Appleshort tapped her pen against the sturdy apple wood desk she sat behind; creating a monotonous sound that was the only thing to accompany the small sound of the mouse’s breathing, in an otherwise silent atmosphere. Apple’s eyes scanned the large book before her; it was the fifth of many she had taken upon herself to read, along with many folders of reports. Surrounding her were the piles of writing she had dug up on this particular subject that interested her, there were some papers scattered on her desk along with some of the little collectible trinkets she had, the bookshelves that lined two of the walls had empty spots caused by her research, the large window at her back was curtained as Apple preferred to keep it that way when she delved deep into something, relying instead on the faint light of her reading lamp. Apple slowly exhaled, sending her blonde bangs up into the air temporarily. She took the small piece of wheat she held between her teeth out, twiddling it between her fingers instead. She closed her book, coughing a little as dust rose up from it; she then slowly pushed it to the side of her desk. Putting her feet up on the desk and popping the wheat back in her mouth, she smiled a little.

“I’ve been reading too much,” Apple said, chuckling a little to herself. Suddenly she stopped, and sighed. “I suppose I should get ‘em all now.”


Littlechedda leaned down, squinting at the delicacies that sat behind the glass in the Shop’s counter. She held her paw up to her chin, making a little “hmph” noise. She stood up, and crossed her arms. The shopkeeper sighed, leaning against the counter, propped up by his elbows; knowing how visits from Chedda at the sweets section of the store go. Chedda leaned her head towards the left, then towards the right, then back to the left; she did this for a minute or two then brought her hands down to place them on her hips. She made a quick decisive nod.

“Okay...I’ve narrowed it down to two,” Chedda announced. The shopkeeper clapped, giving her a weary smile.

“Which ones?” he asked.

“The chocolate and the doughnut,” Chedda told him, smiling. “Can you please bring them out for closer inspection?”

“Okay, okay....just don’t eat them!” the shopkeeper said. Chedda’s smile grew bigger, and the shopkeeper wasn’t sure if that meant “OH I’M GONNA EAT THEM” or if it was supposed to be something more reassuring. He merely shrugged, and kneeled down to grab the two items she’d asked for. When he stood up again, he plopped them down on the counter. Chedda eyed them closely for a moment, then picked them up.

“Chocolate....doughnut....chocolate...doughnut...” Chedda repeated those words several times, holding one of the sweets higher each time its name was mentioned. A whisper in Chedda’s ear that came without warning, made her stop.

“Chedda, come to the tribe house and meet me in my office,” it said. Chedda blinked in surprise. It must be Apple, she thought. Oooh and she didn’t use the cards either so it must be important! Ahaha she’s so paranoid...always doing that spirit whisper way with important stuff, ‘cause she thinks the Admins actually care enough to look at all the conversations. I suppose I should get going.

“Uh I gotta go,” Chedda said. “But I’ll be back for you!” she cried, pointing shakily at the chocolate. “Or you!” She suddenly switched the direction her finger so it pointed at the doughnut instead. She then turned and skipped out of the store. When the door of the shop clanged shut behind her, the shopkeeper’s assistant turned to him.

“Why do you always put up with Chedda? She takes so long...” she said. The shopkeeper sighed, crossing his arms as he looked after Chedda, who was still skipping. He could hear the faint noise of her song that was mostly made up of “la’s”, with the occasional “I love sheep” thrown in. He threw his hands up.

“She’s just so dang cute!”


Beautyiscool lifted the large red sword, a banned item that now ran ramped in the black market. She was in a secret area she’d carved out of this certain map herself. She brought the sword down towards the wooden pole that served as her opponent. The sword chipped away at the wood, never being swung hard enough to slice it for real (Bea didn’t want to go through the hassle of getting another one.) Beauty held the Sword in midair, preparing for the “final attack.” She narrowed her eyes, letting her eyebrows settle heavily over them.

