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"submission_left_file_name": "3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "282", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "188", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "113", "submission_right_submission_id": "3311587", "submission_right_file_name": "5013254_Rikika_shadows_over_redwall_chapter_2.doc" }, { "pool_id": "56026", "name": "Stories", "description": "All my written works", "count": "27", "submission_left_submission_id": "2556256", "submission_left_file_name": "3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/3766/3766777_Rikika_redwall_-_matthias_x_shadow.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "282", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "188", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "113", "submission_right_submission_id": "3282358", "submission_right_file_name": "4959961_Rikika_lion_king_kinship_chapter_5_-_final.doc" } ], "description": "Here is a little continuation of the redwall story written by myself. There is no smut in this one, just plot building. ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Here is a little continuation of the redwall story written by myself. There is no smut in this one, just plot building. ", "writing": "Shadow felt a bit apprehensive as he woke up besides the church-mouse, he had seen countless like him being taken by the rat horde, but the thought of Mathias sharing their fate left him cold. \nWith a small chuckle the rat shook his head, he had gone and gotten slightly attached to someone who was likely doomed, how typical of him to set himself up for heartbreak.\n\nGently rustling the mouse got him awake, Mathias blushed when he realized how dirty the last night's activities had made him. \n\"Sit.\" Shadow instructed the mouse motioning towards a stool, he had a wet sponge ready. Mathias wordlessly did as the rat instructed him and shivered as Shadow cleaned him.\n\"Alright, I am done...you go out now, I will wash myself.\" The church-mouse nodded embarrassed and clothed himself and left. \n\nAs he cleaned himself Shadow went over what he had learned about the abbey and how he could sabotage them, their open food storage was definitely a weak-spot, it would not take a lot of effort to douse most of it in poison and make it useless. \nShadow planned the route he would take once it became nightfall in his mind, towards the kitchen and the storage within and then out in the courtyard towards where he had hid the tapestry, the mice were on edge by it's disappearance and he likely would need a distraction to draw their eyes away from the courtyard, perhaps he could set something off before he went towards the kitchen?\nIt was almost a shame...with the defenses they had, the mice actually had a chance to resist Cluny, but after he was done with them their defeat would be inevitable. \n\n -\n\n\"Mathias have you seen our resident rat?\" the boy jumped surprised as abbot Mortimer's voice asked him from behind. \n\nThe older mouse had an amused expression when Mathias turned toward him \"He slept in my room, he should be there still freshening up, I couldn't find room anywhere else for him to be for the night and...I wanted to keep an eye on him.\" \n\nMortimer nodded. \"That is good my lad, but be careful not to get into more than you can handle.\" Mathias recalled the prior night and blushed \"O-of course...I promise.\" If the abbot caught wind of what had happened he might just kill him, figuratively, but still...\n\n\"Good, as long as you are careful.\" Mortimer left. Mathias breathed a sigh of relief, he had feared the elder mouse might somehow intrinsically have know about the amorous activities he had been up to. \n\n-\n\nMathias met up with Shadow again and they patrolled together, the mouse swore he would find the one who had taken the tapestry of Martin, it took quite a bit of self-control from the rat to not flinch.\n\n\"Maybe we should be on the lookout for any weaknesses the horde might be able to exploit?\" Shadow suggested and Mathias agreed, surely there were some places of the abbey's defenses that were not as solid as they should be, nobody had expected or prepared for the abbey to be put under siege like this. \n\nShadow knew what to look for and pointed out most of what he saw as they patrolled around, leaving out a place he might be able to create a distraction to himself, namely the faraway storage, it was filled with empty barrels and crates and the room was dry as a desert, perfect place to start a small fire to cause a distraction.\n\n-\n\nAfter their patrol ended the sun had begun to go down, Shadow turned to Mathias and faked being tired \"If you don't mind I think I will just go in and get a meal then head to bed.\" \n\nMathias nodded. \"Sure thing, I will report what we found the abbot.\" the rat almost felt bad how easy it was to manipulate the gullible mouse into doing what he wanted him to do, but it gave him the perfect opportunity to carry out his plan. \n\nHe took a meal and thanked the cook and told him he would take it to his room to eat, then headed for the storage room, snacking on the food on the way. \n\n\"Hmm...better not make it too catastrophic...otherwise they won't think it was an accident.\" Shadow began moving some of the crates and barrels up in a corner where an old lamp hang, then ignited the lamp and broke the hook it had been hanging on to ensure it would look like an accident, that someone had forgotten to blow out the lamp and it had fallen to the ground, before smashing the lamp on the stack of crates and barrels he had moved underneath the hook. \n\nSatisfied that the flames begun to take hold Shadow quietly left the storage room and left his plate in the nearest empty room before sneaking away by a path that few rarely took considering how undisturbed the dust on the floor was towards the kitchen, the kitchen staff had already left to go help put out the fire, leaving him complete access to their food-storage, the lock on the door was picked in seconds and Shadow stepped in and took a bottle of poison out of his cloak, but as he reached for the cork to begin dousing the food he hesitated, sighed and then put the bottle away again.