Chapter 18

Calm Before the Storm


It was quiet. The only sound that Art Swiftpaw could hear was water rushing into the cave and the occasional strange groaning coming from the walls. The squirrel grumbled anxiously and rolled his aching shoulders. He wanted to get out of this cave for many reasons, but they needed to rest for a bit longer. However, the longer he waited here, the more his anxiety got to him. Art fumbled with his hood, thankful that nobeast was watching him act this nervous. He breathed in and out. In and out. Art took many deep breaths as he stared at the ground.

… The Sword of Martin the Warrior, also known by its other name, "Ratdeath", was originally given to Martin by his father, Luke. The sword was eventually taken from Martin by Badrang the Tyrant…

Art then remembered the reason he was in this cave in the first place. Clicking his tongue, he looked at the bat lying down, their black fur illuminated by what little sunlight reached the cavern. It worried Art. For the past hour or so, Midwyng Coeptigo had been unusually silent. They stared blankly at the ceiling, yet Art could tell they were wide awake. The sight was familiar to Art for some reason.

… When he got the sword back and took down Fort Marshank, Martin left and wound up in Mossflower. The sword was taken from him once again, but this time, it was snapped in half in front of him…

Gazing at Midwyng, Art was reminded of what Ravi had told him long ago. The squirrel took a deep breath. "Whenever you get overwhelmed by anger, fear, or anything else, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Try to focus on an object or go over facts in your head. I think that might work for you. You look calmer reading to me."

… He wore the sword around his neck. Once he escaped from Kotir, he found himself at the home of the badger lords: Salamandastron. A magnificent blacksmith named Boar the Fighter took the sword and reforged it…

"Hey, Midwyng, are you doing alright?" Art asked tentatively.

"Yes, yes, ye-" Midwyng was interrupted by a brief cough. The bat growled and rolled their eyes. "Yes. You know, any other beast stuck in a cave would have already left by now, now, now." Even as they spoke, their voice was still hoarse.

Art couldn't tell what Midwyng was implying, but first, he needed to ask, "Can you stand up?" he said absentmindedly.

"You've got to be- hell no, no, no! I haven't been able to walk my whole life, life, life!' They snapped. "Art, I swear, help me get out of this cave or I'll kill you, you, you. Please."

"Are you okay to move?"

"Art," they hissed.

"Okay, fine," Art relented, standing up and walking over to the bat. Art briefly choked as Midwyng scurried up his body, hurrying to hook themselves around Art. "Midwy- Midwyng! Calm down, dear Martin."

"You calm down!" they snapped. The bat took a deep breath and looked around. "Well? What's your amazing plan? We're stuck unless you have some special way out of here, here, here."

Art gazed up at the ceiling, having already come up with two exits. "Well, the way I see it, we either go through those tunnels-" Art motioned his head toward a set of tunnels at the end of the cave. He didn't know where they went, but odds were that they led out. Maybe. "- or we climb back up from where we fell."

Midwyng took one glance at the water they had landed in and shuddered. Not to mention it was fairly high up. "No. We're going through the tunnels, tunnels, tunnels." Although that was what they wanted, they still looked at Art for confirmation.

Art grumbled and closed his eyes. "Great. Wonderful. Amazing." With the decision made, they began moving toward the tunnels. "Can you do the thing I've heard bats can do where they make a sound and can see in the dark, or something like that?"

"What? Like yelling, yelling, yelling?" Midwyng asked, confused.

"I don't know how to explain it," Art responded, "how do you get around in the dark?"

It took a few seconds for Midwyng to get what Art was talking about, but when they realised, they began to snicker. "What? Squirrels can't do that, that, that?"

"No. Can you use that to help us get out of here?"

"Maybe, maybe, maybe?" Midwyng responded, uncertain. "But you do know I've never been here before, right, right, right?"

"I know, but you're better than me. I can't see in the dark," Art stated bluntly.

"If we get lost, it's your fault, fault, fault. We're dead if these tunnels don't lead back up, up, up.?"

Art shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure they lead to the surface. I mean, we fell down here. I think it makes more sense that whoever made these tunnels dug here instead of falling and then tunnelling their way out."

"You better be right, right, right," Midwyng muttered. "I don't want to be stuck here, here, here."

The pair stopped in front of the tunnel. Art took a glance at the pitch-black darkness and gulped. He looked at Midwyng and could tell they weren't too keen on entering either. But they had to. "Well… let's go."

