Blisa gets a small army (this ICly happened the evening of Thursday, 6-23-2016)

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Wed, 06/29/2016 - 11:15

So, this fanfic literally happened immediately after this log: By the Abbey pond 6-23-2016 /or/ News about Zurrgg :o

I chose to write it in first person, present tense because I haven't really written like that before, and I thought it'd be a good challenge. I also thought it would be a good way to show what Blisa was thinking and feeling; I hope that I did well.

I wrote it over the course of about 3 hours on Monday, June 27th, 2016. I got permission from the needed players to do this plot twist.

I hope you enjoy it! I had fun writing it, and it's a plot twist I've been planning for a couple of years now.

Here it is:

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Zurrgg is dead, and his second-in-command is now ruling Ferravale. My father's village is now in the filthy paws of that stupid marten...except it's my village now, because Daddy is dead.

Before me is a little rabbit Dibbun. Did Oz say his name is Pip? Pumpkin? I have no idea, I can't remember, because the other thing that Oz said is drowning everything else out: Zurrgg orphaned this little rabbit, too.

Zurrgg killed Cotasong's tribe.

Suddenly I am running, as fast as I can. The trees of Redwall's orchards are flying past me in a great green and brown blur, the tears in my eyes almost blinding me.

Redwall doesn't have an army.

I don't have an army.

Camp Willow probably wouldn't help us, even if they could, because we're a vermin village.

It would be dangerous for us to have the Long Patrol help us because we are a vermin village, and the hares of the Long Patrol despise vermin.

How am I supposed to get control of my village back from Kolur?? I only have my bodyguards, my snake, and my Seer. Even my Head Guard is missing. What am I supposed to do?!

I raise my head and realize that I'm sitting alone on the walltop, huddled in the North-West corner. I have been sobbing brokenly as these thoughts whirled in circles in my mind. I look down at my arms, which are encircling my legs, which are drawn up to my chest. My sleeves are wet from my tears. Ick. I might as well use them to wipe my face. I start to do that, but suddenly a huge shadow falls over me and a proud, regal, haughty voice asks, "Why are you crying, little cat?"

I quickly look up and see, towering above me, a female golden eagle. Now, I know that I'm short (even though I get mad when beasts point it out), but this eagle is big enough to carry Bandit, chubby Head Guard of Ferravale, away with ease, so she kind of is allowed to call everybeast "little". With her immense, strong wings and massive, muscular legs, she towers above me. As the setting sun makes her feathers gleam like bronze, she turns her head, giving me a good look at her curved, yellow beak and fixing me with her amber-eyed gaze.

"I caught a fat little marten who claimed to be the....innkeeper Prince of the wee village you live in. I was going to bring him to you, but he escaped." With 1 of her impressively large and taloned feet she holds up an empty coat. "Did he make you cry? He was quite irritating; I would have no conniptions to hunting him down for you."

I quickly stand up to my feet, wiping the last of my tears and my sleeves. Smoothing my cheek fur back into place, I shake my head. "N...no, Riana, he didn't. My....my father has been m.....murdered, and I am powerless to regain his....my village from his killer."

Riana settles down on the walkway before me and lowers her head so her amber eye is on the same level as my green eyes.....or, should I say, my white-with-black-patches face, since just one of her eyes is bigger than my head. "Ah, little cat, that is a good reason to be unhappy. But tell me; do you not have enough allies to help you fight? I was under the impression that this Abbey place had a peace treaty with your father, and, hence, with you."

I shake my head. "Redwall is a place of peace, not of Warriors. Besides, I.....well, a few beasts have offered, but I cannot ask them to go on a suicide mission on my behalf."

Riana seems to be thinking, and after a few minutes she nods, her sizable hooked beak a few terrifying inches away from my nose. "I can understand your dilemma, Blisa Wyrmtamer. And I am afraid that I am incapable of aiding you in your acquisition of an army. However, as your ally, I will help you in the battle to regain your father's village -- and to place you as its ruler -- in any way I can." Standing, she spreads her expansive wings and adds, "Now, please excuse me, but I must retire back to my eyrie. It is getting late, and I am not a bird of the night, unlike the owl. Good evening."

I lean against the wall as the eagle takes to the air, the wind from her downstrokes pressing me against the red sandstone, and the suction of her upstrokes threatening to pull me off the walkway. When the air calms down, I scramble up onto the battlements and watch her fly away. Sitting, I straddle the wall. As Riana gets farther from me, I start to make a mental list of everybeast who has volunteered to help fight.

Let's see: My bodyguards; Basil, my pet snake; DoraRose; Riana...

A rook is suddenly flying in front of me. I give a little scream and fall off the battlement onto the wall walkway. Using my momentum, I turn it into a roll and travel along the West walltop far enough to get back to my feet. Springing up, I crouch and go to draw my dirk and dagger -- but they aren't at my sides. They're in the Abbey storage, along with all the other weapons. Crap. I extend my claws and move into the optimum position to pounce upon the bird, my tail swishing back and forth behind me, betraying my agitation, my ears plastered flat against my head to protect them as best as I can, in preparation for a fight.

