"Finally, we're back… Leaf, thank you…"
He nodded and took off his mask. He looked at Poison and waved her off as he walked through the village letting out a long breath. "Is that it? After all we've been through just recently. You're just going to shoo me away?"
Mouse stopped and turned looking at her. "Our mission is over. I need to report in, and so do you for the mission you did. Is there something else that needs to be done?"
He looked at her as she cursed and stamped her foot on the branch holding the village. "Is there something else? What's wrong with you? You can be a complete ass sometimes. I hope you know that. Thanks for nothing. Bye." Mouse watched her run away from him and shook his head. He looked up at the village and started to run towards the old shadow's house.
He saluted at the old shadow when he saw him sitting drinking tea outside his home. "You're back? That was fast, I hope that Poison tagging along with you didn't cause you to many problems."
Mouse looked at the old man with a surprised look. "How did you know that she came along?"
"Hohoho… I'm an old man, it's not as if I have nothing to do except keep an eye on my apprentice is it?"
Mouse shrugged his shoulders and sat next to the old shadow. Found out what happened to the contacts, however the information I have on the port is not as definite."
"Tell me and let me decide on the value of the news."
Mouse nodded. "The contacts were captured and used in testing, identical to what was going to happen to me. They and many others died in cages underneath the city."
"That is indeed not good to hear. We haven't been attacked yet, so I'm hoping they didn't reveal anything about us or the village yet."
Mouse nodded in thought. "I don't think the person who was doing the experiments on them cared for information. So even if they did talk, they wouldn't care to listen to them."
"That sounds terrible… There'll be a time when you take Borgis' life… However, it seems he has disappeared and gone into hiding since we returned his creatures to him. What news of the port?"
Mouse frowned. "I didn't see exactly what they made, but they made references to destroying the Nebi."
"I see… Mouse I feel you're not telling me all, what else happened?"
Mouse nodded. "There's more. Deeper underneath the city I managed to find a group of workers that were finished building it and celebrating the attack on the Nebi. I saw the Supreme greet them and then kill them all. Nothing was left behind except for blood on the walls."
"I see… The Supreme is really trying to keep tabs on people who know what has happened there. I guess since it's finished, they'll open the ports soon to allow people to arrive for the trials."
Mouse nodded and looked at the mug of hot tea sitting next to him. "How did you know I'd be back now? Usually it takes time for the tea to be made."
"Hohohoh… My apprentice. I'm the leader of this village. I know many things about what happens around here, even your pushing away the advances of a certain woman."
Mouse looked at the chuckling old man with an annoyed look. "If you knew about it, why didn't you come and stop her? It's tiring. I even had to complete her mission for her."
"Youth… Why'd I stop that. I'm sure you know her body is different and rather unique."
Mouse nodded and took a sip from the mug of tea next to him and relaxed in the chair breathing in deeply. "I'm just your teacher, I'm not your parent, your choices are your own to make… Mistakes and all."
"Mistakes? What mistakes have I made?"
"Let's not talk about that for now. You should rest and bath for a bit. There's time when we can talk after."
He watched the old shadow stand up and away from the house. "I'll be back later… I need to check on a few things and speak to a few others about the news you've told me. Get some rest and bath when you finished your tea. Then we'll talk about those mistakes."
Mouse let out a long breath and nodded at the old shadow. He watched him fade amongst the crowd of the village and finished the tea in his mug. He stood up and stretched his arms and yawned. He touched his face and jumped into the tree branches jumping from branch to branch until he was standing on the ground near the stream.
"You're back… It's good to see you got back safely."
Mouse looked around and saw Garrn stepping out from behind a large root smiling at him. Mouse smiled and embraced him.
"Yes. I made it back, even if the company I was travelling with gave me a severe headache. What have you been up to?"
"I met up with Sai, and then we traveled to the swamplands. It's becoming very dangerous up there. Ohh, if you're going to bath I wouldn't right now, since there's someone waiting for you."
Mouse sat against the root and shook his head. "Why? Does she have to keep following me around? I'm sure her master has things to keep her busy."
"Hahaha… Sounds complicated. I heard you were in the city. Did you see anyone we knew?"
Mouse shook his head sadly. "No… All I saw were corpses in cages."
"Ohh. That must have been hard on you, especially how you were almost one of them."
Mouse nodded. "Same with you and Sai. I'm just glad the both of you got away. I still need to find Borgis for what he did to the others."
"As long as you come back alive. If you can't win you need to run Mouse. Only strike when you know you can defeat him."
Mouse nodded. "Yes, I know. If I can't beat him, I'll go into hiding, but the moment I see a chance. I'll take his head."
He looked at Garrn's serious face and nodded. "Fine. I promise I won't do anything crazy or stupid if I see him."
"Good… Ahh I think I should go now, and report in. We can talk later. You shouldn't keep her waiting you know." Mouse felt Garrn's elbow in his ribs poking him. He shook his head in annoyance and watched as Garrn jumped into the branches above. Mouse stood up and walked towards the river.
"Finally, you're here. I thought you would sit out there for ages." He looked at the girl standing in front of him and rubbed his eyes. "What is it? I'm tired and need a rest before my next mission."
"What is it with you and just doing missions? You shouldn't be like that. Just take your time and relax." Mouse shook his head. "I don't have time to relax. There is someone that needs to die, and I need to find them, so they don't harm more people than they already have."
"Are you talking about the person who put all those people in cages?"
Mouse nodded. "I'm positive it was him. I almost fell into his trap as well. See my legs and voice is gone because of him. You tell me to stop and relax, yet I can't."
Mouse started to breath heavily and leaned against a tree trunk with his hands.
