Legend of the Green Arrow

== Prologue: Justice's Quiver ==
The pearls are gone, Mad Eyes is dead; a snake can't live without its head. 
I thought that marten's legacy would go away and leave me be.
My paws would never raise my bow to kill again. But it's not so. 
The armored mouse has led me here, joined by the one I hold most dear.
My husband yearns to live in peace. And so did I. I craved release.
Release from war, release from hate. I almost crossed Dark Forest's gate
To join my kin the day they died. They said it's easy, but they lied. 
Vengeance is now all I crave, nobeast now my soul can save. 
-- Poem written by Grath Longfletch
'You can put the past behind you, but sometimes it comes back.''
I can still hear the screams from my family of agony, of grief, of rage. I hear the sound of laughter, horrible vermin laughter as my loved ones are ripped to shreds. My mother and my sisters beg for mercy, mercy they'll never get. My father, Lutra, and my brothers try to fight and defend them, falling themselves under an onslaught of spears and blades. . .
Grath's eyes flew open and she looked around Holt Rudderwake, shivering violently. There was no danger that she could see; the cave was quiet except for the crackle of twigs on the fire and the snoring of sleeping otters. Now that she was awake, she knew where she was and that she was safe, nevertheless, the memory refused to fade. Every night, it seemed, she relived the murders of her kin in her dreams. The cause of their death? Six rose-colored pearls in a scallop-shell case. The Tears of all Oceans. Aptly named, for all they brought to any beast was despair and death. 
Her family never knew that until it was too late, she thought dejectedly. They had never considered themselves rich because of the Tears or the other physical 'treasure' they had; they were 'rich' because they had a family that loved each other. That's where the real treasure in the holt lay.
Greed, particularly the greed of a pine marten and corsairs, changed her life forever. It took Grath's family from her and set her on a path to becoming a merciless killer. . . .Drawing a quilt around her shoulders, Grath rose from her mat, picked up her weapons from where they lay at her side and moved to sit near the fire, holding her bow and quiver of arrows close like a frightened otter kit would hold a security blanket. She huddled around them in a near-fetal position, gazing into the flames as though watching the fire flicker and dance would banish the horror of her past. 
Grath still remembered the vow she had made to herself inside her wrecked holt as she cried over her massacred family, covering each body with a blanket, touching each paw one last time and saying a final goodbye to each of them individually; a vow she'd reaffirmed to herself as she worked to seal the cavern entrance. She felt the tears rising in her throat anew as she remembered that promise, word-for-word: 
I'll see you on the other side at the gates of Dark Forest when my time comes. I love you all. I'll make those wavescum pay for slaughtering you. I'll send them all to Hellgates. I may lose my life in the process, but you'll be avenged.
On the way back to Ruddaring and Holt Rudderwake to drop her and Inbar off, Grath and Abbot Durral had sat together in the main cabin of the Seaking and he'd given her advice: "Anger or the desire for revenge can't bring back the creatures you've loved and lost, Grath. Hate is wasted energy that can be used for something more productive. What's the point in continuing to hate a creature after he's dead?" 
"I don't know how to stop, Durral. It's all Mad Eyes' fault. . ."
"He's dead," the old mouse repeated, taking both of the archer's paws in his and squeezing them gently. "I know it's his fault your family's dead, but he's dead now, too. You've killed vermin in revenge, but what good has it been, really?"
Fresh tears stung Grath's eyes; her shoulders slumped and the quilt fell to the mat as she stood slowly and left the cave. Durral had been right: She'd killed vermin left and right; numerous corsairs had fallen to her arrows, but no matter how much blood she shed it couldn't open the gates of Dark Forest and bring her family back to life. Grath needed to be somewhere quiet, somewhere she could get control of herself. . . somewhere she could grieve and not worry about waking anybeast. . . .
Grath knew where she was going. Not far from Holt Rudderwake was another cave, a mysteriously beautiful place filled with clear, natural quartz crystals that jut from the ceiling and the walls. She'd been there before and seen it herself, the only place the crystals don't grow is the floor and a solitary, wide window cut into the cavern wall near the ceiling.
When Martin II, Cleckstarr Lepus Montisle, Plogg, Welko, and Viola Bankvole arrived here, Winniegold had shown the cave to the group the morning before they left on their voyage to rescue Durral from the vermin. "Welcome to Rainbow Cavern, mates. I know you don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to show this to all of you before you left. I hope the sun's out . . ."
Her words seemed to be the cue for what happened next: In almost the exact instant the ottermaid finished speaking, the sun emerged from behind a cloud, shining down through the window and through the crystals, turning them into prisms.
Grath and her companions stood in silent awe. Flashes of color danced on the walls, the floors, the ceiling . . . the entire cave was alive with rainbows!
Martin let out a whistle. "Wow!"
"This is bally amazin'!" Clecky breathed.
"Amazin' ain't the word for it because it's too minor," Grath finally managed to say. "How did this cave come into bein'?"
"Our ancestors cut this window into the cavern wall long seasons ago when they first came to Ruddaring," Winniegold explained. "Nature did the rest of the work."
"Winniegold, this is beautiful," Viola half-whispered. "I wish we had a place like this at Redwall Abbey."
"I wish we had a place like your Abbey here at Ruddaring. I'd love to be able to see and visit it myself someday."
"Anybeast who comes to Redwall Abbey in peace is welcome there."
That memory faded in the mists of time as Grath reached the cave. Running into the semi-darkness, she let her weapons fall to the ground and prostrated herself on the cavern floor, keening in agony. 
After what seemed like an eternity Grath looked up through tears. Watching the shifting patterns of the moonlight where it came through the crystals, reflecting faint rainbows on the walls, she felt herself hypnotized. The walls of the cavern expanded, receding further and further away. Minute details sprang into sharp focus. 
The otter's eyes traced the outline of every paw print, every pebble, and each grain of dust; she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and noticed a large dragonfly clinging motionless to a stalactite, its wings spread and flashing with tiny rainbows of their own. With single-minded purpose Grath started slowly, cautiously toward it to get a closer look, not wanting to frighten the insect away. 
== Chapter One: The Warrior ==
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Category:Legend of the Green Arrow