Chapter Twenty - Found You

Hey guys! It's the amazingly-nice-to-her-characters, never-wanting-to-trick-or-mess-with-anyone's-emotions Dagger, back to give you yet another chapter of Little Black Star! I'm super excited to continue this. Are you excited for this newest chapter? I wrote it all on a very long car ride, although I had it planned out ahead of time. As you guys might've guessed, this story is rather long, and it will be getting split into at least two stories (counting this one) so that it's not WAY too long. So yes, that means you guys will have to wait a little bit (probably) for the sequel once this finishes. xD But it'll be worth it! Besides, we aren't nearly there yet (although we are getting closer). Let's just focus on the chapter I'm posting now! :D I loved writing it so much.

Evx : Ha, I'd feel the same way in their shoes. xD I'm glad you loved this chapter a lot! We'll have to find out this chapter if Teague comes back to get her. I'm sure everyone is hoping he will along with you! And I'm glad you found it cute! It was really fun to write, as I thought it was a cute bit of development of the relationship she has with Teague, and it was a bit happier than some of the stuff that's happened in the story. You guys deserve some happy-fun-cute stuff in this story along with the pain and suffering. I'm glad you loved the chapter so much!

Life as a Siren : I'm glad the prologue was so good. I have been continuing this story (as you know from the PM I sent you), so i hope you read the rest of this story and find it just as good! It's so much fun to write. cx

fanfic authoress : Ooh, you changed your name! Nice! c; I'm not sure if that was a good "AHHHHH!" or a bad "AHHHHH!" though. xD Anyways, I'm glad you're glad, and I'm also glad that you can't wait to see what happens next! As for Mina? Well, we'll just have to see if she's okay or not. :p

Thank you guys so much for the reviews! You're amazing! Now for the actual story.

Also, did you guys appreciate my reference to Jared from Fairest last chapter? xD I was SUPER happy to have found a way to put it in. xD

I hear a rustle from above, and suck my breath in nervously. I want to let myself believe that it's Teague returning already for me, but I know it's not the case. Maybe it's something harmless, like a vampire turtle. But I shouldn't let myself believe that. I know that it's much, much more likely that Savannah's lovely centaurs that she has control over are coming closer. I can't let them find me, but if they see this hole, I'm a goner. I doubt they won't see it too. So my only hope is to use Fae magic.

The only issue is the fact that I haven't been able to use that magic that I've been practicing with before I came in here since I came in here, and that means that my fate rests on something that is pretty much impossible.

Please don't look in here. I will. Please don't look.

"There's a whole over there, guys." A voice says - I think it's Black's - and my hopes are dashed.

The response comes from someone I don't recognize. "Well check it out then."

Inwardly, I begin to sob. I'm going to die. It's all gone to waste. I'm going to be murdered. I got my hopes up for nothing.

"Then don't choose to die. If you don't want me to have died for no reason, and if you don't want my death to be your fault, then get up and save your life! Or are you going to let your mother be right?"

My dad's words echo in my head, and I hug myself tighter, trying to pull myself together so that I don't sob out loud. Not that it really matters, seeing as they've seen the hole, but at least I'm not giving myself away. If I die, then I have to know that my dad's death was for nothing and that I can't do anything in order to be forgiven for the fact that he died because of me. I can't die. Yet what else am I supposed to do?

I shut my eyes, wishing that I could to be anything else than myself so that I can survive, and I prepare for the fact that I am about to be brought for my execution.

Mina's Point of View (shocker, right?)

I sense someone leaning down over the hole and peering inside, and I force myself to open my eyes. I'll face my executioners proudly, and fight them somehow, even though my legs still are injured so I can't even properly escape. Except something seems...off about the hole. Is it bigger than it was before? It's probably impossible, although part of me reasons that I can't say anything is impossible anymore after some of the Fae magic I've seen and other things I've witnessed. Tilting my head up, I see Pink staring back down at me. Seriously? He had to be in this group. I actually kind of liked him.

He crouches down - if that's even possible for centaurs to do - and single-handedly pulls me out of the dark hole, although he and everything else seems bigger than before. "Well look what we have here?" I'm not sure how he managed that. I guess with Fae magic.

I try and protest, but all that comes out is a hiss. No, it can't be. Since protesting with words didn't work, I try to respond with actions instead and slap him. He's so much bigger than he was before though, and so I can't even manage to reach him from where he holds me. Maybe I should've tried to slap his arm instead. However, what startles me more than me not managing to slap him is the fact that my hand is no longer a hand at all. It's a paw.

