Chapter 2

A Deal With the Devil


There were four big reasons Tiviko wanted Borsen on his side. The first reason was that he looked exceptionally strong, the second reason was that he'd be really helpful for Tiviko's work, and the third was that otters were trusted more than wildcats. But the fourth reason was a huge one. The beast Tiviko was hired to capture resided in Redwall Abbey, and he assumed Borsen might be from there too. He looked too well-kept and too well-fed to be a wanderer. Even if he ended up not being from Redwall, he could still get inside the abbey easier than Tiviko could.

But even though Tivko wanted to work with him, he recognised two immediate issues. One, Borsen would crush him in a fight, so fighting was out of the question; two, Borsen wanted to kill him. Considering the extent the rat was tortured, he needed to be careful to make sure he didn't wind up dead. Tiviko looked around and made sure that he had an escape plan in case things went south. Taking a deep breath, he revealed himself from the branches.

Borsen swung his head towards the sound of rustling leaves; his eyes had a wild look as he stared at the wildcat. Tiviko began speaking, keeping his tone casual and smooth. "Quite ferocious for an otter, how about-" Before he could finish speaking, Borsen threw his knife at Tiviko. He expected something like this would happen and ducked, the blade buried itself in the trunk behind him. "A bit hasty, are you?" Tivkio growled, "Keep going at it like that and you're bound to get caught by whoever you're allied with."

The otter completely ignored Tiviko's speech and ran towards the tree to climb it. Tiviko watched as he gripped branches, trying to pull himself up. Fortunately for Tiviko, climbing clearly wasn't the otter's strong suit, and he struggled to get to where Tiviko stood. "How about you stop trying to slay me for just a bit and listen, I have a proposition that could be beneficial to both of us," he said smugly, pulling out the knife from the trunk. "See? I'll even give you back your knife." Tiviko dropped the knife, the blade falling harmlessly on the grass below.

Borsen cautiously picked up the knife, eyeing Tiviko suspiciously. For whatever reason, the wildcat trusted him enough to give back the knife. Though, Borsen figured he just wanted something from him. Whatever the reason, he was curious to know what the proposition was. "I'm listening, but it better be a good deal, otherwise I'll slice ye open," Borsen threatened, aiming the knife up at Tiviko.

Tiviko nodded in understanding, "Promise me, you'll at least be thinking about it. But I have to ask first, have you heard of a place called Redwall Abbey?"

Borsen's eyes flickered with irritation, "Who in Mossflower hasn't? Why do ye care anyway?"

"Do you live there by any chance?" Tiviko asked with a grin on his face. Borsen reacted with silence, hesitant to answer for whatever reason. Tiviko shrugged casually, "Hey, you can tell me. Look, I'll even say something about me first, I've been hired to capture somebeast at Redwall-"

"Who?" Borsen barked out suddenly.

"Oh, just a squirrel by the name of Arthur, 'tis a bit complicated to get into right now, but a group of vermin want him alive." Tiviko searched Borsen's face for any sort of reaction. As Tiviko hoped, Borsen didn't show any concern in the slightest, listening to Tiviko with more of an apathetic expression. Tiviko smirked, this was the exact reaction he was hoping for. "So I've told you a bit about what I'm doing here, how about you answer my question?"

The sea otter hesitated, before finally answering, "Aye," Borsen affirmed, "I live in Redwall."

"You don't like it there, do you? I mean, the fact that you're hearing me out means you have some interest in leaving, right?"

Borsen didn't respond. But by this point, the knife he was holding was lowered. He was listening, so Tiviko relaxed a bit.

"As somebeast who works with all sorts of violent types, I gotta ask, why is a beast like you even staying at Redwall? You're an adult, and you didn't seem to care when I said I was trying to capture a squirrel from Redwall." Tiviko leapt down the tree, landing right in front of Borsen. "A peaceful abbey like that is no place for a bloodthirsty otter like you, so why are you staying?"

Borsen eyed Tiviko inquisitively when a moment of realization hit him, "... Ye saw the rat, didn't ye?"

