Stormdancer94
12-01-2007, 04:45 AM
Lord Brocktine of Salamandastron was trying to teach the new vermin students how to write, but it was harder than he had first thought.
"Trouble sah?" A jolly hare named Brushback jabbered in the Badger Lord's ear.
"Hm? No Brushback... Well yes. Do you remember the last vermin crew that we sent to Redwall Abbey?" Brocktine sighed.
Brushback pondered for a moment before answering, "Hmm... Oh yes! Those weasely types from up north wot! Why do y'ask sah?"
"Well, those vermin couldn't pick up a charcoal stick for chips! I thought they were the hardest... But look at this lot Brush..." Brocktine sighed and pointed to the vermin, who were trying to scrawl on the rocks with charcoal stubs.
"Don't give up hope sah! Let me have a crack at em wot!" Brushback winked broadly at Brocktine.
"H'allrighty chaps! Chin in, chest out, shoulders back wot! Now listen h'up you clodwalloping sods for brains! Who here has ever had an education afore?" Brushback barked.
One tiny rat lifted his paw, "I... I have sir... Once..."
"Right'o! What's your name little chap?" Brushback asked.
The rat blushed, "Midger sir."
"Right Midger! What stuff did you learn?" Brushback barked.
Midger seemed to grow smaller before the hare's eyes. He shrunk back and looked at the ground.
"Speak up lad!" Brushback barked.
"Well... M... My father, he was a warrior and my mother was a scholar down in the south... My Mother, she taught me how to read and the basics of writing," Midger stammered.
"Well done lad! So, show your comrades what your mater showed ye wot!" Brushback barked.
Midger stood up shakily and showed the others how to hold the charcoal stick properly, so it wouldn't break. Brushback looked on proudly as Midger grew more confident as he talked.
When the class was over, Brushback pulled Midger over before he left.
"Jolly good show wot! I'd say you're a top teach wot! How's about you come with me and you can teach the rest of the vermin wot!" Brushback smiled fondly at the small rat.
Midger looked at the floor and then his resolve hardened and he turned to look Brushback in the eye.
"I'll come with yer, bit on one condition," Midger growled, trying to get his words out correctly.
"What might that be lad?" Brushback asked, surprised.
"I wanna change me name, Midger ain't me first name, me Mam gave me an educatterd name," Midger said.
"Well, we'll call you by that name then! What is it?" Brushback asked, feeling Brocktine walk up behind him.
Midger quailed a bit when he saw the Badger Lord, "W...Well... It was..." He stammered.
Brushback turned around to face Brocktine, "I say old chap! You're making the little rat so nervous he can't talk wot! Off with ye!"
Brocktine smirked and disappeared around a corner of the corridor.
Once he was gone, Midger regained some of his confidence again, "Me Mam named me Alpha. She said it meant first, like the boss rat! But I grew small and me Pa called me Midgert..."
"Well Alpha! Kin I call you Alphy?" Brushback grinned.
Alphy smiled back timidly, "Y... Yes of course you can sir."
"Well, let's make you the Alpha of your class wot!" Brushback smiled and escorted Alphy upstairs to his room.
~~~~
Peony woke the next morning, refreshed and remembering nothing from last night. The young badgermaid shed her nightgown and grabbed a sky blue tunic and belted it on with a small red cord.
"Morning Papa!" She trilled to Rowanoak as she passed him in the study.
"Wait! Peony!" Rowanoak called.
Peony stopped and entered the badger study, "Yes Papa?" She asked.
"Do you remember last night?" Rowanoak asked slowly.
"What about last night?" Peony asked, blushing.
"I don't mean the fox, I mean after that..." Rowanoak growled.
"What? I went to bed and got a glass of water and then went back to bed, that's all... Oh! And dinner. Why do you ask?" Peony replied.
Rowanoak suddenly realised that his daughter didn't remember anything from the night before. But he decided to try one last thing.
"Far back in the mists of time,
Comes a badger so sublime,
To the mountain she must go,
To find the one who wields the bow,
But once again the sequence must be repeated,
Or Redwall Abbey will be defeated." He quoted.
"That's a nice poem Father, but who told you it?" Peony smiled sweetly.
"You did," Rowanoak blurted out.
"What? I have never heard that one before," Peony replied, puzzled.