"A cat?" A centaur with lime green hair that I haven't seen before - at least I don't have to worry about even slightly liking him - asks, emerald green eyes looking me over disapprovingly. "You mistook that stupid, pitiful cat for the Grimm?" Hey, is he insulting me as a cat?

"Cats are amazing." Pink responds rather defensively. "And besides, that hole is really dark, and I never even said I saw the Grimm in it."

Greenie shakes his head, saying, "Pathetic," as Pink scratches my head.

I hiss a little, trying to pull my head away. Can he cut it out?

"I think I'll keep it." Pink announces to the group - or maybe just to Greenie, I don't know if any other centaurs are with them - as he holds me up a little so that my chocolate brown paws dangle down in front of me. "I could use a buddy."

Oh gosh no. There's no way on either plane or in this book that I would let that happen. Since I can't say how I feel about that idea, I respond a different way. I swing a paw at him, hissing yet again. This time he is caught off guard by the action as he wasn't focused on me, releasing me. For once, luck is on my side, because I land on my feet. Although perhaps that isn't so lucky, because my hind paws and legs hurt and nearly collapse from underneath me. Painfully, I pull myself into the hole as fast as I can.

I hear Black chuckle from outside. How did I not notice him before? "That cat seems to have other ideas."

Pink peers into my hole again, and I press myself against the wall furthest from the hole. "Here kitty kitty kitty." If he reaches his hand in this whole, I will bite him or claw him to make him leave me alone. I might as well use this form to defend myself.

Before I can find out if he intends to try and pull me out, he's stopped. "Leave the poor creature be." Black orders much to my relief, and Greenie snickers. "We're wasting time here. Let's get a move on and find the Grimm."

After a moment of hesitation, Pink disappears from where I can see. Hoofsteps and rustling tell me that the whole group of centaurs leaves the area. Then? silence for a long time.

After a while of laying there in the dark hole, I hear hoofsteps again from outside it, and someone says, "I wonder if the cat is still there?" I would bet that was Pink that asked it.

I assume Greenie is the one who responds with, "I wonder if Savannah White will kill us for losing the Grimm!" He sounds frustrated with Pink, but I could care less. If I could, I'd jump for joy. Teague must've succeeded!

Although it's kind of funny when I think about it. No one so much as questioned how a cat ended up inside the Grimorie. You'd think they would. It's not like anything lives here naturally that I'm aware of, and why would Teague suck a cat in here? I suppose it's just not something you think to wonder about.

There's silence again. When there were people hunting me, the silence was a bit less frightening than the sound of the centaurs. But now? Now I'm terrified by the silence. Prince Teague said he would save me. He said he'd lead them away from here until they thought he and I got away, and then come back and get me. But what if he doesn't come back for me after all? Or, even worse, what if he got caught and I just didn't realize it? I probably shouldn't worry about the latter. He's a prince and a Royal; he'd probably be fine and be able to fend for himself. But what if he really did leave me here?

I curl up in the corner, waiting in the pretty much suffocating silence. I could swear it got the tiniest bit lighter outside, but maybe I'm only imagining things, seeing as I've been staring out of the hole for a while now. All I know for sure is that I can sense the fact that I'm completely alone very well, and it stings.

As I continue to wait, I decide to try and shift back to my normal, Fae-human-Grimm self. I'm not sure if my change to being my cat is a normal thing that Grimms are able to do, but I'm thankful for it all the same. However, I want to be myself again. Cats are cool I guess, but my real form is a lot nicer. How did I change in the first place though? As I think about it, I suddenly remember. I closed my eyes and wished and willed myself to be anything but myself.

So, I repeat that process, except this time I wish and will myself to not be anything but myself.

I open one eye carefully, and then the other. Did it work? I can't tell by the size of the hole, although I have a bad feeling that it didn't shrink. So, in order to find out, I slowly put my right hand out in front of me. Once again, it's not a hand though. It's still a chocolate brown cat paw. I turn it over to find a gold paw pad. I'm not sure why I turned it over. Maybe I thought that that would show me that I'd imagined the paw, and that I had actually changed back. I can't figure out what went wrong though. Why didn't it work?

I whimper a little as the fact that I don't know how to change back truly dawns on me. Was I not supposed to be able to become a cat? Am I stuck like this forever now? I don' want to be a cat forever! I stay curled in my corner, wishing that I could cry. Or, better yet, that Nix or Teague were here. They would know what to do.

I'm so upset that I don't even realize someone has crouched down by the hole till they say, "Princess? You there?"

