Arthur shook his head as he watched Hazel walk up to the door. "You have got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, before Merlin could yet again clasp his mouth when he saw Hazel turn her head and look around. She knocked on the door timidly and politely, only to receive no answer. Hazel huffed and rolled her eyes before she roughly kicked it open, ran in, and shut it after her.
"It can't be!" a shocked Merlin put out. "C'mon my boy. We must find out where this goes." Arthur started to crawl backwards.
"O-o-o-oh no. I-i-i don't wanna go in there."
"Don't worry. I'm going with you."
"Oh no Merlin. I-i-i'm too scared to go in there. How 'bout we come back when I'm braver. Like in twenty years." Merlin sighed.
"My boy, being brave, doesn't mean you aren't afraid."
"It..it doesn't?"
"Certainly not! Have I not been teaching you anything!? Now come along!"
The two scattered off the trees and over to the cottage where they climbed up to the circular window to spectate, not expecting what they saw. The lavender witch was pacing about the cottage as she seemed to be drilling the bored girl. Hazel was casually sitting sideways in a chair, with one leg crossed over the other while she flipped through a book and completely ignored the ranting Mim.
"You are late!" she pestered. "Where were you last night!?"
"Did you know the elephant is the only mammal in the world that can't jump?" Hazel asked as she looked up from the book, completely oblivious. Mim smacked the book out of the girl's hand. "A simple 'no I didn't' would have worked." Hazel said blankly.
"Would you please shut up!?" she hissed as Hazel gave a smirk.
"How 'bout you!?"
"Oh it off with it! Let's see the loot!"
"Uh, yeah, about that, before you ask, let me say: I vote that you don't ask." she said with a weak smile. Hazel was addressing her as if she were trying to auction or sell something off to a difficult customer.
"And before you say anything, let me draw to your attention that you don't get to say anything! What has gotten into your head! This is no democracy, it's a dictatorship and I'm running it! This is the cottage of the most powerful sorceress in the world and I'm in charge of it! I'm the Chiefess, I'm the Empress and I am the Queen! Your little redhead belongs to me, got it!?"
"Whatever you say."
"That's what I thought," She dusted off her pink skirt. "Now, first things first. Let's get down to business. Which means poor out the goodies!" Instinctively, Hazel rolled her eyes and handed over her green hobo crossbody bag. "What did you get?"
"One of the greatest Hazel shopping slash maybe shoplifting hauls!" Hazel presented. "But seriously, get a look at all this loot!" And like the childish spirit she was, Mim spilled all its fillings on the table. The two squirrels outside dropped their jaws at what fell out of it. Gold coins, glittery necklaces, and many precious stones.
"Where in the world did she get all that?" the gray squirrel hissed.
"Merlin, I told you she was a thief!" Arthur whispered.
"No you didn't!"
"Well I was thinking it." The gray squirrel swatted the air in the brown squirrel's direction. Mim scavenged through it all as Hazel stood with her arms crossed with a blank face.
"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO! Where is it!" Hazel's eyes snapped wide.
"What!? What!? You mean it's not in there!?" she exclaimed, clutching the satchel and shaking it upside down to reveal it did not have their target object in it. "But I was sure I found it this time!"
"Then why don't you have it!?"
"Well now how should I know!?"
"Hazel this is the second time you've pulled this! Like how you lost all the loot when you fell down that well!" the witched yelled as she slammed her hands on the table.
"You're still mad about that?" Hazel asked with an awkward shrug.
"You bet I am!"
"It was three whole weeks ago! When are you ever gonna let it go!?" Hazel said with her hands in the air. "And besides. You were the one who pushed me down it."
"What are you going on about now?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Yeah, that was quite the punishment all because I broke one 'measly cauldron'."
"My thirty-pounder you moron! You broke my thirty pound, almost every day used, concoction cauldron with your little toy stick!"
"It-was-an-acc-i-dent! And it was called a quarterstaff, not a stick!"
"Well now it's called dust! I gave it to you to fight people, not break my witchcraft supplies! I thought you could actually do something without letting your little temper take control, but no we certainly can't have that!"
"I broke a pot, you pushed me down a well."
"What? It's not like you died. Although now I think I'd prefer so. But enough about you. We have to find it." It? What were they talking about?
