Rustle 1

Russell shook his head.

"Somebody else made a potion?"

Russell nodded.

"Did you take the potion of your own free will?"

Russell shook his head.

"I see," she said, seriously. "Where is the person that did this to you?"

Russell fell onto his back and folded his hands on his chest, closing his eyes, opening his mouth, and letting his tongue hang out of the side. The redhead held her sides again and roared with laughter.

"Killed him did you? Him. It was a man?"

Russell stood back to his feet and nodded.

"Congratulations, then. Well, but, I would have liked to have known how he did it. You see, I'm a witch. Does that bother you?"

Russell shook his head.

"Yeah, well, it bothered the townspeople. It's all well and good to come to you for years for tinctures and tonics - but you try casting a spell to heal a little boy's busted skull and they get all uppity and start throwing rocks at you."

Russell crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground, impatiently, and tried to look angry.

The redhead laughed at him again and said, "You're funny, little mouse, er, I mean Rustle."

Russell heard people moving on the bluff and made motions to Mara to scoot back. He moved closer to the stream and looked up on the grassy ledge to find men with swords and pitchforks.

"I saw a leg and then it moved. She's alive! We need to get down there, kill her, and burn her."

He ran back over to Mara.

"I need to go," she whispered.

He nodded.

"Do you know your way around here?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head.

"Are you staying here?"

He shook his head again.

"Fugitives together then?" she asked.

Russell held his tiny hands and arms apart, indicating that she should carry him. She scooped him up, set him on her shoulder, and took off - hopping across the flat stones that rose above the water's level - crossing to the other side of the stream.

As soon as she made it across, the two of them turned and looked behind them - just in time to see that a couple men were coming down the hillside - heading for the stream - and that archers on the bluff were lining up their shots.

"Shite!" Mara yelled, and then darted into the next section of the forest, narrowly avoiding being shot.

Russell climbed onto the neck of her blouse. She was wearing a simple shift - a one-piece dress made of rough cloth - little better than burlap.

The little mouse watched the pursuers as he hung on while the redhead ran between the trees. He saw an arrow coming to the left and slapped his tail along the left side of her neck. By impulse, she moved right - away from the tail-strike - and the arrow flew by.

"Keep that up, please, Rustle," she gasped, continuing to hurry. "I'll love you forever if you get me out of this mess!"

Russell continued to guide Mara whenever he needed to protect her from the arrows. Soon, however, she had left the pursuers far enough behind that the attacks stopped and he simply watched for movement to see if they were still being followed.

On and on Mara ran, soon the trees thinned and then they ended. She slowed to a walk. Russell crawled along her collar to see what was going on. To the right, a rocky bluff rose 30 feet above their heads. Water cascaded down over rocky ledges to pool in a basin that was probably 40 feet wide. From this pool, the water streamed away in a wide, shallow stream about a dozen feet wide and two feet deep. There did not appear to be any easy way across or around.

"Shite!"

Russell wrapped his little arms around Mara's neck.

"Aw, little one. That's sweet. Are they still following us?" she asked, taking him into the palm of her hand.

Russell shrugged but shook his head 'no'.

"Haven't seen them for a while?"

He shook his head again.

"Maybe we're safe then - for now at least. Are you hungry? I'm starving."

Russell nodded his head. He was almost always hungry.

Mara watched a fish jump in the stream and said, "Two bad I have no way to fish."

Russell thought for a minute. He'd been able to transform into a raccoon. They could catch fish but not that well. A river otter, though, they were adept underwater hunters. He willed himself to change and curled into a ball as his stomach began knotting.

"Ooh! What's the matter, my little friend?" Mara gasped, running the tip of her finger along his quivering fur.

When Russel awoke, Mara was sitting on the ground, holding him to her chest in her arms. Her body was warm and soft. He looked up into her face.

"Look at you, you little scoundrel," she said, smiling. "Know a few tricks, do you?"

Russell nodded, nudged her chin with his nose, jumped out of her arms, and dove into the stream.

A couple minutes later, he waddled from the edge of the stream with a wriggling fish in his teeth and his arms. He walked over and laid his floundering prize down in front of where Mara was sitting.

