Okay, here's the prologue to my fan fiction The Brisk's Breeze!
Prologue[]
The misty bogs and foggy woods of Mossflower Country had an unusual moan to it; it hung over Mossflower, the gloomy fingers reaching out and taking in anything at sight. In the fog, a glow of a single fire was seen. It was a camp, hidden in a tumble of fallen trees; trees that tumbled, and fell onto another, giving it a ghostly look. At the base of a large beech was were the lonely fire sat, flaming wildly.
The cries of a squirrel rent the air as he was hauled from his hiding place near the camp. Biting and snarling at his captors --who didn't seem to flinch at his small attacks-- dragged him in the dirt by his tail. The squirrel started to weep, realizing no one was to his rescue. The two capped captors dropped him in front of the fire, and one held out a claw. "Wait." they both moved to the sides, both in the shadows. The young one looked around, seeing no one besides them. "Wait for-" he started, but was quickly cut off.
"Hush!" they both shouted, making silence once more. The squirrel turned to them to pout, and when he turned back, a tall skinny cat stood above him.
"Welcome dearie. How are you this evening?" she asked. Not like a hiss, more like a purr. Even since she showed up, the squirrel was silent. "Hmph. Well, I hope you're well enough to answer a few questions for me. Can you do that for me darling?" she said, and started her back to him. "What's your name?"
"Um..er..Talon ma'rm." Talon started to tremble.
"Aww.." the cat exclaimed, holding her paws together. "No need to be frightened. Vesper isn't going to harm a hair on you. That is, unless you don't answer my questions." she quickly added. "Where do you live Talon?"
"In the trees..." he mumbled.
"Which tree exactly?" Vesper said, pacing the ground. "Umm..I dunno. All of them."
Vesper quickly turned onto the capped figures, and she screamed. "This bumbling idiot is no use to me fools! I asked for a beast, but not a baby!"
They were at her foot paws, bowing down. "We're sorry Lady. We'll trying harder next time. Surely we will!" they begged. Vesper opened her mouth to say something else to them, but Talon interrupted. "I'm not a bumbling idiot!" Vesper did a low snarl and raised her paw to strike. Talon saw her large paw coming down and braced himself for impact; no impact, he opened his eyes to see sharp claws just inches from his face. They glimmered in the fire light.
"Pretty aren't they?" Vesper smiled, looking at her own precious claws. "I got them done for this special occasion. Hester! Cluna! Find some heavy shackles and chain him up!" doing as told, the shadows carried Talon away as he screamed at Vesper. She followed and grinned, "Time to play a little game!"
Book 1 : The Breeze[]
Chapter 1[]
Talon awoke tiredly to the sound of metal on metal; he grunted, making his ears go flat against his head. His vision was slightly blurred, so he waited for them to focus. Once his vision was clear, Talon saw the same shadowed figures, Hester and Cluna, both holding sharp cutlasses. He rolled his head back onto his shoulder, making it seem he was still out. Poking one ear up, he listened on the conversation.
"Hester, don't this part of the woods look spooky?" the female asked, Cluna. Underneath the long cloak was a fiery red tail, clearly a vixen. "Seems different from the rest of Mossflower."
Hester mumbled something under his breathe and then answered. "Nothin' but a bunch of fallen-over trees Cluna. No actual reason to be afraid." he glared up and added, "The only thing to be afraid of is Lady Vesper. She's been in a awful mood ever seen we arrived in Mossflower."
"I wander why. Isn't the Country of Mossflower where she wanted to go?" Cluna asked. She removed her hood, revealing her fiery red fur and yellow eyes. "Not really. It was that old Madame Clove that said Redwall was located here." Hester removed his whole cloak; he was a stoat with hazel brown fur, but with a scar going across from his eye to his snout. "Sometimes, I rather follow Vesper than Clove."
Cluna turned on him, yellow eyes blazing. "Don't say that! Lady Vesper and Madame Clove have been good to us." she stared at his long scar, years of healing still not taking the frightening look off his face. "Well, they've been go to me that is." Talon opened one eye fully, to catch a glimpse of the scar. Big mistake. Cluna was standing over him, hood back on over her head.
"Look who's awake Hester." she said, nodding her head over to the small squirrel. Hester marched over, holding his cutlass.
The stoat laughed and stomped on Talon's bushy tail; he yelped, and grabbed it in his paws. "Haha!! Little fellow can't take a hit, let alone a - oof!!" Hester fell to his knees as Cluna punched his gut.
