Mouse walked out of the servants changing rooms and walked up to Agune standing by the door."Good morning Agune. I'm here to start my duties for the day."
He looked at Agune with a straight face. Fresh memories of the beating running through his head. He heard Agune sniff and not look at him. "About time you're almost late, hurry and start in the library, there was a party in there last night and it is a mess."
Mouse nodded and entered the keep. His fists clenched his nails breaking his skin."I'll make him pay for all that pain he is giving to me."He rubbed the faded bruise on his throat and picked up his supplies and headed towards the library.
He walked on the carpets as instructed by Agune making sure that no one saw him or knew that he was around. He sighed.
"This training from Agune has helped, but that isn't changing my impression of him.That cursed thief queen lover."
"Step… Step… Step."
He cursed to himself and hid as the footsteps approached.
"Stupid headache. I only had a few drinks last night, and now I'm stuck with this. How can I attend classes today?" Mouse heard the person curse. "My family is going to kill me if I fail. This must have been Gairen's plan. I'll return the favor to him."
Mouse waited until the person disappeared around a corner before stepping out of his hiding place. He cursed at the person who passed. "Stupid. That's your fault falling to some simple trick like that."
He kept walking until he stood in front of the giant library doors. He whistled. "The amount of gold just in this door would be enough for an entire unit in the outer city for several years." He pushed the doors open and walked in cursing at the mess left behind.
He closed the door room and put his hands on his head and cursed. "Stupid Agune… Expecting me to clean this all up by myself. He can go rot." He pulled an apple out of his pocket and started chewing on it while looking around the at the mess. "This will take a while. At least I won't be bothered. I'll start with all the books." He bent over and picked up a book. He felt a chill on the back of his neck he cursed and rolled to the side as a dagger flew through empty air. He looked up and saw Agune standing a few feet away from him. He stood up and stared at Agune angrily.
"Your instincts are good, your footwork is improving, but still you need to attack and evade, and not just evade. A counterattack is least expected. Especially from someone your size."
"Clang!"
Mouse turned his head and watched the dagger fall onto the ground. He looked at Agune and cursed placing his hands over his stomach to block a kick. "Don't be distracted and focus on your opponent only."
He took a step back, and Agune stood up in a relaxed position. "What's going to happen when you have no room to move?" He heard Agune curse and sigh. "What do you want? What are you doing here? You really are a mouse. You don't want to hurt, too scared to hurt, but you take anything you want. How does that make sense?""
"SLAP!"
Mouse's head spun as he fell onto the ground. He looked up and saw Agune standing over him with a dagger in his hand. He sat up feeling his face burn with pain from the slap and stared at Agune.
"You can't run anymore don't you understand that?"Mouse looked at Agune defiantly listening to Agune's words. He rolled backwards and stood up looking at Agune. "If there is a hole, a mouse will always fit."
He heard Agune sigh. "Mouse, Mouse, Mouse. You do realize that all your friends are gone due to someone in this keep? You need to stop running away with your tail between your legs and start fighting back."
He watched Agune step forward to attack, as he attacked Mouse rolled out of the way evading the attack.
"Fight back!"
Mouse shook his head. "I'm not that type of person."
"Hahahaha. Mouse… If that's the case, then this is where our lives part and your death is nothing. I hope in your next life you won't be afraid of protecting or finding out what happened to those that you call family."
Mouse heard Agune curse. "You're all words with no desire to follow through. It's better you're dead. I'll help you…"
He took a step back as Agune took steps forward. Agune cursed and smiled. "If you try and evade again, you'll fail." Mouse smiled. "Once a mouse, always a mouse." He watched as Agune's attack came and moved to avoid it. He cursed as he fell backwards over a small stack of books.
As he fell backwards his eyes were wide open in fear knowing he can no longer defend any blows. "Farewell Mouse, may you see your friends and all the ones that have disappeared in the next life. Maybe in that life you'll learn what you clearly aren't learning here."
He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow, but instead he heard a thud and angry mumbling as Agune walked away. He opened one of his eyes and noticed that the dagger had landed right next to his face and he moved away from it as a tear fell from his eye.
The door to the library closed and Mouse was left on his own, he sat up as tears fell from his eyes onto the carpeted floor and his sleeves. "He's right, how can I a mouse fight back, or even take a life?"
He stood up and started cleaning the long wooden table quietly. "I'm not like him. I just can't kill people for no reason. I take things from them especially things I like, but never a life for no reason."
He piled the dirty plates and glasses onto a nearby cart and finished cleaning the library. He walked to the window and stared out sighing. "It has taken me all morning just to clean this place. I should find something to eat."
