An Average Trip Through the Woods
The Waterfall Lake
You come upon a broad pool, surrounded by forest. The pool is actually the bottom of a greenish blue waterfall falling from the river above. The small pool is deep, and almost completely clear. You can make out the steep rock sides below the water. The pool itself is about three feet below your feet as the waterline doesn't start until a sharp drop off in the ground. Looking into the pool, you notice that theres a small dark shadow about two mice lengths deep. You wonder if it's a cave.
Songjewel lays on her back, ontop of the water. Most squirrels can't swim, or atleast can't swim well. But Jewel is differant, as staying with otters for a while sometime ago, she could swim fairly well. She wasn't great at it, nothing compare to the otters, but she wasn't in any danger of drowning. So she just floats. Then she spots the underwater cave, should she go explore it now? No, she yawns, it can wait 'till later. She allows herself to float to the outlet that becomes, once again, the river. And slowly drifts down it.
Mossflower Woods
Travelers no longer have to slowly push forward through the underbrush, bend back branches, and make a thicker way of only the thinnest of one. A dozen beast can easily stand abreast of each other now, and the sky is finally overhead; sun rays beaming down through breaks in the clouds. Forward on the path, the larger trees have given way to the smaller, and the sounds of a waterfall can be heard in advance. There is a orchard along the passage on the way to the pond, one composed of fruit by the looks of small spears hanging from the sagging trees. A friendly sight for weary eyes, food and perhaps a place to rest.
Songjewel climbs out of the stream, and walks over to the small orchard. She sighs, sits, and leans against the trunk of the bigggest fruit tree. Thinking of Redwall Abbey, she has been staying there for a few weeks now...... A nice place, but there are just so many...... beasts there. And after living alone for a season, and the season before only living with a old hermit, the hustle-bustle of the Abbey was too much for her. She had to get away for a while.... "I'll go back after a few days...... maybe." she thinks outloud to herself, "It might just be easier to not go back and just be on my way.... I'll be leaving soon anyway.... An it would save us all from another goodbye." then she remembers "No, that note I left in the Great 'All might worry them iffen I never return........ I guesss I'll 'ave to go back then..... can't 'ave the 'hole Abbey worrin' and out lookin' for me." She thinks to herself a moment more, before drifting off into a light sleep.
A small, rough looking ferret motions to his mangey band from the top a a nearby fruit tree, he whispers "De squiggle be sleepin' now, all we 'ave to do is wait, soon she be deep deep s'eepin'. Quiet Ragado! Ye'll wake 'er up with yer coughin' Shurrup alla yew!" the accused, an undersised rat, nods quickly and looks down, not wanting to be beat....... again, "Aye sir Cip'tin." Captain Vurro tries to contain his rising temper, this rat reeeeally got on his nerves, he whisperes, a quiet, deadly whisper, "Be ye quiet noaw, ju' wait, once we gits tha squiggle and kills 'er I'm taken' 'at big sword, and choppen yews up inta bit...." He hated rats, they, in his oppinion, were stupid, clumsy, and couldn't take orders, thats why his band was all ferrets, exept that sviveling ninconpoop Ragado. Oh well, he was bigger than the ferrets and could haul stuff that was too heavy. He grabbed a small pear growing on a limb nearby, and took a big, sloppy bite out of it.
Songjewel's dreams were troubled, filled with visions and memories. Evil looking bands of vermin paraded themselves about in her minds, most of them she new, recognized, and either has already killed or is hunting down. Some of them she had never seen before, they were tough, cold eyed, and instinctively she knew she would kill these ones too. There were other images and sounds in her dreams also, babes and children screaming, mothers sobbing, houses, whole villages and camps burning, and vermin loughing sadistikly. Her own family, mother, father, granmie, and her baby brother, all being killed infront of each other. She remembers waking up and finding her whole village gone. Demolished. Burned to the ground. She remembers herself, burying her whole town, all those bodies, and wishing furvently she was with them. The pain, physical and emotional, were unbearable, she cried herself to sleep many nights. The she remembers waking up one day and seeing an old squirrel hunched over her, a friendly smile on his face. Suddendly her dreams change, an armored mouse stands before her. AN ARMORED MOUSE? Why was this mouse in her dream? Where had she seen him before? Oh, thats right, the Tapestry. Why was this Tapestry mouse in her dream? He said nothing, just points to her.... or was that behind her? An urgent look on his face. She wakes, to find herself surrounded by vermin, tiny ferrets, tattoed all over.
Ragado giggles fiendishly, this is his first ambush, as they climb quietly out of the trees and surround the sleeping squirrel-maid. He was exited, he couldn't help himself from feeling giddy. He would do lots of bad, and inflict great damage, and make his mother proud, no wait, he never knew his parents, he would make himself proud. Yes, that was a better plan. He giggles once again at the thought of himself as cheif,but stops immediately upon hearing his cheiftain/captain behind him. But not fast enough, his reward is a hefty thwack on the back of his head,he knows better than to make any sound of pain, so he just bites his tongue, as he's been told numerous times, only he literally bites it. He stops in his tracks when he sees Captain Vurro hold up his clawed paws, a signal to stand still. The dim-witted rat wonders why, and Vurro soon answers his unasked question, "Mesa thought of a plan, I know youse be thinkin' 'Why we stoppen? Why we needs a plan?' So I will tells yews, last time we 'mbused somebeast, we lost lotsa furrets, den we 'ad to go find new ones. Di time we killslay squiggle, not die. So 'alf o' yews go dat way an' find lotsa nicenice vines. Us'ns vwill stay y an maka sure no beast else findeses our squiggle. When youse gits back we tie up squiggle wiv vinesses awhile it sleeps. Den we killslay squiggle and roast it foe us'ns dinnur!" He holds up a paw to stop the silent aplause of ears wiggling, "Stops all yew. Shurrup an go, us'ns will git dis squiggle. Now. GO!!!" Sipera gently puts her paw on her mates arm. She jumps slightly when the Ragaa cheiftain spins around. Vurro is glaring when he turns, then seeing it is his mate his expression softens, "Wat you want? Wat th' matter? Why you talk t' me in bakkle?" She looks down at her toes, "The squikkle be moving, Vurro, mesa thinks her is waking up....."
