And so, bold if impulsive Newton sets out with his newly formed party, on the hunt of a fearsome dragon... well, on the tabletop anyway.

I'd intended to get a lot further into the tale in this section, but it got a lot longer than expected. So... rather than rush it, I'm splitting this adventure in half. I don't think you're getting short changed though. It's a solid 9K words


The plaza closest to the towering door, that led from the closet where the mice made their home, to the reality of the feline city, was strikingly quiet. Till now, there had been a calm to the mice in the fantasy village. The air was very different now.
Newton pawed at the outside of the leather tunic he had been given, trying to settle where he itched under it. He wore clothing plenty… when it suited him, but even then he preferred his fur be exposed. This, was never something he’d get used to. It felt oppressively warm and tight. Still, he conceded silently, it might just save his life. It could soften a bite, or blunt the edges of a swipe. He doubted it would prevent injuries from whatever this… ‘dragon’ was, but change a fatal wound to something survivable? He could imagine that well enough.
His distracted agitation was brought to a merciful halt when the door started to open, although those frantic emotions were replaced with a cold, heavy sense of dread. Through the parting door, he could see the whole group of cats, Matthew slipping in first, paw lowering quickly down. Just as the cheer in the village had quieted, so too, the sizable feline wasn’t bearing the same excitable grin. The eyes were more focussed now, serious.
Delaying things didn’t seem fruitful. Newton eased quickly onto the pale fur of Matthew’s paw, looking around as the digits curled up like bars before the paw rose, and Matthew eased out of the closet to let the next cat go to fetch a mouse for the game.
It dawned slowly on Newton, that since this game was by volunteer, not selection, should he have assumed Matthew, was there for him? Still… the paw had been close. He looked up to the face of the cat, Matthew looking down, scanning him intently.
“I saw you trying to dissuade me, before” Newton spoke into the quiet, watching the large muzzle nod
“Well, Billy’s games are rough” Matthew added, finally looking away. Newton followed the look, towards the expansive array of tables on which was laid out, presumably the fictional world the mice would be adventuring through. Billy, the tightly groomed lion, was at the end of those tables, seeming to be sorting something behind a screen that rested on the table
“By which you mean you expect me to die” Newton murmured
“Well…” Matthew sighed, the digits around Newton curling inwards “sometimes we lose a character, lose a mouse” he looked down to Newton again, lifting his paw closer to his face, till Newton had a good view of the cat’s features, from the whiskers, to the narrowed eyes “you’re bitter about a lot of this, I get that, but believe it or not I didn’t bring you here just to add fodder. I like saving mice, offering them a better life. I expected, if you stayed, you’d go out in a game eventually… but today would just be, too soon. But, Billy’s games are dangerous. And you’re not experienced… I hope you make it, but…”
“But you expect me to fail” Newton folded his arms
“I’m coming to terms with the very high chances of you not returning from the board” Matthew muttered
“I don’t plan on dying” Newton stated
“Well, that’s the spirit anyway” Matthew put on a slight smile “just so I know, if, you don’t make it, would you prefer it be me, or…?”
“I’m not answering that question” Newton shook his head vehemently. He didn’t want to accept defeat already. If he thought about it, he supposed the lesser of evils would be Matthew. He owed the cat at least a little for getting him out of the office. But being eaten at all was too overwhelmingly negative an option for him to pick favourite executioners.
Matthew seemed to let the conversation die, since he stepped over to the table, and lowered his paw, bringing Newton from his view, from the cat perspective, down into the faux world.
It seemed pretty similar to last time, he reflected. The pretend buildings were differently arranged, and there were some that had changed, but the layout of the, settlement setting was similar. He watched, as the looming figure of Matthew moved around to the side of the table. Before long, the shadows of more limbs dipped in, releasing their carried mice down. The large, ginger furred paw of Aaron deposited two mice down. Come to think of it, Newton mused, there had been that many to volunteer. But then… there were five cats now.
Arden he recognised, large mouse, made larger by gleaming metal plating his figure. It looked inconvenient… he doubted Arden could drop to all fours to move properly… left to stagger on his hind legs like one of the cats. Newton was well familiar with being on two paws, naturally… he needed his fore paws for tools on occasion… but being unable to run properly? He’d feel so vulnerable.
The other mice, he didn’t know. He had noticed the, slightly older mouse. They had the, thick fabric attire, giving him the impression they must use ‘magic’. The other two mice had similar sorts of protection to him. One of them was a doe, more notable to his attention because of the bow she carried. Come to think of it, he mused, there had been a doe like that in his first game… but not the same one.
Above, the cats had taken their positions. Aaron was talking closely with Billy, and Jacob was focussing on the mechanical rectangle in his paws, and directly above, Matthew was talking to Raina.
