The Bear and The Wolf
The black wolf opened his eyes and seemed to nod before struggling to his feet. The woman bit her lip anxiously, seeing that this would be slow moving. Her mind raced, thinking of a solution to get him out faster. As a human, she couldn't carry him, the wolf was just too heavy. She tried to think of something better. What animal did she have that was big enough and had the dexterity to carry a wolf? At last she landed on a form she knew well. She began to shift and this time she grew larger. The wolf watched as her body changed until the human woman was gone and a small black bear was in her place. This was not the usual black bear though because like her human hair and mouse fur, her fur as a bear was grey as well. Familiar violet eyes were on him and the bear sunk down to the ground, exposing her back. The wolf didn't move at first but an urgent whine from the bear made him limp forward and heave himself over her back.
The silver bear with a black muzzle, feet, and ears, pushed to her feet again, straining under the weight of the wolf on her back. With trembling legs, she got to the wooden door and paused, her ears turning to listen. After being sure the coast was clear she pushed against the lower corner of the door, praying that it would not crash open. Again, luck was on her side as it only fell to the side with a thump instead of crashing into the wall opposite. On the somewhat short legs of a black bear, the woman began down the hall back the way she had came as a mouse. She still didn't know how she was going to get him past the guards at the entrance of the jail but she trusted she would come up with something.
Their luck stayed with them as she turned down one hallway after another and didn't come across any guards. They passed many of the same rough heavy wooden doors and the woman had to push from her mind, the sounds of sadness and misery coming from behind them. She couldn't stop herself from wondering though what each of them had done to land themselves here. As she shifted Huck's weight on her back to keep him from falling off, she thought back to what he had done. For a moment she could picture him in a clearing positioning himself to attack an enormous grizzly bear across from him. She had hidden behind him, letting him protect her. She regretted it now seeing him in this state and in jail. All she could do to make it up to him though was get him out and get him away from here.
At last they came to a turn in the hallway where they could see moonlight shining from a doorway around the corner where they couldn't see it. The bear lowered to the ground, letting the wolf ease off her back. They were both silent as they listened to men talking and watched their shadows in the moonlight. The bears heart was racing as she shifted back into her human form. She took the wolf's head in her hands and brought her mouth very close to his ear. "I will clear the way," she whispered as quietly as she could so as not to be heard by the men, "I will get as many of them away as I can. Then you run for the forest. I will meet you there." The great wolf seemed to nod so the girl stepped back and shifted again into her tiny mouse form.
The entrance to the jail had no door. Instead, it was a great high archway large enough for all kinds of animals to come through. There were many torches here lining the walls and lighting the entryway so nothing should be able to get in or out unseen. That would have been true had the four men on guard been paying attention and not sneaking drinking of sweet wine from a gourd and passing it around. No one ever tried to break out of the jail. To do so would be a direct challenge to the master of the lands and no one dared to try to take on he and his family. Because of that, to be a guard at the jail was a reasonably easy job so the men here were not taking it seriously. They didn't notice the grey mouse that scurried along a wall of the entryway and slipped out behind them.
The mouse ran, tiny heart pounding, across the grassy stretch between the jail and the high stone walls surrounding it. That was the last line of defense other than the men on top of the wall that guarded it. She found her clothes tucked by a pair of tall wooden doors where she had left them earlier after pulling them inside as a mouse. Going as deeply into the shadows as she could manage, she shifted into human form and dressed. She pulled on a black dress she had knit for herself in the spring. It tied behind her neck, leaving her back bare about half way down before it met the waist of the dress. Her front was covered but the dress wasn't fitting as well now as her body grew from gangling girl into a curvier woman. It stopped just above her knees and she tugged it down self-concisely. Her Mother had laughed the first time she'd seen her wearing it, saying she was built much to boyish for such a feminine dress. She thought of that even now that she had begun to fill out more.
Taking a deep breath, the girl pulled her silver hair back and tied it up at the base of her neck, leaving her long pale throat and shoulders exposed. She still didn't have a plan but she knew she couldn't wait and risk someone coming across Huck. It would all be over then. The Master might decide to end his life for his disrespect. She stepped out into the torch light and knew it would it wouldn't be long before she was noticed. She walked quickly, hoping to get to the guards at the door and avoid all the guards on the wall. The guards at the doors were the closest to Huck and the first obstacle he would need to get past. She glanced over her shoulder at the tall wall again but pushed it from her mind. One problem at a time.
"Cassia? What the hell are you doing here?" She had been spotted.