Hey guys! I actually personally liked writing this chapter so I hope you all enjoy it! :)
That Mischievous Grin
Chapter Eighteen
By LoveMeNever
I do not own Once Upon a Time.
Regina was angry, that was for sure. When Cheshire got back to the castle, Regina threw her and Aladdin back in the dungeons at once. It was all quite bothersome. Here Cheshire worked her ass off helping Her Majesty find Snow White and now the queen would not even take the time of day to hear her out or listen to a word she said. If the queen would just stop being so stubborn, Cheshire was willing to go back out and lure Snow White to Regina.
Five days, that is how long she had been here this time, before the guards opened her cell door. This time they made the cell cat proof with much more bars that she could not slip through, so escaping had never been an option.
"Well well gents! Long time no see. Has Regina changed her mind about my living arrangements?" Cheshire greeted the two men in black armor with a grin.
Unsurprisingly they stayed quiet while they worked to unchain her wrists and ankles from the shackles. Down the hall Cheshire heard them doing the same to Aladdin, or who she assumed was Aladdin based off his asking the guards questions. As the guards roughly grabbed her arms, Cheshire did not see Aladdin being hauled to the same place she was. She doubted Regina would do anything drastic to him, but she would ask her about it nonetheless.
"No need to be so rough boys," Cheshire said with a grin.
The guards stayed silent still and as they came to a large door at the end of the corridor, one much darker compared to Rumpelstiltskin's castle, Cheshire could hear the queen's voice on the other side. She let herself feel excited about finally seeing Regina, but from the sound of things- Regina was fuming with rage.
"HOW IS IT THAT EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE THAT LITTLE WRETCH STILL GETS HER HAPPY ENDING?! HOW, DADDY?" Regina yelled in a fit of fury.
Cheshire felt sorry for Regina's father to be on the receiving end of this tantrum. O-ho better not let her hear me call it a tantrum, Cheshire thought humorously with a smirk. The guards shifted uncomfortably obviously not wanting to interrupt but afraid of punishment for not fetching Cheshire as quickly as possible, as Regina commanded. They glanced at Cheshire.
"Well I'm with you guys on not wanting to go in there," she stated with one eyebrow raised. In the room ahead there was a loud crash and a hissing sound: a fireball.
The guards were still conflicted, to Cheshire's amusement, but not a minute later the doors flew open with Regina's father briskly walking past. Cheshire moved her head so she could see in the room further and saw Regina, hands on her hips breathing labored, pacing the floor. Her face was red with anger. The guards took this opportunity to present Cheshire fully by practically tossing her in and shutting the double doors.
"Hm. Rather unpleasant fellows, your guards."
"You," Regina seethed.
"You what? You finally lost your head?"
"Your plan to stall for time has worked wonders, cat! Snow White has met Prince Charming and I just know it won't be long until they strike!" Regina made a fist and got dangerously close to Cheshire.
Even under these circumstances Chess enjoyed the proximity, "Now hold your apples... I've been trying to get an audience with the Evil Queen, but she has ignored me."
Regina growled and stepped away from Cheshire in two strides, "I have no time for bickering! You are to go to Snow White again and find out what she's planning. This time you will give me results!"
Cheshire grinned, "Instead of learning of her supposed plans, why don't you find a way to end all their happy endings?"
The queen laughed with sarcasm dripping out of each noise, "You think I haven't been?! There is no other way but to kill Snow White, and for that I need an inside man."
"You mean an inside cat," Cheshire changed into her cat form which had a widespread grin.
Cheshire journeyed back to the little town she last saw Snow White. Nothing had changed about it at all except for a faint smell of death in the area. She knew she had to find Snow White as quickly as possible since the Queen was in no mood for games, but her curiosity got the better of her. Besides it was in her nature to be curious. So, with the help of her strong sense of smell, Cheshire followed the trail of death.
With the luck she's been having Cheshire should have known she would loose the scent about halfway through town. The body odor of the men in this town was not a force to be trifled with.
"Mommy look at this odd cat!" A little girl shouted and pointed to Cheshire.
Honestly had these people never seen a pink and purple striped cat before? No matter. I've got a job to do, Cheshire thought while quickly darting out of sight.
This mission called for a more human approach. Even though her sense of smell was stronger in cat form, she knew she could still manage picking up Snow's scent if she was in the area. Last time she was here, she had good luck in the tavern so she started there.
She pulled her cloak hood over her head and walked into the tavern. This time it went much smoother. No one even noticed her slip into the dark corner of the room, and the girl named Red did not seem to be here either.
Yup, this was going much better.
Cheshire's catlike hearing picked up a conversation on the other side of the room. "No one has seen the wolf, but it's got to be a big one. It ripped him apart like a rag doll," one man whispered to the other men at the table.
"I've 'eard it's as big as a horse!"
"Me and my wife could 'ear it outside walkin' around. Took a few of my best pieces of meat!"
"Alright, alright settle down boys! We need to go out looking for it tonight to put an end to it's mischief."
Cheshire tuned out the conversation at this point. If some mangy mutt was out terrorizing the town then it was none of her business.
She waited at the tavern for useful information for half an hour but none came. No one had seen or heard anything about an unusual stranger visiting town. Except of course the few people who noticed Cheshire was in town again. Since the tavern was a bust, Cheshire left and went up to the little cottage she had seen Snow and Red go to. Maybe Red knew something about the fugitive.
An overwhelming scent of wolf fur and blood filled her sensitive nostrils when she came close to the house. The wolf those hunters were talking about must have been in this area at some point.