"Lady Vesper said don't harm a hair on him!!" she growled, kicking Hester in the ribs. The pernicious vixen bent down on her knees, her yellow eyes beaming into Talon's blue eyes. "Forget about mean ol' Hester; he doesn't know how to treat young'uns such as you. But I do. I've have a little sister, she a healer." she said, rubbing Talon between the ears as he sobbed. "Lady Vesper's personal healer. I'll treat you the same way I treat her..." with the swiftest movement the young squirrel had ever seen, Cluna slashed his face, letting the blood run down. He yelped, and started to shake his head splattering blood everywhere. Cluna looked back down at him and finished, "Like the sickening load of trash she is!" the vixen laughed, and a heaving Hester joined her.
"Vesper will be real upset to hear about this on way back to camp..." all three of them swung around to seen a old wildcat, leaning on a cane, sitting below the beech tree. "She asked to have him is the best of shape."
"Oh, it's only you Clove. We thought you were-" Hester started.
"Lady Vesper?" Clove finished. "Well, I'm not. Thought Lady asked for you to bring yourselves back to camp. She wants to see the squirrel again." Clove began to limp away on her wooden cane, followed by Cluna, Hester, and a shouting Talon.
~.~ []
Vesper sat in her curtained palanquin, once again, sharpening her fierce claws. She ran a long blade along the tips, sending a loud and sharp ssshhhgg! through the forest. She'll close her fist into a ball and clinch it tight; when Vesper opened it back up, small droplets of blood started to appear in her palm. "Perfect.." Vesper purred, licking her own blood from her hand.
"Umm..Lady Vesper?" a shaky voice squeaked.
Vesper dropped the blade and let it fall onto the cushions without a sound; she let out a long sigh, making sure the beast knew she didn't want to be bothered at the moment. "Who dares speak to me at the time being?" she hissed, snatching up the blade.
Vesper heard a gulp, "Er..uh..your mother. S-She requests to speak with you. She asked that you-"
"Tell her I don't feel like being pestered at the moment."
"B-But, she's states she saw a vision of you-" the small hapless rat was shoved out of the way as Vesper hastened her way to her mothers palanquin. When she arrived at it, she finally noticed how beaten up and ruined it was. The curtains had rips in them, and inside she saw a heap of darkness laying on the cushions. Pushing the dusty curtains out the way, Vesper peered inside. "Mother?"
The dark figure jolted at the sound of her voice, and lifted itself into a sitting position. "Come and sit Vesper." it murmured, just loud enough for Vesper to hear. Settling herself down, Vesper quickly started a conversation. "Mother, why don't you ever order a new palanquin? This one is old and worn out; not fit for someone like you."
"This palanquin actually tells my life story. How I've traveled the earth; conquering and being defeated. These rips show how beasts tried to seek up on me at night, trying to take my life in my sleep, but I never sleep." the old wildcat queen pointed a finger down at the spot Vesper sat on. "That's the very spot I killed your father. Why; because hes aid we've ruled out our days. Saying it was time for you to run the army."
"But," Vesper started, "Isn't do what I'm doing now?"
"You don't remember, do you?" Vesper's blank look answered that question. "You were nine winters old when he asked for you to go into battle with a badger lord. It was a large mountain named Salamanwodasdon...er..or something like that. The badger lord requested a fight for who would gain the mountain; being in our season, your father and I weren't in the shape. So, he asked for you to battle him. I slew him on the spot, forgetting that he ever asked! I practically saved your life..." orange eyes stared at her, but ever so slowly you could see them dimming. "I forgot about the badger lord's offer and moved on north, where we-"
"Mother please!" Vesper suddenly interrupted. "Dusha said you had a vision! What was it?!" she said frantically.
"Ooh.. right. Well, last night I had a dream. I saw you; standing proud inside what seemed to be a red stoned castle."
"Madame Clove said that the Abbey of Redwall was stoned in red." Vesper said, thinking deep.
"Well, I saw you, my daughter. Conquering all that inhabited the abbey. But, that was dream...can you believe and make that dream come true?" she started the lay back down into a heap of darkness again.
Vesper stood up, her gray and black stripped tail waving behind her. "I know I can." she left with that. Lifting her head up, her mother watched her go, "You better..."
