Ratolution

Charles climbed up onto the table of a restaurant that was closed a while. Diligently he made his way to the sink, got under the water selector, and pushed up with all his might to open up the water. He smiled and then excitedly climbed atop the soap dispenser to squirt out a bit of soap. Out into the sink. He then jumped and slid down the side of the sink, making sure to topple a wooden spoon into the sink so he has a way out. Washing his paws and preparing to make a meal tonight.

In the dark, behind the closed door, a little diligent mouse was about to work on making his dreams come true. One would think ‘a mouse can’t be that intelligent’ well that would hold true in most worlds, but in this world, where animals with human or super-human intelligence exist, it’s not exactly out of ordinary. And while humans aren’t too keen on living alongside their animal counterparts, but arrangements can be made. 

And this restaurant, Stella Di Fiume, is one such example, at night, the mice and rats, the critters of the block, were permitted to have a feast made out of leftover ingredients. And while the city by the creative name of “Riverbank City” overall did not grant equality to the animals and chased most of them out, the critters were permitted to stay within designated regions, as they agreed to help humans with search and recovery as well as providing information to the authorities. In other words, they served as little spies!

Charles reached into his little bag, a small, leather pouch hanging off a string around his neck, out of it he pulled out a tiny little wooden ladle. He traced with his small fingers over an engraving ‘creditis’. A gentle smile spread over his face, when suddenly the engraving changed to ‘factorem’. Factorem, meaning ‘maker’, and credits, meaning ‘believe’. The mysterious ladle seemingly always encouraged its wielder. 

Little mouse spent the next couple of hours preparing the ingredients. One might ask why it takes so long? Well, imagine being a mouse, a pizza maker-mouse, having to open jars, pre-heat oven and all the other, mousy, things, it’s quite the task for a lone little critter, but Charles was diligent! He would fight through any hardships for his dream. He stood atop the cough, stepping all over it to flatten it out, he called it the ‘paw-dough’ daydreaming while doing so.

A ‘clank’ caught his attention while he was waiting for the oven to preheat, a couple of raccoons crawled through the window, just in time to assist with baking the pizza as they always did. Charles grinned and commanded his helpers around until 3 batches of 3 different pizzas were made. That night, the feast was great, and when the human chefs came in at the break of dawn, the kitchen was spotless as they left it. Charles was wiping the last bits of crumbs off the table. 

Sous-chef Mira Ardonis walked up behind the little mouse, placed her napping on the floor and with 1 swift swipe cleaned off the crumbs, catching them into the palm of her hand, she smiled – “Let me help you, chef Charles” The little mouse smiled – “Ahh! Sous Chef! I.. I am no chef! Not yet! I’ve not been recognized by the chef-society…” he exclaimed, a hint of sadness in his voice. Mira grinned – “YET little one! YET! I’ll make them acknowledge you!” Charles brightened up – “Well I best be on my way!” 

That day he slept, exhausted as ever. His shift would last from sun set till basically sunrise, feeding critters of the block, but mostly, improving his own cooking and skills. Mira often left him recipes and notes on how to improve, in turn, he often left her a mini, bite-sized pizza to show off his skills. Charle’s morning routine, always, included checking the ladle. The mysterious engravings always told him what to expect. 

And so he did the same this time, and then he dropped the ladle – “no..” he ducked  down, looking at the ladle’s handle once more ‘periculum’. He gasped – “Danger?” He cautiously grabbed the ladle and watched the engraving distort and change before him “Mira” “periculum” “proditio”. For those, not well-versed in Latin, it’s worth mentioning that the message, at the very least, is quite ominous. “Mira is no traitor,” said Charles in a nervous tone. 

The ladle seemingly buzzed in his paws, as if angrily telling him to pay attention, the engraving distorted once more “celare” and the next word, shocked Charles, not because he didn’t understand it, but because he understood it all too well, the ladle was seemingly learning his language “stupido” read aloud Charles, his eyes wider than a 5 bel coin. 

As evening neared, there was a scratch at the ‘door’ to his house. A ‘house’ is an overstatement. Charles lived in an old paint can, it had a bent metal piece that functioned as a door. Charles shouted ‘come in’. The door was pried open by a rat – “Charles..” his voice trembled with hesitation. “The new human governor, he uh..” Charles felt shivers run down his spine – “y..yes Sebastian?” The rat continued “The new governor ordered the expulsion of all critters.” 