“Finally had to quit throw twenty” Matthew explained, the mice below seeming all but forgotten
“Oh… you seemed to be enjoying it” Raina replied… her eyes, flicking down, making Newton uncomfortable
“I was” Matthew grunted “but the group I was with, the guy in charge was a dick”
“What’s this?” Jason glanced up from his device, drawing the focus of both cats
“Online roleplaying group Matthew joined” Raina explained
Matthew nodded, proceeding “basically it’s this game, but the official version, which was cool because it has the full magic system, gives some good inspiration for our games here. But I couldn’t take it. Get this” he muttered “So I make my first character… for speed, they use macros to calculate ability effects and damage. Their rules, they had a sheet of them, say new arrivals need to get their macros checked by one of the groups DMs. So, I messaged the main page on Chaos, and some guy scolded me for wasting their time and not checking the myself” he snorted “I said nothing, figured they were a noob like me and hadn’t read that far. Only figured out days later the twit was the leader of the group, and, jumps on every single time a new player asks a question, to tell them to go read the guidance sheets. But what was the final straw, they were having a talk about concealment, brought up invisibility. I chimed in, how much I liked the invisibility feature, and I do, it’s pretty fun having that option in the real game. Then this leader, who was part of the talk, started correcting me on how invisibility worked, except, he was wrong. I kept saying so. And you know what it was? The dick had been assuming I didn’t know what I was saying, and I meant concealment, not invisibilty. I was using the word I meant, describing it correctly, and he just assumed that, and when I pointed it out, made the whole heated argument out to be my fault. And I was finally, fuck this… I’m putting up with this asshole running things”
Jason grunted, looking back to his device “there’s a lot of guys like that seeping into the gaming community, never wrong even when they’re wrong”
Newton looked down from the cats and their, talk. What little interest he’d been willing to pay it petering out. The other mice had gathered together while he hadn’t been looking, and he hurried closer.
Arden looked his way “Newton, let me introduce you” he gestured in Newton’s direction “this is Matthew’s new rescue, Newton… Newton, these are Martha, Henry and Twine” Adren gesturing to the older mouse, then the leather-bound buck and doe.
The name Twine caught at Newton’s attention though, his focus lingering on the bow wielder for a moment. The mice he’d encountered so far in the village mostly followed, more feline naming schemes.
Martha stepped closer, offering her paw and a gentle smile. Newton grasped her paw for a moment, considering the older doe. She wasn’t that old, he had to remind himself, though she was easing into an age he dreaded for himself. The moment one began to slow, travelling around became more deadly by the day.
“Nice, we have a new, brave young mouse in the community” she greeted, clasping Newton’s paw in both of hers “it was good of you, I saw it in your eyes, to help the poor girl”
Newton felt himself preparing a deflection on his tongue, when a sharp grunt from the mouse behind her caught his attention. The male, Henry meeting his eye when he looked towards the sound.
“Come now, it was brave of him” Martha interjected, turning quickly on Henry “we need that in our mice. It’s a spirit our less fortunate breatherin cherish, as should we”
“Plenty brave” Henry conceded with a dismissive shrug “but if he wanted to help that doe, he’d have kept himself back. This is Billy we’re talking about. An inexperienced mouse with us hurts all our chances. Of survival, let alone saving her”
Newton felt himself bristle, although, forced himself to concede. In these games, he was inexperienced, even if he wanted to challenge this mouse on his ability to survive a day outside. Even that thought deflated Newton though. He’d not done well, his first day in the city.
“If you’d volunteered faster, he wouldn’t have” Twine spoke for the first time, eyes lingering on the display “we all hesitated at dragon… all but someone who doesn’t know the game”
Newton shook his head slowly “what do they use for this, dragon of theirs?”
“No idea” Arden murmured “I’m not sure they’ve pulled out a dragon before… not while I’ve been an adventurer anyway”
“Great” Newton muttered, looking to the other mice “and look, sorry if I’m a problem. I’m still trying to figure out why I let myself leap forward…” he rolled a paw to his muzzle “lots of little reasons I guess… I’ve seen cats dangle terrified mice as a lure before and… well” he let his point fade, shrugging
“I’ve been that mouse” Twine muttered “so I get it. Part of why I wanted to save her”
“I, just want to wipe that smug grin off that damn lion’s face” Henry grunted
Newton gave Henry a quizzical look, though the point wasn’t elaborated on.
“He had a mate” Arden muttered quietly beside him “you can guess which cat ate her”
“Ah” Newton nodded slowly “seems we’ve all got our reasons for this one… I suppose a mouse needs a pretty compelling reason to take on the games of… that cat” he looked up again, considering the lion, Billy. The controlled and styled fur and mane, the delicate glasses. He’d expected lions to be bigger the way he heard about them. But this Billy was plenty big enough to eat a mouse. That was too big already “a compelling, emotional and stupid reason…”
It wasn’t long before a change in the cats above caught the attention of the mice. Their focus turning to their game “Ok… no more changes or points?” Billy questioned to the other cats, waiting a quiet moment, looking between them before nodding quickly “good… lets get going” his paws swept in closer to the waiting mice, setting down in the village scene, releasing some, unnerved mice nudging them towards the buildings, although they seemed to need little encouragement to go to their spots. Newton felt he recognised some, as mice from this very moment in his last game
“The princess, has been stolen away by a dragon” Billy informed them from above, reaching down, and lifting a small cage… within, the doe he had dangled before the settlement, showing her for a moment before placing it down out of their sight again “The news travels fast and far, including the halls of the adventurer’s guild… a brave party of mice, setting out with all due haste to chase down the fearsome creature. The beast in question, is well known, residing in a valley to the west, protected from the forces of the kingdom by the high cliffs… although the hills there are known to hold ancient ruins from the era of Murtopolis” he paused for a moment before continuing “the beast has quite the head start, but eventually they arrive at the closest settlement, none dare build deeper into the forests that shroud the dragon’s normal hunting grounds. A small village named Reedbank”
Billy stopped, and gestured with a paw.
“Alright, I’m going to get us some supplies” Henry declared, already in motion “anything and everything I can muster, no reason to take chances on this one”
Martha nodded slowly “then I suppose we should get started on information gathering. Twine, would you mind helping me?”
Newton glanced at the mice as they dispersed, except Arden.
