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Tompkin strolled the yards of the Silver Garrison, much enjoying the
day he was having. He had no
chores, no obligations whatsoever. He decided he would take a well
deserved nap, under an old oak.
He was awoken by a tall lanky hare. "Go away Sky, not in the mood today."
Tompkin closed his eyes
again. "Oh do get up, Tompkin old boy! I just wanted to remind you
of the Storytelling Contest
tonight. We're counting on you to tell a good one." Tompkin got up.
"Allow me to think of a good one,
Sky me old hare. I'll see you there." Tompkin sat back down and thought.
He had one in mind the
crowds would be pleased with. That night, a little dibbun waddled up
and told an entertaining story of
his adventures with a frog named Josiah, and fun was had by all. Then
it was Tompkin's turn. He
walked up to the campfire, and pulled up a chair facing the crowd.
"That's going to be a tough one to
follow, big guy." He made eye contact with the little one, and he smiled.
"Well let me start off with what
everything starts off with, a question. Who knows where Mossflower
came from?" A beast stood up
and shouted, "It's always been here, Tompkin. Stop pulling our leg,
you can't fool us." Tompkin leaned
back. "True, true, but wasn't it I who fooled you in the riddle contest
old boy? Here me out now, this is
a story we all should know by heart, but due to the absentmindedness
of those before us, we barely
recognize these events ever happened. You may think Mossflower has
always been here, because
someone taught you, and likewise someone taught them, excetra, excetra.
But let me ask you this, my
noisy friend, has that copper piece always been in your ear?" The beast
took a round copper piece
from out of his ear. "I don't believe it. How could you..." Tompkin
stood up. "You see there, you don't
believe it. But you see it, that makes it real. Mossflower is seen,
it is real. So you should believe the
story behind it. You see..." He was cut off when a teen-aged mouse
stood up. "Oh do get on with it,
Tompkin!" Tompkin rolled his eyes. "Very well, it all started like
this......
For Samuel, days were long, nights were longer. Strapped to an oar of
some God forsaken ship in the
wilderness of the ocean, it was all bleak. He hated life, wished for
death's dark embrace, yet even
death had forsaken the ship. A frail old mouse chained next to him
started hacking, and fell asleep to
the steady pound of the pace drums. "Great," Samuel thought. "Twice
as much work for me." He
cringed as a whip met his back, and the back of the old mouse. "No
slacking off, you two. Keep that
old one awake, squirrel, or I will hold you responsible." Samuel cursed
to himself, and then set back to
rowing, occasionally shaking the chains so the mouse would wake up.
"Woe is me." He said aloud.
Two whip cracks on his back silenced his tongue. Rowing was all he
could do, chained up that way,
and all he was allowed to do for that matter. The pace drums stopped.
"Good night, you filthy beasts,
I hope to see those arms ready to row in 4 hours." The break seemed
to last minutes, compared to the
hours and days they had spent rowing. Samuel fell asleep, and dreamed
of a better life, in a land great,
flowing with milk and honey. Fruits, birds, plants, and other things
that make a place great. He awoke
when he felt his leg getting wet. The mouse next to him had soiled
himself, and didn't seem to care
about it. Samuel shrugged it off and fell back to sleep. He awoke,
not at all rested, to a crash of a
gong, and the announcement of some vermin. "Look lively lads, the captain
is here!" Captain Ramses
Tuskar, a rapscallion entered the rowing area, taken aback by the stench
of it. "Can't you hose these
demons off or something?" The stoat in charge apologized and sent some
people for buckets of
sea water. He came to the row where Samuel was sitting. "What's that
smell? That mouse, that one
right there, has desecrated himself! Squirrel, why have you not cleaned
this up?" Samuel looked up.
"His mess, he can clean it." The captain slapped him. "Who said you
could talk, and furthermore what
makes you think I care? Wait a minute, is that mouse even alive?" Samuel
figured he had fallen asleep
again, so he began poking him with the chains. The mouse didn't move.
"Whipper, let me see your
whip." The captain grabbed the whip and smacked the mouse a couple
of times. He handed it back.
"Dead. Throw them both overboard." The head stoat walked up. "The squirrel
works hard enough, let
him stay and through the old one overboard." The captain spun around
and glared at the smaller stoat,
outraged at his back talk. "Oh you think I should spare him, do you?