\n\n\"You are just not cut out for this Shadow old buddy...too soft...you were always too soft...\" The rat shook his head as he closed the granary door and headed for the hiding place of the stashed tapestry. He could not do that to them, out of all the mice he had ever met, they had been the only ones to treat him kindly, also with healthy suspicion, but with kindness nonetheless. \nCluny did not know about his plan to poison them, so if he kept quiet and handed him the tapestry he should be more than satisfied with his work. \n\nShadow moved once more through the shadows making sure he wasn't seen, he reached the alcove in an empty room where he had hid the tapestry, pulled out the loose rock in the wall and picked it up, now he just had to get up on the walls and then scale down, it should have been simple, but just as he got up and readied to leave someone unexpectedly entered the room.\n\nThe rat and Mathias looked shocked at each other, one for the sudden intrusion and the other at finding his new friend clutching the missing part of the tapestry. \nShadow knew he couldn't bluff or explain his way out of the situation, no matter how much he wished he could, and instead chose the most surprising route to get out.\nMathias broke out of his shock as Shadow dove through a window, fell into a tumble and then began sprinting towards the nearest wall stairwell. The young mouse began pursuing the rat, his mind racing to try and make sense of what was happening, he called out to Shadow and caught the attention of Constance and some others.\n\nShadow just barely managed to dodge Mathias grabbing his cloak as he hurried up the stairs, this would be down to the wire, scaling down under such stressful conditions would be extremely hard, but there wasn't really any other options available if he wished to escape...some part of the rat didn't want to escape, but if he didn't the horde would put a death-mark on him for failing.\n\n\"Stop Shadow!\" Mathias lunged and finally managed to catch the rat's cape, he could have aimed for the tapestry, but given how Shadow stood on the edge of the wall he needed to hold onto something that would let pull him back or risk him falling.\n\n\"Gurk?!\" Shadow suddenly found himself pulled off his feet, his momentary hesitance had let Mathias catch up to him and pull him back by his cape. The rat's mind raced as he laid on his back, the mouse didn't look like he wanted to hurt him, so be could attempt to escape him, but barely had the thought entered Shadow's mind did Constance reach the scene, her strong paw gripped him and held him down and she looked ready to beat him into submission. Shadow immediately knew resistance was now pointless.\n\n\"Alright, alright, take it!\" he held out the tapestry as a sort of peace-offer and shielded his face with his other arm, hoping they wouldn't beat him too badly.\n\n\"Hands where I can see them!\" The badger demanded as she took the tapestry from him and handed it to a mouse who had just scaled the stairs \"What weapons are on you?\" She demanded to know.\n\n\"Dagger in my belt, vial of poison in my inner pocket.\" Shadow fearfully revealed.\n\nWith Mathias help she disarmed Shadow and brought him to a storage room with no windows that would serve as his temporary holding cell, many of the mice looked at him wearily as they escorted him, likely fearful of more spies among them. \nAfter they locked the door behind him Shadow got close to it and listened, cursing as he heard they were placing guards outside. He still had his lock picks hidden on his person so he could have picked the door and slipped away...at least he could have if the horde that would kill him or worse for his failure wasn't besieging the abbey. \n\"Fine mess you got yourself into Shadow...seemingly no way out of this one...well...I had a good run...nobody lives for long in the horde...willingly or unwillingly...\" Shadow said to himself as he did his best to make himself comfortable in the sparse room.\n\n---\n\n\"Quite a situation we have found ourselves in...\" Abbot Mortimer muttered \"At least the tapestry was recovered safely, but I think that isn't the last time that the rats will be trying to claim it.\" \n\n\"I knew that rat was slimy!\" Constance seethed.\n\nMathias didn't say anything at first \"But why...why would he help out if he was part of Cluny's men?\" It just didn't seem to add up.\n\nThe abbot put a calming hand on the young mouse's shoulder \"We may not know the answer right now, but since we managed to capture him we can find out, but first I say we rest and clear our heads.\" No one protested that suggestion. \n\n---\n\nMorning came all too soon for the residents of the abbey, the events of the prior night had spooked a lot of them, cautious looks were shared and whispers were abundant.\n\n\"Let me have a go at him\" Constance urged the abbot \"I will have answers by the end of the day.\" \n\nMortimer held up his hand \"I know you will, it is the methods that you will employ that worry me.\" \n\nThe badger gritted her teeth \"We need to know...\" she justified.\n\nThe mouse nodded \"we do, but before we employ such harsh measures I would like to try a softer approach.\" Constance looked at the mouse like he was mad \"You want to try and talk with that thing?\" \n\n\"[i]Constance[/i]\" The badger froze at the tone the abbot employed \"Need I remind you of the situation [i]you[/i] were in when you first came here?\" \n\nThe badger got flustered and angry \"You promised never to talk about that.\" \n\n\"And I haven't, I just wanted to remind [i]you[/i] of it.\" The mouse did not back down.\n\n\"Tsk...fine...waste your time, I will go do something [i]actually[/i] useful.\" She stormed off angrily and the abbot sighed as he shook his head, Constance had an immensely strong sense of justice due to her background, but when emotional that sense sometimes got overly zealous and extreme.