A Second Chance (Redwall Fanfic)

Curse of Dibbunhood

Timballisto looked down at his small paws while his older peers discussed the current abbey events. His memory flickered to climbing up the cliff wall to retrieve Luke. With those paws, he couldn't fight, and was limited to biting and kicking. His ear twitched, his head darting up wondering if the adults happened to decide anything, yet he felt a tad left out.

He could remember all too well the day Martin left, his grandmother following behind him. The young mouse's blade dragged behind him, to heavy for his small paws to lift. Timballisto flexed his paws, wondering if how he felt right now was how Martin felt. He remembered all too well the capture of the young mouse, and how the young mouse avoided the subject completely. The worst memory was Martin's loss of memory after his fight with the wild cat.

A squeak drew his attention to Dinny, who snuggled into the arms of a molemum. "What do you remember?"

Skipper sat down with a plop. "Good question. What do you remember, T.B.?"

The young dibbun took a deep breath. "Everything. My last memory was becoming ill, and how upset Martin was. I was the last connection he had to our families, and his past." He looked up at the ceiling as a drop of water hit his nose. "And all of this is need of mending. All that hard work everyone put in."

"Well, I'm going to be heading out to look for Martin again." Skipper watched Timbalisto's mouth drop. "Don't. I'd take you with me, but you're awful small. You've got your previous knowledge, but not your strength. Give yourself time."

The young mouse felt his jaw tighten as Skipper left, then his small paws tightened as well. The young dibbun took a deep breath, his eyes closing as his young mind contemplated the sudden feeling of uselessness. Not only did he feel useless, but he felt like his small body felt like it could do nothing. Taking a deep breath, Timballisto attempted to remember the last time he felt this way.

"T.B., don't die on me!" Martin's voice pushed forth through that memory, and yet the young mouse couldn't remember feeling useless or unable to do anything at his time of death. Instead, he felt at peace, as if it were his time. He would go on to see Fripple, and everyone else from their tribe who had already passed on. The young mouse flinched, remembering his time with the tribe, and how he led. Martin had no leadership skills back then, so he'd been put in charge. However, he'd not simply been placed in charge of the tribe, but also in charge of grooming the young mouse to take on the leadership role. It meant Luke felt he was family, and he'd felt like Martin was family.

With that came though the burden of dealing with Martin's rebellious faze, which in turn led to the two being captured. While most were far more worried about the fate of Martin and Windred, a few considered Martin to be a spoiled mooseling who'd let his father's position go to his head. "It wasn't that. It was more of he didn't know his own limits, but he was always driven by that kindhearted nature he got from Windred, and that moral compass. That never went away."

"Burr aye," the molemum's words made Timbillisto look up, and suddenly Dinny was in his lap, snuggling up to him. "Wudd 'ee watcher ee h'infant furr oi?"

Timbilisto felt a frown work its way into his muzzle, but he didn't say no as the molemum waddled off to get food for Dinny, who was now obviously hungry. T.B. looked down, finding himself a tad uncomfortable, for while he remembered Martin's infant stage, he also remembered them not being infants as well. "This is..."

He didn't have a word for it, and instead tried thinking of the time he felt like he did now, and remembered he felt that way definitely when Fripple died. The young mouse swallowed, wondering if she was alive, remembering how some of the orphans started to call him papa and Martin their uncle. He also felt that way when Martin was taken away, but also when he saw him again.

There was this look in Martin's eyes, one filled with pain that wasn't there after that wild cat knocked quite a few of the younger mouse's memories out of that thick skull of his. He'd asked about what happened, even found out later that Martin had skipped over his capture. The look in his eyes was something he'd seen on another creature's face, his own. It was the same look when he remembered Fripple and the pain of her death.

"You met someone?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He'd not pushed while on the ship, nor did he push after, although he'd pestered Martin as to why he didn't settle down. The younger mouse would get a look in his eyes, that look, before shaking his head and saying, "I don't know. It doesn't feel right."

More importantly, "Martin lied." Timballisto looked down at Dinny, who didn't seem to remember anything let alone understand what he was saying. "He kept parts of his past secret from all of you. None of you could have imagined how much he was hurting."

The young mouse ground his teeth together, wondering how to deal with that part of Martin, and if that part would actually come back. A voice piped up from nearby. "What do you mean Martin lied?" Timballisto flinched, turning his head to look at the young hedgehog now watching him. "You don't need to be afraid."

"It's private, and probably of no coincidence. Martin's not perfect, you know."

"Well, everyone certainly seems to think he is."

"Martin's amazing, but he's not perfect. Not the way everybody thinks he is. I doubt anyone ever really got to know the real Martin."

"You sound bitter."

"I'm not. It's really none of your business."

"Because..."

"You're a stranger, and he's family."

"Family isn't perfect." The hedgehog nodded his head.

Timballisto snapped his mouth shut, thinking it best not to say anymore.