He hopped down the cobblestone. The slope brought him down the road quickly, and his bundled energy sped him on. Mouse bounced around a wagon, the horse neighing in surprise and likely fear. He refrained from petting it as he ran past, and the girl raised her hooves at him, ready to clobber him if he chose so.

  The horse’s handler calmed her, and Mouse raced off. A jingle in his pocket drove his hand into it, pulling out a chalky rock he thought may be an agate. A slight transparent sheen gave itself away, and the deep crack in it gave quite the personality. Since Taiga was in bed, maybe a small piece of the outside would make him smile.

  Mouse sure hoped it did.

  Either way, he could add it to Taiga’s collection.

  The bell of the churcher’s tower rang from atop a hill. He paused, looking at it, wondering what the point of such noise was. Did it make humans believe in their gods more? Or perhaps remind them to donate? The sound rang deeply enough to appease his ears, though really it was just another interruption to his day.

  An impact to his back stumbled him forward. He caught himself with ease, but something smacked against his back again. “Hey, friend, what’cha looking at?”

  Mouse turned to three men, dressed unlike the area of town expected. Holed trousers, light coats, dark clothes, rugged hats. He knew the type, and a smile spread over him, excitement leaking from it. His skin crawled in both disgust and joy, and it edged him on.

  “What do you think, you pieces of shit?” He giggled, “How dare you touch me, fucking worms?”

  These were the types of humans Taiga didn’t care about.

  The type the guards wouldn’t help.

  The type he could go wild on.

  After a moment of stunned confusion, one of the men grabbed Mouse’s purple cowl, yanking him forward and tossing him onto a sidestreet, away from view. “You think you can say whatever the fuck you want to me? You think I’ll let you live after spouting off?”

  Mouse let the man push him to the ground. Then, the man squatted before him, a smile showing sparkles. “Maybe I will, But you better pay me enough,” he raised a hand between them, opening his palm. “So, whatcha got under that cloak?”

  “A sword.”

  Mouse snapped an arm forward, grabbing the man’s outstretched hand, and squeezed. Cracks and screams ignited Mouse’s giddiness. The man pulled away, but Mouse held tight, not letting him even budge. Then, Mouse pulled his sword from its sheath and plunged the metal point through the man’s boot.

  More screams.

  More excitement.

  He laughed.

  The two other men pulled back on their friend, like the idiots they were. This only pulled his foot from whatever remained clinging to his toes. The man screamed more, shouting curses at his companions.

  Taiga wouldn’t tolerate killing them. So, he could do anything but that, right?

  He let go of his sword, swinging around the man. He grabbed Underling 1 by the back of his neck. Before the fool could react, Mouse spun around and slammed the man’s face into the brick of the building they were beside.

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  Underling 2 abandoned his friends before Underling 1 even dropped to the ground. Mouse gave chase. He sprinted forward, catching up in mere moments, and pulling back on his shirt before he could escape back onto the main street. Underling 2 clung to the edge of the wall, digging his fingers into the grooves of the brick. But a single yank with Mouse’s full force broke him free of the wall.

  “Why are you running?” Mouse shushed him through giggles. “Who are you hoping will help you? When you attacked me first?”

  “You’re insane!” Not even an apology and a beg to be spared. Underling 2’s bravery would be remembered.

  Mouse smiled. “And?”

  He enjoyed the man’s squeals as Mouse slammed him into the ground and kicked him. Only once, though, because he was classy. And because Underling 2 went quiet and therefore less fun. Mouse shrugged, he supposed the reason didn’t really matter.

  “Do you know who we work for? We’ll kill—”

  “No, who?” Mouse swung back towards the non-underling who, through bated breaths, got his foot released and currently struggled to stand. Non-Underling failed, tumbling back down to a knee. “Are there more fun friends I can play with?”

  Non-Underling trembled in the face of Mouse’s smile and taunts.

  He… quite enjoyed the look on Non-Underling’s face.

  “You know,” Mouse started, twirling around him. “It’s been rough. Being nice to you people, getting along with them, and letting them tag along. I was getting a little… tired of it? So I guess what I mean is,” Mouse stopped a few centimeters from Non-Underling’s face. “Thanks for giving me a break.”

  Mouse pulled back his fist, “I appreciate it,” and slammed it into Non-Underling’s face.

  He had to show his thanks, of course. Just as Taiga taught him.

  When he finished with them, he wiped the blood from his hands and sword with Underling 1’s shirt, readjusted his purple cowl and made sure it was unscathed, and hopped back onto the street with a tune on his lips.

  Only after leaving the western side of town did he realize he may have gotten a bounty for those fools if he’d turned them in. If they were wanted criminals, he could have made a profit. But the sun began setting and after a long day of fixing someone’s roof for a mission, he abandoned the thought. Once he was back through the arches of the guildhall, he made his way over to the commissioner to hand in the mission.

  The commissioner side-eyed him after seeing the blood on his shirt. “You, uhh, finished fixing the… roof?”

  Mouse nodded. When Mouse said nothing more, the commissioner gave up and scribbled into his book. He slid several coins for Mouse to collect, which he did, and turned the book around for Mouse to sign.

  “How’s Taiga doing? Haven’t seen him in a while. Not since before your other three friends left a week ago.”

  Mouse signed the book with as legible a signature as he could manage. “He doesn’t do well in the cold. He has a,” what did Taiga call it? “Chronic illness that gets bad in winter. He’s staying in the room where it’s warm.”

  “So that’s where he’s been!” Another mercenary, Mouse recognized as Ku, came up from behind. “I was wondering if something happened. Good to hear he wasn’t injured or anything.”

  “Yeah, we were just talking about it,” the commissioner spoke to Ku before turning back to Mouse, “so figured I’d ask. We were getting worried.”

  Mouse paused. Why would these humans care? It wasn’t like he spent much time with them or were as close to them as Jule or Ellio were. He turned to leave, but the commission called him a final time. The man stood, rounding the counter and jogged to the kitchen. Mouse almost left before he returned carrying a folded napkin.

  “For Taiga. I have a sibling who struggles in weather like this, too. She really loves warmed flatbread in times like this.” He gave the napkin to Mouse and warmth sunk through the bottom.

  Mouse blinked at the gesture. While he did, the commissioner’s smile turned a little awkward. “If you don’t want it, I mean—”

  “No!” Mouse snatched it from the commissioner’s vying hands. “He’ll like it.”

  The commissioner’s smile widened and he returned to his counter. “That’s good. Take care of him. Let me know if you need anything.”

  The kindness was unexpected and frankly, Mouse didn’t know how to handle it. What was it Taiga told him to say when someone did something unexpectedly nice? “Thank you.”

  The commissioner’s cheeks reddened and he nodded, satisfied. Mouse hurried to the stairs, ran up them, and decided to spend a break eating with Taiga before returning to pick up another job.