\n\nThe abbot took a moment to clear his head as he headed toward the room where their prisoner resided, he nodded to the guardsmen and they let him into the room, ready to spring to his assistance if the rat tried anything. \n\nShadow slowly turned his head toward the mouse and invited the abbot to take a seat on the opposite chair of where he was currently sitting with a hand gesture. The rat had made the storage room his own as best he could, putting some of the furniture stored there to use. \n\nMortimer sat down as if they were about to have a normal conversation \"Shadow...I need to know a few things.\"\n\n\"Then by all means...ask.\" The rat invited the abbot to inquire. \n\n\"Is there any other spies inside the abbey?\" The mouse asked. The rat shook his head \"Not to my knowledge.\" \n\n\"You must excuse I find your word rather hard to trust...you just freely telling me this feels a little suspicious...\" Shadow shrugged \"I got no reason to hide anything anymore.\" The abbot considered it for a moment before continuing.\n\n\"You had poison on you...did you poison anything?\" Mortimer asked.\n\n\"I planned to...but I didn't.\" That surprised the mouse. \"Could you elaborate?\" the monk asked.\n\n\"The granary...when you were all distracted by the fire I snuck inside...\" The throat of the abbot seized up in fear, that would have effected everyone...this rat had their fates in his paws and yet...he claimed he didn't go through with it...\n\"Why? Without food we could not hold out against Cluny's siege...why didn't you?\" Mortimer asked.\n\nShadow chuckled \"You mice...are too darn kind for your own good...\" It took a moment as the abbot took this in and the rat continued \"Out of all the mice I have ever met...the ones in this abbey? They treated me the most friendly.\"\n\nMortimer blinked confused \"How are you usually treated?\" \n\n\"Mobs forming and chasing me, even before I was...forcibly conscripted into the rat horde.\" Shadow put it bluntly and shocked the abbot. \"So...I didn't want to ruin the chances of the only nice group of mice I had ever met and out of everyone the horde ever faced, you actually got a chance to win.\" \n\n\"Thank you for telling me this.\" The abbot got up \"Since we can't spare the food for a person who isn't gonna aid in the defense...I think we will just be letting you go since you showed us mercy.\" Rather than looking relieved or grateful Shadow looked terrified.\n\n\"If you want to show me mercy...kill me quickly.\" Mortimer was baffled by the rat's request \"The best I can hope for is a quick death if Cluny is in a very good mood...otherwise it will be a fate worse than death...strung up and tortured for days on end...I witnessed it first hand many times...and I granted many of those unfortunate souls a swift merciful death if I could, many thanked me with their last breaths.\" The abbot was mortified by the dread in the rat's eyes.\n\nConstance came in \"As if that would be our fault...you will get what is coming to you as far as I am concerned.\"\n\nThe rat turned to her \"So if I push someone into a pit of agitated vipers, I am completely guilt-free of what happens to them?\" his analogy made the badger scowl.\n\n\"At least have the bravery to do it yourselves! Come on! Wring my neck! Look me right in the eyes as you end me! Don't be a pathetic coward and abstain from responsibility by pushing me into a pit of snakes and pretending you have no responsibility in my demise!\" Shadow challenged the badger who flinched.\n\n\"Father?\" She turned uncertain towards Mortimer who took in the situation.\n\n\"Please...\" Shadow almost whispered \"Do anything but throw me out there...give me a knife...I will do it myself if you don't want any guilt on your conscience.\" the rat pleaded.\n\nThe mouse sighed, the situation had just gotten immensely more complicated. If Shadow was telling the truth, and given the dread in his eyes he believed he was, then they could not in good conscience throw him out to Cluny and they were not executioners, they couldn't just kill him while he was their prisoner.\n\n\"Okay...we need time to think on what to do with you, but we won't be throwing you out to them.\" Mortimer said and saw the wave of relief wash over Shadow \n\n\"Thank you.\" the rat's words were so filled with emotion that not even Constance believed he was faking gratitude.\n\n---\n\n Barely had the pair left the prisoner did a bell begin to ring out, indicating they were under attack. \n\n\"Quick everyone, to the walls!\" They heard brother Alf direct the defenders only to suddenly get stuck by a stray arrow to the chest and fell to the ground as soon as they managed to get into the courtyard.\n\nMortimer quickly took charge before anyone panicked \"You two.\" He pointed out a pair who had frozen in place \"Quick, get a stretcher and get him to the infirmary. The rest of you get up those stairs and repel them!\" \n\nThe mice did manage to beat back the sudden attack, but it had shook them a bit. Seeing brother Alf falling to the ground after being hit had punctuated how serious their situation really was. \n\nMathias and Mortimer alongside Constance went to the infirmary to check on brother Alf. They found him with the arrow still lodged inside him and many healers around his bed discussing indecisively what to do.\n\n\"What is the hold up?\" Constance asked irked.\n\n\"The arrow...it's...\" Mayflower, one of the healers, drew out.\n\n\"It's too close to his heart, we don't dare try to remove it out of fear of the potential damage we might cause.\" Another healer, Henric, explained. \"We simply don't have the skill to handle an injury like this.\"\n\nThis dismayed everyone \"We can't just do nothing, otherwise...Alf will die.\" Mathias argued. \n\nAlf stirred awake, but before he could try and sit up Constance held him down \"Lay still Alf, you are in a very precarious situation.\"\n\n\"Oh goodness...\" The mouse said mildly shocked as he looked down and saw the arrow sticking out of him. \n\n\"Brother Alf, I am afraid your situation is troubling.\" Mortimer explained to the wounded mouse the situation. \n\nA silence fell over the room, only Alf's troubled breathing could be heard.\n\n\"If only we had a surgeon.