He turned and pushed the cart of dirty plates and glasses out of the library. He looked back in the library checking that it was finished and smiled. "You can't even tell that there was a party in here at all." He closed the doors of the library behind him.
He saw Agune standing opposite the door and stared at him in disappointment. Mouse looked down at the carpet.
"Take the cart to the kitchen, then you're done. I don't want to see you anywhere in or near this building until you've decided you're ready to fight back."He watched in silence as Agune walked down the hallway.
Mouse cursed and leaned against the wall with tears forming in his eyes. "That means I can't help my family until I'm able to fight back. Why can't I fight back? Am I scared? Is there something wrong with me?"
He started to shake and sat against the wall with his heart beating out of control. "I'll go see her. She'll know what's wrong with me."
He stood up and pushed the cart in silence to the kitchen and disappeared into the streets of the Capital Center. He walked to the gardens.
"Finally. I'm back here in the gardens." He took a deep breath and smiled. "I really don't want to leave this place."
He climbed the trees and rocks until he was sitting on top of the waterfall and waited silently. He smelled the familiar smell of flowers and fruit and started to smile.
"Mouse… Hello there. It's nice to see you again today. But aren't you early today?"
"It's nice to see you too. I just got off early. Not a busy day today at the keep," He saw her shake her head at him. "Even I can see your heart is troubled by something. Why don't you come join me so we can talk?"
He nodded hiding fresh tears welling up in his eyes and jumped onto the ground without making a sound and sitting on the rock next to the woman.
"It seems I can't find my friends or hear anything from them because I'm a person who doesn't fight back."He lowered his head. "And now, I can't even work in the keep to even find the person responsible because I won't fight back."
He looked at her and told her about the fight with Agune and the regular beatings he would receive from him. "Mouse. Follow me."
He stood up and followed her until they stopped in front of a large tree. He looked at the tree with its large roots growing over boulders. He stared at the tree and listened to her words.
"See this tree here, and its roots wrapping around the boulder?" Mouse nodded. "If you look closely, there is a constant battle happening here. The tree roots are wanting the space to grow, and the boulder wants to stay where it is." He looked at her and nodded. "There is more I want to show you." He followed her and sat next to the small creek as she sat on a nearby rock.
"You see the water from the waterfall hits the stones and rocks. Each time it falls it's fighting against those stones and rocks, just so that it would have a new path to travel." He watched and looked at her in confusion.
"That's nice to know, but what does it have to do with me finding my friends or those that are missing?"
His heart skipped a beat when she looked at him with a smile on her face. "Everything... This world is in a constant battle, but the question you need to ask yourself is this…"
He waited for her to continue, but she sat and stared at the water. He was about to open his mouth. "Are they worth it?" He looked at the water.
"If the water could think, would it say that it's worth it to make another path, the answer it would say is yes."
He sat in silence with his head down in thought. "The reason why Agune sent you away, is because you say they're important, but in your heart and actions you're proving they're not."
His eyes opened wide. "My actions are not showing that?" He looked at her shaking her head at him sadly. "If they're not important, then you're most likely going to die just like Agune said, or you'll just give up and walk away forgetting their memory and your desire to find out."
He looked at her with his now pale and tear-filled face. "They're important to me, but every time something happens my fear gets the best of me and then I just try and run away."
He watched her move towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder making sure he was looking into her eyes. "If they're really worth it. Even fear can't stop you."
He watched her walk past him. "I'll leave you to your thoughts. If something is very important to you, you should fight for it. But that also means that people will die and be hurt. The thing that'll keep you moving forward when people are dying around you. You just need to remember, is it worth it? People fight for those they love and cherish in their lives. What are you fighting for?"
He watched her as she walked along the path before disappearing from his eyesight and he sighed loudly. He undressed and sat in the water.
"Are they worth it for my hands to be covered in blood?"
He looked down at his hands. Then he looked at the trees around him that seemed to grow. "Trees, I wonder if you have to deal with this as well?" He looked at his hands imagining them covered in his enemies' blood. "What was I going to do when I found out the information?"
He looked at the large tree with its roots growing around the boulder. "I need to be more like you trees. Strong on the outside with a powerful heart on the inside."
He got out of the water and dressed. "I'm a mouse, but I'm a mouse that has a tail, teeth and sharp claws. I'll fight back, and I'll fight back like a mouse."
He stood looking at the trees and sighed. "Even if I say I'm going to fight back. Why is my body still shaking in fear?"