Midwyng nodded. Art slowly led the pair inside the tunnel. Midwyng could feel the squirrel tense up as the light vanished from their vision. "So, hm, you're going to have to tell me when to stop and turn and stuff." The squirrel tried to keep his voice steady, but Midwyng could hear it wavering clear as day.

Trying to dispel the tension, Midwyng teased, "aww, is the sqwurwel afwaid of the dark, dark, dark?"

"No. Shut up."

"You sound scared, scared, scared," Midwyng responded plainly.

"No I don't- hurry up and navigate or something!"

Midwyng rolled their eyes even though they knew Art couldn't see them. "Alright, fine, fine, fine… you're about to hit a wall, wall, wall."

Art grimaced and held out his free paw, slapping the wall a couple of times before feeling for empty space. "This way?"

"Yup, yup, yup."

That's how it went for a while. With no better way to navigate unless he liked crashing into walls, Art was forced to wait until Midwyng told him what to do. Occasionally, the bat would crack a joke or two, but Art hardly reacted, if at all. Midwyng scoffed and rested their head against Art. "Boy. You're all up and down today, day, day. I can only imagine how wonderful you must be if you're like this at home, home, home."

Art didn't respond to that either. Midwyng was starting to get bored. "C'mon, at least say something, thing, thing."

"You're not going to kill me, right?" Art asked flatly.

Midwyng broke out in laughter. The question was so out of nowhere that they weren't sure if they were supposed to take it seriously. "I don't know, know, know. Maybe you should've asked me before you held a blade up to my throat or before we entered a dark tunnel together, together, together." Midwyng let out a giggle, but with how Art stayed silent, they could tell he didn't find it funny. "But seriously, no, no, no."

Once again, Art didn't respond. They fell back into just simply navigating, much to Midwyng's chagrin. This is so boring. I'm glad we're finally leaving this place, but if we're just going to be silent for the entire walk, I'm going to kill myself… hm? What's that sound?

Midwyng's ears twitched as they heard something else in the tunnel. It was so quiet that they couldn't tell where it was coming from. They angled their ears in various directions to figure out what it was. When they pointed their ears towards Art, they heard the squirrel whispering under their breath.

"... Metal from a fallen star, a red pommel stone, fullers on both sides of the blade, and a black leather strap. The sword is generally wielded by the abbey champion. However, other beasts have wielded it, even if they aren't from the abbey. The sword currently hangs… over the tapestry because the abbey champion… isn't alive. "

Midwyng could feel the squirrel begin to shudder. The bat tilted their head curiously. "Of course, you're talking about a sword, sword, sword."

Art stopped in his tracks for a brief moment before resuming. "Was I saying that out loud?" Art asked flatly.

"Yup, yup, yup."

"Oh... how much did you hear?"

"You were just talking about a sword, and that was it, it, it," Midwyng lied.

"Should I stop?"

Midwyng shrugged. "You can if you want to, but I'm really bored so I'd take- there's a wall in front of you- so I'd take whatever this is rather than silence, silence, silence."

Art stopped and held his paw out, moving forward once he couldn't feel the wall. "Are you sure? I doubt you want to hear me ramble for however long this cave is."

"Squirrel. I'm bored, bored, bored. Besides, I don't think you're going to ramble for that long, long, long. You don't know that much; you're not smart, smart, smart."

Art grumbled indignantly. "Believe me, I can talk for a long time."

"Oh, no wonder you don't have any friends, friends, friends."

Art scowled. Not because what Midwyng said was insulting, but because it was partially true. Well, I guess that happens when you're obsessed with history and only spend your time with one beast, Art reflected. Art turned to Midwyng and in an attempt to prove them wrong (and to calm himself down), he asked, "Okay, you know what, Midwyng? Ask me something about Redwall Abbey and I'll talk about that."

"You're okay with having my input? really, really, really?"

"Um, if that's what you're calling it, then sure?"

Midwyng decided to ask the first thing that came to their mind. "What's an 'abbey champion'?"

Art immediately began to growl. "You bastard… so you did hear more."

"Ooohhh, did I…? Yup, yup, yup." Midwyng chuckled dryly.

What little good mood Art had instantly vanished (and I wasn't even trying this time. Whaddya know? Midwyng mused). The squirrel let out a sigh and grumbled. "Pick something else. I don't want to talk to you about abbey champions. You probably wouldn't even take it seriously if I told you about it."

Midwyng opened their mouth to protest, but after thinking about it, Art was right. "Yup, yup, yup. You talk about swords a lot and you easily took down and tortured a rat, so I'm guessing you're doing that?"