\" Mortimer lamented. His long-time friend was not likely to survive this. \n\nHearing that sparked a memory in Mathias head, he remembered how skillfully Shadow had treated the arrow that had gone through the leg of someone and how he mentioned his father had been a doctor \"Wait...we do!\" the boy surprised everyone his sudden outburst.\n\n\"W-We do?\" Constance asked surprised.\n\n\"Yeah...\" Mathias suddenly realized he was gonna put forward Shadow and how that might sound, but this was life and death, so he steeled himself. \"Shadow can do surgery, I have seen it myself and so did Mayflower and Henric.\" The healers confirmed Mathias claim. \n\n\"Mathias! He is a rat, an enemy!\" Constance reminded him.\n\n\"Alf is going to die otherwise!\" The boy shot back \"He is our only hope.\" \n\nMortimer hummed \"Father...you can't seriously be considering...\" Constance said worried as she turned to him.\n\n\"Mathias is right...Shadow is our only hope, Brother Alf is going to die if we do nothing.\" The badger didn't look to quite accept this.\n\n\"Constance, I agree to this as well...worst thing happens, I die like I would have anyway.\" Mordalfus interjected and finally the badger gave in.\n\nThe abbot turned to Mathias \"Let's hurry and get him.\" The boy gave a cautious smile, he hoped everything would end up okay. \n\n---\n \nShadow had heard the attack from his room and was anxious at the result, but since he had not heard his guards be cut down he hoped he was safe, but still worried what fate the mice would decide on for him. \nBest as he was calming his breathing did the door suddenly swing open and the abbot with Mathias in tow rush in.\n\n\"Shadow...we need you to do a surgery.\" Mathias looked at him hopefully.\n\nMortimer was about to explain, but Shadow held up a hand stopping him \"Take me there, I will do what I can.\" the abbot was mildly surprised how readily the rat had accepted to help. \n\nAs soon as the rat was within the infirmary he examined Brother Alf and began listing off things he would need which the healers who had sat by uselessly quickly began gathering after getting confirmation from the abbot to do so.\n\nFirst thing the rat did was mix a potion for Mordalfus which swiftly knocked him out cold, then he began the surgery. \n\nEveryone held their breaths as Shadow began the operation, each second seemed to last hours as Shadow assisted by the healers worked. The rat had asked for silence to best concentrate so the room was filled only with the sounds of nervous breathing and Shadow asking for various tools to be handed to him by the healers.\nLittle by little the arrow was removed and finally one of the healers were handed the arrowhead to put aside.\n\n\"Thread.\" Shadow was handed thread, it wasn't quite the quality the rat wanted, so he doubled up to ensure it wouldn't unravel after he had stitched the wound.\n \nBreathing heavily the rat wiped the sweat off his forehead \"Not ideal, but it should do.\" The room breathed out a sigh of relief.\n\nShadow asked to clean up before he was taken back and it was only then that many of them were reminded that he was still an enemy prisoner. Mortimer allowed it and rather than take him back he put a proposal to the rat.\n\n\"Given what will happen if the horde outside gets you, it could be said that you are an enemy of our enemy and you have skills we desperately need Shadow, no one here knows how to handle wounds of war, it is a risk, but I was hoping we could join forces you and us.\" Constance gaped at the suggestion.\n \n\"Father! He...\" Constance tried to intervene, but the abbot cut her off. \n\n\"I know...but he has had several opportunities to either hurt or sabotage us and has always chosen to stay his paw, I would like to believe there is some good in him.\" The mouse gave the badger a look that made her wince, as if a message that no one else understood had been exchanged between them. \n\n\"I...I can look after him!\" Mathias volunteered.\n\nShadow tried not to look surprised \"Well...it would be the best move for the both of us, so I accept. I will help you break the horde.\" \n\n\"You mean defeat Cluny right?\" Mathias asked and Shadow shook his head \"There seems to be a clear misconception we need cleared up, Cluny might be the \"leader\" right now, but if he fell over dead right this instant he will have been replaced by sunrise tomorrow, which I would also recommend against, because I know Cluny, how he thinks, which I hope we can turn into an advantage.\"\n\n\"They will just replace him that fast?\" Mathias asked surprised.\n\nShadow nodded \"The real threat is the horde itself, it is a self-perpetuating force. Each member willingly or unwillingly binding the others to it like the tails in a rat king. As long as the horde has momentum it will keep going, Cluny or no Cluny.\" Shadow explained. \n\n\"How...how are we to defeat that?\" Mortimer asked worried, but Shadow smirked \"There are several possible ways, but that is getting off track, I agree to an alliance.\"\n\nConstance sighed \"Fine...but I don't trust you in the slightest and will be keeping an eye on you.\" she sent the rat a warning glare.\n\n\"That is fine, as long as you don't disturb me working. Mortimer do you have a piece of parchment to write on?\" the abbot said he could quickly find one and asked why.\n\n\"Because as a show of good faith and for the safety of the abbey I will tell you of all the vulnerabilities in your defenses I found while skulking around.\" Shadow smirked as that seemed to light a fire under the church mouse's behind to find that parchment quickly.\n\nBetween the operation that saved Mordalfus' life and shoring up their defenses the dark furred rat had already begun on the right foot in opinion of a few of the mice present. Time would tell if they had made the right choice giving the spy a chance. \n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Shadow felt a bit apprehensive as he woke up besides the church-mouse, he had seen countless like him being taken by the rat horde, but the thought of Mathias sharing their fate left him cold.
With a small chuckle the rat shook his head, he had gone and gotten slightly attached to someone who was likely doomed, how typical of him to set himself up for heartbreak.

