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‘Twas a season after the attack of the Marlfoxes,
and everyone the abbey was doing their routine choirs. The dibbuns were
out playing in the abbey pond, with their boats.
“Is something wrong, Abbess” Abbess Song jumped up at the voice that came from the shadows behind her. “No, nothings wrong Cregga, I was just watching the dibbuns.” “If something is troubling you, you can always talk about it” Cregga said, ignoring Songs comment. “Well… there’s this dream…” “Is Martin trying to tell you something?” “I believe so, but he keeps talking in a riddle, repeating it over and over again.” “May I here it?” “I can’t remember it… I always forget it when I wake up.” All this was watched by a pine martin that was spying through the trees. Down in the great hall Dann stood admiring the tapestry. For a whole season had passed since it was brought back, and he found himself drawn towards it. He had inspected it closely, and he saw a seam around the picture of the Martin, as if it had been torn out and sown back in. He was just about to grab a snack from the kitchen, when the bells sounded, calling him to the west wall. “Har’ a ‘roup o’ ‘hoxzez ‘prouching the habbey, zurr!” said Wursom, a mole which had recently come to the abbey, and had a strange accent even for a mole. “I’ll never learn to understand you” said Dann “Har’ a ‘roup o’ ‘hoxzez ‘prouching the habbey!” Wursom repeated, though louder this time. “Okay, okay, just let me look” Dann replied. “Oh my gosh, there’s a group of foxes approaching the abbey” “’Hat’s wat’ I bean tringg o’ teal ou!’” Wursom shouted, but Dann was already at the gates, waiting to meet the foxes. Silently the foxes approached the gates of Redwall. They opened them, only to find a mole and a squirrel standing there, waiting for them. “Hat o’ ou hink ’oure doyng ’her” “Can you understand him?” the first fox asked “No.” Dann replied flatly “Well then, since nether of us can understand him, why doesn’t someone find someone who can?” the third fox replied. “Wursom, go find someone that can understand you.” “Zurr, Ey ’hont hink hanyoon han’ onerhand ’nmee” The glare from Dann sent the mole away. “There, that’s better.” The first fox replied “You know”, the second fox said, speaking for the first time “If I were you I’d be more careful” Dann barely had time to turn around when the pine martin knocked him out. Wursom, finding no one could understand him, went to admire the tapestry, not wanting to bother Dann while he was dealing with the foxes. He was staring at the picture of Martin, when he noticed Martin was looking in a different direction. He turn to see what Martin was “looking” at. He saw a pine martin hiding around the corner, and he started sneaking up on it. Obviously the pine martin saw him too, because he leaded at Wursom with a cutlass already drawn. Reacting on instinct, Wursom threw his arms forward, knocking the pine martin in the chest. Not only was the pine martin winded, he was also knocked out the window. He didn’t catch his breath fast enough to scream. Dann stood up. He could see straight everything was still wavy. He had been talking to the foxes when everything went black… “The foxes, that’s it!” Dann said out loud, and he set off to find them. Wursom stood staring out the window at the lifeless body of the pine martin. He couldn’t believe he had actually killed a beast, even if it was a vermin. He turned around and saw Dann looking at him. “Did you…?” “Hes, zurr” Wursom said, now staring at his paws. “I know what it’s like, killing someone, it scares you, doesn’t it?” Wursom nodded. “It’s okay, don’t think about it, but the foxes are still here. We have to find them!” Wursom nodded, and began to follow Dann. “That stupid pine martin! He can’t do anything right!” “Shut up! You want the whole abbey to here us!” “Both of you be quiet! None of us where expected to live through this, remember?” The other foxes nodded. “Good. Now here’s the plan, we need to burn the tapestry, so…” That was all Abbess Song heard, for they started whispering. Meanwhile, Dann and Wursom were trekking though the abbey, when the Abbess ran into them. “Oh, Dann, there are three foxes…” “I know, where are they?” “That’s not important, they’re trying to burn the tapestry!” “Ho’, nmy ’hosh!” it was the first thing Wursom said since he killed the pine martin. “To the tapestry!” Dann practically yelled. They made it to the tapestry before the foxes, each of them hiding in a different spot. Wursom had taken the pine martin’s cutlass, and Abbess Song had a brass ladle, taken from the kitchen. Dann of course, had the Martin’s sword. They were so well hidden the foxes didn’t see them, where as the first one fell to the sword of Martin. “Be quick about it!” The second fox yelled, blocking the cutlass with his axe. “I am…” the third fox fell, victim of the ladle, dropping the flint and steel. The second fox was surrounded quickly. All three of the warriors were closing in on him, leave no way to escape. Or so they thought… the fox threw his axe at Dann, forcing him to dodge, and the fox jumped out the broken window, landing with a thump on top of the pine martin’s body. The fall broke his left leg and he was forced to limp out the gates of Redwall, into the safety of Mossflower forest. It was three seasons after the attack of the Marlfoxes, and the abbey
had settled down after the foxes had tried to burn the tapestry.
It still worried Dann, because of that one fox that had escaped.
The
“Hat ydo ou ’hinek he hext hezon hon’a ’e kaled?”
‘This is pathetic’ the fox thought, looking at the ragged ferrets
and stoats he had rallied up. ‘Only five… we're all doomed, oh well’
The fox was getting desperate. He hadn’t rallied any troops, and
it was time he did. Oddly enough, he decided against it. He
wanted to end it now, by himself, either way. It was time to either
destroy Redwall morale forever, or die trying. He didn’t really care
what happened to him, as long as one day Redwall was destroyed.
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