Subject:  Part One! |
Author:
Checkery
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Date Posted: 04:30:29 12/07/03 Sun
In reply to:
Checkery
's message, "**An ottermaid in a blue tunic comes in, a pile of papers in one paw, grinning triumphantly.** Finally, I actually finished one of my stories!" on 04:22:27 12/07/03 Sun
Part One of a Tale of Two Dibbuns
A weasel made her way through the woods, her young daughter in her arms. The weasel, Nalati, was headed for the stream where she could bring up her young one. She wore a peach-hued burlap dress, while her daughter wore a blue vest with periwinkle shorts. She grew tired and sat upon a stump in a glade, then set her child down. Tion clapped her little paws and stood up, then ran in little circles until she got dizzy. She fell on her bottom with a thump. "Ooh!" Tion smiled with glee and clapped her paws again, singing a baby song.
"Clappa paws, clappa paws,
Takka punda, stealla stuffs!
Clappa paws, clappa paws,
Gwowl an' bes weal toughs!"
Nalati watched the child through half-closed eyes. She smiled and nodded, murmering. "Yes, my Tion, be tough. One has to be in these woods."
At the edge of the stream sat a small log cabin. A large dog-fox, wearing a deep green velvet tabard, was carrying buckets of water from the stream, and his small son tottered along behind him, carrying a little bucket of his own with water sploshing out the sides. Pit went through the open door of the house and dumped the water into the cooking pot which hung over a fire place. He turned and lifted his son Dika at the edge of the pot. The little fox turned his bucket upsidedown, and a dribble of water trickled out.
Dika was set on the floor, and he ran outside to play in the mud. He took a glob and smeared it across his one and only garment, an orange shirt which showed his plump little belly. He giggled madly as he licked the dirt from his paw. Pit watched his son while he foraged for food in the woods nearby. The sound of somebeast close caused him to freeze. A moment later, Dika found himself grabbed from behind and pulled into the woods, with his father's paw over his mouth.
Nalati set Tion down and held her paw. She could hear the running water of the stream up ahead, and this place seemed to have a large amount of food. "Yeeek!" She jumped as somebeast jumped at her from behind a tree. The two rolled around on the ground as Dika and Tion looked on, sucking their paws. The tussel ended up when Pit had Nalati pinned to the ground, his dagger to her throat. "Who are ye, and what're yew doin' here? Speak!" Nalati gulped, knowing she had lost. "My name is Nalati, and I'm trying to find somewhere t'live an' raise my kid." Pit heaved himself up and watched the weasel warily. She grabbed Tion and turned to the fox as Dika tottered to his dad.
"You'd do yourself good t'leave me be, fox! I've got work t'do, gotta set up a place t'stay here." Pit growled at her, his tail swishing angrily. "No yew won't, Natli or whatever yore name is. This is my property, my stretch o' the river, and my food." Nalati glared at Pit and spat, growling dangerously. "I go where I like, fox. Do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it. I'm livin' 'ere, see, an' nobeast is gonna stop me!" Pit stomped his paw on the ground, yelling, "Well too bad! This one thing you're not doin' is pitchin' a home on my land!"
While their parents argued, Dika and Tion fidgited by thier sides. Dika watched the weaselbabe curiously. "Hewwo." Tion peered shyly at Dika from behind her mother's legs, smiling. She waved at him and started sucking her thumb. The fox kit giggled and fidgeted, his pudgy fingers wiggling like worms as he waved. "Mes Dika, who's you?" Tion giggled. "Teeheehee! Mes Tion. I's a weasel, an' she my mommy." Dika pointed at his dad. "I'm a foxer, an' he's m'daddy." The weaselbabe bit her lip and smiled, stepping from one footpaw to the other. "They's yellin' lotsa lotsa, da hurts my earsies."
Dika thought for a moment, his pink tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. He rubbed his chin in an immitation of his father, then snapped his chubby fingers. (Or tried to snap them.) "Me gots a idea! Wet's go pway!" Tion clapped her paws happily. "Yeah, wet's go pway!" She tapped him swiftly. "You's it!" The weaselbabe ran off, with a giggling fox kit on her tail. The hotly argueing parents hadn't noticed a thing.
It was a while later when the game of tag ended. Dika and Tion lay in the loam, panting and giggling by turns. The weaselbabe patted her rumbling tummy. "Mes hungwy, I wanna my mommy!" Dika stood and nodded. "Okays, wes find 'em now!" Tion sat up and looked about her, whispering. "Do yous knows tha way backs?" Dika turned a few circles before pointing into the woods. "Me thinks it bes dat ways." Tion stood up and brushed herself off, giving a little sigh. "Phew, da's good. Me thought you didot knows tha way backs." The fox kit pulled at a loose string on his shirt, mumbling. "Da's a thing, me don't knowa an'way back."
Tion shoved him hard, sending the little fox head over heels in the loam. "You dumma foxer, you na' knowa way backs! Wes losted now causa you! Waaaaaaaah! I waaants my moooommyyy!" Dika picked himself up and pushed the wailing weasel babe down. "Yous shusha now, you heara mes? Big cwybaby. We gets backs, day finds us soon now. Le's go looka for 'em back." Tion sniffled a bit, then pouted at Dika. "Hmph, you don' pusha mes. S'now I wead." She picked up a stick for her weapon, then set off in the direction she thought best. Dika followed, pouting and mumbling. "Shoopid weasa', she pusha me, she taka d'ection. Me get her back, hmph."
