At this rate, my original goal of having this be 20 chapters like Raincoat isn't going to happen but oh well.

Rat squeaking, human speaking

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Squeaks led them to an old abandoned fox den, moss and soft grass strewn about the flooring of it. What happened, Seven didn't want to question it, finding it better to leave some questions unanswered.

They were settled in the back of the den, Rain carefully trying to open the lock that secured his muzzle. He grimaced and gave a small quiet whimper as each movement she did dug the muzzle deeper into the broken skin on his nose. It just got done healing too...

Squeaks sat at the den entrance, watching the bushes with a hard stare, alert to any noises that might mean danger.

"There, think I got it," Rain said, the lock clicking open, the muzzle immediately loosening. Seven reached up, gripping the muzzle grating and flung it off, throwing it into a rock.

Around his mouth tingled from lack of proper bloodflow, blood beginning to drip off the tip on his nose and onto the ground. He gently touched his reopened scar, hoping to stop it. Rain got up from where she had been kneeling, walking to a bush that was near the den entrance and plucked a leaf. Squeaks glanced over to her, before staring forward again.

"Here, this should help with blood clotting," she explained, gently pressing the light green leaf on his wound. Seven reached up, holding it in place.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"It's no problem," she muttered back.

The two fell into an awkward silence soon after. Seven wanted to ask questions, but found himself finding a hard time with how he wanted to ask. Words weren't his best friend, especially with how to ask his own sister what happened in all the time he went missing.

Luckily, Rain broke the silence, looking over towards the entrance. "Something must really have her attention..." she whispered.

Seven looked out of the corner of his eyes, seeing Squeaks hadn't moved from her spot. Her nails were dug in the dirt, still staring forward, ready to protect them from the looks of it. What could have her so on edge though? Well, besides the rebellion member's now wanting his head and possibly Rain's as well, and the forest being hella fricking dangerous.

"Seems like it," he answered in a monotone voice. Rain looked over, Seven seeing his twin's eyes rounding as she tried to carry the conversation.

"You never really explain how you two met. You only said it was on The Maw and that was it before Commander Mono showed up," Rain said, voice softening under her breath.

Seven gave a groan, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "Just call him Mono, he doesn't deserve his title."

Rain flinched as he rose his voice, only then did Seven realize he accidentally snapped at her. He silently cursed himself, trying to soften his voice as he went to speak again.

"Sorry. As for me and Squeaks, we met right after I left to try and escape. I had just escaped the Nursery's bathroom when I ran into her. She came out behind some boxes, next thing I knew I was one my back with some crazy feral girl sniffing me over," he gave a small chuckle. "For a moment I thought she was going to bite my throat out,"

"We fell down a pipe, took out some adult swimming in the water, nearly starved in the engine room, danced to get passed some guests, then I went and killed the Geisha."

Rain gave a small giggle of amusement. "Sounding like one heck of an adventure."

Seven gave a snort, smiling back to his kin. "It was. If it wasn't for her and knowing her family lived there, I probably would have killed a lot more people on there by blowing the place up. I almost left her there," he finished.

"What made you want to bring her?" The Oracle asked, reaching up to her long braid, undoing it, her dark brown hair unraveling and flowing like a chocolate waterfall over her shoulder. She reached up, beginning to start to work on rebraiding it, holding her red ribbon between her teeth.

The question stumped Seven. He looked over to the other, confusion stirring in his mind and belly. Why did he bring her? Was it because he didn't want her to be left in such an awful place? Because he enjoyed her company or too scared to be left alone again?

Was it because he was scared for her? Scared he'd let her down for some odd reason, or get caught and killed by an adult? He didn't want to lose her, he didn't want to lose his only-

Than it hit him.

"Because... because she's my friend. My best friend."

Rain stopped her braiding, looking up to him. Seven didn't meet her gaze, gently peeling the leaf to check his nose. It seemed to stop bleeding, but it was really sore now.

Soon, Rain finished her braid, tying the ribbon into a small bow. "Well, I'm happy for you. I was already a bit worried about you being lonely for the rest of your life,"

"Is that an insult of me being antisocial or a compliment because you really think I'm gonna make it be a monstrous adult?"

"I'll let you decide," she said, the two now sharing a small, less tense silence between them. Seven pressed his back to the wall of the den, taking a breath as Rain came and sat by him.

"I'm glad you're back, I'm not sure if I ever told you that," Rain quietly said under her breath. Seven looked over to his sister, seeing her eyes flutter close for a moment, before opening them as she tried to stay awake. Who knew how long being Oracle kept her up at night, it didn't seem like she got much sleep in the day either, judging by the dark circles under her eyes (though they could have been marks healing).

