Another Man's Dawn

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West Fanfiction by Myst Knight

Disclaimer: An American Tail is owned by Universal Pictures Limited and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. I write this without consent, and am making no money off of it.

This story is rated T for mild sensuality, one instance of harassment, and Ideologically sensitive material (forbidden sibling romance). For OLDER TEEN AND UP.

No offense intended by the controversial content (and as always, don't try this at home!)

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Green River was a city of dreams and ambition, born out of hardship and a burning desire to succeed in the great American West. The immigrant mice had worked very hard to build their lives anew in this rugged, developing town, away from the cats that plagued them in New York,  the very same cats they had to banish from Green River. For the Mousekewitz family, this meant opening up Mousekewitz Fine Violins at a prime location, managed expertly by the one and only Papa Mousekewitz, who had turned his fledgling business into a true artisan boutique. This Monday, however, the Mousekewitz patriarch was at the train station giving last minute instructions to his family, preparing to depart for a week-long trip to deliver a handcrafted violin to a wealthy client.

"Now remember not to lower the prices too much," Papa instructed Mama Mousekewitz, who nodded with a put-upon countenance. "And treat my precious violins very gently while cleaning! They scratch easily."

"Oh dear, I know already!" Mama slapped her hands on the apron covering her dress. "Don't you worry so much."

Papa grinned, and then turned to his eldest child. "Tanya, continue to work on your singing," he said, glowing with affection for his teenaged daughter. "You are getting better and better, but you still have much to learn about music. I want you to be a big, big star when I get back! Music runs in our family!"

"Yes, Papa." Tanya glowed with shy pride as she kept a firm hold on her baby sister Yasha.

"And Fievel," Papa turned to his only son, who stood at attention like a deputy at the sheriff's office. "Be sure to take care of your mother and sisters. You are the man of the house now!" He gave the boy a wink for inspiration. "I'm expecting great things from you!"

Fievel stood up as tall as his meager height would allow, trying to hide how excited he was. Finally, Papa was trusting him to handle stuff back home! He could protect his family like a real mouse hero, just like all the resl heroes he admired. Ever since the Cat R. Waul incident, the young mouse had been preparing for this, and now at last he was getting his chance!

"Aw Papa, he's such a brat!" Tanya's face fell, as she tried to hold onto a squirming Yasha. "We can handle things here!" She turned towards Fievel with a scowl, but her brother did not respond to her complaining. In fact, his boyish face was set as firmly as possible, his posture strong and his tail stiff like a cocked revolver. He continued to look up at his father, a mouse boy ready to become a mouse man.

"I'll take good care of them, Papa!" Fievel promised, and nodded firmly. "You can count on me!"

Tanya looked at Fievel again, the incredulous look disappearing from her face. Yasha blinked a few times, and reached out at her brother with a gurgle.

Papa just smiled sagely, then turned towards the ramp leading to the mouse-sized section of the train. "Well then, I'm off!" he crowed, strolling up the ramp with a boisterous step. The Mousekewitz family watched him disappear in a haze of white steam, waving goodbye and giving him well wishes. Soon, the massive locomotive was chugging on its way, leaving the remaining Mousekewitz family grappling with a sense of bereavement. Before now, Papa Mousekewitz had only left them alone for a few days at most, but this time he would be gone a full week.

It was Mama that broke the silence after Papa had left. "Well, I guess it's time to run a few errands!" he said, and turned towards Fievel and Tanya. "Come along, children."

"Yes, Mama!" The brother and sister fell in behind Mama Mousekewitz as they headed back downtown.

The Mousekewitz family walked down the main road of Green River, surrounded by the life and soul of its hard working citizens. A brisk wind was coasting along the ground, forcing Mama and Tanya to hold down the skirts of their peasant dresses as they flapped all over the place. It was potentially more embarrassing for Tanya, since she had only one hand to keep her skirt down, her other hand devoted to holding baby Yasha. And unlike Mama, she was not wearing any bloomers under her skirt, leaving her legs on full display to the rest of the mice around her.

"Oh, it's windy!" Tanya winced, her face flush with embarrassment. "It's awful!"

"That's why you should've worn bloomers, dear," Mama reminded her eldest child, though she too held down her skirt. "Ooh, teenagers are so rebellious!"

Tanya glanced nervously around the city street, and Fievel looked at her with a twinge of concern. A lot of the boys in town thought his sister was pretty, and some of those boys were here right now on the main road. A couple young mouse lads were laughing at the girl, pointing out her distress with a few unsavory remarks.

As a gentleman entrusted to protect his family, Fievel knew he had to act!

The young mouse boy moved beside Tanya, and the girl reddened at his approach. "F-Fievel, don't look!" she cried, trying and failing to hold her skirt down.

