It had been only a few days since Six left The Maw. Ruby had been comforting Velvet over the loss of both her aunt and loss of not one, but both of her cousins.

Marigold and Frost's bodies were found by the elevator to the Lady's quarters. Ruby herself had volunteered to be the messager to deliver the news to the lower level colony.

The rat with the purple eyes, who Ruby learned to be Velvet's mother, Violet, was devastated by the news. Her only sister was dead, as was her nephew, and no one knew where her niece was.

It took time, but rats, through mournful creatures, were quicker to recover than most. Or at least, that's what Ruby was always told.

But, here she was, Velvet curled by her side, her soft tan fur bleeding into her russet colored pelt. Velvet's injured leg was now a permanent limp, curled closed to her body. The limp made walking hard, Ruby normally having to help her get around on pipes and thin walkways.

Right now, she was gently grooming her fur as the tan rat rested her head down on her paws. Her black eyes were tired, Ruby could tell, with dark circles under them as she stared out before them.

They were on a dresser in the Lady's work space, situated in the shadows by the strange limbless monsters with fur that almost touched the ground.

The dead body of the Lady laid on the middle of ths floor. Despite it having being a few days after she was found dead with a shard of glass in her neck, she didn't seem to decay, like she was just sleeping on the floor.

It was odd, but hearing some of the stories the elders would tell of her and her fox, Ruby wasn't surprise whatever magic she had played a role in her staying perfectly intact.

But, for the meantime, they ignored the body. It wasn't like it would arise from its spot and attack them (Ruby tried plenty of time to get her to move; biting, scratching, poking her with a piece of wire she found, nothing worked).

Beside her, Velvet gave a small tired sigh. "I never should have left them... the twins are dead, auntie Mari is dead, Frost is dead, Six is gone... I never should have let her fall down that open pipe."

Ruby held back the sigh she herself wanted to give in return. Velvet had started to put herself down lately, always blaming herself for something she never really had a saying in. Every time she tried to tell her it wasn't Velvet's fault, she just continue to do it nevertheless.

Instead, she kept quiet about it. It wasn't like she'd ever change her mind about it, even if it was wrong. She continued with grooming the other, gently combing through the other's fluffy tan fur with her claws.

She ran her paw down to her side, before stopping as she felt something. "Hey, Velvs, what's this lump?" she asked.

Velvet looked over to her, glancing at her side. "Just an angry flea bite, or at least, that's what the doctor said. It's been getting bigger the passed few days though, so it may just be a tick."

"You haven't tried to get the tick off yet?" Ruby said, her ears up in concern. Tick bites could make you sick, why was she seemed to brush it off so much?

Velvet shrugged her shoulder, flicking an ear. "I guess it already fell off or something, I didn't see anything when I looked at it," she said in a low, quiet tone.

Ruby frowned, drawing her tail around the other's, putting her nose to her cheek. "Well... if you didn't find anything, maybe it'll go away. But, if it doesn't, we're taking you to the upper colony's doctor. I don't like that Milkweed guy, he seems mean."

The smaller tan furred rat gave a small chuckle, a smile softly meeting Ruby's muzzle. "He is pretty mean," Velvet agreed.

Velvet leaned over, resting her nose in the fluffy fur around Ruby's neck. Ruby gently laid her chin on her head, paw over her paw, slowly closing her eyes as she melted into the sweet scent of the other. She loved her, she didn't care what Obsidian said about their love. Right, Ruby was still trying to process the fact they were together now.

It still felt so crazy, it happened just like this. Grooming her fur when she was too tired to do it herself (Velvet hated her fur getting messy, so Ruby offered to do it for her), sharing small talk, enjoying the moment. Then one thing let to another, and the next thing Ruby knew they were touching noses. Now, here she was, enjoying the moment again with her girlfriend...

The blissful moment of thought came to an abrupt stop as a box beside them lit up, an ear piercing noise screaming from the eye of it. Ruby scrambled to her paws, her fur standing up and bristling as she glared at the box.

Her ear flicked as she heard Velvet jump down onto the floor, going to hide under the dresser. Ruby jumped down to join her, landing on her paws with minimal effort.

She looked up, pushing her ears forwards towards the box. From the blind white light from the eye, a hand of a monster came out, reaching and gripping the top, a long leg stepping out next.

Ruby felt her fur stand up with static electricity, snapping her back into reality. Okay, too big of a monster, definitely can't take him down, time to hide.

She crawled under the dresser, finding Velvet covering her head with her paws as the noise grew louder for a heartbeat, before the world seemed to go quiet, faint humming barely registering in their sensitive ears.

The monster seemed to have finally escaped the TV, a loud growl escaping it as it took a few steps froward.

"Kemono?" It growled. After a moment, it tried again, "Kemono?"

The humming grew louder for a moment, Ruby's ears flying back as she saw the monster poof out of thin air over to the dead body of the Lady.

It crouched down, long arms reaching down, before stopping, hovering it over the Lady's neck. "No..." it whispered.

The noise became ear splitting, the world growing blue, objects around the monster seeming to glitch. Ruby covered her head, clawtips gripping her fur as the noise rang in her over sensitive ears.

"You said you wouldn't let it happen again... it's up to me now, isn't it... I'm sorry. Rest easy, my dear friend, if this doesn't work, I'll be joining you soon," he growled in his raspy, static filled voice.

He stood tall, towering over everything. He turned, silently and slowly walking back to the box. Then, he dissappeared.

Ruby didn't know she was holding her breath until she gasped loudly for air, huffing and panting from a short moment. Velvet brushed against her, her squeak barely above a whisper, "What was that?"

"I don't know," Ruby muttered, "but I didn't like it."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Finished - Apr. 27th, 2021

And the Prologue is done!

I decided the ratties should at least have a small return since they didn't in Signal, so have Velvet and Ruby being cute together.

I'll probably draw these two lesbeans together soon.

Oh, and happy early birthday to Little Nightmares, since its birthday is tomorrow (Apr. 28th).

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited June 25th, 2021 *