Fievel helps Cholena

On shore, under his castle, Fievel played the same song Cholena sang to him on his clarinet, Tiger lay nearby as Fievel played his clarinet. He stopped and sighed and got up off of the rock. Fievel started walking around, getting Tiger's attention and causing him to get excited.

"What is it, Fievel?" asked the cat.

"That voice." Fievel said, "I can't get it out of my head." He turned to Tiger, saying, "I've looked everywhere, Tiger. Where could she be?"

Not far away, Cholena and her friends finally managed to get her to the shore. It was exhausting, but everyone made it to the shore.

Bambi, Gideon, and Philoctetes were the only ones exhausted and weary that they collasped near the rocks!

Cholena started to wake up and pushed the strands of her hair out of her eyes. As she did, she noticed her new tail and knees and was caught by surprise. She raised one of her legs above water and saw a paw, a pink pad, and three toes (mice have four fingers on their hands). She wiggled her toes and was fascinated. She had finally gotten her wish of having legs and a tail and being a normal mouse. As she marveled at her new legs, Beetle flew overhead and landed on Cholena's leg.

"Well, look at what the catfish dragged in!" he exclaimed, "Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different. Don't tell me, I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"

Cholena shook her head no, but kept smiling.

"No? No, huh?" Then Beetle thought for a moment and said, "Well let me see. New . . . seashells?"

Cholena didn’t respond, but smirked at Beetle, hoping he’d find out the answer. "No new seashells."

Cholena shook her leg to get Beetle to notice, and he stood on her leg, annoying Philoctetes. "I gotta admit I can't put my tail on it right now," he said. "But if I just stand here long enough I know that I'll -"

"SHE'S GOT LEGS AND A TAIL, YOU IDIOT!" Philoctetes shouted.

Finally, Beetle jumped up, seeing Cholena's tail and legs, and rose up in a flutter at the outburts.

"She traded her voice to the Manhattan Monstser Fraud and got legs and a tail." Philoctetes explained, "Jeez, man . . ."

By that time, Beetle had flown and sat on a rock by the Satyr. "I knew that."

While Cholena attempted to stand, Bambi and Gideon explained to Beetle what was going to happen.

"Cholena's been turned into a normal mouse." said Bambi.

"She's gotta make the Russian-Jewish boy mouse fall in love with her, and he's gotta ki- he's gotta kiss her." added Gideon.

Her legs were a little wobbly. It was as if watching a baby try to stand on its own with no support for the first time.

"And she's only got three days." said Philoctetes.

Cholena managed to get on her feet, but quickly found herself unable to stand still. She quickly lost her balance and fell over in the water, causing a splash that got Bambi, Gideon, Philoctetes, and Beetle wet and causing Beetle to have a piece of seaweed hanging off his face. Another piece of seaweed was on top of Cholena's black hair.

Philoctetes got frantic. "Just look at her. On legs and a tail. On normal mouse legs with a normal mouse tail! My nerves are shot. This is a catastrophe! What would her father say? I'll tell you what her father'd say, he'd say he's gonna kill himself a Satyr, that's what her father'd say!" he complained, turning his attention to the fawn and cat.

Other than Philoctetes' frantic yelling, Cholena was getting up and getting the seaweed out of her hair. Hearing this, she saw Philoctetes starting to head into the water, and then she picked him up and shook her head frantically, trying to make him change his mind. Cholena didn’t want her father to find out about what she just did, and, picking him up and shaking her head no are in an attempt to stop him from going to tell Wulisso.

Philoctetes carried on complaining. "I'm gonna march meself straight home right now and tell him just like I shoulda done de minute . . . and don't you shake your head at me, young lady." Eventually, he stopped complaining and spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Maybe there's still time. If we could get that poodle to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be . . . just be . . ."

Philoctetes' hope for Cholena started fading away when he saw Cholena's sad, gloomy face. Fearing that Cholena would get more depressed than she was when her grotto was destroyed by Wulisso's anger, Philoctetes finally started to give in, saying, "Just be miserable for the rest of your life. All right, all right. I'll try to help you find that Russian-Jewish boy mouse."

Cholena smiled and kissed the Satyr before putting him down.

"Boy. What a softie I'm turning out to be." he said.

Beetle came across what appeared to be a dark yellow tank top and a matching miniskirt. Beetle grabbed the tank top and miniskirt.

"Now, Cholena, I'm tellin' ya," said the beetle, "If you wanna be a normal mouse, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one. Now lemme see."

Before that, he noticed that with Cholena's mertail gone, she wasn't wearing anything from the waist down, …except her tank top, and mermaid bikini bottom.

Meanwhile, Fievel continued trudging down the beach, unable to take the girl’s voice out of her head. But as he walked, Tiger detected a scent, one that he recognized from before. Suddenly getting excited, he tried getting Fievel to follow him. "Fievel, look!" cried the cat.

Fievel looked stunned. "Tiger? Huh . . . what,"

Tiger just happily started running ahead of Fievel. The Russian-Jewish boy mouse saw his pet cat rush off. "Tiger!"

Back with Cholena's friends, they managed to dress Cholena up in the dark yellow tank top and matching miniskirt over her lighter yellow tank top and matching mermaid bikini bottom. She felt giddy wearing her first normal mouse clothes. Beetle gave a wolf whistle as he checked out his friend. "Ya look great, kid!" he said. "Ya look - sensational." Bambi and Gideon agreed. But Philoctetes felt skeptical about the tank top and miniskirt.

"The Native American girl mouse must be this way! She's this way! Follow me!"