"I'm sure you did already, Rai," he said, tone low as he noticed the girl next to him on the edge of sleep.

"I probably did, but I don't care. I'm just happy to have," Rain stumbled on her words for a moment, letting out a soft yawn, "happy to have you back."

Her words muttered off into silence, Seven not even having to look over to know Rain fell asleep. He didn't blame her, she'd need her energy if they were going to the city. It would be dangerous, but not as dangerous at the forest was.

Seven gave a small sigh, getting himself to his feet, dragging them as he walked over to the rat child. Squeaks looked over to him as she heard him grow closer, smiling to him.

"Squea," she chirped.

"Hey to you too," Seven said back, standing next to her by the den's entrance. "What are you looking at?"

Squeaks, as he suspected, didn't answer him, not understanding his question, instead, looking out and watching the bushes again.

"Something out there definitely has your attention, hearing that other kid or whatever?" He said in an attempt to hold some sort of conversation, thought it was rather one-sided. Squeaks would occasionally look at him as he would ask a simple mindless question or two, though soon stopped, enjoying the silent company she was offering.

In the time he knew of the feral, she was normally very talkative (squeaky? Yappy? Something to that effect). She normally was what seemed to be a bundle of energy, nosing her way into a situation or off to entertain herself (which was normally by making noise or play with something she could chew or roll around with her hands).

It was odd seeing her so calm, it felt different, but pleasant too. He could think to himself without hearing her squeaking or check to make sure she didn't accidentally chock on whatever he last saw her playing with.

He sat down at the ground, looking up to the leaf crowns on the trees around them. Moonlight delicately washed over the waxy top of the leaves, making them shine with a gentle glint on them.

The stars were shining tonight, and for a moment, he wondered. Rain could speak with them about future events, like with the story of Oracle Fifteen and the wolves nearly fifty years ago. Why didn't they not tell her about any of this? If they were so grand and amazing as the rebellion tried to make them out to be, why didn't any of them try to save them?

It was fine though, he never believed in them. They were just giant balls of gas million miles away. Sure he's seen Rain talk to them once or twice, but he knew they weren't that big of a deal, really.

"Has anyone checked down this way?"

"No, don't think so. I'll go look."

Seven was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard the voices. Squeaks jumped to attention too, growling as she stared at the bushes.

"Squeaks, lay low," Seven tried to whisper to her, but was too late, Squeaks was already tensing her arms and legs to pounce on whoever was in the bushes.

Out stumbled the girl who Seven saw speaking with Rain at the feast. Her shirt was bloody once more, nose dripping a small, yet steady, trickle of blood.

She let out a soft gasp seeing them, eyes flickering to him and Squeaks, who looked ready to jump the other. "Oh thank the stars I found you first," she said in a quick hushed tone, "where's Rain?"

Just as he thought, she only cared about Rain, relatable really. "In the back. Who are you? How many people are with you?"

"Just call me Nosebleed. It's just me and Five, but it won't be that way for long though. Scouts are heading out here, they're looking for you two,"

"That much is obvious, you bleeding freckled face egg,"

"What did I- whatever, I got news to tell you and Rain, it's urgent."

Seven narrowed his eyes at her, cautious as he watched the other. He glanced to Squeaks. "Keep an eye on her,"

"Grrrr,"

"Thanks."

He stepped into the den, walking to the back and crouching to wake up his sister. "Rain, get up, c'mon."

Rain stirred, slowly opening her eyes. "Wha? What's wrong, are we being taken prisoner?"

"No, but we're going to be. C'mon," he said, taking her hand and helping pull her up to her feet. Rain wobbled for a moment, before steadying herself, following her brother to the entrance.

Her eyes widen as she was suddenly fully awake as she saw the other, running over and pulling the other into a hug. "Nosebleed!"

"Rain! You're okay! I was so worried something bad happened to you!" The other cheered, hugging her back. After a few heartbeats, Seven cleared his throat, Squeaks sitting next to him with an unamused look as the girls chattered for a moment.

"Nosebleed, what did you have to tell us?" Seven asked, raising a brow to the girl.

Nosebleed gave a nod, changing her demeanor into a much more serious one. "Right, thanks for reminding me."

Rain glanced to him and than back to Nosebleed, pulling away fully from their hug. "What news?" She asked, her voice soft as she questioned the other.

Nosebleed looked between them, before taking a small breath, like she was trying to calm her nerves over what it was.

"It's Mono, he's called war on the adults."

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Finished - Apr. 12th, 2021

Honestly not sure how Rain x Nosebleed became a thing but I'm not complaining. Plus it would kinda make sense since Mono hurt her.

Anyways, I got another chapter done! Yaaay!

Let me know what you guys think, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited June 17th, 2021 *

Lots of updates today it seems