"Oh and uh..incidently, do I get to keep all this?" she asked as she pointed to the pile of stolen treasure on the table. "I really hit the jackpot when I snooped around that merchants jewelry shop."
"Fine. What was it you wanted again?"
"Four necklaces if you don't mind."
"Four? You told me you only wanted one last week!"
"I told you it was negotiable, the price could always go up."
"And it can always go down!" the witch growled as the girl sat down. "To absolutely nothing!"
"Nothing," the girl scoffed with a smile. "Yeah I was uh kidding. Nothing was what I meant," she said with a worried grin. "Well if I can't keep any of this for myself, then can't I return it? You don't know how much that'll save my neck. I'm a Scottish girl in an English castle, nearly everybody is suspicious! And It's only gonna get worse now that I'm stuck there for who knows how long."
"And here we go. Let me guess, you're starting to get close to that childish, naive, gawky excuse for an excuse of a King."
"Absolutely not!"
"Oh shut up and admit it. Gal to gal, you like him don't you?" Hazel didn't know if she was turning red with either rage or embarrassment.
"I most certainly do not!"
"Oh yeah? Then why were you teaching him how to read, you big showoff! Not to mention how you learned it on your own? Hah! You are such a liar! I gave you the ability to speak English. I gave you the ability to read! I gave you the ability to even speak properly! But yet you still go and flaunt your lies so nobody sees the pathetic nuisance you really are."
"I know. I'm nothing without you. I'm sorry. You're right, they are evil."
"Excellent, because WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT HIM!?" Hazel pressed her hands up against her ears.
"I know! I know! I'm sorry alright!? I'm sorry! But what did you expect me to say or do!?"
"Remember what I taught you Hazel. Don't become their prey. Don't you fall for the act like I once did. That's how it always works. They show one speck of generosity towards you -mostly because it will benefit them- and then you start to fall head over heels for them, yata yata yata, they break your heart and you're left with a grudge. Here's my advice to you. Number one: men are scum. Number two: nobody in this country listens or understands you."
"Oh and you do?"
"I understand you perfectly. I know you have no family, no friends, and no home. Your life ended after what you did to your family in back Scotland. Truly was a gruesome crime that you committed. Either way you have nothing to live for and nothing you say will dissuade anybody from thinking so. I can't fix the nuisance in you Hazel, but I can help you express its glory."
"I know. You're right. But I can't help it."
"Oh how disgusting, but nevertheless we will discuss your little crush later." Hazel scrunched her face.
"How many times must I tell you: I do no—." Hazel's words were cut off when a bony lavender hand slapped against her mouth. Mim then dragged Hazel outside and pushed her.
"We are wasting valuable time! We're gonna get out there and look for it till dawn. Search every house in the city! And do not fail me! And with that the witch snapped her finger and both she and Hazel turned into…..squirrels. Hazel into a slender tiny red squirrel with dark brown eyes and herself a taller larger brownish rouge squirrel. Arthur gasped, remembering his last interaction with the red female squirrel. And then it hit him. Hazel was that exact same squirrel who had chased him around, forcing him to become her mate. The same squirrel who had kissed and nuzzled him again and again. The same squirrel he had sent away heartbroken. That was her? In the last few days he had discovered her nasty temper and sarcastic attitude, and that was nothing like that annoying but sweet little squirrel.
"Come on!" Hazel huffed in squirrel language.
"Hold your horses, I'm coming!" Mim and Hazel scrambled to get up and swiftly climbed up another tree and dissapeared for the moment. They climbed high up into the tree, but stopped when they saw two squirrels on the branch below them.
"Uh oh." Hazel squeaked to herself in squirrel gibberish.
The heavy brown squirrel walked up behind her, shaking the whole branch in the process.
"What is wrong with you Hazel!?" her companion asked from behind her.
"Uhm...company." she shakily said as she pointed down at the chocolate brown squirrel and the periwinkle blue one.
"Hm. I suppose you're right," she said as she waited for Hazel to take action but the red squirrel didn't move. She only continued to timidly stare at the brown squirrel. "Well Hazel?"
"Well what?"
"What do you mean well what? You know we can't be bothered while we work." she said as she pointed to the two other squirrels.
"Ohhh. Right." Hazel said.
"Where did they go Merlin?" Arthur asked as he scratched his furry brown head. "And what were they doing?"
