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[BrookSkimmer]

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1
The Heart's Watery Grave
By Leatho Shellhound

A young mouse watched as the Sayna sailed away over the horizon, carrying with it his father and uncle. A small drop of water filled his sorrowful, grey eyes.
    The mouse's name was Vannøyne, which meant water-eyes in some foreign language. His eyes would change color according to what mood he was in.
     Several seasons later he stood on the cliff top, looking out to sea for his father. The sun shone off of his soft white fur and helmet as he turned around and ran quickly to the training ground. He was going to start taking weapon training with an old friend of his father's named Alexo. Alexo was a tall and sturdy built mouse. He was carving some designs on his family's weapon, a large round shield he called an Aegis.
     "You're late," said the trainer with a grim look on his face. 
     "Sorry sir, I wanted to see if my father had returned, and forgot about the time." Vannøyne replied.
     "Very well, just don't make a habit of it," Alexo said while putting his shield down.
     "Yes sir," the young mouse answered. Looking up he said, "I'm ready."
     Alexo pointed to a rack with wooden weapons on it. "Take a sword" he said. The young mouse lifted one off the rack.
      "Now swing your sword this way like I am with mine"...The lesson went on for another hour, a mouse maid named Liv was also being trained, she was Alexo's daughter and was taught how to use the old aegis. She was older than him, thus was advanced is her weapon training. Every time they did a practice sword duel, she always seemed to best him. However, he was a quick learner and made up for his mistakes. In the days to come he would gradually master the skills of a warrior, up to the time he would need them.
    As he walked back to his room in the rock caves he bumped into a young mouse maid who was pretty and had always made Vannøyne stare. "Um...how are you today, Seafur...I mean tonight." for the sun had gone down by then.
    "I'm fine, thank you," she replied with a bright smile making his eye turn cream with love. "I watched you start your weapon training today."
     "You did?" Vannøyne asked hopefully.
     "Yes, you're learning fast!" Seafur added, "Would you like to go fishing tomorrow?"
He nodded for speech had left him. That night he had dreams of storms and disaster.
    He got up as the first rays of sun in the bright new morning rose over the waters. Quickly getting dressed, he rushed outside to join Seafur with her fishing. They tried all day to get a bite, but none came. He left the boat to go to his weapon training. Seafur stayed behind to see if the evening tide brought any luck. The sky was dark and threatening.
     As he got to the training ground, Alexo walked up to him and said, "Weapon training is cancelled, due to the weather."
     Normally he knew, Alexo would have him train in the rain as well, but in this case the lightning made it dangerous. "Better get everyone inside. Run up the cliff, will you, and check to see if any beast is up there." said Alexo.
     As Vannøyne began to run, the old mouse stopped him by stepping on his tail. "Ow!" said the victim.
    "You forgot to take your metal helmet off; I don't want my pupil to get struck by lightning!" Alexo said while taking the helmet off Vannøyne and walking toward the caves.
    "Oh right," said the young mouse. He ran up the cliff bare headed.
The storm went on through the night, only clearing when morning came. On the water washed beach laid a wrecked boat. It was Seafur's. Later it was found out that the mouse maid was missing.
     They sent out search parties right away, looking up and down the beach, among the rocks, in caves, even out at sea – nothing. Vannøyne went on searching long after the others had given up hope. But it was all fruitless. Some thought he just went off to be alone, no one knew where he went. He would be gone for hours, days, sometimes weeks. As the seasons passed, one by one, he wandered off less and talked more. But he would never be the same. There are some things time cannot change. Every storm that hit the northern shore, he would stand on the cliff top hoping somehow that the storm would give her back to him. But it would never be. The maid was gone. The ocean, which had once given him so much joy, was now black in his heart; his eyes grey with sorrow.


