User blog:Snowpaw the Wild/The Blade has Died, the Rose is Alive

This is dedicated to Fainnen, Sister Armel, Brokkers, Zoso159, Bluestripe the Wild, Laria Wavedeep, Sandingomm the Wildcat, Ferretmaiden (Your essay inspired this story), and everyone who continues to read and critique it. Thanks everybody!

Part 1: Martin the Warrior
''It is during the battle of Marshank. Badrang is headed for the tunnel that Grumm dug under the back wall. He has shoved Grumm aside, knocking the mole unconscious, and Laterose of Noonvale is about to attack him in an effort to divert his attention from the mole.''

Badrang watched as the mousemaid flew at him. He readied the sword he was carrying to slay her as she approached, carfully calculating his thrust. He was understandably surprised, then, when the weapon met flesh far sooner than he had expected. Hearing the mousemaid scream, "Martin!", he turned and saw that he had accidentally run another mouse through. Badrang recognized him. Aye, this was the mouse who had sworn to slay him. Martin, son of Luke the Warrior.

Martin staggered back a few paces, pulling the sword out of Badrang's grip. He fell to his knees and ripped the weapon that had once belonged to him out of his own torso. The mouse warrior stared in awe at it, and was still staring when Rose arrived at his side.

"Martin! Martin!" she gasped. She analyzed the injury with a practiced eye, but soon saw that it was far too bad for her to handle. "Brome, come quick!"

"No, Rose!" Martin grasped her arm. "It's no use. I am going to die." He pressed his father's sword into Rose's paw. "You are the warrior now. Protect those weaker than yourself and honor the warrior's code. Always use the sword to stand for good and right, never do a thing you would be ashamed of, and never let your heart rule your mind."

Rose did not want to be a warrior. She had always been a peaceful creature, and knew that her father would never allow her to keep the old weapon. But she also knew that Martin had to pass his vocation on and there was nobeast else. with these things in her heart, she gave Martin her answer. "I swear it, on my life!"

Martin attempted a weak smile, remembering himself give his father the same answer to the same charges. "Rose, there is something I must tell you. Ever since I first saw you, I loved you. But I also knew that you were not meant to be a simple creature. You always were fated to carry my father's blade. You are a warrior, and you always have been."

Rose dropped the weapon as if it was a poisonous snake. "But Martin, what about your oath to slay Badrang? You must live to fulfill it!"

"I shall fulfill it through you, Rose. Goodbye. I love you."

Rose leaned over and gave Martin a light kiss on his cheek as she laid him down on the ground. "I love you too, my dear, sweet Martin. Goodbye."

All this while, Badrang had been laughing maniacly up at the sky and mocking Martin. "Hahahahaha! Going to kill me, eh, mouse? Good luck, lying there with a sword through you! You took it back in a way you didn't want to! Hahahahahaha!"

He was so busy engaging in this foolery that he didn't notice Laterose of Noonvale leave Martin and pick up the fallen weapon. In fact, he didn't notice her at all until she was almost upon him. He could not miss her clear voice screaming one word with hate and anger. "Die!"

And die Badrang did, with the weapon he had just used to slay a good creature buried in his chest. The last words he heard were spoken by the mousemaid, but it was not Rose's voice that he heard.

"I told you I would kill you, vermin!"