if he could see Samuel hiding behind it. Samuel was too scared to move a whisker.
"Now did Sathe teach ye anythin' about foraging?" The weasel said while scratching behind his ears.
"No, she just yelled at me and told me how stupid I was." The fox caught up with the weasel and looked at the bush with him.
"Sounds about right. Well, d'ya know if these are edible."
From the corner of his eye, Samuel caught Eli slowly pulling his sword free.
"I don't. Sathe didn't say anything about these berries."
"I don't know if the black and red spotted ones are poisonous or not."
The weasel rubbed his crooked snout as he thought about it.
"Why don't ye try them, dey might help fix yer arm. They might kill ya too."
The weasel said nothing but reached out to grab a berry from the bush. The rancid odor from the vermin filled Samuel's mouth and made him gag. He forced himself not to, wondering how long it had been since either of them had taken a bath. He suspected never.
The weasel grabbed a few berries from the bush and popped them into his mouth. He thoughtfully chewed a few times. A look of disgust twisted onto his already warped face, scrunching his nose in repulsion. The weasel bent over and spat the half-chewed berries onto the snow at his feet, gagging as he did so.
"Poisonous?"
"I hope not! That was disgusting!" The weasel tried scraping the taste off his tongue with a twig.
"Ha! Better you than me. We can't be losing any more vermin now that Mukfur's gone." The fox ribbed his comrade.
"I need some wine to wash the taste out!" The weasel said, trying to spit what remained of the berries from his mouth.
"I hope a fat otter carrying some wine and fish gets lost this way. We wouldn't have to worry about vittles then." The fox said with a wicked grin, twirling his axe about.
Samuel noticed Dane tightening his grip on his javelin, and Eli motioned for him to stay hidden.
"Again, with that eh? Yew probably will get beaten to a pulp, same as last time!"
"Shuddup Crooksnout! I hope those berries were poisonous!" The fox snapped back.
The weasel laughed and turned from the bush.
"There are mushrooms an' moss growing on that pine. We can make a bed an' get a meal from that."
Eli, Brin, and Samuel remained frozen as the vermin walked away from them discussing what food they hoped to find in the woods or on some unsuspecting traveler. Samuel was just about to stand to relieve his aching paws when Eli jerked him down into an even more uncomfortable position.
"He's watching us!" Eli said through gritted teeth.
Samuel's breath caught in his throat. The fox and weasel were gone. Far enough away now that their conversation couldn't be heard. Yet they were right on top of him, and they didn't spot him. Who could? Then Samuel caught his gaze, and a dark chill ran down the length of his spine. The world around him seemed too close to darkness. All he could see were the red eyes of the white rat bearing into him.
He gasped and fell backward, caught again by his brother's strong paw. It had to be impossible! Those two vermin couldn't see him, how could he? The white rat made no move but stared at Samuel and Eli through the bushes. Samuel couldn't force himself from the white rats' stare. He felt a hopeless dread like he was falling and the world around him stopped to watch him suffer.
Just as Samuel thought the rat was going to rush over and slay him, he oddly looked back into the fire. He felt the air rush from his lungs and blinked. His mouth was dry, and he couldn't find his voice to speak. Luckily for him, Eli could.
"It's best that we get moving."
Samuel nodded, glancing at his brother before looking back at the white rat. His eyes rested on the fire. But flickered up at him as if demanding him to leave.
"Let's get out of here and come back with Captain Santain!" Samuel responded breathlessly.
Eli nodded and motioned to Dane. They quickly crept away from the vermin camp. Dane led the way with Samuel on his tail and Brin and Eli following behind covering their tracks.
Dane had found their way back to the trail leading to Redwall as quickly as they had first found the vermin. Eli motioned for Dane to stop so that they could catch their breath and figure out their next move.
"We need to wipe those vermin off the face of Mossflower," Dane said sharpening the tip of his javelin with his flat fish knife.
"Those evil creatures will stalk this trail here and ambush any unfortunate beasts they come across."
"We'll need the Long Patrol's help with this," Eli said as he adjusted the buckles and straps of his peg leg. Traveling quickly, even over short distances was a challenge for him, especially in the snow.
"They know where the holt is! They'll attack it the first chance they can! Those hares are no good when they're over a half day away." Dane said as he nicked his paw with his knife.
Eli stopped adjusting his peg leg and addressed the otter.
"I want the Long Patrol along with us. This could be a trap or a scouting party for a larger horde that's on its way."
"Then we need to head back to the holt to warn them!" Dane slammed the end of his javelin into the snow.
"I have beasts out foraging and fishing! What if they get attacked by vermin before the Long Patrol arrives? The Abbey has walls to protect it, my holt doesn't!"
"We can't make it to the holt then back to Redwall before the sun sets," Brin said wearily as she knelt to help Eli with his wooden leg.
"Unless we split up," Samuel added in an attempt to be helpful.
"No, with who knows how many vermin in the area, it's too dangerous," Eli responded rather quickly.
"Which is why we need to get rid of them tonight. We don't need the Long Patrol, Eli. With Log-a-Log's shrews, we could run the vermin away by tomorrow morning at the latest." A frown wore on his bearded face.
Eli didn't respond but finished adjusting his leg and reached for Samuel's paw to help him up. Samuel along with Brin helped Eli get to his footpaws. He felt uneasy, but this time not because of the vermin.
"Fine. We should alert the holt. But I want to run these vermin out without any bloodshed if we can help it."
Dane flashed a smile and the ice from the situation melted away. "I can't promise ye that. But you have no need to worry mate, I already know what we're going to do!"