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That Mischievous Grin

Chapter Sixteen

By LoveMeNever

"And that is how you make a homemade... or forest-made, I should say, fishing pole!" Snow exclaimed eagerly holding up nothing more than a small twig and some threads of rope dangling from it.

"Meowwww." Cheshire acted all impressed but she really wanted to kill herself at this point.

It had been three days since she found Snow White and for the life of her she could not understand why Regina was so hell bent on killing the girl. She was such an obliviously positive person. Annoyingly happy all the time and loved pretty much everything.

They were sitting on the edge of a small stream that fish were swimming around in. Cheshire wasn't even sure they were edible fish but who was she to question Snow White? Certainly not a talking cat. Anyhow she was sure Snow would never catch grass with her makeshift fishing rod.

Gathering information about Snow's plans were exceedingly frustrating. As much as Snow talked to nature, you'd think she'd have let something slip by now but alas she had not. If Chess wasn't so determined to impress Regina, and slightly less determined to get Aladdin back, she'd have quit by now. Plus she was curious for the reason Regina despised Snow so much. And she got the vibe Regina was pretty much never going to tell her herself. Naturally, Cheshire was going to find the answers one way or another.

"Awh! It got away again." Snow huffed, dropping her rod on the grass and crossing her arms in a tantrum-like state. "Sorry, Fluffly, no lunch today it looks like."

That was another thing. Snow named Cheshire. She named her Fluffy. The most common cat name in all the realms.

"Mrrrr." 'Fluffy' meowed sadly.

Snow stared at the ground for a while. Then she bolted into a standing position so abruptly it caused Cheshire to jump and latch on to a tree she'd been sitting under. "I know what we'll do!"

Cheshire peeled her claws out of the bark and gave Snow a questioning stare. Horrified at the way Snow was smiling. Whatever it was, it was probably a bad idea.

"Let's go into the market and just ask for food! I'm sure someone will take pity on us!" Yup. A horrible idea. Cheshire almost started to speak to tell her how awful of an idea that was. Yeah people will definitely give a stray purple and pink striped cat and a wanted fugitive food.

She rolled her eyes without Snow seeing. "Meeeoooow. Meow meow." She tried to explain. Translation: You are an idiot. Wait here. Cheshire said in her head while running off to town with Snow calling after her. Thankfully the girl didn't try to follow her. Even though Snow was her 'target' Cheshire wasn't going to let her starve. Then Regina would have no beating heart to crush. And Chess was only running off of a mouse for the past day.

Right-o. Get some bread or something small like that and make a run for it. She told herself while eyeing the carts in the town market for something she could carry in her mouth. She spotted a loaf of bread uncut and freshly baked. That'd be to hot in her mouth. Another loaf fallen on the ground. Too muddy. And finally she saw the perfect thing. A half a loaf hanging out of a kid's bag.

He was holding his mother's hand as they walked through the market pointing at all the different carts and food.

Cheshire stalked them for a good five minutes before they were away from open, plain sight. She hide behind a wagon wheel propped up on one of the houses circling the market area. The kid was walking past when she pawed at the bread effectively knocking it from his bag. Before it hit the ground she captured it in her mouth and darted back to Snow.

"There you are! What's this..." Snow grabbed the bread and her eyes lit up, "Bread! Where did you get this? Oh, wait... you didn't steal it did you?"

Chess nearly lost it. Don't tell me she won't eat it if it's stolen! If she doesn't I promise I'll-

Snow must have taken Cheshire's silence as a yes because she put the bread in her lap and looked down at it guiltily. "You shouldn't steal things, Fluffy. I know we're desperate but what if the people you stole it from needed it more? They spent their hard earned-"

Cheshire tuned her out now. Seriously, after all the hard work she'd done to get that bread she'd earned it. It's not easy stalking and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. "Meow meow meow."

"I know we can't it back... we'll both get in trouble... and it already has cat slobber on it..."

Cat slobber? I do not slobber like some filthy mutt! But Cheshire realized that Snow was considering just eating the bread so she didn't do anything. She just sat and waited for Snow to weigh the consequences. It was rather amusing in truth. Honestly, had this girl never stolen anything in her life? Living as a wanted fugitive she must have. Maybe she only stole things from wealthy people?

"I guess we are both hungry." Snow said sheepishly as her stomach growled. She broke the bread in half and gave one to Cheshire while she ate the other. When they were finished eating Snow pulled out a map from her tree stump.

"You know, Fluffy... you should come with me on my journey soon. I'm thinking of going to a place where no one can reach me. Not even the Queen." Cheshire noticed the lack of 'Evil' in the title she referred to Regina by.

Snow put the map on the ground and pointed to a place on it. Cheshire obviously had no idea what it was since she'd only just been here a short while. "There... that's where I'll go. I'll find safe passage there somehow. I just need enough money to do it."

"Meowwww."

"Hehe. Don't worry you'll love it there!" Snow started petting Cheshire on the head and under her chin. Chess would never let a soul know she actually liked it.

When Snow fell asleep that night, Cheshire decided she'd gotten enough information from her to tell Regina exactly where'd she be going. The only problem was the journey back to the castle was at least a day long while running and Snow might get worried about Chess being an animal spy of sorts and not go where she planned. Cheshire hoped it would take a while for Snow to gather up enough money.

Cheshire arrived at the castle in a little less than a day completely exhausted from the nonstop running she'd done. The first thing she did when she got back was take a small nap before she met with the queen. Her nap had been mostly peaceful apart from the fact it was on the castle grounds outside the castle. The stone tile was not particularly comfortable.

After her nap a guard came to get her, "Ge' up, ye mangy cat!" He shouted.