Zither the hedgehog, Quejack the otter, and Restwick Telfirst Lapleap Sillerfen the hare all had their paws full. They had taken a bunch of dibbuns for a walk in Mossflower, and all was chaos. Dibbuns ran all over, shouting and giggling, playing tag, and the three Redwallers had a hard time keeping track of them. "Durrly, get back here this instant!" "Stay out o' the poisen ivey, you liddle shrimps!" "I say, little squirrel chapess, get down from that tree! Y'makin' me woozy just flippin' lookin' at you, wot!" "Me got hurted onna forn bush, Zitter, waaah!" "Mista Wicky, tha' mousey pulla my tail!" "Hey Coojack, me all itchy!"
Restwick had had enough. "Silence in the blinkin' ranks there, y'bally hooligans!" Quejack whistled loudly, and all the dibbuns ceased what they were doing. The hare nodded at Quejack, then spoke to the dibbuns. "The way you've behaved will most likely get all of yeh an early bedtime. Now stand still for a headcount, else I'll skelp all y'slimy little tails." Zither and Quejack went about counting the dibbuns. "I got twenny-six. 'Ow about you, mate?" Zither scratched his headspikes. "Er, me too. Didn't we start out with twenty-seven?" Restwick took charge again. "All right, no time for frettin'. I'll scout about for the little rip." He was about to go, but turned quickly on his heel. "Loopa, down from the flippin' tree now!" Restwick set off into Mossflower, muttering about how unruly dibbuns were these days.
Quetza the shrew dibbun wandered through the woods, calling in a small voice. "Hewwo? Wicky? Zitter? Coojack? Where be yous all?" The little shrew maid sniffled and sat down, rubbing her paws in her eyes as tears welled up. She was lost out in the forest, and who knows what creepy monsters where out here looking for small dibbuns to eat? Quetza quickly pulled herself together and stood up when she heard something. She stood on tip-paw, looking around fearfully. Other beasts where shuffling in the loam towards her. The small shrew looked about for someplace to hide. She started running towards a tree to hide behind it, but too late. A voice rang out.
"Hey look! It a shoo!" "Yeah! Hewwo, shoo!" Quetza stopped running and turned around to see two dibbuns like herself. Realizing they were friendly, she smiled at them and offered a paw. "Hewwo! Me Quetza, who be yous?" Tion shook her paw. "Me Tion, an' dis is me frwend Dika." Dika stared at Quetza. "Where you mommy'n'daddy?" The little shrew shrugged dismally. "They at Redwall Habbey, but me not know how to get dere now. Me is losted." Dika shrugged. "Oh. We is losted too." Tion clapped her paws. "Yay, we be losted together den!" Quetza smiled too. "Otay. What we do now?" Tion thought hard a moment. "Me not know."
Restwick's paw shot down and scooped up Quetza. "Aha, I've got you!" Dika and Tion squealed and ran a little way. The hare took a few steps toward them. "Hmm, vermin babes...Hi there, you two, where are y'parents?" Dika answered fearfully. "Us losted..." Tion nodded, sucking on her paw nervously. "Yeah, us is..." "You is, eh? Hmm..." Restwick gnawed on the ends of his whiskers, thinking. Quetza tapped his face. "We bring 'em to da Habbey! They stay wiff us! Paleeeez?" Restwick finally shrugged. "Oh, all right, I s'pose. Not too sure about this though." Quetza shouted joyfully. "Dika an' Tion, you come wiff us to Redwall Habbey!" The fox and the weasel looked at eachother, then tagged along behind Restwick. "Yay, we go to Habbey!"
Abbess Ziara, Zither's twin sister, watched the dibbuns come marching down the path towards Redwall. She shook her spiky head, smiling. Zither and Quejack were lagging behind at the back of the bunch, and only Restwick led the dibbuns, throwing out comical threats. As they neared the main gate, though, she noticed a fox cub among them, and soon picked out a weasel dibbun as well. Ziara dashed down the steps and into the gatehouse, pushing open the door. Restwick finished shaking his paw at a group of dibbuns and went past the Abbess into the gatehouse, plunking down on an old arm chair without a word. Zither and Quejack herded the dibbuns through. "Ahoy, Mother Abbess. Dibbuns were hyper t'day, as usual." Ziara followed them as they led the dibbuns into Great Hall. She pointed at the newcomers. "Where did these, these vermin come from?" Zither raised his eyebrows. "Them? Restwick found 'em. They were on their own, lost, y'see. Figured we might take 'em back."
Ziara had a couple of mothers take the dibbuns to get washed. As the dibbuns filed out, she halted Tion and Dika. "You little ones will stay here with us." The two dibbuns grumbled a bit as they followed her to the table. She smiled at them. "So, what are your names?" They told her. She nodded. "I see. So, Tion and Dika, do you have parents?" Tion nodded. "Me gots a mommy!" Dika sucked his paw nervously. "My daddy foughted 'er." Abbess Ziara folded her paws in her habit sleeves. "I see. So you were lost?" "Yah!" "Uhuh." "Are you two hungry?" Both dibbuns smiled. "Us is 'ungry! We wanna somefink to eat!"
Ziara took each of their paws and led them to the kitchen. "Good! We have just the right food for hungry dibbuns." Before leaving Great Hall, she mouthed to Zither. 'They will need baths!' Zither touched a paw to his forhead. The twins always knew what the other meant.
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