A/N: A big thank you goes to Brightpath2, who is directly responsible for the creation of this story by way of inspiration!

I tried to reduce as much as possible the parts copied from the book. Future chapters will have hopefully contain less part directly copied from the book.

EDIT: Finally got around to fixing the format of the chapter, fixing a few errors, and adding in a new tidbit :)

EDIT2: Some minor changes were made. Ranma is now Ranma the Deathless instead of the Ageless. Also, for new readers, I PROMISE THE WRITING GETS BETTER!

Disclaimer: I need to do this, right? Anyways, Redwall is owned by Brian Jaqcues, R.I.P., and Ranma 1/2 is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

"Haha, take this Runn!"

SWISH!

"Missed me Bagg! You couldn't hit-"

SPLAT!

"Oi c'n. 'ere, 'ave summ 'ore!"

FWOOSH! WHIZ! ZOOP!

The otter twins, Bagg and Runn, and their molefriend Grubb, were having their 47th snowball fight of the winter. So far, the score lay at Grubb-40, Bagg-3, and Runn-2. One had ended in a draw when Mother Mellus, tired of snow narrowly missing her, came round and curb-stomped them all. The 3 friends quickly agreed to take their snowball fights elsewhere, and were currently a short distance outside of Redwall Abbey.

"You call that a throw? My grandmother could throw better than you!"

WHOOSH! "Ha, that's my grandmother too! Here, take this here snowball and take back what you said!"

SPLAT! SPLOOSH! "Bowth o' you'm taken moi liddle pursends!"

"Hoho Grubb, let me give you a present of my own!"

The three laughing friends failed to see three travelers trudging along nearby, and they kept on throwing snowballs at each other, right up until it hit one of them.

"Ouch! Watch where you're throwing those!"

One of the travelers, a young mousemaid, wiped the snow off her face, and glared at the combatants. All three of them felt sorry for what happened, so they decided to apologize to her. "We'm zurry 'bout 'urtin you'm wid dat znowbawl."

"Sorry for the snowball hurting you."

"We're really sorry that you got hurt."

One of the other travelers, a large sturdy hedgehog, chuckled a bit, and said to the mousemaid, "Well Amia, can you forgive these young rascals?"

Amia drew herself up, and with a smirk on her face, said, "Not until they get a face full of snow!"

And with that, she quickly bent down, gathered some snow, and threw it at the three friends. SPLAT! SPLOOSH! WHIZ!

Bagg and Runn, a bit slow on the uptake, both got a face full of snow. Grubb managed to dodge it, and said, "Oi'll get'n you'm mizzy!" And he picked some snow up and threw it at her.

Amia giggled, dodged Grubb's well aimed snowball and replied, "You'll have to catch me first!"

The last traveler, a very pretty mousemaid, turned away from the ensuing fight to the hedgehog, and said, "Well Bultip, should we let Amia have some fun before we continue on to Redwall?" with a twinkle in her eye.

Bultip grinned. "Aye Aubretia. It's been a while since she's had some competition."

The two watched the fight turn quickly from a free-for-all into a three-on-one. Amia dodged, ducked, and threw snowballs with great accuracy, and so forced Bagg, Runn, and Grubb to work together.

SPLAT! "Haha, got your tail there missy!

SPLAT! "And I got your left paw, hehe! Now watch this one hit your right shoulder!"

SPLOOSH! "Argh! I'll give it to you!"

SPLAT! "Matey, you hit me instead! Grubb, let's give her the two-for-one special!"

SPLAT! SPLAT! "Oi got'n 'ee!"

"Why you...!" Amia started to glow with a faint blue light. Upon seeing this, Bultip called out to her in a stern voice, "That's enough Amia!"

Amia ducked another snowball with a sheepish expression on her face, and stopped glowing. Bagg, Runn, and Grubb just stared.

"Well now," said Bultip with a smile. "This has been fun, but I'm afraid we must go. We're bound for a place called Redwall Abbey."

"Redwall Abbey?", said Bagg, dropping a snowball. "It's jus' round that bend, sir. We live there." And he pointed a mittened paw in the direction of the path.

Bultip looked around, and spotted a beech log lying nearby. "Since we're headed that way, why don't I give you a ride there on that beech log. Amia and Aubretia, you too."

He took a rope from his pack, and lashed it to the log. Bagg, Runn, Grubb, Amia, and Aubretia all clambered aboard.

