Chapter 1

Strange Beasts Around Redwall Abbey

"There you go Durkfor. Here's a couple of scones for you to chew on I guess," said the assistant cook, Art, as he handed a portly hare, Durkfor, three scones fresh out of the oven. The scone's pleasant aroma drifted its way towards Durkfor, causing the hare to sigh contently. He placed the scones in the bag slung over his shoulder and patted it a couple of times for good measure.

"Thanks, lad. Say, are ya getting used to workin' in the kitchens?" Durkfor asked, cocking his head slightly.

Art sighed tiredly, resting his head on the counter, "Not really, but it's… well it's something, it's not just waking up early, I'm just… still not feeling like myself." Art suddenly got defensive, clarifying, "It's not that I don't want to help around the abbey, but I'm bad at this, and I'm just tired." Art had only begun working in the kitchens for a couple of days now, so the young squirrel probably hadn't gotten enough time to get used to it yet, but it was always in Durkfor's mind to ask how somebeast was doing. Especially to somebeast like Art, who's been down as of late.

As anybeast would say, Durkfor Egastaf Ventultro was one of the nicest beasts the abbey had to offer. His amiable nature combined with his willingness to believe in the best of everyone meant he meshed quite well with almost everyone at Redwall. Loud or quiet, laid back or serious, Durkfor always found a way to relate to everyone. It also meant that everybeast was comfortable sharing their problems with him.

"Ah, well, don't worry Art, I think anybeast'd understand if ya are not up to par. It always takes time to get used to somethin' new anyway," Durkfor replied in an attempt to encourage Art. "Good job on the scones by the way, lookin' quite bloody delicious, Borsen'll love 'em!"

Art rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess." At the mention of Borsen's name, Art lifted his head off the counter a little. "Oh, that's going to Borsen, huh? I didn't know he was awake at this time, what does he even do so early in the morning? He doesn't really strike me as the 'I'm getting to work early to help my abbey' type of otter."

Durkfor shrugged, waving a paw limply as he spoke. "Eh, well it depends, sometimes he goes runnin' on the wall tops, sometimes he swims in th'abbey pond- otters, am I right? Boils down to trainin' really, y'know I asked 'em once, 'Borsen, why do ya train so early in the mornin'?' 'n he says somethin' like-"

"Alright I got it, you don't need to tell me the rest." Art stopped Durkfor before he went on one of his long rambles. "Well, see you later, tell Borsen I said 'hi' I suppose."

Durkfor saluted smartly as he grinned at Art, "Gotcha, see ya at lunch!" He waved goodbye as he strolled out of the kitchens. With a bounce in his step, Durkfor walked as fast as he could towards the abbey lawns. The bag he was carrying rustled loudly as he walked, and he struggled to keep the green hood he was wearing on his head. He walked through the hallways, into the great hall, and then exited outside.

The sun was just barely starting to peek over the horizon, spreading its early morning rays across the hills and valleys of Mossflower. The sky was painted in a warm orange hue, while the morning air was filled with the smell of dew and food currently being prepared by the abbey cooks. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and causing them to dance and sparkle. Durkfor's eyes scanned the area looking for where Borsen may be training, the first place he searched being where no beast would disturb him. It was then that Durkfor saw a brown figure running across the lawns, and smiled. He walked casually towards the running figure, holding onto his bag of scones tightly.

Given their personality differences, one has to wonder why Borsen ever became friends with somebeast like Durkfor in the first place. Borsen Stonetail, a sea otter, was somewhat of an anomaly among the beasts at Redwall. With the exception of Durkfor, no beast knew anything about him personally. He arrived with a group of other sea otters when he was young, and ever since then, kept a very unnatural level of silence to anybeast except for Durkfor. Borsen rarely, if ever, talked to other beasts casually even as an adult. His strange behaviour didn't help the perception of him either, with his random staring or going missing for hours, if not days on end without any acknowledgement that he left in the first place. Despite all that, Durkfor and Borsen have been inseparable since childhood. It really did seem that the only beast Borsen was close with was Durkfor.

