Author's Note: Part 5 of Chapter 17
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries and predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." ~William Faulkner.
"Go! Run! Get back to Redwall Abbey!"
Jared waved to everyone to keep on running. He held back a tree branch for Madeline and Antonius to dash by him.
Thwack! It whipped Zakrul smack in the face. The black rat cried out in surprise and pain. Jared turned and hurried after the others.
"Are you crazy, Tinarandel?!" Zakrul rubbed his nose. "How many times are you going to keep doing that?!"
"Up here!" Evelyn scaled an elder tree all the way up to the Abbey's eastern wall. Larina and Peter followed close behind. Evelyn took her daughter by the waist. Together, they slid down a lengthy vine onto the ramparts. Peter leaped from a branch onto the stone battlements, then onto the wall beside his family.
Jared and Madeline stopped at the threshold. Jared held out his sticks out in front of himself. Left foot forward and bent, rear leg straight to push his body. Madeline assumed her Lunkuthwo ready stance.
"You go!" Jacob ushered them into the Front Gate, followed by Laurel. "I'll hold them off!"
"But, Jacob-" protested Madeline.
"I won't tell you again!" Jacob waited until "Zagreb" had also passed through. Slam!
"Jacob!" Madeline pounded on the closed gate in vain. "Jake, wait!"
"No time, Maddie!" Jared grabbed his sister's paw to hurry her through the Gate. "We gotta go!"
Outside, Jacob drew his sabre. Dagger gripped in his offpaw behind himself. Vadír, Zakrul, Nazithail, Khaimtsu, Gorsespot, and two others he did not recognize, encircled him.
"All right, gentlebeasts," the canine growled, tightening his sabre grip. "Let's dance!"
He parried Zakrul's longsword and riposted into the rat's collarbone. Zakrul growled and recoiled at the sabre tip pressing into his armor.
The wolf then turned to contain Nazithail's blade in a prise de fer. Then diverted it away and struck the fox's chest in the same motion.
"Why is this not my day?!" Nazithail whined as he staggered backwards. He tripped over a tree root and fell flat onto his back.
Jacob feinted away from Vadír's battleaxe. "For the Northlands!" He returned into a counter-compound attack to confound the feline. "Trompment!"
The wildcat grimaced. The sabre pierced between his ribcage and stomach.
Jacob delivered a final heavy uppercut to his chin. One down for the count.
Nazithail leaped back in for another attack. Jacob brought his dagger around: it caught the fox's blade the same as before.
Jacob twisted and dropped it. Only to catch it again underneath.
He jabbed the tip into Nazithail's shoulder. Then beaned him with the hilt. It knocked the fox out cold.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Dragel's officers took him by surprise and disarmed him. He dropped into a wrestler's starting stance. Palms outwards on either side of himself.
Zakrul wiped blood from his mouth and spat on the ground. He then sheathed his sword, and advanced on Jacob.
Jacob cast his mind back to Brockhall. On pure instinct alone, he snapped into the same mindset he'd had there during his brawl with Jared. He moved into the same techniques, the same movements, the same wrestling.
Zakrul lunged to grapple Jacob. But the wolf bent down and tucked his head underneath the rat's chest.
He grabbed Zakrul's left leg and-Whooosh!-threw the rat off his feet and into the air.
He knocked the air out of his enemy by driving two consecutive fists into his stomach. Then he advanced on Dragel's three officers who had previously disarmed him.
He picked up Gorsespot by the legs and lifted him into the air. The rat flailed and kicked. But the howling Jacob spun and tossed him against one of the walls of the Abbey.
"Ooomph!" Gorsespot hit the red sandstone hard on his back and slumped to the ground.
Jacob brought his rear leg around to strike an ermine in the kneecaps. Kneeling, the ermine could not stop the growling wolf bearing down on him. Jacob threw two simultaneous fists into his enemy's chest to beat him down.
At last, he shot his ankle at Khaimtsu, who shrank away. But Jacob came on faster with the momentum of his steps.
One arm swung in an arc to slap the weasel's sword aside. Left footpaw whipped out and placed itself between the vermin's legs.
He grappled Khaimtsu's left leg and vice gripped the right. Then he stood up straight, taking the weasel with him.
"Hey, no fair!" Khaimtsu yelled. Jacob threw him off his feet. Then tripped him onto the forest floor.
One more…
He trapped an incoming fist from the remaining Terramort stoat. Swerved to his right to dodge the other. Leading leg jutted out at a slight angle in front of his rear foot.
Torso folded at a bent angle. Grips tightened around his enemy's clenched fists. The stoat hissed and bit back pain.
This time he placed his knee directly underneath the stoat's crotch. His eyes widened in horror before-
"Uuurrrgggh!"
The hardened kneecap colliding with his crotch knocked his nerves loose. Jacob threw the hardest kick he could muster into the stoat's chest.
The blow sent the poor vermin sailing away into the forest brush. The wolf gathered his weapons before he disappeared behind the Front Gate.
Nagrig sprinted at full speed up to the Gate-just before it slammed shut in his face. He pounded both fists on its wooden surface.
"Rrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhh!"
"Should we try to infiltrate the Abbey, brother?" Zakrul pushed himself to his feet, holding his stomach.
"No," Nagrig snarled and withdrew from the gate, dropping his paws by his sides. "They've won again this time. But the fourth time, they won't be so blessed. Let's call it off here. Come." He turned to lead the way down the road. "We have wounded troops to tend to."
The Redwallers had poured out to see the rescue party's safe return. The young maidens embraced and expressed concern for Larina and Madeline. The male teens admired "Zagreb's" costume.
Sister Falmur went straight to Antonius and Laurel to inquire about injuries. Jared and Madeline hugged each other tight in silence, well away from the assembly.
They both looked up when "Zagreb" approached them. The assassin dropped his hood and shed his mask.
