Redwall Isn't Safe Anymore! (Is Redwall as Safe as they Say it is? Part Two)

[Ashleg]

OOC-
Sawee, that be how it is. :3
Also, Fang tripped under Asher's tree.
IC-
"They killed our badger, Petu." Duncan murmured, glancing out the foggy window.
"And yet they haven't really attacked us here yet. You think the vermin are stalling us?"

--

Fangfang pelted quickly through the leafless forest at a blindly quick pace, continuously throwing glances behind him to make sure that nobeast was on his trail.
Suddenly he gasped and tripped over an outlying tree root, falling flat on his nose.
So much for being dizzy and wounded and running in the dark!

The rat glowered at himself and rolled onto his back, sitting up to rub his head.
Curse it, I'm so useless!

OOC-
@LT Sandpaw
Is Grah gonna try to get Rap's necklace?

[Groddil]

OOC: Uh oh. That means Fangfang'll probably run into Daxian's corpse.

BIC:

Meanwhile, deeper into the woodlands, Filargo's raft sailed lazily through the River Moss. One-Ear sat on the side of the raft, idly trailing a paw through the water.
"Filargo, are we meeting up with the Guosim, or heading straight for Redwall?"
The vole shrugged.
"If'n ye wanted ta meet th' Shrews, ye shoulda stayed wid 'em, friend. But that would have taken time; time you don't really want to waste, yes? 'Twill be better fer ye ta stay wid Filargo, he'll take ye straight to the Vigil. Ooh, yiss, word travels fast over water, doncha know? There's an entrance ta Moledeep jus' around this bend in th' river. Well guarded, o' course, but they all knows who ye are."
"Good. Thank you for the help, Filargo."
"Thankee fer th' vittles, my friend. Mayhaps if the Vigil ever needs ta travel o'er th' streams again, ye'll think o' me."
One-Ear nodded, withdrawing into the cabin.

[Hickory]

Asher kicked Daxian's body. "Dead... Well, I won't complain, our job's halfway done."

"Might want to take a look at this, Asher," called Harnam, standing over Fangfang. The two other squirrels joined him. "Looks like a horde member thrown out wi' Daxian, just stick 'im betwe- wait a second, it's that rat from the search party!"

Asher kneeled down by the golden rat. "You okay? We thought you died..."

[Ashleg]

Asher?
Fang gestured to the bandages on his neck and shrugged at them, opening his jaws to make a fiery retort.
Sadly for him, nothing came of it but silence.
Do I look okay to you?

[Hickory]

The black squirrel looked at the other two before switching back to Fangfang. "You don't sound good, we can't hear anything you say. Listen, we're headin' back to Redwall on a mission fer th' Vigil, we can take you with us. Nod if you understand)

[Groddil]

Asher kicked Daxian's body. "Dead... An' no external wounds. Well, I won't complain, our job's halfway done."

OOC: Aside from the clawed throat, stab wound from Grenlik, and blood pouring out of his mouth and nose. I'll post later, when I know what to do. Don't hate me, tell Snadpwa to psot first.

[Hickory]

OOC: Oh right... I'll edit it.

[Groddil]

OOC: 'S all good mate. Now, @Sandpwa, post with Fastooth!

[Hickory]

OOC: I'd post with more of condescending Fardan, but we've had enough of that.

[Groddil]

OOC: Well, in the meantime, enjoy some more random Vigil stuff!

BIC:

*Burp!*
"Shuddup, disgusting creature."
The Vigil soldiers, returning to Moledeep, called through a gap in the rocks, announcing their presence. The boulders were lifted roughly into the roof of the tunnel, allowing the mouse to shove their captured stoat into Moledeep. The hedgehog dragged him towards the 'Cell Block', shoving him bodily into a cage, which had a set of wooden bars inset into the stone. The Vigil Captain found himself in Charm's 'office', a cave high in the wall, accessed by another little lift. He gave a quick salute with his crossbow.
"'Ey, boss. We caught a stoat in th' woods; 'ee might 'ave some useful info about the 'orde."
"Good work, Spinoraz. You're dismissed, get some rest. Your team's next mission will be at dawn tomorrow. Gukom, find Dreg. We'll have him question the prisoner."
The hamster nodded, joining Spinoraz on the lift. Charm turned back to her maps and documents, studying the horde's movements. Little did she know, that somebeast she thought was dead was on his way back...

