Sorry about the delay. Work has gotten the best of me for the past month. Finally, the story can really start! Please let me know what you think and what I can improve on. Enjoy!
Seabane huffed and a white cloud obscured his vision. Closing his eyes in concentration, he put one freezing footpaw in front of another, blindly willing himself forward.
"Ruddy talk to me." Seabane gasped as he fought against the wind and the weight of the fox.
Ruddy limped alongside Seabane. He wrapped one arm around the rat while the other held Ripeye and Twinetail who coughed incessantly. The terror from the earlier attack had worn off, and now Seabane could feel the numbing cold slowly working its way up his legs and down his ears.
"Don't call me Ruddy." The fox slurred as he limped forward.
The four vermin were surrounded by almost complete darkness. The light from the burning javelin had weakened to the point they could see only a single step ahead. Snowflakes danced around them like mocking flies. Seabane collided with branches and tumbled over roots as he tried to find any sign of the trail left by Marrow or the others.
"Why shouldn't I mate?"
"It's… it's not my name!" Bloodclaw barked through manic shivering.
"Aye… of cou-"
Seabanes footpaw struck a stone hidden beneath the snow and he lurched forward struggling to keep his balance. He tilted his head back and cursed the terrible weather and his rotten luck. He looked to see Ripeye and Twinetail staring back with wide eyes.
"I bet yer father never show'd ye how tah cuss like dat!" Seabane said with a snarl.
The weasels shivered and shook their heads.
"Yarr, well when we get out ov this storm I'll show ya how tah cuss like a pirate," Seabane told them. More to convince himself rather than him intending to keep his promise.
Ripeye nodded and returned to his shivering while Twinetail broke into a coughing fit.
"If we get out, Seabane." Ruddy spat into the snow. "Even if we do make it, Silvertongue and Herrik are dead beasts."
The two weasel kits broke into sobs.
"I want my mummy!" Twinetail cried as he choked on his coughs.
Seabane sighed, trying to control his anger.
"We'll make it yew, we always have! An yer mother will be fine! Sathe's takin' care of her."
"But I'm cold, I wanna stop and sleep!" Ripeye moaned.
"An I'm hungwy!" Twinetail added through his chattering teeth.
"Iv we stop we'll never get up again," Seabane wiped at the frost that had accumulated on his face with the back of his paw.
"Our best chance is to keep moving."
Ruddy broke into a mad cackling as he swayed side to side, Seabane struggled to keep upright as he did so.
"Haw! Next time yew two will see 'er is when ye enter the gates of the Dark Forest!" Ruddy broke into unhinged laughter, as Ripeye and Twinetail continued to wail.
"Shuddup yew idjit!" Seabane barked at Ruddy before turning to the two weasels.
"Don't listen tah Ruddy, he's just an empty-headed toad!" Seabane said with gruff reassurance.
"Don't call me Ruddy!" Bloodclaw shouted at Seabane as he lurched into the rat, almost knocking him to the ground.
Seabane struggled to stay upright leaning heavily on the burning javelin which second as a walking stick.
"Yarr don't do that ye crippled fool! Why don't ye try carryin' me for a while!"
"I said don't call me Ruddy! Yew did it anyway!" The fox shouted at him, making Seabane's ears ring.
"Shuddup yew idjit! What else should I call ye!"
"Bloodclaw!" He roared, "I'm Bloodclaw! Yew maddened, toad-brained, wet-eared, tick-covered runt!" There was a far-off look in the fox's eyes, but he seemed to be showing more life than before. An idea sprung to mind.
"Why shouldn't I? Ruddy's all I know ye as anyways. I forgot, what am I supposed to call ye?" Seabane asked as he wound drunkenly around the trees.
"That's not my name! I'm Bloodclaw and I'm the greatest warlord Mossflower's ever seen!" The fox bellowed at him.
"Really, the greatest? I don't see him anywhere. Do you know where he is Ruddy?"
"I am him! And he is I! And I am Bloodclaw! The greatest warrior!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Ruddy me matey now I'm confused. I heard the 'greatest warlord Mossflower's ever seen' is here, but I still can't see 'em. Who is it? An where is he?" Seabane asked as flurries whipped at his face.
"I am Bloodclaw! I am the greatest warlord and warrior ever was and will ever be!" The fox howled into the night.
"Who?" Seabane shouted back. Ripeye and Twinetail attempted to muffle their laughter.
"I am Bloodclaw!"
Ruddy's tilted his head back as he continued shouting without further goading from Seabane.
Who knew such little prodding was enough to have the fox shouting his lungs out? Seabane thought to himself.
Immature as Ruddy was, it was amusing to Ripeye and Twinetail who seemed more than content to tease the delusional beast. Hopefully, it was enough to keep them inspired to survive the blizzard.