Art drummed a paw against his habit. "Uh, no. Well, unless we need one and they think I'm good enough, then yes."

"Are you stupid? Wait, don't answer that. I know you are, are, are. I asked if you wanted to be one, not if you think you could be one, one, one."

"You're pretty rude. You know that, right?"

"Oh, I had no idea, idea, idea," Midwyng responded dryly.

Art let out an annoyed grunt. "To answer your question, yes. It's an important job and I think anybeast'd be honoured to have it. But it'd mean a lot to me. I had this, um, friend. He used to be the abbey champion, but since we didn't have any morons stealing the tapestry or kidnapping children, he also worked as the librarian up in the attic. I'd be so happy if… nevermind. What about you?"

"Me, me, me? Well, I never expected to even leave the cave I came from, but I wanted to be like those bats that can fly, fl- wall in front of you. Turn left, left, left."

Art was about to bring up that most bats could fly, but common sense stopped him. "Huh. Actually, that reminds me of a question I wanted to ask. You had a brace on the ship. When did you get it?"

"Oh. That," Midwyng said flatly. "Watch out. There's a bunch of… sticks? In front of you, you, you."

With nothing better to do, the pair simply talked about their lives before they were captured. Given that both of them had things to hide, there was an unspoken agreement to not pry into each other's lives too much. Strangely enough, even though they were lost underground, the pair felt the safest they had since the ship crashed.

And in truth, they were. Especially compared to some of the beasts above ground…


Vhynias Sharptail yelped as he slipped on a set of rocks and fell on his back. The fox chuckled awkwardly to himself as his friend, Gurnilal Speareye, smirked at him. "Gurn, we're by the ocean. Rocks are slippery. Aye?"

Gurnilal crossed her arms, smiling. "Aye. Be careful, Vhyn."

"Yeah, I'm not, uh, yeah." The fox grunted as Gurnilal pulled him back up. Vhynias brushed off his coat and sighed. "Do you think we should've told the others where we're going?

Gurnilal shrugged. "Maybe, but th'vole only remembered the temple after we left."

Vhynias scoffed. Right. After the ten or so beasts he was commanding (ugh, that's a large number) separated into their groups, that one vole, Yos Peonymaid, told Vhynias about a temple she had found earlier. Would've been nice if she told us this sooner, but I guess it can't be helped at this point.

Groaning, the fox rubbed the back of his neck right above the metal collar. Glancing up at the grey sky, Vhynias hoped that wherever the vole was taking them, they'd get there soon.

Luckily, Vhynias didn't have to wait long. As the rocky shoreline fell into a sandy one, a massive building rose into the sky, embedded in the cliff face. Vhynias' eyes went wide with awe as he saw it. The group rounded a bend, giving Vhynias the full view of a temple. To the fox, it was massive. Larger than any building he had ever laid eyes upon. A stone pathway rounded up the beach, leading into a stone courtyard. Two sets of stairs to the side led up to the second floor. Broken statues littered the gravelly courtyard floor. Vhynias buried his paws in his coat pockets and grinned. When he thought back to all of the asinine things his old captain made him do, his favourite ones were the ones that involved scouting out old, abandoned areas to camp out for the night. Despite the situation, he felt a twinge of excitement seeing this temple.

"Well, look at that," Vhynias muttered.

Gurnilal noticed Vhynias' expression and smiled. "Whaddya think o' dis, Vhyn?"

Before Vhynias could respond, Yos kneaded her paws and looked up at the fox and weasel. "Uh, I think we should stay here. This spot is safe."

Vhynias nodded slowly. "Ok." The vole seemed overly cautious, so Vhynias felt a little better knowing that she thought this area was safe, but he had to check, just in case. If even a single one of his crew members got hurt because of this spot, he wouldn't know what he'd do. "Gurn, follow me, please?" Vhynias whispered.

The weasel nodded, and the pair headed up the left set of stairs. The courtyard was an atrium so they could see it from the second floor. This level yielded a bunch of smaller rooms for some reason. Vhynias didn't know why they were here, but he appreciated it. Although it seemed insignificant given the circumstances, he wanted a room where he could hide away from everybeast. The next thing that caught his eye was the large door. Given the layout of the building, he guessed this led to a balcony.

He was right. He opened the door and grimaced as the wind rushed through his fur. Grumbling irately, he let Gurnilal through and shut the door behind them.

"Huh. A spot t'keep watch. That's good," Gurnilal commented.