*****

Filargo dug his paddle in deeply, then shoved it under a tree root. Not far from the bank, a small hill rose out of the ground, with a cave mouth inset near the bottom of the slope. The cave appeared to have been collapsed by a huge rockfall, but Filargo knew better. He pointed to a small, strangely colored boulder.
"If'n ye shove that rock outta th' way, there's an 'ole in th' wall that'll let ye call inta th' guards. Good luck, mate. I'll see ye around th' pond."
One-Ear disembarked from the raft, followed shortly by Shadomay and Mortembell, who had a rope around Needle's neck, pulling him behind her. The fox trudged up to the boulder and kicked it aside, yelling into the hole.
"Hello? It's One-Ear, I'm back. Let us in!"
The rockfall began rising out of the ground on a wooden platform. Two soldiers in Vigil uniform lowered their weapons at the sight of the weary group of foxes. Their leader had returned...

[Ashleg]

OOC-
*dead fox isn't actually dead*
"HE WAS NUMBER ONE!"
Grododile, if you want somebody to play the stoat, weeeell... *wink* *wonk*
IC-
Fang nodded and stood up, wiping snow out of his eyes.
He had so many questions to ask that during this moment he had no way of conveying.

[Groddil]

OOC: Nah, the stoat'll just be an NPC. He's not important.

BIC:

Dreg was an odd character, especially to be seen in the Vigil. He was a small sand lizard, and, like most lizards, had an attraction to shiny baubles and mischief. The lizard wore nothing identifying him with the Vigil, which made him useful as a scout. He lacked weapons, but more than made up for this with deadly poison glands behind his head, that gave him a horrible bite. Charm sent him to the jail, along with a squirrel to question the stoat. The squirrel cleared his throat and kicked the bars.
"Get up, stoat. Stand to attention."
"Wot's attenshun?"
Dreg slithered through the bars of the cell and clambered onto the stoat's back. He lightly drew a claw along the stoat's flesh, which made the vermin shoot upright.
"Good, stay like that. Dreg, search him!"
The lizard shook the stoat's rags sharply, causing several items to fall out. A thin, sharpened bone, with a string around it tied to the stoat's leg, and the skull of a mouse, still with the remnants of charred flesh. The squirrel shook his head in disgust and called Dreg back out. The lizard tossed the skull down a nearby hole in the floor, watching as it disappeared from sight.
"Dreg keep bone knife. Dreg think bone knife sharp."
"Okay, Dreg. Let's see, cannibalism, most likely murder, you're definitely guilty of something, stoat. Are you from the horde? No, you wouldn't be. Not with all of those plant dyes. Have you seen a large group of vermin?"
"Only my tribe, no uddas."
"Good. You'll stay there until we mount a raid on your "tribe." They obviously pose a significant threat to Mossflower, and to Redwall. We'll decide your fate afterwards."
The squirrel followed Dreg out of the prison cave, leaving the stoat all alone in his cell. As they were on their way to the barracks, they ran into One-Ear and the other new arrivals.
"One-Ear? Sir, I thought you were dead. Hurry, I'll take you to Charm."

[Hickory]

"We're not gonna drag 'is body back t'Redwall, are we?" said Applelad. Asher shook his head. "Nope. I hate to do this, but..."

He took Harnam's sword and cut Daxian's head clean off. "That'll be good enough fer Charm," he said, handing the sword back. "Applelad, just keep an eye on Fangfang. Easy t'get lost in this forest."

The group started off towards the Abbey.

OOC: Timeskip?

[LT Sandpaw]

OOC: Sorry.

IC:

"Wot ye say?" Fastooth barked furiously fully knowing what Grenlik had said. He figured that everybeast in the horde recognized him as a officer, or at least recognized the cloak he wore. Still the weasel had mentioned something a bit more important then his damage ego. "I am an' officer ye scum; an' why did Daxian attack Alfhild, I thought th' fool was dead." Fastooth indirectly picked up his pace, wanting to see what had happened.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh yeah, yeah." Petu said, his tall ears drooping. The rabbit shrugged at Duncan's question, never the expert on vermin or hordes. And even less so about tactics, but he put his best conclusion forward. "I dunno, I'm thinking that Redwall would be very difficult to stall. The longer they wait the stronger Redwall gets, an' if any of the stories about vermin are true, the more they wait they'll slowly kill each other off. Maybe we wont have to do anything." He said, somewhat hopefully.

[Ashleg]

OOC-
Let's only timeskip with Fang and the squirrels.
IC-
Fangfang ran to the gate as soon as they got there, casting a glance behind him to make sure the squirrels were still there.

--

Duncan yawned.
"I'd hope you're right."