"Ah, how exhilarating to be back in the thick of things again!" Fernleaf exhaled and breathed the fresh air. "Close combat never was my forte; but stealth wouldn't have gotten the job done as effectively, aye?" The ferret brushed back his flattened headfur. "Seasons, I was rusty out there, wasn't I? Though I think I made an impression on everyone. Deathblade's vermin, I mean."
"Was that really you there, Fernleaf?" The wonderstruck Jared stared at him. "Or was that Zagreb?"
"Perhaps me, perhaps him." A knowing smile was the ferret's only reply. "Perhaps both of us."
"How did you even find Deathblade's camp?" Madeline asked. "You weren't part of the rescue party. We never even knew you'd followed us until you revealed yourself."
"I told you, Maddie," Fernleaf chuckled, holding his mask in both paws. "I've lived in these woods for decades. I know Mossflower like the inside of my own mask." He chuckled and inspected the said false face. "Zagreb's mask, that is."
"That's extraordinary…" Jared lifted the hem of the cloak. Fernleaf shed it for him to better examine. "This was your former costume as Zagreb?"
"As warm as a winter blanket, as black as a moonless and starless night." Fernleaf nodded. "Honestly, I'm surprised this whole suit still fits me." He looked himself over in his double-breasted tunic.
"And the mask?" Madeline pointed at it.
"Crafted by my former employer." Fernleaf held it out to her. She took and looked at it front and back. "Can't know who attacked you if you never see their face, right? Of course…"
He unsheathed one of his stiletto daggers. "...it'll hardly matter after you're already dead. Live by the sword, die by the sword, right?"
"Hey, I recognize that metal!" Jared reached out for the dagger; Fernleaf laid it flat in the squirrel's paw.
"Senshan blacksteel!" Jared held it with delicate fingers. "It's supposed to be the toughest metal on the entire planet. Said to be notoriously difficult to heat compared to Githinsteel. So it's less common in weapons."
"So you've been to Senshan, Fernleaf?" Madeline asked, intrigued.
"Only once," he admitted. "And once was enough. Many decades ago, I visited the Gyuro province at the behest of my employers to get blacksteel daggers commissioned. These very daggers…"
Jared returned the stiletto to him. He gazed at it top to bottom, smiling with pride. "Which have been the deaths of many unfortunate beasts. Male and female, young and old, commoner and noble alike."
"Well, in any case." Jared handed Fernleaf back his cloak. "Welcome back, Zagreb. And thank you for your help."
"We'll hope to see more of you around." Madeline giggled and returned the ferret's mask. "No matter who you are-Fernleaf or Zagreb-you're still our dear ferret friend. We may need your assassination skills again in the near future."
"Whatever it takes to defend Redwall and Mossflower, and especially you two, from Deathblade's clutches." Fernleaf draped his cloak over his shoulder and tucked his mask under one arm. "I will call upon every skill of the assassination arts I know."
Scampering footpaws made him and Jared turn around. Jacob came hurrying towards them. The wolf bent over to catch his breath, paws on his knees.
"Jake!" Madeline immediately hurried up to him. She put a paw on the wolf's shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'll be okay, Maddie." Jacob patted her on the shoulder for comfort. "I've driven off Deathblade's lieutenants, and a few of Dragel's as well. They won't chase us anymore."
"Seems Deathblade and Dragel will be licking their wounds for the coming days." Fernleaf mused aloud. "Still, that doesn't mean we should rest on our laurels. I sense our final climactic battle is fast approaching. Redwall must be ready, sooner rather than later."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Jacob agreed, and the Sandeyes both nodded.
"Jared! Madeline!" Fanistra came up to the Sandeyes, followed by Lunafreya and Sister Falmur. She took them both in her arms to press them to her chest.
"Oh, thank the seasons! Thank Martin the Warrior! Thank your Eastern ancestors! When Curtis told us what had happened, I got so fearful for your lives. Oh, thank goodness you're both alive!"
She wept and sniffled and kissed them both on the forehead and cheeks. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! If I had lost you both, I don't know what I would've done…"
"We're okay, Fanistra!" Jared pulled himself free of the black-brown mouse's chest, exhaling. "Shaken up, but we're okay."
"Yeah, we thought we'd go in and rescue Jared and the Skyleafs," Madeline perched her chin on Fanistra's collarbone. "But Jared ended up rescuing us!"
"As long as you are all here, you and your friends," Fanistra touched a paw each to their cheeks. "That's all that matters. Oh, my sweethearts…" She touched their faces to her forehead. "My dear, beloved, son and daughter Sandeyes…"
"But what's that I smell on you, Jared?" Lunafreya sniffed the air. "Smells like…sweat? Blood? Dirt?" She leaned in to sniff the male Sandeye sibling. "Water? Grog?"
"All of the above?" Jared raised an eyebrow at her.
"Please tell me that ain't your blood!" Falmur half-pleaded, half-demanded.
"Okay, some of it's my blood," Jared admitted, and none present could doubt his honesty. "But the rest of it's vermin blood, too!" he hastened to add, seeing the Sisters' expressions of fear.
"That won't do, young beast." Lunafreya wagged a clawed finger at him. "We will need to give you…a bath."
All the color drained from Jared's face. "A-a bath?" He backed away from Fanistra, out of her reach. "Erm…no thank you, Badgermum! I'm fine! Just need a change of clothes and I'll be golden!" He broke into a trot towards the Great Hall.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Falmur caught him by the collar of his tunic shirt. The hedgemaid pulled him to her side. "You are dirty to the bone! Prince or not, Tinarandel, we demand that you receive a bath! Now! Downstairs to the bathing room!"
"What?! No-Gack!"
"You heard me! Come, Prince Tinarandel! Time for your royal bath!" Falmur dragged Jared by the ear in the direction of the Abbey proper, followed by the giggling ladies. Even Fernleaf and Jacob couldn't hold back their laughter.
"Maddie! Help! I'm being kidnapped again!"
"Not this time, Jared! You brought this one on yourself!"
