Post by Prikleback Longspike on Jan 4, 2007 6:27:17 GMT
A Colony of Murdan
By
Moonflash Longtail
Book One: The Sea Voyage
Thunder crashed with a rolling boom! Lightning slashed the sky with its fiery prongs! The ship Murdan tossed and turned on the open ocean. Rain whipped down on the ship, little stinging rain that hit the crew’s faces with blinding speed. Rain seemed to come from all directions. Suddenly, a lighting bolt sliced the mast in two with its fury! It just missed the captain, Darter, at the wheel. He shook his paw at the heavens above. But if any words were said, then the mouse in the Crow’s Nest, Moonflash Longtail, didn’t hear them. He leapt onto the boat, right before the mast tumbled into the sea as shark food. He stood up and wiped his eyes of rain. Moonflash hurried over to the galley, where he opened the door and struggled to close it. He yelled over the noise at the cook’s assistant. “Any more of that leek n’ gravy pasty left?” The assistant pulled him down into the kitchens where it was nice and toasty. He gave him some of the pasty. “Eat up, that’s the last of the pasty.” Moonflash ate it hungrily and licked his gravy-covered paw. He nodded his thanks to the assistant and sat down on a cushioned chair. Almost immediately he leapt up. The cushion, actually a short chubby mouse, stood up. “Wot did ya do dat for, Moonflash?” Moonflash sighed. “Sorry, Mareth, thought you were a pillow.” Mareth grinned. “S’okay. Never mind ‘bout it.” He sat down next to the chair. Moonflash sat on the chair. “So, how you been durin’ the storm?”, Moonflash said, giving Mareth a curious look. “Oh, just eating, sitting, sleeping, and such.” Moonflash nodded. This was normal for Mareth. Work for him was about as attractive as eating a worm. So, obviously, he didn’t like it. The cook’s assistant, a large and strong badger named Copperpaw, came over and sat next to Moonflash and Mareth. “Things are bad. We’ve been running out of supplies for the last three days, and you just ate our last vegetables. When this storm lets up, we’ll still be in bad straits, as the mast is gone, so says Darter, and we’ll have to fish for our only food.” Moonflash sighed. They would have to find land soon, or they would die of starvation, the rage of the sea, or mere exposure.
As Moonflash dozed in font of the fire, he thought back to how they had left the fort Murdan. At Murdan, there had been war and famine. The cold claw of the warlord Sennamacan, an evil wolf, had been descending over the great mountains of the North. The heads of Murdan had known that not even the famous fighting force of Murdan could fight off the wolf and his horde. So, the captain of the ship Murdan, Darter, had been chosen to lead all the little ones, those that were too young or old to fight, and much of the warriors, to another land, far, far away. Moonflash suspected that Fort Murdan was burning now, as only the leaders and the elite fighters had stayed. Suddenly, Moonflash was jolted back to the present, as a huge grinding sound rocked the ship. The door flew open and a squirrel in a cloak yelled in. “Land! We’ve run aground on an island!” Moonflash leapt up and ran up with Copperpaw and Mareth behind him. The three paused only to grab hooded robes, and then hurried out to the railing. Already, a ladder had been dropped onto the island. Darter yelled over the wind at the three. “I want you three to explore for shelter! And I want Quian, Serm, and Talonbeak to go and look too! Go in different directions!” Soon, the groups returned, Moonflash’s with no directions, but Quian’s with directions to a nice, warm cave. Meanwhile, the rain had let up quite a bit, letting the light of the moon shine down on the island. It was covered in dark jungle. “C’mon!”, said Darter. He led the creatures on the ship into the forest, with Quian guiding them. They came to a large cave, which Darter and Moonflash lit up with a fire. The crew and the others rolled up and slept, with a few creatures standing watch and changing every hour.