"Hey mister, can you pull all of us?" asked Runn.

Bultip laughed. "Oh, I'm sure I'll manage. By the way, my name's Bultip. That there is Aubretia, and you've already met Amia."

"I'm Runn, this here's my twin Bagg, and that is Grubb."

"Hello there."

"Pleezed 't meetcher".

"Likewise," smiled Aubretia.

"Nice to meet you!" Amia said excitedly.

Bultop then hefted the rope over his shoulders and began to pull. He trekked through the snow, dragging both log and passengers along with him with no visible effort.

Redwall Abbey always looked wonderful; each season gave it a different look. Winter gave it the appearance of a giant cake; the snow covering the walls resembled the frosting, the red walls cherries and the cake itself. And the icicles? The sugary bits that decorate it.

Abbot Saxtus and old Simeon, leaning on a hawthorne stick, were standing in the courtyard, gazing up at the main building. Simeon sighed, and said to the Abbot, "Even though I cannot see it, I know Redwall is always magnificent."

The Abbot nodded. "Indeed. Such were the words of our old friend Abbot Bernard. No matter what the season."

They stood there for a while. Then Simeon held up a paw. "I can feel somebeasts coming. It's hard to tell how many, but I would guess three or four".

They walked out of the open main gates, and onto the path in front. Saxtus watched until he saw the party approaching.

"It looks like our three young troublemakers, Bagg, Runn, and Grubb, have finished their daily snowball fight. There are three travelers coming along with them."

Simeon tapped his stick on the snow excitedly. "Wonderful! We'll have new stories to listen to in Cavern Hole tonight!"

As Bultip rounded the bend, Redwall Abbey came into full view. Bultip, Aubretia, and Amia gasped in awe at the sight of Redwall Abbey. Ahead of them stood Abbot Saxtus and Simeon."

Welcome to Redwall Abbey, travelers," the Abbot said to them, after they had dismounted from the beech log. "You must be weary after your journey. I am Abbot Saxtus. Please, enter," greeted the Abbot. He then turned, and started walking towards the main building. Aubretia and Bultip followed; Amia dashed off after Bagg, Runn, and Grubb, already leaving, without a second thought.

"Amia! Come back here!" Aubretia called out after her, but she was already gone.

"It seems that your Amia is quite taken with our young troublemakers," remarked Simeon. "They must have made quite an impression on her."

Aubretia let out a breath she'd been holding. "Yes, she looked quite impressed by their little snowball fight. I just hope that she isn't getting into any mischief."

"Don't worry," the Abbot said, "Those three will likely keep her in check. May I ask your names?"

"I'm Aubretia," the mousemaid replied. "And he's Bultip," she said, pointing at her hedgehog companion. "Amia is the one who just ran off."

"You already know my name," said the Abbot. "And this here is Simeon," indicating the blind old herbalist. "Would you like us to show you two around Redwall?" he asked. "It is a rather beautiful place."

"We would love to," said Aubretia. "But wouldn't that take you away from your duties?"

"Nonsense," smiled the Abbot. "At a time like this, there isn't much for an Abbot like me to do, as we're preparing for the Midwinter Feast. Besides, it would be a crime not show a pretty mousmaid like yourself and her traveling companion around."

Aubretia giggled. "Well said Father," said Bultip. "Where do we start?"

"Well, see this belltower? Now, there's quite a story to it..."

While Aubretia and Bultip were being shown around Redwall, Bagg, Runn, and Grubb were giving Amia a tour of their own.

"..and that's where we keep our stash of candied chestnuts," Bagg said proudly. He and Runn had worked hard to sneak them out under Friar Cockleburr's nose.

Amia was wide eyed. "Wow! My parents don't let me do that!"

"Noither duz owr Muther Mellus," chuckled Grubb.

Runn took Amia's paw rather gallantly. "And now, let me show you our secret hiding places..."

Aubretia and Bultip were standing in front of a tapestry, staring in awe.

"Amazing," Aubretia tapestry showed two Abbey Warriors of legend. On the left was a mouse clad in armor. On the right was another mouse with a pigtail, dressed in a strange, but simple clothes, and striking a pose.

"So that's Martin and Ranma," Bultip breathed. "We've heard stories, but never seen any likenesses that depicted the two of them together. Nobeast could stand in their path."