My fear of being attacked has been drowned out by a surge of adrenaline and anger. "What do you want, bird?!" I hiss out. Why is every freaking beast in Mossflower trying to cause me problems?!

The rook hops onto the walkway and....wait, what?

Disbelief starts to crowd out my anger as she lays down on the walkway on her back. She....she is so vulnerable right now. I could shred her throat before she could retaliate.

I stand up straight and sheath my claws. What on Earth is going on? Glancing around, I spot Ferdinand, my most faithful bodyguard and friend, on the North wall walkway, ready to run to my aid should the bird prove....unfriendly.

I cautiously approach the rook, ready for trouble at a moment's notice. She looks up at me with her beady little black eyes. "Are you Blisa of Ferravale, daughter of Scioto the Chieftain?"

My surprise at being known by name, as well as by my father's name, is so great that I can't help but show it for a few moments. "....depends on who's asking," I growl, covering up my surprise with suspicion...which isn't really that hard, considering the circumstances.

The rook flips over onto her feet in a very awkward manner and stands. "Do you remember the raven Lenore Nightwing? Spy for Vladmir Stormfeather who then betrayed and killed him? The bird who sometimes smuggled food to you while you were Stormfeather's captive?"

I can feel myself stiffen and my muscles tense as I am suddenly inundated by memories. Stormfeather. The lunatic fox who kidnapped Oz, Leon, and myself, as well as a few others. The evil tyrant who killed my mother, Dazzle, and my baby brother, Maxx. How could I possibly forget him? But Lenore....

....my headache, which plagues me constantly, worsens as I struggle to remember, making it all the more difficult to think. Narrowing my eyes, I shield them with a paw. Lenore...vague memories surface in my mind. I can hear Ferdy getting closer, but I ignore him as my memories become clearer, and I suddenly remember. I remember.... "Yes, I remember her. She's dead, killed by Stormfeather after she turned on him and attacked him. What about her? The dead cannot bother me now."

The rook smiles. "She spoke often of you. You see, Blisa, she was the leader of a group of us blackbirds. Rooks, crows, magpies, ravens, we joined her, seeking to rid the world of Stormfeather and his followers, and hoping to prove wrong the idea that all blackbirds are evil. She led us, and shaped and formed us into what we are now. After her death, the few of us who were left agreed that we should call ourselves the Nightwings in her honour."

I feel my brow furrowing as my confusion resurfaces. "But what does this have to do with me?"

The rook touches the necklaces that she's wearing. 2 leather cords are hanging from her neck. 1 is adorned with a wooden skull pendant that has been given a light coat of black paint. The other necklace also has a skull pendant on it, but it seems to have been carved out of bone and then painted black, but some of the paint has worn off.

"She anticipated Stormfeather killing her," the rook explains, "and she had taken a fancy to you. She instructed that, should she die, I, as her second-in-command would take over control of the Nightwings until such time as you, her chosen successor, were ready to take over leadership."

The rook removes the cord with the bone skull from around her neck and places it around mine. I am frozen; I can't stop her, I can't move. There are suddenly so many things happening all at once in my life right now, I almost can't process this.

The rook steps back and bows. "Now that you are the rightful ruler of Ferravale, I will assume that you are as ready as you will ever be. Will you accept this role and become our leader?"

It takes a few moments for the question to sink in, and when it does I look desperately at Ferdinand, but he looks just as shocked as I feel. No help from him this time.

What should I do? I'm not ready for any of this! I can't lead a bunch of blackbirds, much less a whole village! I....I can't So help me, I can't. But....I have no choice. I can't let Kolur continue to terrorize the area, and......and I think Daddy would want me to take back our village. He always believed in me and wanted what's best for me and for Ferravale. And I want what's best for the village....my village. My townsbeasts. My home.

I nod, a sudden, jerky movement. "Yes. I accept it."

The rook looks up at me and smiles again. "Then I, Virginia, pledge my allegiance to you, Blisa Wyrmtamer of Ferravale." Turning to look out at the woodlands, she caws twice. An answering "caw" resounds out from the trees closest to the North wall.

The sound of wings flapping can be heard, and rooks, ravens, crows, and magpies rise from the foliage like a black cloud. As they drift into an aerial formation above our heads I do a rough estimate.....then do it again to be sure.

I have 40 or 50 birds at my disposal. I stare at them in open-mouthed awe.

It would seem that I suddenly have a small army.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

To find out what happened a few days later, read here: Silver locket, black skull /or/ Cynthia! Hey, she's back! :D (A Redwall log starring Blisa of Ferravale) 6-25-2016

Thanks for reading!!!

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