The Airship Endeavor

[Rusvul]

Hello! I wanted to write a fanfic, though this barely qualifies, since so much of it is just my weird and crazy imagination. It's a steampunk Redwall-ish story, it does not take place in Mossflower wood, rather, in a town known as Ardorax, or, at least, it starts there...

PROLOGUE

Ardorax was a small town, on a hill, in the middle of a large forest. Its inhabitants were for the most part unaware of the technological advancements of the recent past, choosing to live by the old ways. Among them, a fox named Acheela. She had a husband, and two children, by the names of Rusvul and Leneat. Had a husband. Triiula, for that was his name, had died fourteen years ago. He was a trader, and as he was returning from a long journey, his airship, the Endeavor, had burned and fallen. The cause of the flames was unknown, but mutiny was suspected. Thirty-seven dead. Another fifteen badly wounded. However, Triiula's body was never found.


Chapter One

Rusvul was sick of losing. Leneat was just a better shot, end of discussion. He couldn't sling a knife like she could. He was better at swordplay. He always carried a short rapier with him, though, he never really got a chance to use it. Ardorax was peaceful, there had not been any large incidents since the death of Triiula. Leneat laughed "Rus, come on, you can do better than that? Or are you going to let your sister win?" His sister was two years younger than Rusvul, at eleven. Rusvul, himself, was thirteen. "No, I can't, Leneat, I'm not that good at knife throwing." Rusvul heard a dull clanking noise. "What was that?" "I don't know, me winning?". His sister was so annoying. "Shut up, did you hear something clank? There it is again!". Leneat's face was a picture of curiosity. "Let's find out!" she cried, rushing back towards the village. Rusvul bounded after her.

"Where is he?" The voice was deep, metallic, and cold. Rusvul crept up behind the speaker. It was a clockwork automaton, gilded with ornate gold patterns. On its left arm was a shield, in replacement of its right hand was a strange weapon that seemed to be part axe, part spear, and part rifle. It had a curious rounded lump extending from its arm, just above the weapon. Its metal ears were flat and back, a clear sign of aggression. It had no face- just a white mask with ornate gold leaf designs, and two glowing eye-like slits. If you looked carefully, you could see thousands of tiny gears turning, through the dark purplish-maroon glare of the eyes. "Where is h-h-h-h-h-h-he?" Acheela was frozen with fright, but not for long. She drew the concealed short scimitar that she kept under her skirt, strapped to her leg. She lunged at the clockwork, attempting to take off its head. "I will tell you nothing, gearbox!" "So be it." The clockwork raised its shield to take the blow, and the lump on his arm extended and spiraled out to become a small shield. It then hooked the blade of his weapon around hers, disarming her, and flinging her sword deep into a tree. It'd take ages to get it out, and the automaton had his rifle leveled at her, so she could not make a move anyway. "TELL ME, OR THE DESTRUCTION OF ARDORAX IS ON YOUR HEAD!" The automaton boomed. Rusvul leapt out at him, attacking him with his sword. He ran right into the automaton's shield, which had moved incredibly quickly. The clockwork lifted Rus into the air, and slashed his face with the spear end of his weapon. "Let this be a lesson to you, do not meddle with Leadenblade Drantoraz, Ruler of Auxatan, lest you become an enemy of the nation. I shall not strike you down, you are merely misguided. If I ever see your face again, I will not be so merciful." Rusvul slumped to the ground, and the last thing he remembered was the sound of grinding gears and hissing steam.


Chapter two


Rusvul awoke to the sight of his sister's face. His left eye was gummed shut, most likely with drying blood, and about halfway down, his ear was hurting worse than anything he had ever felt. He opened his mouth and groaned. Leneat was leaning over him. "Rus! You're alive! That awful gearhead... your ear... your face... Mother..." Rusvul sat bolt upright. "Mother? What did he do to her?" "She's still alive... but he took her! He took her, Rus! We have to help her!" Leneat looked anxiously at his face. "After you heal, that is." "I doubt I will ever truly heal, my ear won't grow back." Leneat prepared a poultice, and strapped it to his face. Rusvul looked around, and for the first time noticed that the town was empty. Of course. Leneat must have hidden, and all the others were taken prisoner. He had to help them. He fell asleep, thinking that he would catch up with Drantoraz, and destroy him.

Three weeks and five days passed, with Rusvul recovering and Leneat caring for him. Rusvul started to remember strange things, things that he had never seen before. The world half a league below him, the wind in his ears- ear, and the sharp crack! of gunfire. One night, he began to stagger resolutely out the door of his house, and out the gate of his village. "Rusvul? Rusvul!" Leneat called out, following him. "Where are you going? You can't go on an adventure like this at night, as badly injured as you are!" "Not adventure," Rusvul replied dreamily. "Endeavor."

Chapter Three

Rusvul came upon the scorched hull of his father's airhsip, the Endeavor. It was badly scorched, but mostly intact. Even the airbag was mostly together, simply charred and burst in some places. There were a few toolheads in the wreck, Rus gathered them and attached them roughly to some charred boards, and went off in search of broad branches to cut, he would need boards. "What are you doing?" Leneat asked. She had not shared in his dreams. "Repairing the ship?" She smiled. "I'll fix an adze and help you." Or perhaps she had.

