Misfit Trials

Chapter 29

The crowd was quite pleased with the results of the last trial and the happy chattering of the crowd is somewhat foreign in this place. So foreign that it actually grates on the nerves of the jurors and The Cat. They try to allow this little bit of happiness, try to let those who deserve absorb some of it. But they can't let it last for too long. They still have half of the trials to get through. They have to find the petitioner that they will help. Maybe it will be the next one.

The Cat bangs his gavel and the crowd immediately silences. "The next petitioner, please," calls The Cat.

A little person, no bigger than a young child stands from the third chair and walks towards the dias. He has a long white beard, trailing to the floor, though that is common for his species of dwarf. It has nothing to do with age, just the color of their hair and a need for warmth when they work in the mines farm beneath the earth.

His face is creased and craggy, lined in dirt that will likely never come out no matter how much he scrubs. His skin is sallow and pale from his time in the cave, his back slightly bent from all the years that he had been stooped in the cave, digging out gems and minerals. His clothes are extremely dirty and noticeably tattered and has he stands in front of the crowd on the dias, it's easy to see how skinny and malnourished he is.

He sits on the dias, cross-legged and scowling.

The Cat, looking slightly concerned, leans forward. "Is that you, Master Snick?"

"Yes," reponds the little man, his voice as craggy and rough as his face..

"What has happened? Why do you look so..." The Cat can't seem to come up with an apt description.

Snick gives a dry chuckle. "Horrible? Abused? Defeated? That's why I'm here, Cheshire. Three of my brothers are dead, the other three are enslaved, and I was the one that got out to get help. We need the court to come and save us."

There are gasps all around the clearing as everyone takes in Snick's words.

"Master Snick, we want to hear your story, but it looks like you are in need of food and drink. Can we provide that to you before you start?" The Cat begins. He is obviously old friends with the dwarf.

"I will not turn it down, Cheshire. It has been long since I have had a good meal," Snick says.

"Muffin Man!" The Cat calls.

Quickly, a man rises from the benches, dressed in a chef's coat and hat. From the apron he wears, he pulls out muffins, pastries, mince pies. He places them on a picnic blanket that the Fairy Godmother magics into existence. Before drinks are alo magiced onto the blanket, Snick has already stuffed an entire pie into his mouth.

"Slow down, Snick. You'll get sick!" The Cat admonishes.

Meanwhile, Tinkerbell has changed back into her pint-sized fairy form and sprinkles fairydust over the little man. The dirt and grime on his face and body dissipates and his clothes fix and clean themselves.

Maleficent waves her staff and his sallow complexion starts to glow healthier, his emaciated form fills out, and the stoop in his back unbends.

By the end, he is a completely new dwarf. "I thank you greatly, mistresses. You have done this own dwarf a great service. One that I hope to repay one day."

"Nonsense! You and your brothers have done so much for the world of Fairy Tale that we wouldn't accept it," Maleficent says and the other two fairies agree.

"Well, I thank you," he says.

"Do you think that you are ready to begin your story?" The Cat asks.

Snick gives a heavy sigh and nods. "I'm ready."