"Gods! You're a clever one," she gasped. "If you can get another, I'll start a fire and we'll roast them."

She pulled out a belt knife and began gutting and cleaning the fish. Russell darted back to the stream and hunted once more. He returned a few minutes later with another catch.

Mara looked at the sun, dropping towards the horizon. The daylight would be ending in an hour or two.

"Can you scout around and see if there's a shelter we could use for the night? We can stay here, on the bank, with a large enough fire but - I'm a little worried my pursuers might still find me. As late as it's getting, I'm hoping they've headed back to town by now though."

Russell darted into the water and swam downstream, looking to the left and the right for a small, protected area where Mara could stay. The only thing he found in the first half-mile or so was a hollow under a large tree. The roots hung down and provided some protection - but it would take a lot of digging to make the space usable - and any flooding would cause immediate and unavoidable problems. For that reason alone, Russell discarded that location as anything more than a backup plan.

Returning to where the young witch was, he worried about what she'd do with almost no options. As he looked up at the falls as he returned to the large pool, he wondered if there was anything there. He paddled as far as he could and then began clambering from ledge to ledge, ascending the falls.

Halfway up the crashing torrents, he discovered a small cave. The only way to reach it was via a narrow ledge. The space was cold and damp, but it was hidden and well-protected. The entrance - set back from the cascading torrent - was not over-large. Mara would have to crouch or crawl to enter. However, just beyond, the cavern widened into a large room that trailed off, along a decline, into the darkness beyond.

Russell could find no evidence to suggest that the space had been occupied - by animals or humans. That was a really good sign. The only danger would be if there were other entrances. He quickly darted back, into the darkness, as far as he could see - but found nothing. His tiny nose detected no smells other than dust and stone.

The man-turned-otter returned to the entrance and tried to visualize how he was going to get the redhead up here. The only real way was a treacherous path from the right of the entry - on the opposite side of the stream where Mara now rested. He would have to get her to cross - keeping her as dry as possible - or she would freeze within the space he had found. They would need a fire almost immediately. She wasn't dressed for the chill of the wet, underground cavern.

Realizing that she would lose body heat lying on the stone floor, Russell began trying to find something for her to sleep on. He walked out of the cave and looked around. As he stood on the narrow ledge behind the falls, he spied a marshy area with reeds and cattails. He darted over and began chewing the stems, collecting the stalks, and dragging them back to the cave, building a rough mat or pallet that would protect the woman from the frigid stone floor.

Once he decided the sleeping mat was good enough, he began dragging small branches into the cave, gathering the materials she would need for a fire to warm the space. He could get more later - but he reasoned that he needed at least enough right now to get her through the first night.

On his twelfth trip, he realized that dusk was coming. He hurried back to rejoin the witch. She was standing when he emerged from the stream, looking up and down the waterway.

"I thought you'd left me," she laughed.

Russell shook his head 'no' and came over and sat on his butt, holding out his hands for some of the fish she had roasted.

"Worked up an appetite, have you?" she asked, handing him a chunk of fish.

He nodded and quickly gobbled down the warm flesh.

She handed him another and said, "Did you have any success?"

He nodded his head up and down and then finished the food.

She had sat down to watch him eat, smiling at his animated antics and responses. He walked over and grasped her hand and pulled.

"You want me to follow?"

He nodded.

"I keep forgetting you're not an animal," she said, laughing. "You're so adorable. I wonder if I could make you my familiar? If so, we could talk telepathically."

Russell stopped and looked at her and tilted his head to the side.

"I need a couple things for the ritual," she said. "We'll have to try that later, if you're willing."

Russell nodded. Not only was the woman beautiful - but she seemed really nice. If his animal form could be useful to her - and they might be able to speak to each other through a mental connection - that would be amazing. Not only would he finally have a companion - but he could help protect her - and she, him.

Russell hurried to the water's edge and then pantomimed pulling up his pant-legs. Mara laughed and removed her shoes. Russell jumped into the water and darted to the other side, where he stood and waited after shaking the excess water from his fur.