Borsen panted heavily as he slowed down, eventually sitting down by the abbey pond. He heard somebeast moving behind him but didn't bother turning around. He already knew who it was anyway.

Durkfor sat down right beside Borsen, pulling off his bag and placing it between them. "Say Borsen, trainin' at this hour? If I ever had t'run this much this early, I'd just flippin' die, just finish me off and throw me into the pond."

Borsen returned a wry grin at his friend. "Can ye even run Durk? Ye'd just trip o'er yerself and fall on yer tail," he said dryly.

The hare chuckled and patted his belly. "Probably, I'm bally useless at anythin' like that." Durkfor unfastened his bag and pulled out the scones, two for himself, and one for Borsen. "Art said 'hi' by the way, pretty nice o' that lil' bugger."

Borsen grabbed a scone and immediately bit into it, not reacting at all to the greeting. "Thanks fer getting these Durk."

Durkfor raised his eyebrows as he looked at the scone in Borsen's paws. "Is that enough? I can get more if ya want," he offered. Borsen shook his head in response, before giving a thumbs-up as if to say "thanks for asking". The two of them sat in silence for a moment, not needing to say anything to enjoy each other's company.

Finally, Borsen spoke up. "The abbot say anything 'bout needing to watch the walltops today?", he said as he took a bite out of his scone.

Durkfor's ears flopped downwards, a common thing he did when he was thinking. "Prolly, I mean, I 'aven't talked to 'em, but that vermin problem doesn't seem to be goin' away anytime soon." Borsen's expression didn't change, but with the way he slouched forward, Durkfor could tell he was disappointed. He patted Borsen's back, trying to cheer up the otter. "C'mon, it's not all bad, we can talk or play games up there or somethin'." Borsen still wasn't thrilled with having to stay on the wall tops, but at least Durkfor would be there also. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

"Aye, maybe it won't be so bad; maybe we'll actually see somethin' this time," the otter muttered to himself. "We still have a bit 'fore we switch with whoever's up there though, want to just stay here fer a bit longer?" asked Borsen.

Durkfor smiled and made two thumbs-ups with his paws. "Definitely!"

The abbey kitchens were alive with activity. The head cook for the abbey, Friar Tibbins, expertly moved between counters and ovens, going about his duty with vigour. The plump squirrel grabbed the pans on the stovetop, sliding pancakes onto plates, and handing them off to the kitchen helpers. Once he was done with this batch, he looked over to where his assistant cook and nephew, Art, was leaning tiredly against the wall. Evidently, the young squirrel didn't go to bed when he was told to. With a strained chuckle, he walked over and asked, "Get enough sleep last night Arthur?"

Art looked up at his uncle with a twinge of guilt and answered. "Yeah, mostly. I just forgot I had to be up this early, but I'll be up at the right time tomorrow, sorry," he mumbled monotonously, hiding his arms in his teal habit sleeves.

Friar Tibbins sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a paw. "As long as you do so tomorrow, it's fine." He knew something was up with Art, but they didn't have the time to think about it, they needed to get breakfast done as fast as possible! With that, the two squirrels got back to work. As Art reached up to grab a couple of utensils from the upper cabinets, he felt a sharp pain run through his left arm. He let out a muffled whimper as he tried his best to ignore it. Internally, he was cursing himself for being so stupid. He couldn't have just gone to bed early and slept, no. He just had to run out to the orchards at midnight, and climb trees. Now because of that, he was tired and had a cut on his left arm from when he fell and tried to reach for a branch. More than anything, Art found it embarrassing how he, a squirrel, managed to cut his arm while climbing trees. The abbey healer was asleep when that happened, so he decided he'd wait until morning to go to the infirmary. However, he forgot to anticipate Friar Tibbins would wake him up early and bring him to the kitchens. Now that he was here, Art didn't want to bother his uncle and go to the infirmary, so he tried to hide it.