~.~ []
Cluna and Hester dragged Talon into the camp as he hollered at them. The army just glared at him through black hoods; their deep stares made him fall silent. Cluna had him by his tail and she snapped at him, "Stop kicking me squirrel! I'm gonna throw you in the river with a rock about your neck!"
"Yeah! She gonna throw you in the river with a rock around your neck!" a small vixen shouted, coming up beside them. Cluna dropped Talon's tail and grabbed the vixen by the neck. "How many times do I have to tell you Taryn! Stop saying everything I say!" she growled.
"I'm sorry Cluna!" Taryn cried, still in the grip of her older sister. "I-I just wanted to prove your point; you always have to best ideas. Ideas that not even Lady Vesper can match; you have ideas like non other! Your ideas always-"
"I don't know about her having ideas better than mine, Taryn." Vesper had walked out of her palanquin and was standing with them. She placed a large paw on Cluna's arm, and looked her in the eye. With a grunt, she dropped Taryn, who scrambled away on all fours. "Grab the squirrel and follow me please." said Vesper, who started a walk away.
Cluna grabbed Talon's tail again, and they followed Vesper through a thicket of trees and bushes. As they traveled deeper into the brush, the more Cluna slumped down; her red ears were flat against her skull, and her yellow eyes were wide with fright. Hester saw this and laughed, "Cluna! Don't tell me you're scared; like I said before, there's nothing to be afraid of!"
"I'm not afraid! Just..." she gulped and hesitated with her next words. "..scared of the dark.."
Hester dropped Talon's arms, who fell down with a ooff!. "Are you serious Cluna? It's midday, and you're scared?!" Cluna rolled her eyes, "The trees are blocking the sunlight. Which I don't like.." she trailed off again when Hester started laughing. Talon actually didn't bother to listen to them; nothing but two vermin beast laughing and acting stupid. Hester had once again grabbed Talon's arms, and continued to chuckle. "So, that's why you were balled up underneath Laret last night! I thought that you two had become ma-" the stoat never had a chance to finish because Cluna had tackled him.
"I dare you to finish that sentence! I dare ya!" Cluna was on Hester's back, her paws positioned on his head, ready to pull off a move that would surely break his neck.
Talon watched as the two wrestled on the ground, dirt and fur flying everywhere; he instantly saw this as his chance to escape. He ran to the base of a tree and got ready to climb; he had just reached the first branch when someone grabbed his tail. Talon looked down to see both Hester and Cluna standing underneath him. "Where did you think you were going?" Hester said, pulling him down.
"I thought I told you both you follow me!" Vesper had come out of the brush and grabbed the small squirrel herself. Talon screamed and scratched at the wildcat, who didn't even flinch. Hester and Cluna looked at each other, shrugged, and started to walk behind Vesper. They arrived at a small space in the woods, and a huge fire had been lit. Everyone, except Vesper, covered their eyes at the burning flames.
Vesper dropped Talon right in front of the burning blaze. Hester and Cluna walked to Vesper, who had whispered something to them both. When she had finished, they had both grinned walked to a bush. They came back holding a long wooden pole; and in Cluna's paw was some rope as well. Hester held the pole up side ways as Cluna tied him to it. Talon was hanging from the pole, and Cluna and Hester had a strong grip on the ends.
Vesper walked up to Talon and laughed. "Haha, looks like you're all tied up. Now, I'm gonna ask you one question. If you answer it, I'll let you go. But if you don't, I'll let to torture begin." Vesper turned her back on him, and asked. "Where is the Abbey of Redwall?"
"I-I dunno!" Talon said, starting to cry when Vesper mentioned torture. "Let me go!"
Vesper gave out a loud snarl, and asked Talon again. "Where is Redwall Abbey!?"
"I said I don't know!" the squirrel was sobbing, and Vesper was done with it. "Cluna! Hester! You know what to do." Vesper disappeared once again.
"It's time to play a game squirrel!" Hester laughed. Cluna stayed silent; her yellow eyes glowing with eagerness. They carried to pole over the burning blaze, and held it high enough to he was just over the fire. "One more time; where is Redwall?" Cluna asked him. Talon didn't answer; he kicked her in the chest. With a growl, Hester and Cluna lowered the pole into the fire, and Talon began to scream.
~.~ []
"Wait, do you hear that?" Broderick stopped in his tracks as silence captured the two mice. Brod stood still; listening with his ears up. "Sounds like-"
"Sounds like nothing to me." Alexine interrupted with her arms folded. She shook the dirt off of her small dress and pouted, "Let's head back to the Abbey now Brod. It's almost time for lunch, and I'm hungry!"