Charles looked down at the handle of the wooden ladle “venari” he gasped – “They won’t just expel us from the city! They… they’ll hunt us” gasped Charles – “G..get everybody together and into the channels below the city!” Sebastian hesitated – “well… m..many don’t believe the rumors, think humans wouldn’t ever rid of us” Charles held up the ladle – “This ladle has been in my family for 4 generations! And it has never once lied to us.

“And just now, it told me of betrayal, danger, and a hunt” Sebastian nodded – “yes, you’re 1 of the most sensible ones here, which is why I came to you.” Said the rat, his voice low, upset – “but, this means we won’t have a home anymore, and no help from the humans if we run. Maybe they are just rumors? Maybe we should wait and see?” One thing did not make sense to Charles, why did the ladle mention Mira?

And so Charles faced multiple decisions. To go see Mira. To try and talk with the new human governor, or to attempt to gather critters and convince them to flee. What shall be it dear audience?

*****Audience Input*****

M’iyu Fhey: TO WAR

Rapu Riverstone: Flee

Crashh Boi: WARRRR

Mimi Valen: YAS WAR

Apsalar Tali: WAR

Atheris Hispida: That’ll be a short war.

Misusszu Smolkane: OVERTHROW THE INSTITUTION

Silas Amaren: By fire be purged.

Atheris Hispida: I say flee.

Crashh Boi: yeah and then the mice can live in harmony

Crashh Boi: i guarantee the critters can win

Leona Lucifra: war doesn’t seem like an option, so i would opt for talking to Mira.

Rapu Riverstone: Humans cannot be trusted.

Lunamana Zhongxin: I think seeing Mira is the best option, if that doesn’t work they can always flee after ;w;

M’iyu Fhey: Well just because viki didnt think of it doesnt mean it cant be an option!

Presea Diamond: Let’s go see Mira, i don’t trust the demon spoon

Crashh Boi: if i had to pick an option i’d say flee, but war sounds more interesting 😀

M’iyu Fhey: dont need to flee if you strike first!

Leona Lucifra: Strike first, strike hard, huh?

**********

Charles grasped the ladle – “I’m going to see Mira first! She’s the only human I can trust” Sebastian nodded – “I shall gather everyone and start a discussion on our plan of action while we await your return.” Charles tucked the ladle away into his bag and got on all 4s, running past Sebastian and up the street, heading straight for Mira’s house. He snuck through the open window and sprinted around the house, but Mira was nowhere to be found. He decided to consult the ladle. 

“Confido” “Stella” Charles nodded in acknowledgment, she was waiting for him at the restaurant. Nothing in her house suggested any reason to suspect her of anything, except, as he ran for the exit, something caught his eye, a snack box, for a rat. Charles examined it, an open box of ‘rat’s best 3 minutes of their lives’ He sighed – “mice don’t eat rat snacks, that idiot” he ran off and towards the restaurant. Climbing up to the sky-light of the restaurant, he gazed down and gasped in disbelief. 

There sat, on the table, Lorenzo, the 1 who’s been trying to open a pizza restaurant beside Stella Di Fiume for the critters. Lorenzo was an average by the looks opossum, with that evil grin and a constant condescending look on his face. Charles gritted his teeth watching Mira hand out snacks to Lorenzo and his group of opossums and rats. A few city guards stood by, and a man in rich clothes was discussing something with Mira and Lorenzo.

In that moment, a barely audible rustle behind him, suddenly, he found himself pressed against the window from behind – “Aha! Who’s the sneaky rat now?” exclaimed an opossum looking down the window – “well well, look at you spying on private negotiations. I’ll have to take you in pal” Charles, unable to resist a larger, more fearsome animal, had nothing left but to obey.

He was taken in and thrown onto the table. Mira averted her gaze from Lorenzo and looked down at the tiny mouse before her – “This here pal was spying” Mira sighed slightly – “Charles.. I.” he paused her after getting up and dusting off – “no need for explanations, I see it all now.” She squinted – “see what?” he glared at Lorenzo who in turn grinned at him – “Ahh if it isn’t my favorite rival, how fare the mice, my ‘friend’” mocked Lorenzo. 