Songjewel sits bolt upright, fully awake now. She mutters some curses at herself for falling asleep, as she quickly takes count. Twoscore, no, twoscore and one. She smiles politely at the ferret "Good evenin', lovely weather ain't it mate?" the small, ferret cheiftain looks rather puzzled at the term mate, "I not your mate. I Sipera mate." Jewel smiles understandingly, "Aye, 'tis a good thing too. Whats that? You want too eat me? Hmmmmm let me think about it....." she pretends to consider it, but actually she is tallying up their weapons, "Well, I'm a bit peckish meselv, I'l make ya a deal. You can eat me iffen I c'n eat you!" with the last remark she jumps up, and instantly her sword is in her paw. The small cheif looks rather frightened but covers it up by yelling "CHARGE!!!!!! Git tha squiggle!!!!" No beast moves, now that she is standing tall they are afraid of her, not to mention the mammoth sword in her paw that easily dwarves their small blades. "C'mon now, let's start the dinner party. Yew cowards are making yore cheif look like a fool." This enrages the tiny warriors, and they attack. Coming at her from all sides, but she fights like a badger, tiny carcasses flying everywhere.
Captain Vurro stands back a safe distance as his offended crewbeasts attack savagely, watching his numbers deplete...... This was bad, the plan had gone foul. Ruined, wasted, and he was the losing side too. He dodges nimbly as a small carcasse lands beside him, right where he had been standing, it was Sipera, he had loved her. Well, as much as a vermin could love. She had been the prettiest ferret around. But he WOULD avenge his mate's life. He would avenge her if it was the last thing he did. He slips his blowgun out of his belt, and climbs into the nearest tree. Hiding there in the foilage, he blows darts at the massive (she actually isn't that large but she seems so in battle, especially is you're a tiny creature.) enemie.
Songjewel kills the last one, by stepping on it actually. It was a wounded one, lying on the ground wrything in pain. She pretends she hasn't seen it and steps on its tiny head, crushing the skull. She smiles as she feel the grotestue crunch under her bare footpaw. It would be safe to say that around vermin she is a savage. But most beasts think she is sweet, good natured, and rather innocent. Which, as it has been demonstrated, she isn't. Feeling something prick the back of her neck she turns and looks to the trees, the calls menacingly, "Sent your crew to fight the *big scary maid* did ye? Yore a smart one, a coward, but smart. That one i killed, the pretty female, she was your mate wasn't she? Hah, she was a pleasure to know. Pleasure to kill too..... Not as much of one as you will be I'm sure though." A small angry yell answeres her, "NO! Treehopper, Me will kill youse, yew -" lets just not repeat what he said, "I will avenge my Sipera!" A small glint of metal shows on the evening sun, bright and deadly. That yell of rage had been just what she wanted, making it easy to pinpoint the soundmaker. A yelp of pain rewards her, she hadn't killed him, oh no she would save him for later, she had just pinned him to the tree, through his shoulder, not hitting anything vital, but severing just the right nerves, with a throwing knife, to make it hurt like h*ll. They didn't call her Trueflight for nothing. She sees the other half of the small army sneaking cautiously back out of the woods, and sais coolly to the small figure pinned to the tree, "I'll be back for yew, ya mangy furred, snot nosed, pint-sized, whiny, pathetic exuse of a murderer." Smiling smugly she yells to them, knowing vermin can't resist a challenge, "Iffen youse runs now I won't kill ye." she lied about that part, she knew she would kill them no matter where they ran, "Unless, of course ye're not cowards 'n' weaklin's like the others." The dwarf ferrets look from the slain bodies to her and charge. She levels her great, bloodstained, sword, and meets the charge, head on, and alone.
Captain Vurro watches in agonized distress as the remainder of his tribe, clan, and army cease to exist, wiped off the face of the earth. After she finished the last of them off she put all their boddies in a pile. Then walked, ever so slowly, over to him, roughly pulls out her knife, cleans it on his fur, and picks him gruffly up by the scruff of his neck.
The Next Morning,
Songjewel Trueflight walks away from the remains of a fire and the bloodsplattered ground that had been her camp last night. Some of the blood was hers, it came from the tiny wounds all over her body, but, most of it belonged to Captain Vurro. She tosses his body ontop of the pile and smiles. That was the last of the Ragaa tribe. They were no longer terorizing Mossflower Wood, and never would again. The things she had done to that tiny ferrett were aweful, it would suffice to say that his screams of pain echoed all through the night, she wouldn't be supprised if some of the beasts at the Abbey heard them. But in her opinion he deserved all he got, and so did all vermin, especially the leaders. And she would do her best to do those, and more, terrible things to all other vermin cheifs, captains, kings, or any other sort of rulers, she came across.
