Art by me

Rat squeaking, human speaking

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Six slowly opened her eyes, vision fuzzy and blurry from just waking up from her dreamless sleep. Her head rested on her paws, laying under the blanket Blueberry had put over them.

She took a moment, relaxing in the moment of quietness. Back home at the colony, it would never be this quiet. Six closed her eyes again, softly flinching at the thought, digging her claws into the bed of her memory of what was once her home.

It hadn't been a week (or has it?) and she already missed it. She missed Marigold, her foster mother, and playing with Droplet, Splash, and Velvet. She missed her brother's normal growly, snappy, once thought to be harmless self.

Did... did they miss her? She never gave Velvet a proper goodbye, but she knew the small rat watched her leave The Maw. It wasn't like the last time they spent together went well either, with Six trying to introduce her family to Blueberry, only for her cousin to snap and talk about her friend's strange murderous tendencies in front of everyone.

The thought made her stomach churn the tiniest bit, leaning into Blueberry's warmth next to her. Was being off The Maw even the smartest idea?

Silently, she snort, blowing a bit of dust. It wasn't like there was any difference between here in the Wilderness and there. Inhabitants of either place didn't seem to want her.

Six rose her head as the other next to her stirred slightly in his spot, before settling back down into a calm slumber. Now that she thought about it, Blueberry was also like her. They were both outcasts, that much was obvious.

Blueberry didn't seem to really be attached to anyone here, well, besides Ribbon, but even they seemed to be a bit distant towards one another. Everyone would stare at them, and didn't seem to ever include them in activities. Just like the colony was to her.

She never got along with the other pups when she was younger. Sometimes they would even spread rumors about her carrying a plague, which was why she was so weird looking. Some put poppy seeds in her food which made her start seeing things, some would make her nest dirty, some even purposefully scratched and bit her during play fights.

The bullying started to spread to where Frost started to get involved, added on top of them making fun of his scarlet red eyes. Maybe that explained a part of why he never liked her...

But that was all okay, her and Blueberry could be outcasts together.

Six looked over as she felt Blueberry once again started moving. She watched him slowly opened his eyes, his bangs swept to the side in a tangled mess.

"Morning, Blue," she softly squeaked. Blueberry looked over, before groaning, raising a paw and placing it on her head.

"Mornin', Sunflower," he said in a low, gruff sounding voice, or at least, for him it was low and gruff.

Slowly, Blueberry sat up, the blanket over his chest lowering, showing the wrappings around from where she and Bandage fought him. She didn't like them, they looked funny on him, that or it was her rat behavior telling her to not like them. Rats didn't like abnormal things on others, and these bandages were certainly one of them.

He started to ruffle her fur, making her give a small squeak of surprise. She heard him give a small chuckle, before stopping, dropping his paw back in his lap. He gave a sigh, giving her a look she started to grow to hate.

He wanted her to leave again. Well... tough luck!

"Don't start giving me that look. You can't stay, the others will find you," Blueberry said in his normal growls.

"Blueberry, I miss getting to hang out with you. I'm not going,"

"Banana, I will drag you out of the skylight myself if I have to,"

"Don't 'banana' me. Blue, I'm great at hiding, I'll be fine. If I hear pawsteps, I'll just hide under that ugly looking bench with the papers on it or jump out the skylight."

Blueberry glared at her from under his bangs, before sighing loudly, resting his head in his paws, rubbing his face and combing his messy bangs from his eyes.

"I don't want them to hurt you..." he barely squeaked. Six narrowed her eyes, about to speak before the feral's attention turn.

Pawsteps.

Before anything could be said, Blueberry pushed her back down, hidden once again by the blanket. Blueberry fell back down onto his side, back facing her.

She stayed still, focusing on listening to the pawsteps and who is sounded like. She heard the curtain be moved, and the soft sound of pawsteps.

"I know you're not asleep."

Wasn't that the trenchcoat rat's voice? Okay, maybe she should start thinking of a name for him...