2
By Ceteruler

~~~
Clang! Clash! Swipe!

"Come on, Martin, keep your head up, and don't slouch your shoulders! Leave no opportunity for the opponent; keep your sword level at me!" The older mouse called out, panting lightly and squinting against the midday summer sun, ready for Martin's next move.

"I'm trying, I'm trying, Marcus!" Martin replied through heavy gasps for air. He followed Marcus's orders and stood at the ready, recovering his energy. By the time he had stopped panting Marcus was bouncing easily on his toes into the smooth sand, a grin on his face.

"Ready, little mouse? I'm coming for you! Hyah!" Jumping forward swiftly Marcus thrust at Martin with his sword. The younger mouse squeaked with surprise but managed to dodge it by jumping to the side, counter-swiping at Marcus's arm. The hard-faced mouse followed his swing through, letting the sword plow into the sand before kicking the flat of the blade hard.

Martin's sword fell to the ground, his paw having let go of it from the vibrations. Marcus gave a triumphant laugh and stepped on the blade. "Victory is mine, little mouse. You still have much to learn, mm?"

The younger of the two glanced back at the blue sea where it connected with an equally colored sky. "Yes, yes, I see. You don't have to tell me. I'll beat you someday, Marcus."

"Ha, I knew you'd see it my way," Marcus grinned in a friendly manner, then let out a relaxed laugh as he took his footpaw off the blade. Martin grinned and laughed back, but he soon stopped and dived toward the blade, grabbing the hilt in one paw and rolling in a somersault to land back on his feet. Surprised by this, Marcus could only blink and jump back swiftly, but Martin went even faster than that. Quickly he locked his blade with Marcus and gave a skillful twist.

Like a spear out of the hand of a skilled thrower, Marcus's sword sailed right, landing twenty feet away from the pair. The younger and smaller of the pair now had his turn to grin at his companion, pointing his sword at Marcus's chest.

"Hah! Now who still has much to learn?" he crowed, then stowing his blade and letting out an exhausted breath he leaned over and put his front paws on his knees. "Let's... let's be done."

The older mouse, still shocked by his disarming, gave Martin a curious look. "You've been practicing that move. Very nicely done, Martin." Walking slowly over, the barely tired Marcus picked up his sword and put it in his sheath, savoring the sound of the metal over the fabric. Coming back, he gave him a slap on the back and an approving smile. "You should head back to the caves. Your grandma will want you back soon."

Nodding, Martin slowly straightened. Marcus watched the younger mouse slowly head off to his cave, then turned to the right and strode briskly to his own cave, where he saw his wife and son waiting at the entrance. Joan smiled softly at him, cradling the infant mouse in her arms.

"You two get rougher with each other every day," she spoke softly as he drew near. "I'm afraid you're going to injure each other."

Marcus laughed as he put one arm behind Joan's back. "We won't injure each other. But we will be rougher. How else will we learn to protect our families against vermin? They won't hold back, you know."

She leaned her own head, the top covered with white cloth, against his shoulder and let out a little sigh. "I suppose you're right. But I still can worry. What will happen if you do accidentally hurt him, or the other way around?"

"It won't happen, love." Diverting her attention he looked down at his son with a loving smile. "Ah, little Andrew. My tiny warrior. How much stronger have you grown today?"

The baby stared up at Marcus with deep blue eyes, then let out a tiny squeak and reached one miniscule paw up toward his nose. Marcus laughed and shook Andrew's paw with his own, then pulled away from the two. "I'm going to get wood for our fire. I will be back soon!"

That was the last Marcus saw of them. He made haste to collect sufficient wood, but it took him much longer than usual. When he came back the setting sun only deepened the red he saw on the floor of his cave, and made more obvious the paw prints of vermin around his cave. At the sight of his beloved slain on the floor, the hilt of the sword still protruding from her belly, his eyes turned back in his head and he fell into darkness, collapsing on the ground in a limp bundle.
~~~


