It was amazing how quickly one's life could change.
One day you and your friends are up late, hanging out, maybe thinking of sneaking into the kitchen to get a midnight snack.
And the next, you are all conscripted into a fledgling resistance movement attempting to topple an intergalactic dictatorship.
Life really was strange.
Of course their situation wasn't at all typical but Pit and his friends had taken a philosophical approach to the whole thing.
They were alive, had food and water, a comfy place to sleep, and even a group of people to keep them company. Though the people in question could be amazingly dense sometimes.
Jaq had said that was only natural. That it had something to do with how long it took their blood to reach their head. Pumping blood that high took a lot of energy, leaving little behind for thinking.
He had gone on to say that Pit should be grateful not to have been born as one of the 'big people'.
They're slow and lumber around everywhere thinkin they own the place. They're so big they can't get through any natural opening so they have to build these big doors to get anywhere. Absolutely abysmal way to live. Be grateful kid. We got lucky. We were born mice.
He always made a point to say the word "mice" as though it was something significant. Pit couldn't really see it. The others didn't really seem to either, though they never said anything.
Fitz never said anything outright. But he sniggered after every one of Jaq's ramblings, and whenever the dark blue mouse's back was turned, he would proceed to make what he thought to be accurate depictions of Jaq's sour expression.
If Jaq ever caught Fitz making such a face he would chase the pink mouse around going on and on about "proper respect" and "doing better by our mission". Though what that mission was, no one knew.
Pit had an idea that the the two were fighting for seniority. Out of the four, Jaq and Fitz were the oldest mice in their tiny makeshift nest, though which was older remained a complete mystery.
While the pink and dark blue mice went at it over their battle for supremacy, Pit was left at the side with Gus. Both patiently waiting for the squabble to be over.
Gus was easily the biggest and strongest member of their nest. He towered over the other three and could lift things with one paw that would, at times, take the combined might of the other three to even budge.
Despite this, Gus was a big softy. He had no desire to lead their little group. In fact the very idea seemed to send the big yellow blob into a fit of worry.
If there was any mouse in the universe who was completely satisfied with their station in life, it was Gus. Content to let the other have their way, even if that meant them standing on his head from time to time. He wasn't much of a conversationalist either. Hanging out with Gus usually only meant one thing. Food.
And then there was Pit.
Little, tiny, so small the-predators-wouldn't-notice-they'd-eaten-him Pit.
He was the youngest in the group. At least as far as he knew. The only evidence seemed to be Jaq's insistence on forever calling him "kid".
Really those two things seemed to Pit's only defining characteristics. He was the smallest and he was the youngest and that was all anyone really needed to know.
He couldn't take charge like Jaq tended to do. Getting up in front of everyone and shouting orders was awkward. The thought of it made the little blue mouse feel nervous.
He didn't have the boundless energy and bravery that Fitz had either. If you needed something done, and you needed it done fast, you sent in Fitz. He wasn't afraid of anything. Pit had seen him bite a drones finger clear off once.
And of course he wasn't big and strong like Gus.
Pit was just Pit.
It was a little frustrating at times. Having nothing you particularly excelled at.
Of course despite this the four still managed to be a successful team. Jaq was constantly insistent that they were the best mice available "for the job". And although the other three had little idea what "the job" was, they did have to agree that most things they set out to do together turned out successful.
The four didn't do much most days. Just hang around the castle, play little games with no clear rules, and keep the princess company. They were all rather dedicated to the last part.
Princess Allura was a priority that every one of the space mice shared. Even if she was one of the "big people" as Jaq liked to call them.
You just didn't share a cryo-pod with someone for 10,000 years, develop a psychic connection, and then NOT become friends. It stood to reason.
Especially since becoming connected to the princess had changed all four of them. Permanently.
Before being connected to Allura, there were many things that the space mice hadn't known about. They hadn't known about princesses, and kings, and castles. They hadn't known about space ships, the universe, other planets, or anything beyond what had been essential to know as a mouse.
As regular mice, they had known about things like predators, and food but that was just about it.
They hadn't really realized what they had been missing.
Allura had, at first, been concerned about them. They could feel it. She had thought that all this new information might be hard for them to process or accept.
But Jaq had shut her down almost immediately. Maybe those humans could be overwhelmed but they were MICE. And mice were made of tougher stuff than that.
And really Jaq had been proven right. It was fun testing out all the new things they learned while being tied to the princess. Each of them experimenting with it in their own way.
After figuring out that you could ASK for food, Gus had become a common sight in the castle kitchen. One of the big people liked to hang around in there, and seemed to appreciate having Gus around as a voluntary taste tester.
Jaq and Fitz had taken to spending a lot of time together in the main control room. They'd already learned a lot from the princess, but Fitz was continually interested in learning more. In a rare show of agreement, Jaq took part in what he happily referred to as "intel collecting".
That left Pit on his own. Which was really quite rare. The other three mice had a habit of keeping Pit nearby where they could keep an eye on him.
But Pit was growing up. He was nearly a full year old (not counting those years he was frozen in the pod with the others), His front teeth had already fully come in, giving him a decent bit of biting power.
Well, it was more like nibbling power but Pit didn't see why that made too much of a difference. Nibbling and biting were the same basic action after all. One just involved more jaw movement.
Regardless, Pit enjoyed his alone time. He was free to wander the castle and do as he pleased. Pit especially enjoyed watching the "big people". Even if they were slow, they could be funny to watch.
Jaq. Fitz, and Gus knew about Pit's tendency to watch the humans, but made no comment on it. They only really seemed to take an interest whenever he would shared what he had seen with Princess Allura, who was always ready to listen to the bits of gossip.
As a direct result of his casual peeping, Pit liked to think he understood the humans a little bit more than the other mice did. Of course he could never be entirely sure. It wasn't like there was a test for this kind of thing.
After months and months of watching and listening Pit had definitely decided on a personal favorite paladin. Speaking of which….
As Fitz and Jaq's game of tag reached a fever pitch, Gus suddenly became invested in the goings on. Ready to intervene if it looked like the two would break out into a fight. The break in the big mouse's attention gave the little mouse just the opening he needed.
Quietly, and without alerting the others, Pit slipped into one of the nearby vents and made his way to the training deck. Expertly navigating the intricate maze of ducts.
It was nearly noon, which meant it was nearly time for the the paladin's training exercises. And little PIt didn't want to miss a thing.