The next morning, Quian was standing watch as Moonflash woke up. The mouse, draped in his blanket, shuffled sleepily over to Quian. “Any vermin this lurvly morn, my good squirrel?” Quian gave him a look that would have made a tree crawl out of its bark. “No, little mousie. Now run along and eat your breakfast!”, he said, treating him like a baby. Moonflash shuffled off to the cooking fire, where Copperpaw was cooking turtle eggs with fruit and broth, the eggs and fruit being the result of an early morning forage. “G’morning, Copper. What’s for breakfast, eh?” Copperpaw pointed it out and served Moonflash up a helping of everything. “This island has plenty of great fruit and eggs, and fish abound in the waters.”, said Copperpaw, chatting with Moonflash. The talk drifted to mundane things, and as more sleepy beasts started drifting to the fire, Copperpaw got up, and with an apology, headed off to feed them. Moonflash dropped his cloak on the floor, tried to smooth his wrinkled clothes, and strode out of the cave, his bow ‘n’ arrows slung over his back. Outside, Darter was assembling a party to explore then inner jungle. Soon, the group was composed of Darter, Mareth, Moonflash, Serm, and a mouse named Raiden Silversword, who was always predicting death and destruction, but was a good enough warrior. The five headed into the woods cautiously: these waters were known to be dangerous. All was fairly quiet in the jungle, besides the constant flies and the deep, musty odor that muffled everything like a thick blanket. Until, of course, the strange screeching of a bird. “Chakkakak! Intruders! Chakkakak!”, cried the bird, a multi-colored parrot. Suddenly, hundreds of parrots descended on the group of explorers, pecking and scratching. Moonflash shot one down with his bow and knocked another out with the flat of his sword. Mareth took down five with his blowpipe and darts, before he disappeared under a red, blue, and green mass. Suddenly, Raiden and Darter were among the ones on Mareth, slashing and hacking and bashing with their swords. The parrots flew off, surprised, then routed into the forest. Moonflash shot a lagging one in the wing, taking it down. Quickly, he and the others went and knocked it unconscious, then put it in a small basket Serm had brought. They hurriedly went back to the cave with the parrot.
“Chakkakak! I tells you, I knows nothing! Chakkakak! You get s'nothing from me!”, the parrot cried. It had been a long afternoon, interrogating the parrot. He refused to say anything as he was held down. Moonflash breathed out a long sigh of annoyance. His arm was aching from holding the parrot down. The headstrong bird's name, as it turned out, was Sram'ret, a name common among the jungle beasts. Finally, as the bird was screaming and screaming, Moonflash hit the parrot. That finally shut it up. "Now, listen, if you think you can get away from us safely after what you and your friends did to Mareth, you are sorely wrong." Moonflash leaned in close with his dagger close to the parrot's neck. "Tell us now, or you die today." The parrot gulped visibly, then said in a shaky voice, "Chakan, de parrots 'ho attacked you ar' t'king's bodyguards. T'king is a great darkwalker, 'ho lives deep in de forest. I tink dat you will need a guide." Moonflash nodded. "That's better. Now, you can be the guide." He walked out, taking the parrot with him on a little leash. Outside, Raiden and the others were waiting. "I got him to take us to the enemy. But, I think we will need more troops." Darter nodded and gathered around ten more, leaving the rest of the crew to defend the young 'uns. The explorers were now sixteen in number. Silently, they set off to kill the "darkwalker".
A little bit of stuff that started out as Redwall fanfic, but turned into a full-blown fantasy of my own.
By
Moonflash Longtail
Book One: The Sea Voyage
Thunder crashed with a rolling boom! Lightning slashed the sky with its fiery prongs! The ship Murdan tossed and turned on the open ocean. Rain whipped down on the ship, little stinging rain that hit the crew’s faces with blinding speed. Rain seemed to come from all directions. Suddenly, a lighting bolt sliced the mast in two with its fury! It just missed the captain, Darter, at the wheel. He shook his paw at the heavens above. But if any words were said, then the mouse in the Crow’s Nest, Moonflash Longtail, didn’t hear them. He leapt onto the boat, right before the mast tumbled into the sea as shark food. He stood up and wiped his eyes of rain. Moonflash hurried over to the galley, where he opened the door and struggled to close it. He yelled over the noise at the cook’s assistant. “Any more of that leek n’ gravy pasty left?” The assistant pulled him down into the kitchens where it was nice and toasty. He gave him some of the pasty. “Eat up, that’s the last of the pasty.” Moonflash ate it hungrily and licked his gravy-covered paw. He nodded his thanks to the assistant and sat down on a cushioned chair. Almost immediately he leapt up. The cushion, actually a short chubby mouse, stood up. “Wot did ya do dat for, Moonflash?” Moonflash sighed. “Sorry, Mareth, thought you were a pillow.” Mareth grinned. “S’okay. Never mind ‘bout it.” He sat down next to the chair. Moonflash sat on the chair. “So, how you been durin’ the storm?”, Moonflash said, giving Mareth a curious look. “Oh, just eating, sitting, sleeping, and such.” Moonflash nodded. This was normal for Mareth. Work for him was about as attractive as eating a worm. So, obviously, he didn’t like it. The cook’s assistant, a large and strong badger named Copperpaw, came over and sat next to Moonflash and Mareth. “Things are bad. We’ve been running out of supplies for the last three days, and you just ate our last vegetables. When this storm lets up, we’ll still be in bad straits, as the mast is gone, so says Darter, and we’ll have to fish for our only food.” Moonflash sighed. They would have to find land soon, or they would die of starvation, the rage of the sea, or mere exposure.
