Chapter 10
Outcasts
A few days had passed since Marley returned to Redwall Abbey, and even now, Abbot Athelstan and Levi refused to give Finn her knife back. Before Marley was banished, most beasts knew she carried a knife around but simply did not want to go through the trouble of trying to take it away from her. After the incident, however, Finn knew she had lost any trust she might have had before, and that was obvious as soon as she needed to visit the infirmary.
The cut on her palm wasn't even that deep, but that didn't stop her from worrying. She had been scouring the attics for something she could use to cut fabric and ended up slicing herself on a rusty pot lid (presumably why it was thrown into storage in the first place). Finn almost fainted when she saw the blood running down her paw, so she decided to get some help. Finn tripped down the attic stairs and ran through the dormitory halls, her head buzzing with anxiety as she saw the other residents stare and jump out of the way. One beast even yelled at her to "Stop right now," and to tell him "What are you up to and what do you have in your paws?" but she was in too much of a hurry to say anything back.
"Seasons, this is stupid," she muttered. As she approached the infirmary hall, her pace slowed as if she were wading through quicksand. Embarrassment, shame, but mostly irritation filled her mind once she arrived and saw the two beasts loitering in front of the door. "Oh, just kill me now."
The infirmary assistant, El, was talking with an elder hedgehog named Aldus. Finn grumbled as she recalled all the times the old prick threatened to report her to the abbot, which he did multiple times until she stopped caring. Finn started being more careful around him when he began threatening to spank her. Of course, that stopped working once she grew taller.
"I apologise," Aldus said, staring directly at the rabbit, "But if I'm not mistaken, Sister Heyier told me that somebeast would be here to put together my headache medicine."
El nodded quickly. "Yeah, I know, but I'm sorry, Sister Heyier's away and like, I can try, but I'm not good at that stuff yet."
"You are the healer's apprentice, are you not? Surely you have something that you could whip up with all of your training."
The rabbit paused and glanced at the door. "Ok, so lemme rephrase, I may not have been taught how to make that stuff yet."
Aldus raised a paw to his chin. "But you know how to make other things, don't you? I know you're talented!"
El's ears perked up as she raised her paws. "Woah, ok, so like, yes, but I don't think it's a good idea to ask for something you don't-"
"But you're smart, you know what you are doing, so you must have-"
"Hey, knobhead," Finn stomped forward, not in the mood to have to wait to get her palm treated. "If she said she doesn't know how to make your crap, then stop trying to get her to do so."
Aldus' mouth hung open. "I'm sorry, what did you call me? And whose blood is that on your paw?"
"I called you a knobhead, and for your information, it's my blood, so I'm not in the mood to wait for an ancient hedgehog to get done bullying a tiny-ass rabbit. Get your tail away from this place and let me in the damn infirmary."
El raised a finger. "Ok, I'm so not tiny."
Aldus shook his head. "Do you speak to everyone like that?"
"You've had to put up with me for 16 seasons, stop acting like you're surprised. Go the hell away."
"I was here first, and-"
Finn reached inside her jacket. Aldus froze, eyes trained to her arm. "I'm not asking twice," the ferret growled. The old hedgehog backed away before running down the hall. Once Finn was sure Aldus was gone, she turned to El, whose mouth was in the shape of an O.
El raised a finger, lowered it, and clapped her paws together. "Ok, so like, I thought Father Athelstan took your knife away?"
"Yeah, I still don't have it." Finn snorted and opened her coat as proof. "Aldus is just an idiot. Anyway, do you have time to spare to help me with this?"
El shook her head and raised her paws. "Wow. This is a lot. Come inside, nobody else is using the infirmary right now, so this should be fast. Follow me!" The rabbit spun and bounded inside. Finn rolled her eyes and was about to follow when she heard somebeast clearing their throat. When she turned, she saw a pawful of beasts watching her, presumably after she threatened Aldus.
Finn held her paws out. "What are you looking at? Go away." The small crowd quickly dispersed, finally leaving Finn alone.
The ferret ambled towards the door before letting out a yelp as El suddenly poked her head out. "Oh, lemme run something by you quick. I got an idea!"
Finn staggered back. "Dear Martin, El. What is it?"
The rabbit grinned and pointed at Finn and then at herself. "So like, I gotta thank you for getting that guy off my back. Alder can be a bit difficult sometimes. How 'bout we eat lunch together?"
Finn blinked. "Excuse me? I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had in 10 seasons. Why would you want to eat lunch with me?"
El clasped her paws behind her back and leaned forward. "What? Is it wrong of me to ask somebeast my age to eat lunch together? I don't think there is!"
"You are planning something. We do not know each other."
"Ouch. Harsh."
