Silver the Warrior
Chapter XI: Freedom and Monsters

As I promised you. I'm back and I am here for a good while. My love for this story (primarily because I grew up watching and reading Redwall) is my main reason of finishing.

The sun is high, the air is humid and Silver and the gang are sweating buckets as they walk through the marshes.

"-sigh- that sun is hot, I wish we were traveling at night when it is cooler." Julie-Su complained as she wiped sweat from her fore head.

"We need the sun to guide us to the right path to Hacienda, Julie-Su. With the use of our front shadows, as Vera-Lo said, right Amy?"

"Yes." Amy replied.

Vera-Lo's instructions are as followed

Follow your front shadow do not stop till you reach thee one with dead three top.

See the twin paths, but beware of one sweet as spreading a top a scone.

Camp close by night and watch out by day, for the three-eyed one, who bars the way.

More you will not learn until you reach the Warden of the Marshes.

As they walk on, Silver sees something up ahead of the trail.

"Guys, a fork in the trail!"

Amy became curious and mentions to Silver, "Didn't one of the instructions mention something about twin paths?"

She reviews her leaflet and says "Yes, see here: See the twin paths, but beware of one sweet as spreading a top a scone."

Silver stood curiously and thought 'what did she mean by this? Is it a warning?'

Before going any further, Amy looks around and notices Knuckles is missing.

"Julie-Su, have you seen Knuckles?"
"He heard water over yonder so he went to fill the canteens with water."

"Shh!" Silver said, "Do you hear something… sounds like… buzzing sounds."

Amy and Julie-Su stay quiet and they too hear the buzzing getting increasingly louder, mixed with the buzzing, they hear "OUCH" being shouted.

Amy gasps; "It's Knuckles! We must save him!" Silver, Amy and Julie-Su follow the sounds and find Knuckles.

As they're running, Julie-Su had a revelation about the riddle.

"Beware of one sweet as spreading a top a scone –gasp- Oh NO!" She stops in her tracks to see a monstrous beehive, doused in honey and honeycombs.

"Honey!"

After viewing her surroundings, she looks down to see Knuckles getting attacked by a swarm of bees.

"Its BEES!" Shouted Silver before he runs over to save Knuckles.

"Amy! I'm trapped! Help!" Knuckles scowls in pain, being stung countless times as he swats the bees away from him.

Within seconds, the bees swarm Silver as well, being stung in the process. And not too long after, Julie-Su is swarmed.

"Guys, we're surrounded!" she shouts while being stung. The only person who has not attacked is Amy, asking herself,

Well this is strange, why aren't they stinging me?

She then sees that the bees find her voice calming and then tells her friends,

"Guys, don't speak. The bees only attack when you scream and shout. They appear to like my voice."

She then decides to sing a song to soothe them;

With commitment, faith and patience,
I'll convey your message
brought this light, through your guidance, peace be upon you my beloved.

My beloved, my dear beloved

My beloved, peace be upon you.
My dear friend, peace be upon you.

My sister, peace be upon you.
My dear brother, peace be upon you!

As Amy sang, the bees began to disperse and left off. The stinging has stopped and they were safe thanks to her soft voice as they walked away from the beehive.

"Marvelous Amy, thank you! Just marvelous!" Silver exclaimed and the others thanked her as well.

"Who needs a sword when Amy's voice is our salvation!" said Julie-Su as everybody smiled at her, leaving Amy speechless with only saying

"Oh, nonsense! But now that we know where to go, I suggest we get going! We got to hurry"

Everyone agreed with her and started heading the opposite direction. As Amy took the lead, she announces that the sun is going down.

While on their journey, Silver caught up to her and tried to strike up his point as to the series of events that just happened.

"Amy, a strange thing happened while you were singing. I didn't even notice the bees."

Amy is just left with a smile on her face and nods along.

"I just heard your voice, Amy. I could listen to it forever."

They stood face to face, in sheer silence as they look at each other with sweet eyes and Amy flashes a smile.

They decide to keep going once Knuckles and Julie-Su caught up with them.

Back at Fort Marium, Shadow, Aries, Nooncar, Tania and the travelers have a plan and it is beginning to take shape.

"Ready everybody?" asked Nooncar. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Then on with the show!"

Nooncar knocks on the fortress gates, to be greeted by a fox that opens the gates for them. Once inside, they are greeted with drunken foxes and rats, drinking cordial and dance, feeling merry.

Once inside, the show is to begin. Before them, at a long dining table, sits Ivan the terrible and Big. Ivan mugs them all and Big chomps away at a leg of chicken.

The show starts off; with a team of acrobats doing jumps and flips over a pit of fire. Big is amused while Ivan snarls, "This is the so-called entertainment we have been waiting for?"

