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

[Groddil]

The grass on the lawns was soaked in blood from the battle. Fardan's rapier was slick with red as he continued towards the entrance to Moledeep. Staring across the lawn, he watched the battle between Rapshade and Aver. Even though he hated the ferret, he hoped he came out on top. The otter would be a challenge if he won the duel.

OOC: Good luck getting in without becoming a mole.

[LT Sandpaw]

Knowing from experience that Rapshade liked to fake weakness, Aver was ready for his tricks this time around. Turning on his heel in tempo with the ferret he deflected the sword swing letting the blade bounce off his javelin. "Careful now," he jeered in contempt spinning his javelin in a slow circle. "That sword be sharp, didn' yer auntie tell ye not to play wit' pointy toys? Looks like ye cut yerself." Aver bullied forward spear point first as he sent a flurry of attacks down upon the ferret, combining each swing with a shouted word. "This is for Log-a-log, Mixy and all the good creatures you've slain you ungrateful murderer! Redwaaaall!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Too late," Petu warned fending off a particularly ugly ferret with his rapier. By sheer luck the creature tripped and practically fell onto the rabbit's blade. Shocked Petu stared at the body for a moment, trembling a little as he turned doing everything in his power not to look at the deathly still body, whose life he had stolen.
"He's getting closer to the Moledeep entrance." Petu said rather shakily, still recovering some from the suddenness of it all. "If he gets there he'll keep any of the Vigil from getting out."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Forcefully pushed back into Cavern Hole, Rayne's lip trembled as she imagined all the horrible things that Alfhild could inflict upon the aging Grant. Nobeast deserved that fate, nobeast deserved this fate. The mouse healer held back a tear as she gathered the whimpering dibbuns around her.
"It'll all be okay." She lied, her voice sounding far more hopeful then she felt. "They'll all be okay, don't worry little ones."

[Ashleg]

Getting pushed back further and further, the ferret Rapshade dug his claws into the ice.
He tried desperately to gain a good stance while still deflecting Aver's javelin, though there remained a part of him that just wanted to give in--the guilty part.
Inwardly he cursed the Redwallers for making him this way.

The ferret yelped and scrambled at the air before he felt his leg give out beneath him and he crashed down on his tail.
The icy patch was hard, stunning.
He blinked rapidly as he held the sword up again to parry the otter from the ground.
"Curse you," Rapshade spat, lunging up at him suddenly.
He didn't know wether or not this was a bad choice and he'd wind up impaled on the javelin, and frankly he didn't care.

--

Duncan patted Petu's arm reassuringly.
"It's okay. You didn't mean to," he whispered, then nodded towards Fardan.
"What do ya say we try to chase him away from there?"

--

"Whe'a's H'Abbot Grant, Sista' Rayne?" Maxy wondered, scooting onto her lap.
"And who was dose scarybeasts atta the door?"

--

Grabbing the unconscious Abbot roughly, Alfhild dragged him through the halls to try and find a well to get some water to wake him with once they got up on the battlements.
Her plan was simple.
She'd take him up there, hold him out over the wall, and let go unless the Redwallers and their allies surrendered.
It was foolproof.
Knowing any Goodbeast, they wouldn't keep fighting if it meant they could save their friends.

[LT Sandpaw]

Knowing he was winning Aver allowed the sword to thrust past, missing his side by a hair's breadth. Keeping his arm locked he jerked his weapon to the side. Steel slid on steel creating a bell-like ring that resounded across the Abbey grounds. "Oh no Rappy," the otter snarled beating away the sword and raising his javelin to stab his downed foe. "Curse ye. Rot at th' hellgates vermin."

The buzz of an arrow filled Aver's ears and he screamed in agony as the jagged flint connected with his hipbone. Thrown off balance Aver leaned forward, his javelin embedding its sharpened head into the snow, missing Rapshade by mere inches.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Yeah, I guess so..." Petu said sounding confident even as his paw shook. The young rabbit focused all of his attention on the battle at paw, readying his sword. "Stop there," he challenged Fardan, as the two friends approached the dangerous wildcat. "Leave this Abbey at once you wretched cat or... Or...."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Standing over the bodies of some of the Guosim warriors Fastooth threw down his broken spear, retrieving a fallen one from the bloodstained snow. The big rat had claimed four lives already today, and he eagerly awaited further bloodshed. He was about to throw himself back into the fight when a crow landed beside him, squawking for his attention.

"Filth landcrawlers, craaah. From trees."

"What Fastooth growled, glaring at the avian with contempt. "Wot do ye mean?"

"Behind, filth landcrawlers kill behind! Craaaaah."