But wow, was it starting to feel sore. Art was starting to feel a bit concerned, but he couldn't go get it checked now. He was the one who caused this, so it only made sense that it has less priority over making breakfast.

"Arthur, pass me some more plates, there should be more in that lower cabinet." Friar Tibbins suddenly asked, pointing to a cabinet that Art was standing in front of.

Art glanced over at his uncle, "Yeah, in a bit." He opened the lower cabinet and saw neat stacks of plates. He grabbed the plates and walked over to Friar Tibbins, his arm trembling. Even though the trembling was hidden somewhat by Art's oversized habit sleeve, that didn't stop Friar Tibbins from noticing.

"Arthur, are you okay?" He asked with a look of concern.

Art quickly handed the plates over and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, what should I be doing next?"

Thoroughly unconvinced, Friar Tibbins looked at Art's left arm. Friar Tibbins was the one who took care of Art his entire life, so it didn't take long for him to realize he was lying through his teeth. The stout squirrel sighed. "Were you staying up late climbing trees again?"

Art grumbled, he'd been caught. There wasn't any point hiding it now, so he rolled up his sleeve and held up his left arm, "I was going to wait until after breakfast to say something because I didn't want to interrupt anything important," he mumbled.

Friar Tibbins buried his face in his paws before speaking."Arthur, you…" He stopped, thinking about how best to word what he was going to say. "It'd be interrupting for a good reason if it's for something like that. You don't have to wait until after we're done. Arthur, go visit the infirmary."

Despite feeling bad that he'd leave the cooks with one less helper, he knew there wasn't any point in arguing. Placing his arms in his sleeves, he walked out of the kitchen. Now that he was away from his uncle, he examined his arm more closely. "It's not that bad," he said to himself. Then again, he knew his judgement on stuff like this was usually wrong. This wasn't the first time he hurt himself and downplayed it after all. He remembered every single time he was begrudgingly sent to the abbey healer and was then scolded on how bad his injuries were.

Realization hit him and Art let out a groan when he realized he'd have to face the wrath of the sharp-tongued abbey healer, Rianne. Art especially finds himself getting berated a lot given how he uses the infirmary more than the average abbeydweller.

Finally, he found himself in front of the door to the infirmary. He reached over and opened the door, immediately seeing a stocky hogmaid, Rianne, reprimanding some poor mouse sitting on a cot.

"There's a reason you don't go that far into Mossflower Woods without a weapon or a plan, like, what were you thinking? Seriously! There's been a vermin problem for the past couple of seasons now, and you still thought it was a good idea to waltz outside to 'get some fresh air'? It's genuinely a miracle you're still alive." Rianne finished her rant towards the mouse and turned towards the doorway with a disappointed expression. "Why am I not surprised?", she said, causing Art to hold out his arms indignantly. Rianne turned back to the mouse and sighed, "Thaddeus, just rest a bit, then you can leave. I can get you some more water if you need it, but if you ever leave the abbey like that again, I'll kill you myself." Thaddeus rolled his eyes and got up, shoving past Art and slamming the infirmary door closed. Art and Rianne were left in the infirmary in an uncomfortable silence.

"That was quite harsh," Art said with a stiff grin, "Are you actually going to kill him?"

Rianne scoffed, "Thaddeus is really starting to get on my nerves. Not as much as you though, what stupid thing did you do this time Arth- Art?"

Art pulled up his habit sleeve, showing off the cut along his arm. Rianne raised her eyebrows, "Great, okay, just sit down on a cot." Art did as he was told and sat down on a cot in the corner of the room. Rianne came back with a handful of items and sat down on an adjacent cot. "I'm going to guess the answer is'no', but I should ask anyway. Did you get a fever, or does the surrounding area feel numb?" Rianne asked.

Art heard this spiel multiple times already, and immediately shook his head, "It stopped bleeding a while ago, and I've already cleaned-"

"Stop," Rianne held out her paw, grumbling with annoyance, "Because it's you, I need to ask, how long is 'a while ago'?"