Gently rustling the mouse got him awake, Mathias blushed when he realized how dirty the last night's activities had made him.
"Sit." Shadow instructed the mouse motioning towards a stool, he had a wet sponge ready. Mathias wordlessly did as the rat instructed him and shivered as Shadow cleaned him.
"Alright, I am done...you go out now, I will wash myself." The church-mouse nodded embarrassed and clothed himself and left.

As he cleaned himself Shadow went over what he had learned about the abbey and how he could sabotage them, their open food storage was definitely a weak-spot, it would not take a lot of effort to douse most of it in poison and make it useless.
Shadow planned the route he would take once it became nightfall in his mind, towards the kitchen and the storage within and then out in the courtyard towards where he had hid the tapestry, the mice were on edge by it's disappearance and he likely would need a distraction to draw their eyes away from the courtyard, perhaps he could set something off before he went towards the kitchen?
It was almost a shame...with the defenses they had, the mice actually had a chance to resist Cluny, but after he was done with them their defeat would be inevitable.

 -

"Mathias have you seen our resident rat?" the boy jumped surprised as abbot Mortimer's voice asked him from behind.

The older mouse had an amused expression when Mathias turned toward him "He slept in my room, he should be there still freshening up, I couldn't find room anywhere else for him to be for the night and...I wanted to keep an eye on him."

Mortimer nodded. "That is good my lad, but be careful not to get into more than you can handle." Mathias recalled the prior night and blushed "O-of course...I promise." If the abbot caught wind of what had happened he might just kill him, figuratively, but still...

"Good, as long as you are careful." Mortimer left. Mathias breathed a sigh of relief, he had feared the elder mouse might somehow intrinsically have know about the amorous activities he had been up to.

-

Mathias met up with Shadow again and they patrolled together, the mouse swore he would find the one who had taken the tapestry of Martin, it took quite a bit of self-control from the rat to not flinch.

"Maybe we should be on the lookout for any weaknesses the horde might be able to exploit?" Shadow suggested and Mathias agreed, surely there were some places of the abbey's defenses that were not as solid as they should be, nobody had expected or prepared for the abbey to be put under siege like this.

Shadow knew what to look for and pointed out most of what he saw as they patrolled around, leaving out a place he might be able to create a distraction to himself, namely the faraway storage, it was filled with empty barrels and crates and the room was dry as a desert, perfect place to start a small fire to cause a distraction.

-

After their patrol ended the sun had begun to go down, Shadow turned to Mathias and faked being tired "If you don't mind I think I will just go in and get a meal then head to bed."

Mathias nodded. "Sure thing, I will report what we found the abbot." the rat almost felt bad how easy it was to manipulate the gullible mouse into doing what he wanted him to do, but it gave him the perfect opportunity to carry out his plan.

He took a meal and thanked the cook and told him he would take it to his room to eat, then headed for the storage room, snacking on the food on the way.

"Hmm...better not make it too catastrophic...otherwise they won't think it was an accident." Shadow began moving some of the crates and barrels up in a corner where an old lamp hang, then ignited the lamp and broke the hook it had been hanging on to ensure it would look like an accident, that someone had forgotten to blow out the lamp and it had fallen to the ground, before smashing the lamp on the stack of crates and barrels he had moved underneath the hook.

Satisfied that the flames begun to take hold Shadow quietly left the storage room and left his plate in the nearest empty room before sneaking away by a path that few rarely took considering how undisturbed the dust on the floor was towards the kitchen, the kitchen staff had already left to go help put out the fire, leaving him complete access to their food-storage, the lock on the door was picked in seconds and Shadow stepped in and took a bottle of poison out of his cloak, but as he reached for the cork to begin dousing the food he hesitated, sighed and then put the bottle away again.

