Another delayed chapter! Very sorry! I could give you about a hundred reasons as to what took so long but I'll just safe you the time. Hopefully, things will get less hectic and I'll be able to post these chapters much sooner. :)
That Mischievous Grin
Chapter Thirteen
By LoveMeNever
Cheshire watched with much amusement as the queen tapped her finger impatiently on the dining table looking rather perturbed. "I must say I'm so very glad you decided on letting me join you for dinner!" Chess reclined in the uncomfortable chair just to add annoyance.
Regina gave the cat a fake smile, after Cheshire took her little nap in the dungeons she claimed she hadn't eaten anything for the past two days and there was no way she could complete such a difficult task of tracking someone without a meal first. If she wasn't so annoyed, Regina might have found it to be humorous.
"Are you finished now?" Cheshire didn't get to answer, "Good!" Regina nodded to the servants to take the food away from the table.
Cheshire smirked, I suppose it's a good thing I finished a while ago.
"Now, go and find Snow White for me." Regina demanded sternly.
Cheshire was not so easily moved from her position in the chair, in fact she seemed to get more comfortable. "Ah yes. There is just one problem though!"
The queen visibly sighed and she almost lost her wits. "What problem? There should be no problem, I've given you what you wanted now make good on that favor you owe me!"
"Fine fine, I'll go find your White Snow for you. Though I'm not sure why you want snow in the middle of summer... maybe you'd like it to cool down? That would make sense I suppose." Chess laughed as the queen's face became red with anger. She could almost see the steam coming out of her ears and nostrils.
Most would probably run and hide at such a fearsome rage the queen seemed to be attempting to control but Cheshire was to much of a dare-devil for running. Plus, she didn't really believe the queen would harm her because she needed her, needed her to find Snow White. Despite being in the Enchanted Forest for only a small amount of time Cheshire heard of the fascinating tale the drunks at the tavern or villagers on the road told.
Snow White the heir to the throne accused of... well, Cheshire didn't remember, but she was being hunted relentlessly by the very queen Chess had wanted to see. Now here she was, curiosity was the main force driving Cheshire to push Regina's buttons and stick around playing with fire, almost literally.
She wanted to see how far Regina was willing to go and how appreciative the queen might be if she managed to find and deliver Snow White.
Not to mention it was the most fun she's had in a long time.
"I am the Queen! I suggest you do as I command before I make you my pet and you'll never be free again." Regina threatened with much vigor.
"Careful, Your Highness, I might actually like that more than you'd think." Cheshire winked at her and then hollered in laughter at the queen's face. It was a mixture of disgust, anger, and... to Cheshire's surprise, intrigue. "Before you completely lose your head I'll do as you demand but I really do need one more favor."
"Favor?" Regina chuckled darkly. "That's not how this works, cat. You said you owed me a favor... not the other way around." She stood and placed her hands on her hips to show finality.
Cheshire grinned utterly enjoying this. "Then if I do you the favor of finding Snow White then will you indulge me? What I ask is trivial and simple compared to what you ask of me. 'Tis a very dangerous game, playing cat and mouse."
She watched Regina narrow her eyes and her eyebrows drop slightly. "I'll be the judge of that. Tell me what it is you want."
"I was travelling with a boy and I'd like you to release him from your dungeons. Let him scurry off to the nearest village or whatever." Chess turned her face away from Regina, appearing to glance around the room with fake interest to hide her actual interest in the subject.
Regina laughed, "Why do you care what happens to him?"
"Despite what everyone seems to believe, I'm not completely heartless, he's just a boy."
Chess smirked when Regina's face actually softened a tad from surprise. "Fine. If you find Snow White then I'll release the boy."
The grin that erupted from the woman, who now changed into cat form, was disturbingly to large for the cat's face. Cheshire jumped up on the table and bowed her head to the queen before disappearing from sight.
Regina smirked evilly, she had a feeling this cat was going to be very helpful to her.