Finn rolled her eyes, walked past El, and sat on a cot. "Look, I'm not interested. Go spend time with one of your friends. I know you have a lot of them."
"Hm, and who are you eating lunch with, then?" El asked with a smile. Finn narrowed her eyes and turned to the rabbit, raising her paws in disbelief. When Finn didn't answer, El snapped her fingers and leapt towards the desk to pull out a roll of bandages. "Awesome! I'll see you at lunch then!"
Finn sighed and fell back onto the cot, gazing at the ceiling. Great. What did I get myself into?
"So, y'know that squirrel with the really long fur, Amarlin? I heard that she gave Taymarr that rose, but then he let her down! You had to be there, everybeast was like, 'Woah, really?' because if somebeast like Amarlin said she was into you, you'd have to be crazy to say no, she's as cute as a button and twice as…"
Finn's vision blurred as El went on and on about something she couldn't care less about. She instead chose to focus on the abbey surrounding her. El brought her to the cloisters to eat, presumably because she knew Finn didn't like being around too many beasts. The ferret gazed at the rain battering the lawns, watching the trees in the orchard sway and rustle with the increasing wind. A few beasts worked outside regardless, and many of the otters played in the rain. Winslow and Trey weren't there, which Finn thought was strange. The two usually liked to swim in the pond during a storm like this.
"Uh, hello, Finn?" El tilted her body to reach Finn's view, almost knocking over her food tray. "You alright?"
Finn didn't answer, instead continuing to eat her salad quietly.
El slowly nodded and went back to her story. "So, anyway, Amarlin was like, so sad that Taymarr felt bad and decided to date her anyways. You can probably guess that didn't go well for either of them. One day, Tay-"
"El." Finn's spoon clattered on her tray as she buried her face in a paw. "Why are you doing this?"
"What, should I have chosen a different story?"
"No, I mean inviting me to eat lunch in the first place. Why did you really do this? Aren't you scared of me?"
"Scared of you? Haha, why would I be?" El hastily grabbed a forkful of salad and shoved it in her mouth. Finn noticed her chewing slower than before, even though she raised a finger as if to say, "Wait for me to finish this bite." After an awkward period of time, El finally answered, "I mean, everyone is at least a little bit-"
"That's an understatement."
"- But c'mon, I've known you since we were dibbuns. Even though we haven't spoken much, I know you're mostly alright."
Finn slowly turned to the rabbit with a weary frown. "Do you think I had a part in Marley killing… You know?"
"Norah's death?" El rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, like, Marley was the one who supposedly did it, but I dunno, they don't seem like the type to do all that, even though they give me serial killer vibes sometimes. I don't think you did it either, but like, all of the evidence pointed to Marley. I dunno what to think, honestly. Look, that's not what I wanted to get into. I wanted to eat lunch with you because I need to ask you something."
Of course, you did. It's never that simple.
El cleared her throat as she choked on a large bite of lettuce. "Ow, excuse me! Anyway, are you doing okay? You usually spend your time with Marley, but you've been alone as of late, almost like you've been avoiding them. You and Marley have always felt like sisters, so I guess I just thought you seemed lonely. That's all." El went right back to eating as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, Finn had stopped altogether and was fidgeting with her bracelets. El started telling another story, but Finn couldn't hear it over the ringing in her head. It grew louder until it began to mess with her pounding heart. Eventually, Finn stood up, causing El to look over. "What? See something, Finn?"
"Yeah," Finn grumbled. "I saw your… grave. I hope you die. I'm leaving."
"What the heck? Finn, I didn't mean to-"
"Shut up. Leave me alone and don't talk to me ever again." Finn picked up her tray and walked back inside the abbey, not even looking over her shoulder to see if El was okay. Finn didn't know if she could stand it if El wasn't.
The first place Finn went to after dropping off her tray at the Cavern Hole was the storage room. There, she saw Winslow talking with Abbot Athelstan. The old mouse pointed to a set of crates of varying sizes. Winslow nodded, approached one the size of a small dibbun, and picked it up with ease. Finn sighed and greeted, "Hi Winslow. Do you mind if I hang out here for a bit?"
Winslow turned and flicked his tail as a greeting. "Oh, hi matey. Of course, ye can tag along. I'd like a friend to keep me company."
Finn raised a brow as she looked at the larger crates. "Why is Winslow the one doing this, exactly? Don't we have a badger now?"
Abbot Athelstan shook his head. "Yes, but she refused to help."
"Awesome. What is even in these anyway?"
Winslow tapped his tail against the boxes as he explained, "That's some extra cookin' supplies, and those are buncha chair parts since the dibbuns keep breakin' those. Wait, no, that one's the chair parts and the other- ye know what? It doesn't matter, they all go to the same place anyway." Winslow adjusted his grip and walked out of the room. Finn followed along, walking by the otter's side. "So, how's yer day been so far?" Winslow asked.