"You are just not cut out for this Shadow old buddy...too soft...you were always too soft..." The rat shook his head as he closed the granary door and headed for the hiding place of the stashed tapestry. He could not do that to them, out of all the mice he had ever met, they had been the only ones to treat him kindly, also with healthy suspicion, but with kindness nonetheless.
Cluny did not know about his plan to poison them, so if he kept quiet and handed him the tapestry he should be more than satisfied with his work.

Shadow moved once more through the shadows making sure he wasn't seen, he reached the alcove in an empty room where he had hid the tapestry, pulled out the loose rock in the wall and picked it up, now he just had to get up on the walls and then scale down, it should have been simple, but just as he got up and readied to leave someone unexpectedly entered the room.

The rat and Mathias looked shocked at each other, one for the sudden intrusion and the other at finding his new friend clutching the missing part of the tapestry.
Shadow knew he couldn't bluff or explain his way out of the situation, no matter how much he wished he could, and instead chose the most surprising route to get out.
Mathias broke out of his shock as Shadow dove through a window, fell into a tumble and then began sprinting towards the nearest wall stairwell. The young mouse began pursuing the rat, his mind racing to try and make sense of what was happening, he called out to Shadow and caught the attention of Constance and some others.

Shadow just barely managed to dodge Mathias grabbing his cloak as he hurried up the stairs, this would be down to the wire, scaling down under such stressful conditions would be extremely hard, but there wasn't really any other options available if he wished to escape...some part of the rat didn't want to escape, but if he didn't the horde would put a death-mark on him for failing.

"Stop Shadow!" Mathias lunged and finally managed to catch the rat's cape, he could have aimed for the tapestry, but given how Shadow stood on the edge of the wall he needed to hold onto something that would let pull him back or risk him falling.

"Gurk?!" Shadow suddenly found himself pulled off his feet, his momentary hesitance had let Mathias catch up to him and pull him back by his cape. The rat's mind raced as he laid on his back, the mouse didn't look like he wanted to hurt him, so be could attempt to escape him, but barely had the thought entered Shadow's mind did Constance reach the scene, her strong paw gripped him and held him down and she looked ready to beat him into submission. Shadow immediately knew resistance was now pointless.

"Alright, alright, take it!" he held out the tapestry as a sort of peace-offer and shielded his face with his other arm, hoping they wouldn't beat him too badly.

"Hands where I can see them!" The badger demanded as she took the tapestry from him and handed it to a mouse who had just scaled the stairs "What weapons are on you?" She demanded to know.

"Dagger in my belt, vial of poison in my inner pocket." Shadow fearfully revealed.

With Mathias help she disarmed Shadow and brought him to a storage room with no windows that would serve as his temporary holding cell, many of the mice looked at him wearily as they escorted him, likely fearful of more spies among them.
After they locked the door behind him Shadow got close to it and listened, cursing as he heard they were placing guards outside. He still had his lock picks hidden on his person so he could have picked the door and slipped away...at least he could have if the horde that would kill him or worse for his failure wasn't besieging the abbey.
"Fine mess you got yourself into Shadow...seemingly no way out of this one...well...I had a good run...nobody lives for long in the horde...willingly or unwillingly..." Shadow said to himself as he did his best to make himself comfortable in the sparse room.

---

"Quite a situation we have found ourselves in..." Abbot Mortimer muttered "At least the tapestry was recovered safely, but I think that isn't the last time that the rats will be trying to claim it."

"I knew that rat was slimy!" Constance seethed.

Mathias didn't say anything at first "But why...why would he help out if he was part of Cluny's men?" It just didn't seem to add up.

The abbot put a calming hand on the young mouse's shoulder "We may not know the answer right now, but since we managed to capture him we can find out, but first I say we rest and clear our heads." No one protested that suggestion.

---

Morning came all too soon for the residents of the abbey, the events of the prior night had spooked a lot of them, cautious looks were shared and whispers were abundant.

"Let me have a go at him" Constance urged the abbot "I will have answers by the end of the day."

Mortimer held up his hand "I know you will, it is the methods that you will employ that worry me."

The badger gritted her teeth "We need to know..." she justified.

The mouse nodded "we do, but before we employ such harsh measures I would like to try a softer approach." Constance looked at the mouse like he was mad "You want to try and talk with that thing?"

"Constance" The badger froze at the tone the abbot employed "Need I remind you of the situation you were in when you first came here?"

The badger got flustered and angry "You promised never to talk about that."

"And I haven't, I just wanted to remind you of it." The mouse did not back down.

"Tsk...fine...waste your time, I will go do something actually useful." She stormed off angrily and the abbot sighed as he shook his head, Constance had an immensely strong sense of justice due to her background, but when emotional that sense sometimes got overly zealous and extreme.

