Curiosity

The Mouse

"How much farther?" Curiosity asked as she followed Mace down the mountain.

"A couple hours. Are you tired?" he asked as he led the way down the deer trail. He was no longer limping at least, but the scratches were definitely infected. He kept going regardless. Stubborn dog.

"No. Just hungry." She began scanning the area around for anything to eat.

"What are you doing? Get back here!" Mace said as she left the trail to follow a rustling noise.

"I'm hungry. Shh, you'll scare the food." She stalked towards the mouse she had spotted, making no noise.

"Whatever you're hunting can't hear us."

She didn't answer, intent on her prey. She pounced, catching the mouse with her front paws. "Got ya!" With one paw holding it down, she dropped to her belly to look at the mouse. It struggled to get away and she pressed down harder. "I'm sort of sorry for this, but you know how it is."

"Cat, either eat it or let it go. I would prefer you let it go. It just seems wrong."

"But I'm hungry." She turned her head to look at Mace to find him studying her. "What?"

"Nothing. Let the little guy go."

"But-"

"Let go!"

Curiosity froze, because it wasn't Mace who spoke. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. Was that the mouse?" He came over and examined the mouse. "Hey, can you understand me?"

The mouse struggled, looking and acting like a mouse, but Curiosity was getting a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Let go!" The words were slurred but understandable.

"It is the mouse," Curiosity whispered. "It's okay, mouse, I'm not going to hurt you. We're human too."

It kept struggling, becoming frantic. It made little squeaking noises now and there were no more words.

"Come on, Mousie. I'm not going to hurt you,"

"Let it go," Mace said quietly. "Just let it go."

"But it'll run. How can we save it if it runs?"

"It's too late, Curiosity. He-or she, I guess- is a mouse now. Just let it go."

"Mace, we can't leave it like this."

He got up and nuzzled her neck. "I'm sorry, Curiosity. I really am. But Tobias talked to me about this. If an enchanted human loses its self, you can't change them back. They would go insane. We can't do that. Let it go."

"Please don't make me do this."

"I'm not going to make you do anything," he said calmly.

She looked down at the mouse who was struggling to get away. Her paw had him pressed to the ground and she could feel his heart beating so fast it was humming. There was no trace of humanity left in it.

She wanted to cry. She could feel the sobs, but she was a cat, and cats couldn't cry. She lifted her paw and the mouse scurried away, disappearing into the underbrush. Curiosity didn't get up, didn't move.

"You and Tobias were talking about me, weren't you?" she asked. "You think I'm headed that way, like the mouse."

"You're not going to get like that."

"So you were talking about me."

He sighed. "Yes. Tobias was just worried because of how long you have been enchanted."

"That's what happened before, isn't it? With the poppies. I became totally cat for a few minutes."

"Yes, I think so. You scared me."

She shuddered. "I'm scaring myself. I feel it sometimes. I forget I'm human, or what it's like to be human." She closed her eyes tight. "What is happening, Mace? There are crazy mud things after me trying to kill me, someone didn't want me leaving the castle, and now it turns out someone forgot to put a time limit on my spell, so even if the men don't catch and kill me, it won't matter because I'm going to turn completely into a cat."

Mace let out a ferocious growl that startled her into opening her eyes and looking at him. He stood over her and she could almost feel the fury vibrating from him.

"None of that is going to happen to you! We are going to get you human again and figure out what you saw that has you in so much danger and then we are going to fix it!"

"What do you mean, what I saw?" she asked quietly.

He calmed down enough to sit beside her. "I've been thinking about it," he said. "It's the only thing that makes sense, and it makes even more sense when you take into account you and your propensity to get into trouble."

"Hey!"

"You know it's true. I think you were doing what you do, and you saw or heard something you weren't supposed to. To keep you from telling anyone, someone enchanted you."

"Why enchant me? Why just not kill me?"

He flinched slightly. "I don't know that. Maybe it was just simpler to enchant you. Or maybe whoever it was didn't want to kill you."

"But Mace, why would someone rip out my memories, then enchant me?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "That doesn't really make sense. A side effect of enchantments is total memory loss, so if they were going to enchant you, why remove your memories?"

They stared at each other for a minute, then Mace shrugged. "We will figure it out. And until we do, I'll be around to remind you that you are human." He stood up and nudged her with his nose. "And you promised me a kiss," he reminded her. "Come on, up."

She got to her feet, still contemplating the life that could possibly be before her. Life as a cat, not even knowing she had ever been human. The cat part wasn't so bad. Being a cat was fun. But the thought of losing herself permanently terrified her. It was just another way of being alone, this time forever.

"Come on, Cat," Mace said softly, again using his nose to push her forward. "It's going to be okay. Let's get to Tobias's. From there it's just a few more days to Jack's, then we will get the spells off us."

Curiosity started walking, wondering if she would be unenchanted in time to save herself.