"I'm not exactly sure boy. But knowing that ol' witch, she's got that girl up to no good. But maybe we can find out."
"But how?"
"By catching up with them of course." The brown squirrel's eyes widened.
"What!? No! Don't you remember what happened last time?"
"Not as well as you do I'm sure," he said with a chuckle. "However maybe we don't need to catchup with them to know what's going on." the blueish gray squirrel said with closed eyes.
"Why?"
"Because she can tell you." Merlin said as he pointed up to the branch above him.
"Huh?" Arthur was a bit confused when he saw the elder squirrel point up. That was until he saw the red female squirrel jump down and pounce on him. "Oaf!" he exclaimed as he tried to get out of her grasp. "Oh no." he said as Merlin began to laugh a bit. Hazel chased him around and around the way she had done several months ago. Arthur failed at getting away when she grabbed his tail, making him plant on his face. Hazel used his back as a trampoline and landed in front of him, tapping his nose with hers. She snapped and clicked her tongue to create cute and squeaky noises. Hazel grabbed his arms, stood him up and began to squeeze, hug, nuzzle and wrap him in her tail. And to top it off she kissed him. Poor Arthur collapsed on his back after finally being released. Hazel smiled when she saw him run down on the branch. She looked up.
"Let's go!" she chirped to Mim as the heavy squirrel jumped down. Hazel scurried away with the brown squirrel behind her as they dissapeared deep into the forest.
"Oh...," Arthur moaned. "I told you that would happen," he groaned as he rubbed his head. "That was terrible!"
"Whatever you say my boy," he said humorously. "Now let's go."
"Go where?"
"I have to figure out where the girl is going, and make sure the witch doesn't kill her in the process."
"You half wit! I told you it's not here!" Mim's distant voice exclaimed.
"Would you be quiet for one second!? I've already figured that out by now!" Hazel argued.
"Come on!" Merlin whispered as he dragged the brown squirrel with him. They went through the forest until they reached a small house where they found the two females arguing on a rooftop.
"This isn't doing your job Hazel!" Mim exclaimed to Hazel, who had her little arms crossed.
"It wasn't my job to be flirting with the future king of England as a squirrel, I do not do that! I am not a squirrel and I am not a coquette, you got it!?" Hazel yelled.
"Oh! Shut up!" the witch hissed.
"Y'know, if I had a coin for every time you say shut up to me, I'd be a rich squirrel-." Mim grabbed Hazel's neck and got into her face.
"Well right now you're on the verge of being a dead squirrel!" She let go of Hazel and headed towards the hole in the roof. "Wait here." the auburn squirrel said as she picked Hazel up and sat her down in a different direction.
"Woah woah woah!? Why don't I get to go in!?" Hazel objected.
"Reasons I can but won't explain for three reasons: One, you're an idiot and two, you're an idiot who always messes things up if you're not mouthing off." she said as she pushed Hazel over. With an oof, Hazel's red tail fell right infront of her eyes.
"And reason number three?" Hazel asked as she lifted her fluffy tail out of her face.
"What? What about it?" the rouge squirrel asked as she scratched her head.
"What is it!?" Hazel sneered.
"Oh! Forget the reasons!" Mim said as she swatted the air as if there were a locus. "Now, I'll be back. You keep watch out here. Because we're a team, remember? The brains and the beauty," she said as she made a dramatic pose before turning back to the girl. "And you."
"This-is-pathetic." Hazel said as she tapped her foot per word.
"I'm not joking with you Hazel. Get any of your ideas and I'll be roasting your giblets over a fire." she said with an ugly smile.
"Hey now wait just a minute. For the last year it's been me doing all the shoplifting. What's the catch?"
"Just turning over a new leaf my dear." Mim said as she fancily flicked her tail in Hazel's face.
"Have you now?" the girl squirrel asked as she pushed the large bushy brown tail out of her snout. "This is getting ridiculous! You either send me in or let me out!" Hazel pestered as she threw her paws all over the air.
"How about I tell 'you know who' back in Scotland about you? You'll probably find yourself on the execution block, and then both our problems will be solved."
"You win," girl squirrel growled as she looked away. "Alright I'll stay here, but make it quick!"
"Good girl." The heavy squirrel said as she hopped down the hole of the rooftop which let out the smoke of the fireplace. Hazel began to pace the roof.