The abbot took a moment to clear his head as he headed toward the room where their prisoner resided, he nodded to the guardsmen and they let him into the room, ready to spring to his assistance if the rat tried anything.

Shadow slowly turned his head toward the mouse and invited the abbot to take a seat on the opposite chair of where he was currently sitting with a hand gesture. The rat had made the storage room his own as best he could, putting some of the furniture stored there to use.

Mortimer sat down as if they were about to have a normal conversation "Shadow...I need to know a few things."

"Then by all means...ask." The rat invited the abbot to inquire.

"Is there any other spies inside the abbey?" The mouse asked. The rat shook his head "Not to my knowledge."

"You must excuse I find your word rather hard to trust...you just freely telling me this feels a little suspicious..." Shadow shrugged "I got no reason to hide anything anymore."  The abbot considered it for a moment before continuing.

"You had poison on you...did you poison anything?" Mortimer asked.

"I planned to...but I didn't." That surprised the mouse. "Could you elaborate?" the monk asked.

"The granary...when you were all distracted by the fire I snuck inside..." The throat of the abbot seized up in fear, that would have effected everyone...this rat had their fates in his paws and yet...he claimed he didn't go through with it...
"Why? Without food we could not hold out against Cluny's siege...why didn't you?" Mortimer asked.

Shadow chuckled "You mice...are too darn kind for your own good..." It took a moment as the abbot took this in and the rat continued "Out of all the mice I have ever met...the ones in this abbey? They treated me the most friendly."

Mortimer blinked confused "How are you usually treated?"

"Mobs forming and chasing me, even before I was...forcibly conscripted into the rat horde." Shadow put it bluntly and shocked the abbot. "So...I didn't want to ruin the chances of the only nice group of mice I had ever met and out of everyone the horde ever faced, you actually got a chance to win."

"Thank you for telling me this." The abbot got up "Since we can't spare the food for a person who isn't gonna aid in the defense...I think we will just be letting you go since you showed us mercy." Rather than looking relieved or grateful Shadow looked terrified.

"If you want to show me mercy...kill me quickly." Mortimer was baffled by the rat's request "The best I can hope for is a quick death if Cluny is in a very good mood...otherwise it will be a fate worse than death...strung up and tortured for days on end...I witnessed it first hand many times...and I granted many of those unfortunate souls a swift merciful death if I could, many thanked me with their last breaths." The abbot was mortified by the dread in the rat's eyes.

Constance came in "As if that would be our fault...you will get what is coming to you as far as I am concerned."

The rat turned to her "So if I push someone into a pit of agitated vipers, I am completely guilt-free of what happens to them?" his analogy made the badger scowl.

"At least have the bravery to do it yourselves! Come on! Wring my neck! Look me right in the eyes as you end me! Don't be a pathetic coward and abstain from responsibility by pushing me into a pit of snakes and pretending you have no responsibility in my demise!" Shadow challenged the badger who flinched.

"Father?" She turned uncertain towards Mortimer who took in the situation.

"Please..." Shadow almost whispered "Do anything but throw me out there...give me a knife...I will do it myself if you don't want any guilt on your conscience." the rat pleaded.

The mouse sighed, the situation had just gotten immensely more complicated. If Shadow was telling the truth, and given the dread in his eyes he believed he was, then they could not in good conscience throw him out to Cluny and they were not executioners, they couldn't just kill him while he was their prisoner.

"Okay...we need time to think on what to do with you, but we won't be throwing you out to them." Mortimer said and saw the wave of relief wash over Shadow

"Thank you." the rat's words were so filled with emotion that not even Constance believed he was faking gratitude.

---

 Barely had the pair left the prisoner did a bell begin to ring out, indicating they were under attack.

"Quick everyone, to the walls!" They heard brother Alf direct the defenders only to suddenly get stuck by a stray arrow to the chest and fell to the ground as soon as they managed to get into the courtyard.

Mortimer quickly took charge before anyone panicked "You two." He pointed out a pair who had frozen in place "Quick, get a stretcher and get him to the infirmary. The rest of you get up those stairs and repel them!"

The mice did manage to beat back the sudden attack, but it had shook them a bit. Seeing brother Alf falling to the ground after being hit had punctuated how serious their situation really was.

Mathias and Mortimer alongside Constance went to the infirmary to check on brother Alf. They found him with the arrow still lodged inside him and many healers around his bed discussing  indecisively what to do.

"What is the hold up?" Constance asked irked.

"The arrow...it's..." Mayflower, one of the healers, drew out.

"It's too close to his heart, we don't dare try to remove it out of fear of the potential damage we might cause." Another healer, Henric, explained. "We simply don't have the skill to handle an injury like this."

This dismayed everyone "We can't just do nothing, otherwise...Alf will die." Mathias argued.

Alf stirred awake, but before he could try and sit up Constance held him down "Lay still Alf, you are in a very precarious situation."

"Oh goodness..." The mouse said mildly shocked as he looked down and saw the arrow sticking out of him.

"Brother Alf, I am afraid your situation is troubling." Mortimer explained to the wounded mouse the situation.