Vhynias snorted and leaned against the stone railing. Having a place that overlooks the beach is great, but he immediately noticed a problem. "We're surrounded by water and mountains. Sure, we only have one direction to watch out for, but we only have one escape route. Maybe that'd be fine if we had bows or something, but… yeah, we don't."

Gurnilal frowned with disappointment. "So, are we leavin' this place, then?"

"Uh… I ain't sure. We haven't seen any other spots, so far. Then again, I guess maybe the others'll find someplace. I ain't too sure about being here."

"Speakin' o' which, how're we gonna find 'em?"

Vhynias fished the bird call out of his pocket. "If all else fails, we look for them. And if we can't find them… well, then we don't leave this island 'till we do," he declared.

Gurnilal nodded without a second thought. Even though many questions were nagging in the back of her mind about this plan, she kept her mouth shut. Vhynias tended to be right, after all.

The fox slammed the railing with his paws and straightened his back. "Well, uh, when do you think we should look for them?"

Gurnilal shrugged. "I dunno. What do ya think?"

"Maybe now, so we can tell them to come here," Vhynias answered.

"Aye, okay." Stepping away from the balcony, they walked inside and headed for the stairs. Gurnilal looked both ways before whispering in Vhynias' ear. "Should we be worried 'bout th'vole?"

"I uh, maybe? Probably not? She just needs to stay here." At the bottom of the steps, Vhynias scanned the courtyard for Yos. He saw her leaning against one of the statues. "Uh, hey," Vhynias called out. "Gurn and I are gonna leave for a bit to make sure my- to make sure the rest of the group gets here. Uh, is that okay?"

Yos slowly nodded, fidgeting with her poncho.

Vhynias turned towards Gurnilal and gave a thumbs up. "Let's go."

Gurnilal nodded. The two moved through the courtyard and down the temple steps onto the beach. The wind swept past the pair, forcing Vhynias to squint. The fox glanced to his right where the waves surged and crashed against a set of rocks. Vhynias shivered and pulled his coat across his body. "It sure is cold," he muttered.

"Where d'ya think we are?" Gurnilal asked as she gazed into the horizon.

"I don't know. Somewhere in the sea?" Vhynias answered unhelpfully. "Why're ya asking?"

The weasel rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact with Vhynias. "I just… even if we somehow steal th'ship an' leave, where do we go? I'm thinkin', those abbeydwellers have places t'go, but what about us?"

Vhynias rubbed his arm. "Hm… we'll figure it out. We could go back to what we usually do: roaming 'round and taking what we need."

Gurnilal shook her head slightly. "Um, I've been talkin' wit' Tornear, an' he thinks that we should find a more permanent spot t'settle. He says it'd be better fer us."

"Maybe. It's easier said than done, though. Right now, the plan if we decide to take the ship is to return the prisoners that helped us to their homes. I was thinking we return those abbeydwellers first because I ain't going to Mossflower, then the vole because I don't think she's gonna want to help us, then uh… what's his name? Noruth? He seems the most likely to help us if we escape. I mean… I don't expect the mole to help us, but the worst thing that could happen is that we're in a new place, which is something we've already dealt with many times."

Once again, Gurnilal had doubts about the plan to steal the ship. Heck, Vhynias wasn't sure about it himself, but none of them knew how to build a raft, and the wildcat would likely hunt them down again anyway. She didn't voice these concerns, however. "So yarr really okay wit' helpin' them? I know I was th'one who wanted to keep them 'round, but I didn't think ya'd be this okay wit' them."

Vhynias snorted. "I don't. They're scary. But if they do help us, we may as well help them get home. They'll prolly kill us if we don't anyway."

Gurnilal nodded. At this point, they had gone up the beach and walked into the woods. "Where do we look? Should we use th'bird call?"

Vhynias shook his head, the realisation that he didn't plan this growing in his mind. "I uh, not yet? Let's look around a bit, first." The fox grumbled nervously, burying his paws in his coat. "Gurn, I didn't make a mistake separating us like this, right?"

"Nay, y'were right. Just… I personally would've put Tornear wit' Crooked."

Vhynias stared at the ground. Why did he let them choose their groups? He wanted to be nice, sure, but he felt that Tornear and Bolgash could hold their own. He was a little more worried for Crookedfang. Tornear makes fun of Crooked a lot, but he really does care about him. Ugh, Crooked, I hope you're fine!