“Armour is a bit, slowing” Arden explained when Newton gave him a look “and I want to keep my stamina up… whatever this dragon is, it’ll be big”
Newton nodded slowly “I don’t really know what to do here” he shrugged “except wait for those that do, to do what they need…” he glanced to the other mice of the party, then up, to the looming visages of the cats. The walls of cardboard surrounding the play area were just about high enough he could pretend the cats weren’t there, unless he looked up. But there they were… five sets of predatory eyes and muzzles. He’d never spent so much time in close proximity to felines… especially not where they could see him too. It put every instinct in him on edge.
Luckily, they didn’t seem to be looking at him directly. Rather they were focussed on the interactions, and requests from the other mice. He heard the clunk of dice, somewhere out of sight behind the walls.
“This is all so, surreal” he sighed, pawing over his eyes for a moment “in the wilds… facing an animal is a fear, you try to avoid them. You go out each day knowing you might face danger, but you’re not searching for it. If I knew, on any given day, that going out would guarantee coming muzzle to muzzle with a predator… I’d stay nested that day, even if I felt like I was starving”
“I’ve never known a life outside of the village” Arden mused “I do hear about, the mice outside. It sounds unpleasant”
“Maybe” Newton muttered “this life you live, you all seem so… content, even happy, somehow” he added bitterly “I can’t deny, your quality of life… it seems good, you get to feel safe in your beds. Going by what you tell me, I’m not even sure I can say you’ve lost your freedom…”
“But yet?” Arden probed
“I’m not sure” Newton muttered “I suppose… I don’t want, to accept this as our place in the world… mice I mean. You’re living a pleasant life… you even have less threats despite this stupid game, but this is your lot. You live at the whim of cats, you live so long as you are useful to cats” he pawed at his jaw, feeling he was getting somewhere “this feels stable… your people could go on like this forever… that scares me. Don’t you want more…? The cats… like Matthew, he talks like mice are his friends, but he’ll eat you. You lose this game, he’ll eat you, any of them will” he grunted “your life is better than life outside… but is it good enough? Is it what you want…”
“That’s a pretty heavy question” Arden muttered “would I prefer the risk be gone… I mean, of course” he muttered “but the cats won’t find it fun that way… and, you’re not wrong, our village, it’s allowed to exist because these cats get something out of it. It’s an arrangement, it benefits us both”
“I’m accepting that” Newton countered “but is that, our lot? I’ve, spent my whole life, or most of it, running from cats, trying to avoid getting eaten. It’s been hell some days, I’ve been so scared I can’t sleep, finally needing to collapse somewhere, and praying I wake up. Then I meet mice, like you lot… and you’re happy, and you’ve gotten it by, agreeing to be eaten, the very thing I’m avoiding with my all… do you understand?”
“I wouldn’t quite say we agree to be eaten… we accept it as a risk, but don’t you when you used to go forage or whatever?”
“Maybe…” Newton sighed “I can see the similarity, but it’s not the same” he looked up, across the gigantic felines “I don’t want to be eaten, Arden… I don’t want to live with that risk, I don’t want to accept that part of my life involves a cat’s stomach. I want to find somewhere where mice can live and not be… not be at the whim of cats” he sighed again, weightily “and I see your village and I wonder, it makes me question if that’s possible, if I’m looking at this wrong. If just accepting the predatory superiority of cats, and taking a subserivient role is the path to happiness for mousekind. But accepting that position… even if it brings happiness… it feels like, accepting that would be the last nail in the coffin, for any chance of cat and mouse seeing each other as… I don’t know, equals I guess”
There was a long silence before Arden spoke “it’s a nice idea… for what it’s worth, I know it’s not what you want to hear… but I don’t feel like I’m, inequal from the cats. I just feel I live in a different world. We’re a lot smaller” he considered Newton “even if every cat in the world decided to forever forgo mouse meat, would things be the same for cat and mouse?”
“No” Newton conceded “because for cats snakes are only dangerous if they’re poisonous… birds are cute not terrifying, foxes are either adorable or a pest… for a mouse city they might as well be a kaiju”
Arden burst out a short laugh, and Newton shot him a withering look
“Sorry, sorry… I know this is serious… I’m just, I never thought an outside mouse would know that word…”
“I do live in cat houses most of the time” Newton countered “and… I spent a solid month in the bedroom of a cat who was into, that sort of show. Place was a mess, easy to hide. Pretty damn glad he never found me though, I’d have been recreating his damn, creature features I’m sure”
“But you see my point, sort of” Arden noted “The world… it’s a lot bigger than us. I don’t see anything wrong with taking the shelter of a cat’s paws… they’re not so different from the other threats of the world, but you can reason with them”
“If you’re all happy, then I’m happy for you” Newton murmured “but, I won’t be staying here forever. Maybe it’s a dream, and I’ll wander my whole life till I wander down a cat’s throat… like every other wandering mouse, like every mouse in general. But, In a way I guess I’m searching. For a place where I feel, we’re on the right track… or the track I want anyway”
The mice who had wandered to tasks in the ‘village’ started to trickle back to where Newton and Arden were. Henry now sporting a bag on his back.
“Think I’ve got everything we should need” Henry mused “provisions, rope, some climbing gear, something we can light torches with, so on”
“Provisions?” Newton muttered “How long do these games last?”
Henry’s frown deepened “new mouse, the game will be over in an hour or two, probably. Four at most. But our characters, could take days to get somewhere, understand?”