Very well. Throw the two
overboard, and let this smart tongued stoat take both of their places.
Linum, I leave you in charge. I
want this place to smell good enough for me when I come on another
visit." Linum stepped up, and
addressed the Captain. "Begging your pardon sir, isn't that going to
hurt morale, you putting one of the
best on a lowly row?" The Rapscallion again turned around. "I suggest
you leave morale to me, and
keep your mouth shut, unless you want to find a place next to that
stoat." The captain left. Linum
walked over to the squirrel, and unlocked the chains that held him
in the seat, but kept locked those
that tied him to the mouse, and Samuel found it hard for him to walk.
"Up you two, no funny business.
Take care of everything, Jake." The whipper chained a very confused
stoat to the bench where Samuel
and the old mouse had sat, and the whole process started over, the
pace drums beating and the whip
cracking. Samuel was led to the deck, dragging the carcass of the mouse
behind him. "Jump off.
Now." Samuel squinted in the light, but stayed still. Linum grabbed
him by the arm and threw him over.
Samuel yelled, and the weight of the mouse pulled him down. Making
sure no one was looking, Linum
shoved off a small piece of scrap wood. "I hope that's enough," he
thought to himself. For you see,
even vermin form a conscious when serving the great tyrant, Ramses
Tuskar, for his deeds are beyond
horrible.
Samuel saw the board make a splash.
He swam over to it, and grabbed on. As it was, the board
only half supported his weight, for the weight of the dead mouse was
tugging on him like an anchor.
How could this get any worse? He was stuck in the middle of nowhere,
with no food, no freshwater,
no strength, and a dead mouse was hanging off him, already being nibbled
at by the fish of the sea.
That was, until later that night. Samuel had drifted off while clinging
to the small plank. He let go and
drifted down into the water. That brought him around, and he swam back
up to the plank. He couldn't
let that happen again. That's when he saw it. A small ridge in the
was moving closely to him. What
could it be? Samuel strained to see down in the water. It was a shark.
"I thought my luck couldn't get
any worse." Samuel thought as hard as he could to remember his childhood
lessons. Sharks are
attracted by.... what was it.... movement! All he had do was stay still,
and he would be fine. But wait,
perhaps this was a blessing. He began to move the body of the mouse
in between him and the shark,
ever so slowly. He then started violently splashing, and the body moved
up and down in the water. The
shark shifted course, and headed for him. This had to be perfect, or
else he would fail. Samuel said a
quick prayer, and closed his eyes. In that instant, razor sharp teeth
and a huge mouth engulfed the limp
mouse carcass, and when the mouth was closed again the teeth sliced
through the rusting chains.
Samuel said another prayer, this of thanks, and again remained still.
The shark thought he sensed
something else, but the snack was satisfactory. It now swam away. Samuel
found it much easier to
stay afloat now, even getting on the board to sit. He drifted through
the seas, night and day did not
matter. He had escaped the danger of the ship, the danger of having
the mouse chained to him and the
danger of the shark, but no one can survive in the middle of the ocean.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"A storm's coming!" He screamed aloud. What could he do? What was there
to do? He watched as
the dark clouds move in, and the waves began to increase in size. The
waves began crashing on his
head, and the storm intensified. He grasped on to the board, but in
the end he was separated from it.
Not for long though. The board flew through the air, propelled by momentum
from the wave. It hit him
in the head, and he went unconscious. This, however, was a blessing.
Had it not been for the board, he
would have stayed awake, worn himself out, passed out, and drowned
in the ocean. Being limp and
unconscious as he was allowed him to be carried by the waves to what
he had dreamed of... land.
He awoke some time later to find two hares poking him with sticks. "Think
this blighter's alive?"
"I don't know. Poke him again."
"I doubt that will do much good."
"He looks rather sick." At that point Samuel summoned his strength
and grabbed the sticks and got up.
"AHHHHHH!" Both hares ran away. They came back a couple of minutes
later, to see one very
confused squirrel.
"I won't harm you." Samuel said.
"It's not like I could." He sat back down on the sand, and the hares
approached him.
"Sorry, not used to seeing the dead walk. I am Humphrey, and this Hubert.