After a long day of repairing the ship, the hull was even more intact, and they began fixing the Captain's Quarters for the night. They slept on a straw mattress on the floor, with no blankets. They still had quite a bit of work to do before it would be a pleasant living space.

The next day, Rusvul worked on the airbag, while Leneat found some old canvas and started making sails. They both knew exactly how everything was supposed to work, somehow their dreams had made them sailing veterans, despite never having left the ground. The next twenty-eight days went on like this, until they had a boiler, a galley, an airbag, crew quarters, a meager armory, three masts and crows-nests, and even broadsides filled with cannons. Not that they could use them with only two crew members. The ship was entirely ready to set sail, aside from the fact that she had only two crew, no provisions, and no maps.


They, rather foolishly, set sail anyway. Rusvul, who apparently had a terrible sense of direction, was at the helm all day and night, while Leneat turned sails, prepared food, fueled the boilers, essentially did everything that the entire crew would do normally. Rusvul could not stay awake, however, he dozed off at the helm of his ship.

By the time he woke up, well rested, and completely lost, he saw a city on the horizon. It had vast walls, and huge cannons. A day later, he docked the Endeavor, and, completely exhausted, climbed to shore. Leneat followed him, and walked up to the nearest creature. "Where are we?" she asked a dark-furred squirrel clad in a plain but servicable tunic and tricorn hat. "And do you know of an inn where we can rest?" The squirrel answered her. "Name's Ferron Oilspat. This be city o' Wrendnaught. If ye be lookin' t' rest yer lamps t' night, the Copper Ladle Inn's the safest place in town. And a word o' advice- avoid the Faintglims at all cost. If'n they catch ye, ye'll wish ye'd crashed that tub on t' way here. I'll be biddin' ye good-day."


Chapter Four

Rusvul walked into the Copper Ladle Inn. "Excuse me, sirrah, I'd like to check in to a room for the night." The Innkeeper answered him, asking for money. "Of course! That'll be sixpence." Rusvul was annoyed, both at the Innkeeper, and at himself, how did he forget that he had no money! "Errr... We don't have any money, sir. Can we work for our keep?" The inkeeper sighed. "Eh, alright, you seem a fine young lad, I'd not like to see you taken by one of the other inns in town and... well... let's not go there. Right then." He bellowed out a name that Rusvul couldn't quite understand. A portly cardinal stumbled in. "Tweetoo! What might I help yootwootwootwoo with?" Rusvul sighed, then repeated himself. "Hello, sir, we would like to work for our keep." "Tweetoo! Comecome, scrubby pots, twytwytwytwy!" He led Rusvul and Leneat into a small kitchen, filled with steam, the sound of hissing, and two odd basins with a tap above them. The cardinal gestured at the basins, flicking a turny thing on top of the tap with his claw. Strangely, water poured out. "Twytwytwy, rainbarrel, rainbarrel. Plumbingpipe to sinkbasin, heat boiler, valve lever, tweetoo!" Rusvul was thouroughly confused. "Ehhh... What did he say?" He asked Leneat. "Hmm, I'm not completely sure, but I think a set of barrels collect rain, and it is piped here, where it's heated by a furnace of sorts, then piped out through these taps. Strange system, unlike anything in Ardorax." Rusvul nodded agreement, and was interrupted by the cardinal. "Twytwytwytwy, scrubbypot, clean scumgrease. One hour, then food-table and sleepysleeps." And with that, the strange bird waddled away. Rusvul picked up a washcloth, and went to with a will.

Three hours later, exhausted, but well fed, they fell asleep in their damp, straw, (But relatively clean) beds. When Rusvul awoke, Leneat was not there.


Tell me what you think!
Please rate it honestly, I'm not really expecting any fives, I'm expecting mostly threes with a few twos and fours

[Shadowed One]

Neat, but kind of weird.

[Rusvul]

I one hundred percent agree.

[KitrallStreamrippler]

I love your description of the automaton! (Steampunk!!!) My curiosity is also aroused- who is it (he?) looking for? Why would he (it?) destroy the town if it/he didn't receive an answer? What's going to happen to Rusvul? Where's his sister during all this and what happens to her? (Sorry for all the questions. I actually have more, but I figured this was more than enough. )

[Rusvul]

Hahahaha, his sister sees that the only way she can help Rus is by staying hidden and not fighting. If she gets maimed by the clockwork too, then she won't be able to heal Rus and they'll probably both die. New chapter going up. Not a long one, might post two today.

[KitrallStreamrippler]

Awesome- can't wait!

[Rusvul]

New chapter up! Chapter three - the first real sight of the Endeavor! Despite the fact that she's kind of burnt, smashed, and has been neglected for a long time.

[Rusvul]

Avast! It's been ages since I updated this, I'll try to update today, might not get to it though. I just wanted to ask, since it's barely redwall, does it belong in the redwall fanfic section?

[Rusvul]

Gah! I'm really sorry, I've been horribly neglecting this fic. I will try to upload more frequently in the future, but I make no promises. Also, I know I'm pretty bad about formatting, I've never actually learned it, I will have to get someone to teach me that. At some point, I would like to add more detail to the rather skipped-over bits, such as rebuilding the Endeavor. Anyway, Chapter Four is up, and hopefully chapter five will follow suit soon!