"Mouse… I'm sorry that those things have happened to you. But even if you don't see me as a friend or an ally, I'm telling you to calm down and relax. It's fine if you don't listen, but what I'm saying is me speaking honestly."
Mouse looked at her angrily. "Leave me alone. I can deal with my own problems."
He watched as a tear started to fall down her face. He shook his head and looked at the ground. "Sorry. I didn't."
"Slap!"
"That's for you being an idiot. I'm standing in front of you trying to help. Fine if you don't want me around then fine. I'm going and you won't see me on any of your future missions!"
He held his cheek with a surprised look as he stared at her back as she ran away from him. He shook his head and turned looking at the stream. He removed his clothes and looked at the bruises covering his body, wincing in pain when he touched them. Mouse then walked into the stream and sat down letting the cool waters wash over him. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
"It's been a long time Mouse… How's your revenge going?"
Mouse felt his face turn red and opened his eyes staring at the beautiful woman sitting on nearby rocks. He smiled. "It's been a long time since I saw you last. What have you been doing?"
"The capital has been locked up for a while, only recently have they started to let people come and go. As soon as I could leave the gardens I came here. What about you? I see you're covered in bruises. Have you been fighting well?"
Mouse nodded keeping his body beneath the water. He rose his hands above the water. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you've been able to get out of the city safely."
He watched her play with her long hair. "I missed you Mouse. I hope you've also been practicing using the trees around you." Mouse nodded. "I'm a lot better. I've been using the trees well."
"That's good. I heard shouting, and it seems some girl has slapped you. Mouse you need to be nicer to people. Then you wouldn't get slapped so much."
Mouse rolled his eyes and splashed water at her. He watched as a tree root rose and protected her from the spray of water. He frowned. "That's cheating."
"I just proved my point. You need to listen to what others say. Anyway, let's talk about other things." Mouse nodded. "I need your advice about many things. I'm really glad that you're back."
"Advice… Yes. It seems you're needing to open your ears. We do need to talk about a few things. I can see you made another deal. Was that wise of you?"
Mouse nodded. "At that point in time I had to. If I didn't then the mission would have failed."
"I understand, you need to remember the more deals you make, the less of you there is. As you already have lost a few things."
Mouse looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You'll know when that time comes… It doesn't matter. It's making you stronger. All I want you to do is remember don't lose yourself to the trees."
He nodded. "I won't. I'll keep myself and not lose it to anything."
"Even the person who put you through all that pain, and took everything from you?"
Mouse looked at her with a serious look. "Even Borgis."
"Good… I'm happy to hear that. Are you going to finish your bath so I can tend to your wounds?"
Mouse opened his mouth and felt his face turn red. He saw her smile. "You still seem to be yourself… Good. Now hurry up out of there. Don't worry I won't look, since I've already seen when you were bathing in the gardens, I know what's down there. Hahaha… Pity that girl will never know."
Mouse looked at the water around him, and then looked at her shyly. "If you've already seen me this way. Why don't you tell me your name?"
"Uhhh. When it comes to names, they're not important. I don't need a title as long as you know me. That's all I ask and want."
Mouse smiled and stood up walking towards the woman. He sat in front of her and turned around so she could see his back. "You've been pushing your body very hard. Almost too hard, lucky it hasn't exploded from all that energy you've been taking in."
Mouse nodded as he felt her cold touch on his back. He shivered as cold tendrils snaked around his body. "Where are the mouths, I hope it isn't over your heart."
Mouse opened his hands and showed them to her. He heard her let out a deep breath. "On your hands. That's good. If it was over your heart, then we'd have to do something drastic."
Mouse turned his head and looked at her. "Drastic? What do you mean? What happens if it was over my heart?"
"You don't need to worry. You need to strengthen your body as you absorb the energy around you. If you don't then the energy will not be able to stay in your body and will want to escape causing damage in its wake."
He nodded and sat still while the cold tendrils wrapped around his body. He felt them withdraw. "Finished… You should be good as new. You should go back to the old shadow. He's going to be waiting for you."
Mouse nodded and stood up in front of the woman and looked at her in the eyes. "Thank you for your help. I'll go first."
"Yes. I'll stay here for a while. I haven't had a chance to sing, so go find your next mission, and I'll be here when you get back."
Mouse got dressed and walked away from the stream with a smile on his face as he listened to the singing. He looked up at the branches jumping and making his way back to the village. He ran towards the old shadows house and stood at the door waiting for him to return.
"Your back so soon? Your body looks a lot better. I saw a few bruises when you came back."
Mouse smiled. "The bath helped healing my pains. I'm ready for the next task."
"Youth. Heal so fast. That's good news for us. Your next task is to go to the swamplands and identify the threat that is there. There is no killing on this mission. You just need to find out what is happening there, and then return."
Mouse nodded and saluted the old shadow.
"Also. From my reports it seems that the capital is once again open. It seems they're about to prepare for the ritual for the guard… A good opportunity has arisen for us."
Mouse lifted his head and looked at the old shadow. "What is the ritual?"
"The ritual is for choosing the guards of Athlos. High ranked generals, that report to the Supreme, and fight off people who attack the people of Athlos."
Mouse smiled. "A guard would have a great chance to mingle with the attendants."
"Hohohoh… It would seem so… Finish your mission in the swamplands, and then report here. We'll talk more of the guard when you return."
Mouse nodded. "What about the mistakes you mentioned that I have made?"
"Ahh. Yes. I have a feeling you already know them. Don't make a deal you can't afford. You may not realize it now, but in the future, it can hurt you."
Mouse saluted and bowed the old shadow. "I'll remember those words, and not lose myself."
"Good to hear, now go…"