They Thought Redwall was Safe! (Is Redwall as Safe as they Say it is? Part 3!)

[Ashleg]

"You have got to try th' October Ale!" Fang chirped, stepping around Grant.
The Abbot frowned gravely at him and then turned to smile to the newcomers. "Yes...I assume that Cellarmole Drubble will be happy to fetch you some if you so please. It is very good, when consumed responsibly." Here he glowered over his shoulder at Fangfang.

--

"All right...here goes nothing..."
Maxy tiptoed forward and cautiously took a pinch of the sheet in both paws. "Rappy?" he asked, a bit louder than Bracklew had.
No response.
He cast a concerned glance at the other squirrel before pulling the sheet off the ferret's face.

Rapshade's amber eyes cracked open like slivers, and then they widened and he shot up, causing the chain round his arm to rattle.
"Maxy? Bracklew?!" he blurted. Fear tinged his groggy voice. "What did I do now?"

[LT Sandpaw]

OOC: You know, I totally forgot about Fang's drinking, nice callback to the beginning of this RP.

IC:

"You fell asleep. Don't worry, Duncan's not around this time." Bracklew assured, inspecting the chain around Rapshade's paw. He applied slight pressure to the cuff before releasing the bonds with a clink. "Drubble's work no doubt, and secure. Rayne or Grant probably has the key so there's nothing I could do about it. Looks like we're having our discussion up here." Collecting two chairs Bracklew set them up at Rapshade's bedside for himself and Maxy. Claiming one the squirrel warrior focused his attention on his younger brother.
"Max, this flashback. I know you want Rapshade and me to hear it alone. Just know, the two of us have had... Conflicts in our pasts, and old scars heal slow." Bracklew touched his paw stump with his good paw, a distant look in his eyes. "Some slower than others."

[Ashleg]

OOC-
Thanks! 
IC-
"Yes, but..." Maxy sat down, folding his paws in his lap. This was the first time he had heard his brother refer to the ferret using his real name--which sounded most odd to the young squirrel.
"Listen," he sighed. "I had a nightmare...which felt more like a memory, and, in it, I..." He frowned. "I was trying to poison you, Rappy. Bracklew," here he glanced at his brother, "You and I were on a pirate ship, except you were much younger...and I don't think I was me."
He went quiet and fiddled with his claws.
Had he looked at Rapshade, he would have noticed the look of pure horror that descended upon the ferret.
Maxy lifted his head. "And then you stabbed me, Rappy. You stabbed me in the back and I woke up."

[The Skarzs]

.

[LT Sandpaw]

 Remaining silent Bracklew allowed the seconds to stretch out not looking up from the sandstone floor. Memories from that distance and terrible day resonated in his mind. It had been so long, that the pain from Mixy's loss soon faded and was replaced by a sense of saddened nostalgia.

"What you saw is- was real. You must have been seeing the past from Mixy's point of view." Bracklew's ears drooped and his cold gaze locked onto Rapshade's. "I don't remember much, I was knocked unconscious by.... Sal- a rat I think, its been so long. It was when that varmint tried to attack Redwall many seasons ago, and murdered my best friend."


OOC: Edit word error

[Ashleg]

Rapshade shut his cowardly eyes when Bracklew looked at him.

"But why would I dream this?" Maxy lamented, kicking back in his chair so his footpaws were levitated and able to swing.
"Am I some foolish incarnation of Mixy?"

He initially meant that as a joke, but when he furrowed his brow and tried to recall his old parents or something, anything of his past, he drew a cold and empty blank. There remained not scent nor sound before Duncan.

"Matthias, Martin," the squirrel muttered, tapping his claws . "Maxy, Mixy. Do we not have the same fur and father? And now I'm having visions about her...It's too coincidental to be a coincidence."

[LT Sandpaw]

Bracklew was struck by Maxy's words. Maxy wasn't the first to touch upon this similarity. Seasons ago on the outer abbey walls Bracklew had recognized the phenomenon as well. It scared him at the time, and he suppressed the idea; wishing only to see Maxy as his little brother. Not a forced recreation of his fallen friend.

"Max, you're not Mixy." Bracklew felt unsure about himself, but reached out and rested a paw on the younger squirrel's shoulder. "You are only Maxy, my brother and you shouldn't stress over being somebeast you're not. And if Mixy's spirit does protect you, and guide you, I could think of no better guardian for my little brother."

[Ashleg]

"Thanks," Maxy said, giving Bracklew a halfhearted smile. "And if...if you're wrong, I can handle it. I think."
Perhaps he should have brought Duncan here too. The hare that found him had got to know something...right?

Rapshade muttered under his breath. "If 'er spirit is somehow on that lad, I had best hope they leave soon!"

[LT Sandpaw]

OOC: Timeskip?

IC:

"If you have any other visions, anything at all. Please tell me first." Bracklew stood up, itching at his paw stump. "I understand if you don't want Anybeast else to know, I'll let you tell them yourself, in your own time." Bracklew cast a angry look towards Rapshade. "And not a word to Anybeast out of you. Or I'll let Duncan know you were mouthing off again."

[Ashleg]

Rapshade bobbed his head and quietly breathed out, "N-No, Sir, no words."

OOC-
Gawrsh I'm probably too tired for a post right now so that was my little thing and go ahead with the time skip.

[Ashleg]

The merry bustle of the Redwallers as they gathered in Cavern Hole after dinner was delightful, and something Abbot Grant had not seen since Stumbly's death. Still, it did not keep worry from the mouse's mind. Did these new friends of Maxy have good intentions? Surely they did, but how could he be expected fully trust any new creature when, just days ago, one of the Abbey's beloved young ones was found slain outside their very walls?
He sighed and picked aimlessly at a pile of berries he held in a plate on his lap.

Maxy was in a very different state of mind than Grant. He felt refreshed, and sneakily tiptoed up to where his new friends were seated, poking a white paw in front of Fastooth's face.
"You ever heard about Martin's Sword?" he whispered, a joking grin passing over his face. "How 'bout you, Oriff? Afagon?"

[LT Sandpaw]

The big rat shook his head as he munched down on the leftovers of the ample supper supplied curtsey of the Redwaller's. He was blissfully full, but continued picking at the scraps and licking his claws. He'd tasted Redwall fare before, all those seasons ago. But it had been prepared by vermin paws, all the Redwallers having been ousted in the takeover.

"Nah, can't say I 'ave matey. Wot's so special about this Martin's sword eh?"

[The Skarzs]

  "Nope," said Oriff, shoving a pasty into his mouth. "Mfsh, sh'good shtuff."
  "I have," said Afagon, turning to Maxy. "At least, stories. They say it's indestructible, made by a Badger Lord from the tooth of a dragon, and it gives the warrior spirit to whomever holds it." He smiled and shrugged. "Not sure how much of that is true, though."

[Ashleg]

Maxy nodded solemnly. "Oh, yeah," he mused, swiping a pastie off his plate. "It's certainly made of a dragon's tooth, Afagon. No doubt about that. Some...ahem. Some even say that Martin...shed it himself!"
With that, the white squirrel turned around, covering his mouth to keep from laughing.

[The Skarzs]

  Afagon rolled his eyes. "I might not know the truth, Maxy, but please don't insult my intelligence."
  Oriff washed down the rest of his food with the last of his tea. "Well, let's see this sword!"