"Get the hell outta here and don't came back!" A large dwarven man yelled as he tossed out a drunk young man. The dwarf was so tall he could've been mistaken as just a short buff human.
The boy's face hit the street floor, causing some blood to dribble down his head as he stood. "Thanks for the free drinks fucker!" Kenneth yelled loudly at the dwarf with a fist raised in the air.
"Why I outta," The dwarf grumbled angrily as he started to march towards Kenneth.
Seeing the dwarf's reaction, Kenneth spun on his heels and began to run in the opposite direction.
"Has-'hiccup'Haste!" Kenneth yelled as the dwarf neared him. Instantly, Ken shot forward, almost causing him to fall but still keeping his stride.
Eventually outrunning the dwarf and making it to a dark alley, aka his home, Kenneth let out a sigh of relief. He dropped onto the empty potato sack he called his bed and laid his head onto the only other set of clothes he called his pillow. He slept in a dark alley that didn't usually have any foot traffic, so it was a secluded space all to himself.
Enjoying his small victory, Kenneth thought back on his day. He had done what he usually did. He stole some coins from some nobles, though not too much. Just a couple so they wouldn't really notice the weight change in coin unless they counted.
Most nobles wouldn't dare to pull out their coin pouch on the street in front of everyone, so they would try to guess if they were stolen from, by checking the weight. Pickpocketing was an issue in the city, so it wasn't smart to steal the whole thing unless you wanted guards breathing down your neck.
Doing this trick a couple times a day would keep him fed for the day or two. Luckily, he was in a big city, with around a couple million or so people. So, he never really saw the same people he stole from often. And if he did, he'd avoid them like the plague.
After "acquiring" some coins, he'd rent a bath for an hour. After that, he'd change out of his nicer clothes into his casual ones. Just a simple brown pair of pants, some black boots, and a tan tunic. Then he'd eat and drink his fill at whatever establishment hadn't already blacklisted him already.
It was usually pretty easy to get some free drinks. Order a couple drinks with his food, pay double and tell them to just keep the drink going. Since it was a big city, most places were packed with adventurers at night.
One single man quietly drinking, who had paid "in advance" for drinks, and a room full of rowdy and loud adventurers, usually made it easy for the staff to lose count of how much he had drank. Usually, he had already drank more than doubles worth what he put down initially. By the time they would notice, that's when he'd make his escape and run away into the night.
Turning onto his side, Ken began to feel the last of the alcohol finally sinking in. He suddenly felt a little lonely. He missed his parents dearly. But they were just a memory now. All he had was himself. And his alcohol of course.
Biting his quivering lip, Kenneth slowly scrunched up into a ball. Trying to prevent all those nasty memories from coming up. Eventually, he fell asleep.
/
"I-Is he breathing?" Came a loud, high-pitched voice. "Who gives a fuck. Search his pocket for some food." Came a lower but still high-pitched voice.
The voices were low, but just enough to make Ken slightly aware of them. "I don't know boss, I think he's dead. I don't like taking food from the dead." The higher pitched voice said.
"Well, that's sucks. Considering what we are, scrounging from the dead is pretty common." The lower voice replied.
Kenneth could feel a small, dainty finger rummaging through the exposed pocket on his right side.
"I'm not dead you assholes," Ken groaned as he tried to push away the stranger's hand. But, as he swiped his hand, he felt nothing. He could still feel the finger in his pocket, but he couldn't feel a hand or even an arm attached.
"It's a zombie!" The high-pitched voice squeaked as the finger retreated from his pocket.
Still drunk and now slightly alarmed. Kenneth sat up straight, searching for the intruders in his "home". Instead of finding a two people, he found two mice in front of him. A white mouse and a brown mouse with its right eye missing sat in front of him.
"He's not a zombie you dumb shit," the brown mouse said as he tried to stop the white mouse from retreating. "He's just a drunk."
"Fuck you," Ken replied as he rubbed his eyes and looked at the mice, "I'm not a zombie nor am I a drunkard."
Realizing his words, Ken, and both the mice stood completely still.
"Did the zombie just talk to us," the white mouse asked as his tiny body trembled.
"Holy fuck," the brown mouse replied, "I actually think he does understand us."