Mangy? It took most of her willpower not to attack him. Instead she changed into her human form and watched his red angry face go to pink blushing one. "I suppose the Queen will see me now, will she?"

The guard simply stared.

"Right-o. Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry. If a ferret, or cat, were about to dart up my skirt I'd run."

He blinked and came to his senses. "I don' know whut that means but ye better foller me."

Cheshire smiled her wide grin at him and followed him into the castle. The dark colors didn't give the place much light but her cat eyes were very accustomed to the dark. She only wondered how the guards could navigate the halls so fluently. The curtains hung over the windows blocking most of the light out and the floors were black stone along the walls. It was either decorated black or red or gray. In some rooms Cheshire noticed it was brighter with white tiles and walls. The curtains would be open in those rooms. But the room she was led into was a mixture of both.

She hadn't been in this room the last time she was here. It was white floors and black walls with a balcony shining sun setting light in. Regina stood by the balcony in a black form fitting dress that went all the way down to the floor and then some. The collar of it was spewing black feathers. Her hair was pulled up into a long braid and draped over her left shoulder. She, as usual, was stunning.

"Well?" Her voice coolly echoed in the room, her tone flat and left no room for teasing from Cheshire.

"I've found the snow you've been looking for, Your Evilness."

Regina whirled around grinning and giddy. "Where?! Where is she?" The queen demanded to know.

"Ah, ah, ah." Cheshire wagged her finger, "You're forgetting about your end of the bargain. All you asked me to do was find Snow White, and I did. I can even tell you where she plans to be going, but you have to release Aladdin unharmed. I don't care where, he just doesn't deserve to be in the dungeons."

Regina eyed Cheshire for a few moments, though Chess could not read her expression. Finally she smirked, "Very well. Guard! Release the young boy named Aladdin from the dungeons unharmed." She barked at one of the guards standing in the room.

Cheshire grinned, pleased that Aladdin would be released. She could not help but feel responsible for his capture in the first place. If he hadn't tagged along on her little journey to the castle he wouldn't be in this mess. When did I start caring so much? She wondered partly sickened at the thought of becoming caring and soft.

"If you'll excuse me then, I think I'm going to finish my nap." Cheshire turned to leave but Regina stopped her.

"What were your thoughts on Snow White, hmm?" She asked an eyebrow raised intrigued.

"Oh she was delightfully dreadful. I mean, I can't even imagine what she must have done to annoy you so much!" Cheshire replied with a small amount of sarcasm.

Regina scoffed, but said nothing.

"In all seriousness, I personally wanted to kill myself after spending so much time with her. The optimism gets old. I see none of it wore off on you, however." She quickly added, "Which is a good quality."

The queen seemed to be pleased by this because she smirked ever so softly that Cheshire almost thought she'd imagined it. A grin spread across Cheshire's lips. Regina walked across the room to stand in front of Cheshire, her eyes wandering a bit to her cleavage. Chess had to swallow a low purr. She did so love it when the queen ogled her. Before either of them could say anything else a guard burst into the room.

"Your Majesty! The boy you asked to be released is already gone!"

"What?!" Both Regina and Cheshire said at the same time. "How did he escape?" Regina yelled at the guard fury was apparent in her features.

Cheshire on the other hand was not quite sure what to think. Had Aladdin truly escaped on his own? Or did someone help him? Or was he taken by someone else for a horrible fate? She scratched off the first option, there was no way he escaped on his own. He was clever but not that clever. "Can I see his cell? I'll be able to answer that question for you, Your Evilness." She said as lighthearted as possible.

"Fine. Let's go." Regina waved her guard out of the way but then stopped and pondered something. Without warning she quickly stuck her hand in the guards chest and ripped out his heart crushing it in front of his face. Cheshire raised an eyebrow.

Then Regina smirked satisfied with herself and continue to lead Cheshire to the dungeons.

Damn, remind me not to get on her bad side. Cheshire mused, but grinned the whole way to the dungeons.

When they arrived the cell was empty as the guard told them, but Cheshire quickly noted that Aladdin did have help because nothing in the small cell was broken. Chances were someone let him out. She refrained from mentioning it to Regina since she'd probably go on a interrogation spree. Chess guessed that Regina didn't like the fact that someone in her castle was going behind her back and freeing prisoners, no matter if she was going to free Aladdin anyways.

"Hmm, interesting. I have no idea how he got out." Cheshire told the queen.

"Was anyone keeping an eye on this kid?" Regina asked the guardsmen in the dungeons, "It's pathetic that a little boy slipped through your fingers!"

"Uhh..." The guards muttered and tried to come up with a good explanation of the situation.

Cheshire was doing pretty well, she started to feel the walls and the ground and search the whole cell, finding plenty of evidence that Aladdin had not been alone in the cell. "Your Evilness, did anyone else have this cell when Aladdin was in here?" She asked while crouching down and putting her ear to the floor.

Regina seemed amused at what the cat was doing, "No. He was alone, why?"

"Oh just asking questions, dear." Cheshire felt magic in this cell, that's what felt so off about it. "I don't suppose you used a bit of magic to help him escape did you?"

"You think I did this?!" Regina snapped.

"No, no, no. I have reason to believe that magic helped him escape! Isn't it fascinating?" Then Cheshire found a quill on the bed beneath the paper thin sheet. "Does this mean anything to you?" She asked Regina, who scowled a fierce scowl.

"Yes it does," Her jaw clenched a bit. "Rumpelstiltskin." Regina worried what that crocodile wanted with the little boy. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Thanks for reading! This chapter is a bit slower and odd at the beginning so I apologize for that! (I haven't gotten much sleep so hopefully it makes some sense and there aren't too many typos.)

Next chapter might take a little longer just because it is nearing the end of the semester at school and things are becoming crazy. o.o'

Love all of you guys! 3