Downstairs in the Abbey's bathing room, Jared sulked inside of a round wooden bathtub. The adult maidens-Lunafreya, Fanistra, Falmur, Amelia, and even Friar Reylia-all set to work on him. They scrubbed and brushed and wiped his body clean of the foul vermin scents and liquids. But still he scowled and grumbled and complained. Though the steamy warmth of the water eased his aches and pains.
"I'm not a Dibbun!" he argued while Lunafreya ran a brush through his headfur. "You don't need to treat me like I'm a child!"
"Child or not, you are an absolute mess, Tinarandel!" The Badgermum worked soap into his bangs and between his ears. "Filthy, filthy, filthy…"
The Dibbuns all pointed and laughed at him. They rolled around on the floor, slapped their knees, and blew raspberries at him in uncontrollable hysterics.
"Filthy, filthy, filthy! Filthy squirrel! Filthy prince! Filthy boy!"
"Oh, grow up!" Jared stuck out his tongue at the little ones. Only to be cut off by Fanistra shoving a soap-soaked sponge right in his face.
"Close your eyes, darling." He did so, and she cleaned his face of sweat, dust, and dirt.
"This is ridiculous!" He blurted out after she'd finished. "Ah, kadiri'!"
"Did we get his footpaws and legs?" Falmur started to brush down his back. "And his armpits as well?"
"Burr aye, dat we did!" Amelia rubbed her brush up and down his chest and torso.
"What am I, some kind of unhygienic vermin?!" protested the teenager.
"A Prince must look his best!" Reylia asserted. She rubbed down his spine to the base of his tail, and back up again. "You cannot hold court or perform your princely duties in such a state as this!"
"For the last darn time, I'm fine!" Jared was half-arguing now. He tried to slip away out of their reach, but half-sunk under the water. "Just because I'm a Prince doesn't mean you need to preen and pamper me like one! I've got way more important things to worry about than how I look in court!"
"Pardon me, Your Highness, but did you see the state of yourself when you returned to Redwall?" Reylia pushed him onto his back and perched his legs on the edge of the basin. "Awfully unbefitting of one as distinguished as yourself! It just won't do; not in a royal court, nor anywhere else! Certainly not in Redwall Abbey! Now we really oughta wash between your legs, dear-"
"Icanwashdowntheremyselfthankyouverymuch!"
Larina, Jacob, and Fernleaf all filed into the bathing room. Fernleaf had already changed back into his typical khaki shirt and breeches. Jacob had his shirt draped over one arm. Larina wore the standard green novice's habit of Redwall's Order.
"Oh, my!" Larina stopped in her tracks at the sight of Jared sitting in the bathtub. "Is that…Jared?" Fernleaf and Jacob laughed out loud.
Her male friend ran a dripping wet paw through his bangs. Water oozed down over the layer of his lean muscled chest. Thin soap suds outlined his toned torso and stomach. Larina's ears and neck turned a furious shade of crimson.
"Yep." Madeline couldn't stop smirking.
"Is…?" Larina's cheeks blushed the same shade. "Is he…?"
"Oh, yes, he is," Madeline grinned, knowing exactly what Larina was asking.
"Oh, my…" Larina turned and hid her reddening face in one paw. "Excuse me, it's awfully improper of a lady to be having thoughts such as these. Goodness…" She held her other paw to her fluttering heart.
"All right, Jared, rinsing time!" Falmur announced.
"Finally!" Relieved, he relaxed in the tub to let the Sisters rinse him clean.
Reylia giggled as she cleaned her paws in the tub. "I'd love to stay and watch how this ends, but I've gotta go oversee dinner. You all have fun!" She hugged the Sandeyes, dried her paws, then left the bathing room, her wet towel draped over her arm.
"I'm sorry I wasn't more appreciative of this at the start." He spread his arms over the rim of the tub. "That's not at all princely of me, I know. I needed this. I really did."
"Well, we couldn't neglect our sacred duties as Sisters of Redwall, now could we?" Fanistra snorted, cleaning his stomach. "Besides, it's nothing short of a tremendous honor to help Your Highness."
"Oy naow, it be all roight, Jared, dear!" Amelia chuckled and ruffled his headfur. "Ee needed our 'elp, an' we were furst t' provoide!" The molemaid leaned down to plant a loving kiss on his cheek. "Dis was a real fun deloight, burr aye!"
"Thank you…" was all Jared could say. He looked each Sister in the eyes, and they acknowledged his sincerity. "All of you." He also washed his wooden sticks in the tub. They turned their backs while he changed into fresh clothes. Afterwards, the Sandeyes met the Skyleafs in the Great Hall.
"Jared! Madeline!" Evelyn hugged him tighter than Fanistra earlier had. "We have so many questions for you! So much we want to talk about!" She sounded relieved rather than suspicious.
"Aye, that we do." Peter likewise hugged Madeline and brushed headfur out of her eyes, still damp from her bath. "Where can we possibly start?"
"At the beginning, of course." Jared smoothed out his V-neck shirt after Evelyn let him go. "One question at a time. What do you want to know?"
"Ask away." Madeline took her brother's arm. "Nothing held back."
"First of all, those things." Evelyn pointed to the wooden sticks in Jared's paw. "What are they for?"
"How did you do that?" Peter came abreast of his wife. "Unleash such fury and anger and brutality upon our vermin captors? Such raw visceral aggression doesn't befit somebeast as prim and proper like you, Jared."
"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself," Larina nodded. "I've never seen a Wungkan style so…violent."
For a long moment, Jared did not answer. He only stared at the wooden sticks in his paw.
"Galit. 'Rage', in the Eastern language."
"Not exactly the easiest style of Wungkan, Eastern martial arts, to talk about." Madeline added. "Not the sort of thing you'd bring up for casual conversation around the dinner table."
"And, well, to put it simply…" Jared examined his sticks from top and bottom and side to side. "Its origins are still under research. That's all I'll say about it." He fidgeted, turning them over in his paw.
