Morendo

[Substitute Author]

(Post subbed for Rallentando.)


Rallentando stared at her journal, pencil clutched tightly in her paw.  The paper in front of her eyes was blank.  It had been blank for the past twenty minutes.  How did you write something like this?

She took a deep shuddering breath.  She, Rallentando, was a spy.  Spies had to do?  Tears filled her eyes and fell down to the page like hot drops of rain.  Spies did not kill beasts.  Killing was wrong!  She bit her lip and set her pencil tip against the damp page.

?Mr. Wulgar died last night.  I saw him killed.?  Pausing, she inspected that sentence.  Was that too short an epitaph?

?He died trying to save me.?

Rallentando felt the tears well up again.  She dashed them aside angrily.  ?I think I killed a beast today though.  I didn?t mean to, I was spying.  It was part of my mission, and it was an accident.?

From outside the walls came a yell from the assembled rats as their frenzied assembly reached new heights of emotion.  Rallentando shivered.  They had been going on like that ever since that horrible rock had fallen.  It had seemed so stable when she?d set her footpaw on it.  What business did rocks have sliding out from under beasts anyway?  Spies were supposed to be quiet, unseen, sly.  Her ears drooped.  Spies didn?t kill beasts.

?Rallentando??

She looked up.  Radish was standing in the doorway of the pantry where she was hiding.  She sniffed.  ?Yes??

He came in and sat down next to her.  ?Bit late for you to be up writing??

Rallentando drew circles in her notebook.  ?I couldn?t sleep.?

Radish nodded, and reaching over, pulled out an apple from the bag she was sitting on and took a bite.  ?I often have that problem.  Captain Blacktip doesn?t keep regular hours.?

The rabbit twitched her nose.  ?Does he keep anything regular??

Radish grinned.  ?Rarely.  Although, once he kept a pet beetle for a whole month.?

Her ears perked.  ?Really?  How come?  He doesn?t seem to like anything.?

?He liked that beetle.  Took it everywhere with him.  Named it and everything.?

She giggled.  ?What was its name??

?Beetle.?

Rallentando couldn?t help laughing aloud.  ?What happened to it?"

Radish looked down.  ?He realized it made him happy.?

Rallentando blinked.  ?What?s wrong with that??

?He doesn?t like being happy.?

?Oh.?  Rallentando looked down at her journal and found a blank page.  ?Doesn?t like being happy,? she wrote.  ?Must find out why.?

She felt a paw on her shoulder.  ?It?s not your fault, you know.?

Rallentando stiffened.  ?It?s not right to kill beasts,? she whispered.  ?Not even bad ones.?

Radish nodded.  ?And that?s what makes you better than them.  You value life.  Even life that?s hurt you.?

The image of Violet popped into Rallentando?s mind.  Now why couldn?t the stone have hit her?  Then maybe Poppa would come home and he could finish teaching her how to be a proper spy, one that never got caught or stood on bad rocks.  She sniffed again.

?Thank you.?

Radish smiled.  ?Now can you get off of that sack of apples?  I?m supposed to bring it to Captain Blacktip and his beasts.  They?re hungry.?

Rallentando blushed and stood up.  ?Of course, silly me.  I?m sorry.?

The little mouse shook his head.  ?Go take a walk outside missy.  Get some fresh air, and don?t worry.  It?ll be all right.?

She managed a little smile.  ?Okay, you sure you don?t need any help??

Radish nodded towards the door.  ?Go, before I saddle you with Mirdros again.?

Rallentando shrugged.  ?You try babysitting for ten siblings sometime.  One little dibbun is nothing.?

The cold night air nipped at her fur as she stepped outside, and she shivered.  Winter was coming fast, and her mother would be working hard to get enough food in to keep all the children fed for the winter.  Rallentando thought about Kotir?s well stocked pantry.  When she and Poppa got out of here, if she tried, maybe she could smuggle some things out to help.  After all, that?s what spies were good at.

She turned away from the wall where a broken section of mortar stared at her accusingly and headed towards the training ground by the barracks.  It would be empty right now, and she could use a place to wander around alone without being called to run an errand.  She was almost there when the faint flicker of a shadow caught her eye.

She turned and looked towards the front gate.  Three big, black shapes were moving quickly across the grounds of Kotir.  She squinted at them.  If they were Lord Tirian?s soldiers, they were supposed to be wearing the traditional red and black of the wolves coat of arms, and if they were slaves?  Her ears twitched in suspicion.  If they were slaves, they were acting very strange.  She crouched low to the ground and snuck towards them.  This could be important.  Spies, even upset ones, never passed up an opportunity to discover new things.

Rallentando moved quickly, her paws making no sound on the ground.  Poppa had taught her how to do that, she was good at that.  It was how she got away without Mama noticing when there were dishes to do.  Not doing dishes was important with ten siblings making dishes all the time.  If you got roped into doing dishes, you never stopped.  Not until everyone was in bed for the night.  That was a lon-

?What have we here, missy??

Strong arms pinioned hers to her sides and a heavy paw clamped over her mouth.  Rallentando?s ears stood straight up with fright as she saw two of the shadows materialize into water rats before her eyes.  The third shadow stood by the gate, lifting the heavy oak beam that held it shut.  She?d never even seen the rat that held her fast.  Tears came to her eyes.  What kind of a spy got caught?

?Mmmmmph!?  She struggled.

Her captor tightened his grip.  ?None of that now, we wouldn?t want to spoil the surprise we have for everyone.?

Rallentando watched in horror as the gates swung open and the huge scarred rat stepped through them.  He took in the situation and moved towards her, motioning at the two rats to go bring in the rest. 

?What have you got there, Loarn??

The rat pushed Rallentando forward, still keeping a paw firmly across her mouth.  ?It?s one of the heathen slaves, Chief Morleo.  I caught her spying, about to alert the others.?

Rallentando felt her heart beating faster than it ever had before as Morleo bent to stare deep into her eyes. 

?Is this true??

She stared at him and struggled to get away again, her strong back legs kicking out at her captor.  One of them hit home, and at his grunt of pain she leapt away? only to be caught in the vice-like grip of Morleo.  She took a deep breath, struggling for air as his paws tightened around her throat.

?I asked a question, heathen.  Were you going to alert the others??

Rallentando looked into his eyes and decided, for the first time in her life, that politeness simply wasn?t going to work.  She twisted her head and bit deep into his arm. 

Rallentando had never tasted blood before in her life.  She gagged as it seeped into her mouth and filled her nose with the stench.  The rat never even flinched.  He smiled at her.

?Little one, now you will see the power of the Children.  You will be the first to die, but you will watch as my beasts come in like the flood of waters that we serve.?

His grip loosened just a touch.  Barely enough.  But just enough.  Rallentando screamed.

She felt the sound rasping in her throat as she saw the first of the rats start to pile through the gates, weapons held fast in their paws.  His paws tightened around her throat again, and she struggled to keep the scream going.  Someone would come.  Someone always came.

Her vision was blurring, spots danced in front of her eyes.  Rallentando fought, kicking her legs out, struggling.  It was no use.  It was like kicking a big stone.  Only, unlike the stone that she had sent crashing down before, this one wasn?t going to move. 

The young rabbit heard the sound of metal on metal and she could hear Captain Rousseau yelling something.  But it was so hard to keep her eyes open now, and her throat hurt so badly.  She thought of Mr. Wulgar.  He had saved her, gave his life to save her.  Maybe, with her last strength, she could save everyone else.

Fighting against the crushing grip, she dug up her last few breaths and screamed again.  Then darkness closed around her.