“Why...did you...steal...MY BANANAS?!” she roared, and fiercely swung the sword into the wooden pole. She let the tip of the sword fall to the ground, and scratched her head. “Eheh...oops.” She had chopped off almost a half of the top of the pole. She sheathed the sword, and turned, whistling as she began to walk away. Then she abruptly stopped. “Wait...why am I acting casual when there’s nobody else around?” She sat down on the grass, pondering this. “Hrrrmmm...why am I wondering about such a stupid question? Am I really that weird...? AHAHA! OF COURSE I AM! Wait...what was I doing..?” The sound of a footstep reached Bea’s ears, and she glanced up. Her eyes were met with a small mouse, which stopped in its tracks, its mouth hanging open, when it noticed Bea looking. Bea stood up, her eyes locked on what the mouse held in its paws. She stepped closer, and the mouse’s eyes widened. Bea pointed at the mouse. “Give me the banana and you can stay.”

The mouse just looked at her for a couple moments, until Bea tapped her foot impatiently and held out one of her paws. The mouse reached out and put the banana in the outstretched paw. Soon the mouse and Bea were sitting down on the grass, while Bea happily munched on the banana.

“Bea, come to my office in the tribe house,” the quiet words flashed through Bea’s mind. She groaned.

“Apple c’mon, why can’t I just enjoy my nanner in piece?!” she exlaimed, then leaped to her feet. She glanced down at the mouse, who was still staring at her as he had been the whole time. “Thanks for the banana,” Bea said, and then she was off.


Flutterbest lied on the grassy top of an earthen pillar, looking up at the sun. She was in Vanilla3, ignoring the cheese, the hole, and the other mice. Most ignored her back, except for the other v3 regulars who would chat with every once in a while, or laugh at her strange ways. One mouse stopped though, looking at her.

“What are you doing...?” he asked. Flutter looked up at him, and laughed.

“Looking at the sky,” she replied. Then she did a little pattern in the air with her hands.

“But the cheese...and what was that?” the mouse asked.

“Ah cheese, this is only one map out of the many ones that play, why not take a break from cheese earning and look at the beautiful sky that graces us with its presence?” Flutter asked, sighing dreamily. “Oh and that’s my signature, L-U-V F-L-U-T-T-Y, that spells love Flutty...well it spells it incorrectly, but whatever.” She once again did her signature.

“Well it’s kind of annoying to have you lazing about like that...and that signature is just ridiculous, why do you even need a signature?” the mouse asked impatiently. Flutty laughed again, and waved her hand back and forth as if it didn’t matter.

“Oh it annoys people for sure, but eh whatever,” she said.

“The shaman is going to think you’re trolling...what if she kills you?” the mouse said, trying once again to get her to stop just lying there.

“Eh, kill? Don’t make me laugh. When you fall off of a map you don’t die do you? You merely have to wait for the next map. Besides sometimes that falling sensation is quite thrilling, and fun, not to mention sometimes you get to watch those cutesy little ceremonial bubbles that occasionally come up in honor of the dead. So really, why would I be afraid even if the shaman did kill me? I mean if she could, not to brag but I’m quite agile,” Flutty said, laughing. The mouse stared at her. This insane pink haired, cream furred, mouse that seemed so crazy yet brilliant, and calm about things that frightened him. He couldn’t help but have feelings of admiration and fascination well up in his heart.

“Wow...” he whispered. Suddenly there was a shout, and both mice turned to look over at the source of the sound. It was the shaman.

“C’MON! GET THE CHEESE!” she was saying. Before either of them could reply, the shaman shot a cannon that smacked against Flutter and sent her flying off the edge of the map. Soon enough a bubble went up, and the mouse smiled, thinking that Flutty must be enjoying watching that bubble go up. Instead he heard angry shouts...well at least they were probably intended to be, but the long distance muffled the volume.

“WHAT THE HECK! I was going to get the cheese you simpleton! My word,” were the cries that came from below the map. It was Flutty, but suddenly she stopped. The mouse didn’t know it was because of a call from the Spiritual Chief of her tribe of course, for all she said was. “Oh hey guys gotta go, bye.” The mouse blinked, staring at the place he’d last seen Flutty. He heard some of the other mice chuckling, and saying things like “poor guy must be new” and “omg lol, Flutty freaked that mouse out so badly.”