"Shhh!!!" Brod waved her into silence with a paw; another deathly muteness came over them. As they stood still without a sound, with hmphs from Alexine, until a they both heard the faint cry in the distance. Brod's face lit up with a grin as he shouted. "I told you I heard something!" he started to run off, but felt a sudden pain shoot up his tail. "Ow!!" he cried, reaching behind him and tugging the skinny tail from under Alexine's foot-paw.
"You aren't going anywhere Brod!" she snapped, "If we go any further from Redwall, Cornell and Kenina are gonna have our heads!"
"We're already in trouble for leaving, but I'm sure they won't have our heads. Might just send us into our rooms for a week or so-" Brod hushed when he heard the crushing of leaves as Alexine ran back in the direction of their home. He rolled his eyes, knowing she was going to snitch. "Maids..." he sighed. Brod nonchalantly continued to wonder deeper into Mossflower as the sun shined high above him. The small mouse leaped over a fallen tree, and stopped. Brod looked around, taking in his surroundings; he's been out with Skipper on his patrols, but this part of Mossflower seemed unfamiliar. With a small amount of fear, he ventured on. He came to a quick halt when he heard a laugh.
"Haha! I bet tomorrow you'll tell Vesper where Redwall is."
"Hush your mouth Hester; now go get a new rope. This one is all chard and blackened." Brod peered between the bushes and long grass to see a small squirrel balled up on the ground. A tall vixen and a kind of tiny stoat stood above him, tying him to a tree. Brod gasped when he saw how burned his legs and tail were, but before he could let out another gasp after the vixen kicked the squirrel in the gut, someone grabbed him by the scuff of his neck.
Brod at first thought it was more of the vermin, but cleared out the thought when he saw the fairly large badger hand him over to vixen. The badger started to growl at the scene that was happening before them, and quickly hustled the vixen on. Alexine was starting to sob as the vixen also picked her up. "Take them back to Redwall. Hurry now!"
They didn't need to see anything to know that Cornell had charged the two vermin. Yelps, barks, and screams filled the air as Kenina ran through the forest. She held Brod and Alexine tight and whispered to them, "Cover your ears, oh please do so." Cornell's roars were heard over everything, and Kenina knew she was experiencing bloodwrath. Alexine's earsplitting cries were awful, but Brod was in totally shock. It wasn't soon when they reached Redwall's gates.
Kenina dropped them for a brief moment to bang on the gate with such force. "Alfred, open up! It's Kenina!" the gates slowly opened up, and she didn't wait until they were fully open to run inside. The out-of-breathe vixen collapsed to her knees, and Alexine clung to her. Brod slowly got to his feet to only be picked up by his mother.
"Broderick, if you ever do such a thing again-" she stopped when she saw Cornell walk in holding a limp squirrel and her with a bleeding wound on her face. "Cornell, what happened?!" she asked, holding Brod close.
"It was a couple of vermin; from the looks of it, they've been torturing this poor fellow." Cornell handed Talon to Kenina, who trotted off to the infirmary.
Alexine was able to quit her fit of sobs for a moment to ask, "Is he gonna be okay?"
Cornell gave a grunt and a sigh when she felt the bleeding slash on her face. "Only time will tell..".
~.~ []
Alexine looked down at Talon as she sipped her tea quietly; once in a while, she'll mummer something and shake her head. On the other side of the infirmary, Kenina was silently stitching Cornell's wound on her cheek. No one said anything; only listening to Talon's slow breathing and Cornell's small grunts of pain. "Oh Cornell you act like a baby." Kenina giggled as she put away the needle.
Cornell stood up and reached up to touch Kenina's well-done work. "I do not act like a child. Just that your needle was a little rusty." she groaned. A small chuckle escaped Alexine and she got a look from Cornell. "Don't be laughing Alexine. You and Broderick are still going on the Abbot's Report. Now go to your room and don't come out until asked to." setting her tea to the side, Alexine walked out the room with small sniffles.
"Oh 'nellie," Kenina sighed, "Don't you believe Father Abbot is acting a little too rough about this?" the badge opened her mouth to speak, but Kenina continued on. "I mean, sure they exited the Abbey without proper guidance and premission, but their children."