Rowanoak pulled out his last trump card, "Martin the Warrior told it to you. And you gave these to me last night," He said, taking out the parchment.
Peony blinked a few times, seeming to remember something, but just missing it.
"Remember Peony?" Rowanoak whispered.
"No! I don't!" Peony shook her head and left.
Rowanoak sighed and looked at the parchment. It had directions to; Salamandastron, Loamhedge and Redwall Abbey. He had studied the maps and riddles though and found that if he joined them all together, there was a route to the Northlands.
"Where Peony must go..." Rowanoak whispered hoarsely.
After several minutes, Rowanoak left the study and went down to breakfast. Pastran had cooked up a miniature feast and was packing travelling food to go to Redwall.
"Morning Rowanoak!" Pastran grinned, packing a small knapsack.
"Good Morn to ye Pastran Water Rat," Rowanoak bowed and went to sit with his family and Farren.
Farren the Fox was entertaining Peony with some jokes and comic ballads. Emerlo and Cirbrock were finishing their breakfast and were playing with some stones and acorns, trying to hit a target on a tree.
Rowanoak sat down on a rock next to his wife, who was watching Peony and Farren with thinly disguised disgust.
"What's wrong dear?" Rowanoak murmured.
"That... That fox! Peony should be consorting with... Civilized creatures, not... Not... Vermin!" Marla Blackstripe hissed.
A sharp hiss came from the trees and Farren fell to the ground, an arrow in the side of his head.
"Get down!" Rowanoak bellowed and charged off into the trees.
Marla rounded up her children and, with Pastran, they fled into Brockhall.
"What was that?" Cirbrock breathed.
"Looks like an arrow slew Farren," Emerlo sneered.
"Oh no," Peony cried.
"Be quiet all of you!" Marla hissed, "I'm going out to help your father, find something to defend yourselves with and hide together with Pastran in a room!"
Marla opened the door and charged out, her eyes growing red.
"Eulaaaalliiiiaaaaaa!" She roared and charged in the direction Rowanoak left.
~~~~
"Eulaliiiiaaaaaaaa!" Rowanoak roared, chasing after a gang of foxes.
"Run mates! Git back to the hideout!" A sable fox screamed as he was felled by a thrust of Rowanoak's paw.
"Eulaaaaliiiaaaa! Here comes Crimsoneye to herald your doom!" Rowanoak bellowed, full of the Bloodwrath.
He charged after the remaining foxes, grabbing one by the neck and snapping his spine like a twig.
He saw Marla out of the corner of his eye, throttling another fox, who was slicing horrifying wounds in her hide with his dying energy.
"Marlaaaaa!" Rowanoak bellowed, charging towards her as he saw her fall, the fox's cutlass embedded in her Bloodwrath-Red eye.
The last remaining fox looked at the huge badger weeping over his wife's body before dashing off, deep into Mossflower Woods.
"Marla! Marla!" Rowanoak bellowed, clutching his wife's corpse to his chest, tears flooding out of his bloodshot eyes.
Pastran came running out of the trees, "Rowanoak! Oh gods! Marla!" He cried.
Rowanoak turned to face Pastran, his eyes suffused with blood, "Die vermin!" He roared, grabbing Pastran.
Pastran died with a look of surprise on his face, his head severed from his body.
Rowanoak gave a bellow of fury and charged back to Brockhall, determined to wreak some kind of vengeance.
~~~~
Peony saw her father charging towards Brockhall, his eyes glinting crimson. She pelted into Brockhall, yelling, "Get out! Run! Father has the Bloodwrath!"
Emerlo and Cirbrock ran out the door, only to be met by the grief-maddened Rowanoak, whose eyes saw them as vermin.
Peony had secreted herself within the Badger Mansion and was cowering inside a storeroom.
"Come out vermin, meet Rowanoak Crimsoneye, your doom!" Rowanoak roared, tearing Brockhall apart.
Peony whimpered as she heard Rowanoak tear through the wooden furniture and attack the walls, gouging through the earth until it collapsed upon him.
Peony waited a full hour until she deemed it safe to come out. She tried to open the door, but it was stuck fast. Peering through the keyhole, she saw only clods of earth.
Realization suddenly struck her as she realised she was trapped under mountains of earth!
