I frowned, staring down at the pitiful form sprawled out in front of me. A shrew, looking to be about 40 seasons old, was lying in front of me. A quiet stutter escaped the creature's mouth. I knelt down to assess the creature's injuries. A gaping wound, looking like it came from a spear thrust, showed against the shrew's grey fur. I leaned over to the creature and asked, "What happened?" "Vermin raiders," he gasped. "I can help you," I said, getting out my medical supplies, but his eyes had already clouded over. I closed them with my paw, covering his body with leaves.
I set off in search of the vermin. I sat in a nearby tree and waited. And waited. And waited. My patience was rewarded when a rat and a weasel, both carrying spears, walked beneath my tree. I swiftly dropped down. The vermin were surprised by the ambush, but they recovered quickly. "Ya move fast, squirrel, but ye'll have to move faster to dodge this!" The rat and his companion both lunged forward with their spears...Suddenly my short blade was out, slicing the spearpoints clean off.
The vermin looked surprised at this, but the weasel suddenly whipped out a long, wicked-looking dagger. Before I could do anything, he plunged the dagger into my left leg, shouting, "Oi, everybeast! There's a treemouse here who thinks 'es tough!" Suddenly, several ferrets, stoats, and rats popped out of the bushes, all wearing ragged tunics and smeared with mud. "Lets see what ye have in that there pack, squirrel," a nearby stoat spat at me. Thinking fast, I snatched a thick branch off the ground and swung out blindly, trying to ignore the searing pain in my left leg. It connected with the stoat's jaw, tearing his old tunic and sending him into a ferret. "Argh, ye're gonna pay for that, squirrel," a rat said as two other vermin tackled me to the ground, binding me to a nearby tree with some rope. I took a glance at the forest around me. Peaceful and green. I thought that it would be the last of the forest that I'd ever see.
It wouldn't be. "EUALIA!!!" Seven hares, all wielding long sabers, crashed into the vermin, stabbing and slashing. Three rats, three weasels, a ferret, and six stoats all fell to the hares. The rest of the vermin blundered off into the forest, shouting curses and dire threats. The nearest hare, looking to be of a high rank, severed the ropes binding me with a knife. "Hello, wot! Lord Bladestripe sent me to deliver this bally old letter to you! Apparently you were supposed to take it to Redwall! Looks like we got here at the right time, wot wot?" "Yes," I said. "You got here just on time." The hare looked pleased about this, as it would probably mean another medal in addition to his current bunch. I then saluted every single hare, and after seeing them off and after bandaging my wound, I set off, towards Redwall Abbey.