"You made a promise, Jared." Madeline reminded. She placed her other paw on her brother's chest. "Never to use it except as a last resort."
"And I kept that promise, didn't I?" Jared shrugged with the sticks. "I'm sure Guro Kinganst could've vouched for me."
"Kinganst?" asked Larina, stepping in between her parents.
"Jakeado Kinganst," Jared explained. "A mouse from Maraul. One of the best of the best-if not the very best. He trained our entire family, and many, many more. We have him to thank for all of our skills and abilities in Wungkan. We wouldn't have been able to take on the Guosim and Guoraf without him. And especially Deathblade."
"Did you say 'former'?" Evelyn tilted her head to one side.
"Yeah…" Jared nodded, eyes drooping downwards. "He…fell defending his students from Deathblade's forces…the day of his terrible invasion of the Islands."
"I see…" Larina too lowered her gaze in solemn respect. "I'm sorry…I would very much have loved to have met him. He sounded like a wonderful mouse indeed."
Evelyn opened her mouth to press further. But her husband's paw on her shoulder and shaking head stopped her short.
"My main speciality is in the Akret Branch of Wungkan," Jared explained. "But I got-"
He sighed and closed his eyes. "-overwhelmed by my emotions. Blinded by fury, anger, and hatred for Nagrig Deathblade and his vermin. They're the reason why our family is dead."
"So you resorted to rage to deal with our captors?" Peter tried his hardest not to sound judgmental or scrutinizing.
"They were going to kill me, Peter!" Jared snapped at the Skyleaf father. "Just like they killed our parents! Our eldest brother! And who knows how many more like them? And then they would've killed Madeline, too! And that would've been the end of us! The Sandeye bloodline!"
"Ah..." Peter backed up, holding up his palms. "Ah'm sorry, Jared, ah didn't mean to offend…"
"You heard what Deathblade said, Peter, remember?" Jared now advanced on Peter. His paw slipped from Madeline's. Grip tightened around his Galit sticks. "The bloodlines of Adam Corbeau and Faolis Starwalker, made extinct! The descendants of the exiled Chieftain Giodorr Adzi de Eolin, exterminated! He came so close! He could've won! I did what I had to do!" He pointed his sticks at himself. "So that Madeline and I and everyone else could all live another day!"
"Wait a minute." Madeline stared at her brother, wide-eyed and agape. "They know about Corbeau and Starwalker? And Adzi de Eolin?"
"Deathblade spilled the beans to them." Her brother turned round to her. "They know everything now. About our ancestors, our relatives, Mom and Dad and Edoran…everybody."
"And they're all your ancestors?" Peter raised his eyebrows. "Extraordinary…"
"Hold on a sec!" Larina held out a paw before anyone else could speak. "Deathblade said you're descended from Adam Corbeau? One of the Eight Kuanzai Warriors?"
"The drunken squirrel flute player with the unbreakable wrists?" Jared replied in his usual deadpan tone. "Yep."
"That…" Larina's eyes flicked sideways to think. "That actually makes so much sense…" Her voice dropped to a whisper as she retreated into her thoughts.
"I'm sorry for all the smoke and mirrors; I really am." Jared held a paw to his heart. "Madeline and I have had to keep all of this secret to protect Redwall and Mossflower. To keep them out of danger from individuals like Nagrig Deathblade. All we ask for is your understanding."
To his surprise but also relief, Evelyn took his face in her paws. "None of this is your fault, Jared. It's my fault for misjudging you, dahlin'. Ah shouldn't have been so awfully suspicious of you back at the garden. Too blind and proud to see the truth right in front of my face before. Ah want you to know that ah completely understand if you can't forgive foolish old me."
"I do, Evelyn." Jared tucked his sticks under his arm, then touched her paws. "Wholeheartedly and completely. I know what you learned is a lot to process. I understand if you start to think less of Madeline and I after this."
"We'll need time to get our dear heads around it all, fo'sho." Evelyn dropped her paws by her sides. "This changes everything we knew about you two."
"If it makes you reconsider your blessing for me to date your daughter," Jared voiced his innermost thoughts aloud. "I completely understand."
"There's still so much you need to know." Madeline came abreast of her brother. "But we want to wait until the Guosim and Guoraf get here. We promised them answers, too." She again held her brother's arm.
"We can wait until then." Evelyn nodded, then she walked past the Sandeyes in the direction of the stairs. "C'mon, let's go to dinner. I'm so hungry I could eat every fruit tree in the Orchard!"
Halfway down the spiral stairs to Cavern Hole, Larina stopped Jared. Her parents and Madeline continued on without noticing.
"If you're going to rail me about Galit…" She had pressed him up against the wall. Her paw lay in the dead center of his chest.
"Mark my words, I'm awful tempted to." Her hazel eyes blazed in the amber torchlight of the tunnel stairs.
"Duly noted." Jared held out the sticks to her. After some hesitation, she took them, holding them by the leather-wrapped sides. "I know this probably changes everything you ever thought about me…First Deathblade, then the Prophecy, Wungkan, my family bloodline…"
He held her delicately by the waist. "Maybe you want to reconsider how you feel about me. If you want to step away from this…whatever this is we've got going on…I'll support your decision."
Larina looked from the sticks to him. "In all the seasons I've known you, Jared…I never imagined you were ever capable of such violence. But that doesn't change the fact that you're my friend."
She formed an X-shape with his neck in between the sticks. "I've seen you fight before. Gavlin, Jacob, Log-a-Log Tiraqoo and Tipuka. I was there to see all of those fights. Granted, it was sparring. But I've seen what you're like when you get physical. And I saw how you and Maddie handled Deathblade."
"You think what I did was justified?" Jared scarcely flinched from the sticks crossed at his neck.
"Maybe what bothers me is not so much what you did…" Larina dropped the sticks from his neck and held them by her sides. "But more your reaction? How did it feel when you were beating them up with these things?"
