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

[Ashleg]

"One-Ear thinks a badger killed his mom...did you? He went to look for her. Or you. I'm still a bit cloudy in the head, seeing that the ferret and her horde really did us in..." Needle murmured.

[Groddil]

"Yes, the old witch is dead. Two down, one two go. Now all I have to do is get rid of One...Hang on. Did you say a horde? An actual horde? Needle, I have a plan. If we return to the Wetlands, muster the armies. We destroy the horde, and make sure the fox dies in the fighting. Then, the Redwallers will owe us. We can station troops at the Abbey as a sort of "forward operating base. Get up. We're going home."
Seacloak lifted himself from the log and sheathed his axe.

[Ashleg]

"B-but sir, don't you think that's a bit much?" Needle said, scrambling after Seacloak. "Think of how many of our creatures would die."

[Groddil]

"They're a horde, Needle. We have an army. An army they aren't expecting. A well-trained army. Plus, we have Sheba..."
The badger reached the path going south and started walking along it.
"We just have to get home, find food along the way. Then, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place..."

[Ashleg]

"Excuse my language, but you're being a bit airheaded on this." Needle muttered as he followed him. "The horde is an army, and a well-trained one."

OOC-
Anybeast heard from LT?

[Groddil]

"An army, mayhaps. But no matter how well-trained they are, they're vermin. When push comes to shove, no doubt the leaders will sacrifice the rest to escape. Maybe the survivors will turn on each other, maybe they'll just slay each other at the first shiny trinket. Either way, they are no threat. A few rats and ferrets with rusted cutlasses, dressed in rags. Or an army of hares, badgers, and other woodlanders. With fire-forged steel and armor. Who do you think will win? We may lose some creatures, but in any battle that is unavoidable. Their sacrifices will not be in vain, because when we destroy the horde, Mossflower is ours. We will be able to spot our enemies earlier, get the jump on them."
Seacloak whirled around suddenly, kicking Needle to the ground.
"And don't ever insult me again. You know what'll happen if you do. Sheba always needs new toys to play with..."

[Ashleg]

Needle lay in a heap on the ground. "Urrgh...yessir."
The hare pulled himself up and dusted his coat off, thinking nasty thoughts.
"...I saw how you handled that rat back there..."
What amI doing? Has being with the Vigil so long made me soft?

[Groddil]

"The rat got off easy, Needle. Because as long as he's in that Abbey, I can't touch him. But if he leaves Redwall to fight the horde...He'll meet the same fate as that damned fox."

[Ashleg]

Needle fiddled with his claws. "Yeah, but you don't need to kill everybeast you don't like, I mean, it's getting out of paw."

[Groddil]

"It's not that I don't like him, Needle. Creatures know things. They stick their snouts where they don't belong. Same as the foxes. If word got out that, rather than a horde, three foxes did this to me..."
He motioned to a long scar that stretched down his arm, disappearing underneath his tunic.
"...I'd be a laughing stock. No Lord lets that happen to him, same as no Lord takes insults from a single runty rat. It's about how the kingdom sees you, Needle. It's about never letting anybeast dishonor you and live. It's about making sure your enemies lie in a pool of their own blood, before they stab you in the back."

[Ashleg]

Needle shook his head and sighed softly. "Stab, stab, stab, blood, blood, blood. That's all I ever hear from you nowadays. Not that it matters, I'm no Lord."

[Groddil]

"No, you aren't. How lucky you are. When you're surrounded on all sides by trickery, betrayal, and false friends, there is no middle ground. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. I've spent my entire life doing this, and even I'm not safe. If I give my enemies a chance to take over, any leverage at all, and you go down with me. They don't know you, Needle. They won't tolerate your insolence, so you'll be joining me with Sheba before the new Lord is even crowned. Now stop whining. We have a long journey."

[Ashleg]

Needle huffed and quickened up.

[Groddil]

OOC: Aaaaaaassssshhhheeeeeeeerrrrrrrr...

BIC:
One-Ear cut down yet another of the strange, mole-like beasts. His eyes scanned the endless wall of vicious creatures, trying to catch a glimpse of Aver, but failed. The fox screamed at Asher over the noise of the creatures.
"Asher! We need to find Aver, get him to watch our backs! Then we pull out our bows and shoot that thing out of the hole. If it isn't the leader, I don't know what is!"
As if it could hear them, the leader of the beasts began to dance wildly on the lip of the hole. It thrust it's metal claws into the wall of the passage and wrenched out a massive rock, almost its own size. It hefted the boulder and threw it into the mass of creatures below.
"YON METTA BLOOG!"

OOC: Aaaaaaavvvvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrrr...

[Ashleg]

OOC-
Again, where's Sandy?