Finn grumbled and raised her now bandaged palm. "Not great. I cut myself in the attic, cursed out Aldus, and then ate lunch with El."
"That last bit seems fun to me."
"It wasn't." Finn retorted, not elaborating further.
"Why, what'd she say?"
Finn shook her head. "Nothing."
Winslow nodded and took this as a sign to change the topic, something Finn was thankful for. "By the way, did ye hear? Trey went to visit me last night while I was in the infirmary. He told me that he had to visit the abbot fer yellin' at a kid in his class."
Finn blinked and raised a brow. "That's it? Doesn't he do that a lot? Why'd he have to talk to Athelstan for that?"
"I dunno, but it must've been pretty bad this time."
"Do you know why he did it?"
"Matey, I'd tell ye if I could. When I asked, Trey just threatened to punch me. Anyway, the abbot decided he needed a tutor since he's too disruptive."
Finn snorted. "Really? Athelstan thinks the solution is to give him someone who most likely can't handle Trey?"
"Apparently so," Winslow said as they reached the stairs leading into Cavern Hole. Finn stood to the side and watched the otter walk down the steps, stumbling and nearly dropping the crate before using his tail to balance himself. Winslow grumbled with embarrassment before setting the crate by a table and stretching his back. "Seasons. I feel bad fer whoever has to tutor Trey. Is that mean to say? I dunno. He doesn't even try to be a good student. He keeps complainin' to me that we don't need to learn all this abbey stuff since we don't belong here."
"Huh." Finn sat on a nearby bench and leaned against the table. "He said that?" She couldn't help but feel oddly relieved when Winslow told her that. It made her feel as calm as it did guilty… and admittedly, she was surprised that Trey thought about that.
Winslow sighed and rested his paws behind his head. "Aye, he did. Ye know he's right, too." The otter shrugged and started to head back to the storage room with Finn by his side.
"Yeah," Finn deadpanned. "And things have only gotten worse ever since Marley decided to act like a complete moron and get themself banished."
Winslow glared at Finn and bared his fangs before relaxing his expression. "Aye, but ye wouldn't even still be here if it weren't fer them."
Well, they made the wrong choice. Idiot. "Doesn't stop the fact that things have gotten a lot more tiring."
"Do ye still not have yer knife?" Winslow asked as he glanced around the hallway and noticed a few beasts watching the pair.
"No. How many times do I have to-? Look, just assume they're not going to give it back to me."
"I could try appealin' to Levi later. I mean, if I talk to him one-on-one, I might be able to convince him to give it back to ye, especially since he's refusin' to hold up his side of the deal. It'd be better than if ye talked to him, at least. He doesn't like ye."
Finn scowled and shook her head. "Ew, no, I don't want to resort to you talking to him on my behalf. That just feels gross."
"Well, they're clearly not gonna do anythin' otherwise, so we need to put-"
Finn's ears twitched as two sets of pawsteps approached her and Winslow, one sounding abnormally heavy. The ferret flinched and spun around, cutting Winslow off before he could finish. "The hell do you want-? Oh damn it, it's you."
Finn couldn't help but take a step back when she saw a badger towering over her, which, for a ferret in Redwall Abbey where most of the beasts reached her chin, felt a bit strange. The last badger resident had died before Finn and Marley were born, so Finn had never seen one until this one arrived.
She couldn't help but feel a twinge of terror jolt her body every time she passed by this badger. Winslow, on the other paw, tilted his head and buried his paws casually in his pockets. "Hey. Do the two of ye want somethin'?"
Surprisingly, the badger wasn't the one who answered, but the mouse standing next to her. "Ah, Winslow, I'm glad I found you! It appears somebeast left the boathouse in disarray, and I was hoping that somebeast as strong as you could help clean up some of the larger messes inside."
Before Winslow could answer, Finn asked, "The hell do you need him for? There is a badger right there."
The mouse glanced at the badger and waved his paws. "Ah, well, it would go faster if multiple beasts helped."
Winslow shook his head. "No thanks, go ask someone else. That ain't my job."
"Hm? Why?"
"Whaddya mean 'why'?" Winslow curled his lip and shrugged. "I mean, yer not the abbot? I don't have to do what ye tell me. And, um… do I know ye?"
The mouse blinked. "Of course, you do, right? You and Trey visit the boathouse so often!"
"I… think I know yer face?"
The mouse sighed and folded his arm, turning slightly away from Winslow and Finn. "So, you're not going to help?"
"Nope. Why would I need to? Ye should handle it wit'out me."