Cuitdashie and Ashleva were sitting in the Sweet Apple Acres tribe house, lounging lazily on the couches, and listening to the music that blared from the radio. Dash began tapping her foot against the floor, making a sort of rhythm to go along with the song from the radio. She only kept this up about a minute though, because Ash threw a piece of cheese at her. Dash opened her mouth to say something, but Ash had quickly scooted closer to her, and was now face to face with her.

“I’m guessing that tapping thing means you’re bored too?” she asked. Dash nodded, and Ash grinned. Soon Dash was grinning as well, for she had realized why her friend was grinning. Both mice let out giggles, then ran towards the tribe notice board. When they reached it, Ash pulled out her card.

“Let me do it, let me do iiit,” Dash said, jumping up and down behind Ash, who groaned, but stepped aside to let Dash come up closer to the board. Dash brought her card out, and made sure it was on profile mode. When she had it set, she pressed it against the slot in the board. A stream of light flashed over the card for a moment, than bright words appeared on the small monitor above the card slot that read “Cuitdashie, Tribe Shaman, recognized.”
“Ok now do it,” Ash said, poking Dash’s arm. Dash nodded at her, then turned her gaze back to the board, and put her paw against the small paw shaped design on the board.

“Neige,” once she had spoken the command, the design and Dash’s paw in turn began to glow. Dash took her paw away from the board, and swung her hand up in the air, as if she was reaching for the sky. A powerful stream of white light shot up and soon a small little speck of snow landed on the ground, followed by many others. The first thing both mice did was lean down and scooped up a handful (or well...pawful in their case) of the snow and began sculpting it into a nice, round snowball. Dash was the first to throw, landing a direct hit on Ash’s face. The snowball fight lasted for about ten minutes, until both players had bright red noses and were laughing too much to actually throw any more snowballs at each other. Suddenly a whisper sounded seemingly all around them.

“Ash, Dashie, come to my office,” it said. Apple...the two mice thought instantly. They got up, and headed over to the notice board. Dash spoke the command again, making the snowfall stop, and took her card out. They began to walk inside, but stopped when they heard cheerful whistling. Both of them glanced over their shoulders and saw their fellow Tribe Shamans, Flutterbest, Beautyiscool, and Littlechedda. Beauty waved at them.

“Did you guys get the whisper as well?” Flutter asked, when she was close enough to be heard.

“We did if you meant the one about going to Apple’s office,” Ash said.

“That’s the one!” Chedda said. “Must be important....scary...Apple's so scary when she's serious, I'm scared. Help me, I didn't bring any sheep plushies.”

Appleshort looked up, her attention immediately becoming fixed on the five mice that had stepped into her office. She stared at them for a moment, thinking of the reason she’d asked them to come, until Flutterbest cleared her throat, making Apple blink and come back to the present situation she had at hand.

“Y’all should sit, this might take a while,” Apple said, inviting them to sit on the chairs she’d set up around her desk with a quick gesture of her paw (and pen). She then quietly added, “considerin’ how stubborn y’all can be.” One of Flutty’s eyebrows arched high into the air after hearing that comment, while Bea’s were drawn lower.

“You’re the stubborn one Apple,” Beauty scoffed. “Everyone knows it, just as well as they know I’m the smart one, Chedda and Ash are the cute ones, Dash is the hyper one, and Flutty’s the weird one.” After she said this, Flutter’s huge glare, made her start laughing.

“I believe you mixed up the first and last ones Bea,” Flutter said. Following this short banter was an awkward silence that lasted for five minutes straight, although it seemed even longer. Finally Chedda glanced up at the others, her gaze flicking from one mouse to another.

“Well...?” she asked.

“Well what?” Apple asked.

“Well why did you make us come here? Duh,” Ash said, sighing impatiently.

“Oh yes...that,” Apple said. She twirled the piece of wheat between her teeth for a second, wondering how to start a conversation over this topic. Finally after several foot-tappings from her friends, she said, “I need you to find the shamans.” They stared at her.

“Are you saying we’re supposed to get all the shamans?” Chedda asked. “Hnnng, I’m pretty sure that’s bonkers.”

“Chedda’s right,” Flutter said. “There’s too many for us to possibly get them all.” Apple turned her chair, making it so she was facing the curtained window instead of the other mice.

“I just want you to find three,” she explained.