"Yes I did," Tiviko responded. "Good job on that by the way. Not even the warlords I work with execute prisoners that brutally. Pretty interesting a normal otter from Redwall does though. Must be pretty hard for you to keep yourself reined in, huh?"

The corners of Borsen's mouth curved up slightly, "Shut up and git back to yer deal, ye want me to help ye capture Art, huh? They're gonna exile me if I do that, so ye better have a good reason fer me to do so."

"Don't worry about that, I got a ship and a large crew at the shoreline. Food, security, weapons, you want it, you name it. You clearly have a knack for killing, well, you get to do that too."

Borsen smiled, Tiviko likened it to the kind of smile a predator makes when towering over their prey. "Aye, I'll help ye. On one condition: there's some beasts in Redwall I want to suffer. If we can capture them too, 'tis a deal."

Tiviko shrugged, he didn't really mind if they captured more beasts. "Deal." Tiviko extended a paw, and Borsen took it willingly. "Who are they? The beasts you want captured? Tell me what they look like so I can look for them tomorrow."

"I'll describe them more later." Borsen listed off names, counting on his paw, "Rianne, short hedgehog, wears red 'n yellow. Farshawn 'n Kallius, a squirrel 'n a hedgehog, they're always together so it should be easy to find 'em. Finally, Thaddeus, a mouse wearing a red tunic. Keep the four o' 'em alive though, I want to be the one to get my paws on them," Borsen said with a feral grin.

Four extra beasts weren't a problem at all for Tiviko, but now he needed to come up with a plan to capture them. "Come back in the forest tomorrow, I'll bring some of my crew and you'll help lay out a plan."

Borsen nodded, "I'll come tomorrow night. I gotta do some things first."

"Okay, see you tomorrow, uh…" Tiviko trailed off, not having learned the otter's name.

"Borsen, Borsen Stonetail."

"Tiviko Polonuk." he winked, before sauntering off into the darkness of night. Borsen assumed he was heading back to a temporary camp or something.

While the concept of leaving Redwall Abbey for a wildcat he barely knew would be daunting for others, Tiviko was right, Borsen had been thinking of leaving Redwall for a very long time. As he walked back towards the abbey he looked back on his life ever since he arrived, and it was filled with two things. Frustration and anger. If it wasn't for the fact that staying at the abbey meant free food, comfort, and security, he would've left a long time ago… Actually, that wasn't true, was it? There was one more thing that anchored him to Redwall, and it came in the form of a hare named Durkfor.

While the food and comfort problem could be fixed, there was no replacement for Durkfor. In fact, the reason Borsen said he'd come tomorrow night was so he could spend a whole day with Durkfor. The more he thought about it, he started to feel sick. The allure of Tiviko's deal was great, but did it outweigh leaving Durkfor alone at the abbey? The only thing at the abbey he genuinely cared about?

Left alone to weigh this decision, Borsen walked toward a river to wash the blood off his body and gather his thoughts. He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave the abbey so badly, but having to leave Durkfor was a huge drawback. If he does leave, no, when he leaves, he at least wanted Durkfor to make peace with it. After the blood was washed away, he lay down underneath a tree, closing his eyes as he contemplated his decision.


In the lower regions of the attic, Skipper Miena sat at a table, carefully reading a tome about Redwall Abbey. It was a calming atmosphere, the sound of crickets chirping outside while moonlight filtered through the window. When Miena went to the library that evening to ask for permission to read through the archives, she was surprised to find out there wasn't a librarian. She instead asked the abbot for permission, which she did get. For the past couple of hours or so, she has just been reading various stories, undisturbed.

Well, she was undisturbed until the sound of the door opening caught her attention. She looked up to see who it was, she saw a young squirrel wearing a teal habit. He looked startled seeing Miena sitting in here and turned to leave, "Oh, sorry, I didn't think anybody else would be in here."

Miena chuckled, "Nah 'tis fine, why don't ye take a seat? That's why ye came in here, isn't it?"