Once his mind began running like this, it was hard to stop. His mind began to envision different scenarios and ways things could go wrong. What if Crookedfang was attacked? What if Tornear and Bolgash got into a fight with the otter? What if they were taken off guard? What if they were in trouble and he couldn't find them? Vhynias didn't know how long they were walking, but he was pulled from his thoughts by a sudden rustling to his left. Gurnilal pushed Vhynias behind her and pulled her cutlass from her belt. Vhynias peered over the weasel's shoulder, trying to see who it is.

Not long after, an annoyed voice made their identity known. "Hey! Don't attack me! 'Tis me, Ulfrad from the food collecting group."

Gurnilal relaxed and lowered her cutlass as Ulfrad Shorepass became visible through the trees. Vhynias, however, bared his teeth. "Where's Crooked? Is he alright?"

Ulfrad scowled and crossed his arms. "Yer rat friend is fine. His arm got hurt again, but he's-"

Without waiting for Ulfrad to finish, Vhynias pushed past the otter. "Where is he?"

"Back there," Ulfrad pointed.

Vhynias threw away the need to be quiet as worry got the better of him. "Crooked?" He called out as he ran in the rat's direction. All the anxiety that he was feeling on the walk over hit him with full force. If something happened to Crookedfang or any of his crew because of him, he wouldn't know what he'd do.

But Gurnilal had a clue, and the thought of knowing what Vhynias might do made her weary.


Tiviko Polonuk turned his paw around, gazing at his claws. Just like always, the shock of seeing a corpse faded quickly, leaving him instead with burning curiosity. Tiviko experimentally prodded his arm with a claw, pressing as hard as he could. He winced when he drew blood, pulling his arm away. That was stupid. If I wanted to know how much force it takes to tear open a mouse like Borsen did, poking my arm isn't the way to do that… speaking of Borsen, where is he? Is he still in the river?

"Borsen," Tiviko called out, "are you done washing the blood off of yourself?"

No response. Tiviko let out a growl and sat down on the grass. As he did, he heard pawsteps behind him, and swung around. Borsen Stonetail was standing behind him, mostly clean. The otter stared at him silently. "Next time, answer if I ask you a question," Tiviko snarled. "Ah, whatever. You're here now, so let's get moving." Tiviko stood up, and his group headed out.

Although they were supposed to be silent, everybeast was whispering to each other. Tiviko was annoyed, but after eavesdropping, he realised they were coming up with strategies and methods to capture the prisoners. The wildcat gazed down at the grass. At least they were doing something productive. Tiviko reached into his bag and pulled out a wooden slab. Before he left the ship, he carved out a map for himself using the journal he found as a guide. Once everybeast saw what he was doing, they decided to do the same (with varying levels of neatness, but whatever. We aren't grading their writing or anything, Tiviko thought to himself).

As Tiviko examined his map, he felt somebeast's gaze on his back. Turning around, he saw Borsen staring over his shoulder at the map. "What's that?" Borsen asked in that flat tone of his.

"It's a map, moron. I thought you knew how to read," he growled. Although it was petty, one thing Tiviko was thankful for was that, unlike the rest of his crew, he didn't have to be as polite to Borsen. He was sure the otter didn't care.

"I can. Where are we?"

Tiviko glanced at the map and circled an area with a claw. "We're by the river, and the glade is back in that direction, so we're somewhere around here." The wildcat smiled. Assuming his thinking was correct, they were getting close to one of the buildings listed on the map. Granted, not every building would have prisoners in them; the barn they visited earlier was empty, after all. But he was more confident about this place.

"The glade's over there, huh?" Borsen mused idly. "I wonder if Durk's around here."

Tiviko rolled his eyes. "Really, Borsen? Not too long ago you were tearing a mouse apart like a feral monster and you're still worried how that fat friend of yours is-"

"He's not fat," Borsen snapped.

Tiviko grumbled. While he didn't have to be polite to Borsen, he did have to be careful what he said about that stupid hare he was obsessed with. "Can you stop talking about him every time something vaguely related to him comes up?"

"I did it once," Borsen growled. "Besides, if somebeast didn't bring him here, I wouldn't worry about him."

"You did it more times on the ship. Focus."

Borsen didn't bother to respond to that, but Tiviko guessed the otter wasn't happy. "I swear, when we were bringing that hare over to the ship, he kept asking if we've also captured a sea otter. Dear lord, you two. Do you ever stop thinking about each other? I still have no clue why you two are so close."

Borsen crossed his arms. "He's great."