Brockhall, legendary home of badgers, had collapsed!
Please comment! ~~ Stormdancer94
"Trouble sah?" A jolly hare named Brushback jabbered in the Badger Lord's ear.
"Hm? No Brushback... Well yes. Do you remember the last vermin crew that we sent to Redwall Abbey?" Brocktine sighed.
Brushback pondered for a moment before answering, "Hmm... Oh yes! Those weasely types from up north wot! Why do y'ask sah?"
"Well, those vermin couldn't pick up a charcoal stick for chips! I thought they were the hardest... But look at this lot Brush..." Brocktine sighed and pointed to the vermin, who were trying to scrawl on the rocks with charcoal stubs.
"Don't give up hope sah! Let me have a crack at em wot!" Brushback winked broadly at Brocktine.
"H'allrighty chaps! Chin in, chest out, shoulders back wot! Now listen h'up you clodwalloping sods for brains! Who here has ever had an education afore?" Brushback barked.
One tiny rat lifted his paw, "I... I have sir... Once..."
"Right'o! What's your name little chap?" Brushback asked.
The rat blushed, "Midger sir."
"Right Midger! What stuff did you learn?" Brushback barked.
Midger seemed to grow smaller before the hare's eyes. He shrunk back and looked at the ground.
"Speak up lad!" Brushback barked.
"Well... M... My father, he was a warrior and my mother was a scholar down in the south... My Mother, she taught me how to read and the basics of writing," Midger stammered.
"Well done lad! So, show your comrades what your mater showed ye wot!" Brushback barked.
Midger stood up shakily and showed the others how to hold the charcoal stick properly, so it wouldn't break. Brushback looked on proudly as Midger grew more confident as he talked.
When the class was over, Brushback pulled Midger over before he left.
"Jolly good show wot! I'd say you're a top teach wot! How's about you come with me and you can teach the rest of the vermin wot!" Brushback smiled fondly at the small rat.
Midger looked at the floor and then his resolve hardened and he turned to look Brushback in the eye.
"I'll come with yer, bit on one condition," Midger growled, trying to get his words out correctly.
"What might that be lad?" Brushback asked, surprised.
"I wanna change me name, Midger ain't me first name, me Mam gave me an educatterd name," Midger said.
"Well, we'll call you by that name then! What is it?" Brushback asked, feeling Brocktine walk up behind him.
Midger quailed a bit when he saw the Badger Lord, "W...Well... It was..." He stammered.
Brushback turned around to face Brocktine, "I say old chap! You're making the little rat so nervous he can't talk wot! Off with ye!"
Brocktine smirked and disappeared around a corner of the corridor.
Once he was gone, Midger regained some of his confidence again, "Me Mam named me Alpha. She said it meant first, like the boss rat! But I grew small and me Pa called me Midgert..."
"Well Alpha! Kin I call you Alphy?" Brushback grinned.
Alphy smiled back timidly, "Y... Yes of course you can sir."
"Well, let's make you the Alpha of your class wot!" Brushback smiled and escorted Alphy upstairs to his room.
~~~~
Peony woke the next morning, refreshed and remembering nothing from last night. The young badgermaid shed her nightgown and grabbed a sky blue tunic and belted it on with a small red cord.
"Morning Papa!" She trilled to Rowanoak as she passed him in the study.
"Wait! Peony!" Rowanoak called.
Peony stopped and entered the badger study, "Yes Papa?" She asked.
"Do you remember last night?" Rowanoak asked slowly.
"What about last night?" Peony asked, blushing.
"I don't mean the fox, I mean after that..." Rowanoak growled.
"What? I went to bed and got a glass of water and then went back to bed, that's all... Oh! And dinner. Why do you ask?" Peony replied.
Rowanoak suddenly realised that his daughter didn't remember anything from the night before. But he decided to try one last thing.
"Far back in the mists of time,
Comes a badger so sublime,
To the mountain she must go,
To find the one who wields the bow,
But once again the sequence must be repeated,
Or Redwall Abbey will be defeated." He quoted.
"That's a nice poem Father, but who told you it?" Peony smiled sweetly.
"You did," Rowanoak blurted out.
"What? I have never heard that one before," Peony replied, puzzled.
Rowanoak pulled out his last trump card, "Martin the Warrior told it to you. And you gave these to me last night," He said, taking out the parchment.