Blueberry lightly shuffled beside her. Once again, the other voice spoke up.

"Five and Rain told me about your... hunger spell?"

"What about it?" Blueberry said with a small growl.

"So you're not asleep after all. Good. I was just making a bold statement, so thank you for proving me right,"

"What do you want, asshole?"

"What I want I can't get right now. But right now, I want you gone..."

Six bit her tongue before a noise escaped her as she heard buzzing in her ears. It was continuous, never changing in pitch, but seemed to grow louder and louder. She covered her ears, like she had done in the woods when the Static Stone started to act crazy.

Suddenly, it stopped. "But, Rain wants you alive, so I'll at least do that for her."

"Mono, what happened to you?" Blueberry said, and Six was surprised when she couldn't detect a growl or underline threat in his voice. It was odd not hearing him snap or get angry.

"What happened to me? It's not something you could understand with that empty head of yours,"

"..."

"I'm not here to talk down to you, or at least not a lot of it. I just wanted to leave a small warning,"

"Oh? Let me guess, I tell anyone about what happened at the river I'll have to redo my entire adventure on that nightmare fueled ship?"

"So your name doesn't reflect your IQ level,"

"Oh, fuck off, it's not like anyone here even cares for me. Tell Rain I'll be leaving as soon as my bite marks and cuts get better."

"Fine by me."

Six heard the faint sounds of pawsteps retreating from the room, before pausing. "Oh, yeah. We're having another feast tonight, hope you can attend before you leave. Or at least, show up to say goodbye to everyone."

Blueberry didn't speak to him, and after a moment, the room was swept into silence.

Blueberry drew back the blanket and swung his back paws over the side of the bed. He got up, nearly falling over, but straightened himself out before he could fall. Six looked over, picking up his blue slip in fur with her jaws, holding it out for him.

The strange rat took from her, patting her head as a thanks, before slipping it on. His forearms went into the sleeves, and with a small moment of fiddling with the front, zipped it up with a small silver teardrop shaped token of some kind.

"C'mon, Sunrise, we got to get you out of here and then I have to get some supplies. We're going to the city, or somewhere else, like The Nest. Just, anywhere away from here."



Seven just wanted to leave. He didn't care anymore about staying for Rain, remembering how easily she brushed him off just reminded him not even his own twin wanted to waste time on him.

He could grab his backpack from his workspace, fill it with essentials, blow this place up with nitroglycerin, and get him and Squeaks out of here. Hell, even the forest was better than here.

He went to his desk, looking at the scraps of whatever he had written in the past. He picked one up, barely able to read the fading ink.

Date --------

Test the new pip bombs Commamder 13 wanted me to made. I think I did good. He was happy.

Seven cringed at his old writing. This wasn't even illegible. The date was too messed up to see, but by the way he messed up his 'n' into 'm' in 'Commander' he figured he was probably around eight or something, back when he was new to the explosives business.

Then, the thought dawned on him. What did happened to the older kids? Five said the only older kids here were him, Rain, Mono, and One and Two if you wanted to count them.

Did Mono do something to them? Seemed likely. He did threaten to do who knows what to him just a few minutes ago with his weird static powers.

"Squeak?"

Seven looked over at his companion, seeing her off his bed and by his side, looking up at him curiously. Right, stay focused. Gotta get Squeaks out of here.

He walked over to the pulley root, grabbing it and harshly pulling it down. The skylight opened, hideously bright sunlight trickling into the room.

Squeaks looked up, already giving a small growl of disapproval. He came over to her, wrapping his arms around her torso and lifted her up. Squeaks let out a loud squeak of surprise, completely caught off guard by the sudden lack of ground under her.

"You gotta go, Squeaks!"

Squeaks let out a hiss, thrashing in his arms, nearly making him drop her. Once underneath the skylight, he put her down, but was met with a growly, clearly pissed off rat child.

He pointed up. "Go,"

"Sque!"

"Squeaks, go,"

"Squeak, squeak!"