We are scouting hares
from The Mountain." Samuel got up and shook paws. "What mountain? Where
am I?" The hares
looked at each other and laughed. "What mountain, he says. What are
you a comedian?" Hubert
laughed. Humphrey slapped him in the face. "He might not know of it,
stop being so rude. You are on
the land, it has no name, so you would not recognize it. The Mountain
is over there," He said, pointing
towards a large mountain in the distance. "Come, we will show it to
you." The two hares supported
Samuel between them and headed to the mountain. When they got there
they knocked on two great
wooden doors, and a raspy voice came from the other side. "Who izzz
it?" Humphrey walked up.
"Humphrey and Hubert, from the scouting patrol, reporting Sah!" A slot
was opened in the door, and
two beady eyes peered out. "Who izz this you have with you?" Hubert
patted the squirrel on the
shoulder. "We found em on the beach. Permission to enter, and with
him?" The beady eyes left, and
there was a short conference with someone else behind the doors,
and the eyes returned. "Very well."
The huge doors swung inward, and the were let in. "Welcome to the mountain,
squirrrrrrel, hisss. I am
General Cornwallzz, and that is what you are to addrezz me by whenever
we speak. You may stay as
long as you'd like, hisss, but you will work when you are fit, zzz."
With that, the lizard turned and
walked away. "That was our commander. He's what's called a Salamander,
in case you haven't heard
of one before. Their kind and hares live here and are currently building
this place to protect the beach
head. Let us show you around." Humphrey began walking with Hubert following,
and Samuel in the
rear. "This mountain was found over 30 years ago, when a hare from
Southsward decided to look at
the uncharted territory up north." Humphrey was speaking, obviously
the more educated. "He found a
cave, and when he went back to Southsward he and several other hares
came back here to make this
their home. That cave was the main hall you were just in. Anyway, it
was found, and the natural
residents of the area, salamanders, said it was their mountain, but
that they would share it for
assistance. That alliance continues today, the hares work to make tunnels
through rock, something
salamanders are not capable of doing, and the salamanders grow food.
It all works very well. One of
these days we hope to complete this network of passageways and rooms,
in which we can live
together and protect the land."
Humphrey continued with the facts, and led Samuel to the dinning hall.
"Just in time for dinner." They
sat down to eat, about 100 salamanders and 50 hares. Samuel wolfed
down his food. "You must have
been starving, er... what was your name?" Samuel turned to Hubert.
"My name is Samuel."
A beast stood up. "Hold it Tompkin, stop the story. I've been to Salamandastron,
and there are no
salamanders living there. Is this some kind of gag?" Tompkin stopped
the story, and addressed the
beast. "My dear fellow, this was long before all lizards turned evil
and the such. At this time the only
evil was in the hearts of vermin. Now, as I was saying.....
"Well Samuel, you're welcome to stay here." Samuel thought for a moment.
"What do you call this
place? Surely it is not just, 'The Mountain'?" Humphrey addressed this.
"Actually, it is. We have not
decided the name of it yet. Nothing sounds appropriate. Have any suggestions?"
Samuel again thought.
"You say Salamanders were here first? Something honoring them, in other
words something including
their name. I've got it! Does any beast have parchment?" A lizard got
up and returned with a peace of
bark and coal. Samuel wrote down Salamander and then wrote down Stron,
which in his native
language meant mountain. He joined the two words several ways, until
he found the right combination.
"Here it is. 'Salamandastron'. You like it?" The parchment was passed
to the General. "Very, hiss,
clever. Zay it, that I might hear, hiss, it." Samuel said Salamandastron
out loud. "I like it. It demandzz
attention. That will be the, hiss, name." They all cheered and a great
party was had that night. Samuel
went to bed, content for the first time in his life. Over the next
years he learned to fight, move around
silently, and fend for himself in the wild. Times were fun, and Samuel
nearly forgot of his past
tribulations. He even discovered He could carve quite well. He made
several carvings in the rock, and
everyone admired his work. Yet, all good things come to an end, and
this fantasy was about to.
~*~*~*~
Years later, Samuel had grown into a strong fighter, and had developed
great friendships with
Humphrey and Hubert. One night a great storm was upon them, and with
all great storms, evil.
