A Second Chance (Redwall Fanfic)

Aboard the Ship

The ship rocked back and forth in the darkness. The weasel sat at the edge of the wooden chair that he had been sitting in waiting for the sword to appear. A rank smell came off the weasel's body, a distinct odor that also caused his crew to dislike him. Before Sanja could light one of the candles a rather odd sound was heard coming from the basket.

The white vixen lit a candle and those present looked into the basket with disbelief. The weasel captain quickly narrowed his eyes in disgust and spit into the dusty part of the wooden floor in his quarters. "A baby mouse is what the red stones fortress's power is? There is no way that this land is worth anything. I thought that the weapon of power was a sword, not... not an infant. Put the mouse over the side of the boat with the bank vole. They are both useless and their lives aren't worth anything.

Suna looked carefully at the basket and looked right into the eyes of the mouse. Rarely did Hagen ever refer to creatures by their species name if they were good beasts. Something about the infants eyes caused her to pause and speak despite the fact she normally didn't. "Perhaps you could train him to be a warrior in your army? He's at the stage where he would be easily malleable to be what you want."

The white vixen looked up at her daughter in shock while her sisters laughed. Hagen glared at her and then growled out his next words. "Are you telling me you are wanting me to show kindness to one of the inferior species?"

"I'm just saying mother has never been wrong in her powers." The vixen continued to look at the infant in the basket, completely mesmerized by the babe.

Sibyl came forward and pushed her sister roughly. "It isn't mother that is wrong sister but the bank vole. He decieved us. There was no sword with power."

"I don't care how good you are at making food vixen. Your statement of disloyalty is uncalled for." The weasel clicked his nails against the chair in irritation. "Put her over the side with the bank vole and runt. Use one of the boats to make sure that she doesn't pull any of the crew over the edge while we are sending them overboard. No need to lose a beast that is actually useful just to get rid of a trio of beasts that aren't useful."

Saffron grabbed her sisters forepaw from behind and Suna found herself hauled out the door and down the hall. Her back paws hit the wooden floor as she was forced along and splinters pierced her flesh. She could also hear the bank vole crying out loud, protesting what was happening to him. The vole had a whining sound that made her feel ill.

The crew of the ship was called forth and a wooden boat was balanced on the edge. Suna was shoved into the boat with the bank vole after her. She watched as the bank vole's lower limbs were secured to the boat to make it harder for him to flee. Sibyl shoved the infant into the boat roughly causing Suna to lean forward to catch the infant. To her surprise it made no sound.

She then felt the boat sliding over the edge. There was nowhere for any of them to escape. She grabbed onto the wood and didn't let go of the babe as she did. The water splashed around them and she hoped that they didn't land upside down. She felt the small boat bumped by the ship and she realized they had managed to land right side up. The oars on the ship came out and it moved away from the small boat, leaving them alone.

M

On the distant shore was a mountain. The inside of the mountain was cold and dank as the place hadn't been used for some time. The badger lords forge had not been used in a long time and there was a smell of disuse that permeated the place. The doors to the forge opened however with a bit of effort and a badger walked through, his paws causing paw prints to appear in the dusty floors.

He walked over to the secret chamber to the side and opened it up as well and after a few tries managed to light the herbs as well as a light. For a short period of time he went to work on the wall and used it to figure out what exactly was going on. What was so far occurring was not something that had ever occurred before in the lands around Mossflower and this was the best way to figure out what was going on.

His eyes then took in the etchings in the wall, his muzzle twisting up into a frown as he did so. His right paw reached out to touch the engravings carefully. He closed the secret space just in time for eight hares to fall through the wall. Letting out a deep sigh he shook his head at the hares and called out their names, watching them come to attention as he called out their names.

"Wot is going on sah?" Buffheart was the first to speak up.

"I have an idea of what is going on but I need you to follow my orders again so I'll be brief. Apparently someone has delved into things that should have been left well enough alone, meaning we are very much alive despite having been in the Dark Forest for so long. So here are my orders."

"I want Trubbs, Ffring and Wother to go out looking to see if they can't find any other hares. Harebell, Honeydew and Willow are in charge of gathering supplies. I wish for Lupin to cook up food as well as look at the store to see if there is anything there, though I have the feeling the most you'll find is long aged ales. Be aware that things will have changed as time has passed."

The two sets of trios saluted him before taking off. Lupin nodded her head at her husband. "I'll keep an eye out for Starbuck and Breeze while I'm at it."

Buffheart remained standing. "Is there a reason you didn't wish for mah orders to be overheard by everyone else sah?"

"Who ever is messing with the Dark Forest isn't even from this area. Apparently they think that by summoning an areas greatest weapon they can conquer the area without any problems."

"Sah... wouldn't this area's greatest weapon be not a weapon but one of the badger lords?"

"Yes, but you can't pinpoint one badger lord as being the greatest weapon. Plus... they weren't looking to defeat Salamandastron. This place in case you haven't noticed has become empty. They were looking to defeat a place called Redwall."

"Never heard of it sah."

"It is best to say that it is the Abbey that was built after the war by the Mossflower woodlanders with the help of others including a good friend of ours and my Bella."

"But sah, what would the greatest weapon be from that place? It's just an abbey and abbeys are supposed to be peaceful places."

"Martin the Warrior is their greatest weapon. That mouse believe it or not was long dreamed about by the badger lords prior to myself. For him to be listed among the badger lords and ladies to come to these mountains, that is something. He is going to be in need of our help though."

"How so sah?"

"In case you haven't noticed we are all younger physically then when we met Martin. Way younger. Your Lupin will likely not be able to find your two babes until a later time, if at all. Martin... I have reason to believe that the good creature we are looking for is going to be an infant. I need you to head south to see if you can't find them."

"Them sah?"

"You'll understand when you find them. I'll explain more when you get back, or someone else might beat me to it."