Seabane hobbled along with the delirious fox and the sick weasel kits attached awkwardly at his side. Ruddy swayed back and forth as Seabane pulled him forward still howling his greatness into the deaf wind. The weather showed no signs of relenting. The night sky was obscured by a dark blanket. The trees with their dead branches jutted out at dangerous angles threatening to strike the vermin down at any moment. Seabane had lost Marrow, Sathe, and Crooksnout's trail in the storm but hoped that they wouldn't have diverted their course in the manic escape. He knew that they were as good as dead once the light from his torch went out.
"Where are ye fools!" Seabane muttered as he fought against the wind.
"I am Bloodclaw, tha warlord dat crushed the hares… no badgers of Salamandastron! An I conquered the great hordes of Zidar the Mole of the north! I fear nothing! Death runs from me!" Ruddy continued to cry out, in spite of the storm.
"Shuddup yew idjit!" A voice snapped back from the darkness.
"Who's there!" Seabane waved his torch about searching for the source of the voice.
"Whooooooooooooo said dat!" Ruddy bellowed back.
"Who dare insult the greatest warrior in the land!" Ruddy waived back and forth.
"Shuddup!" Seabane snapped at the fox.
"Who are ye? Show yerselves!"
Seabane waved his torch about in the darkness, hoping to see whatever was out there before it saw him. He pulled Ruddy and the kits tightly towards himself as he did so. They couldn't win a fight in their current state, but Seabane was prepared to do whatever he could to survive. Including begging.
"Seabane is that yew?" Crooksnout called as he appeared in the torchlight with Sathe on his heels. The weasel's face was covered in frost and he slogged through the snow with a frigid gate.
Seabane felt his shoulders droop as Ripeye and Twinetail called out to their father.
"Halt who goes there, scum!" Ruddy shouted at the two fellow deserters.
"Oh, shuddup Ruddy! We could hear ye from across the forest!" Sathe barked back at the fox. Her dark cloak looked as if it burdened her as she carefully followed the trail made by Crooksnout. As she moved parts of the cloak hung awkwardly as they were frozen in air.
"I'll have yew cut tah bits for that!"
Ruddy took a step away from Seabane before falling flat on his face. Blood pooled from his leg.
Seabane swore before spiking his javelin into the ground and moving to flip Ruddy over. Ripeye and Twinetail crawled out of the fox's arms. The fox looked up lucidly, his eyes flickered open and closed.
"Look at me fool!" Seabane cried as he searched for the wound.
Seabane pulled the fox's kilt away from his legs. The javelin had struck the inside of his left thigh just below his groin at an odd downward angle. The wound wrapped from the inside of his leg to just above the knee. The javelin had cleanly gone through fur, skin, and muscle, leaving a twisted hole in its wake. One could see bloody snow through it if looking at the right angle. Seabane immediately began packing snow into the wound trying to stem the flow of blood.
Sathe sauntered to the injured fox, to watch Seabane from over his shoulders.
"Yer better off makin' him comfortable than tryin' to fix that." She said without looking at him.
Seabane didn't hear her as he ripped off a portion of the fox's checkered kilt and tied it around his leg stopping the flow of blood. Seabane worked to unbuckle his belt, but his frozen claws made the task almost impossible. Eventually, he managed to remove his belt. He ripped his cutlass free and threw it into the snow. As fast as his trembling claws allowed him, he wrapped it around the fox's upper thigh before pulling it tight with as much force as he could muster.
"It'd be better if we leave him and find some shelter," Sathe added with a clear disinterest.
"Shuddup Sathe! Shuddup!" Seabane whirled about.
"If ye don't get that fox upright in the next minute, I'll… I'll skin ye alive and leave ye here tah freeze!"
Sathe scrunched her nose but smartly didn't snap back. She moved to grab the fox's shoulders and haul him upright.
Seabane looked at Crooksnout who laboriously carried his three kits on his back and in his good arm.
"We need tah get out of this storm before we all freeze."
"We keep moving," Seabane struggled to catch his breath. He recovered his cutlass and brushed the fresh snow from it.
"An what if we don't find shelter? What if we don't find Silvertongue and Marrow?" Crooksnout asked as he watched Sathe struggle to haul the unconscious fox upright.
"They'll be fine!" Seabane snapped at Crooksnout as he struggled to lift the fox onto his back.
"Forget about them, just worry about us!" Sathe barked at them both.
"Be quiet, wench!" Crooksnout shot back.
"Shuddup yew two! We're running out of time!" Seabane said with a twinge of terror as he turned and trudged awkwardly into the hostile storm.
Seabane led the sad, blinded, and desperate procession forward for what seemed like hours. Each step became more and more laborious as the numbing cold turned his legs into frozen weights. His grip on his cutlass had grown weaker and he leaned heavily on the javelin as he carried the weight of the fox. Luckily the wind and snow harassed them with less ferocity, but the night sky was still obscured by clouds and the light from his javelin appeared to have only minutes remaining.
"Don't worry we're almost there Ruddy," Seabane repeated to the fox who had fallen silent long ago.
The only sign of life from the fox was his shallow breathing and his heartbeat which was becoming fainter by the minute. He needed to find shelter soon.