Cheshire knocked on the wood door three times and waited. Instead of sneaking around in cat form, she'd get answers directly. Assuming the wolf doesn't catch my scent and come eat me for dinner, she thought wryly.
The girl named Red opened the door a few seconds later, she smiled when she saw Cheshire. "Hey! You're from the tavern... Chess, right?"
Cheshire raised a quizzical eyebrow, "You make it sound like I live in the tavern."
Red blushed in embarrassment, "Oh no! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant..." she realized half way through her explanation Cheshire was grinning widely in amusement. "Oh. You're joking."
"It didn't make sense before but I can see why they call you Red now," Cheshire winked, referring to her blushing.
The girl blushed harder, but changed the subject quickly to distract Cheshire from her teasing. "So what are you doing all the way out here?"
"Right-o! I was actually looking for a friend of mine. She's kind of on the run right now and I'm just really worried about her."
"Oh I haven't seen anyone new in town lately..."
"Red!" A voice sounded from behind Cheshire who recognized the voice easily. It had been the source of a lot of annoying moments. It was Snow White.
Chess smiled faintly at her success in finding Snow.
"Mary! Um, this is Chess, she was asking me if I had seen her friend."
Snow's smile faded, "Oh is she lost?"
No of course not, I'm looking for a friend who I actually know where she is, Cheshire thought sarcastically. "Well, she ran away from home. Red said your name is Mary?"
"Yes! Would you excuse Red and I for a moment?" Snow or "Mary" drags Red back into the house and shuts the door after explaining they would be right back.
Cheshire focuses on listening to their conversation. Their voices are urgent, so something is up. Snow begins, "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean I know I said you take risks for love but..."
"I'm sure Mary! You were right, I need to take a chance on Peter... even if he is the wolf. He'll understand, though, I know he will!" Red says in a hushed but love struck tone that made Cheshire want to vomit.
She was interested in this Peter, though... they seemed to think he was a wolf? Did he have the ability similar to Cheshire's? To change into an animal? She wanted to find out.
"Okay... then I will still help. What do you need to me to do?" Snow asked albeit reluctantly.
Red responded with a squeal of delight and then said, "I just need you to pretend to be me in bed tonight so my Granny doesn't know I'm out. Once Peter chances tonight there won't be another full moon for a month so we can run away!"
"But what about next full moon when he'll change again?"
"I can chain him up so when he changes he won't hurt anyone."
Cheshire scowled, as if that will control a wolf. She hears the conversation come to an end and the two begin walking back to the door where she waited. "Mary" and Red smile at her, "Sorry about that, um, but we actually are kind of busy. There is a wolf roaming around so we have to prepare." Red explained nervously.
"A wolf? I did hear the hunters at the tavern talking about it. Apparently tonight's the night they finally catch the beast!" Chess realized she sounded to eager so she added, "It's such a tragedy what those poor families who lost someone to the wolf are going through..." she added a little faint sniffle to sell it.
"Hopefully the terror will end tonight then," Red smiles reassuringly at Cheshire and pats her shoulder.
When Red's hand contacts with Cheshire, she felt an odd feeling surge through her. It made her feel... dirty? She realized Red must have felt the same thing because she pulled back quickly. There was definitely a strange thing about Red that Cheshire couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Stay safe!" Mary and Red told Chess before they retreated back into the cottage.
Cheshire walked away to the treeline then changed into her cat form, stretching. She licked at her fur because she couldn't shake the odd feeling she had when Red touched her. It was unpleasant. Unlike the feeling she had with Regina.
Regina felt clean and just... right, while Red felt off. Normally Cheshire would write it off as Regina was a queen with much more refined lifestyle and Red was just a peasant, but it wasn't even that.
She shrugged, no use in getting caught up in it now. If I can just figure out what Snow is planning, then I can go back to Regina.
Cheshire waited until the sun dropped behind the trees before any movement came from the cottage. Red came out of the house without the red cloak that seemed to always be with her, and headed into the forest. Chess immediately set off after her quietly. She could deal with Snow later but right now she wanted to find out if this Peter guy was really a werewolf.
Red stopped at a very large tree and looked around. A guy emerged from behind the tree and scared her, but their lips met once she saw who it was. Cheshire had to stifle a bit of bile that rose up in her throat.
The couple sat down on a large root and talked about the wolf issue. Red told Peter he was the wolf, and he needed to be chained up in order for him to not harm anyone tonight. He was confused at first but eventually listened to Red. The couple kissed again after Red was finished chaining him up.
Cheshire had a weird feeling about this. Not that she cared what happened to these lovebirds, but she had a mild sense of disgust. The wolf fur and rotten flesh smell came back to her nose.
Maybe this Peter guy really was the beast.
The full moon was out now. Peter should be changing any minute now. Except it wasn't Peter who was changing...
Cheshire's fur stood on end, and her tail fluffed up instantly. It was Red who was changing. Now it made sense, the weird feelings, the odd smells around Red... it was because she was the wolf.
Oh fantastic... now we have a chained up guy and a loose wolf. Way to go Red and Snow. Cheshire knew if she didn't get out of here fast, she was going to be in trouble. Red would catch her scent and decide she wanted a cat for a meal.
Cats and dogs don't mix well together, Cheshire grinned widely.
Next chapter will up soon! Sorry for typos because I didn't proof read as well as I should have (oopsies). Thanks so much to those who have stuck with this story!
Dont forget to review! :D