3
Sculrig and The Arrow
By Tam and Martin

     Sculrig paced slowly through a patch of palm trees, being careful not to tread sharply on any branch or twig. He stayed quiet not a sound emitting from him. Slowly he crept behind one of the trees He started whirling a hand-crafted sling he had made in slow humming circles around his head. The whir and sound of the sling became faster and heavier as he spun it quicker. Woosh! He let the one end of the sling go with a powerful crack as the rock which was inside the sling launched from the leather sling and sped like lightning. A Ring-billed Gull fell dead from a tree with a rock between its eyes. Sculrig ran over to the limp form and checked it.                                                                                         "Haha no one woulda knowed dat a twelve-season old fox like me would be able ter kill 'is own dinner!"                             He picked up the limp carcass and started hauling it back to his small hut he had erected himself. "This is a good island," He thought. "If only I wasn't here alone. At least it's small enough to know where everything is."  As he passed a narrow tree fringe he heard a whistling noise and instinctively ducked. An arrow whizzed right past his head and he heard someone yell,
"Get 'im boys!"                                                                     
A mob of ten vermin rushed from the tree cover and a few more jumped down from the trees each with a drawn weapon. Sculrig had the sense of mind to roll as one of the vermin brought an axe crashing down where he was. Sculrig jumped up immediately and saw a tall figure stalk forward and say,
"Kill 'im,!"                                                                               
Sculrig tripped but got up quickly and dashed off, tripping and scrambling as several arrows zipped in all of them almost hitting him. He ran as fast as his limbs could carry him and almost stumbled again when he looked back and accidentally ran into another vermin! The surprised look on the vermin was enough time for Sculrig to take a rock and slay the vermin with a single blow. With more shouts ringing behind, the young fox ran to the shore of the beach. The crew was still behind him and gaining fast. One of them ran faster than the others and Sculrig took a thick stick lying on the beach and toppled him over and brought it crashing down on the unfortunate. The vermin had a bow and Sculrig took it without hesitation and jumped right into the sea with it. He swam and swam with the crew still behind him yelling and cursing and some firing arrows. He kept swimming and swimming until finally he banged his head unknowingly against an object. He had swum into the ship! Sculrig looked up, surprised and got an idea. He estimated there was more crew on beach than on boat so why not take the boat? Shouts were echoing from above and he took that advantage to scale a ladder at the side of the boat. At the top of the boat, he peered over and looked at the scene. Several crew beasts were fighting over one small piece of food. Sculrig hopped onto the rigging and scaled it without anyone seeing it. He came to the lookout post and saw a ferret there. The ferret saw the fox before the fox could see him. Her nudged a spear down and said to him,                                                                                     "What'r doin' 'board dis shi-"                                         
Sculrig quickly took an arrow from the quiver he had taken from one vermin and threw it expertly into the opponent's chest. The vermin gulped and fell into the water below but unluckily for Sculrig, the other crew heard it below. Now it was Sculrig turn to gulp. Several of them started climbing the rigging also and the young fox stood agape for a moment then he opened fire on them. A weasel fell with an arrow in his eye and a ferret was stricken with another shaft and he fell on top of another crew beast. The battle raged on for many minutes with some crew firing arrows back at him but then Sculrig ran out of arrows. He looked down and expected to see many more beasts overwhelming him but all there was left was a runty rat that took one look at the fox and threw himself off the side. Sculrig laughed aloud to himself. Now I have my own ship. I think I'll name it The Arrow! That was it! And one day I will come back and take revenge on these pirates and  then I will be ruler of the seas! Sculrig Captain of the Seas!


4
Aegis: The Slaughter
by Icefire

   "Last one to the cliffs is a jellyfish!" Philip yelled as he took off running towards the cliffs that overlooked the tribe's new home.
   Liv and her friend Jason tried to catch up as they voiced their indignation at the unfairness of the situation. The three young mice had been out gathering wood with a group of grown-ups since late afternoon. Now as she raced through the moonlight with her wood pack bumping along on her back, Liv thought excitedly about the celebration to come! There was to be a great bonfire, music, dancing, and as much of a feast as they could pull together from their limited supplies.
Philip and Jason had already reached the cliff edge and now Philip was yelling, "Come on, Jellyfish! We don't have all night!"
   Liv was panting when she reached the cliff edge, but she still had enough energy to stick out her tongue and say, "I'd like to see you run in a dress sometime! It's harder than it looks!"
Jason turned back to the sea. His laughter stopped with a sudden gasp. "Look at that!"
Philip and Liv gave up their insult war long enough to see what he was pointing at. The sight made Liv's blood run cold. It was a gigantic ship with blood red sails. Far down below on the shore, she could see vermin everywhere, laughing loudly as they cut down the mice of the small tribe. She watched with horror as a giant stoat, obviously their captain, cut down Luke's wife, Sayna, yelling out his own name the whole time, "VIIILLLLUUUU DASKAAAARRR!!!!!"
   She looked on as her best friend Ruth stood in between a rat and her younger sister, Fripple, armed only with a branch originally destined for the bonfire. It took the rat all of two seconds to run Ruth through and savagely murder little Fripple.
   Then she saw her mother, Unna, standing before Vilu Daskar with one of her husband's swords. It didn't take long before Vilu Daskar had disarmed her and stood over her laughing. Liv watched helplessly as he thrust her through with her own weapon.
By that time the rest of the wood gatherers had caught up and were staring down at the horrifying scene on the shores. They frantically tried to come up with some plan of action, but what could they do? None of them carried real weapons and their warriors were away foraging for food. All they could do was watch the slaughter unfold.
   It seemed like hours before the vermin tired of their twisted sport and returned to their ship, laughing at the poor pathetic mice whose bodies now littered the shores. The instant the last long boat left the shore, Jason was pushing his friends towards the path down to the caves.
   "Come on! We have to go see if any lived!"
   His words stirred up the others and all rushed down the path, hoping against hope that there were survivors. Death was everywhere. The blood of the fallen mice flowed down to mix with the tide. Liv stumbled about in a daze at the destruction until she spotted her mother. She turned her over and gazed down at the cold lifeless face. How long she sat this way, clutching her dead mother to herself, she knew not. It may have been minutes; it may have been hours, before she heard her father calling their names. She looked up as her father fell to his knees beside them.
   In a hollow voice, Liv said, "I can't wake Mama up....why I can't I wake her up?"
It took them a long time to pull themselves back together. True, they buried their dead and appeared to go on with life, but even a full season after the slaughter Liv would still awaken screaming for her mother.
   On one such night, Liv asked desperately, "How can we get her back? I need her! I need to tell her I'm sorry for not listening and for messing up the dress...and...and I need to tell her I love her!"
Her father, Alexo Aegis, bit back a sob as he hugged her and replied, "We can't, Liv. We won't see her again until we reach Dark Forest. Do you know what we can do? We can live the life she always wanted for us. We can fight to make sure this never happens again. Aegis means shield and like a shield we can protect the weak and helpless."
   Liv considered his words, staring at the Aegis her father carried. The next morning, she watched him strap on his various weapons. Before he could pick up his dirk, she grabbed it and asked quietly, "Teach me? I want to protect our home, too."
   So began the training of Liv Aegis.