Art felt his face grow hot as he realized his mistake, "Yesterday at midnight, but-"

"I swear to- Art, first off, what were you doing at midnight? Second, you could've just knocked on the infirmary doors and-"

"Well excuse me, I thought you were asleep, and I didn't want you to get all angry at me because I woke you up in the middle of the night!" Art interrupted Rianne, raising his voice angrily at her.

Rianne gazed at Art silently. In a way, he was right. Even if her being asleep in the middle of the night didn't stop him before, her yelling at him definitely didn't help Art's willingness to get help. "Okay, maybe so, but you also shouldn't wait for something like that, if you get hurt, let me know, okay?" She spoke in a calmer tone.

Art slowly nodded, "Yeah, okay." With that quarrel out of the way, Art hesitantly spoke up again, "And I guess my arm does hurt a little."

"Who could've guessed," Rianne said dryly, before grabbing a hold of Art's arm and picking up a cup of water with her free paw. "Because you waited a night to do this, I'm going to just clean it just in case. I know you said you did that yourself already, but you've lied about that too before."

"It was only a couple of times," Art said defensively. Rianne grumbled in response.

As Rianne was working on his arm, Art looked around at the other cots. Save for the cot which Rianne used as a table, the cots were surprisingly empty. "No recent vermin attacks or something?" Art asked, "I wouldn't know because I've been stuck in the kitchens for the past couple of days."

Rianne scoffed, "Thaddeus was just in here because a rat nicked him with a sword. But besides that, yeah. Actually, for the past couple of days, it seemed like there were fewer vermin spotted in general, not sure why, but I'm not complaining." Rianne finished cleaning up the wound and motioned towards the infirmary door.

"So I have to go back to the kitchens now?" Art asked disappointedly.

The abbey healer stayed quiet for a bit. Normally she wouldn't be swayed by the disappointed look on Art's face, but Art has been feeling pretty down recently after a certain event, so she thought he could use a break. After not answering Art for a couple of seconds, she paced towards the door, shrugging overdramatically, "Well I don't know, your bore of an uncle has helpers, and I could just tell him you need to stay in the infirmary for the rest of the day."

The squirrel's eyes widened in surprise, "You'd do that? Really?"

Rianne nodded, though she didn't show it, she did feel kind of bad for Art. Friar Tibbins recognized Art was feeling down and let him help in the kitchens to give him something to focus on, but it clearly wasn't helping. "Yeah, just don't break anything while you're here."

Art nodded appreciatively, "Thanks Sister Rianne, I won't break anything, I promise."

"Drop the 'Sister' formality, we know each other well enough, unfortunately." She said sarcastically.

"Right, thanks Rianne." Art repeated, thankful for some kind of mental break.

Rianne waved her paw dismissively, "Don't mention it, I'm going to leave to eat breakfast, so just stay there." Art did as he was told, staying sitting on the cot as Rianne left the room. After a minute or so, Art stood up and opened the door a crack, making sure nobeast was coming. Good, he could finally be alone without anybeast seeing him. Art shuddered and let out a deep sigh. Heavy grief still lingered in his mind, and no amount of distraction could make that go away. He glanced over at the door once more to make sure nobeast was coming by and walked towards the infirmary window. With a slight whimper, Art leaned against the window, staring out into the nearby Mossflower Woods which seemed to glow warmly with the morning sun. "You would've loved this view, wouldn't you?" He mumbled subduedly.

The young squirrel stared out into the forest glumly, woefully unaware of the pair of yellow eyes staring back at him in the foliage. Before Art could even notice, the yellow eyes disappeared, almost as if they hadn't even existed in the first place.

Back on the wall tops, two maids were keeping watch for any vermin. Well, they were supposed to be keeping watch. Instead, they were just hanging out. One of them, a frail-looking hogmaid, was listening intently to the other, a squirrelmaid playing a fiddle experimentally.

"One dark and stormy summer night

A warm fire crackled in Cavern Hole

Rain pittered on the stained glass view

A young maiden stood up and sang

Oh woe to... um…"

The squirrelmaid stopped singing, sighing in frustration as she put down the fiddle. "I can't think of anything else, I've been having a hard time thinking of verses recently. Any ideas Kallius?"