Suddenly, everyone heard Tiger's excited shouting nearby and looked. They spotted Tiger charging towards them. Bambi and Gideon yelped, got spooked, and hid under the shallow water.

Beetle flew off, and Philoctetes, knowing that Cholena would need him, rushed to the girl and hid in her miniskirt. Cholena tried getting away from Tiger. But the hyper cat kept intercepting her at every turn. Cholena got on a small boulder at the beach as Tiger kissed her face.

"Tiger!" Fievel called from a distance.

Tiger stopped licking Cholena, turned, and ran to his master, leaving Cholena to smile at the cat.

"Tiger!" Fievel called before seeing his pet, and tried to calm Tiger down. "Quiet, Tiger! What's gotten into you fella?"

As Fievel petted his pet, his eyes widened when he noticed Cholena sitting on the boulder. "There she is!" Tiger said.

"Oh . . . Oh, I see." said Fievel, as he approached the Native American girl mouse. Cholena tried to compose herself by moving her hair out of her face.

"Are you O.K., miss?" asked Fievel, as he playfully ruffled Tiger's head. "I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you." he said, "He's harmless, really - . . ."

Fievel stopped talking and stared at Cholena, but as he did, he started having a feeling. There was something familiar about her. Cholena smiled very lovingly at him.

"You . . . seem very familiar . . . to me." Fievel said skeptically, "Have we met?"

Cholena nodded yes with a big smile on her face. "She's the one, the Scottish British girl mouse I was talking to you about earlier!" Tiger cried in excitement. He tried to lick her, but he was pushed down by Fievel.

"We have met?" asked Fievel, as he grasped her hands, "I knew it! You're the one - the one I've been looking for! What's your name?

Tiger turned to Cholena with excitement and also started feeling joyful and curious. "Yes, what is it?" he asked. Cholena tried speaking. But with her voice gone, nothing came out of her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Fievel asked, "What is it?"

Cholena patted on her throat and showed Fievel her neck, trying to show that she couldn’t talk.

"You can't speak?"

Cholena shook her head sadly. This caused Fievel to feel down. "Oh." he said, "Then you couldn't be who I thought." He was sure that this girl was the one who saved him.

Tiger rolled his eyes in frustration. "Oh, brother!" Cholena is his master's rescuer! Couldn't he see that?

Cholena did the same thing before coming up with an idea. *I know!* Cholena thought. She moved her arms and hands around as if she was trying to do pantomime or charades. Fievel tried to figure out what Cholena was trying to say.

"What is it?" he asked, "You're hurt? No, No . . . You need help."

Cholena tried to make more hand movements to communicate. But then, she lost her balance and fell off the boulder!

"Whoa, whoa, careful," said Fievel, as he caught Cholena in his arms. "Careful. Easy."

The two stared at each other in a shocked and awkward way.

"Gee, you must have really been through something." said the boy mouse, "Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on . . . Come on, you'll be okay."

As Fievel put Cholena's arm over his shoulder, she glimpsed behind her and gave her friends a big grin. Bambi, Gideon, and Beetle smiled at her and wished her good luck. Fievel guided Cholena toward his castle. Walking was very hard for someone who spent their whole life swimming! Regardless, Fievel was patient and made sure Cholena did not fall. Eventually, they arrived at Fievel's castle.

Later in the day, Cholena was introduced to the animals - including the mice - and people working at the castle. The first order of business was to clean Cholena up and get her washed for dinner. In her tub filled with bubbles, Cholena played with them, overcome by fascination.

Pouring warm water from a jug over her head was a Russian-Jewish female mouse with brown fur, a tan muzzle, upper face and underbelly, some of the brown fur in a bun, and brown eyes, wearing a small spectacles, a brown blouse and dress with yellow sleeves, a pink apron, and goes barefoot. Her name was Mama Mousekewitz, the castle maid. She was nearby, and she helped in getting Cholena cleaned up.

"Washed up from a shipwreck?" gasped Mama Mousekewitz, "Oh, the poor thing! We'll have you feeling better in no time.

Philoctetes, who was hiding in Cholena's miniskirt, peeked out, but saw Mama overhead, taking the tank top and miniskirt and preparing to leave the room. "I'll just - I'll just get these washed for you." she said.

In another room, the tank top and miniskirt were put in large tub, and Bridget, Tankho, and Nellie Brie helped wash them. Unfortunately, Philoctetes was still stuck in these clothes, and he couldn’t get out.

"Well, you must have at least heard about this, girls." Bridget said, beginning to talk.

"No!" Tankho exclaimed.

Bridget washed the tank top and miniskirt, causing Philoctetes to feel uncomfortable with each scrub and movement, saying, "Yoko says she's a princess, but since when has Yoko ever gotten anything right? I mean really, this girl mouse shows up in rags and doesn't speak-"

"Madame," said Philoctetes. "Please!"

As this conversation went on, he was squished by a presser, along with the tank top and miniskirt, but he recovered immediately afterward, though he landed on the clothes in the laundry basket.

"Not my idea of a princess." said Bridget, as she took the tank top and the miniskirt and hung them on a clothesline, one by one, "If Fievel's looking for a girl, I know a couple of highly available ones right here."

As the clothes were hung from the clothesline, they were moved towards the nearby castle. Philoctetes jumped out of the miniskirt and landed in a room through a window. Relieved to be out of that experience, Philoctetes started to get up. But as he did, he saw something absolutely horrifying: beheaded fish with sharp blades, cooked squid and octopi in a pan, and worst of all, deep-fried goats on a plate. This was the castle kitchen, and the sight of so many dead sea creatures was too much for Philoctetes to take. He fainted in fear.