Subject:  You got it. Time for Part Three. |
Author:
Checkery
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Date Posted: 00:24:00 12/09/03 Tue
In reply to:
Jade
's message, "Wow! Moremoremore! Please!" on 01:44:08 12/08/03 Mon
Part Three
The search party ate a quick breakfast and set off early. The dibbuns all wondered were they were going. One of the older dibbuns, Scotch the squirrel, started a whispered message for a secret meeting. After breakfast, the dibbuns snuck to their meeting place in the attic. There were stashes of goodies up here, various toys strewn about, and battered pillows with missing feathers from recent pillow fights. Once most of the dibbuns were seated in a sloppy circle on the floor, Scotch spoke up. "Okeydokey, listen up. There's sometin' going on round here. The grownups are all scared, or mad a' least." Tion piped up. "Yeah, an' me mommy's goneded!" "Me too! Jus' wif a daddy..." Dika added.
Scotch looked at them, swishing his bushy tail. "Otay! Then you two gots somethin' to tell?" Tion shrugged. "Me don't know what happen to Mommy. Da badger, Twilly, she say me mommy runned away an' she'll come back." Dika scoffed. "Dats noffing! I knowed wot 'appened. Me was dere!" Scotch and another squirrel, the one called Loopa, started jumping up a down. "Then tell us!" Dika sucked on his paw. "Otay...Daddy came inna night wif a bigga big bag anna hooj sword, he say we go 'way. So I go wiff Daddy to da gate. You mommy come too." Here he pointed at Tion. "We at da gate, an' Ziffer an' Coojack come. Coojack fight Daddy and you mommy, den dey run away outside."
Scotch's eyes went wide. "He tooked the sword of Martin!" He shouted. "That's what happened! Your dad's a theif, an' he tooked Martin's sword!" Dika pouted. "Me daddy not do dat..." Scotch twirled his tail. "Well, he had tha sword, he took it with 'im, right?" Dika nodded. "That proves it then!" A vole who wasn't much younger than Scotch raised his paw. "Otay! I got a idea. We go find 'em!" He looked at Dika and Tion. "We finds your mommy an' daddy, den we take da sword back t'Redwall!" Tion brightened up. "Yeah! We take Mommy back too?" The vole, Rally, scrunched up his face in thought. "Hmm...I dunno...Dey'd just steal more stuff. We can't brings 'em back 'ere!" Tion and Dika exchanged worried glances.
"But I want my Mommy!" Cried Tion. Dika nodded. "Me too!" Scotch sighed. "Okay...You stay with them." Dika shook his head. "No! Me wanna live 'ere!" Tion nodded. "Me too!" Scotch pursed his lips, twiddling his tail in his paws on his lap. "Mm...Can't 'ave both. You gotta pick; y'mommy'n'daddy, or Redwall Abbey." Tion lowered her head. "But...me can't do dat..." Rally patted her back. "Don' worry, you got until we find 'em till you gotta. You got plenny a time." Tion sniffled back some impending tears and gave a small nod. Dika pouted, but remained silent. Scotch stood up. "Okay, we got no time a lose. We gotta get weapons an' food, an' stuff!"
The dibbuns collected what they wanted. Most of the boys set off to find weapons, coming up with various sticks, rocks, and slingshots. One of them had even found a sling. Most of the girls (and the hares) set about getting food, often nibbling on some for themselves. Rally directed them to put them in little bags. Most of it was candied chestnuts, scones, and cookies. Scotch told them to all get blankets and some of their things. Then the dibbuns set off downstairs. They split up once they reached Cavern Hole, then met up again out by the pond. It was a cold, cloudy, drizzly day, so there were only a few Redwallers out, most of who were working. Two dibbuns held Scotch up so he could reach the lock better, and he worked hard at his job. It was't long before the wily squirrel had shoved the gate out. The little dibbun army marched out into Mossflower, ready to fight evil.