"Yeah," the squirrel hesitantly mumbled, grabbing a chair across from Miena and sitting down. He looked up curiously at her and asked, "Aren't you the Skipper from the holt that's visiting? Er, what was their name…"

"Skipper Miena from Holt Dawnraft. We're just visitin', but I thought it'd be neat to visit Redwall while we were in Mossflower," she said, introducing herself. "What's yer name?"

The squirrel hid his arms in his sleeves before answering, "Art. Well, I mean, if we're being completely formal, my name is Arthur Swiftpaw."

"Nice to meet ye, Art." Miena smiled.

"Nice to meet you Skipper." He nodded. "You sure I wasn't disturbing you or anything when I came in here, right?" Art asked out of politeness.

"Ye weren't. If anything, I'm the one disturbing ye, since I'm not even the one who lives here."

Art nodded, before standing up and going over to the shelves, seemingly searching for a specific story. He quickly found it and pulled it off the shelf, returning to the table and sitting down.

Miena tilted her head, "Do we need to ask permission to grab stuff from here?"

"We do," Art muttered, "But Ravi told me I could grab whatever without asking."

That name didn't sound familiar to Miena, though she reasoned it was because the last time she was here, she was a child. "Is that the abbey librarian?"

Art didn't respond, but the sullen look on his face made Miena think she shouldn't have asked, "He was, but he died, not that long ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Miena apologised.

"It's fine, you didn't know." Art rested his chin on the table, flipping open the book in front of him. "I'd come here whenever I felt down, and eventually I came here enough that he trusted me not to ruin anything."

Miena didn't like the implication of that statement, so to lighten the mood a little, she switched the topic to the book in front of Art, "So whatcha like reading?"

Art picked up the book and held it so it was facing towards Miena. A sketch of a mouse in armour is shown on the page. "I like reading about heroes and their stories. They don't even have to be a huge sword fighter, some are just amazing diplomats, some are just good at using things they stumble on. But they're still beasts that others rely on or are just amazing in general. I'm not like that though." Art looked up at Miena, expecting her to be annoyed with how much he was talking.

Miena seemed to know what he was thinking and shook her head, "Nah yer not bothering me, I like having conversations like these."

"Okay," Art continued with a sigh, "I look around at the other abbeydwellers and I just think, they're so much better than I am. Brother Durkfor is always super helpful, Sister Rianne is a great healer, even Brother Borsen is super strong and great at what he does. I guess I just feel… less useful compared to everyone else."

Miena felt a lot of sympathy for Art. This need to always be "amazing" was familiar in her youth. "Don't worry 'bout it too much Art," she chuckled, "One thing ye have to remember is that those stories don't always capture the hero fully. They don't always write about the times they fail, their faults, or times when they waver. Ye may have faults, but I bet ye have a lot of good qualities too. Besides, yer not even an adult yet, ye have time to grow."

Art blushed at the kind words, "Thanks Skipper, I guess Ravi always said I have a lot of conviction, so that might count for something I guess." The speech didn't make Art feel a lot better, but he felt it would be rude to argue with a Skipper. "Sorry, you probably didn't expect to have to comfort someone when you wanted some alone time."

"Once again, 'tis fine. I used to be like that too, 'n I wish somebeast told that to me," Miena said, leaning back in her chair.

"Right." The two of them sat in silence, neither one speaking for a while. Miena was fine with the silence, but Art found it awkward. "Enjoying staying at Redwall?" Art asked.

"Very much so." Miena sighed contentedly. "I don't know a single beast who wouldn't love this place. If I ever stop being Skipper fer some reason, I might just come here.

Art smiled, "Really? You like it here this much? I guess that makes sense. I can only think of one beast who doesn't like it here and even then, he's weird. There's been a couple of beasts that hid here for safety reasons, and they all said they loved it here. One or two of them even ended up staying here in fact."

Miena chuckled, "I could see why." She wanted to end it at that, but curiosity got the better of her and she felt compelled to ask, "Who's the one beast who doesn't like it here?"