'Oh my gosh, Teague, you're back! You didn't abandon me!' That's what I want to cry in response. But I can't, because I'm stuck as a stupid cat. I struggle to leap out of the hole to the prince, letting out a mew of pain when I do. In fact, I land on my shaky legs only to have them collapse from underneath me. Teague looks startled by my sudden appearance, and I can't get myself any closer.

As if he can tell I'm struggling, he picks me up and moves me closer. "How'd you get here, kitty?" Oh gosh, he doesn't recognize me. If he doesn't recognize me, I'm doomed! I'm literally doing whatever the kitty equivalent of crying is at this point. "Hm, a chocolate brown cat...chocolate brown eyes with golden specks in them...golden paw pads...injured hind legs...a gold collar and a white collar...a black star marking on her right shoulder..." At the last one he snickers a little and can't keep up his act. I let out a mew of delight and relief. He does recognize me! Although I'm slightly annoyed that he would scare me like that. Can't he see how panicked I am right now? "Impressive. I didn't expect you to tap into any Grimm magic, at least not while you were in here. Let me guess though. You're stuck now?" I nod my head, and he waves it off as if it's nothing, although he does laugh a little at my problem. "No biggie. It was obviously your heightened sense of fear that triggered your being able to shift forms. So if I do this..."

Instead of saying what he's about to do, he raises his hand and moves it as if to smack me. I can feel myself begin to bristle, and instinctively I reach up to catch his wrist and stop him instead of remember I'm a cat and handle the issue the way a cat would. I blink, and find that my own hand keeps him from hurting me. I've changed back! Instantly I let out a relieved sob.

"Oh my gosh, Teague, I thought I'd be stuck as a cat forever!" I let my hand fall, moving to sob into his shoulder as relieved - originally fearful - tears leave my eyes.

Teague sounds rather uncomfortable as he tries to comfort me, and gently pushes me away. "I can see that. How are your legs?"

I sniffle a little as I calm down. I'd been needing to cry for awhile now. "They still hurt. I doubt that I can go very far on them, if I can actually go anywhere on them."

He looks slightly frustrated by this, and an unwanted disappointment wells up inside of me. Is he that eager to leave me on my own in here again? I'd thought that maybe we'd bonded a little, even with everything he's done. I guess I was wrong. But why does this disappoint me so much? He's the Dark Prince, for goodness's sake! He cursed me, and because of that my life has been completely miserable. I should want him to be gone as soon as possible.

But yet, I don't.

Finally, he heaves a sigh. "Fine. I'll just carry then." Again?

He scoops me up bridal style again, much to my chagrin. "Why don't you just heal my legs and have me walk?" I resist tacking on 'It sure would be simpler than carrying me when you obviously don't want to' along with my question.

"It's too much Fae magic to do here undetected. We might get spotted, and that would ruin everything we just did." If I didn't know better, I'd say that that is a lame excuse he's concocted so that he can still carry me and be around me longer. But I do know better, sadly. I wish I didn't.

"Okay," Is my simple, one word response.

We walk in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Teague says, "Can I call you Kitty Princess now?"

The mere thought horrifies me. "What? No!"

"What about Princess Kitty?" His eyes are completely innocent, not giving away his mischievous intent that I can sense.

"Changing the order of the words doesn't count." I respond, rolling my eyes, although my voice still expresses how horrified I am by the idea of that nickname.

"How about Scaredy Cat then?" The moment he suggest it, I gasp.

I'm even more horrified by that one. It's the worst one he's suggested yet! "No!"

He chuckles. Gosh, he's amused by this. He's teasing me, and my cheeks go red from embarrassment. This isn't funny to me. I was actually scared! Although I sourly consider the fact that it could be considered funny from his perspective, I don't agree that he has any right to tease me like this.

"How about Kitty? No strings attached?" Now his grin has become more of a teasing smirk.

I decide to change the subject, since saying no doesn't seem to work at all. "Shouldn't we be, I dunno, running, Teague?"

He rolls his eyes when I look up at him to see his response. "Cool your jests. I know what I'm doing, Kitty." He winks down at me when he calls me 'Kitty,' and I groan. Crap. He's given me another nickname. I should've just said no again.

Better than Scaredy Cat, I guess.

Eep, that was so much fun to write! I was so happy with that chapter! What did you guys think of the centaurs finding Mina, but not recognizing her? How about the fact that she became a cat? What did you guys think about how panicked Mina became because she couldn't change back, and what about Teague's reaction to it? Speaking of Teague, what do you think was up with him suddenly seeming irritated by Mina not being able to walk still? And what about his nickname suggestions? Was the chapter good? Bad?

Please leave a review! I hope another, somewhat happier and funnier and cuter (hopefully) chapter was nice to have!

~ Dagger