Matriarch

"Why does it seem like Wilbur is the master and I am the one who is being trained to follow his commands!"

Shaking his head for the umpteenth thousand time James made a show of following Wilbur out onto the branch.

There was no way that James would be able to go very far anyways. Maybe if the limb started to become too thin to progress on or it started to bend maybe then Wilbur would start to understand. Instead after half a meter Wilbur came to a stop and waited for James. When James was close enough for Wilbur the mouse nosed the air and a space pocket opened up.

Shocked James was not expecting this at all.

"What??"

Space pockets did not just open up like this, it was crazy to see and James momentarily had to restrain himself. It wouldn't do to attract any attention from the guards on top of the wall. In the next moment James could see the five little mice that had played with Wilbur before.

"Oh, it is your friends!"

Even though it didn't make sense, at least it became evident that something was going on. Wilbur continued to send messages through the bond to follow him and hopped into the space pocket.

"Ho, buddy, I am too big to go in there. See?"

James couldn't even put his hand in the spatial anomaly and demonstrated this by reaching down and trying to squeeze his hand in. Of course it didn't work.

"You see?"

Wilbur hopped out again and looked up at James. The bond vibrated as thoughts roiled on Wilbur's side. It was interesting to see the little pup trying to solve this problem. Eventually one of the five other young mice nosed him and started cheeping. At this point Wilbur, along with his accomplices jumped back into the pocket and disappeared. The space pocket disappear after only a second, too.

"That was weird. I wonder what is going through Wilbur's brain?"

That space pocket was not normal. It was obviously much bigger than any pocket he had seen with the same size opening. 

James spent a restless night in the tree. There was something about being out in nature and away from all the humans that was comforting.

After enjoying the early morning dawn for a few minutes he went into the city to take the third test. This time he was a little more confident and didn't mind the comments and the scents that wafted his way. 

After the test James wanted to go back to the same tree that he had seen Wilbur at yesterday, but knew that he couldn't go out the same gate. So resigned he left out the other main gate, the only other public gate, and after giving another general excuse for leaving the city he circled back to the city wall and found a dense bush.

Outside this section of the wall there were still some trees, but they were much fewer of them than yesterday and they did not have as dense of foliage. So the answer was to sleep on the ground between some relatively thick bushes.

Just like yesterday, once he had become calm and still for a certain amount of time a cheep could be heard.

[Cheep, cheep!]

This time James was startled again, but not so badly that he caused any damage. At least he couldn't fall out of a tree there on the ground.

[Cheep!]

When James looked around he spotted his pet easily, but this time there were hundreds of mice milling around under the bushes. It was hair raising even for James who had grown to love his pet. Next to Wilbur was a much larger mouse who looked as if it had seen better days. Its hair was matted and there was a cloudiness to its eyes. Gaunt the mouse held completely still and just observed James. Where the rest of the mice seemed be constantly moving whether it was their tail, nose, or their ears to say nothing of their head or their legs themselves. Yet this older looking mouse held completely still.

Wilbur nosed the old mouse after a while and sent a feeling to James through the bond to follow.

After nosing the old mouse for a time it finally moved and a space pocket opened, but this time it opened so large that even James could go through. He would have to crawl, but he could do it.

Knowing better than to question his determined little pet did, James steeled himself. It wasn't as if he had any huge problem with heading into a mouse den. Every day he felt like he was becoming more and more mouse like.

First the old mouse jerkily moved through the space pocket door and then the hundred or so attendants. Finally Wilbur and his five inseparable companions went through.

It was time for James' turn. Quickly he pulled a glow stick from his pants pocket, broke it, and threw it in. The mice might not need any light, but he would definitely be reassured by knowing what he was getting into.

One might ask who would keep a glow stick in their pocket? But when talking to a preparedness freak like James it was better to ask why he didn't have a miniature flash light in his pocket instead. The answer would have been that a miniature flashlight would have been too expensive. Plus he had just found the glow stick and thought it might be helpful someday.

Without any outward show of fear he entered the mouse's space pocket.

Once he was through the door shut without any sound or visual display at all the spatial gate closed. The old mouse closed her eyes and looked for all the world like it had died. But after a while James saw that it was only breathing very very slowly.

Besides the old mouse the first thing that James' brain registered was the smell. It was completely revolting. The smell of mouse urine and excrement was extremely thick. But Wilbur and all the rest completely ignored it.

The next thing he registered was that this pocket was actually much smaller than he had assumed. He had thought that this was some kind of dungeon that the mice and found. But now that he was in he saw that it was no more than an irregular cube shape maybe three meters to a side. Not very big for a human, but vast enough for a few hundred mice.

Wilbur stood proudly next to the elder mouse and James could tell that the little guy wanted something from him.

[Peep, PEEEEEP!!!]

Finally getting James' attention Wilbur gestured to the elder and nuzzled her fur again and again between looking at James.

"You want me to hold her? Why?"

James confused at what he was receiving from the bond finally reached out and scooped up the elderly mouse. He tried to be careful, it felt like any little jostle not only would wake her up, but might accidently kill her.

Holding her gently Wilbur looked up at him expectantly. After a few minutes, though, Wilbur became really upset and started pacing back and forth.

[Cheep, cheep, cheeeeeeep!]

"Look little guy, I don't know what you are saying. I am sorry!"

At James' words Wilbur jumped up on his hind legs and pointed between himself, the elder, and James repeatedly.

Finally James figured it out.

"You want me to contract this mouse?"