"Indeed," said Abbot Saxtus. "Especially when the life of an innocent was at stake."

Looking at the two, both Aubretia and Bultip could certainly imagine it.

After their tours, Aubretia, Amia, and Bultip were shown to their respective rooms by the Foremole. Once they had rested, washed, and changed into more suitable clothes, they came down to Cavern Hole for the feast. Aubretia was offered places by mice vying for her attention, but instead sat with the Abbot, Simeon, and Bultip. Amia sat next to her new friends, who were explaining to her what hotroot pepper was.

The moment grace had been finished, Bultip started chowing down. He had some nutbread, a vegetable pastie, and quenched his thirst with a tankard of Redwall October ale. Aubretia tried something called fizzy dandelion cup, a delicious drink full of tiny bubbles, while Simeon astounded them with his keen perception of their occupations, Aubretia being a healer, and Bultip a warrior. Both joined in the merriment, enjoyed the food, and basked in the legendary hospitality of Redwall Abbey.

On another table, Amia was piling hotroot pepper in her soup. The others had told her how hot it was, and that she probably couldn't handle any. Well, she was going to show them, and make them eat their words.

"Are you ready for this?" asked Bagg.

"I was born ready," smirked Amia, and started to eat the hotroot soup.

Three seconds later...

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!" Amia gasped. "HOOOOOOOOOOT!". She quickly downed some cold strawberry cordial, which seemed to help a bit.

The three friends chuckled. "Wudd 'ee loik summ 'ore?" asked Grubb innocently.

Amia glared at them. Then, in an undignified manner, with her mouth still afire, she lifted the bowl to her mouth and started to drink the rest.

Bagg, Runn, and Grubb just stared.

After Amia had cooled down a bit, the others ladled soup into their bowls and began putting a lot of hotroot pepper inside.

"Ready?" asked Amia.

"Ready!" the others said in excited tones.

"GO!"

The night grew long. Little ones had already been put to bed, but many others were still awake, chattering to each other across tables mostly empty of food.

"That was such a wonderful feast," said Aubretia. "I've never seen such wonderful food before."

"Neither have I," added Bultip. "All Redwall feasts must certainly be legendary." He nibbled on his fourth pastie.

Simeon chuckled. "Indeed. How are you feeling my friend?"

"Satisfied," answered Bultip, "and wide awake." He glanced around at the other tables. "And from the looks of it, nearly everybeast else here. Doesn't anybeast sleep?"

"Normally, most of us would already be asleep", explained Abbot Saxtus. "but as it is currently winter, none of us have to get up early to work. All we do eat and sleep; we eat when we're hungry, and sleep when we're sleepy. A pleasant state of affairs."

Aubretia heaved a sigh of contentment. "So what happens now that we're done?"

Foremole looked up from his turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie. "You'm travellen beasts, may'ap you'm gotten gudd stories to tell us'ns mizzy. We'm 'eard all our tales ten 'undred toimes o'er. An' we'm been 'earen 'nother travellen beast's stories sense larst season. Tunget o'er thurr," he pointed a digging claw at an old mouse at another table, "allus 'as gudd'ns, but et's refureshen t' 'ear summ other beast's story."

Cushions, chairs, and other furniture meant for sitting were dragged out and arranged in a half-circle near the big fireplace. Fresh logs were placed inside. Almost all of the Redwallers currently awake were gathered there; a few went to sleep, as they were so tired they could barely keep their eyes open. Aubretia and Bultip were given nicely carved highback chairs from which they would tell their story. The audience settled down, eagerly awaiting the tale from the travelers.

"While Bultip and I walked through your beautiful Abbey," the mousemaid began, "we saw a tapestry depicting two mice. I recognized them as Martin the Warrior, and Ranma the Deathless. From what I know, Martin is the guiding spirit of this place, and Ranma trains every so often an Abbey Champion; both are founders of the Abbey. What do you know about them?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," said Abbot Saxtus. "Martin always guides us through times of trouble. The last time we were privy to his presence, it when two of our young ones, Dandin and Mariel, were here. Unfortunately, Since they left a season and a half ago, his presence has vanished. And Ranma has not been seen since Simeon was a babe. Very little of their lives has been recorded. I dearly wish we knew more."

A smile flickered around Aubretia's lips. She leaned forward, and looked directly at her audience.

"So you will, as I have an exceptional tale to tell..."