Undying Friendship Book 2 Chapter 12

Undying Friendship
Book 2; Trailblazers
Chapter 12; Into the Woods

The next day, Martin's group had progressed out of the caves once again and into a vast forest. The canopy of multicolored leaves created a serene atmosphere with a light orange glow mixed in with the odd sunbeam. Migratory birds could be heard chirping as they made their journey to the South. Martin was taking all the scenery in when he noticed Misteye stopped in front of a large oak tree.
"Something bothering you, Misteye?" he asked, seeing that the fox looked deep in thought.
Misteye replied as he continued to lead the group through the woods. "It's just everything that has been going on recently. The dead lizards, the ferrets. It doesn't add up." Gonff spoke up as he made his way to the front of the group. "Can't that eye of yours see everything? I thought you could tell where and when something happens at any time." Misteye stopped again to face the mouse thief. "It's not that simple. Seeing ghosts and through certain objects is one thing. But seeing the past or future can be very difficult, depending on the time that has passed. It's as though something has been limiting my foresight and hindsight for a while now. Limited-"
Misteye stopped short as his paw shot out to the side. Gonff let out a yelp of shock as an arrow appeared clutched in the fox's paw. The fox snapped the arrow in half and growled in the direction it was fired from. "-but not fully hindered!" He deployed his crossbow, loaded an arrow, aimed for the trees, and fired. A snapping branch, a distressed cry, and a muffled thump told Misteye he had landed a successful shot. He stormed toward the downed archer angrily. "Robin Longbow, you great oaf! You're lucky I wasn't aiming for you! Don't you know better than to fire upon your leader?!" The archer sat up slowly, rubbing his chest and arms to try and ease their throbbing pain. He was a peculiar creature, to say the least. He looked like a mouse, but as he drew back his green hood, Martin saw that his ears had slightly pointed tips, and his fur was a deep mahogany color, like a squirrel. "I'm sorry, Lord Misteye! I swear, I didn't realize that-" The fox cut him short as he fired another arrow into the branches of a nearby elm tree. Another creature, a fox this time, dropped down onto the forest floor. Misteye glared at the fox Robin made his way over to assist him. "Lieutenant Lance Blitzkrieg, did you assign this near-sighted buffoon to sentry duty?" Lance stood up, brushing leaves off of his green cloak. "It's Colonel now, actually. And no, my Lord, he was given the task by Madame Redwood last week." Misteye groaned. "Redwood, I leave the village for a few seasons, and she goes off assigning Robin to sentry duty?" Lance glared at the fox and spoke up, with a hint of angst in his voice. "With all due respect, my Lord, Robin has proved himself a very capable guard and marksman. That mouse would be dead now if you weren't here." As Gonff's eyes widened, Misteye gestured to the rest of the group. "Well, come one, then. We're not getting any younger just standing around here." He looked to his two associates. "I'll need to debrief everyone once we get home. Something has happened that may change your opinion of how great a sentry he really is."
As the group made their way further into the woods, Martin walked alongside Robin, who hung his head low under his hood. The warrior put his paw on Robin's shoulder and tried consoling him. "Don't let him get to you. He just has a lot on his mind right now." Robin turned to the warrior with a look of defeat on his face. "All I've ever wanted to do was protect the Haven from invaders, and I've spent countless seasons perfecting my archery skills to do so. I can hit a gnat on the wing at a hundred paces. I wasn't aiming for Lord Misteye." Robin turned to Gonff and said, in a nonchalant manner, "By the way, sorry for that little scare." Gonff glared Robin. "LITTLE SCARE?! LITTLE SCARE, HE SAYS!!!!! YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!!!! I HAVE A WIFE AND CHILD BACK AT REDWALL ABBEY WAITING FOR ME!!!! IMAGINE HIM GROWING UP, KNOWING THAT HIS LOVING FATHER WAS KILLED BY AN ARCHER IN COLD BLOOD!!!! IT WOULD TEAR HIM APART!!!!" Felldoh draped his arm around Robin's shoulder, which sent a chill down the archer's spine. "He's quite the actor, isn't he?"
After a while, a clearing in the forest could be seen in the distance behind some weeping willow branches. Misteye turned to the group. "We're almost at the entrance. It's been far too long, it will be good to be back home again." Misteye grabbed some of the branches and prepared to pull them back as the group stopped right in front of them. "Don't forget to breathe." He pulled them back.
After Martin's eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light, he looked toward the clearing. His eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was the giant tree that Misteye had shown them. Up close, it looked far grander. It was a massive tree of an unknown type that towered over all the others. It made Redwall Abbey and Salamandastron look like meager sandcastles in comparison. All around the trunk were likenesses of all manner of creatures; otters, foxes, hares, shrews, hedgehogs, badgers, rats, mice, stoats, ferrets, bats, and songbirds were among the ones visible to the group from their current position. Martin had never seen anything like it before, and he found it hard to believe what he was seeing. Justin chuckled. "You should see your faces right now."
Between two of the massive roots, Martin saw a tunnel leading below the tree. Misteye led them all down the winding pathways, which were lit up by glowing crystals lining the walls as they went deeper. Soon they reached the end of the tunnel, which opened into a massive chamber. More of the luminescent stones lit up the chamber, allowing the group to see every detail of the underground village. Creatures of all sorts meandered about, some of them turning to them and waving. The massive stalagmites and stalactites had been hollowed out and turned into living quarters capable of housing numerous villagers at once, and walkways, staircases and lift systems allowed for access to the higher levels.
"Welcome," Misteye said to the group, "To the Haven."

END OF BOOK 2