“Oh well then okay,” Bea said. She grabbed Flutter and Chedda’s arms, and pulled them closer to her. “Blewp, there you go. Three perfectly fine shamans, not to mention the two also perfectly fine shamans for replacing if one of us gets hurt. Ah, ah?” Apple groaned.

“No, I’m talking about the shamans, the CELESTIAL Shamans!” she exclaimed, turning around to face them in one swift motion (turning her chair that way as well), slamming her paws down on the desk, and slightly rising from her chair with an air of frustration. When they just sat there, once again in a “stare at Apple” session, she sighed, and plopped back into her chair, leaning to one side of the chair and propping herself up on her elbows. She stared right back at them; her eyes filled with the slight presence of something she wasn’t sure would be classified as boredom or annoyance. “C’mon y’all, you know what I’m talkin’ about. The Wind Shaman, the Spiritual Guide, the Mechnician...ringin’ any bells?”

“We know who the Celestial Shamans are Apple,” Flutty said with a sigh. “They’re a fairy tale.”

“How do you know? My opinion is they’re gosh dang real so yep, you should think ‘bout that,” Apple said, nodding her head after her own statement.

“But the only time they’re talked about is in legends, the Shaman Goddess never granted powers to anyone. It’s always been the Admins who’ve looked after Transformice with the guidance of the scripts, this is different than having religious beliefs. This is...thinking Cinderella is real!” Flutter insisted, leaning a little forward, as people tend to do when trying to prove something to someone while sitting in a chair across from that someone.

“There’s no proof that they’re real, but there’s not any proof about them not being real, now is there?” Apple asked. Flutty narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms, resting against the back of her chair once again.

“We can say they’re real if you want,” Chedda offered quietly, flashing a small smile at Apple. Dash did a half shrug and a slight nod, giving a small smile too.

“Okay, we’ll say they’re real, but ya’ know even if they are, or were...they’ve been missing for...heck I don’t know, but a really long fricken time Apple!” Flutter cried. “Why would you want us to even try looking for them? Who knows they might’ve even died.” Before Apple could answer, Bea made a small clucking sound with her tongue and wagged her finger at Flutter.

“Everyone knows the Celestial Shamans are immortal,” she said. “Get your mythology down sis.” Flutty just grinned at her. Bea laughed, then glanced back at Apple. “You can still answer the question though.”

“I want you to find them, so you can get ‘em to bless the tribe,” Apple told them. “I mean nowadays, I’ve heard that most tribes don’t last past a year, and I wanna be safe.”

“Maybe they don’t last long because their Spiritual Chiefs make the members go on ca-raaazy missions,” Chedda suggested. Dash whirled around, a horrified look on her face.

“DOES THAT MEAN THE TRIBE ISN’T GOING TO LAST?!” she asked. Apple shot an irritated look at both of them. Dash blinked. “What did I do...?” Apple sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Okay first of all, y’all need to just calm down,” she said. “Second of all, y’all need to just shut up.” The others did shut up, even though one of them probably wanted to strangle Apple, while the rest at least wanted to tell her to shut up herself. “Okay...now just listen,” Apple said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I think there’s something fishy going on with the admins and such, not just now...I’m talking all over the years, and I also think that finding the Celestial Shamans will help me—well us, fix or at least find out what the hay is happening. I know it might be dangerous to go beyond Transformice’s borders, but I believe this is important enough. I will be sending only three of you to search for them, while the other two stay behind to help me look after the tribe here, the three will each have to choose a shaman to find, and head on their own separate ways. Do you understand?”

“I volunteer Datrio’s services!” Bea said, and once again hugged Flutter and Chedda to her. Flutty quickly began trying to loose herself from the grip of her sister.

“Okay, but we can’t go it alone out there, I’m taking people,” she said, and before Apple could reply, she’d already gotten out of Bea’s hold, and was walking out the door.

“Sheesh,” Apple muttered.

“I’m taking people toooo,” Bea suddenly cried, then twirled out of the room, Chedda following behind her. Apple rolled her eyes.

“Can you believe those guys?” she asked. Dash laughed, letting out a big sudden burst of giggles.

“Apple I’ve known them all my life, I can believe it,” Ash said, shrugging.