Newton folded his arms “right… makebelieve, got it. I was thinking too much like a real mouse”
“Keep it friendly now” Matthew’s voice lingered high above them
“Do you have to intervene?” Billy chided him “if the party choose to infight, that’s their problem”
“Ok, ok” Matthew murmured “sorry. Just, Newton is new, this is only his second game, so, can I cut him a little slack?”
“That new?” Billy’s rumbling voice echoed over the table “Still. If a new adventurer gets ahead of themselves and ends up clashing with veterans, that’s just part of it”
Newton found himself looking to the voice, noticing the loin’s eyes lingering on him “and if possible… Newton, can you try to stay in character? I’m not fond of metagaming. I’ll give you a pass since you’re new”
Newton grunted, but said nothing, rolling a shoulder.
“I’d love it if we could play like, six to eight hour sessions with the mice though” Jason chipped in “I get why not… they’re literally fighting, and can’t sleep or rest or heal between them so… you know, not very fair to them, but you just can’t explore the story or side quests or that in the time…”
“I get that” Aaron mused
“It was one of the good things about my online group” Matthew muttered “The party could wander off any which way, start a bar brawl, rob a merchant, do whatever, and still have time to get to the end. The live games are a lot faster and linear, but you can’t beat the excitement right?”
“You should come round to my games at home more often” Billy mused with a low purr “I’m experimenting with having week long games. It’s a time commitment, but you can have longer sessions with the mice, give them more time. I start a new campaign next week”
“Maybe” Matthew mused, noncommittal
“Anyway then” Billy muttered, eyeing the mice “While our scout ran the gauntlet of near every shop in town… working together, our sage, in partner with the ranger, determined a potential hint to how to reach the dragon’s lair”
Martha nodded “yes” she directed herself to the gathered mice “it’s the ruins… supposedly, the ruins go right through the mountain and into the valley, according to legend”
“Great” Henry muttered “Murtopolis ruins. That means traps and hidden paths”
“It also means a surprise attack for us” Twine interjected “supposedly there is a route in, on the far end of the valley, but that’s untamed lands. We could encounter any number of creatures, not least of which is a potential ambush by the dragon”
“Right” Henry scowled “and I’ll bet it’ll fly away before we can seriously hurt it… meaning we’d have to fight it, more than once, plus other monsters… damn it. We don’t really have a choice, do we”
“It’s a fair journey there too” Twine mused “we’d better get going”
Above, a paw loomed in, nudging aside part of the wall that formed the backdrop to the village. Beyond, Newton saw, a lot of plants. It was a growing bed like the one the village was on… thick with grass. He exhaled slowly, it actually did look a lot like the world he’d walked through so many times.
Twine led them forwards, and he followed, keeping to the tails of the group. Best he could, he hardened his resolve. He, did want to save that doe. He had to hold to that, and endure what it took.

The sense of danger didn’t materialise, as Newton followed the rest of the mice into the grasses. No decidedly dangerous scents came to his nose, except for that of the cats above. They just, trudged into the grass. He had to wonder, were they just moving from point A to B? Was that fun for the felines…? A glance up, seemed to give him the impression the cats were focussing on something other than them.
“See any tracks?” Arden probed suddenly, which drew Newton’s eyes down. He scanned the ground for a long moment
“No” he concluded “should there be?
“Maybe, hard to say” Arden murmured “we’re travelling through the wilds… sometimes there are just, beasts roaming
Newton nodded quietly, keeping his ears perked. If there were predators left to roam around them, he should be able to hear or smell them before he saw them, or their marks. Oddly, though it meant there might be something hunting them, he liked that idea better, than the thought the cats would just drop something in front of them. This way he’d get to use his senses, assuming there really were. Although not so thick as to pose a problem, the tall grasses did limit vision effectively, blades overlapping each other by a certain point.
“Shit”
The exclamation came from ahead, with vehemence. The remaining mice hurrying to catch up with Twine. Newton, last in the group, saw their tension melt somewhat when they reached Twine, and on arriving himself, he was puzzled. Ahead, settled in the grass were a set of, well, they looked like tents. He’d seen them before, raided them before. Though these were mouse sized.
“The party find their journey untroubled, allowing them to make good time… however, as they draw into the mountain’s shadow, they find the veil of night looming upon them. The party is faced with a choice” Billy spoke over the table “They can press on as night draws in, or make camp to wait out the morning”
Henry sighed heavily “we’re going to have to camp”
“Shit” Twine exclaimed again, a paw grasping to her temples
“Must we?” Arden wondered aloud “we’re looking for ruins, right? If we can get inside them we’ll need torches anyway”
“We’re looking for a hidden entrance to some ruins” Henry corrected him “our chances are worse the darker it gets… and we’ll be half blind, and there’ll be more monsters roaming around. Our lights might even draw unwanted, draconic attention… no, we need to calm, just wait it out”
Newton nudged at Arden “I know we’re not going to be here all night… so how does this work?”
“Oh” Arden murmured “night lasts about twenty minutes… they turn out all the lights, and… normally release a creature or a few… to simulate, sleeping… only one of us can be on watch at once, for five minutes at a time. It’s safer that way… compared to trying to walk around”
“I suppose we must” Martha murmured, petting Twine’s back “Luckily we’re five, so, one of us doesn’t need a watch… Twine, you can just wait in one of the tents, it’ll be fine”
Henry glanced back to the remaining mice “any objections?” He waited a moment, before looking up to Billy’s looming visage “we’re camping”
The feline nodded, and glanced to Jason. Every ounce of reluctance escaped the cat in a sigh, but Jason rose, and moved away from the table. Henry, meanwhile, stepped for the camp, dropping his bag quickly and feeling into it, crouching before a heap of twigs and paper scraps. Newton heard the clicks, before fire bloomed before the crouched mouse. Not moments later, light disappeared from the world. Darkness closed in, barely kept at bay by firelight, and with it came Newton’s nerves… this he didn’t like.