"I…" Jared took a moment to think over his words. He averted his gaze at the torchlit stone corridor leading to Cavern Hole.
"I didn't exactly enjoy it. I couldn't take pleasure in the vermin's pain. It would've made me too much like them."
"What do you mean?" Larina furrowed her brow, leaning to one side to try to meet his eyes.
"They punched and kicked and slapped and stomped on me. Tossed me back and forth and around the group. Poured water and grog on me." Larina gasped and flinched. Jared still did not meet her eyes.
"So I wanted to make them suffer. I wanted to teach them a lesson in blood and suffering and pain. I wanted them to suffer like I'd suffered; like Madeline, you, Jacob, Fernleaf, Antonius, and Laurel were suffering. Like our good vermin friends who were conscripted into Deathblade's service were suffering. Like the Eastern Islands have suffered all these seasons. I wanted them to feel all of that anguish and grief and heartbreak and-"
He caught himself and turned back to Larina. She didn't seem inclined to say a word.
"I'm not proud of myself for doing it, Rina. I just…" He heaved a deep sigh. "...I lost control of myself. I wasn't thinking straight. Like…my own Bloodwrath…You don't have to be sympathetic towards me about it all."
"You're right, I don't." Larina pressed his sticks into his chest. "You can blame Deathblade and his vermin all you darn well please for what you did. What I won't have you do," she pointed an assertive claw upwards at him. "is wallow in self-pity about it. Selfishness ain't your type. It looks ugly on you, actually."
"So you're not cross with me about it?" Jared took the sticks back.
"Annoyed, maybe." Larina folded her arms over her chest. "But not cross or broken." She turned and made her way down the stairs. "You did what you had to do."
"I just want you to know, Rina," Jared rushed up beside her to rest a paw on her shoulder. She stopped and stared at him with curiosity. "That I know you've probably got a lot of feelings to deal with. You…you can always come talk to me about them. If you need to."
He turned crimson: she smiled, giggled, and kissed the back of his paw.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Yet, after dinner, Larina sat in bed. Knees pulled up to her chest. Arms wrapped around her shins. Chin resting on her kneecaps. Her parents sat on either side of her bed.
"I can't close my eyes…Every time I do, I see that vicious pervert fox bearing down on me." She shuddered and leaned into her parents' embraces.
"I reckon we could all benefit from staying together tonight," Evelyn suggested. She whimpered when her daughter hid her face behind her kneecaps.
"Aye, ah agree." Peter cradled his daughter in his arms. "After all we've been through today, we should stick together."
"We're just next door on your right side if you need us." Jared pointed to the left wall of Larina's bedroom. The squirrels shared final hugs.
He later hovered over the drawer where his Galit sticks had previously laid dormant.
"No." He laid them horizontal on his bedside table. "Not yet. I'll still need them."
"Hold a moment. I'd like to rest my legs. Let's call it a rest here. Guosim, take a break!"
"Company halt! At ease, Guoraf!"
The Guoraf and Guosim dispersed throughout the forest clearing. Tipuka dropped onto a large oak log and sighed.
"Are you all right, Tipuka?" Tiraqoo stood beside him.
"I'll be fine, cousin." Tipuka patted his kinsbeast on the back. "Been a long walk. Just need to rest my legs for a bit, and then we can continue." He adjusted his grip on his cane.
Tiraqoo nodded and dug into his travel pack, from which he withdrew a loaf of shrewbread wrapped in cloth. He broke off a hearty piece and passed it to Tipuka, who ate it gladly.
"Take all the time you need, Tipuka. We're getting quite close to Redwall."
"Can't wait to eat some of Redwall's leftover Nameday Feast food!" Gavlin grinned. "Are you gonna be okay, Uncle?"
"I promise I'm all right, Gavlin," he reassured his nephew. Tiraqoo gave the younger shrew a loving kiss on the forehead.
"Well, lookee what we have here!"
Many shrews struck fighting poses at the sudden voice of an unseen enemy. Gavlin and Tiraqoo snapped into their respective styles. Tipuka sat still, one paw around his cane. Ace, Tillie, and Samson all backed away from the rustling brush.
"Ambush!" Fritz announced. "T' arms, shrews!"
From out of the bushes emerged a hulking black-furred wolverine. He emerged in full view of the shrews.
"Shrews!" He licked and smacked his lips. "Fresh and healthy and ripe for the taking!"
"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Tiraqoo demanded. He stepped up in between the wolverine and his shrews. "Who are you to accost us on our travels through Mossflower, wolverine?"
"Gwaelog!" The wolverine jerked a thumb at himself with a sneer. "Of Terramort Isle! Heard through the grapevine that Redwall Abbey and the shrews of Mossflower are in alliance! We came out to see for ourselves if that were true!"
The forest shadows shifted around them. More vermin of various species materialized from within the undergrowth. They surrounded the shrews on nearly all sides. Most backed away or stepped closer to their fellows. But none dropped their Wungkan stances.
"Our leader Dragel will be most pleased." Gwaelog grinned from ear to ear. Bloodthirsty and sadistic. He pointed a claw at the shrews. "Take their supplies for our armies! No mercy for those who dare fraternize with Deathblade's mortal enemies! Let this be a harsh lesson to Redwall!"
"Oy!" A silver fox wielding a saber stormed up to Tipuka. "Gettup, oldbeast! Wat's da matta, yer legs all crippled? Ain'tcha gunna fight back-Yowch!"
Thwock!
Shinnng!
It all happened in less than a fraction of a second. Tipuka had kicked the butt of his cane into the silver fox's chin-and pulled out the top half.
The fox recoiled and staggered out of Tipuka's reach, holding his chin. Tipuka let a small smirk play on his lips. He moved his cane to his left paw, his exposed swordstick in his right. The blade glowed bright like a steel diamond in the golden morning sun.
"Well? Draw your swords if you have them!"
"Let's make this quick!" Tiraqoo brandished his rapier. Beside him, Gavlin twirled his. "We've got a rendezvous with Redwall! Blade Wungkan, Guoraf!"