Seven let out a groan. Why was she stubborn? He went to speak again, but both of their attention was suddenly on the skylight as they heard something. It was quick, a loud snapping noise. A bear trap?

The sudden sounds of loud squeaking made it apparent that something was caught. In no time, however, Squeaks jumped out through the hole, already running off to see what the sound of the noise was.

Seven complained if he should join her or to stay and gather his supplies. After a moment, he gave a small groan, jumping and pulling himself out of the hole, just in time to see Squeaks' raincoat dissappear into the bushes.

He kicked the lid to the skylight closed, following after the feral child. After diving through bushes, nearly tripping twice over some roots, and catching his breath for a few seconds, Seven found what was the source of the noise.

It was a rather large rat, white fur glistening in blood as its back legs were caught in a bear trap. Squeaks was frozen stiff by the bush, almost as though she saw a ghost.

The rat has small pink paws, and its tail looked to be snapped in half from the other end of the bear trap's powerful metal jaws. Its pink eyes looked glossy, like it couldn't see that well.

The bottom half of it had the teeth of the trap buried into it, but its back legs kicked vigorously in an attempt to escape. For a moment, the rat reminder Seven of the giant white rat that was with Six's small pack. Maybe that was why she was so frozen all of a sudden?

No matter, he had to help it. He came over, but the rat heard him, becoming more panicked as it tried to run away, but failed miserably to do so.

"Hey, shh, hey, it's okay. I'll get it off of ya, just stay still, okay?" Seven said in the calmest voice he could muster. Being kind and gentle sounding wasn't an easy thing for him, but he was relieved when the rat seemed to calm down. That or the blood loss was catching up with it.

He came to the metal jaws, looking over it the best he could. It looked like the rat tried to jump over it and miss calculated its distance and triggered the pressure plate, the dumb thing.

He reached down, hand grabbing a rusty wire to the plate, and snatched it off. The jaws relaxed, making it easier for him to pull apart.

The rat limped out, back legs tender to the touch it seemed like, which was to be expected. The rat turned, looking at him, ears up as though it were confused. Seven saw the glossy pink eyes and a small feeling of sympathy washed over him.

The rat wasn't built for a place like this. Where danger was around ever corner, what use were eyes when they hardly worked? Maybe he should have left the rat there...

The bushes rustled, another rat stepping out. It was mostly white, with a solid black stripe down its back. His back? Hers? Whatever, point was, it was another rat.

At first, he (Seven was just assuming at this point) looked a bit surprised at first, before looking over his injured friend. Or, from the way Squeaks normally treated him, he guessed they were friends.

The rat with the black stripe sniffed the other over, before rolling his tongue over the wounds. The white rat flinched, recoiling her injured legs under her (again, assuming it was a she).

They shared a few squeaks between them, before the albino rat motioned to him. The rat with the stripe looked to him, giving a small nod to him, before helping the injured rat move, helping balancing her weight onto him.

Carefully, they went through the bushes, and just like that they were gone. Seven got up from beside the trap, looking over to the other. "You okay, Squeaks?"

Squeaks looked to him, and a moment she stared at him, before leaving through the bushes. What was wrong with her?

Whatever, he had to get back and pack his stuff.

***

Six tried to forget the white rat, she didn't want to even think about her. She wasn't ready, she wasn't ready to think about him just yet.

She looked so much right like Frost, but the way she was crying out sounded just like Marigold...

The feral shook her head. Stop it, brain, just stop it. She... just needed some fresh air and some time to think and be alone. Definitely be alone...

She slid down a small slop, the creek coming into view. Maybe a drink would help ease her mind...

The nasty, sticky mud got on her paws, cringing for a heartbeat at the slim. She dipped down, about to take a drink, before noticing movement across the bank.

"Rat!" Six looked forward, seeing Bandage jump out from the tall grass. He favored his right forepaw, but what wounds he had from his short lived fight with Blueberry seemed to have stopped bleeding. But, despite his wounds, Six admired the pup's bright smile.