The hogmaid, Kallius, cocked her head up to the sky as she thought, "Um, I'm not the musical type, that's you. But shouldn't you take a break for a bit, Farshawn? I feel like you've been spending a lot of time on this recently."

"No, I am not," Farshawn said stubbornly, "I said I'd finish this by the Namesday feast, and that's approaching fast!"

Kallius smiled reassuringly at Farshawn and patted her shoulder, "You were only told a couple of days in advance, don't be too stressed if you don't come up with something by then. Besides, you can always just play one of your old songs, you don't have to make something new every Namesday."

Farshawn returned a smile, though it was more forced, "I guess, but I always make a new song every season. Ugh, why didn't I make one in advance! I got too busy with other songs, but I knew this was coming, so why didn't-"

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a knocking sound. They turned to the staircase down the wall and saw Borsen standing there knocking the wall with his paw. The otter didn't say anything, instead choosing to blankly stare at them, as if he was mute.

"Oh, hi Borsen," Farshawn said nervously. "Um, are we switching out now, or…?" Borsen didn't respond. He instead moved out of the way from the staircase and stood still. Farshawn and Kallius glanced at each other before moving. The faintest of grins appeared on Borsen's face, noticing that the two walked far enough from Borsen's reach so that he couldn't push them. Once the two were fully down the stairs, Borsen's grin vanished. He moved to the edge of the wall tops, gazing out into the woods. Like an eagle searching for its prey, Borsen scanned the treeline searching for any vermin. As to be expected, however, there weren't any dumb enough to be at the treeline. As the abbot described it: with every passing season, more lessons were learned, and the vermin got smarter and smarter.

The sound of somebeast moving up the stairs didn't even seem to faze Borsen; his steely gaze locked on the forest. Durkfor walked up carrying a sling and a small pouch of rocks in his paws. "Hi, Borsen! Got a sling 'n some rocks in case we get bored." Durkfor placed the pouch down and stood right next to Borsen. He noticed Borsen staring intently towards the forest and padded up to him, "Whaddya lookin' at?" He asked.

"Nothin'," Borsen responded, not moving a muscle. Durkfor snorted and turned to where Borsen was looking. There wasn't anything there, nothing Durkfor could see anyway. "Are ya sure? Ya seem really focused."

Borsen didn't respond for a few moments. Suddenly, a faint glimmer of joy shone in his dark eyes. He looked over at Durkfor with a hint of a smile, "Aye, I'm sure. Hey Durk, yer not gonna tell the abbot if I leave the wall tops, right?"

Durkfor's ears drooped down slightly, his expression concerned, "Okay, didja see somethin' down there? Really seems like you did. Also we're not supposed to leave the wall tops 'till we've been told otherwise."

"Does it even matter today? Skipper 'n her crew got it covered." Borsen pointed to a group of otters who were also on the wall tops. "Besides, they know more 'bout defending than we do; we're just in the way."

"Well, I guess so, but even then, they're only here for a couple o' days max," Durkfor countered. The group of otters, Holt Dawnraft, weren't actually from Mossflower. Their Skipper had some business to deal with in Mossflower and decided to visit Redwall while they were at it (As Durkfor would say, if you visit Mossflower, you just have to visit Redwall Abbey). "They ain't gonna be here forever."

Borsen placed an arm around Durkfor's shoulders, "Eh, so what? They're here today, so we're not even needed up here. Just take a break, ye deserve it. Out of all the beasts in Redwall, ye are one of the hardest workers," Borsen smiled warmly, pulling Durkfor in closer. "Whaddya say?"

Durkfor looked over at the group of otters. Borsen was right, they were a lot more capable than the two of them would ever be. Besides, Borsen generally had better judgement. "Yeah, I think I'll just take a break. But are ya sure ya didn't see anythin' down there?"