"Fuck!" Mara gasped, "It's colder than a witch's arse!"

When Russell looked at her and tilted his head to the side, she cackled in laughter.

"You are so adorable! Promise me, if we can speak telepathically, that you'll still make those cute little faces. Shite! This is frigid! At least there are no sharp rocks - and it's not overly deep."

After a little more cussing - and one near fall - at which point Russell's arms were flung into the air in worry - which caused Mara to laugh at him again - she finally made it across. He darted over and rubbed his paws up and down her calves and shins.

"Awww!" she cooed. "Thank you. Yes, it was very cold. Alright, my little savior, where are we going?"

~~~ Cave ~~~

When Mara finally made it up onto - and across - the slippery ledge - which took quite a bit of effort to reach - she was flabbergasted at what she found inside.

"No wonder you were gone so long, you little demon!" she gasped. "Did you seriously gather all of this while I was cooking the fish?"

Standing on his hind feet, as he normally did to "talk" to her, Russell nodded.

"You are so clever!" she exclaimed. "Can I hug you?"

Russell waddled over and Mara picked him up and squeezed him against her chest. Her breasts weren't over-large, but Russell had never met a woman that he thought was more beautiful. She squeezed him for a minute or two and then set him back on his feet again. His fur had still been damp, and some of that wetness had transferred to the woman's blouse. It clung to her breasts in a most alluring way. She shivered and pulled it away from her skin.

"Let's just get this fire going that you've worked so hard to gather," she told him.

Mara arranged the firewood as Russell broke the branches up and handed them to her. She called forth a small flame into her hand, she touched it to the fuel, and the dead branches began burning almost immediately.

As they sat and watched the fire, Russell realized they were going to need more wood. His current form could only manage so much. He needed a different form. He curled into a ball and began transforming.

When he awoke, Mara was holding him again, stroking his head and back.

"You little devil," she purred, looking over his new shape. "Thank you for doing this."

Russell - now in the form of a beaver - bumped his nose to her chin and then climbed out of her arms and waddled off to start on his task. A couple hours later, he was done. It was now full dark. His current form couldn't jump high enough to reach the ledge to return to the cave. He found a small, safe place under the falls and lay down to transform once more.

The moon was high in the night sky by the time he woke up - as an otter again. He began carrying the foot-long sections of the small logs to the ledge and leaving them there. When he had several, he climbed up and began carrying them inside.

Mara was dozing. The fire was nearly out. Russell added the log he carried to the embers and hurried back to grab more fuel. Over the next hour, he moved the wood he'd "chopped" in his beaver form into the cave.

He added more logs to the fire and then followed the smoke to see where it was going. It trailed off, towards the back of the cavern. It didn't appear to be accumulating there - so it must be traveling deeper. Russell worried about what they might find there but - for now at least - things seemed to be safe enough.

He returned to the fire to find Mara watching him. He pointed up to the smoke and then waved his hands.

"You're so smart!" she told him. "You've got to be tired, worrying about me like you have. Come rest with me. The fire is nice, but I could use a little body heat to warm me, and you deserve to rest. You've done nothing but work since we found each other."

He trotted over and she took him into her arms and held him to her chest again. He snuggled against the front of her neck.

"You are so sweet!" she told him. "Thank you for working so hard. Let's see if we can get some sleep. We'll explore the cave tomorrow and then we need to hunt or something to get some skins to sleep on to make this cave a little warmer. It's an amazing place but it's a little cold. I'm so lucky you found me."

Mara pulled the otter against her stomach and chest and hugged him tightly as they fell asleep together.

~~~ Exploring ~~~

The next morning, Russell went fishing again and brought several of them to Mara. She cooked them all. They shared two of them and set the others aside for later.

After that, the two of them went exploring around and beyond the marsh. As Mara passed plants that she could use, she showed them to Russell, identified them by name, and told him some of the things they were useful for - whether tinctures, poultices, potions, rituals, or spells.

By midday, they had gathered the things Mara needed for the ritual to bind her familiar - as well as collecting lots of other useful supplies and a few edible plants to supplement their diet.