Above, he could faintly make out the silhuettes of the cats… and the gleam of eyes in the darkness… actually, he hated this. His eyes weren’t too bad in the dark… the cats always seemed better. He could hear them though, quite clearly. The shift of their chairs, their breathing. Somewhere, he heard something land down not too far away relatively speaking… he counted himself lucky most of the duller minded beasts hadn’t connected light to food… they connected light and fire to danger, the danger of cats. But he suddenly felt the urge to curl up in a ball somewhere enclosed.
He scurried closer to the fire, relishing the light, while fearing being caught in it. Mostly he wanted to stay close to the other mice. Any time he’d needed to go out in the dark, he’d never taken fire or light with him. He felt so, exposed and visible.
A paw to his back made him flinch, though his quickly turning view saw only Martha, offering him a gentle smile “why don’t you take the last watch? It’s normally the calmest”
“sure” Newton murmured
“And, you, come from a forest, am I right..?”
“I did” Newton muttered “why?”
“Well, maybe, you could shelter with Twine?”
Newton did suddenly realise, the doe was nowhere in sight. Martha gestured to one of the tents “she finds camping scenes… difficult. Normally she manages to avoid them, the cats are kind enough not to pick her when one is involved… but one never knows what a Billy mission holds. I think, you could distract her better than most”
“Sure” Newton muttered again. In some ways he was curious. Twine had the look of, the mice where he was from. It could have just been breed, but if she was actually in a similar situation to him, that was interesting.
He crouched low, and pushed into the tent, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom. Twine was curled around herself near the back of it. She looked his way, and shrugged as limited welcome.
“Mind if I rest here. Martha’s idea” Newton sat himself
“Of course it was” Twine sighed “matronly, she is… but sure, I don’t mind”
“To be fair, I am curious” Newton began “you’re, like me? Where you came from, I mean”
“Maybe” Twine looked his way “I was born in a forest west of here. Can tell that from the stars, but no idea how far”
“I’m not sure the direction of my home” Newton admitted “not that I live in the forest anymore, I took to wandering. My home nest got sighted”
“Ah” Twine sat up a little “my home nest, it was a longstanding nest, very good nest. We settled in a riverbank. There were minks” she grunted the word out with feeling “but no cats”
“We lived around a tree’s roots, and in the tree” Newton explained “I hear there didn’t used to be as many cats but they’ve been cutting the forest to expand their houses. A lot of them walk in the woods too. Keeps the wilder animals away a bit more though”
“It’s a trade off, I suppose” Twine noted “you get caught?”
“When?” Newton murmured “I mean, I’m here because I got caught, just the other day”
Twine shook her head slowly “I meant from the forest”
“Oh, no” Newton shook his head “I left, when it didn’t feel like home anymore… had a pretty good run till the last week”
“You can guess, I was caught in the woods” Twine stared to the ceiling of the tent for a moment “my sister and I. It was a trap. It was stupid in hindsight. But we’d never seen, or been taught about them. I’ve learnt a lot since I met mice from the city”
“How long ago was that?”
“I’ve lost count” Twine frowned “we were young, hunters in training. Most of my life is in the paws of cats”
“Sorry” Newton found himself murmuring “you’ve been here all this time?”
“No, only a couple of years” Twine scowled “till then I was, the toy of the cat that caught us. He was a little like the cats here, but very different too. He put us on a table to play, but he played alone. He made gauntlets and challenges for us, found it fun to see how well, or poorly we survived. Similar in some ways… but it felt very different”
“Mind if I ask how you ended up here?” Newton hesitated… did he want to know more about this cat? It, sounded like a fine example to support his view on cats and their play… but he didn’t want to dredge it up
“The cat… my owner” she folded her arms tight “once a month, he had a… contest. A card game the cats played. The prize for the winner was one of his mice. He promised we were… strong, feisty” she shuddered, gritting her teeth “struggled well… wriggled for a long time”
“Shit…” Newton muttered
“Yes” she pawed to her whiskers “I was plucked up to be the prize. The cat who won me, he was different” Twine looked to Newton for a moment “reminds me a bit of that Matthew cat… he came later though. The cat who brought me here, he left. His paws were gentle when he took me as his prize, when we were alone, he was, gentle in his voice. I expected, terrible things, but he did none of them. He brought me here. Some strong new blood for the community, he said”
“I see” he murmured. His own self pity felt vapid in comparison. But now he felt he understood why she had volunteered for this. She really had, been that mouse… sort of. Feeling doomed to die, offering a ray of hope “any idea why, you were chosen?”
“I was being discarded. That was his way” she made a weak growl of a sound “I suppose I was no fun for him anymore, once my sister… his games took her”
“Oh, I’m, sorry” Newton muttered. He had, he supposed, been fortunate in not losing siblings, but then, not having any was a trade off maybe
“It’s why I’m in here” she gestured around the tent “you must have been wondering”
“A little” Newton muttered “you don’t have to tell me though”
She shook her head slowly “it was a night thing, like this. But the cat, he would actually leave us overnight. He recorded it, with a camera. He’d never intervene. If we died, we died. My sister, she was on watch, then it was my turn. I woke, I wasn’t sure why… but, I thought I might as well take my turn now. I left the tent and” she hesitated with a grimace, burying her muzzle into the spot between her chest and bent legs “it was an insect… I never knew insects could be so big. Have you seen the monsters… they are called, mantis?”