"Aye, I'm sure, just take that break, and I'll see ye later, aye?" Borsen said, patting Durkfor on the back.

"Oh, are ya not comin' along? Where are ya goin'?" Durkfor asked.

"Just gotta deal with some stuff fer a bit, bye!" Without giving Durkfor time to respond, Borsen left, bounding down the stairs. Durkfor raised his eyebrows, something definitely felt off. Borsen's rudder-like tail wagged ever so gently, and there was a strange smile on his face. Before he could ask him about it, however, he had already left towards the main building.

Durkfor sighed, he loved Borsen dearly as a friend, but even he had to admit the otter exhibited a lot of strange behaviour. He seemed to do a lot of strange stuff without any rhyme or reason, and this was one of those times. Then again, Borsen has never hurt a single beast at the abbey, so Durkfor thought nothing of it. In his mind, it was just Borsen being Borsen; that was all there was to it.

"Didn't even get to talk to 'im much," Durkfor grumbled to himself. If Borsen wanted to be alone, chances are that he'd never find him anyway, so he set his mind to looking for something else to do. "Might as well help somebeast with their job today," he decided, ignoring Borsen's suggestion to take a break. The hare walked down the stairs and headed towards the main building.

The large group of otters was spread out on the wall tops, one of which is the leader of Holt Dawnraft, Skipper Miena. She watched with amusement as that otter and the hare left their post. "Leaving it up t'us I guess, oh well." She shrugged it off casually, it didn't really matter to her. Barring some unforeseen event, she knew for a fact the abbey would be safe. After all, Redwall Abbey's reputation was massive, and at this point, every vermin in the area knew better than to attack it without a large army, in which case they would've heard of one heading through Mossflower. And while beasts that went outside the abbey were attacked more often than not, as long they stayed within the walls they would be safe.

Miena brought her holt to Mossflower to discuss something related to the holt in Mossflower. But if Miena was being honest, going to Redwall Abbey wasn't just about helping them out. Once they were in Mossflower, Miena "subtly" brought up the idea of visiting Redwall Abbey, and everybeast enthusiastically agreed. Of course, she wanted to help out, but to Miena, being here meant more to her. She visited the abbey once when she was a pup and instantly fell in love with the place. Miena loved history a lot, but from the story behind the building itself to the various heroes that came and gone, Miena especially loved the history of Redwall.

Much like she was doing for most of the morning, Miena found herself spacing out. An older otter walked up to her and waved a paw in front of her face, "Skipper, ye awake?"

Miena snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the older otter, who she thought of as her second-in-command. "Aye, I am, Ulfrad. I was just thinking."

Ulfrad placed a paw on his chin, looking out into the forest, "About what?"

"About this place," Miena answered, "I'm just… amazed that we're actually here, at Redwall! There's just so much to learn and explore here."

Ulfrad chuckled, "Still like a scholar, are ye?"

"Ye know it," Miena said proudly, "Once we're done lookin' out from up here, I'm gonna ask the abbey librarian if I could browse some of the writings."

"Will they let you?" Ulfrad asked sceptically.

"What would the point in making a library be otherwise? 'N if they don't, I'll use my leadership as a Skipper to force them," Miena said jokingly. Despite her laughs, Ulfrad clearly didn't think it was funny. She put on a more serious tone and clarified, "Yer such a downer, I'm obviously not gonna threaten them. I know better than to do that."

The older otter sighed, "Fer all our sakes, I sure hope so."

Miena smirked, lightly punching Ulfrad's shoulder, "Lighten' up, we're at Redwall. Once we're done watching this wall, take a break 'n loosen up a bit."

Ulfrad didn't respond, mainly because he didn't know what he was even supposed to say. Politely saluting Miena, Ulfrad walked away towards a different section of the wall. Now that Ulfrad was gone, Miena turned her attention back to the clearing between the wall and the forest. There was nothing there. Serenity washing over her, Miena sat on the edge of the wall, drumming an old rhythm with her paws.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully at Redwall Abbey. Art sat by himself in the infirmary much more gloomy than usual, Durkfor helped Friar Tibbins prepare lunch and dinner, Rianne went around the abbey checking on everybeast, Farshawn and Kallius stayed in Farshawn's room coming up with a song, and Miena stayed in the library reading various documents. The red hues faded from the sky until there was only a deep blue left. The light of the moon rested on the forest as it stretched off into the horizon, painting the forest in a surreal serenity.