The sun rose the next morning, and for some beasts, it'd be the last sunrise they'd ever see at Redwall Abbey. The great hall was alight with conversation, abbeydwellers were chatting and talking about recent events, telling jokes, singing, or playing.

And in the midst of all that was Borsen. Since this was the last day he would spend here, he planned to do whatever Durkfor wanted and then tell him he would leave at the end of the day. That started with eating breakfast in the great hall since Durkfor enjoyed doing that, but Borsen hated it. As he looked around at the crowd of beasts around him, a burning rage grew inside of him like a fiery inferno. Clenching a spreading knife tightly in his paw, he retreated into the world inside the darkest recesses of his mind. A world covered in gore where he was free to act out his violent tendencies with reckless abandon. The intoxicating feeling of power flowed through his blood as he recalled the rat he killed last night. He remembered vividly the rat calling out desperately for help as Borsen pulled out his knife with unbridled glee as he swung forward and-

"Borsen, are ya okay?"

He was jerked back to reality at the sound of Durkfor's voice. The hare's expression was one of concern. Borsen consciously put down the spreading knife and chuckled nervously, "Aye, I'm fine, why are ye asking?"

Durkfor pointed at his throat, "Ya didn't look angry or nothin' but you were growlin'. Ya know, you didn't have to come here if ya didn't wanna. I know how nervous ya get 'round others."

"'Tis fine, but I feel bad fer making ye go grab me breakfast yesterday when I know ye like eating here."

"Okay, but if yore not enjoyin' being here, ya can always leave-"

"No!" Borsen yelled suddenly. Everybeast that was sitting nearby stopped talking and looked over to see what the outburst was for. Borsen looked around at everyone's curious gaze and felt anger bubble inside of him. Keep staring, why don't ye? He thought to himself. He was angry, but strangely enough, that was never obvious to anybeast except for Durkfor. To everyone else, he just looked bored as always. "I just want to spend the whole day wit' ye today," Borsen muttered.

Durkfor cocked his head in confusion, one ear flopping downwards. "Sure. Any particular reason?"

Borsen thought about lying, but he couldn't keep Durkfor in the dark for long, "I'll tell ye later this evening. Probably."

Durkfor was curious as to why Borsen wanted to spend the day with him, but he had a feeling it wasn't for a good reason. When Durkfor woke up this morning, Borsen was sitting on his bed, eyes red as if he didn't sleep at all last night. When Durkfor asked if Borsen got any sleep, he brushed it off. That combined with how touchy Borsen was today made him worried.

Nevertheless, breakfast finished without any more problems, even if Borsen didn't talk for the rest of the meal. The day went on how Borsen planned it to go, with him tagging along to whatever Durkfor wanted to do, though Durkfor was aware enough to choose activities that didn't involve other beasts as much. The entire time though, Durkfor couldn't help but notice that Borsen was acting a lot more detached than he usually did.

The chores assigned to Durkfor that day were to clean around the abbey, which was great since it allowed Durkfor to socialize with others while letting Borsen avoid everyone. It was during that time that Borsen suddenly asked a question.

"Durk, what is it that ye even like 'bout this place?" It was a strange question, but it wasn't surprising Borsen would ask this. It was obvious to anybeast that Borsen wasn't the happiest here.

Durkfor looked at the otter curiously, "Wot's not to love? Good food, good beasts, and 'tis safe from th'outside, wot more could a hare want…? Why are ya askin'?" He asked nervously.

Borsen's dark eyes gazed knowingly at his friend, "I guess ye could say I don't wanna be stuck in an abbey fer my whole life."

"Are ya plannin' on leavin'?" Durkfor asked, his voice solemn. Borsen growled quietly. That damn tone that Durkfor used when he was sad was one of the few things that managed to tug at his cold heart. But at this point, nothing could stop him from leaving.

"Not anytime soon obviously," Borsen quickly added, trying to spare Durkfor's feelings. "Just thinking."