Scotch lay wrapped in his blanket, hugging a stuffed badger close and shivering. All the dibbuns had walked far, and it was evening before they stopped. They had eaten quite a bit of their food stock and snuggled under their blankets, their heads resting on piles of leaves. However, the night was cold, and they all ended up sleeping practically on top of eachother for warmth. It was a restless night, and the younger dibbuns woke up and cried in fear of the dark or the cold. Finally, at dawn, the group decided to breakfast. Some played games, and others sat wrapped in their blankets until the sun came out to warm up the morning. All were releived when it was time to travel again.
Scotch led them, using what few tracking skills he knew. (His parents were both quite skilled at it) But later in the day, he was relying on instinct and the scent of vermin. Finally, pawsore and cranky, the dibbuns stopped in a sunny part of Mossflower to rest, play, and eat. They chomped the rest of their supplies and played around at hide and go seek and tag and leapfrog. A group of moles and mice struck up a song, and one otter babe broke several sticks while beating out a tune on a hollow log. After the fun, they picked up their blankets and weapons and set off.
Quetza didn't like so much walking. The big blanket she carried was heavey, and she had dropped her stick long ago so she could carry it. She had tried drapping the blanket over her head to walk, but it was stuffy and hot inside, and besides, she kept tripping over it and bumping into the other dibbuns. The shrewmaid started complaining. "Me tired! Me wanna break. We no find dose vermins anyways." A few other dibbuns started complaining. "Yeah, my footpaws hurt!" "Me hungry, me wanna go back!" "I want my mommy!" Scotch was just as sick of it as the rest of them, but he wouldn't admit it. He turned around, swishing his stick in the air. "No! We're not goin' back! We'll get in lotsa trouble anyways. If we find the vermin an' take back Martin's sword, they won't be mad at us!"
Dika pouted. "Yeah, but where we get food? An' us is still sweepy!" Scotch sighed. "Then we rest if ya wanna. But if we want food, we gotta find fruit an' berries an' stuff." "Me want cake though!" A voice piped up. Rally jumped forward. "You don' 'ave cake, so shut up an' eats what we gives ya!" Fighting broke out among the dibbuns. The younger ones sat down and wailed about their woes, and the others either argued with eachother or started throwing punches. Things were looking pretty bad for the dibbun expedition, when Quetza grew tired of the bickering and screamed and at top of her voice.
The other fell silent, staring at the shrewmaid. She was red in the face from her terrific yell, but still in a fine temper. "You shurrup, foozleyfaces! Me have anuff, an' if you don't stop it, me gonna go home wiffout yas." Scotch wriggled out from under Rally. "Okay okay! We gotta go. If we don't find 'em by t'night, we go back to Redwall." Most of the dibbuns agreed sullenly, muttering complaints, and picked up their things again. But a pawful of dibbuns stayed put. "Me wanna go to Redwall nows!" "Yeah, me tired." "An' flippink 'ungry!"
Scotch grew angry at them, but soon calmed down. "Okay, you go back then. Don't tell nobeast where we are till t'night though, or else!" "Yeah!" Cried Rally, jumping forward, "Or we'll choppa your paws off an' stuff 'em up your noses!" The four dibbuns nodded sullenly, grabbed their things, and set off in the direction they thought best. After they were gone, Scotch snorted. "Ha! We no need dem!" Then he grew still, head raised, ears pointed forward, staring the opposite way. "Hewwo? Earf to Scotch!" Tion waved a paw in front of his face. He batted it away bad temperedly. "Sshushh! I think they over there!" The dibbuns gathered around him, whispering excitedly. "What we do?" "Do we 'tack 'em now?" The squirrel nodded. "Yeah. We 'tack 'em. We biff 'em first, then tie 'em up, then take the sword an' come back t'Redwall!" Dibbuns grinned triumphantly as they gathered their weapons up for the attack.
Pit and Nalati were using through a small overgrown path on their way through the woods when a hoard of wild dibbuns poured out from the one side. Pit raised the sword threateningly, and Tion charged him first. Nalati grabbed for the sword and shoved the fox at the same time. "You idiot, that's my daughter!" Then the dibbuns jumped on them, shouting things which Mother Twilla would have paddled them for saying. They bopped Pit with their sticks, hit wildly about with load slings, and tried to pry the sword from his paws. In the confusion, the dibbuns were hitting their own, who would run back crying into the woods. Nalati grabbed at her kid several times, but Tion was dodging swiftly about with the rest of them, and a bold shrewmaid had whacked her paw once.