It was too calm, almost as if fate wanted to give the abbeydwellers one more day of calm before their lives were engulfed in a sea of fear and violence. Unbeknownst to the abbeydwellers at Redwall, two beasts were stalking around Mossflower Woods, and their chance meeting would change their lives forever.

It was midnight. The pale moon washed the woods in an eerie glow as a shadow moved swiftly and silently through the trees. The figure donned a midnight blue hood, with a matching cloak and leather armour. Just like his clothing, every movement he made was precise to ensure he couldn't be detected. The enigmatic figure's name was Tiviko Polonuk, though there weren't many who knew that. Almost nobeast knew his name, age, face, or where he came from. He liked it that way, it made it much easier to stay hidden if somebeast were ever searching for him. But even if he was a mystery, his business very much wasn't. If anybeast wanted someone captured or killed, they would try to find him. Every single request he's gotten has been fulfilled, and nobeast has ever escaped his clutches.

Tiviko moved through the forest, senses alert for any potential threats. Suddenly, the smell of fresh blood overwhelmed his scenes, and he cautiously slowed down. He dove into a nearby bush, his whiskers twitching as his eyes scanned the area for any enemies. After a few moments, he carefully snuck towards the source of the blood to see where it came from. His face scrunched up with disgust, whatever the source was, there must be a lot of blood. He slowed down as he felt himself getting closer, and then, he saw it.

Even somebeast like Tiviko was shocked at the sheer brutality of the scene laid out before him. "What… is this?" He couldn't help but whisper. A rat or at least some of it was sprawled out on the grass, its body slashed and torn apart violently. Bits of flesh and blood speckled the surrounding trees and rocks, with blood pooling underneath the corpse like a macabre flower.

Whoever did this isn't normal, he thought. This wasn't just some self-defence kill or a robbery gone wrong, no. Tiviko knew whoever did this genuinely enjoyed this. There was no other explanation for the sheer amount of brutality. Tiviko suddenly looked around, whoever did this might be nearby, he thought; he needed to get away fast. Moving as silently as possible, he ran through the foliage, putting as much distance between themselves and the body as fast as possible.

Tiviko's ears twitched as they heard a voice not too far away, "Oh wildcat, I know yer around here somewhere! Why don't ye just come back here 'n lemme slice ye up real good!" Tiviko froze as a voice echoed out through the trees. The harsh sound of somebeast cackling chillingly rang out. Whoever it was, they were gaining on him fast, and he knew he had to hide if he wanted to live. Cursing quietly to himself, he swiftly climbed up a tree and tucked himself away in a dense clump of branches. Tiviko waited with bated breath as the cackling drew closer, and he finally got a glimpse of his assailant.

Hobbling through the grove was a large muscular figure. Its paws and muzzle were drenched with blood, and it was clenching a bloodstained knife in its right paw. Its rudder-like tail waved gleefully behind it as a look of what could only be described as pure euphoria shone on its twisted face.

More than anything, Tiviko was annoyed at how easily he got into this situation. But being the tactician he was, an idea suddenly formed in his mind. Gazing at the otter known as Borsen Stonetail, Tiviko suddenly thought of a way he could use this otter for his benefit. He slowly started to smile, whoever this otter was enjoyed tearing apart that rat way too much to be normal. If he could figure out a way to get this otter on his side, they would be unstoppable.

If Durkfor knew what letting Borsen leave the wall tops earlier that day would've caused, he would've done more to stop him. Instead, this chance meeting between a bloodstained Borsen Stonetail and Tiviko Polonuk would send 20 unwitting beasts on a desperate struggle for freedom.