Written by: Flycreek Batterpaw
You know squirrels, those dashing, red or grey beasts that leap from tree to tree in a wild frenzy to collect nuts for winter. Squirrels have diversity, like most mice don’t think. They have tradition, religion, and prophecies. Their most famous prophecy, goes like this.
Once, a squirrel lord ruled all of the squirrels in Mossflower. His name was King Cataractus, or as he liked to be called, Catari. He was a just ruler, strong and wise. No one ever doubted his rule, in fact, it seemed like it was meant to be. But perfection is just a figment of the imagination.
No matter how hard he tried to rid Mossflower of vermin, there was always one group that evaded his army. The Ralpiqs! The Ralpiqs weren’t a united horde, more like small bands of the same name. But King Catari only bothered with them when they did damage to his squirrels. Out of his watchful eye, the groups started to conquer each other, until there was only one big horde - the Ralpiqueyes. The leader, Queye, had tacked his name to the end, showing that all of these beasts were his by conquest. Now, Queye was a tactful beast, a tall black stone marten. He had three trustworthy captains, Tagtail, Eejaq, and Krastak. They were a fox, a rat, and a ferret, respectively.
Queye had always had his eye on the rolling hills and gentle plains of Mossflower, rich with the bounty of food. Now that he had a horde built up, he began plans of attack on Catari’s realm. Soon he had a strategy, and he put it to work that season. The hordes of the Ralpiqueyes marched upon Mossflower.
One third of the horde, about 1000 vermin, approached the area in which Catari lived. They surrounded it and burnt down many of the trees, and killed all the squirrels they found. They soon came upon Catari, who saw them, and managed to escape. Catari traveled through the forest, and soon found his army. He called them up, and they traveled back to the horde for a surprise attack.
The tactic worked, and the third of the horde was decimated. When Queye found out, he was outraged. Too angry to think of anything better, he sent the rest of the horde to eliminate Catari and his army. When the two hordes met, there was a massive battle. Catari left a general in charge, and left to seek out Queye. He soon spotted the stone marten, hanging back with archers to protect him. Catari, seeing his wife’s cloak on Queye’s shoulders, and his family heirlooms in Queye’s hands, went into a mad rage. He leapt from the trees, and Queye yelled for his archers to kill the squirrel. Catari dashed out to the main battle, waving his sword about. He received an arrow in his back, but that didn’t stop him. With the Bloodlust upon him, he killed every vermin he could. His army swarmed upon the disorganized Ralpiqueyes.
Queye, determined to kill Catari, ran out into battle. He saw Catari standing on a pile of his dead vermin. He ran for Catari, sword drawn. Catari saw him, and drew his own sword. The two clashed swords and scored several hits each. Queye, though, saw Catari falter, and lose confidence. Queye swung his sword to the left, and Catari failed to block it. The hit left a huge gash on Catari’s side. He stumbled, and Queye laughed and swung at him again. But it was too late. While Queye laughed with victory, Catari had lunged and his sword now went through Queye’s middle. Queye dropped dead. Catari heard cheers from his squirrels, but faintly. He smiled, knowing he had avenged his family’s deaths. He collapsed, and never got back up.
The onlookers gasped. Their leader was dead. Then, something amazing happened. Everyone saw a vision, of Catari getting up, and saying “Hail the Bronze One, the Magnabella!”
Since then, squirrels have divided up, and no longer are apart of one group. All squirrels know this prophecy, and seek the Bronze One, or the Magnabella.
Now, to the story.
One anxious squirrel hovered over a lying down beast, holding a babe. The small squirrel babe was wrapped in a blanket. The mother opened the blanket, and gasped. The father did too. The baby was…bronze! His fur shone in the sun as the babe reached for his father’s dagger.
“Do you think he’s…”
“No, he couldn’t be…”
“But he’s bronze! And look, he’s reaching for my dagger. The sign of a true warrior.”
“I think that we should name him Cataractus Daggerpaw.”
“Catari, for short.”
“Of course.”
To their misfortune, at that precise moment, a small band of foxes was traveling in Mossflower. I’ll not tell you the details, but to make a long story short, Catari was the only survivor.
Catari grew up on his own, his only weapon was his father’s dagger, which he so longed for as a babe. He survived the seasons, and grew up strong and smart. He knew the lands, knew what plants were poisonous, and which weren’t. He knew Mossflower like the back of his hand, and knew of the tall red Abbey in the western part. He knew of the huge lake in the center, and knew of the island in the middle, and of the legends surrounding it. He knew of the stingy otter wife that lived north of the lake, Rukky Garge or something like that. He knew of the Guosim, and their tribes along the Great South Stream.
One day, he heard cheering and yelling and other happy noises coming from the big red building. He decided to inspect. Making his way through the leafy canopy, he soon saw the sandstone to the north.
Catari swiftly climbed an elm tree, and leapt upon the ramparts. He climbed on the battlements, and peered at the sight below. Happiness was much in evidence; there were many beasts frolicking below. There were mice, otters, squirrels, even a badger. Moles, hedgehogs, and voles were around too. Some one must've noticed him, as many beasts' heads turned to him. All of the squirrels gasped, and looked helpless, in a way. The badger made its way towards Catari.
"Come down here, young 'un!" it called.
Catari leapt off the ramparts, and to everyone's surprise, landed safely. He looked boldly into the badger's eyes and said, "I'm Catari."
The young squirrels were now making their way towards him, and their parents were trying to hold them back. Catari had no idea why the squirrels were so awed by him. They hung on to him, and Catari was enjoying their adoring attitudes. The badger said "Why have you come to our Abbey?"
"I wanted to see why the beasts were yelling and cheering, I heard it from the meadow south east from here."
The badger said "You are welcome to stay, if you'd like. You are always welcome here. I'm Callow, the Badger Guardian of Redwall."
After Callow's introduction, everyone scrambled to introduce themselves. Callow hollered for calm, and soon everyone was in a small line, impatient to meet the newcomer.
The first beast was a tall, slender, male mouse. "Hello. I am Father Abbot Reatoll. You are always welcome here, my son."
The line slowly made its way past Catari. He felt welcome in their presence, happy, sort of. He couldn't explain it, even now. He just wanted to live among these peaceful creatures.