Realizing what the crow was trying to communicate Fastooth spun around, looking for anybeast of rank. "Shank, get anyone who ain't fightin' an' 'ave 'em bar th' gates wit' th' ladders n' battering rams. An' send archers up to th' wall tops! Th' woodlanders are tryin' to flank us!" Gathering a few creatures with him Fastooth led them up to the battlements. The horde had more then enough warriors to fight a battle on two fronts, especially if they had the wall advantage. Luckily the crows had provided sufficient warning of the Vigil's counter-attack to prepare properly. The Vigil would have a unpleasant surprise waiting for them when they arrived.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Grant..." Rayne didn't know what to say. She didn't have any idea what was going to happen to Grant, and there was no way to explain what was happening right now. She hardly knew or believed it herself. Rayne decided it was best just to avoid answering the question altogether. She quickly redirected the dibbun's attention to other things.
"Why don't you sing us a song?" She suggested reaching desperately for a distraction. "That'll help cheer everyone up." And maybe, she thought to herself, it would help drown out the distant sounds of war raging outside their home.

[Hickory]

"Or what?" laughed Fardan. "You couldn't possibly hope to stop me."

The rapier tip flashed out in front of the rabbit's face. "Just how brave are you?"

[Ashleg]

OOC-
I'll post with Alfhild and Grant once the Vigil is here and once Fardan had been fighting Petu and Duncan for a while.
The convincer.
IC-
Rapshade lay frozen in shock, heart pounding.
He was alive, somehow.
And Aver...
Who took out Aver?

The ferret retrieved his sword as he shifted onto all fours and eventually stood up.
Walking up to the downed otter, he grinned a crooked grin.
"If you're alive, when the horde wins I'll chain you up. You and Mortembell."

He turned and fled into the fray on the other end.
If there was anybeast he knew, he wanted to settle things...his way.

--

"Or we'll send you mewling back to your mother!" Duncan winked at Petu as he fiercely finished off the rabbit's insult and knocked Fardan's blade away from Petu's face.
--

Sing?
Maxy hopped off of Rayne and ran over to Stumbly, shaking her.
"Stumbl'ee, sing a song with me!"

[Hickory]

"You're far too confident, hare," spat Fardan. "Now, if you don't step aside then I'll be sending you to Hellgates!"

[Ashleg]

Duncan bared his teeth and poised his dagger at the cat.
"Go on and try, because I'm not going anywhere."

[Hickory]

Fardan moved to swing his blade in hard and knock the dagger out of Duncan's hand. The rabbit was not yet a threat, so the cat focused on Duncan.

[Ashleg]

Duncan was ready.
He jumped to the side, kicking up a cloud of snow as he lunged for Fardan's tail with the dagger.
If he could only pin it to the ground...
The hare raised up a war cry.
"Redwaaaaaaallll! Eualiaaaaaaaaaa!"

[Groddil]

"Where? Where am I?"
Somewhere, deep below the ground, One-Ear awoke. No. Not this place. He was back in Muddle's caves. Wait... Begskin. The stoat... His head hurt. It was hard to think clearly. As he shakily rose to his feet. Nearby was a familiar-looking weasel.
"You... Have I seen you before?"

[Ashleg]

Roscoe had been keeping an eye on One-Ear this whole time in case the fox woke up.
Well, he was awake now.
The Vigil leader's question caught him off guard and he pointed at his chest.
"Me? Ya don't remember? I was the one you tried to interrogate, who didn't know anything." With a sigh, the weasel inched near him.
"But I know things now, Fox...I know that we're captured, about t' have our eyes gouged out."
He flipped his cloak snootily over his shoulder.
"Look at me while ya can--I'm still 'andsome now," he smirked. "Thank goodness."

[LT Sandpaw]

OOC: Are all of Muddle's followers nerding out over One-ear's new sword?

IC:

"The horde won't win..." Aver mumbled to nobeast as Rapshade left. The fighting had moved on, leaving him, the wounded, and the dead scattered across the red lawns like so many fallen leaves in autumn. Aver ran a paw over the arrow, snapping of the end and pulling lightly to see if he could remove it. After several failed attempts he fell back, urging himself to get up. He needed Rayne, she could remove it, but the mouse healer was nowhere to be seen and he was lying around uselessly as Redwallers died.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm brave enough," Petu answered as he circled at a distance waiting for the opportunity to strike. Rabbits were naturally fast and could move short distances at great speeds. He planned on moving in and giving Fardan a scratch or cut that would impair his ability to fight, allowing Duncan to finish him off.
As the hare warrior shouted his battle cry, Petu rushed in making an clumsy swipe towards Fardan's brow. Already backpedaling to retreat out of the rapier's vengeful reach.

[Hickory]

Fardan leaned back to avoid the swipe, twitching his tail to avoid Duncan's strike. He returned his sword tip facing Petu. "Try me..."

[Ashleg]

Duncan twirled his dagger.
"Why don't you try us instead of standing around like a pansy? Either that, or, y'know, leave our home. It's not too hard."

--

Rapshade brushed a fallen otter off his sword as he looked about for somebeast of substance to get back at.
This, this whole thing, was about revenge. He needed to kill Alfhild although she wasn't here, so he slunk to the back and longed for somebeast he knew.
Somebeast like Mortembell.