Charles sighed – “Until today we were doing just FINE” his gaze wandered the room. 3 armed guards, a city council representative, Mira, and Lorenzo’s gang. Instinctively, he calculated an escape route, three to be precise. The best escape would be past the human guards, or, over them, and then out the window. “Well? You’re royally screwed now” smiled Lorenzo taking a step closer toward the frightened mouse. 

His advance was blocked by the human who stepped in and placed his hand on the table between them – “Now now, there’s no need for intimidation tactics” spoke the councilman. Slowly but confidently Charles turned his head and looked up to face the man – “Ohh if 3 guards and his entire gang were already not intimidation tactics, and rumors of hunting us critters too!” The councilman laughed – “oh nono, we’d only hunt mice as per our agreement with Lorenzo” chuckled the man honestly.

Charles gasped – “tha..that’s inhumane” the man shrugged – “No, it’s quite humane to rid of critters I would dare argue! But we hoped to chase you out of the city as opposed to having to hunt and have the rats exterminate you lot” Charles squinted – “Many rats are on our side too, we feed and care for them, and raccoons too” at that moment, the ladle buzzed in the bag once more. 

What the man said next turned into background noise while distracted Charles, ignored the blabbering of those around him, and focused on the ladle, the ladle, that changed its shape. It turned from a wooden ladle into a tiny shield, attaching itself firmly to the mouse’s forearm. Inside part of the shield had text on it “Fugio” which, to the best of Charles’ understanding, meant ‘flee’ He did not wait any longer and burst into a sprint, leaping off the table and onto a human guard’s chainmail. 

Mice have 1 thing that sets them apart from rats and other critters, and it’s their incredible agility. Nimble and a good jumper, with a very powerful bite, actually posed a rather big nuisance to humans once they get onto their clothes. And so the mouse climbed up the chainmail, and planted a nasty and powerful bite on the guard’s neck, breaking the skin and causing the guard to squirm and throw his weapons to the ground “Get it off me!!!” screamed out the guard

After making his escape and managing to get away from the pursuers, Charles made his way into the underground channels of the city where Sebastian had gathered the critters of the Stella block. The majority of critters seemed in disbelief, and after telling them of his most recent discoveries, seemed rather upset, annoyed, angry, and frustrated. Rightfully so, who wouldn’t be after hearing the news that because 2 pizza chefs can’t get along, their entire community is about to be chased out of the city.

Shortly after, Charles, to no ones surprise, found himself trying to persuade a mob of angry critters whose only desire at the time seemed to throw him out of the city, or hand him back over to Lorenzo’s gang. At a loss for words and actions, Charles looked onto his shield. 

It should be mentioned that the ladle was made from a mysterious tree that used to be an ordinary tree, in fact, plenty of ordinary tries. They were commonly known as ‘oak’ and they were ordinary until they saw things they didn’t want to see. Have you ever seen a magical library explode? Well they hadn’t either, until one day they had, and what they saw that day, changed them forever, in fact, the entire forest changed that day.

The mysterious trees, known as the ‘pink observers’, formerly ‘oaks’ are known to get easily irritated when somebody doesn’t go their way. As a normal tree that turned sentient, it makes sense. The shield shook, cracked and changed again, this time into a spear. And so there stood Charles, posed like a hero, holding a spear in his hand. “A..alright listen here you all! This oppression must be stopped!” 

Caught off guard by the sudden shape-shifting spear ladle shield the commotion stopped and the critters listened to him attentively. Shortly after they found the newborn motivation to rush out of the city into the ‘watching forest’ and make weapons out of the twigs of pink observers. 

It is worth a mention however that pink observers did not like having twigs snapped, but there was little they could do about a few hundred rats, mice, and raccoons swarming them and breaking off small twigs and ripping off their leaves. 

Shortly, the few hundred-strong armies of rats mice and raccoons were armed and armored with the leaves and twigs of pink observers. The leaves buzzed, and the twigs creaked but annoyed as the pink observers were, they were part of the arsenal and they will perform, in hopes of being returned to the forest. 