“I haven’t” Newton muttered
“It was eating her” she grunted “she was twitching, struggling, but it didn’t care. It was chewing into her neck, holding her with it’s forelimbs. There was so much blood… a puddle, so vast it was beginning to soak into the tents around the scene. My, scream, it woke the others. They drove the fiend away, but… she was gone. I don’t remember much after that… just, seeing it devouring it’s catch while she…” she shook her head sharply “I didn’t care about living after that. Even when the damn cat threatened to throw me into the cage of the same fiend, I threatened back that I’d relish the chance to tear it apart… he was too frightened.. in case I damaged his pet in my frenzy. So he cast me away”
“I can’t even imagine” Newton murmured, his paw rubbing nervously at his cheek… what had he gotten himself into… “They don’t have one here, do they… the insect?”
“I don’t think so” Twine sighed, lifting her muzzle, pawing to her eyes for a moment “never know what that Billy will bring… but, I can just about put it from my mind, live my life, like she’d want me to, except when they turn out the lights…”
Newton nodded quietly, at a loss for what to say. It was a lot of baggage to handle all at once “at least the cats here don’t seem as bad as that… not that I plan to stay, myself”
“mmm” Twine mused “I’d leave too, if I knew the way home. But it is far away, and the path there full of cats and worse. I’d be meeting a stomach quite quickly. So I’ll live here. The mice are friendly, and the cats acceptable… I like them better than minks”
Newton sighed, pawing at his ear. The whole conversation left him uncomfortable. It was a dangerous world… when he heard these mice speak, it was easy enough to accept this life wasn’t forced on them, so much as chosen. To accept the feline logic that they were offering an alternative, at a price. But, it still unsettled him. It clashed with, everything he expected, to find mice, happy to be sitting on the cat’s platter, waiting their time. How could they be happy with that, part of him argued. A part of him that he felt was his own voice, a part of him that seemed less rational the more he dwelled on it. Such thoughts, he kept away with effort, a fact that in itself troubled him.
It was, for a fleeting moment, a relief when they were interrupted.
“We’ve got something” a voice called from outside, bringing both mice in the tent to alert. No amount of dread, of facing, and learning what was outside could slow Newton from turning and leaping through the flaps and into the camp scene. His head swivelled, seeking anything obvious. Nothing was looming, no grass was wildly shaking. What he saw, was Henry, drawing his short, pointed blades, staring into the grasses. And when Newton focussed in that direction, he saw it.
It was a lizard, close to the ground. Much larger than him, but not as huge a beast as he had feared. It seemed spiky, at it’s head, along it’s sides. He didn’t like the look of those, and it’s eyes were focussed, aware. He couldn’t see if it was ominously long, much of it’s body was still in the gloom, but when he reminded himself of the, flexibility of reptiles, he judged it was large enough to take a mouse… in a few short, sharp gulps.
His forepaws fumbled at his hip, drawing out the weight of his blade, aware in the corner of his view, the other mice appearing. Arden barged by him, grasping Henry’s shoulder and tugging him back “don’t panic… it won’t be able to get past my armour”
Newton flicked his gaze to Arden and, yes, that was probably true, he mused. The armour made the mouse bigger… but more importantly, inflexible. No way it could swallow something that big, and unmalleable. The lizard, seemed to realise that too. It’s head raised, mouth parting just a bit, showing, just darkness reaching back. The tail, only a shadow, moved in rapid, agitated motions.
“Hold still” Newton heard Twine behind him, before a twang sounded near his ear. Something small, speeding over his head, past Arden. It impacted to a foreleg of the lizard, and it recoiled a step, before resuming a motionless, observing pose
“Good, Twine” Arden called back “keep shooting at it… and everyone stay behind me”
Newton obliged, contentedly, watching the next blunt arrow speed over to strike the reptile. Once more, it scurried a step back from it’s unseen foe, and then, turned, disappearing into the grass.
“Was that our dragon?” Newton murmured
“Ironically, no” Henry muttered “that one is dragon in name only. No way it’s that small”
Billy’s voice called from above, in the gloom. Newton had all but forgotten the cats were watching. Looming towers of shadow. “the dragonling scurries away, bringing a flash of relief to the adventuring mice”
“Dragonling” Twine murmured
“Meaning there are likely more of those” Henry reasoned “and offers the possibility we’re dealing with two dragons…” he paused for a long moment “they’d have been born in the basin, right?”
Twine clicked her tongue “a frightened whelp scurries home, or to it’s mother. If we followed it we’d probably find the dragon we’re looking for… and it can’t have come through the ruins to get here, right? Maybe there’s a path we don’t know about”
“That’s a solid point” Arden mused “damn… if we follow it, we might save ourselves a lot of bother”
“We’ve still got another ten minutes of night” Henry added darkly, shooting a look to Twine “I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one not willing to risk that. We need to survive first, if we’re going to have any chance of saving that doe. We run off into the gloom, what if we run into more of them, or something worse… or the dragon. You want to encounter that thing at night? They’re supposed to have good night vision, going by the book. No idea what they picked for it, but… this screams trap”
“That’s a little meta” Billy chimed in from above.. a decidedly amused hint in the disembodied voice
Henry looked up, but, naturally couldn’t see the cat “I rescind the trap comment.. but I still think it offers far too great a threat of getting us ambushed by more, or, the mother. If it’s fleeing, screeching alarm…”
“On the other paw, staying where it knows we are has it’s risks” Martha added quietly “but staying here is the safer option, most likely. The worst case, a dragon attack, at least we have the fire”
“Sounds like we’re staying put” Henry concluded, padding towards one of the tents
Newton just grunted a wordless acceptance. Once more, he felt out of his depth. In reality, his reaction would be to leave the spot, hunker down, wait till morning then leave the region. Or better yet, plan around not sleeping in the grass at night. But this wasn’t reality… it was the game. In the game, you chased after mouse-eating danger.