"Attack, Guosim!" Tipuka bellowed rallying cries. "Strike for Mossflower! For the shrew unions! For our good vermin neighbors! For Redwall Abbey! For the Eastern Islands!"
"Slay them all!" commanded Gwaelog. "No quarter!"
The clashing of blades and roaring of battle cries filled the air. Tipuka and Tiraqoo counted twenty vermin at most.
"We're surrounded, Tip." Tiraqoo stood back-to-back. "Any bright ideas?"
Tipuka parried a strike from a stoat. He pushed the blade aside. Then kicked his foe in the stomach. The crumpled stoat reeled away into a tree trunk.
Gavlin forced a gray wildcat into another tree. He barraged the feline with Timakwo punches.
"Would that the Sandeyes and their friends were here." Tipuka twirled his rapier. "And Antonius and Laurel. That'd even the odds."
"Oy!" Tiraqoo shouted. He broke away to bolt towards Gwaelog.
"Tira, no!" Tipuka called after his second cousin to no avail. The stoat returning cut off any second attempt. He snapped into parrying and riposting.
The wolverine advanced on Ace, Tillie, and Samson. Claws and fangs bared.
Ace cried out first and dove in. The other two backed him up. Each managed to get a single slash onto the larger beast's frame.
"I'll crush you!" the bleeding Gwaelog thundered through his pain. He lifted his claws high over his head to bring them down upon the shrews. "Prepare to meet the Dark Forest!" All the color drained from his prey's faces.
"Get away from my Guoraf!" Tiraqoo threw himself in between his shrews and the wolverine.
He hurled a basic Kuanzai punch into his gut. Gwaelog crumpled inwards, paws to his stomach.
"Go, run!" He ordered his shrews. "Help your fellow shrews!"
"C'mon, mates! For the Guoraf!" Ace led the way through the forest clearing. They slashed and punched and kicked at every vermin in their path.
Tiraqoo had barely a second before his enemy glared back.
Gwaelog backpawed Tiraqoo across the face. He hit a tree trunk and slumped onto the grass.
"Log-a-Log!" Tillie cried after him. She and the other two also stopped.
"I'm fine, keep going!" Tiraqoo called after them. They turned their backs and disappeared into the forest brush. Gwaelog could only roar in defeated frustration.
"Tiraqoo!" His cousin's cry broke through the din. Gwaelog glanced in his direction. A pair of Githinsteel rings soared through the air towards Tiraqoo.
He seized the moment and ducked beneath the wolverine's arcing claws. The rings slipped onto his wrists with ease.
Bong! He clapped the rings together. The resounding metallic echo flooded the combatants' ears. Gwaelog recoiled, screaming.
The Githinsteel rings blocked a rat's blade in the nick of time. Tiraqoo incapacitated him using Gromzayl Kundun's throat lock and joint breaks to disable his pressure points.
"Here and now we shall redeem ourselves!" Tiraqoo twirled into his standard Kuanzai ready stance. "Deathblade shall never humiliate the Guosim and Guoraf ever again! Eight Kuanzai Warriors, guide me!"
"So be it, shrew!" Gwaelog bared his claws and fangs the same as before, advancing on Tiraqoo. "To HellGates with your supplies! I'll devour you myself!"
Against Gwaelog, Tiraqoo moved through the Kuanzai Warriors faster than the wolverine's brain could keep up. As though he had combined all eight into one. He dodged, ducked, and dove in, around, and even underneath the hulking vermin. Gwaelog growled and roared and labored for breath. But his movements were clumsy and heavy, compared to the swifter and more agile shrew.
Tiraqoo's rapier blocked his claws. Legs caught his and forced them to the ground.
A sidestep and a spin. Gwaelog hit the dirt flat on his face and stomach.
Tipuka watched in awe as his fellow shrews held their own against the evil vermin. Helping not only themselves but also each other.
Saffron and Fritz toppled a tall wearat. The former even beat on his skull like her gong. Fritz delivered a hard kick to his rear.
Phoebe gave a pine marten a disciplinary slap across the face. Taken by surprise, he could not defend himself from Ace's Inijashi punches to his kidneys.
Matilda and Therese in tandem pulled a wearet onto his stomach. The shrew chef spanked him with her wooden ladle. While the head nurse poured ice-cold water into his face.
Gelaea exchanged blades with a second pine marten. She locked it in hers and twisted her body sideways to evade his arcing dagger.
Then she uppercutted his chin. Tipuka stunned him with "Wolverine and Heron Twin Figure Fist" maneuvers.
"Yeah, teamwork!"
"Excellently fought, Galaea!"
Ace and Samson beaned the gray wildcat on the skull in unison. Tillie punched him in the stomach for good measure. Gavlin kicked him in the tailbone. The feline fell flat onto his chest, unconscious.
The foursome shared a high-five before leaping back into the fight. Gavlin and Remy engaged a weasel and ermine pair.
"Yah!" The weasel yelped and dropped his sword. Gavlin with deft skill had twisted his blade sideways to cut the vermin's dorsum. The subsequent hammering of fists knocked him out cold.
Remy sidestepped a lunge from the ermine. Gavlin drove his blade through the foe's basket hilt.
The desperate ermine pulled to wrench his locked hilt free. But Remy lunged in.
He threw his elbow into the ermine's lower jaw. The vermin reeled with his sword slipping from his grip.
Remy's low palms slapped his unarmored throat and neck. Gavlin separated the two swords and tossed the other one aside.
The ermine screamed too late. Remy moved faster than lightning.
Chain punches forced the ermine onto his back. Each faster than the next. Compounding and concussive from chest to face. The ermine's ruined body flopped, limp and indisposed.
Ruth fought her enemies bare-pawed. Through her Halichit she redirected their strength back onto them. She flowed like river water maneuvering betwixt rocks, a bird through tree branches, a snake constricting around its captive prey.