Seriously, Borsen? What about him is amazing? He seems like every other hare I've come across except stupider if he's that close to you and didn't recognise you as a walking threat to everybeast. "Okay, so you think he's amazing. Many other beasts I've met are amazing too, but that doesn't stop me from cutting their throats open."

"What're ye saying?" Borsen asked accusingly.

Tiviko hesitated. He really shouldn't ask what he was thinking, curiosity got the better of him. "I'm just wondering because if I had the amount of strength you have I would've killed a beast like him a long time ago. But here you are, keeping him alive. Why?"

Borsen's mouth twitched. The otter turned away slightly. Tiviko looked at him, puzzled. Borsen glanced at Tiviko and muttered, "ask me that again and I'll break yer neck."

Tiviko didn't need to be told twice. At least that could've gone worse, he thought. Switching the topic, he asked, "by the way, Borsen, can you do me a favour and make sure everybeast stays quiet while I go scout whatever is up ahead?"

The sea otter nodded. Tiviko looked at his group and ordered them to "stay quiet. I'm going to check something."

Without waiting for them to respond, Tiviko pulled up his hood and snuck into the tall grass. In truth, he didn't need to ask Borsen to keep them quiet as he was sure they would do that themselves, but he wanted to get the slightest bit of rapport with Borsen back.

Tiviko weaved his way through the trees like a snake, paws inches away from the knives on his belt. His gaze swept the forest floor to prevent him from stepping on anything. The wildcat snuck through the dense foliage; face contorted with concentration. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't realise that at some point, he reached the building. He only realised it when he felt his footpaws brush against an aged cobblestone pathway.

Confused, Tiviko looked up. If he had any doubts before about prisoners hiding here, he sure didn't have any now.

After all, who wouldn't want to hide in a castle?

Glancing around cautiously, Tiviko examined the front. Immediately, he knew going through the front was out of the question because the gate had been obliterated. Going to the back wasn't an option as the castle overlooked the ocean. Tiviko went around to the side of the castle and rubbed his paws together. The exterior walls were uneven and had enough crevices that he was sure that he could climb them, easily. Tiviko unsheathed his claws and lept up, digging them into the stone. Growling, he used any ledge and windowsill he could find to pull himself up. He made sure to stay hidden, of course.

If anybeast was in the castle, Tiviko expected them to be hiding and to take a while to find them, but nope. To his surprise, he peeked through a window on the second floor to find three beasts in the hallway. Although there was a pile of weapons in the centre that suggested they were being productive, they were just relaxing.

What in hellgates? Why are they just sitting there? Do you not have anything better to do? Whatever. It makes it easier for me. Morons. Tiviko ran through his profiles of the prisoners in his head. He was reasonably sure he could take them out. There was the added bonus that one of the beasts seemed to already be injured. But even if Tiviko couldn't kill them, that's what Borsen was for. It would even be an opportunity to take the weapons the three beasts had gathered (although he knew Borsen heavily preferred a knife or nothing at all. Idiot).

Committing all of this to memory, Tiviko scurried back down and landed softly on the ground. He glanced around just to be sure nobeast was watching him before taking off in the direction of his group.

As expected, his group was sitting quietly when he got back. Tiviko nodded and said, "thank you all for staying quiet. Anyway, as I thought, there is a castle up ahead. Currently, three prisoners are hiding there. Well, 'hiding' is giving them too much credit. They're a bunch of morons and are just sitting in the hallways. From what I've seen, it appears that they are collecting a large number of weapons, possibly for a group if they're collecting that much. I doubt they're leaving anytime soon if they're planning on transporting everything. Even if they do leave, they won't be fast. Capturing all of them should be easy. I trust that all of you will be of use, this time?" He ended sharply.

His crew answered affirmatively, except for Borsen. The sea otter raised a paw (are you kidding me, Borsen? I'm pretty sure we're both done with school) and asked, "who's in there?"

"Do you care?" Tiviko asked sceptically.

Borsen shrugged. "Depends."

Tiviko narrowed his eyes. He felt like he knew the reason Borsen may be asking, and he didn't like it. Luckily, it didn't matter in this case. "Rykeld Burke, Bolgash Wolters, and… that one otter, I don't care about her name. You know her, I think. We captured her at Redwall."

Borsen grinned, folding his broad arms across his chest. "Not really, but she knows who I am."

Tiviko put on a smile and motioned toward the castle. "Oh, how so joyous. Let's get moving. We'd best get there before they try to leave."

Nodding, Tiviko's crew followed the wildcat toward the castle where the unsuspecting Tornear, Bolgash, and Miena were staying.