Kenneth, equally as in shock, slowly replied, "I-I think I can understand you." Ken swallowed, "but I am not a zombie."
"Ohhhh," the brown mouse said as he formed a smile. At least, that's what Ken thought it must have been.
"Ahem," the brown mouse coughed confidently as he pointed his paw at Ken, "Listen here human, you are now our slave, you will scavenge cheese for us and-" the mouse was cutoff as Kenneth grabbed him quickly and brought him to his face.
"First of all, I'm not your slave, second, why can we understand each other?" Kenneth asked as he glared at the brown mouse.
"Unhand me human slave!" The mouse squeaked as it beat its tiny paws on Ken's hand. "Not a chance pipsqueak." Ken laughed. "Did you do something to me? Why do I understand you?!"
"I don't know!" The brown mouse screamed. "This is the first time I've ever heard of a human talking to mice!" The brown one replied with a strained voice.
Eyeing the mouse for a moment, Ken slowly set it down. "Boss!" The white mouse ran up to the coughing brown mouse, hugging it in a tight embrace. "I thought the zombie was going to eat you!" The white mouse said as tiny tears flowed down its furry face.
"I'm not a zombie," Ken replied angrily. The white mouse scurried behind the brown one quickly, slowly peeking out from behind to look at Ken fearfully.
"So," the brown mouse spoke, "since we can understand each other, human sla-". Holding his hand up to silence the mouse, Ken said. "First, I'm not your slave. I could crush you with my fist."
The brown mouse shuddered as Ken finished speaking. Gathering himself, the one-eyed mouse spoke again, "Ahem, how about we become partners? You are sleeping in the streets like us. Why don't we work together? I'm sure with our different sizes, we could work together to survive."
Kenneth eyed the mouse, pausing to think for a moment. It honestly wasn't a bad idea. They could act as scouts and get into small spaces that he couldn't. And he could carry a lot more than they could and buy things from merchant stall. It seemed having a couple extra sets of tiny hands, or paws, could get him more coins and things from safes and storages than he could from pickpocketing nobles. It seemed safer too.
"Sure," Ken replied with a smile. Putting his hand in front of the brown mouse and extending his pinkie finger, he said "I think this could be a nice little partnership."
The one-eyed mouse looked at Ken's face, then his finger. Grabbing the tip of the finger with his paw, the mouse replied, "I think so as well."
After a moment, Kenneth pulled his hand back and asked, "So, what are your guys' names?"
"Names?" The brown mouse scoffed. "We don't got them. I just call the other guy over there Whitey and he calls me boss." He said as he hooked a clawed finger behind himself.
"Hmm," Ken thought, "Why don't I call you Rex," he said to the eyed brown mouse. "And you can be Dex," he said to the white one. "By the way, you're both boys right-" Just as he was going to finish his question, a bright, green glow began to surround the three of them.
"What's going on?!" Dex cried out. "What did you do?" Rex grumbled. "I swear I don't know what's happening!" Ken replied quickly. Just as quickly as the light appeared, it dissipated. "Huh," Rex said softly, "I don't really feel any different. That was weird." As soon as those words came out, the two mice began to shift and morph.
After a minute, Rex and Dex's transformation stopped. They both had grown about an inch or two in length and height. Their small bodies also seemed a bit fuller somehow.
"What did you do to us?" Rex asked as he looked down at himself. "I feel bigger boss. Stronger too." Dex said as he flexed his now slightly bigger mouse muscles.
Ken's eyes were wide in surprise as he ignored the two mice. The sudden change in them was a big surprise. Maybe it had something to do with the green light from a minute ago. Was he going to change too?
Ken waited with his eye's closed while the mice bounced around testing out their new bodies. After a minute, nothing happened. Ken sighed internally. He had really hoped his short and frail body would get a boost in height and strength like the mice, but such was his luck.
Opening his eyes, he found the two mice staring as him quizzically, as if they were expecting him to answer something.
"Don't look at me," Ken said defensively, "I'm just as confused as you guys. I've never heard about anything like this happening, but I'm sure we'll figure it out sooner or later." He shrugged his shoulders and stood up, stretching as he yawned. "Anyways, let's figure out what we should do next."
Ken was sure he'd get some answers soon enough. For now, it was time to start the day with his two new partners.