5
A Vermin's Tale
By Redwaller

Prologue

A piercing cry rent the peaceful night air. It was a terrible and blood-chilling cry. Who seemed to have been uttered by a frightful phantom of death. The lonely traveler trembled violently as the cry died down. He hurried his pace, as if he thought that the source of the noise might come after him. As he ran with all his might, he stumbled on a protruding root and knocked himself senseless against a rock. A silent pair of eyes had witnessed it all from above. It blinked twice and disappeared away into the night.


Chapter 1

The Start


   As she stumbled wearily forward, The bundle which she carried stirred feverishly as the little creature moaned and cried silently, it had caught the fever from sleeping on the damp earth on the cold fall night. So did its mother, a rat it seemed. She trembled violently in the cold morning air. She was close to death, for the look in her eyes and the thinness of her limbs only meant this. As the sun's first rays illuminated the woodlands, and gave off morning warmth, the ratwife made one last effort and dragged herself up to a door in the base of a tree. She knocked faintly and fell lifeless on the ground. A female ferret opened the door and saw the mass of fur and rags, and, next to it, a small bundle stirring faintly. She took the bundle in her arms and went inside. "Look what I got, Pake."  She kicked a male ferret lying on the ground, with a bottle of grog in his paw. He lifted his head and grumbled. "Whadja want? Leave me alone!" He turned around so that his back was facing her. She delivered a mighty kick in his midriff which made him jump up, rubbing his back. "What'd you do dat for?" She showed him the bundle. "I finds it lyin' next to his mother, ya got ta bury her now afore it starts ta smell." She walked away to take care of the babe. Pake took a shovel and went outside, grumbling.


Chapter 2

The Ratguard


   It was now about ten seasons since Cara found Gavin-Asher lying next to his dead mother. He was now twelve seasons old and showed that he would be big and strong in a few seasons. One day, as he was playing cutsy-bitsy, which was a game played by most vermin young, that consisted in finding insects and cutting them into bits, legs first. That day, he had decided to go further in the woods where he thought he'd find bigger insects. He was making his way through a particularly bushy part of the woods, when he heard a faint moan arise close by. His curiosity taking over him, he went to see what it was. The sight that greeted him made him sick for seasons to come whenever he thought about it: A rat wearing armour was lying against a tree, with both its arms maimed beyond reckoning, and its legs festering wounds with insects and fungi growing and crawling on them, his face was cut and bruised almost to the bone, its jaw barely holding to his head. It must have been lying there for weeks, judging by how the plants had crawled over him, almost hiding him from view. Gasher noticed something that shined through the leafs next to the ratguard, as he walked towards the rat, it moved its head feebly and looked at Gavin-Asher. It tried to speak, but the result was an incoherent mass of bubbling and words. "Joo helf meeh." At the same time, his head fell to his side, and gave one last sight. Gavin walked to the rat and took the glinting object. It was a crossbow, made of beautiful materials, and ornate with grimacing figures. Two small horns in the front served as a close range weapon. Inspecting the rat, he found a baselard and a war hammer. Taking the treasures, he walked away back to his home to hide his find.


