Disclaimer: Valdemar and concepts belong to Mercedes Lackey, this story and Original Characters belong to their author.

Notes: For my Mom for Mother's Day. I guess you could say she's my Muse, in this particular case. My normal Muses have been totally slacking lately, lol. Much love to her!

This takes place in the same AU/future universe as Yesterday, etcetera-cat's No Tomorrow, and an old RPG that we cavorted about, called "Shifted Silver" (which was created/run by Kierseth, and is where this particular AU came from originally.) Shortly, Gifts have mutated into a broader spectrum than exist in the canon/books, and some Companions are no longer pure white.

I'm seriously trying to write something cheerful here. Shocking.

WHISKERS
By Senashenta

Mouse was a Companion who stood out in the rest of the Herd for more than one reason—first; she was, well, tiny. Thin, and small, even for a mare. Jokes were often made that when she Chose, it would have to be someone of miniscule or elflike proportions… and she was the one who cracked them, most of the time.

Second, she was bouncy. Mouse practically skipped everywhere she went. It was nigh on impossible for her to express any emotions that weren't happiness, or something related to it. Sometimes, yes, her perpetually cheerful nature could be irritating, but for the most part, she had a way of lifting the spirits of those around her.

Third, her markings were unique, even for a marked Companion. The lower half of her body and her tail were the classic white-silver of her kind, while the top and her mane were colored a beige-brown in dripping swirls, almost as if someone had thrown a bucket of paint over her. Bright, sapphire eyes looked out from under a long forelock, and over a white nose that was speckled with brown "freckles".

Fourth, and finally, Mouse, in all her white-and-brown splashed glory, had a pet cat.

Her name was Fawzi, and she was a sleek orange tabby that lived among the foliage of the various groves of trees that dotted the Field: the stable hands kept her fed for Mouse—who was somewhat lacking in the dexterity to actually do it herself—thanks to a sometimes complicated relay of messages through other Companions to their Heralds, and then to the workers.

Truthfully, Fawzi was as much a pet to everyone as she was to Mouse herself— but it was Mouse who had rescued her from the river when she was a kitten, and Mouse who had followed her around as she toddled about the Field, making sure she didn't get stepped on or accidentally punted when she got, predictably, under the feet of every person—equine or human both—who happened past.

Where she came from, or how she happened into the Collegium grounds in the first place, no one really knew, but they weren't about to turn her away— especially since, as she grew older, she proved to be a particularly adept mouser.

The irony of a Companion named "Mouse" have a cat as a pet wasn't lost on anyone, either.

:Tana, have you seen Fawzi?:

:Uh… no? Not recently, anyway… why?:

:I haven't been able to find her all day.:

:She must just be out playing or hunting, or something.:

:Yeah, maybe…:

:…but?:

:But… it's just that Marakel feeds her when I'm in the stable for breakfast, and she wasn't there today…:

:Worrywart. You'd think you'd lost a child or something.:

:I'm not that bad…:

:Yes you are.:

:No I'm not.:

:Yes. You really are.:

And it was because of Fawzi—or rather, the lack of her presence—that Mouse found herself wandering the streets of Haven, poking her nose into bushes and hedges, peering into yards and around stalls in the merchant quarters, searching for a familiar set of orange stripes.

Theoretically, the people of Haven should have been so used to Companions that they wouldn't have really even noticed her— theoretically. But the truth was that even if they were used to said equines, they still garnered quite a bit of attention. And a Companion who was lacking in the normal formal tack of the Search, and who was sniffing around into every nook and cranny she could find, was even more interesting.

For her part, Mouse was successfully ignoring the stares she was getting, in favor of trying to find hidey-holes that Fawzi might have decided to take a nap in… or something. She was hoping for something as simple and innocent as that, anyway.

Really, she shouldn't have been so concerned— the cat had only been missing for a few hours. But Mouse was so used to having her around all the time that even those handful of candlemarks seemed like far too long. She might as well have been missing for days.

:Where are you going?:

:Um… nowhere…:

:Really. Because it looks like you're about to go into the city.:

:Well…:

:And you're not wearing your formal tack.:

:No, see…:

:You're going to look for your cat, aren't you?:

:Tana! I'm worried about her!:

:Of course you are…:

The man who was running the merchant stall—which was piled high with various forms of vegetable matter—was staring at her oddly, seeming to try to understand why she had wandered up behind him, nudged the cloth cover out of the way, and then suck her head underneath the table without so much as a by-your-leave. He was relatively sure there were no available children under there, after all.

After a moment, Mouse whuffed softly and backed herself out, sighing with an almost disappointed air. Looking to the merchant, she nodded slightly, then moved off again before he could voice his obvious confusion.

Silver hooves chimed against the cobbles of the street as she continued on her search.

:Excuse me, Laios?:

:Mm? Yes, child?:

:What… are you doing here?:

:My Chosen wished to come into town…:

:Oh…:

:Is there anything I can help you with?:

:Yes… see… I'm looking for my cat…:

:I know the one you're talking about… she's orange and striped, yes?:

:Yeah! That's Fawzi!:

:Hm… I do believe I saw a cat like that back the way we just came… though I can't guarantee it's the same one.:

:Ah, that's okay! Thank you!:

"Back the way they just came" was down a street that she hadn't yet looked through, and after a quick dip of her head to the elder Companion, she headed in the direction that he had indicated. Laios' Herald, who was looking over a selection of scarves, seemed completely oblivious to the exchange.

Ears perked forward, Mouse peered down the road, which was much less crowded that it's neighboring street, where most of the merchant stalls were located. What she was looking at then was a more residential area, though it was interspersed with a handful of small shops, here and there along the way.

Bright eyes surveyed the street and the yards that dotted it as she moved slowly down it. Still concerned, she was also confused—Fawzi had never run away from home before. Even if her home was just a flat field of grass and hedges. It wasn't as if she was confined to it, but still, Mouse couldn't think of a reason for her to have left.

These thoughts were followed by generic "bad cat!" ones, though she abandoned them when she began to pick up the low rumbling of a familiar purr.

Pausing, she swiveled her ears—and then followed them over to the side of the road, to a yard that was surrounded by the sometimes over-romanticized White Picket Fence and cobblestone walkway. She flared her nostrils absently as she leaned her head over the pickets to look into the yard itself…

The girl was maybe eleven or twelve years old, with red hair and multitudes of dark freckles across her nose and cheeks. She wore a plain, dark blue skirt and a white shirt with a matching vest—it looked like a uniform of some kind, actually, though Mouse couldn't actually place where it came from.

She was sitting on her front steps.

She was giggling. She was happy.

And in her arms, purring as if trying to wake the dead, was Fawzi.

Had Mouse had them, her eyebrows would have jumped skyward. Instead, she uttered a surprised snort, ears and tail flicking in union. The sound made Fawzi roll her head toward her, and the cat eyed her lazily, still purring at the top of her lungs. One of her ears swiveled slightly, and her tail flopped sideways off of the girl's lap.

What was—?

Then the girl, following Fawzi's gaze, looked up with the most astonishing emerald green eyes—

And suddenly, Mouse found herself caught up in their depths—

Realization struck—

And Fawzi, from her perch on young Nida Castor's lap, couldn't have looked smugger if she'd tried.