Night came, only the moon dimly illuminated the streets and the rooftops of the otherwise silent city. Lorenzo’s gang sat watchful in the town center, human guards were out on patrols. They attacked the guards one at a time. One thing they quickly learned is that pink observers were not fond of killing, but what they could do in turn was produce potent venom that would paralyze their target for 24-32 hours depending on how lucky (or unlucky) they were. 

The army of critters made quick work of the patrols. They soon came face to face with their main foes, their rivals. But before the fight could start, the opossum Lorenzo strolled out onto the city center. He called out for his rival, his nemesis – “CHARLES! COME AND FACE ME YOU WEAK LITTLE MOUSE”. A moment passed, and then another- “CHARLES!” The mouse carefully leaped down from the rooftop, taking a step out of the shadows onto the moon-lit city square.

“Lorenzo..this was never meant to go so far.. Why?” the opossum’s condescending look annoyed Charles but he still held back. Lorenzo grinned – “little mouse little mouse. We do not welcome competition here, while I toyed with you at the start, I never intended to allow you to make your dream come true. Charles lowered himself onto the ground on all fours – “Well then, there’s no way around it.” 

Opossum held out his claws – “Come!” He dashed forward, sprinting, building up momentum. Leap, he flew through the air with his spear pointing at the opossum. Lorenzo ducked, dodging the strike, and retaliated with his tail. He was a larger beast, with longer reach and more powerful strikes. The tail hit Charles on the back as he flew past Lorenzo, but the leaf armor did its job. It puffed up, absorbing the majority of the force. 

Charles fell onto the ground, tumbling before finally regaining his sense of direction and jumping up to his paws, the spear turned into a scimitar, it was time to get up close and personal. Charles dashed forward, a slashing attempt, once more the opossum dodged, a claw counter shredded part of the leaf armor. Charles barely stepped back in time to avoid taking damage. Using his nimble body and momently he spun around, the scimitar turned to a pike, a gentle poke is all Lorenzo felt on his stomach. 

He looked down at the pike that failed to pierce his protective hide – “Hah! WEAK” Leaping forward trying to get his paw around the little mouse, but Charle’s reflexes were superb. He ducked and rolled, another poke, this time harder, but still not enough. He rolled backwards some more, putting distance between them. Lorenzo stood up and puffed himself up – “What is it? Getting scared?” Charle’s pike turned into a bow with 1 single arrow, text on the arrow read –  “Una”. Charles nodded “One chance”

Charles stood back and grinned – “Scared? Never! Come and get some you fat greedy bastard” His gaze wandered around the weak spots on the opossum’s body. ‘Belly and the joint bends on legs.’ Charles took a deep breath, waiting for his chance to shoot. Opposum ran at him. His larger body intimidated the little mouse as he got closer. His sharp teeth and claws sent shivers through Charle’s body, but he waited. When he got close, Charles began to charge toward him. 

Opossum leaped, with clear intent to swipe at the little mouse midfall. Charles, in turn, slid on the ground, sliding under the arc of Lorenzo’s jump. He watched the mouse take aim mid slide, and shoot. The arrow hit him right by the base of his tail. The impact of the arrow threw him off his trajectory and onto the ground, tumbling. A pained shout echoed through the otherwise dead-silent streets of Riverbank City. 

Charle’s bow turned into a spear once more, the little mouse dashed towards the injured opossum that struggled to get up. He ripped the arrow out of with his teeth and whimpered in pain – “Graa! I’..i’m not done yet you fool!” Charles dashed around him, placing his arrow between his legs, toppling the injured critter onto the cold rocky road beneath. He pressed firmly, the tip of his spear, against the soft skin of the opossum’s neck, digging ever so slightly into his skin.

A jolt of pain accompanied by fear rushed through Lorenzo’s body. His eyes widened – “fine… i surrender.. I’ll leave if you spare me” The spear creaked and changed its shape, turning into twine and swiftly coiling itself around Lorenzo’s neck, and a small piece of it, around Charle’s wrist. A word formed on the bracelet “Contractus”

Charles gazed down at him – “If you step into this city once more, you will be willed. Until then, you shall leave, forever banished from this city.” Opossum struggled up and bowed – “Yes.. I shall leave” And thus the battle ended. It became known in the critter community as the ‘grand spectacle of pizza rivalry’ and this tale had eventually become inter-galactic. All from the smallest local critters to space pirates and mercenaries knew of this epic.