As Moonflash dozed in font of the fire, he thought back to how they had left the fort Murdan. At Murdan, there had been war and famine. The cold claw of the warlord Sennamacan, an evil wolf, had been descending over the great mountains of the North. The heads of Murdan had known that not even the famous fighting force of Murdan could fight off the wolf and his horde. So, the captain of the ship Murdan, Darter, had been chosen to lead all the little ones, those that were too young or old to fight, and much of the warriors, to another land, far, far away. Moonflash suspected that Fort Murdan was burning now, as only the leaders and the elite fighters had stayed. Suddenly, Moonflash was jolted back to the present, as a huge grinding sound rocked the ship. The door flew open and a squirrel in a cloak yelled in. “Land! We’ve run aground on an island!” Moonflash leapt up and ran up with Copperpaw and Mareth behind him. The three paused only to grab hooded robes, and then hurried out to the railing. Already, a ladder had been dropped onto the island. Darter yelled over the wind at the three. “I want you three to explore for shelter! And I want Quian, Serm, and Talonbeak to go and look too! Go in different directions!” Soon, the groups returned, Moonflash’s with no directions, but Quian’s with directions to a nice, warm cave. Meanwhile, the rain had let up quite a bit, letting the light of the moon shine down on the island. It was covered in dark jungle. “C’mon!”, said Darter. He led the creatures on the ship into the forest, with Quian guiding them. They came to a large cave, which Darter and Moonflash lit up with a fire. The crew and the others rolled up and slept, with a few creatures standing watch and changing every hour.
The next morning, Quian was standing watch as Moonflash woke up. The mouse, draped in his blanket, shuffled sleepily over to Quian. “Any vermin this lurvly morn, my good squirrel?” Quian gave him a look that would have made a tree crawl out of its bark. “No, little mousie. Now run along and eat your breakfast!”, he said, treating him like a baby. Moonflash shuffled off to the cooking fire, where Copperpaw was cooking turtle eggs with fruit and broth, the eggs and fruit being the result of an early morning forage. “G’morning, Copper. What’s for breakfast, eh?” Copperpaw pointed it out and served Moonflash up a helping of everything. “This island has plenty of great fruit and eggs, and fish abound in the waters.”, said Copperpaw, chatting with Moonflash. The talk drifted to mundane things, and as more sleepy beasts started drifting to the fire, Copperpaw got up, and with an apology, headed off to feed them. Moonflash dropped his cloak on the floor, tried to smooth his wrinkled clothes, and strode out of the cave, his bow ‘n’ arrows slung over his back. Outside, Darter was assembling a party to explore then inner jungle. Soon, the group was composed of Darter, Mareth, Moonflash, Serm, and a mouse named Raiden Silversword, who was always predicting death and destruction, but was a good enough warrior. The five headed into the woods cautiously: these waters were known to be dangerous. All was fairly quiet in the jungle, besides the constant flies and the deep, musty odor that muffled everything like a thick blanket. Until, of course, the strange screeching of a bird. “Chakkakak! Intruders! Chakkakak!”, cried the bird, a multi-colored parrot. Suddenly, hundreds of parrots descended on the group of explorers, pecking and scratching. Moonflash shot one down with his bow and knocked another out with the flat of his sword. Mareth took down five with his blowpipe and darts, before he disappeared under a red, blue, and green mass. Suddenly, Raiden and Darter were among the ones on Mareth, slashing and hacking and bashing with their swords. The parrots flew off, surprised, then routed into the forest. Moonflash shot a lagging one in the wing, taking it down. Quickly, he and the others went and knocked it unconscious, then put it in a small basket Serm had brought. They hurriedly went back to the cave with the parrot.
“Chakkakak! I tells you, I knows nothing! Chakkakak! You get s'nothing from me!”, the parrot cried. It had been a long afternoon, interrogating the parrot. He refused to say anything as he was held down. Moonflash breathed out a long sigh of annoyance. His arm was aching from holding the parrot down. The headstrong bird's name, as it turned out, was Sram'ret, a name common among the jungle beasts. Finally, as the bird was screaming and screaming, Moonflash hit the parrot. That finally shut it up. "Now, listen, if you think you can get away from us safely after what you and your friends did to Mareth, you are sorely wrong." Moonflash leaned in close with his dagger close to the parrot's neck. "Tell us now, or you die today." The parrot gulped visibly, then said in a shaky voice, "Chakan, de parrots 'ho attacked you ar' t'king's bodyguards. T'king is a great darkwalker, 'ho lives deep in de forest. I tink dat you will need a guide." Moonflash nodded. "That's better. Now, you can be the guide." He walked out, taking the parrot with him on a little leash. Outside, Raiden and the others were waiting. "I got him to take us to the enemy. But, I think we will need more troops." Darter nodded and gathered around ten more, leaving the rest of the crew to defend the young 'uns. The explorers were now sixteen in number. Silently, they set off to kill the "darkwalker".
A little bit of stuff that started out as Redwall fanfic, but turned into a full-blown fantasy of my own.