"Don't worry, I'll help ya!" Fievel declared, and grabbed Tanya's skirt with one hand, pulling it down so that it once again covered her thighs.

"Oh!" Tanya gasped at her brother's daring action, stopping dead in her tracks. She took a quick glance around her, flushing with embarrassment at this awkward moment. Her eyes widened with surprise when she found that other other mice had stopped staring at her, sensing that the situation was over. Even the mischievous boys were groaning in disappointment, as Fievel had essentially ended the show for them.

Tanya looked down at her brother, a nervous smile forming on her face. "T-Thank you, Fievel," she said, giggling a bit in spite of the situation. "That was pretty embarrassing."

"It's a man's job to protect women! " Fievel said, puffing up his chest in what he hoped was a steadfast way.

Tanya almost rolled her eyes at Fievel's unbridled enthusiasm, but Mama smiled fondly at the two of them. "My my Fievel, what a gentleman you've become!" Mama said approvingly. "Would it be that your Papa had such manners!"

"And I'll continue protecting both of ya!" Fievel said, still holding his sister's skirt down and preventing her from being exposed any further.

Tanya couldn't help but giggle. "That's sweet." she told her brother, smiling at him.

Fievel looked at the ponytailed mouse girl beside him, smiling back. Tanya's smile was undeniably charming, and her cute dimples and shining blue eyes only added to that appeal. Even though he had a hard time admitting it, Fievel thought Tanya was really pretty too. He hoped he would be able to prove he was a brother she could rely on, which meant dropping some of his old teasing.

I'm not gonna be a brat to you anymore, Tanya! Fievel Mousekewitz swore an oath to himself, right then and there. I'll show ya the brave mouse hero I really am!

These were the thoughts that would carry Fievel through the rest of the week with Tanya, and into a whole new world of adventure.

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***** 
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On Tuesday, Mama had gone out to play a game of bridge with some of the other mousewives, leaving Fievel and Tanya to take care of Yasha at Mousekewitz Fine Violins. Yasha was already drifting off to sleep, with Tanya gently singing to her little sister, and Fievel by the door watching over both. "Dreams to dream, in the dark of the night..." Tanya's soft melody filled the small nursery like sweet milk, offering warmth and comfort to the three siblings. "When the world goes wrong, I can still make it right..."

Fievel smiled as he watched Tanya lull their baby sister to sleep. She really was a good singer, he admitted. Even the cats that had formerly occupied Green River had liked Tanya's singing, to the point where she almost had a chance at uniting the mice and cats for real. But in the end, it turned out the way most things did between mice and cats...well, except for him and Tiger, of course!

Tanya must've sensed Fievel's eyes on her, for she turned to him with a frown. "Oh, don't laugh!" she said. "I'm trying my very best!"

"Oh, whoops!" Fievel giggled at his sister's overreaction. "I just thought you sounded nice, Tanya."

"Oh...well, okay." The wind was taken out of Tanya's sails, the bark falling out of her voice. "Thank you. I've actually been practicing harder lately."

"Why?" Fievel asked, with genuine interest.

Tanya blushed a bit. "Well, a boy," she confessed, and Fievel's ears perked up. "There's a boy at the saloon I want to impress, and he really likes the singing I do there. His name is Jack Mouseson, and he's really handsome. You know, the mouse with the black hat? I...want to ask him to dance this Friday."

Fievel snorted. Although formally a cat hangout, the new saloon had been repurposed by the citizens of Green River, and now it was a hot spot for trendy, teenage mice, hosting dances and events every couple of months. Tanya still sang there, albeit in a far less bawdy way, having learned the value of being just a normal girl even if she was still a singer. Regardless, the musical mouse dynamo had picked up a whole new set of fans, capturing the hearts of almost every teenage mouse within a two mile radius.

But though Tanya was popular with the boys, those boys themselves weren't always the best of sorts, and some of them were even like the cats that used to leer at her during the Cat R. Waul incident. Jack Mouseson was good-looking and slick, but he was a rough character, and sometimes pulled mean pranks on the local shop owners with his buddies. Fievel couldn't say it out loud, but he wished Tanya could find someone else to take to the dance.

"Aw, you should just sing to make yourself happy," he said instead, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh, I will!" Tanya agreed with a grin. "But it's nice to make other mice happy too sometimes, right?"

"Yeah, you're pretty good at that." Fievel laughed good-naturedly.

Tanya laughed as well, then grew pensive. "Fievel, why are you acting so different lately?" she asked, averting her eyes from him.

"Huh?" Fievel cocked his eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, you're not teasing me as much," Tanya tried to explain, fiddling with her skirt in her lap. "And you really saved me when...well, when my skirt was blowing up the other day." A slight blush tinged her cheeks as she admitted this. "You're not even wearing that silly cowboy hat anymore. I...I just hope you're okay."