The young badger paced the floor with her paws clinched behind her back. "Yes, they are children. But children turn into adult abbeybeast. Broderick and Alexine stand out from the rest of the young'uns here because they're always getting themselves into some sort of trouble."
"Because they're young-"
"No! Did you not see what happened today? Broderick was in shock over what his young eyes saw. If they never left the Abbey, they would have never witnessed that dreadfully horrible scene."
"And if they didn't leave the Abbey, we wouldn't have found this poor fellow." Kenina remarked, pointing her head over to Talon, who laid without a movement. "Brod and Alexine was practically heroes."
"But at the same time trouble makers." Cornell smiled. "I can maybe tell Father Frenald to be easy on them, but-"
"They'll still need a punishment." Kenina nodded, turning her attention to Talon after he made a small choking sound in his throat. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Of course."
Hester limped into camp, Cluna following closely behind. Hester's left arm hung at his side and his right leg had a nasty gash on it. Cluna wasn't really injured; only a claw mark on her arm. Everyone watched them as they walked to Vesper, who was waiting with a eyebrow up. "I..I really don't want to know what happened to you both. But I must know; so out with it."
"It was a badger m'Lady. She - ouch! - she came out of nowhere! She grabbed the prisoner and took off like that." Hester said as he seated himself underneath a nice shady tree.
"I'm guessing you took most of her wrath?" Vesper asked, looking at her claws with dark eyes.
"Y-yes Lady." Hester groaned. Vesper looked to Cluna, who was slumped on the ground, licking her wound. "What about you? You ran for cover or pleaded the badger for mercy?"
Cluna made a low growl and shrugged. "At least I was able to get to her..." she said, turning her back to Vesper. She threw off her cloak and strolled away. When she was at least ten feet away from from the cat and stoat, she was joined by a handsome fox. Cluna started to smile, and Hester started to laugh.
"Haha!! I knew it! Haha-yowch!" Vesper planted a hard fist on top of Hester's head. The stoat scampered away, rubbing at the large bump beginning to form. Vesper watched as Hester went into his tent, and Cluna still talking to that fox. She shook her head, "Sometime I wonder why I became a war-lady."
Chapter 2[]
Kenina sighed deeply as she dressed Talon's wounds; she had to fully wrap his tail, and his legs weren't in any better shape. Cornell said that the vermin who did this was a vixen and a stoat; is this what her species did? Kenina sometime wondered that if she wasn't raised here, will she have been a true vermin. She tried most of her time to ignore that question, but it kept coming back. While she was deep in her thoughts and putting away the bandages, she hadn't noticed Talon had opened his eyes.
The young squirrel scanned his blue eyes around once, and they landed instantly on Kenina. As soon as he saw the vixen, his first thought was escape. Talon rolled off the bed, landing on his burnt feet; he gave one small moan of pain, and started to scamper out of the room. When he moaned again, Kenina turned her head to see him exiting the room. "Hey! Get back here!" she called, running after him.
Talon saw her coming and quickened his pace; to be injured, he ran pretty fast, fast enough to make Kenina speed up. They both ran through the corridors, screaming at each other.
Dinner was going swell in the Cavern Hole; everybeast was laughing and talking cheerfully. Cornell was serving the smaller dibbuns, while the others --such as Alexine and Brod's age-- fed themselves. Abbot Frenald was slowly starting to fall asleep in his chair; leaving a bowl of springtime salad sitting on his lap. A dibbun came by and swiped it from him; although he was already asleep to realize it.
As dinner slowly came to an end and as the first person stood up to leave, Talon came running in. At first, he stood completely lost. Cornell rose slowly and said gently. "Well it's it the little fellow. What's your name dear?" Talon didn't answer because he heard Kenina coming up from behind. He quickly ran forward, hiding behind the Frenald's chair.
Kenina come in, breathing heavily. "Where's the little'un? Where did he go?" she shook her head when she saw him behind the large chair, and a fat mouse sleeping in it. "Hear now dearie, I'm not going to harm a hair on you. None of us are." Cornell slowly crept up behind the squirrel, who started to back up cautiously. All of a sudden, Talon sped pass Kenina, trying to run back to the infirmary again.
But the vixen was ready; as he went pass, she got a good grip on his tunic. It ripped slightly, but held up long enough for Kenina to hold him in her arms.