Peony blinked a few times, seeming to remember something, but just missing it.
"Remember Peony?" Rowanoak whispered.
"No! I don't!" Peony shook her head and left.
Rowanoak sighed and looked at the parchment. It had directions to; Salamandastron, Loamhedge and Redwall Abbey. He had studied the maps and riddles though and found that if he joined them all together, there was a route to the Northlands.
"Where Peony must go..." Rowanoak whispered hoarsely.
After several minutes, Rowanoak left the study and went down to breakfast. Pastran had cooked up a miniature feast and was packing travelling food to go to Redwall.
"Morning Rowanoak!" Pastran grinned, packing a small knapsack.
"Good Morn to ye Pastran Water Rat," Rowanoak bowed and went to sit with his family and Farren.
Farren the Fox was entertaining Peony with some jokes and comic ballads. Emerlo and Cirbrock were finishing their breakfast and were playing with some stones and acorns, trying to hit a target on a tree.
Rowanoak sat down on a rock next to his wife, who was watching Peony and Farren with thinly disguised disgust.
"What's wrong dear?" Rowanoak murmured.
"That... That fox! Peony should be consorting with... Civilized creatures, not... Not... Vermin!" Marla Blackstripe hissed.
A sharp hiss came from the trees and Farren fell to the ground, an arrow in the side of his head.
"Get down!" Rowanoak bellowed and charged off into the trees.
Marla rounded up her children and, with Pastran, they fled into Brockhall.
"What was that?" Cirbrock breathed.
"Looks like an arrow slew Farren," Emerlo sneered.
"Oh no," Peony cried.
"Be quiet all of you!" Marla hissed, "I'm going out to help your father, find something to defend yourselves with and hide together with Pastran in a room!"
Marla opened the door and charged out, her eyes growing red.
"Eulaaaalliiiiaaaaaa!" She roared and charged in the direction Rowanoak left.
~~~~
"Eulaliiiiaaaaaaaa!" Rowanoak roared, chasing after a gang of foxes.
"Run mates! Git back to the hideout!" A sable fox screamed as he was felled by a thrust of Rowanoak's paw.
"Eulaaaaliiiaaaa! Here comes Crimsoneye to herald your doom!" Rowanoak bellowed, full of the Bloodwrath.
He charged after the remaining foxes, grabbing one by the neck and snapping his spine like a twig.
He saw Marla out of the corner of his eye, throttling another fox, who was slicing horrifying wounds in her hide with his dying energy.
"Marlaaaaa!" Rowanoak bellowed, charging towards her as he saw her fall, the fox's cutlass embedded in her Bloodwrath-Red eye.
The last remaining fox looked at the huge badger weeping over his wife's body before dashing off, deep into Mossflower Woods.
"Marla! Marla!" Rowanoak bellowed, clutching his wife's corpse to his chest, tears flooding out of his bloodshot eyes.
Pastran came running out of the trees, "Rowanoak! Oh gods! Marla!" He cried.
Rowanoak turned to face Pastran, his eyes suffused with blood, "Die vermin!" He roared, grabbing Pastran.
Pastran died with a look of surprise on his face, his head severed from his body.
Rowanoak gave a bellow of fury and charged back to Brockhall, determined to wreak some kind of vengeance.
~~~~
Peony saw her father charging towards Brockhall, his eyes glinting crimson. She pelted into Brockhall, yelling, "Get out! Run! Father has the Bloodwrath!"
Emerlo and Cirbrock ran out the door, only to be met by the grief-maddened Rowanoak, whose eyes saw them as vermin.
Peony had secreted herself within the Badger Mansion and was cowering inside a storeroom.
"Come out vermin, meet Rowanoak Crimsoneye, your doom!" Rowanoak roared, tearing Brockhall apart.
Peony whimpered as she heard Rowanoak tear through the wooden furniture and attack the walls, gouging through the earth until it collapsed upon him.
Peony waited a full hour until she deemed it safe to come out. She tried to open the door, but it was stuck fast. Peering through the keyhole, she saw only clods of earth.
Realization suddenly struck her as she realised she was trapped under mountains of earth!
Brockhall, legendary home of badgers, had collapsed!
Please comment! ~~ Stormdancer94