Durkfor's mood immediately improved after hearing that. In a jokey tone, he asked, "Can ya even survive out there Borsen?"

"I'm an otter, I can fish," Borsen replied simply.

"That ya can, and yore a pretty good fighter too, remember last Namesday feast where they had sword-fightin' as an event?" Durkfor chatted excitedly, remembering how Borsen easily beat everyone who challenged him.

"Heh, yeah," Borsen chuckled nervously. He was glad Durkfor never questioned why he was so good at fighting.

Durkfor swung around the broom he was holding, pretending to strike at some enemy. He swung the broom around so fast it left his paws and sailed harmlessly through the air. Borsen laughed heartily at Durkfor's mishap, while the hare giggled self-deprecatingly. "Now imagine if that was a spear," Borsen joked.

"I could prolly poke an eye out," Durkfor pointed out. They laughed some more, Borsen lamenting his decision slightly. But he was going, and he had to make sure Durkfor would be alright.

The otter sighed and looked at Durkfor forlornly, "Say, Durk, if I do leave, ye'd be okay, aye?"

Durkfor looked down at the floor. Just thinking about Borsen leaving gave him great sorrow. Though Durkfor had other friends, his friendship with Borsen was unbreakable. The two of them have been friends for what feels like forever now, and just thinking of Borsen leaving made him tremble. "I'd be sad, but…" At the same time, it was obvious Borsen wasn't the happiest here, and Durkfor knew that. Though he could never pinpoint why, Borsen always seemed miserable except when Durkfor was around. "I know ya don't like it here, and I feel bad about'cha being here sometimes."

Borsen looked up at Durkfor, "So ye'd be fine wit' it?"

Durkfor scoffed, "I wouldn't be fine! I'd prolly bawl my eyes out for a while." He looked back up at Borsen who was staring at him attentively. "But there's somethin' my pa told me, if yore not happy wit' where ya are, leave. 'Tis why my parents left their home."

As soon as Borsen heard that, a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. Though he felt guilty knowing Durkfor would be incredibly crestfallen at his decision, Durkfor at the very least would understand it.

Durkfor sniffed, "Look wot you've done Borsen, ya got me feelin' all emotional when ya asked that question," the hare giggled and looked back down at the floor sheepishly. "Ya know we've been friends forever, and I love ya, right?" Durkfor felt something warm envelop his body. Glancing up he saw Borsen hugging him tightly.

With his tail swaying slowly behind him, Borsen mumbled, "Love ye too matey." Durkfor smiled and hugged Borsen back. The two stayed like that for a while. While he was with Durkfor, the violent thoughts in Borsen's head subsided if only for just a bit. With nothing on his mind except for the hare in his arms, he finally relaxed.


Scouting out the location of a target was something Tiviko was used to. Proper planning was always needed to ensure that the target would get captured with the least amount of attention possible. There was a lot to find out when studying a target. Who they were around, what they were doing, places to hide, there were many things to look for before actually going into the abbey. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the task from being incredibly boring, especially when he'd been scouting for a couple of days even before he met Borsen. The abbey was so open, and had so many hiding spots, that capturing the targets wouldn't be a problem for someone as skilled as he was.

The first target, the one he originally came here for, Arthur (Or "Art" as Borsen called him), seemed to spend most of his free time alone, either near trees or in the attic. It was a bit of a curious situation though. Going over his notes in his mind, he recalled that the target was originally an old mouse named Ravi or something. But when he died, the target was changed to Art. Tiviko didn't know or care why it was changed, but it made his job easier, so he wasn't complaining.

The next targets were the ones Borsen wanted to be captured. Given what Tiviko knew about Borsen thus far, he guessed whatever Borsen wanted to do with them once they were captured wasn't going to be pretty.

The second target was a hogmaid named Rianne. This one would probably be the most difficult as she walked around the abbey often. When she wasn't doing that, she was in the infirmary, which usually had another beast in there. Luckily having Borsen as an ally could easily solve that. If he asked for help or something he could lead her out of the infirmary.