"I see." The mouse tapped his footpaw against the ground as he slowly turned his back on the pair. He then said something under his breath, so quietly that Finn almost thought she imagined it. "I guess you do have a right to spend your time with the ferret instead of the abbey residents. That's fine by me."
Finn and Winslow froze. She glanced at Winslow to check if he heard it too. The otter baring his fangs confirmed that what she heard was real. That same ringing from earlier returned, drowning out Finn's senses until all she could see was the mouse standing in front of her. "I'm sorry, do you want to repeat that?" The ferret hissed.
Realisation seemed to dawn on the mouse, and he turned halfway, glancing at Finn out of the side of his vision. "I- I just meant that… Wow, I better get back to work, don't you think? Say, Winslow, weren't you in the middle of something, too?"
The otter simply laughed. "Aye, the abbot told me to move some stuff, but I want to hear what ye said first."
"Why? I didn't say anything wrong."
Finn growled, digging the soles of her boot into the floor. "Then you shouldn't have any trouble repeating what you said."
The mouse stammered and glanced at the badger, who watched the argument with a dull stare. "I said that… you have the right to spend time with your friend instead of helping me, and that's alright."
"No, you said 'spend his time with the ferret instead of the abbey residents'. Dear Martin, I'm tired of this. Am I not a part of this damn place?"
"I meant-"
"Because I live here, too. I have ever since I was a pup. So do you mind explaining what the hell you meant by that? What do you all want me to do to make you admit that I'm also a part of the abbey?!"
The mouse looked from side to side, uncertainty peeking through his features as he stepped out of the way and darted off. Neither Winslow nor Finn bothered to go after him. "What a prick for thinking he can say that to my face and not notice," the ferret grumbled.
Winslow flicked his tail and said, "Seasons, even the way they talk behind yer back is annoyin'," before turning to the badger who hadn't spoken the entire time. "So, uh, badger, why are ye here? I didn't think of ye as the helpful type."
The badger buried her paws in the pockets of her blue longcoat. "Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to assume things about beasts, especially since you didn't even know my name. That being said, you're right." She turned to leave but hesitated. The badger looked between Winslow and Finn, head cocked lazily to the side. "I'm guessing from the way you refused to help that you're not from around here either?"
"Not really." Winslow rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Finn grew up here. I moved here six seasons ago. You came about two moons ago, aye?"
The badger cocked a brow. "You kept track?"
"Well, something important happened a few days before ye arrived, so 'tis kinda hard to ferget."
"Hm?" The badger glanced at the ceiling before her face lit up with recognition. "Ah, you're the otter and ferret I kept hearing about. You're friends with that mouse- Marley, correct? I should've guessed from the way, uh, the mouse and you are dressed."
Finn narrowed her eyes and groaned. "Really? How much do you know about us?"
"Depends on your metric. Your group has been a large topic of gossip over the past few days. I don't know for sure how much of it is exaggerated or malicious, but it's none of my business either way. Still, I admit that I am curious. You can find out quite a bit about this place by listening to what others say, even if it's all crap. Do you two know what they're talking about?"
"Yeah, we obviously know," said Finn, having gotten the courage to talk rudely to the large badger. "We've had to deal with this crap for a while, we know what they're saying about us."
An exasperated sigh left the badger. "Once again, I should've guessed. Anyway, if there are no other questions, I'll be taking my leave. I wasn't doing anything when that mouse made me help him, but that doesn't mean I want to help. Oh, and for future reference, my name is Glaceyn. I'll see you two around." Glaceyn nodded goodbye and left.
Winslow made a double take and crossed his arms. "What? She didn't give us time to answer. Oh well. We've been distracted long enough. I should prolly finish the rest of those crates."
Finn cocked her head. "Really?"
"What? The abbot asked me to."
"Yeah, but he's a prick."
"Maybe a bit, but I told him I'd get this done by the end of the day."
"Fine. Hey, after this, do you want to play one of the games that are in the-"
"Yeah, those two, Father Abbot!" The mouse's voice returned, catching Finn off-guard. She and Winslow turned to see him, Aldus, and Abbot Athelstan approaching them, the old mouse raising a paw to his forehead in exasperation.
"Those two threatened me!" Aldus exclaimed.
"Dear Martin, I'm not dealing with this. Sorry, Winslow, there's nothing I can do." Before Winslow could respond, Finn turned and bolted away.
Winslow stammered as he watched the ferret leave, her black coat disappearing through one of the side doors. "Wha-? Finn, why did ye-? Ugh." The otter sighed, staring down at the mice in front of him. Abbot Athelstan looked confused while the other glared at Winslow, the fur on his neck standing on end. "Well, she's gone, let's just get this over wit'."