The weasel mother gave up and ran up the path, leaving angry dibbuns in her wake. Pit, too, reared up, with dibbuns clinging to his legs, tail, back, and head. Shaking most of them off, he dashed after Nalati, finally tearing Rally off his face and casting him behind. The dibbuns regrouped and searched for whoever was missing. (Which was easy, because all the missing ones were bawling loudly in the woods) After things had settled down, Scotch jumped about excitedly. "Alright! We almost had 'em that time! But we have to go after them quick, or we'll lose the trail." Quetza frowned at him. "But Scotch, it gettin' dark out." The squirrel sucked on the tip of his tail. "Hmm. Y'right, but we just found 'em. I said we'd go back if we didn't. We gotta keep goin'." The shrewmaid pouted, but said nothing, as they set off once more.
Further up the path, the two vermin sat panting. "Where did they all come from?" Pit wondered. Nalati sucked on a dandelion stem, frowning. "Doesn't matter. Tion was with them, and your boy too." The big fox sighed. "I couldn't even get a swing at 'em. Why'd you have to go and ruin everything?" Nalati snorted. "Because Tion was right in front of that overgrown frogsticker!" Then she peered at him suspiciously. "You woulda really used it on those kids?" A voice rang out from the sorrounding trees. "I woulda! It's the only way to get 'em off your back!" The fox and the weasel leapt up, startled, as a tall rat armed with a pike and several other vermin, strode onto the path. The rat chuckled at them. "You got a kid problem?"
Nalati's paws curled into fists, and her face turned to an angry snarl. "So what if we do? I don't see why it's any of your business, you mealymouthed spawnsucker!" Pit, who seemed to have met this rat and his bunch before, shoved her lightly out of the way. "Shut up, weasel. I'll handle this." He turned to the lanky rat and growled low. "So, if it isn't Shove. I heard you was killed last winter through sickness." Shove hefted his pike and ran his paw along it reflectively. "Huh, you 'eard I was dead? Well, I heard rumor of you bein' lost in swamps wid that babe o' yourn. Too bad I saw yer ugly face agin now." Pit's paw strayed near the wonderful sword in his belt. "Well then, here we are, both pretty much alive as I see it. I don't see what you've got t'do with any of my problems."
Shove glanced at the sword craftily. "I dunno there. I probly wouldn't bother wid you, or mebbe I'd just rob any vittles off'n yew. But as I see it, there's a spot o' killin' t'be done, nice soft young 'uns too, and a darn pretty sword as well..." Pit snarled at him, drawing Martin's sword. "You put one paw near this sword an' I'll chop it off! I don't need your help t'slay a bunch of dib- er, liddle shrimps, an' we've got better things to do with our time." Nalati jumped in too. "Aye, and one of those young 'uns is mine, an' you won't lay a paw on her." Nalati would rather have left Tion in the care of the Redwallers. She would be in good paws, and yet the weasel mother would be free to roam.
Shove raised the pike defensively, then called over his shoulder. "Cover 'em!" His seven rats, ferrets, and weasles obeyed swiftly. Before they could blink an eye, Pit and Nalati found themselves surrounded, with an array of weapons pointed at them. Shove smiled smugly at them. "Now, do we 'ave a bargain 'ere, or what? Eh?" Pit stared around him, then threw the sword to the ground and snarled. "Fine! You get rid of the pests, an' we'll give you the sword." Nalati stepped hard on his paw. "Idiot!" Then she voiced her demands. "There are only two vermin with them; my weasle babe and his fox kit. Do what you like with the rest, but let the other two go. We'll have to move fast; Redwallers will be combing the woods for our blood, and they'll most likely pick up those little ones as they go."
Shove spat on his right paw and held it out, still with an evil grin on his ragged face. "Tis a deal then!" Pit and Nalati sullenly shook his paw, then the lanky rat thrust the sword in his belt. He ordered a ferret to keep his weapon on them, and they set off through Mossflower, seeking out innocent, unsuspecting dibbuns.
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