User blog:Tess the Golden/Eyes of Emerald

Author's Note
This is my first Redwall fanfic, so ... well. It's an attempt. I've got part of it written already, but I will add the chapters one at a time. I would like to thank SaynaSLuke for inspiring me to start this, and for the horses.

Chapter 1 The Beginning
Jackleap Strongfoot had been sent to the armoury of Salamandastron again. Usually quiet and meek, he was furious now, alone in the armoury. Angrily the chocolate-brown hare polished pikes and swords, muttering under his breath. “Huh, some captain, wot! Sentencin' a chap to the armoury twice in a fortnight? No bally imagination has ol' Captain Quincepaw, wot wot, bloomin' cad!” “Bloomin' cad y'self, Jacki! C'mon, laddie buck, straighten up, eyes front, chin up, stiff upper lip an' all that, wot wot!” rang out a cheerful voice behind him. Jacki whirled around and saw the Hon. Tess Thistleflower Blackberry Thropple, who had come to get a foil for her fencing lessons. Jacki curled his lip scornfully. “Wot, stiff upper lip? From you, Tess? Why, just t'other day I saw you sittin' behind the oven blubbin' yore eyes out 'cause your cakes burned, wot! Stiff upper lip y'self, blubberpaws!” Tess was stung into retaliation. “Yah, well, at least I'm not as ugly as you, with that big bird's nest between your ears! Turbanhead!” Jacki was cut to the quick at this, for his turban of red and gold was his pride and joy, and he wore it everywhere. He never took it off, even in his bunk. But little did Tess know, he had a reason. “Turbanhead, hah, that all you can do, dribblesnout?” “No it isn't, droopyears!” The insults might have come to blows, had not Captain Quincepaw's timely intervention put a stop to the quarrelling. The seasoned hare, known to his friends as Quincey, was coming to check on his fencing student in the armoury. Hearing the angry voices, he flung open the door to reveal the two miscreants with foils in paw, ready to fight, suddenly frozen at the unexpected arrival. “H'i say, Tess, that's why h'it takes you so long t'get a foil! H'and you, Jacki, H'i thought H'i told you to polish the weapons, not fight with 'em! Tell y'what, just h'as soon as y'both are finished polishin' h'every bit o' weapons an' h'armour in the place, ye can both 'ave a h'audience with th' great badger 'imself, Lord Ironpaw, for disobeyin' h'a Captain an' fightin' with h'each other, wot wot!”

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“See, that's what y'get when y'start insultin' me. An' I have to miss fencin' class now, too!”, said Tess disparagingly when he had gone. “Oh no, you started it!”, snapped Jacki back. “Did not!” “Did too!” “Did not!” “Did—” “Silence in the h'armoury there!” roared Captain Quincepaw from outside. And there was.

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Lord Ironpaw was sitting at his window looking out to sea when he heard a knock at his door. “Come in,”, he grunted, and Captain Quincepaw strode in. “Ah, Quincey, what is it now? A pie fight in the mess?”, Ironpaw inquired. “No sah, h'it's that Jacki h'again. First 'e refused ta h'appear at Long Patrol training, so H'i set 'im ta polishin' in the h'armoury. But 'e jus' can't keep h'outa trouble, Sire, not h'even there. 'E started h'insultin' an' fightin' young Tess, so H'i sent both h'of 'em ta you, sah, jus' h'as soon h'as they're finished polishin'. H'i jus' don't know what ta do with those two, sah!” Lord Ironpaw answered strangely, “I do.” Before Quincepaw could ask what he meant, there came footsteps up the stairs, then a knock at the door. “Come h'in, an' no tricks now! You're h'in the presence h'of the Badger Lord o' Salamandastron!”, called out Quincepaw. The two culprits of the morning shuffled in, looking guilty and staring down at their footpaws. “Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?” asked Ironpaw, not unkindly. “We're sorry. It won't happen again.”, murmured Jacki and Tess uncomfortably. “I'll say it won't happen again!”, roared Ironpaw suddenly. “It won't happen again because you won't be here to make it happen! I'm afraid you've misbehaved one too many times. I'll have to send you away!” The three hares in the room were shocked. “H'i say, that's h'a bit 'arsh, h'isn't it, Sire?”, whispered Quincepaw. “Yes, I have chosen you two for a very important mission. You will go to Redwall Abbey and protect it from invading armies!”, finished Ironpaw. At this sentence the atmosphere in the little room changed from dejection to elatedness. The two leverets smiled from eartip to eartip, which is quite a lot to say about a hare. “Well, what are you waiting for?”, laughed Ironpaw. “Hurry up and get packing!” The two happy hares rushed off, with the voice of Ironpaw ringing in their ears. “Oh, and don't forget to bring horses, you've got a long journey ahead of you!”

~TBC Yes, I know. This chapter is very much like the beginning of Eulalia!. This was also my first chapter, and I didn't have many ideas. I do now, though ... Tess Hare of sun and rain 14:32, June 17, 2015 (UTC)