A silence fell over the room, only Alf's troubled breathing could be heard.

"If only we had a surgeon." Mortimer lamented. His long-time friend was not likely to survive this.

Hearing that sparked a memory in Mathias head, he remembered how skillfully Shadow had treated the arrow that had gone through the leg of someone and how he mentioned his father had been a doctor "Wait...we do!" the boy surprised everyone his sudden outburst.

"W-We do?" Constance asked surprised.

"Yeah..." Mathias suddenly realized he was gonna put forward Shadow and how that might sound, but this was life and death, so he steeled himself. "Shadow can do surgery, I have seen it myself and so did Mayflower and Henric." The healers confirmed Mathias claim.

"Mathias! He is a rat, an enemy!" Constance reminded him.

"Alf is going to die otherwise!" The boy shot back "He is our only hope."

Mortimer hummed "Father...you can't seriously be considering..." Constance said worried as she turned to him.

"Mathias is right...Shadow is our only hope, Brother Alf is going to die if we do nothing." The badger didn't look to quite accept this.

"Constance, I agree to this as well...worst thing happens, I die like I would have anyway." Mordalfus interjected and finally the badger gave in.

The abbot turned to Mathias "Let's hurry and get him." The boy gave a cautious smile, he hoped everything would end up okay.

---
 
Shadow had heard the attack from his room and was anxious at the result, but since he had not heard his guards be cut down he hoped he was safe, but still worried what fate the mice would decide on for him.
Best as he was calming his breathing did the door suddenly swing open and the abbot with Mathias in tow rush in.

"Shadow...we need you to do a surgery." Mathias looked at him hopefully.

Mortimer was about to explain, but Shadow held up a hand stopping him "Take me there, I will do what I can." the abbot was mildly surprised how readily the rat had accepted to help.

As soon as the rat was within the infirmary he examined Brother Alf and began listing off things he would need which the healers who had sat by uselessly quickly began gathering after getting confirmation from the abbot to do so.

First thing the rat did was mix a potion for Mordalfus which swiftly knocked him out cold, then he began the surgery.

Everyone held their breaths as Shadow began the operation, each second seemed to last hours as Shadow assisted by the healers worked. The rat had asked for silence to best concentrate so the room was filled only with the sounds of nervous breathing and Shadow asking for various tools to be handed to him by the healers.
Little by little the arrow was removed and finally one of the healers were handed the arrowhead to put aside.

"Thread." Shadow was handed thread, it wasn't quite the quality the rat wanted, so he doubled up to ensure it wouldn't unravel after he had stitched the wound.
 
Breathing heavily the rat wiped the sweat off his forehead "Not ideal, but it should do." The room breathed out a sigh of relief.

Shadow asked to clean up before he was taken back and it was only then that many of them were reminded that he was still an enemy prisoner. Mortimer allowed it and rather than take him back he put a proposal to the rat.

"Given what will happen if the horde outside gets you, it could be said that you are an enemy of our enemy and you have skills we desperately need Shadow, no one here knows how to handle wounds of war, it is a risk, but I was hoping we could join forces you and us." Constance gaped at the suggestion.
 
"Father! He..." Constance tried to intervene, but the abbot cut her off.

"I know...but he has had several opportunities to either hurt or sabotage us and has always chosen to stay his paw, I would like to believe there is some good in him." The mouse gave the badger a look that made her wince, as if a message that no one else understood had been exchanged between them.

"I...I can look after him!" Mathias volunteered.

Shadow tried not to look surprised "Well...it would be the best move for the both of us, so I accept. I will help you break the horde."

"You mean defeat Cluny right?" Mathias asked and Shadow shook his head "There seems to be a clear misconception we need cleared up, Cluny might be the "leader" right now, but if he fell over dead right this instant he will have been replaced by sunrise tomorrow, which I would also recommend against, because I know Cluny, how he thinks, which I hope we can turn into an advantage."

"They will just replace him that fast?" Mathias asked surprised.

Shadow nodded "The real threat is the horde itself, it is a self-perpetuating force. Each member willingly or unwillingly binding the others to it like the tails in a rat king. As long as the horde has momentum it will keep going, Cluny or no Cluny." Shadow explained.

"How...how are we to defeat that?" Mortimer asked worried, but Shadow smirked "There are several possible ways, but that is getting off track, I agree to an alliance."

Constance sighed "Fine...but I don't trust you in the slightest and will be keeping an eye on you." she sent the rat a warning glare.

"That is fine, as long as you don't disturb me working. Mortimer do you have a piece of parchment to write on?" the abbot said he could quickly find one and asked why.

"Because as a show of good faith and for the safety of the abbey I will tell you of all the vulnerabilities in your defenses I found while skulking around." Shadow smirked as that seemed to light a fire under the church mouse's behind to find that parchment quickly.

Between the operation that saved Mordalfus' life and shoring up their defenses the dark furred rat had already begun on the right foot in opinion of a few of the mice present. Time would tell if they had made the right choice giving the spy a chance.

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