"Aye, that is me mate Nooncar and his pals." Big defended as he laughs at the acrobats. "Oh and a double warning, it is BAD LUCK to harm my magic friends!"

Ivan rolls his eyes and drinks his cordial.

Nooncar goes up to Big and greets him with cheer.

"Big! My aquatic feline friend! Top of the evening, what what?" Nooncar pulls out a silver coin from beneath his chin, causing Big to laugh and clap with cheer.

Ivan wanted to prove that Nooncar was a phony, so he grabs him by the neck and says

"So you're magic aren't you? Then DO SOME MAGIC!"

That is when Nooncar takes Ivan's drink, chugs it down and throws his drink.

Ivan backs up, thinking drink will spill onto him, but what came out was leaves and not cordial.

Feeling embarrassed, his slaves and his workers laughed at him, leaving Ivan angry, but intrigued.

"Make some more magic!" Ivan commanded.

Nooncar agrees, and the plan begins to unfold. Aries, dressed as a young fox, inches close to Tania, who whispers, "It's show time, young hedgehog. Be ready!"

He nods as Nooncar grabs him and drags him close to a treasure box.

"Now watch as we put this naughty fox in the box! Where does the fox go?"

The vermin shout "in the box!" as they shove Aries in the box with Tania playing Nooncar's assistant.

Once the box is locked, Aries gets ready for action as Nooncar chants away to the crowd. Quietly as puffs of smoke form a mirage, Tania takes Aries away under her cloak and takes him to the side by the prison cells where his friends lay in wait for him and Shadow.

After the smoke fades, Ivan is left curious after Nooncar claims the "fox" is gone. Ivan then goes up to the box and says, "If the fox is really gone, than you won't mind me doing THIS!"

Ivan pulls out his sword and punctures the box, leaving everybody gasping and a gullible Big frightened and angry, running to fight Ivan, only for Ivan to then trip him.

Nooncar just smiles and says, "As you can see…" as he talks, he takes out a sword of his own and punctures the box "It is empty!"

"For as you can see, with Nooncar the Raccoon, the magic is real!"
Nooncar takes a bow as they all cheered and Ivan snarls.

While the show goes forth, Tania takes the cloak off of him, she tells the young hedgehog "Scurry on, young Aries! Good Luck!"

He nods and runs off to find his friends.

Out in the woodlands, while Julie-Su and Knuckles were fast asleep, Amy and Silver decide to make a campfire and roast some chestnuts for themselves. Once they were done, Amy tosses one into Silvers hands, only for him to toss it back and forth for it being too hot to hold. Amy is left giggling at his behavior.

Once cooled off, Silver throws it in the air, slicing it so using the blade of his dagger, blowing the chestnuts to cool off so he can eat, when Amy asks him a question.

"Silver, what is it like… being a warrior?" She asks shyly.
Silver munches on his chestnut and replies bluntly "I don't know. I won't be a warrior until my father's sword is back in my possession."

Amy looks at the shell of her eaten chestnut and exclaims, "But you're a warrior now, silly! Ask anyone." and throws the shell at Silver, as they laugh. Silver then looks over to Julie-Su and Knuckles who are fast asleep.

"No good asking them, they're fast asleep, as should we be."

Amy sighs and replies, "I cannot sleep, Silver." As she stares into the fire, an awkward silence falls on them.

But finally Silver breaks the silence.

"Amy… tell me more about where you come from… Hacienda."

Amy sighs and replies "Hacienda? At dawn, the sunlight filters like golden dust through the sycamores and the flowers are in full bloom in many colors"

Silver smiles and says, "That sounds lovely. Maybe one day –" Silver is paused as that silence falls on them once again and Amy sighs "I hope Aries and Shadow are alright."

"Aries is quite young, but Shadow will look after him. He is a warrior."

"You're right." Amy replied, "I have faith in Shadow, but we are all warriors now, Silver. Like it or not."

Back at Fort Marium, Aries wanders off to find his friends and as he walks over, he finds them, only for his friends to confuse him for an actual fox.

"Oh No you DON'T!" Sapphire shouts as she along with other inmates try to hold the 'fox' down, but to their surprise it is Aries.

"It's me, you silly bunch! Now come on, let's get out of here!"

Sapphire nods in agreement and updates Aries on what they were doing in preparation to escape Fort Marium. They loosened a brick within the walls of the fort in order for an easy exit and Aries is amazed. Shadow then appears through the other side.

"Let's hurry, we don't have much time to waste!"
As Aries helped everyone through the hole, Shadow had business of his own to take care of…

Now, to take back my Emerald…

Shadow wanders off from the prison cells to Ivan's Fortress bunker, which Shadow simply rams down the door with a kick. As he panders through the bunker, he finds what appears to be a treasure chest, but with a lock. Enraged, Shadow starts to cause havoc and goes through every place to find it within the bunker. It didn't take Shadow long to find they key… which turned out to be hiding behind a piece of tapestry.

