Chronicles of the Sword in the Stone (remastered and continued)

Chapter 1: The Squirrel

Spring had sprung that fine day in the woods of the Forest Savage. The birds had finally returned after their long journey south and began to fill the thick wood with their merry songs. All of the woodland animals were coming out of their hibernation and surveyed the world with renewed vigor: the deer were out in the glen, quietly helping themselves to the fresh green turf grown tall due to the snow of the previous season, tiny cottontail rabbits were hopping to and fro from hole to hole with joyous leaps, and even the treetops had come alive as multiple squirrels of all sizes and shapes skittered across the branches.

What could stir such an assortment of creatures together, you may ask? It was quite simple really. Spring fever had taken them in full swing, and it was now time for the youth of this generation to seek out their future mates. It was a joyous occasion, and both the males and the females were doing all their tiny minds could think of to find their perfect mates.

However, there was one missing from the bunch. Up in a tall tree, within a knothole, one could see a tiny red squirrel. She was a fair creature with slim and petite features, and a dark red bushy tail behind her. She was incredibly appealing, and more than once this day she had a young male or two attempt to make her theirs. Unfortunately for them, she would not be swayed, and they would eventually leave in defeat.

This activity did not go unnoticed. From a lower branch, she was constantly observed by another red squirrel female, whom was much more corpulent than she. She watched her for several hours as the squirrels went on with their courting rituals, and she observed how the young one resisted every suitor that approached. At last, when all the newly made couples had departed for their respective trees, she approached her. When she had at last reached her knothole home, the older female could see that her young friend wore a long face of despair, and every now and again she would sigh dejectedly.

She began to chatter at the youngling in an attempt to discover what the source of her displeasure was, but she received no reply. In truth, it was no mystery as to what had upset the young squirrel; as a matter of fact, the older one had witnessed herself what had caused it. One month before the hibernation had started, both squirrels had come to see two strange squirrels come to their forest, and both had sought to make them their mates. It had been a mirth-filled day in their lives, but it had ended badly when they realized that they had been humans all along. The older squirrel had taken it pretty well, for she possessed a great disdain and fear of humans, but the younger one apparently did not share her feelings. That day had filled her with nothing but confusion and sadness, both of which had never left her mind or her broken heart.

The older squirrel squeaked at her a minute longer in an attempt to console her, but eventually gave up and went out in search of a mate of her own. The younger squirrel remained in her tree slightly longer, her tiny mind drawing back to that day. She had seen him as she was scampering across the trees, and she had been immediately smitten. She remembered how he had touched her nose in what she had assumed was a sign of affection and how much joy it had brought her. She remembered the fun little chase they had gone through that she had viewed as one of the several acts taken in a courting ritual. She even recounted how she had taken on a hungry wolf when his tail got stuck in a fallen tree branch. It should have been perfect, but instead her actions were for naught. In the end, the boy had been a human, and she had been rendered a fool.

Her sorrow could have easily kept her in that tree for the rest of her life; however, the call of nature stirred her stomach with the need for food. With a dejected sigh, she arose, climbed to the ground, and began to search for the acorns she had buried prior to hibernation. In an attempt to remove the boy from her mind, she began to wonder on why she always gathered and buried acorns before going into hibernation? Better yet, what compelled her to go into hibernation every winter in the first place? Sure she probably couldn't survive the cold and snow during those long months, but what was it that drove her? It was one of the most confusing conundrums of her life, and the more she thought of it the more she realized that it had to be the same exact thing that prevented her from forgetting the boy. Ask any squirrel with a mate, and they would tell you the exact same thing: the instant they had chosen their mate, they would forever devote their lives to them.

She wanted to scream. It was this deranged desire that was giving her this grief, and she was powerless to disarm it. She cursed herself, as well as for being a squirrel. That was her real problem: she was a squirrel, an animal. Every animal must serve this urge, she figured. The urge to gather food, the urge to survive, the urge to find a mate: all of these and more were never up for debate. Why, if she were a human...

She let out a long sigh. If only that were possible. It was her greatest secret. She admired humans and how they reacted to the world around them, as well as how they could decide what they wanted to do and when they were to do it. In truth, she had even gone as far as to learn how to understand them. True, her natural fear of all that were larger than herself had kept her from getting too close, but she could always find a way to get close without being seen. The only real problem she had was figuring out their speech in of itself. Though she still understood nothing of their customs and reasoning, she had at last gained enough understanding to at least listen in on their conversations. However, this did not change anything about herself. She was now and forever doomed to be nothing more than a squirrel, and she would never be able to know the human boy she had met.

Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping drew her attention back to the present. She whirled around to see none other than the scraggly wolf from the end of last summer. He leered down on her with a ravenous gaze, drool oozing from his long jaws as thoughts of breakfast filled his mind. For a long throbbing moment, the two simply stood there in dead silence. Then, with predatory strength, the wolf lunged in an attempt to trap her beneath his enormous paws. The urge taking control in full force, the young squirrel fled just as the wolf landed. Unwillingly to surrender his meal, the wolf made chase, snapping at her tail, and every time he got remotely close. The squirrel's urge caused her to zig-zag across the forest floor, but the wolf was still following close behind. Finally, she could see a stream coming into view. Her urge suddenly caused her to come to a complete stop at the river's edge; the wolf wasn't so lucky nor as graceful. Before he completely realized his error, the wolf fell into the cold river only to resurface seconds later and futilely try to dog-paddle back to the shore. In no time at all, he vanished down stream and well out of sight.

The squirrel panted heavily, greatly relieved that the chase was over. However, this was short lived when she realized that she was now in an area of the forest she was unfamiliar with. Panic slowly starting to take in, she raced up a tree in an attempt to get her bearings. She peered over the tree tops but saw no sign of her beloved tree or anything she found familiar. Then, as her panic was beginning take over her thoughts, she caught sight of an odd sight. A large, stone structure stood erected in the middle of a clearing, and a large pool of water surrounded it on all sides. The only way inside she could see was a large wooden plank that had long chains fastened on adjacent sides, and she could see two figures, one short and fat and the other tall and skinny, standing next to a horse drawn cart. The two seemed to be arguing about something, though she couldn't distinguish what it was due to the distance. Then, to the squirrel's total amazement, there appeared a third figure. His features from the neck down were indefinable due to a long blue cloak he wore around his person. Atop of his head was a matching blue hat that pointed outward to the sky, and she was certain she saw an owl perched on the point. He also had a long, snow white beard that stretched all the way down to the middle of his chest. Why, unless she was dreadfully mistaken, this was none other than the old man that had travelled with the boy.