"Now, stop that squirming; stop it right now!" Without warning, Kenina got a swift punch on her snout, causing her to the drop Talon with a yelp of pain. The squirrel broke off into another run, but it was Cornell who got him that time. The badger held him firmly in her paws, and Talon didn't bother to try to escape.
"Well, someone is a little rough, eh?" Frenald said, waking up just in time to see the end of the scene. "What's your name yong'un?"
"Talon..." he mumbled. Kenina was holding her nose with both paws, and as she talked, her voice sounded funny. "Well, Talon, I believe you own me an apology."
Talon looked surprised. "I don't have to if I do want to." he said, with arms crossed.
Cornell shook him a little, and snapped. "Now, we won't have any of that. You punched Kenina in the nose, and for what? Nothing! She was trying to help you."
"She wouldn't try to help me; she's a fox." Everyone went completely silent after. Cornell almost snarled at Talon, but Kenina stood still. She turned on heel and walked away; whipping the droplets of blood from her snout with her white sleeves. The patter of her tiny slippers echoed through the silence Abbey.
As soon as Kenina was out of Cavern Hole, Cornell let Talon have it. "Look at what you've done now, young'un. That was incredibly rude, what you just said!"
"Cornell, please." Frenald said, arms out. "He was maybe just scared. Remember what you said, it was a stoat and a vixen that was torturing him. He, urm, well Talon probably thought Kenina was that vixen."
Talon still had his arms crossed and he murmured under her breathe. "I won't be surprised if it was..." Cornell gave him another deadly look before hauling him away; growling about being disrespectful and something about a bath.
Frenald rubbed his temples and sent everyone to their rooms. Instead of heading in the direction of his own room, he headed in the direction of Kenina's.
~.~ []
Vesper Note: Okay, quick note. In this part, you'll see a song ALOT of you might recognize. It's from another book series, owned by Suzanne Collins. Not owned by me.
Frenald slowly and tiredly walked down the corridor; everyone was changing into their night clothes and closing their doors for the night. As he neared closer to Kenina's door, he heard her voice; but, another as well.
"You should be heading to bed, you know." a voice sighed; that smooth and calm voice could only be Kenina.
"I wanted to see if you were okay..." the other voice said. Frenald closed his eyes and snapped his fingers repeatedly, trying to think of the name. "What that squirrel said was rather mean."
"He didn't know better Urchin," Frenald's eyes popped open when he realized the voice was the young otter. Urchin and Kenina were close; but not as close as she was to Cornell. "He was probably raised by himself in Mossflower." Kenina continued.
Urchin made a small whimper in his throat and asked, "How could he have been raised by himself? Doesn't everyone have parents?"
Kenina gave another sigh and stayed in silence for a moment. "Well," she started, and went into another silence. "Not everyone knows their parents when they grow up. And for beasts who live in Mossflower Woods, some young'uns could lose their family at a young age." Urchin barked, "He lost his parents?!"
Frenald pressed his ears near the door, trying to hear in as the conversation went into a whisper. "Now go to bed." Kenina suddenly said louder. The abbot moved away from the door; waiting for the otter to come through it. "But I can't sleep..." Urchin moaned, instead. "Can you sing me a lullaby?"
Kenina gave another one of her famous sighs. "I'm tired. You can go to sleep on your own." Frenald heard the old bed creak and moan as Kenina climbed in; but Urchin still didn't come out.
"Please Kenina..." Urchin begged. He heard more creaking as the otter clambered in with the vixen. "Oh alright, alright."
The abbot had never heard Kenina sing in her seasons of being at the Abbey, and what he heard was beautiful.
- "Deep in the meadow, under the willow,
- A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
- Lay down your head, and close your eyes
- And when they open, the sun will rise."
- "Here it's safe, and here it's warm.
- Here the daisies guard you from every harm.
- Here your dreams are sweet,
- and tomorrow brings them true
- Here is the place where I love you..."
Frenald heard the complete silence that came after she trailed off. He began to wonder if Kenina fell sleep herself, because he already heard Urchin's soft snores. Creeping the door open, he peered inside. Kenina was sitting upright, head lolled down, her ears flat. She showed no sign that she was awake; he confirmed she was asleep when she murmured something that he couldn't hear. Urchin was snuggled in her lap, curled up in a fur ball. Closing the door behind him, the old mouse yawned the stumbled away to his room. Everyone in the Abbey got a good and welcomed sleep that night.
Cornell Note: Who recognized the song, eh?
Kenina Note: It was my idea! =D