Chapter 3

The Beating


   Gavin-Asher had now grown and was twenty seasons old. He had grown to be a big and strong fellow. His life was a happy one, but only one thing bugged him: His parents. When he was little, they used to beat him from time to time. And as he grew older, they put themselves together and beat him frequently, to keep him submissive to them. And as he grew bigger, they used means that would have killed most, but Gasher was a strong creature, and was not easily put off. One day, when he came home, Cara and Pake were in a foul mood, and beat him horribly, Gasher decided that he had enough this time. Instead of letting himself being beaten, he retaliated, it was horrible, taking his mother, he threw her against the door, which exploded and let her fall outside. Turning to Pake, he took a wooden beam and hit him on the head, laying him senseless. He went outside and picked up the limping Cara. "Tell me the truth, Who are my parents?" She blubbered noisily, "But we're your parents! We already told ya!"
He gave her a good shake. "Lier! I'm not like you, I don't look like you pitiless lot!"
"Okay, okay, I'll tell ya! We found you in a bundle next to your dead mother. You're a rat!" Gavin-Asher dropped her. "I knew I wasn't one of them!" He looked towards the woods, "It's time I go away!" And he ran away.

   As night came, Cara managed to drag herself to her bed and laid herself down, and went to sleep immediately. Pake was still lying on the ground, senseless. A dark shadow slipped inside, it went up the stairs and into a small room. Opening a chest, it took from it a crossbow, which he strapped across its back, next to a war hammer. Taking the last of the items, which was a shiny baselard, he made his way downstairs and took a knapsack full of food. Looking around, it spotted Pake on the ground. He took the baselard, and slit his throat open, and turned to Cara. After he had finished his gruesome business, he slipped out, leaving the house to fall in ruin.


Chapter 4

The Bloodspine

   Gavin-Asher had been traveling for several days now, and was running short of supplies. He was heading no particular way, going where his paws led him. Not being well versed in the art of foraging, he was at a loss of finding something to eat, only finding a few berries to eat. He was starting to feel the effects of a small breakfast, when he stumbled across a pear tree, and, being in the season, it was full of ripened fruits. There were so many, that the branches bended and creaked under the juicy load. Gavin-Asher didn't give a second thought, and went at the fruit, unaware that eyes were watching him from behind the shrubbery. After having filled his stomach and haversack, he was about to leave, when a spear grazed his cheek and buried in and oak in front of him. The woods were completely silent for a moment, then a weasel came from behind him and retrieved the spear. "Where are ye goin'?" It asked.
"Nowhere in particular, why?"
"'Cos if ya follow me, ye'll come aboard the Bloodspine, a fine ship wot sails for slayin' an' glory! Ye'll find all your heart's desire there: A beautiful sea, shiploads o' innocent creeturs, plunder, treasures, an' fine mates  to argue with!" Gavin-Asher looked toward the sea dreamily. After a while, he turned to Carr Marsh, the one who had talked to him. "I'm your beast!" So they went away back to the Bloodspine, where Gasher was introduced to Captain Visefang the Red, who promoted him slave-master for his unquenchable thirst for suffering and death.


Epilogue


So, my friends, that is how Gavin-Asher came aboard the famous Bloodspine, and where he fought the Great Battle of the Frozen Shores. In the beginning of his seafaring life, he developed a secret hate towards Navarre, for she was a ferret, and since the accident with his foster parents, he came to hate all ferrets, and missed not an occasion to kill them, and make them suffer. He was found to be rather fond of Sculrig, which he became close friends with. As for the rest of the crew, he is usually mild towards them, but on occasions he became cruel with them. He never came to trust Golfar and Vela Menkar, for they were usually part of crimes and accidents that happened on-board.

That is all for now, maybe in the near future will I find more information to tell you about what happened to Gavin-Asher, but for now, that is all.

Cordially,

Brother Riggs

Recorder of all Redwall and Mossflower Woods.

[BrookSkimmer]

Poll open until May 5th!

[BrookSkimmer]

Tomorrow is you last day to vote!!

[BrookSkimmer]

And the winner is:

Aegis: The Slaughter
by Icefire

Congratulations to you!

Everyone did a great job with this! Thanks for your entries!!