"Hang-around-Hazel! That's all I am isn't it!?" she yelled into the hole and then began to pace again. An exhausted Merlin and Arthur had finally finished ascending up to the roof ready to get the answers they'd been wanting, but Arthur had stepped on a twig that gave a loud snap. Hazel had been facing the opposite way but then immediately snapped around and looked at the two squirrels. "You have got to be kidding me," she huffed. "Alright, both of you, go on! Get out of here before you get caught in this mess!" Much to her disappointment, it didn't look like they could understand her. She was talking and chirping in squirrel gibberish, of course they don't understand!
"HAZEL!" Mim called. Hazel ran over to the hole and peeked in.
"What!?" she hissed into the house.
"I'm going to need some assistance down here!" the witch called out of the darkness.
"Well well well. Look who wants my help now?" Hazel said in an annoying tone.
"Just get down here!"
"If you insist," Hazel turned back to the two squirrels. "Excuse me gentlemen." she said before confidently diving into the house. Merlin took no shame in pushing Arthur and himself into it as well. They fell hard on the floor, it was nearly impossible to keep from screaming, and then they looked around. There was a single wick with an orange flame and yellow glow surrounding it, which was the only spark of light in the room. And then the light began to walk around the top of a table that had several golden boxes on it, as if it had legs. Mim stuck her nose in its golden aura to reveal herself to be the one moving the candle, but Hazel was nowhere to be seen. She approached one of the boxes, with the brown and tin colored squirrels watching her, while they were peeking over the rim of the table. It looked like it took every bit of her strength to lift the five ounce lid off the box. Inside the box were loads and loads of jewelry. Golden and diamond necklaces, colorful rings and stones, there wasn't a thing in that box that had no value. Mim began to forage through all the treasures, not seeming to care about a single one of them, or the fact that her companion was absent. She continued to dig, beginning to get frustrated, but remembering not to make any noise. When she was certain her target wasn't in that first container, she moved onto the next one, and the next and the next, until every piece of jewelry was gone and her candle had shrunk even smaller. How can this be!? she thought. It has to be here! She looked like she was about to kill someone, she was so mad. It wasn't until then she realized Hazel was noticeably absent.
"Hazel!? Hazel, where are you!?" she hissed.
"Over here!" a voice whispered loudly from across the room. A green light reflected in the corner of Mim's eye.
"Oh!" she whispered before excitingly scurrying off the table and onto the ground. She was heading towards some sort of nightstand that was next to a bed that must have had the owners sleeping in it, and that's where Hazel stood. Her brown male counterpart watched as she approached the light, which was really a beautiful necklace. It was a large fist sized shiny emerald green stone melted onto its golden plate that was connected with the most beautiful golden chain that has been resting on a dish.
"Merlin," Arthur whispered. "What is that?"
"I can't believe it." he numbly replied.
"Believe what? What is that?"
"One of the world's most prized artifacts, but it was lost years ago. How did it get here? it is called the—." Merlin shut himself up when Hazel turned around to see where the whispers were coming from. When she saw nothing, she silently approached the stone again.
"Oh you brilliant child!" she said as she hugged/choked Hazel. "You found it!" Hazel wrapped her paws around the stone to try and pick it up, but immediately fell and dropped it when she felt its density.
"Are you kidding!?" she exclaimed. "This thing weighs more than me!"
"You really are hopeless Hazel. Let me show you how it's done," Mim said as she tried to clutch the stone but only ended up dropping it as well. "You're right." she admitted. So they had to pick it up together and somehow escape the house.
"Alright genius…how we gonna carry this back?" Hazel strained while holding the heavy stone.
"I'm working on it! We can't turn back into our magnificent and mediocre looking selves without the pathetic species catching us. So we—."
"AHHHHHH!" shrieked a feminine voice. Hazel and Mim slowly turned their heads, frightened to see that the owner of the necklace had just awoken and was staring dead straight at them with the most horrified expression. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. "ELLIOT! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WE'VE GOT RATS IN THE HOUSE! GET UP!" Merlin and Arthur glued their paws over their ears and cringed at her high pitch scream. That was Hazel's queue to get out. So out of instinct she dropped the necklace and ran. "GET UP YOU MORON! IT'S GOT MY NECKLACE!"