Deep in the forest, Cheshire ran as fast as she could until she reached a village, if she was going to find someone it might be beneficial to ask around and figure out who is loyal to Snow White. Or if she had passed through the town and someone aided her. Any sign of a mysterious woman was good enough for Cheshire.
Along the way she found many wanted posters for the so called criminal so she had a good idea of what Snow looked like. At least now she wouldn't have to guess, less work for her!
She crept behind a tavern, the best place to get information, it was amazing how easily drunks spilled all their secrets, and changed back into her human self. Then she went through the tavern doors, almost immediately getting ale splashed on her at the drunk who fell out of his chair.
The only thing stopping her laughter was the disgusting feel of the ale running down her bare leg and seeping into her boot.
"Oi! Watch where yer stepping wench!" One of the men said to her.
He was very unpleasant, Cheshire noted, so she just mumbled an apology and ducked her head down to not draw attention to herself. She could play shy if need be, and this seemed like one of those times.
"Hey! Sorry, it looks like your not from around here? These guys are harmless so you don't have to worry." A sweet, innocent sounding voice came from a table Cheshire was just passing. She cursed under her breath, the second she walked in everyone was noticing her.
It was not going according to plan. All she wanted was to eavesdrop and stay in the shadows.
When she turned around to the voice she saw a young woman in a red cloak with the hood pulled up. Her hair was long dark brown and her eyes green. She was very pretty but something about her felt off. Maybe it was the smell? Not that the woman smelled particularly bad but just... strange.
"No, I'm not. I am just passing through." Chess tried to smile politely and walk away but the woman quickly invited her to sit.
"Please sit! It's not everyday we get new people to town. Where are you from?" The girl asked like an eager puppy.
Cheshire sat hesitantly. "Far far away. I assume you live here in this..." She glanced precariously around, "Em, quaint village?"
The woman nodded and smiled. "With my granny! Oh! My name is Red, by the way, what's yours?"
"Call me Chess."
"Chess?"
"What? Your name is Red." Cheshire smirked.
Red saw her point, and besides it's not like she hasn't heard worse names. If this mysterious woman didn't want to give her real name like Snow didn't at first then Red had no problem with it. "How long are you staying here?"
"That very much depends on what this village has to offer, who knows? I go where adventure calls!" Cheshire replied with an eyebrow raised. "...Or where snow falls."
"Well, it is summer so you probably won't find any snow around here or anywhere in the Enchanted Forest."
Cheshire nodded in fake fascination but Red gave no indication if the word, or name in this case, meant anything to her. Chess inwardly groaned knowing it could take weeks or longer to find Snow White. As much as she wanted to do this for Regina and Aladdin, she was not convinced she could withstand the search for Snow White, impatience was not the problem, it was that this 'trip' might turn out to be devastatingly boring.
Red was talking away about her granny and fun activities around the town that Cheshire thought sounded the complete opposite of fun. She mentioned a game the children played that involved kicking a ball around. Chess wondered why the brunette was even telling her these things in the first place.
She was probably just overly friendly, Cheshire concluded.
Someone dressed in a white cloak entered the tavern and started to head for Red but when they saw she wasn't alone they passed them. The hood on the cloak was pulled over their head so Cheshire couldn't see their facial features clearly and the cloak made their body seem bulky which meant gender was also unrecognizable.
Whoever it was sat at a table behind Red and Cheshire and tried to act like they were reading a piece of paper but kept glancing up at the two sitting in front.
"Is that a friend of yours?" Cheshire asked Red whilst pointing briefly to the cloaked figure.
Red stuttered a little and become nervous quite quickly. "What? Oh no, I've never seen her before!"
"Her? You know its a woman?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"N-no I don't, I just made an assumption." Red laughed and waved her hand in dismissal but her eyes kept switching from Cheshire to the hooded figure.
Cheshire nodded but was still unconvinced. "Adventure calls but perhaps I'll see you around or maybe I won't." She winked at the brunette and quickly left the tavern and ducked around the corner to the window so she could see the hooded figure.