"Hisss!" She snapped up from an "adder creeps down" stance. Two-pronged fingers jabbed a wearet in the eyes. "Feel the wrath of the striking adder!" Blinded, the wearet lifted his fists to bring them down upon Ruth's head.
But Ruth caught them by the wrists. Whoomph! Thrown straight into his chest. They struck a pectoral each, staggering the wearet.
She drew her Najijiat to parry a blow from a sable who had come to help. Remy tackled from behind. A paralyzing fist to the cranium knocked him out of the action.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Remy drew his sword and stood abreast of his sister.
"I had this under control!" Ruth rolled her eyes at her brother but smiled all the same.
The wearet propped himself up on his elbows. The shouting shrew siblings leaped onto him.
He arced his claws towards Ruth. But she spun around to evade him. Remy sidestepped into her place.
He seized the wearet's arm to pull his attempted attack across his body. The whiplash rippled through the vermin's spine and arm joints.
He launched at Ruth again. But her palms pushed his forehead and chest in unison. The block returned him to the ground.
His occiput dashed hard against a rock. He blacked straight out.
"Retreat!" ordered Gwaelog. Dirt coated his entire body. He held both paws to his stomach and stumbled backwards towards the forest. "Fall back to camp!" His troops picked up their unconscious or otherwise incapacitated comrades.
"This ain't over!" he snarled at the shrews. "You haven't seen the last of us! Dragel shall have his bloody vengeance! Deathblade will have his prey!"
"Not if we've got anything to say about it!" Tipuka pointed his blade at them.
"Now get out!" Tiraqoo shouted after them.
"Celebrate all ya want!" The silver fox shook his fist at the shrews. "But we'll getcha back fer it! So swears Shankorok!"
With that, they disappeared back into the forest from whence they came.
"We can celebrate once we get to Redwall!" Tiraqoo turned tail and broke into a run. "Let's go!"
The shrew unions reached Redwall Abbey in short order. Wyatt delivered the news to Abbot Curtis ("The Guosim and Guoraf have arrived!"). He let them inside without hesitation. The main force stood guard out on the Lawns. Tipuka and Gavlin, and Tiraqoo and Saffron, all marched inside.
"So, lemme get this straight...This ancient prophecy of yours…this is why Nagrig Deathblade is after you?"
The shrews had gathered in one of the Abbey's many common rooms. Tipuka held a mug of Strawberry Fizz halfway to his lips. He stared straight at the Sandeyes, standing to his left.
"All this time…Jared and Madeline Sandeye are actually royalty from the Eastern Islands…and connected to a grand prophecy! Tinarandel and Isidith…" Tipuka beamed at them both. "Crown Prince and Princess of Maraul. It is a wonder beyond measure to meet you both."
"So that's why Deathblade called you by those names!" realized Evelyn.
"He was right!" added Peter. "They are your true names!"
"There's still so much we don't know about the Sandeyes," Larina thought aloud. "But it's all so intriguing, I can't keep it off my mind!"
"And descendants of Adam Corbeau himself!" Tiraqoo held a paw to his heart, awed. He held a mug of Nutbrown Beer in his other paw. "I am utterly wonderstruck in your presence, Sandeyes. Oh, if only your ancestor was here to see you!"
"So, you don't think it's bad that we've kept these secrets from you?" Jared rested his palms on the room's large rectangular maple table. "It's…been a tendency of beasts to get bent up over them."
"Bad?" Tipuka laughed and took a quick sip of his fizz. "Far from it, my lad! I think it's spectacular! And…" The Log-a-Log gulped and put down his mug on the table, looking rather remorseful.
"I must apologize for how I acted back at Brockhall. The entanglement with Nagrig Deathblade had made me…heated. And I got carried away with my authority. I know it was wrong of me to assert myself. Had I known earlier what I know about you two now…I wouldn't have treated you as subordinates, but as equals. I understand if I don't deserve your royal pardons, and-What on earth?!"
Much to his great astonishment, the Sandeyes chuckled into their paws. Even Abbot Curtis stared at them confused. The mouse had his paws folded within the large sleeves of his habit.
"Log-a-Log, Tipuka, sir," Jared explained through his chuckling. "With all due respect…Please relax. You really think we're going to punish you for something like that? We may be royalty, but we don't have the authority to match. Not here in Mossflower, at least."
"It's water under the bridge, sir," Madeline flashed the Guosim Log-a-Log a warm and reassuring smile. "Everything's all right now."
Paw to his heart, Tipuka bowed his head in silence. Then he took up his drink again.
"All right, back to the matter at paw." Jared stared around the room. "Nagrig Deathblade has an army. He'll take down Redwall Abbey with both physical and psychological might. We saw one of his reinforcements from Terramort at Brockhall."
"Dragel." Madeline shuddered, and her brother took her in his protective arms.
"That same evil sable who molested you!" Saffron clenched her fists and glared, growling. "He'll get his just desserts, I'll make sure of it!"
"He almost had his way with me again last night." Madeline shuddered and whimpered. Jared held her closer with his arms underneath her chest. "We tried so hard to rescue Jared and the Skyleafs, but…things went sideways."
"And to think that Jared used a violent Wungkan style…" Tiraqoo pointed out, but sounded neither judgmental nor condemning. "I can't fathom the emotions you must've been overwhelmed with to force you to resort to Galit, the 'Rage' style. I'm so sorry, Jared…"
"Dragel's and Deathblade's forces are legion." Jared explained to the shrews. "We may have your numbers, but even then they might not be enough."
"We've gotta do somethin'!" Saffron exclaimed. She hit a fist into her other paw. "We've gotta free our good vermin frien's from Deathblade's iron fist! We can't let those monstrous vermin overwhelm us! No matter how many there are, we've gotta fight back!"
"And we certainly can't let them demolish the Abbey to get to the Sandeyes, either!" Gavlin hit his fist on the tabletop.