Fievel looked away for a moment, a shadow of sorrow cloaking his face. "There was a brave dog that I really admired," he said, his voice surprisingly heavy for such a young mouse. "He was a sheriff, a real law-dog. Before...before he died, he taught me that being a man meant trainin' up, never givin' up, and letting bad guys have the Laaaaaazy Eye. But most of all, he told me I could be the hero of my own story, and that's the hero I wanna be!"

"So that's why you're being so nice to me?" Tanya asked. "You just want to be a better mouse?"

"Yeah, just like you wanna be a better singer!" Fievel's childlike energy erupted within him, even as he talked of maturity. "I don't wanna be a dumb storybook hero anymore. I wanna be a real hero, like Wylie Burp was. What do ya think, Tanya?"

Tanya smiled at last, with something akin to relief in her eyes. "I like it," she said, walking over to Fievel. "And I like that I have my sweet little brother back." With that, the tall teen mouse knelt down to Fievel's level and gave him a warm hug, rubbing her cheek against his in the manner she used to do when they were younger.

"Aw, Tanyaaaa!" he complained, wincing a bit at her closeness. "Your whiskers tickle!"

"But you're still so shy around girls!" she giggled, squeezing him in jest. "You still got a lot to learn!"

"Well, you're the only girl I know!" Fievel countered with a wry grin.

They both laughed as Yasha cooed in the cradle behind them, sound asleep.

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***** 
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The week went on, and Fievel, Tanya, and Mama Mousekewitz continued to hold down the fort while they waited for Papa to return. Between taking care of Yasha and running the violin shop, the remaining Mousekewitzes had their hands full and barely a moment to relax. Still, Fievel persisted in the vow he had made to himself, and did his best to handle customers like a responsible young mouse, with Tanya tending to the shopping and Mama handling the sweeping. And all the while, Tanya was becoming more and more impressed with her little brother's big attitude adjustment, his newfound maturity in the face of these challenges.

On a sunny Wednesday, Fievel and Tanya were taking a trip to J. M. Schimmel's General Store for a few odds and ends. While Fievel carried the shopping basket, Tanya scanned the shopping list, mumbling over the numbered items and making sure they had enough money for everything. The route to the general store took them across the human-occupied part of town, leaving the tiny mice to weave and maneuver through the feet and legs of the giant creatures. Fievel kept an eagle eye out, though, gently pulling Tanya out of the way whenever they got too close to the human cowboys and their big, heavy boots.

"So we've got to get the knitting needles for Mama, and fresh new wood for Papa's violins..." Tanya muttered out loud as they walked up to the small hole under the human general store that lead to Schimmel's General Store. "Fievel, do you want anything? A new pop-gun, maybe?"

"Aw, I'm too old for that silly stuff!" Fievel harrumphed, folding his arms with a snort.

"Not even a Clint Mousewood deluxe magnum pop-gun?" Tanya glanced up towards the sky, a look of mock-innocence on her face. "With a double action trigger?"

"Clint Mousewood?!" Fievel's eyes lit up with latent boyish glee, and he grabbed his older sister's hand and darted forward. "Let's go, Tanya!"

"W-Whoa!!" Tanya let out a surprised laugh as Fievel pulled her through the hole and into Schimmel's General Store, squeezing past an elderly couple carrying two large berries in their arms. The interior of the store was filled with items from both the mouse and human worlds, including nuts, berries, buttons, candles, and other nick-knacks. Fievel and Tanya split up for a moment to go after items at opposite ends of the store, with Tanya choosing to look at sheet music from a famous human composer, and Fievel making a beeline for the memorabilia of old western heroes. Soon, they could barely see each other, getting lost in the crowd and going about their tasks in their own ways.

Fievel walked towards one of the shelves to pick up an odd, foreign book that had caught his eye. It was a book written by samurai mice from the far East, detailing hand-to-hand combat moves, swordsmanship skills, and most importantly, the elements of a honor-focused culture. "Maybe this will help me be a better mouse!" Fievel grinned at the pictures in the book, and checked to see if he had enough pocket change. Before he could walk to the counter to buy it, though, he noticed a disturbance happening at the other side of the store, where Tanya was supposed to be looking at sheet music.

Fievel craned his neck to see what was going on, and gasped. A small group of hoodlum rats were clustered in a circle, slouching and snickering with toothpicks in their teeth and riding crops in their hands. In the center of the circle was Tanya, who was staring balefully at an older, taller mouse looming over her. It was none other than Jack Mouseson, who had exchanged his pretty-boy veneer for a sinister sneer, and was radiating enough raw menace to keep the other shoppers from intervening in the situation.

