Southern Words Ch1

Isaiah the mouse stared down the weasel lying in front of him with a expression of pure rage, sword pointed at his throat. This low down, despicable, ugly, murdering monster that had been there when the Redwall Abbey had been attacked. The villainous coward who had fled as soon as he was caught... as he was caught murdering Isaiah's father. The bloody knife freshly plucked from his only parent's chest, dripping in crimson blood.

His paw trembled with fury and anticipation. He heard shouts from farther away, the sound of the other Redwallers approaching. Isaiah kept his eyes on the weasel, watched as the vermin's eyes lazily looked back at his. His appearance gave off an apathetic mood to the situation. He lay down calmly, a brown bag behind his head, leaned up against a tall tree. The pair were in a small open area in the middle of Mossflower Wood. Dense foliage surrounded them, forming somewhat of a circle.

"So Ice," the weasel's voice was oddly calm. "I see you've gotten yourself a nice looking sword in the time between our last meeting to now. That wouldn't happen to be stolen from a certain mantle piece, woul-"

"Quiet, you murdering scum! I have been waiting for this day ever since you destroyed my family. I've tracked you and your band of hideous vermin down for a season and a half, day and night, all in the hopes that I could avenge my father's death. There's nowhere for you to run."

"Ice, you really gotta quit being so overdrama-"

The sword met the weasel's throat and pricked it enough to draw a little blood.

"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" roared Isaiah.

"If I had a casket of wine for every time I've heard that. Look Ice-"

The sounds were getting closer and closer.

"Enough of your idiotic nicknames, you revolting, sniveling-"

CRACK!

The weasel blankly stared at the sight of Isaiah, sprawled out across the ground with a large rock laying right by his head. He looked up at the tree, wondering what species of vegetation randomly drops large stones, when a familiar face dropped next to him.

"Godson the Eternal, on his back and at the mercy of a mere child. How am I not surprised?"

"Oh shut up vixen. I'm sure Kytefood the title-less wouldn't have fared much better if she was taking a nap a moment before as I was."

Kytefood the fox helped Godson the weasel up onto his hind paws, offering him a rag for his small wound. He took it with a nod of appreciation.

"Remind me to make you thank me later, we need to be going right now. The Redwallers are almost at us." The vixen eyed the direction where the noises were coming from, her ears twitching slightly as she tried to gage just how close they were.

"Great idea Kyte." Godson replied. He quickly collected the knapsack he had been using for a pillow, and made to leave, but stopped. He took note of the mouse, lying still among the grass, still moist from the morning dew. He bent down, and inspected the wrist. 'A pulse.' he observed. 'Good.'

"Hurry up, flotsam brain!" Kyte chided him.

"I'm comin, I'm comin." Godson quickly removed the sheath to the sword and the sword itself from the young beast, and with a quick smirk, elegantly bowed to the unconscious child. "Ever so grateful for the gifts, good sir Isaiah of Redwall."

With that, the duo were off. They stepped lightly with each bound as they tried to widen the distance between themselves and the approaching Redwall beasts. While running, Kyte looked over to her friend and leader, Godson the Eternal. 'Thief of the rich, giver to the poor, comforter, philosopher, and life long mate.' At least, that was the tagline he had always given himself. To her, a much more fitting description would be much shorter. 'Cocky, daft, lucky.'

"Why did you take the sword? What's so special about it?" She inquired.

Godson flashed his infamous cheeky grin that was clearly visible even with their running.

"This is no ordinary weapon. I'll explain more about it later. But as for why I took it..." The grin grew in size as he spoke the final word. "Spite."

---------------------
Former Colonel Bowback Lanceare was the first to approach the small clearing. Her keen eyes were immediately drawn to the limp form of young Isaiah Churchmouse. Cautiously, she checked the area around, looking for any signs of a trap. She approached the young abbey resident as her friends caught up to her. First Cole the squirrel, Edric the mouse and champion of Redwall, Mystee the otter, and Alf and Ade, the twin hedgehogs. Every beast carried some variation of weapon, from slings to swords, as they all surveyed the area as Bowback had. They all took note of the rather large rock that sported some red liquid right beside the body.

Edric noticed the young mouse's bloody head. "Isaiah!"

He ran to the child, the rest searching around, though their attentions were focused on the mice. Specifically, they wanted to see if Isaiah was unconscious, or...

Edric knelt down beside him and quickly checked for a pulse. Almost immediately he looked u to the sky with a grateful smile. His prayers to Martin seemed to have been answered. "He's alive." He said to the rest. He continued checking over the child as the others continued looking for clues as to where the weasel would've gone.

"Look at the way the bushes part over here." Mystee motioned Bowback and the others over to the northern part, inbetween two trees where a mass of ferns and shrubs met. There was a small gap that went between the tightly packed vegetation, the ground showing a snapped twig here or there.

"It might be a diversion, a false path to lead us the wrong way?" Ade suggested.

"I dunno if the bloke is that intelligent." Alf scoffed.

Edric joined the others. "Something else to keep in mind is that they're now carrying larger cargo."

The group turned to look at the abbey warrior.

"What do you mean?" asked Bowback.

"Martin's sword isn't anywhere around. Isaiah took it while we were all sleeping, and now he hasn't got it."

The group reacted in various ways, with Cole rubbing his forehead slightly to Alf and Ade kicking rocks on the ground and muttering curses. Bowback felt a long forgotten rage rise up inside her, and she let it loose with a booming proclamation. "I'LL RIP THAT VILLAINS THEIVING PAWS OFF! GAAAAHHHHHHH!"

She bounded down the trail, her friends standing in shock for a moment before deciding to pursue.
-----------------------

Firetongue and Chopear were sitting by the fire they'd made, finishing the birds they were roasting and getting ready to serve them to the rest when they heard rustling from the bushes. The two young stoats made for their daggers, but relaxed as Kytefood and Godson stepped out.

"Already got food cokin, eh? Nice to see." Godson gave them a hug each and sat down by the fire, inspecting the roasted birds.

"Chop got both of em with a sling, he did." Chopear's sister Firetongue said, making the male stoat grin in pride. The smile only grew as Godson gave him a few pats on the back.

"Where are the others? We'll need to be leaving soon." Kyte looked about for the missing rat, ferret, and badger.

"We'll eat before we head out. I think we'll have enough time. Scrapepaw and Obadiah did a thorough job on that fake path, and it'll stretch right into the territory of the Painted Ones."

The two small stoats switched their attention from the roast to the two older vermin at the mention of the infamous tribe of tree rats.

"They weren't hurt were they?" Kyte asked, concerned painted all throughout her face and conveyed in her voice.

"No, they were lucky enough to have finished the path during the middle of the day. They're nocturnal. The boys didn't even see em."

"Boys?" Chopear asked. Firetongue nudged her brother, annoyed that he interrupted.

"Southern word. Means pups with knives instead of sheathes." Godson spouted quickly, to which the two seemed to comprehend.

"You know just because Scrapepaw likes his bird with the taste of burnt leather, doesn't mean the rest of us do." Kyte pointed to the roast bird, which now looked more like charcoal on the bottom. After she made sure the two were preoccupied with getting the birds off the fire, she continued the conversation. "They've been after us for over a season. What makes you think this diversion will be any different from the last time we tried something like this?"

"Because I'm just that smart." Godson grinned as he leaned and gave his mate a quick kiss. "After supper we'll make for the South. There's a good friend of mine down there who owes me a favor or two."

Kyte merely stood as she took this new bit of information in, her eyes straying to the hefty sword that now rested by a rock farther away.

'What has this fool got planned for us now?' she thought.