"We've spent the last couple of days since the tournament gathering our forces from across the forest," Tiraqoo explained. "The Guosim and Guoraf are yours to command, Tinarandel and Isidith." He hit a fist to his heart and bowed his head. Saffron did likewise.
"But even then, will you be enough?" Curtis spread his arms. "I mean no disrespect. You shrews are many. But still we run the risk of being overwhelmed by Deathblade."
"Claybelle."
All eyes turned again to the Guoraf Log-a-Log. Even Tipuka gaped at him.
"Who, sir?" Jared asked.
"Log-a-Log Claybelle," Tipuka clarified. "Of the Guosssom, the South Stream Shrews. But are you sure, Tira? We both know Clay can be a…temperamental sort."
"It may be our last hope, Tip." Tiraqoo shook his head. "I don't much like imposing on Clay, either. But surely she's heard of the crisis as much as we have now."
"Even then, she might not be able to come." Tipuka insisted. "The Great South Stream is known to be treacherous at this time of year."
"Okay, so she's not a choice." Jared waved a paw to bring the discussion back on track. "What about the Long Patrol?"
"From Salamandastron?" Curtis stared at the squirrel, worried. "They might not get here in time."
"But surely they know what's been going on!" Evelyn insisted. "Can't Badger Lord Tonndel Moon-Claws spare at least a platoon of hares?"
"Why not the Fur and Foot Fighters Border Patrol?" suggested Madeline. "And the Sleeper groups?"
"They don't usually patrol as far as Redwall." Curtis shook his head. "Honestly, the only times they ever do come over is for a feast."
"What about the Lilygrove Scout Corps?" Larina suggested. "When's the last time we were in contact with them?"
"Goodness, it's been a good while since we've last heard from them." Curtis scratched his head. "I remember they were here for my Golden Jubilee feast. But since then, I've seen neither hide nor tail of any of their members. And besides, they're more scouts, trackers, and rangers than real fighters."
"Evelyn, you mentioned those foxes who live in the gorge to the far northeast." Jared nodded at the Skyleaf mother, who perked up at her name. "Maybe they can help us?"
"Now that you mention it, that ain't a bad idea." Evelyn nodded. "Perhaps we can try reaching out to them for help."
"So that's it?" Peter, looking cross, furrowed his brow. "Just us and the shrews? We're completely on our own?"
"Completely would be an overstatement, Mr. Skyleaf." From the corner of the room, Fernleaf leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You have young Jacob Atherson as well…and you have me."
"And where would we be without you and your mastery of the healing arts, Fernleaf?" Tipuka beamed at the ferret. But he failed to notice the discreet wink and smile the ferret gave the Sandeyes.
"But that's still only two extras!" Evelyn threw her paws up in the air. "We ain't ever gonna measure up to Deathblade's great hosts!"
"Not quite." Madeline's thoughtful voice cut through the Skyleaf's mother's desperation.
"What do you mean, 'not quite', Maddie?" Peter asked, more curious than indignant.
"Remember the second to last line of the Prophecy?" Madeline raised a knowing finger. "'Lost ones return from a realm beyond.'"
"Timms and Jonathan told me as much about that, yes," Curtis returned his paws inside his habit sleeves. "They've pinned it down to pure speculation, of course; but its possible meaning should not be ruled out."
"As in, the spirits of the dead can return from the Dark Forest…" Tipuka tried to organize his thoughts. "...and manifest in the mortal plane?"
"It's not improbable, when you think about it." Tiraqoo added. "Redwall Abbey has never been any stranger to supernatural occurrences. Martin the Warrior himself protects it, doesn't he?"
"And where Martin walks," A knowing smile played at Gavlin's lips. "His Champion of Redwall will follow."
"Aye!" Saffron bounced on the balls of her feet, eyes twinkling with anticipation. "Who is Martin's proclaimed Abbey Warrior, I wonder? Th' great wielder o' his legendary Sword? Th' ordained defen'er? Who is it, who is it, who is it?!"
"It's me."
Jared stood at his fullest height, confident, radiant as though all the morning sunlight concentrated on him.
"The day Nagrig Deathblade first came here, I received a vision from Martin himself. He declared to me that I am to be his Champion. I will wield his legendary Sword. I've had it on my mind ever since then. Even while I fought at Brockhall, I kept it there. I never let the thought leave. Now we've all seen what Deathblade is capable of. The lengths to which he will go to achieve his diabolical goal. The fact that this crisis has escalated far beyond anything we can control now…"
He chose his next words carefully.
"I've procrastinated long enough. I need to take up the mantle of Champion of Redwall. Of Abbey Warrior. I must pick up the Sword of Martin. Once and for all."
Sunlight glinted off of the great blade of Martin the Warrior's Sword. The words "I Am That Is" glowed in the ethereal golden rays of that autumn morning. The sun outlined its three fullers and illuminated its red pommel stone. Its black leather and silver crosspiece appeared to be beckoning its destined wielder. All of Redwall Abbey and the shrews had assembled in the Great Hall.
"It's said that Boar the Fighter reforged it with star metal," Jared mused aloud to nobeast in particular. He gazed up at it from behind the platform in front of the Tapestry. "Something that far surpasses even Githinsteel and Senshan blacksteel. 'Ratdeath', Abbot Mortimer called it, after Matthias used it to slay Cluny the Scourge."
"And now," Brother Timms declared from his chair behind the squirrel. "After generations upon generations of warriors..it is finally passed down to you."
He gestured to it with a paw. "It calls to you, Tinarandel."
Jared wasted no time and mounted the platform. He cupped a paw underneath the Sword of Martin…to lift it from its perch.
It came free without the vaguest bit of effort. He gripped the hilt in both paws. Then he turned around to face his audience.
The morning sun focused all its rays upon the Champion of Redwall. Jared Sandeye stretched his arms and hoisted the Sword of Martin as high as he could. It glowed bladetip to pommel like a shining beacon in pitch-black darkness.
"Mabuhay ang Silangang Isla! Long live the Eastern Islands!"