"What an imbecile." He whispered to himself. He grabs the key to find his beloved possession, in which his father passed on to him, his Chaos Emerald. Without thinking twice, Shadow leaves with his magical gem. But to his displeasure, it is not helping him in escaping, for it was hexed when it got taken away from him.

After retrieving his emerald, he runs back to the others, but he overhears a bell ringing.

"ESCAPE! ESCAPE!"

"Oh no!" he rushes back to the prisoners but not without facing his enemy, Jonas.

"You!" Shadow snarls as Jonas smirks to his face. "So much for being the big hero, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Shadow snarls and decides to fight him but it was not without a sidetrack, as Jonas holds his father, Cornelius by the neck with a dagger.

"Move any closer hedgehog! Or your father shall die before you!"
Shadow growls on as Ivan enters in with his army of vermin trying to recapture the slaves.

"AFTER THEEEEEEM!" Ivan shouted as the prisoners reach freedom, as Nooncar and Tania await them below. Shadow and Cornelius along with Joseph and Sapphire are the last ones to leave.

Before Ivan approached them any closer, Shadow grabs a javelin that missed him and uses it to hit Jonas before he laid the blade on his father.

Weak, Cornelius falls to his feet and yelps that he feels faint. Shadow grabs him and Sapphire helps them leave as Joseph fights them off.

"Go young Shadow, GO!" the porcupine shouts as he fights off the large crowd. Sapphire looks onto them and shouts, "Shadow GO! Don't let Joseph's sacrifice be in vain. Now GO!"

"What will become of you, Sapphire?"
"The others need me here, Shadow. Go I will be fine."

Shadow nods and Sapphire shoves them into the hole out to a hay sack in which breaks their fall. The liberated slaves make a run for Nooncar's prairie wagon and leaves off to the safety of the woodlands near the shoreline.

This leaves Ivan enraged and screaming to the sky "I'M SURROUNDED BY FOOLS!" and his shouts are echoed into the sky. From a distance, Nooncar and the group hears his shouts and shouts in a jolly fashion "Good show, my friends! Well done!" as they walk off back to the woodland.

Back in the deep woodlands, Amy sleeps as Silver, feeling quite tired himself,

keeps vigil over the camp.

He then hears a noise, like howls of pain. Silver follows the sound from a distance and sees Julie-Su and Knuckles sitting by a stream of water, where Julie-Su is seen healing Knuckles' bee stings, which is causing him discomfort.

"OW! What's the big idea!?" he shouts in pain as Julie-Su applies herbal remedies on his stings.

"Hold still, Knucklehead! This will take the itch away from the stings!" Julie-Su replied, rubbing the remedy on Knuckles' sting wounds.

"OW! You're worse than those bees, I tell ya!" Julie-Su rolls her eyes and says "Okay, there! Finished. You will thank me later for this, Knuckles."

"Hmmph!" Knuckles snarls, looking at his bee stings.

"Morning!" Silver greeted, with Amy behind him waving at the two.

"Top of the morning, hedgehog." Knuckles replied.

"We got breakfast!" Amy said, as she hands the two a scone each, toasted warm. They chowed down, for they were hungry and while they ate, Amy decides to go to the stream and fill her canteen with water.

As she was filling it up, she hears a strange sound.

"I see you! BEWARE!"

This scares Amy and she runs off back to the group, hiding behind Silver and Knuckles. Silver pulls out his dagger and shout "WHO GOES THERE?!"

The voice speaks once again "GO BACK VERMIN! LEAVE MY LAND!"

"Who are you!?" Silver shouted, getting angrier.

"GO BACK!"

"Understand, we are peaceful travelers, heading for Hacienda!"

"GO AWAY!"

Silver rolls his eyes and tells the team "Let's go forth!"

As they walk, they hear the voice once again.

"DARE GO ANY FURTHER, AND YOU SHALL PERISH!"

Silver has had enough and tells the team he will find the source of this, telling Amy and the others to stick together while he goes forth.

Amy, in fear stays by Julie-Su and Knuckles only to jump when she hears Silver groan.

"They got Silver!" She charges with a large stick, making her way through the long grass.

"I'm coming Silver! Guys come on!"

She fights through the terrain, but then trips and once she looks up, she sees what appears to be a three eyed creature, scaring her wits end.

"Oh NO!" She shouts and she backs up away, only for Julie-Su and Knuckles to clash into her, pushing her forward to see what she thought was a three eyed monster into a three-eyed-arachnid type monster, dangling above her.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Song I was listening to as I wrote this:
Ya Nabi Salam Alayka- Maher Zain (Idea came from here for Amy's song)

So far, so good. Review away!