The third and fourth targets were Farshawn and Kallius, a squirrelmaid and a hogmaid respectively. Farshawn spent a lot of time on the front lawn, playing some kind of fiddle, so she would be easy to capture. Kallius on the other hand spent a lot of time in the orchard, so she'd also be easy to capture.

The final target, a mouse named Thaddeus, was the most amusing to study given how blatantly obvious it was that nobeast liked being around him, so he spent a lot of time alone.

But while Tiviko had Art's routine memorized, the other four? Not so much. He'd been watching Art for multiple days, while he'd only been watching the others for less than a day. At least Borsen would be there to help fill in the gaps.

Speaking of Borsen, Tiviko had been watching him through the windows to make sure he wasn't snitching or anything. Luckily for Tiviko, Borsen was exactly like he predicted, antisocial, and very clearly hated Redwall Abbey. What Tiviko wasn't expecting however was for him to spend every waking minute with a hare. The two of them were obviously very close, and Tiviko started to wonder if this hare would jeopardize the mission at all. He could only hope not.

Another problem Tiviko found was the giant holt of otters that came to visit Redwall for some reason. He hated them because they made it a lot harder to sneak around the abbey and capture the targets. At least one of them was constantly on the watch, which was annoying. Tiviko reached into his belt and pulled out a dagger, if somebeast decided to interfere, he would have no qualms disposing of them immediately.

Tiviko looked up at the sky. It was a bit before noon. It was time to go and grab some of his crew to help capture and transport the targets. It was then that he remembered there was an issue that the amount of crew he brought into Mossflower Woods was only enough to safely capture one or two beasts, much less five. Oh well, the abbeydwellers Borsen pointed out looked pitifully weak anyway, so that might not even be a problem. He expertly slid down the tree, landing on the ground with a grunt. Glancing around for a few moments, he ran towards the spot where he told his crew to hide. It didn't take that long to get there, especially since he knew exactly where they set up camp. He pushed away some foliage, startling the beasts that sat there in their makeshift camp. There were four of them, and just like Tiviko, they were wearing midnight blue armour and cloaks.

The four hooded beasts looked at their captain silently, waiting for some kind of order. Tiviko placed a digit over his mouth to indicate silence. "Alright, we're going to head over to the abbey now. There has been a change of plans, and we're going to be bringing back five beasts instead of the one. But that won't be a problem. I found this sea otter, and he's going to be helping us capture and transport them. Just, ah… you probably don't want to anger him, okay?" His crew looked worried about this new helper. Regardless, they nodded and swiftly started to pack up their weapons and supplies.

Tiviko began to do the math in his head. Including Borsen, there would be six of them, and they have five beasts to capture. "Remember, as usual, we can afford one or two extra captures, but try not to make it more than that." Tiviko calculated they could probably grab more than that considering Borsen's targets looked very weak, and Borsen himself could probably keep track of five prisoners just on his own, but it usually was best to not take extra prisoners.

Once they were done packing up, they looked at Tiviko for further instruction. Tiviko looked at his crew with a confident smile and pulled up his hood, "All right, let's do this."


For Art, the rest of the day was uneventful. He helped his uncle prepare lunch and dinner. He didn't enjoy it, but he went about the task with no complaints. Eventually, he finished helping prepare dinner, so now he had free time to do whatever he felt like. As of late, he'd been just trying to sleep or reading in the library, but he found it difficult to fall asleep and going into the library just made his heart ache.

Hiding his arms in his sleeve, Art walked solemnly through the halls of Redwall Abbey. How long has it been since the abbey librarian, Ravi, died again? Art stopped keeping track. A shudder ran through him and his eyes began to water.

Stop it Art, he thought to himself. You can't cry, not now. You're in the middle of a hallway and someone might see you. Art hated being seen as weak. He wanted to be someone that others could rely on, and if anybeast saw him crying, he thought they'd think less of him. His body shook as he tried to calm himself, pushing away the grief that plagued his mind and instead focusing on small, minute things. Like a crack in the wall, or how a candle was slightly shorter than the ones near it, or how a large otter was heading in his direction.