Seabane stopped for a moment to catch his breath and look behind him. Sathe and Crooksnout trailed a short distance away. Sathe blended into the darkness around her and rode on the heels of Crooksnout who carried his freezing and coughing kits. Crooksnout looked like he was on the verge of collapse, the only thing keeping him from doing so was the knowledge that if he stopped his kits would die.
They hadn't seen or heard any signs of life in the storm. Every burrow and campfire must've been covered completely in snow that rose to Seabane's knees at this point. They had broken free of the forests and were walking through a great clearing. The wind whipped at the banks of snow around them and threw it into their faces with more ferocity than when they were in the protection of the trees.
Seabane grit his teeth as he pushed himself forward, leaning heavily on the javelin. He didn't see the earth fall away at his feet but felt the end of the spear break through the snow. Seabane cried for help as he tumbled into a ditch.
"Seabane!" Sathe called from atop the slope.
Seabane had landed hard on his chest and gasped as the cold air and snow entered his lungs, sending waves writhing through him. The javelin had broken on the fall, its fire extinguished.
"I'm fine," Seabane said after he had regained his breath. Groping about in the darkness he found Ruddy, who was still breathing but motionless. He looked up in the darkness and saw Sathe and Crooksnout staring down at him.
The ditch was deeper than Seabane was tall. It was just over two arm lengths wide and the snow at the bottom rose to Seabanes ankles. Looking down the length of the ditch it was impossible to see how long it really was due to the darkness. The wind howled above him but Seabane couldn't feel its bite.
"Come down here the wind's weaker."
Crooksnout and Sathe slid down into the ditch, weakly running into and snapping at each other in the process. Seabane moved along the darkness of the ditch using one paw to brace himself on its cool face while he held the unresponsive Ruddy. Moving further down the ditch he found that the wind couldn't reach them as the top of the ditch grew to tower even higher above his head.
Exhausted Seabane slumped to his knees against the inclined earth. Crooksnout and Sathe followed suit. Ripeye, Twinetail, and Fenril huddled tightly in their father's arms. While Sathe lay in a ball next to them.
Seabane took a few moments to catch his breath before croaking out orders.
"We… we need to build a fire. I kin go back and grab the javelin, Crooksnout ye and Sathe kin move the snow-"
"Seabane," Crooksnout said between pants. "Please, let me rest with my kits!"
"We'll be dead if we don't get warm!"
"We're going to be anyway." The weasel snapped, before retreating into defeated silence.
"Ye dragged us out here for a better life and we're freezin' tah death because ov it!"
"But-" Seabane started before being interrupted.
"Please, jus' give it a rest..."
Seabane lowered his head against the cold dirt of the ditch. Ruddy lay closely aside him. Seabane looked up into the blank darkness above him. He had done his best, but he supposed his luck would eventually run out.
As Seabane's eyes began to slowly slide shut, he heard a large huff of air down the ditch to his right.
"What was that!" Crooksnout hissed. Sathe stared with large dark eyes into the darkness behind Seabane.
Slowly Seabane turned his head. He couldn't see anything. But then he heard a huff of air and could see a faint white plume. A pair of red eyes peered back with malicious intent.
"Marrow!" Seabane said as he found the strength to sit upright.
The white rat blinked in surprise and said nothing.
"Where's Silvertongue?" Crooksnout managed to sit upright as well.
Marrow appeared to roll over. Through the darkness, Seabane could see the outlines of Silvertongue and Herrik.
Crooksnout frantically stood up and stumbled over to where the rat lay. Collapsing in an exhausted heap along with his kits next to his mate. Seabane and Sathe managed to get to their footpaws and carry Ruddy over to the white rat before they collapsed to the ground. Sathe shivered uncontrollably and wrapped Fox's tail around her neck.
Seabane lay at the edge of the freezing vermin and looked up at the few white flakes spiraling down towards them. He lay watching his breath obscure his vision in a trance-like state, the cold working his way up from his numb claws.
"I don't think ye have much a clue on what tah do next do ye?" Seabane asked Marrow as he stared into the sky above him.
"We here!" Marrow answered with more emotion than he had ever done before.
Seabane looked over with a confused glance. The white rat wore an unnerving smile from ear to ear.
"Look! Look!" Marrow grunted eagerly while pointing to the top of the ditch.
Confused Seabane looked at the other vermin. They paid him no heed as they were all desperately clinging to whatever warmth they had left. Slowly and silently Seabane crawled on his belly to the top of the ditch. If they were going to die, then he might as well what's gotten Marrow so excited?
Seabane hauled himself upwards, ignoring the frozen stones and twigs that ground into him. As he poked his head over the lip of the ditch a blast of wind and snow met him, momentarily blinding the rat. As he was temporarily blinded great peals of ringing filled his ears. He rubbed at them, but the ringing didn't stop. Enraged, he furiously cleared the ice and snow from his eyes and managed to regain his vision.
Seabane's mouth dropped open in shock.
Less than a bow shot in front of him, illuminated by torchlight, lie the great gates of Redwall Abbey.