I hurried behind Liam for a further 5 minutes till he finally stopped. My fur was damp with sweat, not that the human beanstalk gave a damn.

‘Want to hitch a ride on my shoulder?’

As if he’d ask me that. I’d have better luck lassoing an eagle and hitching a ride. Imagine that, how cool would it be to see a mouse soaring through the sky on an eagle? Come to think of it, do I have that skill …….? I opened the interface and began to scroll through my skills list.

-Bird whispering

-Tail hopping

-cat meowing

Nope, all useless. Well, I guess cat meowing could be of some use later down the line.

Distracted with my inner thoughts, I bumped into Liam’s shoe. I wondered why he would’ve stopped suddenly, and not wanting to deal with his ‘oh so witty passive-aggressive/fully-aggressive/ and unfunny attempts at humor, I climbed up his trousers and shirt to get a better view.

I perched myself on his shoulder and realized that we were finally here. The town we had seen from the shack. I didn’t know how to tell this to Liam, but he was in for one hell of a wake-up call.

We looked up in awe at the giant wooden wall that encompassed our vision. The wall must have been at least ten feet high. I wondered why it needed to be so tall. It looked very sturdy too. Vertical logs were stacked side by side and tied into place by thick rope.

I could make out a path not far to our left that led into the town. There seemed to be an opening there, and I could just about see two guards.

‘’do you mind?’’ Hissed Liam.

‘’Oh sorry’’, I said slowly releasing my grip on his shoulder. I kind of forgot that I had claws. I think I grabbed on a little too tight.

‘’No not that!’’ hissed Liam as he squatted me back to point at a small wet patch on his shirt.

‘’Sorry, I kind of got a little excited,’’ I said. It was embarrassing but what else could I say? It’s not like I knew instinctively how to be a mouse. You don’t just wake up one day to find that you can no longer use a toilet for fear of falling down and being flushed away. Heck, I didn’t even know what I should eat anymore. Worms, cockroaches, cheese? Did mice really eat cheese or was that only in the cartoons? And don’t even get me started on women. Was I allowed to look at women anymore, would that be considered creepy? Or would it be creepy if I looked at female mice? Who knew, I sure as heck didn’t.

‘’Well, look at the bright side,’’ I muttered. ‘’At least it adds some much-needed freshness to your dour musk.’’

Liam raised a hand, about to swat me like a fly. I flinched waiting in anticipation. The blow, however, never came.

‘’Stop!’’ one of the guards walked over towards us. He wore simple brown leather armor, an ordinary helm, and leather sandals and carried a short sword by his side. The only defining feature about him was his sensational mousetache. It was a long handlebar which he evidently took great pride in maintaining.

To Liam’s surprise, and not so much mine, he also had a mouse lying lazily on his shoulder. A larger-than-average, authoritative-looking mouse that lay on a cushioned seat fastened onto the armor.

How wonderfully curious. I had used my skills earlier to visit the area and gather a little intel. My heightened senses had alerted me to this. But I hadn’t been certain of the workings of this small town till now.

‘’It is illegal for a human to harm their respective master.’’ Alerted the guard.

Liam, dumbstruck, had no idea what the guard meant.

‘’Wh wha what …..What do you mean master.’’

‘’Sir, you have bound yourself to this mouse. Surely you are aware of the laws of our land. The humans of this land owe their fealty to the Royal Mousart family. And as decreed by his majesty, all mice upon reaching adulthood must choose a human familiar. Hence the one you have on your shoulder.’’

I watched as Liam’s face struggled to process this new information. The cogs were spinning in overtime. His face went red and then blanched white.

‘’Ohhhhh. I, I, I’m so sorry.’’ Liam said as he looked at the guard and the chubby little mouse who sat staring from the guard’s shoulder. ‘’I think you have me confused, sir.’’ I wasn’t trying to hit him; I was just going to stroke him. See.’’ He gestured for the guard to look as he attempted to stroke me with a fake and evidently pained smile.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

‘’Owwww, you’re too rough.’’ I moaned.

‘’Quiet, are you trying to get me killed.’’ Liam hissed.

‘’Oww, my arm. I think it’s broken.’’ I cried from under his hand.

‘’That is enough sir. You are to follow me. Touch your master in such a manner again and I shall have you publicly flogged.’’ The guard grunted while grabbing Liam’s arm away from me. ‘’And you sir, you really ought to put your familiar on a leash.’’

The guard led the two of us toward the entrance. The whole time Liam seemed to be muttering under his breath and glaring at me. I’m sure I saw him raise a fist at the sky at one point too. I couldn’t help but snicker.

As we passed the second guard and entered the walled town, the first guard led us away from the main path and towards a thin door. He opened it to reveal a simple room, unadorned of furnishings; the exceptions being a simple cell in the corner and a table with two chairs. He guided Liam into the cell and slammed it shut. The look on Liam’s face was priceless. My grin spread from ear to ear. I tried my best to hide it….. I failed. Liam bit his tongue, opting to make a threatening gesture while the guard wasn’t looking.