Before Art fully processed what was happening, he bumped into Borsen, the sea otter's face flashing with anger for a very brief moment. Art quickly mumbled, "Sorry Brother Borsen."

"Don't call me that," Borsen snapped. Art's ears perked up, did Borsen actually just talk to him? Before he could apologize again, Borsen shoved him aside and continued walking, almost as if he was in a hurry. Huh, that was strange. Despite knowing Borsen his entire life, that was the angriest he'd ever seen his face. Even when Borsen had a mini outburst at breakfast this morning, his face remained as stoic as ever (until he started talking to Durkfor, something that always confused Art).

I wonder where he's going? Art was tempted to follow, partially because he knew nothing about Borsen, and because he didn't trust him. The only thing stopping him from following was that Borsen kind of scared him. Mumbling with confusion, Art kept on walking.

His stomach started to rumble. Why was he hungry, didn't he eat dinner? Art thought about it and realized he had forgotten. As soon as he finished preparing dinner he left and went to bed. Eh, that wasn't the first time that he forgot to eat anyway, plus it gave him something to pass the time. He walked until he found himself in front of the Great Hall doors. When he opened it, he saw something he wasn't expecting.

Skipper Miena and her second-in-command Ulfrad were sitting at a table, having a hushed conversation of sorts. They looked over as soon as Art opened the door, and while Ulfrad looked away, Miena waved and spoke, "Hi Art, what are ye doing here so late at night?"

"It's not that dark," Art said and glanced out the window. Huh, okay maybe it was dark, but who cares? "Why are you having a secret conversation in the middle of the Great Hall? I feel like you'd have better luck doing it in the attic since nobody goes there."

Miena chuckled, "Oh, this isn't a secret conversation."

Art looked over at Ulfrad for confirmation. The older otter nodded, "Aye, we just don't want that sea otter listenin' in."

"Listening in?" Art asked flatly and crossed his arms. It was obvious he was referring to Borsen. "I don't think you have to worry about him listening in, I think he was heading out one of the back doors. Why? Did he do something?"

Ulfrad glared at the door behind Art, his voice a growl, "We was walkin' and discussing matters when we saw him sneaking 'round. I followed 'im and he stole provisions from the kitchens. I also saw him carryin' a combat knife, I dunno where he got it."

"I mean, technically we can take food from the kitchens whenever as long as we don't take too much. But the knife… I think I've seen him carrying it around once or twice, but every time I ask him where he got it he doesn't answer. Hm… we have a small armoury, but I don't think that knife is from there."

Miena scoffed, "There's something off 'bout that otter. Last night, we saw 'im leaving the abbey with that same knife, 'n he only came back this morning, 'n I swear I could smell some blood on 'im."

Both Miena and Ulfrad were suspicious about Borsen, so Art felt comfortable talking about his concerns as well. "I think, no, something definitely is up with Borsen. It's not just me, everyone else thinks so too."

"He's too large fer a normal sea otter," Miena noted, "He also looks too strong fer a normal abbeydweller." Art noticed that too, and he wondered if that had to do with Borsen constantly disappearing, but Borsen was so meticulous about staying away from everyone when he really wanted to that Art couldn't say that for sure.

"There's something else too," Art mumbled, "Last Namesday Festival, there was a sword-fighting event. I think I'm a pretty good sword-fighter, I beat all my opponents, even the ones larger than me. The only one that beat me was Borsen. I don't know what he's doing, but he clearly knows how to use a sword."

"Yer a good sword-fighter?" Miena asked astonishedly.

Art rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Er, I'll save that for another time. What I'm trying to say is that everyone thinks something is up with Borsen, but he never did anything bad, so for all we know, he's just a really weird otter."

Miena shook her head. "I'm sure I smelt blood on 'im this morning, he's definitely hurting somebeast."

Art suddenly got a bad feeling from this entire conversation. That combined with his encounter with Borsen created a dark feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm prolly gonna head to bed now, good night Skipper," Ulfrad grumbled.

