Rodentia Adventures

CHAPTER 4: STOLEN HEART

For the longest time that lone, nameless mouse stared at the stick grasped within its paw, imagining all the shapes that it could take, the ways that it could be used. It felt like its head was spinning as the rapid images appeared one after another, looping back on themselves, offering in its mind all of the potential in the world. In reality that was only a slight exaggeration. 

It had to actively force itself to look away and toss the stick aside, knowing that it could potentially engage in these newfound looping thoughts forever, and that this was not a safe place to linger. It turned back to the book with a newfound confidence, now studying the strange lettering. Somehow the creature had expected for all of it to make sense, for meaning to flood its mind as the images of tools and weapons had, but sadly, it was still complete gibberish. Disappointing, but it was hard to complain. In such a short time, the creature could already feel its mind expanding dramatically, and it wanted more. So much more. 

Not here, though. It had dawdled in this place, out in the open, for far too long. Even though it felt ten times the mouse it was just hours before, it was still well aware that none of these newfound ideas would keep it safe from the countless dangers which filled the immediate vicinity, much less the rest of this world. The mouse could not stay here. The problem was that it couldn't leave the book, either. The book had given so much, and the mouse strongly believed, had so much more to give. It would sooner die than abandon it, but had no intention of doing either. 

The book was heavy and the mouse weak. The journey was a long and arduous one, with the rodent stopping at many places, none of which were quite suitable. Sheltering its own body might have been easy enough, but a large object requires an even larger secured space. At any point it could have caught the eye of a predator, a large hard-cover tome moving around on its own being considerably more conspicuous than a single small rodent, but if any had seen it, none took action. Perhaps it wasn't simple coincidence, either. Books have very few natural predators, after all. 

At long last it reached a large covered space, one that would hide it from hostile eyes and shield the tome from the elements. Beneath an abandoned truck it set the book down, declaring this place a new home for both itself and this fabulous book of secrets. It was convinced that with enough time and perseverance it would one day unlock all of the precious knowledge held within the tome. This belief was, sadly, a flawed one, but little did this one insignificant creature know that its curiosity would be the first step in creating a new and largely unseen civilization. 

<3~ <3~ 

The pair continued on, Jerin following her brother, Aaron simply trying to escape the scene of the crime, even that wasn't quite the choice of words he would have used to describe what had occurred. The problem was that if anyone were to ask, he'd struggle to think of better ones. Already a small group of mice had gathered to gawk at the wreckage, and the two quickly leaving the scene while so many were arriving with interest would seem quite suspicious to anyone who happened to take notice. Nobody did, the ruined store being the sort of thing none dared look away from, lest they potentially risk missing something interesting, such as it becoming somehow even more ruined. An unlikely prospect, sure, but why take the chance? 

"So, that fancy dressed guy in the mask." Jerin said, finally breaking the silence. "He was pretty tough huh?" 

"Not really. He wouldn't have been a problem if I had more room to fight." 

"Oh, so he was weak then?" 

The larger mouse stopped, brow furrowed in thought. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that." 

Jerin rolled her eyes and muttered, "If you don't know, you could just say so." 

Aaron pretended to not hear that. "This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about. We haven't even left the city, and someone's already tried to murder you. I told you this 'quest' of yours was a terrible idea."