"...just took a little underwear, Tanya," Mouseson was saying, his hands on his hips. "I don't get why you're upset. We've all seen them before, anyway."

"I don't believe it, Jack!" Tanya yelled at him, her fists clenched at her sides. "You didn't like my singing? You just wanted to steal my clothes from the saloon?!"

"You act like you've never heard of a panty raid before." The tall mouse shrugged and shook his head. "If you didn't know, you shouldn't have given us the key to the saloon."

"C'mon, we all know she likes showing off!" One of Mouseson's toadies leaned over to stroke Tanya's hair, who recoiled in fear. "We saw her dancing for those cats just a few months ago. She's an exhibitionist!"

"I'm a real lady now!" Tanya insisted, turning to face her tormentor. "I don't do those kinds of things any more!"

"Is why you don't even wear bloomers now?" Mouseson's face erupted into a craggy grin, and he reached down to flip Tanya's skirt up in the back, looking underneath it. "Heh heh, nice!"

Tanya shrieked and slapped her skirt back down. "Stop it!" she cried, holding her skirt against her rear and trying to back away from him. The other members of the gang just laughed, and blocked her attempts to flee.

Fievel couldn't take any more of this. He put down the book and rushed towards his sister, pushing his way through the other patrons in the store. When he reached the small group, he wasted no time in kicking the closest goon in the shin, causing him to howl in pain and allowing Tanya to escape the circle of ruffians. The mouse girl hid behind Fievel and tried to catch her breath, still holding her skirt tightly against herself.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" one of the goons snarled, while his friend hopped up and down holding his foot.

"Tanya, are you okay?" Fievel ignored the taunt and tossed a quick glance back at his sister.

"Fievel!" Tanya gasped in relief. "Y-Yeah, I'm okay."

Mouseson stepped forward at last, his wiry frame seizing up in anger. "Hey, who the heck are you?" he snarled, raising up to his full height in an obvious show of intimidation. "A wannabee hero or somethin'?"

Fievel took a step forward, looking his opponent in the eye. "I'm Fievel Mousekewitz," he declared, his eyes narrowing like a rough-riding gunslinger. "And if you want to bug my sister, you gotta go through me!"

The disreputable young thug snarled and leaned over Fievel, casting a shadow over the younger mouse. "You better back off, kid," Mouseson hissed, and cracked his knuckles. "Don't you know who I am?"

Fievel's eye twitched at the veiled threat, but he continued to stand his ground. Wylie Burp had taught him how to maintain a tough frame, but not to throw punches needlessly. That was what guys like Mouseson did, and it wasn't the kind of guy he wanted to be. Instead, he did the best trick he learned from the ol' law-dog.

He gave Mouseson the Laaaaaaazy Eye.

The young mouse's right eye bulged cartoonishly out of his socket, seeming to extend almost straight into Mouseson's face. His whiskers stood on end, and his ears twitched like bat wings, giving him the appearance of a mouse-sized devil in the middle of a dark ritual. Fievel's entire face was now spasming and jittering, causing the goons to back away in confusion as much as fear. And when at last Fievel was finished, Jack Mouseson had lost his trademark sneer, and a thin stream of drool dripped from his lip and onto the wood floor of the store.

Fievel nodded in finality, and grabbed Tanya's hand in order to lead her out. The other gang members stepped aside to let the Mousekewitz siblings through, the riding crops dropping from their hands to clatter uselessly at their feet. The rest of the shoppers, having been too afraid to intervene on Tanya's behalf, clapped in honor of the boy's bravery. Fievel's face still retained the remnants of his Laaaaaaazy Eye, though, and he was struggling to restore his face to its original shape.

Once Fievel and Tanya were back on the main road, Fievel let out a huge sigh, letting his bravado fade away now that there was no need to be brave. "Whooo, that was scaaaary!" he exclaimed, his voice losing its firmness and reverting back to his original soft squeak. "I'm glad it worked out alright!"

"I'll say!" Tanya said, looking back over at the store. She turned to Fievel again, her eyes shining like sapphires. "Fievel, thank you so much!" she said, with true admiration in her voice. "You were so brave!"

Fievel winked at her. "Nah, I was just doin' my job!" he told her. "Protecting ya!"

Tears formed at the edge of Tanya's eyes, and her upper lip started to quiver. "Oh, Fievel!" she cried, leaping upon the shorter mouse in a huge hug. "You're my hero!"

Fievel sighed with relief, reaching round to hug his sister back. He had passed his first true test in becoming a man, and more importantly, he had protected his sister from a nefarious threat. He hadn't realized it before, but he was slowly coming to terms with how much he liked Tanya, not just as a sister, but a friend as well. And as he grew warm in her soft embrace, it was something he was thinking about more and more.

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Next Up- Part 2