The Cat lounged himself on the branch of a tall tree, stretched across his full length lying on his belly. He kept the vial that contained his freedom in one of the larger holes of the trees, where it lay safely nestled. The Cat wished to be fully rested as he would have to get used to being human again. 

As the morning sunlight beamed against his face, he opened one eye slowly, narrowing it as he was instantly met with the bright light. He stood on all four legs and stretched lazily, yawning as he did so. 

"Today's the day." He said eagerly to himself, his grin widening as he procured the small vial from the hole, staring deeply into it as though it were a long-awaited friend. "Hmm, it appears my patience has rewarded me. Let us hope that impish imbecile does not fool me again." He said warily, eyes narrowing as he remembered what happened the *last* time Rumpelstiltskin had 'helped' him. 

Putting a single paw to the key around his neck, the Cat muttered something in a voice just barely above a whisper before popping the top off of the vial with his mouth. Cupping the mouth of the bottle with his jaws, he tilted his head back; letting gravity take the potion down his throat. The liquid tasted vile an bitter, and seemed to have a strange burn as it went down his gullet. 

The Cat coughed and hacked, the empty vial toppling from the treetop and shattering on the ground below. 

After what seemed like hours, the Cat looked around questioningly. He hadn't felt a change...He teleported down to the ground towards a nearby creek where he looked into, hoping to see a different person looking back at him in his reflection. Instead, he saw what he had [i]always[/i] seen: the thin face of the black cat with its frighteningly bizarre grin and bright blue eyes. 

"Blast that thrice-damned Imp, he played me for a fool!" The Cat hissed as he paced about, a deep tension seemed to overtake his entire body as his posture was stiff as a board. He would have wept, were he able to. But he was just that: a broken creature unable to do anything but smile and disappear. He had nothing left...it was all gone with those simple few words: [i]"Then it's a deal..."[/i] 

The Cat's eyes narrowed hatefully. He wasn't going to accept it this time. Sacrificing logic for action he quickly disappeared from the forest. It was time to pay Rumpelstiltskin another, not so pleasant, visit.