"Land ho, captain!" Ramses came on deck, despite the storm. "Head for
it you idiots! This could be
the first big break we've had, a land for us to rule!" The ship sailed
toward and eventually hit land. As
the months progressed they ventured inland, and found only small settlements
of peaceful squirrels,
otters, mice, shrews with the occasional exception. Richard was that
exception. "Get yer hands off
me," the large badger shouted, and the vermin ran away. "You morons!
He numbers one, we number
hundreds, attack!" Ramses let his vermin go by, and they were thrown
off by the powerful badger.
"Allow me." He took out a blow dart and blowgun and loaded it and blew
it at the badger. It contained
heavy sedating poison, and the badger fell to the ground. The rest
of the land folded under the hands of
the oppressing tyrant, and no beast escaped his terror. Soon the whole
land to the North, Northeast,
and east of Salamandastron was captured. Most were put into slavery,
save one squirrel. That was the
fastest thing on earth, Jessica. She headed to the south and away from
the tyrant, vowing vengeance and
seeking help.
~*~*~*~*~
A knock was heard at the great door of Salamandastron. "Who izzz it?"
Jessica stepped closer. "It is
but one squirrel, I come in peace." General Cornwall thought. Squirrels
were what Samuel was,
squirrels were good. He opened the door. "Come in, hiss. Welcome to
Salamandastron. What is your
bussinezz here?" Jessica told them of the horrors in the surrounding
lands, and Cornwall held a meeting
with his officers. "Thizzz tyrant is a danger to, hiss, our mountain!"
A lizard spoke up. "You are right,
hiss, lieutenant. Zir, I recommend we take 3/4 of our forces to fight
them. The one who came was a
zsquirrel, and zince zSamuel is a zquirrel, he will lead the ze forcez."
And so it was, that when
preparations were made, Samuel, Humphrey, Hubert, and Jessica, and
3/4 of the Salamander-Hare
force made their way to The Camp of Death, to face the Tyrant and to
free all the land. They
encountered many things on the way to the camp, but that is a story
for another time.
The beast stood up again. "Why not tell us the whole story? Why do
you keep things moving so fast?"
Tompkin stopped, annoyed to be interrupted when he was reaching the
climax of the story. "If I told
you the entire story, we'd be here for a week. As it is I'm getting
dirty looks from our nursery mothers
about dibbuns needing their sleep, so I'm going to try to wrap it up.
As I was saying......
"There it is." Tompkin whispered to Humphrey. "The camp of death." They
looked at the scene,
prisoners chained everywhere, even a large badger in a cage. "I say
we let them out to help us, that
badger first." They let Jessica enter the camp, and she unlocked all
chains speedily, and gave
instructions. The whole camp was technically free. Those who said they
could fight were given
weapons to hide in their shirts. The signal was given. "CHARGE!" The
camp came alive. Richard the
giant badger, caused the most trouble. Fighting went in favor of the
liberated prisoners, and Samuel
found himself face to face with Ramses. "So we meet again, my tormentor.
Remember me?" Ramses
glared as he drew his sword. "You're that little garbage I threw overboard.
I never forget a face, even
an ugly one. I should have killed you myself, a mistake I shall not
make again." They fought, both
scoring hits on each other. In the end, Ramses found himself beaten.
"You have learned to be strong
and fight." He smiled savagely. "Fight this!" he drew a dagger and
jammed it into Samuel's stomach,
and Samuel brought his sword down between the rapscallion's ears. The
battle was over, and the
prisoners along with the garrison of Salamandastron had won. Samuel
was patched up, as were the
others. He decided to stay in this land, and make it good. Along with
him, Humphrey and Hubert also
stayed. He eventually married Jessica and had many children. He turned
camp death into The camp of
life, and as long as he lived another vermin never stepped into his
land. But before any of this,
Humphrey asked a simple question. "What will you call this land?" Samuel
glanced at the ground, and
noticed flowers growing in the midst of moss. "I will call it
Mossflower, for beauty and good can come
out of evil."
Tompkin stretched and yawned. "And that is the story of how Mossflower
came to be. Now to all,
good night." After the beasts dismissed, Rei walked up to him. "Was
that story true?" Tompkin stood
up, stretched and yawned. "As far as I know. Come on, you old cheetah,
let's go home." They left the
yard and went into the main building of the Silver Garrison.
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