The rest of the ‘night’ passed without issue, and all too suddenly Newton found light pouring through the tent’s fabric. He eased into the ‘day’. Above, he could see the cats again… his eyes focussing on Raina, from whose cupped paws he saw a scaly tail. Her muzzle rubbing at what was between her paws.
“Get a room” Matthew suggested with a whisker curling smirk
“What?” Raina chuckled with mock offense “little beardies are cute… poor little guy didn’t even get a nice, warm fatty mouse to curl around”
“I’m happier that way” Aaron grunted “you’re not really supposed to feed them a lot of mice”
“Oh, that’s intended for the pinkies” Raina tutted off the comment “the adult mice are leaner, less fattening, and our little dragonling is big enough to take one down whole”
“He is a nice size” Jason added “where did you get him anyway, Aaron?”
“Just in the shop down the road… he was uncommonly big, I figured, perfect for the game. But I swear the tabby who runs the place knew what I wanted him for, made sure I took a pamphlet on good diet”
“Well, now the mice know they don’t need to avoid the dragonling…” Billy muttered, his low tone putting an end to Raina’s pampering “back to the game?”
“Right, sorry” Raina’s paws sank away, out of view
The other mice were already out, Newton noticed, and he quickly padded to gather with them.
“right, so” Henry was saying as he arrived “I don’t suspect we have anyone who’s particularly good at finding hidden entrances but me… so I’d suggest we not split up” his eyes flicked to Newton “you’re a little new to have levelled up searching and perception skills, right? Hidden entrances are just about always a roll check, rather than an, actually see it with your eyes thing”
“Not sure I have any of those” Newton murmured, to which Henry nodded
“We lost some time camping, but we’re all still here, so, lets get moving, alright?” Henry stated, before turning to stride off. The remaining mice made no objection, so Newton saw no reason to, following with them. All in all he wasn’t particularly fond of Henry, but still, he saw a little of himself in the mouse. He was, a survivor… even though his logic seemed bizarre, it was game focussed survival sense. It was a hard idea to wrap his head around.
For the most part, the next while he just spent following, trying to keep alert so he didn’t feel like the useless tag along. Occasionally he heard the clunk of dice rolled. Henry would lead them into one section of the grassy patch, they’d wait while the cats rolled for them, then they’d move on and try again. Newton found his mind wandering, mostly to the doe they were rescuing. She must be scared and confused, he reasoned. He wanted to, get her away from that lion quickly.
Eventually, their movements paid off.
“At long last” Billy stated dramatically “almost by accident rather than design, the searching mice find a vine covered crevice in the stone, and even the lightest venture inside offers some hope, as the ground turns to tile, and the walls widen into an angular shape that speaks of intention”
“squeaks of intention” Matthew joked
Billy’s golden brown paw loomed in close to the mice, before pulling away a section of the wall surrounding the grasses, inviting the mice towards it “fortunately the shadows that cling in every crevice of the long abandoned hallways melt before the torches the party brought along” the lion lifted a small device, rectangular, before his muzzle for a moment “enough light for up to fifteen minutes of play… clock is ticking”
The mice scurried quickly to the new gap, Newton considering it… it, well, reminded him of the game he had viewed from above. Ahead was a corridor of walls, bending to the left.
“Ok” Henry mused “I’ve been in ruins like this before… they commonly have passes from here to there… the layout, there should be a relatively straight path right through… meaningful branches should lead to a settlement… which we could explore but…” he clicked his tongue “lets just say my experience tells me the gods are not in a favourable mood today… I’d rather not spend longer than needed in these ruins… for whatever reason, these places were kept secure through traps”
Newton nodded mutely. Like pitfalls… he was suddenly quite glad to be near the back as the mice advanced steadily, led by Henry. There was, talk between the leading mouse and the cats above, though nothing Newton paid all that much attention to. Asking if he saw traps, followed by negatives, and one positive which was apparently negated through rolls of the dice. Although, after one particular turn, Henry halted, waving the other mice to stop “don’t need a roll to see the mechanism here”
Newton eased a bit closer to the front, enough to peer down the long corridor. There were two things he noticed. First, the walls were full of holes, second, the floor was different. There was a very slight ramp, presumably existing to allow the mice to step up onto the long array of mis-shapen looking tiles… most likely, to his eye, buttons for some sort of technology.
“This might take a minute” Henry noted, thumping a paw onto one of the buttons, and quickly stepping back. Sure enough, it san just a little, and a second later, from the wall, came a section of pointed, pencils to Newton’s assessment.