She smirked when Red casually sat across from the person; she knew Red was lying.
Unfortunately, her plan only went as far as this and she needed to hear what the two were saying to one another. Chess wasn't sure who the cloaked person was but judging by the age Snow White would be, she was willing to bet Red would be friendly to the young bandit and they would instantly become friends.
That is how fairy tales go, is it not? Cheshire rolled her eyes.
Then again she could be completely off, she wouldn't know for sure until the cloaked person revealed their face.
Red and the mysterious person stood and walked out the tavern. Cheshire had to dive into a large stack of hay, that was conveniently placed beside a cart of fish beside the tavern, to stay hidden.
Why didn't I just become a cat? She sarcastically applauded herself while spitting hay out her mouth and brushing herself off after the two passed. This time she changed into a cat in order to follow them undetected.
Before she left the area, though, she made sure to swipe one of the smaller fish from the cart. Just because she was part-human didn't mean she didn't enjoy trivial catlike things.
They traveled along a narrow little passage through the woods until they reached a small cottage. It had a weird feel, Cheshire realized when she got closer, Red and the other person were already entering the small cottage. No one else was around so Chess jumped up onto the window seal frame and craned her cat neck to see that the cloaks were pulled up over their heads still.
Red was sitting on her bed grinning and the other had their back turned but Cheshire could now clearly see she was a woman due to the cloak being partially open. Her hair was dark and very curly, all Cheshire could really see was that she was smiling and speaking to Red.
If only she would turn around just enough for Cheshire to confirm her looks, she slowly started to turn her head but an old woman burst into the room loudly startling everyone. Causing the mystery girl to conceal her face further.
Cheshire still couldn't understand a word being spoken, all she knew for sure was the old lady definitely was not happy, Red and the other girl sat very still. The old lady pointed to the door and slowly the mystery girl stood, walked to the door, while Red argued with the old lady. Red sighed heavily when the front door closed. Cheshire smirked, this was working out for her all to well.
With Red and the old lady occupied, she could finally confront the mystery girl and find out if her suspicions of it being Snow White were true.
Time to play the stray cat. She grinned, jumped off the window, stayed in the shadows, and watched as the girl walked further away from the little hut. Cheshire weaved in and out of the shadows stalking the girl, waiting for them to be out of earshot of Red and the villagers.
Cheshire purposefully stepped on a dried leaf to cause the girl to look, though Chess got out of sight quickly, now she could fully see who was the mysterious cloaked girl. She grinned again when it was indeed Snow White.
This is just to easy! I am one lucky cat.
They came to a fallen tree with branches and leaves forming a wall of sorts up against it, a homemade shelter, Snow White was about to crawl in the little space between the tree and the ground when Cheshire meowed softly.
She stepped out of the shadow of a tree and looked as innocent as possible.
"Oh, hey little guy."
Tsk. Little guy? Cheshire kept her cool and acted afraid to approach her.
Snow White smiled, squatted down, and held out her hand. "Come here, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." She cooed pleasantly.
If she was a normal cat Cheshire probably would have believed her, so she slowly walked over to Snow's hand, nudged it, meowed again, and purred. She let Snow pet her while she nudged her knee.
This is so degrading. She thought bitterly, she wasn't to fond of acting like a sweet kitten.
"I'm afraid I don't have anything to give you to eat." Snow White said. "I can barely get myself food anymore."
Cheshire purred and then acted like she heard something behind them. She darted in the direction of the 'noise' but she stayed near Snow. At least she found the girl, now she just needed to figure out what to do next.
Figure out what Snow was going to do next. That way if she left this village before Cheshire had time to report back to Regina, she would know Snow's plan. The tricky part was getting Snow to trust her enough to actually tell her.
Oh, the work that had to be done.
It's short, I know, I'll do better in the future! Next chapter is back in Storybrooke. :)
As always thank you so much to those who take the time to review this story!