When they came upon a meadow filled with wild hares, Russell had stopped Mara and transformed into a ferret. He had caught and killed eight of the wild rabbits, dragging them back to Mara. She field-dressed them.

Once they were home, Mara skinned the creatures and hung the pelts near the fire to dry. Russell changed back to his wood-cutter's shape and went to prepare more fuel for the fire. Once that task was done, he changed to his otter-form again and began bringing the logs into the cavern.

"When you're finished with that, Rustle," Mara said. "I want to try this ritual."

Russell nodded to her and hurried off to collect the last of the wood. Mara had the rabbits skewered and was roasting them over the fire. They would have plenty to eat for a couple days. Once all of the pieces of wood had been brought into the cave, Russell sat down next to Mara, watching the fire. She reached over and scratched his head.

"Thanks for working so hard. I feel like you've managed the bulk of the labor. So far, today, all that I've contributed to this was to gather herbs and spell-components. You've hunted, chopped wood, and brought it all in."

Russell gestured to the roasting meat.

Mara laughed and said, "Well, yeah. I cooked the fish and the hares, but you did all of the hard work. Let me finish these up and then I'll do the ritual."

The redhead pulled the river otter onto her lap and cuddled him against her stomach and chest. He was so cute - and helpful - and it was harder and harder for her to think of him as once being a person.

~~~ The Ritual ~~~

Once the rabbits were done cooking, Mara set them aside to cool. She began getting out the components for the ritual. She nicked the tip of her finger with her belt knife and touched Rustle's brow with it. He sat on his hind legs, watching her. She used a piece of charcoal to draw a circle around the two of them, sprinkled the required components, and started the incantation.

When she finished, her body - and Rustle's - gave off a little golden glow. She was just getting ready to try speaking with him telepathically when he fell to his side and began clutching at his stomach. He was transforming again ... but to what? It almost looked like it had been involuntary this time.

A half-hour later, Russell awoke with his head in Mara's lap. She was stroking his hair. He looked up into her eyes. She smiled at him.

"So, you're Russell, huh?"

He nodded.

"Can you speak?"

He frowned at her.

"You may want to look at yourself," she told him, smirking.

He glanced down and realized that he was human again - and naked. His eyes shot open wide, and he looked back at her face. She stroked his forehead again and ran her fingers through his curly hair.

"I thought you were adorable as an otter," she told him, smiling, "but you're kind of cute like this too."

"I'm naked," he said, his voice dry and crackly from long disuse.

"I noticed," she said, grinning.

"I don't have any clothes," he replied.

"I kind of figured. How long ago did the wizard or whatever change you?"

"About three or four years maybe? I'm not sure."

"When you transformed, there were some thin rags on you, but they pretty much disintegrated as your form stretched out. I think your body must be bigger now than when he changed you."

<"Can you hear me?">

"Yes," he replied.

<"Reply with your mind. Just point your mind at me and 'speak' the words,"> she told him.

<"Yes,"> he replied.

<"Awesome,"> she said.

Mara's hand moved to the thin hairs on Russell's chest. She ran her fingers through them.

"Since we can speak telepathically, I think the ritual worked. I'm curious to see if you can still shapeshift. I know it messes with your stomach, but can you shift back to your otter form? You can change back to human again right after. I just want to make sure we can still communicate after you shift - and if you can even still do it."

Russell nodded.

Mara put her hand on his chin and ran her thumb across his lips.

"After that, I think we should eat and then rest. You've worked hard again today. Will you keep me warm tonight while we sleep?"

He nodded.

"Change then, and then back. Then we'll eat and rest."

He nodded and willed his form to change.

Once again, almost as soon as he set his mind on the form he should take, his stomach clenched. He moaned softly as his mind began changing as well.

When he opened his eyes, he looked down at his body. He was an otter again. Mara was holding him in her arms. She brought his furry face to her lips and kissed his mouth.

<"Can you still understand me?"> she asked.

<"Yes,"> he replied, staring into those captivating green eyes of hers.

<"Change one more time, darling, and then I won't make you do anything else for me today. Instead, I'll do something for you, if you are willing.">