Miena yawned and stretched out, "I might head off to bed too. G'night Art, just watch out fer Borsen, ye hear?" Art nodded silently and watched as the pair walked off. Their pawsteps faded away into the night until there was an eerie silence.

Art looked around nervously. The moon shone through the stained glass windows of the Great Hall, bathing the area in a pale glow. Something was wrong, Borsen showed anger toward him for the first time and left with a combat knife and provisions. Art was scared. Even if Borsen wasn't planning on hurting anyone in the abbey, he's still hurting someone, right? He tried to calm himself down, taking some deep breaths. Maybe Borsen was just planning on leaving a lot longer than the usual week or so and just wanted to be prepared. Yeah, Borsen was just grumpy and wanted a break from abbey life, and that's why he snapped at him. That was a possibility, right?

Trying to be as silent as possible, Art walked cautiously through the dark hallways. Not a single beast could be seen because it was midnight.

It was then that Art heard the sound of rapid thumping mixed with a yelp. His ears splayed back, both out of fear and curiosity. Breaking out into a run, Art ran towards the source of the sound until…

Whatever Art was expecting, what he saw instead was disappointing in comparison. Lying at the bottom of a staircase was a mouse wearing a red tunic, curled up into a ball as he groaned in pain. It was just Thaddeus. Art didn't like him very much, and he honestly didn't feel that bad seeing him fall down the stairs. Sighing with irritation, Art asked, "Did you fall down the stairs again?"

Thaddeus stared straight up at Art, his brown eyes wide with fear. Art felt puzzled by this and looked at the top of the stairs. There was no one there.

Suddenly, something heavy slammed into the back of Art's head. He fell to the ground, his vision becoming a blur. Before he could even process what was happening, something picked him up, and in the next moment, Art felt something cold and sharp pressed against his throat while a heavy paw covered his mouth. His heart hammered in his chest as he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey Art," Borsen growled, his voice so playful yet filled with seasons worth of malice. "If ye make so much as a whimper, I'll cut ye open."

A wildcat that Art had never seen before walked into view, grabbing the mortified Thaddeus and doing the same. Art and Thaddeus looked at each other, they knew Borsen would have no qualms killing them if they resisted, even here. With a callous grin on his face, Borsen forced the two of them outside. Glancing up at the wall tops, Art prayed there would be some help. His hopes were quickly dashed as the three otters that were on watch were lying on the stone, moonlight reflecting off the puddles of blood splashed on the ground next to them. Borsen led them out of the south gate, where four hooded beasts were waiting outside.

The wildcat glanced behind him at the gate and addressed the four, "Alright, Redwall Abbey has a lot of friends in Mossflower, so we're going to split up the targets. Borsen and I will take Arthur, the mouse, and the squirrelmaid. You four will take the two hogmaids. Capture or kill anybeast who tries to interfere. But remember, killing leaves more of a trail, got it?"

The four hooded beasts nodded in understanding. They then snuck inside the abbey using the south gate, not making a sound as they ran across the lawns. While they were inside, Tiviko and Borsen were working on tying up and gagging Art and Thaddeus. Art normally would've tried to fight back, but with Borsen looming over them, any confidence that he could do that and survive vanished. Despite his situation, Art's mind was racing, trying to figure out who the squirrelmaid and the two hogmaids the wildcat mentioned are. One of his questions was answered minutes later when two of the hooded beasts came out with Farshawn, who was already tied up and gagged.

"'Ere ye go cap'n," said one of the beasts as they pushed a bewildered Farshawn towards the wildcat.

The wildcat smirked, "Thanks, Borsen and I are gonna leave now. Remember, get into as little fights as possible, but if you do, kill only as a last resort."

With another nod, the hooded beasts went back inside the abbey, while Art, Thaddeus and Farshawn were forced away from their home. Thaddeus was panicking, Art was trying to figure out a way to escape without Borsen killing them, and Farshawn was wondering if they would see Redwall Abbey ever again.