٩ʕ◕౪◕ʔوTarou bit as hard as he could, making sure that it would leave a mark.
"Look for yourself! It was NOT me!" he squeaked at the human. Tarou hoped that Barca would be wise enough to understand his squeaks.
Fortunately, the bite did not injure the animal further but Nightmare was eyeing at him as if he wanted to stomp him to oblivion when he gets the chance.
Tarou squeaked as loud as he can to catch the attention of the human who seems to be caught in a trance.
"Is this human shocked because of how I bit the horse like a rabid animal?"
"Hey, human, I did not bite that horse!" he squeaked but stopped momentarily. He did bite the horse BUT it was a teeny tiny bite. Tarou called his attention again, this time with a louder squeak.
"Look! The bite marks are NOT THE SAME!!!"
Barca looked at the mouse with knitted his eyebrows. He eventually shook his head as if he just had an absurd thought. When the man stared at him again, Tarou couldn"t help but squeal at the top of his lungs.
"It was not me!!!" he even used a paw to point at the hoof. "Look!!!"
Tarou was finally relieved when the man examined the hoof again, this time focusing on the area he bit. The man also looked at the injured area as if comparing the two. From Barca"s expression, Tarou saw that he was astonished.
The bite marks in the injured area were clearly deeper and bigger. Tarou"s bite was smaller and it didn"t penetrate deep into the hoof. Tarou couldn"t help but give Barca a smug look, waiting for him to put the pieces together.
"You did not bite him." Barca said slowly while staring at him before continuing, "Is that it?"
Relieve Tarou nodded. "Human, I like you!" he squeaked. "You do not look intelligent, but you are not a bad nut!"
Barca seems to be taken aback by something and he looked at the mouse closely. Just then, the stable door opened, revealing the figure of a cat in the moonlight. Looking at the newcomer, Tarou squeaked excitedly, forgetting the human in front of him.
"Boss!!!"
Barca turned around looking at the cat and then at the mouse who ran towards it. Before Tarou greeted the cat, he noticed that the human looked to be confused.
"Boss!!! Where were you? How could you leave me again?" he whined through a series of squeaks.
"I heard Nightmare"s alarming cries, so I rushed down here."
Tarou couldn"t help but react to the cat"s reply. "Nightmare? You care more about that horse than me?" Tarou responded in an exasperated squeak before launching more protests.
"That animal almost stomped me to death!"
"You...this is unfair!" Tarou continued pointing a paw at Boss before focusing his rage on Nightmare.
"That...that horse called me a pest!"
"I almost died!"
"And all you care about is Nightmare!" he stomped his paw before walking out of the stables. As Tarou pa.s.sed by the bewildered cat, he caught a whiff of something.
"Boss smells like meat!"
With a sour look, he stopped and looked up at the cat. He felt betrayed.
"You didn"t even ask me if I already ate!" he squeaked while looking at the cat. He did not allow Boss to answer before spouting another furious squeak.
"I did not!"
"Tarou!"
He stormed off unable to conceal his displeasure. Perhaps realizing he was serious, the cat followed him closely without a word. After giving him a minute to huff and puff, he heard an atoning meow.
"I should apologize. It has been a horrible day." He did not say anything, he continued to run at his top speed but the meows continued.
"And for forgetting about your food." This caught his attention and he stopped close to a tree as the cat explained further.
"I met a peculiar old man. He shared his meal with me."
"You should have thought about me while feasting on the old man"s offering," he replied while foraging for food near the tree. He stole a glance at the cat who now found a comfortable position. Boss had her feet tucked underneath her body while looking at the sky. When he got his hands on something decent to stave off the hunger, the cat tried to strike up a conversation.
"Tonight the moon is so bright. This place looks magical."
Tarou caught a familiar lemongra.s.s scent as he took a bite of the plant he found. But the taste was so unsatisfactory that he couldn"t help but spit it out. As if provoked, the mouse couldn"t help but comment.
"I am hungry. I am eating some leafy thing which is not even half as tasty as the one in the forest. This is far from magical!"
The cat looked at him as if he was being unreasonable but he couldn"t help it. He is hungry, tired, and edgy and worse the food -- this food was barely edible.
Both of them stopped talking. Tarou secretly marveled at the moon tonight as he chomped on another random plant that tasted tolerable. Tarou did not want to admit it, but he was no longer annoyed, he was just being petty. Just as he was about to ask Boss something, he caught Barca"s scent.
"That human"s scent has been lingering for a while. He must be taking care of something close by," he thought. When the footsteps came closer, he slowly turned and Boss did the same.
The man crouched down in front of him and opened his hands, revealing a pile of grains. Attracted to Barca"s offering, Tarou came close to the man"s hand, sniffing the food before squeaking with displeasure.
"I hate this grain!"
The man patted his head with a finger and offered his other hand. He revealed another pile of grains. This time, the scent immediately caught Tarou"s attention.
"This -- this is good!"
Barca placed the small pile of grains beside him and Tarou beamed at the guy. After giving the grains a loving look, he couldn"t help but squeal with glee.
"Boss ... boss, you are right! You ARE right! These humans are the best providers!"
He jumped around happily while looking at the heap of grains. This is like a dream come true!
"My foooooooooooooooood!!!!!!!"