‘’And sir, would you like some tea, maybe some coffee while we deal with your insubordinate familiar?’’

I thought for a moment. Some tea would be nice, but so would coffee. I wondered if they had some delicious coffee, possibly a latte with semi-skimmed almond milk and chocolate sprinkles. I never had one on Earth but heard that it was to die for. And well, I had already died, so why not?

‘’Yes, I would like a latte with semi-skimmed almond milk and chocolate sprinkles.’’

‘’A tea it is then.’’ The guard said as he slammed the door shut behind him.

I glanced over at Dave. He seemed to be rocking in the corner and mumbling to himself. Maybe it was the exhaustion of finding out about this world and the earlier fight. I knew I was a handful, but my intentions weren’t bad. Even now, there was a greater purpose for getting him into trouble.

I tried to read his mind.

Master, Master Mouse, Master Mouse of all the ridiculous things.

If I didn’t know any better, I was sure that Liam was unhappy with me being his master.

‘Liam, you have to believe me. I acted in our own best interest. I know it’s hard to believe. You must know that I wouldn’t really put you in harm’s way.’’ I tried to sound as sincere as possible.

Liam was sitting down with his back towards me. He didn’t respond but instead scooted further towards the corner of the cell.

A moment later, the guard entered with a porcelain cup containing some kind of tea. It was small and perfectly sized for a mouse like me. It smelt and tasted great.

‘’Sir, it is unfortunate that you have such an insubordinate familiar. I’ll let you choose his punishment, but before proceeding, I must ask the reason for your visit and your intentions.’’

I put my tea down and looked up at the guard and then his master. His master was fast asleep and snoring, with a small snot bubble that seemed to be ever-expanding.

I looked over at Liam and then again at the guard. I couldn’t tell him the truth. He wouldn’t take too well to hearing that we were reincarnated. I didn’t think anyone would for that matter.

‘’We came from the North. Our village was attacked a few days ago and we’ve been looking for a safe place since. Forgive my familiar. He might be a brute, an unhygienic louse, and have the intelligence of a mule, but deep down, he has the heart and loyalty of the best of them.’’

The guard eyed me suspiciously.

Liam still sat with his head down in the corner.

‘’I don’t know how many villages have been affected by that cursed barrier. We’ve had many refugees coming through our gates recently so I can’t say I’m surprised.’’

The guard glanced at both of us before letting out a long sigh.

How curious that our backstory managed to merge perfectly with actual events, I thought to myself.

‘’I’m guessing you came here with nothing.’’ He said as he twirled one end of his mousetache.

I nodded looking a little saddened by our poor state of affairs.

He reached behind his scabbard and pulled out a piece of paper that had been tucked there. ‘’Take this and head to Whiskers Inn. The owner is a friend of mine. He’ll put you up for a few nights and give you something to eat while you get yourselves sorted.’’

Then he looked over at Liam.

‘’He know how to fight?’’

‘’well, he’s got the heart of a lion and the coordination of a man who’s been stung in the backside by a bee, if that counts.’’

‘’Good, Good. Then you could consider visiting the guild. They’ll have some jobs going. That’ll give you a decent start in town until you decide what trade you wish to pursue. But judging by the way things are going, I don’t know how much longer we have left.’’

The guard stood up and gestured for the door.

‘’Wait, we forgot something. My subordinate’s punishment. Liam’s ears suddenly shot up and began to twitch.’’

‘’You wouldn’t happen to have any stocks where people are shackled and have rotten fruit thrown at them, would you?’’

‘’Why, yes we would?’’

Liam turned towards me with eyes wide open.

You wouldn’t

I smirked at him and then looked back at the guard. ‘’Maybe another time, I guess.’’

‘’Liam,’’ I called. ‘’You won’t act up again, will you?’’

‘’No, Sir. Not.’’ He bowed and nodded profusely at the guard

‘’Uhhumm. I think the word you’re thinking of is Mouseter Dave.’’

Liam almost snapped, his Jaw clenching tight, before quickly smiling at the guard and agreeing.

‘’Yes, Mauster Dave.’’

‘’Much better Liam. Time to go now.’’ I called. ‘’Master, it has a nice ring to it.’’.

Liam stood up swiftly and hurried me out. He picked me up by my tail as we passed through the doorway and perched me on his shoulder.

‘’What was all that about? You could have gotten me arrested or even flogged.’’

‘’No, your master would never do such a thing. With greater power, comes great …… now what was that word.?’’

‘’Respons…’’

‘’Privileges. that was it.’’

‘’Now off to the Whiskers inn, steed,’’ I called as we headed off towards the inn.