"Hey," Six said, watching the other wade through the water towards her. He climbed out of the water, shaking himself off, water spraying onto her.

Six gave a small squeak, looking over once the other was done, being met with sheepish smile. "Sorry. Bandage happy to find you again," he chirped.

The rat child rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Really? I didn't notice," she teased. Bandage didn't lose his smile, instead it only seemed to brighten.

"Bandage want to show Rat to wolf family," he stated eagerly. Six was taken aback, where did this suddenly come from? Before she could ask, Bandage turned towards the other side, letting out a few barks.

Before Six could even think of what to do next, she was met by a large wolf. Her pelt was shaggy and short, and the color of mud and dirt. Her green eyes seemed to cut right through Six, who forgot how to breath for a second.

Bandage seemed very excited, letting out barks, jumping and putting his paws on Six's shoulder. The wolf looked over, tail flagging for a second, before waving behind her as a greetings.

The rat child wasn't completely sure what to say, but gave a small chirp as her own little greetings. Bandage got down from her shoulder, pointing to the wolf with his nose.

"Rat, meet wolf mom!" He said. The wolf came over, and for a moment, Six was convinced the wolf was going to eat her. She was swift and agile, light on her paws and far larger than her. One bite from her jaws and off went her head.

Instead, the wolf (who Six was going to name Puddle, like a mud puddle) sniffed her over, before giving her a lick, moving and slobbering her bangs in a mess. Six was a bit stunned, looking to Bandage for a heartbeat as a silent 'what just happened?'

"Wolf mom likes Rat," Bandage answered easily. Six looked back to the large, imposing beast, giving a small nervous smile. Well, at least she liked her...

Two small bundles of fur came tumbling out of the grass, soft fluffy fur covering their small bodies. Bandage let out small barks to them, and the two pups looked up before running over, crashing into Bandage, the three rolling in a small ball.

Puddle seemed to give the wolf version of a chuckle, which sounded like a small, choppy light growl, sitting down next to Six.

The small human pup got the wolf pups off of him long enough to introduce them to her. Bandage put a paw on the long right of him, a young male who had small white socks in his legs, his body a silvery gray color. "This Brother," Bandage said, before turning to the other, a chestnut brown female with a white marking on her chest, "and this Sister."

Brother and Sister gave small barks at their names, happy yipping as the greeted the other. Six gave a smile to them. "Hello," she said.

Bandage never really taught her how to greet one another in Wolf, so guessed it was close enough. The pups seemed to agree, and before she knew it, Brother dropped down into a play bow, waiting for her to copy him.

Six glanced over to Puddle, who looked at her pups, shaking her head, giving a small bark to them. The wolf pups gave a whine, but didn't continue. Puddle gave a few yips, Bandage listening to her.

The smile on his face seemed to grow, looking over to Six. "Wolf family to lookout to howl, Rat should go with us. Be fun," he explained.

Howling with a pack of wolves? Was that even safe? Well, it would help her forget about the white rat and...

She flinched, giving a nod. Yeah, yeah she won't mind going on a small adventure. Bandage smiled at her a final time, before explaining to Puddle. Puddle gave a small nod, standing up and turning around, leaving to go back to where ever the pack was.

Brother and Sister followed after her, Bandage trailing behind them. Six nervously padded forward, looking back over her shoulder. Blueberry came to her mind, was he going to be alright with the trenchcoat rat?

Suddenly, she didn't feel all the comfortable with leaving him.

"Rat?" Six looked over, seeing Bandage on the other side of the creek. She shook her head, Blueberry would be fine. She followed after them, disappearing into the grass on the other side.

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Finished - Mar. 27th, 2021

Oh man this chapter took a while-

I'm gonna try to make up for the late update on this by getting a chapter of TPaTB and possibly get the prologue for BL out too.

Anyways, I'm going to enjoy my vanilla chai tea, listen to hard rock, watch some cute animal videos, and work on that.

I'm very sleep deprived.

Send help.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited June 4th, 2021 *

Time to rewrite all all of chapter 14

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!