"Huh!? What!?" shouted the woman's husband. As if Arthur hadn't had enough connecting moments from the past, he realized that was the same man that was about to sell Hazel into slavery. The woman frantically pointed at Hazel.
"That creature's trying to steal my necklace! Kill it! Kill it! Kill It! Get it out of the house!" The merchant swiftly lit a candle and shone its light in Arthur and Merlin's direction.
"And it didn't come alone! Look! Two more!" he shouted.
"I don't care! Kill them all! Especially this red one!" Hazel ran past the two other squirrels.
"Didn't I tell you to get out of here!?" she yelled as she ran by them and out a window. Merlin and Arthur followed her, while several knives were chucked in their direction. Merlin stood the crawling Arthur up and the two ran up and out of the house,completely forgetting why they had gone in. A couple seconds later, the same large brown squirrel leaped out of the roof with Hazel in tow, who was struggling to drag the recovered stone behind her. They then dropped off the roof and planted on the ground. Hazel made a wincing face as she messaged her lower back while the witch held the unidentified stone up to her face to observe it. She let out several noises that were a mix between cackling and laughter.
"Oh you brilliant child! At last! After all these years! We did i..." she stopped talking when she noticed her magic not working on the stone.
"What's wrong?" Hazel asked, dropping her hands.
"You stupid idiot! I never should have trusted you!"
"What did I do now?"
"It's a fake!" she yelled as she threw the stone at Hazel, who caught it and observed it.
"WHAT!?"
"Hazel, you idiot! How could you do this to me!? You stupid little conniving liar! You know very well that it wasn't the real E-."
"So you're the thieving minds who took my wife's necklace!?" exclaimed the very voice of the merchant as he opened the door to see his wife's piece of jewelry in the hand of a red headed girl.
"Oh snap." Hazel mumbled as she froze and stared at the merchant wide eyed.
"Well deary I was gonna tie you to a tree for a day as punishment but I think I like this better." she said as she tied the necklace onto Hazel's wrist.
"Hey!" the redhead exclaimed as she tried to untie, pull and shake off the necklace that was tightly fastened onto her wrist. "Take this off!"
"No can do but I'll see you tomorrow night!" She pushed Hazel away. "Toodaloo!" she said before disappearing in thin air.
"Alright little girl," the man said. "Tell me where she went and you won't get hurt."
"Uh..uh...Chan eil Beurla agam! (I don't speak English!) she said as she shrugged. But not before she quickly turned around and booked it into the forest.
"You little thief! Give that back!" the merchant exclaimed as he chased after her. The two squirrels followed from the trees as they watched Hazel bolt into the forest, leaping over several logs, branches and rocks.
"Hey man, can we talk this out!?" she shouted to her chaser between several pants. Hazel slid into a stop when she had reached a dead end. But no way, no how was she dying tonight, no matter how much Mim may have wanted so. She quickly gathered her momentum to run towards a tree and jump up to grab one of its branches. She then pulled herself up and carefully, with her arms out at her side to keep balance, ran on the branch and then quickly skipped from tree to tree to try to lose her pursuer. Seven years as a squirrel had really made her agile. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" she wheezily laughed down to the merchant before climbing even higher up in the branches. Hazel didn't even notice the gray and brown squirrel were trailing a couple feet behind her on the same branch.
"Out of all the pathetic nuisance thieves in the world, WHERE ARE YOU!?" she heard the angry voice call.
"That's the one question that usually never gets its answer! But you're welcome to try!" Hazel yelled. "So in other words, you and that witch can put your money where your MOUTH IS!" she shrieked the last two words of her sentence even louder as she felt the branch she was standing on snap and give out. Hazel painfully yet comically hit about five branches on her way down. "Uhn! Oh! Mm! Uh! Oof!" she grunted each time she hit a branch. Her falling was concluded with a loud splash in a shallow pond. She quickly emerged from it to meet a great chill in the air. She carelessly threw her hair that was once a shimmery beach waved dark red mane now a stringy brown mess, out of her face and stood up in the knee deep water. She moaned loudly as she rubbed her head. After coughing and spitting out all the water, she waded her way out. Running through the snow she was able to return to the witches cottage. This time she only knocked on the door. It opened and she went in.
To Be Continued...
AN: Pls review, kind soul that is reading this. I do realize the whole Arthur and Girl Squirrel thing died out years if not decades ago but hey, might as well try right? :)