“I’m going to guess those are going to be considered instantly lethal” Henry muttered
“Try to imagine the spikes are floor to ceiling” Billy noted “Of course, if you feel you can hop across just by standing on top of each firing section, I might amend that ruling in appreciation of the skill”
Henry clicked his tongue, looking back “it’ll be a pattern… correct tiles to step on, etcetera. Give me a bit” he noted, feeling his paw to another button. He waited, but nothing came “one down”
The change of pace was striking. Newton found himself sitting with the other mice, idly watching Henry making his progress. The cats above seemed to be watching intently too. Newton could see why. To continue slowly, Henry had to step very carefully deeper onto the array, only letting his paws rest on the tiles deemed correct. All he had to do was wobble and fall, and… Newton let his mind dwell on it… the whole situation didn’t feel dangerous to look at. But… that would mean a paw would scoop up the hapless mouse to his death. He shuddered.
“Ok…” Henry called back, taking a few steps in quicker succession before pausing, watching the wall… where nothing happened “I’ve got the pattern” he concluded
The mice rose, easing to the edge of the trap, while Henry carefully turned himself, gesturing down. On closer inspection, Newton very very aware each tile looked, distinct, though familiar symbols repeated.
“So, it’s circle, square, wavy line” Henry noted “then both the dragony looking one and the mouse looking one… charming detail” he muttered “you’ve got about half a second’s grace but make sure you get them both” he glanced over his shoulder “then you hop over a space, and land onto the triangle. Then it repeats” he explained. Newton followed the suggested route with his eyes… it varied where the tiles were for each line, but, he could trace the pattern, three times up to Henry… and the right tiles did recur again, and again down as far as he could see
“There’s no switch to turn it off on this side” Henry lamented “or I’ve failed my search for it. Just in case, I’ll go right across, and look for a cut off over there… if not, you’ll just have to follow in my steps”
Without waiting for a reply, Henry turned again, and started to walk. Newton watching the mouse’s paws, following the pattern, repeating it once, twice, three times more. Henry was stepping into his fourth repeat of the pattern, hopping onto mouse and dragon, when, the pencils pistoned from the side towards him. Newton felt every muscle tighten, saw the same reaction in the mice beside him, as Henry cursed, jumped, landing half on the pencils, but falling to his backside amid the tips “what the hell?!”
“Before their eyes, the trap does it’s gruesome work, and brings an end to the plucky scout… leaving the party to consider their next move” Billy spoke over the map, while the dark paw of Jason dived in, scooping around Henry as he tried to stand, the pencils withdrawing from him.
“Hey, wait” Henry shouted, as the paw rose him from the sprawling land of the mice… into the heavens above. Newton could see it, in Jason’s eyes, the predatory focus, locking onto his prey.
“Stop! Damn it” Henry shouted again “I’m calling BS, I didn’t miss a step, I didn’t”
“Hold on a moment” Billy spoke, paw resting to Jason’s wrist, earning a rebuking glance from the dark cat.
The lion’s muzzle leaned in closer to Henry, bound up in the looping rings of the grasping fingers “Call it pride… but I’m not going to let you go out thinking this was all some mistake” the lion spoke, slowly. There was, a dangerous, low buzz of a rumble in each word.
“Let me ask you something” he continued, a paw rising to adjust his glasses as he focussed on Henry “does it seem realistic to you, that an ancient race of mice would spend, however many years it likely took them, building that elaborate trap… for it to be so pathetically easy to circumvent? It took you, ten minutes” he informed the mouse “I’d accuse you of playing too many video games if I didn’t know you don’t have them…” the lion paused, glancing down to the mice still on the table “I’m not going to tell you where you went wrong, there are still mice in play. But, just maybe it’s not as siple as figure out the pattern then repeat it… just maybe that’s the prerequisite. Maybe the pattern changes at a certain point. Maybe the pattern is as you think, but somewhere, or several somewhere, the pattern is broken, or an extra tile needs to be hit. Or maybe the whole thing is impassable unless you insert a key into a slot. I can think of more given a few minutes. But just maybe, little mouse… the repeating pattern you followed is but a trap itself, for those who don’t have the authority to pass… perhaps there is some little bit of information, handed out as a key to those who are meant to get through it safely” the lion released his hold on Jason’s wrist “you assumed their elaborate security system was so poorly designed some random interloper could break through with a few minutes of basic pattern testing… that’s where you really went wrong”
Any reply Henry had been contemplating was cut off, turned into a wordless cry as Jason’s paws both came to the mouse, the armour removed in a quick tug, the tools plucked away. Only to quickly be lowered out of view, and reappear a few moments later, his finer features all but hidden by, some sort of sludgy brown. Jason tossed the mouse past his teeth, and Henry’s cry went silent. Newton swore in the stunned silence, he could hear it just slightly, the wet slurping sounds from the cat’s mouse, before a painfully familiar series of motions. The head moved forward, and slightly up, the neck on better display. The eyes clenched shut for half a second, a slight tightening in all the muscles of the cat’s face as the sizable piece of meat was swallowed. A breathy sigh escaping as the cat’s face relaxed, and just faintly, a ruffle was seen in the fur of the neck… so brief and faint, one could think they imagined it. But Newton had seen it enough to know it wasn’t an illusion. Henry, was sliding down for his end now. A new dungeon which no mice escaped alive.
“I’ve been waiting ages for that” Jason noted with a grin, tongue rolling to his dark lips, tongue slightly browned by, whatever he had dipped Henry in
Billy looked down to the remaining mice. His eyes gleamed with a calm sort of excitement. “I’ll allow you an extra three minutes of torch time, since you’re down a user”
Newton felt himself bristle… that was it… all the recognition of… he shook his head. No time for that. He’d swallowed down distress before… his own survival first, then thinking about those who weren’t as lucky. The problem hadn’t gone away yet, but as he gazed across the tiles, he felt a certain hopelessness coming over him. What were they supposed to do…?