Rat speech, human speech

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   The girl came closer to the pair, a hand reaching out in disbelief as she looked at them. Seven gave a growl, teeth baring as her hand got closer, but as she came within a few inches he stopped.

"Put them down," she ordered. The two were dropped to the ground, Squeaks letting out a surprise noise from not knowing what was happening.

Seven landed on his feet, looking up at the other, eyes narrowed. The girl smiled at him, reaching out and pulling him into a hug, tears going down her pale colored cheeks.

"You're alive! Oh my stars, I'm so happy you're back! Commander told me you died during the fire!" She said, resting her head on his shoulder.

A wave of ease washed over the boy in blue, but what leftover adrenaline was in his veins made him shake slightly. He wrapped his arms around her, not saying a word.

He could feel Squeaks' confused look from where she was on the ground; but paid her no mind. She was back, he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

The girl pulled away, a bright smile on her face. Seven went to return it, before letting out a small yelp of pain as a hand striked against his cheek. "Ow! Rain, what the hell-"

"That is for scaring me and thinking you were dead!"

Seven groaned, rubbing his sore cheek. "Yeah, yeah... not like I had a choice,"

"What was that?" The girl, Rain, asked harshly. Seven didn't answer her, but continued his glaring. The boy in the dark green hoodie looked at them, twiddling his small thumbs in confusion. "Um... Oracle Rain, do you... know this wanderer?"

Rain gave a smirk, slinging an arm around the boy in blue's shoulder. "Heck yeah I do, and he better remeber me too, had my legs wrapped around his head for nine months," she teased.

Seven gave a disgusted groan, shrugging her arm off him, "Rain, don't say it like that, that sounds weird!"

The smaller boys looked at them with confusion, glancing to one another. "Um... what does that mean?" The boy in the scarves and aviator hat asked.

Rain brushed off the other's actions, turning her attention to the smaller boys. "Scarf, Five, Three, this is my baby brother, Seven."

"Baby brother? Rain, you're only older by like-- nine minutes," Seven said, glaring at the other.

The boy in the scarves, who Seven guessed was Scarf, let out an 'Ooh,' while Five looked on with confusion. "You never told us you had a brother," he mumbled.

Rain gave Five a sweet loving smile, only to give her brother a harsh glare from the corner of her eyes. "That's because I thought he died," she snapped at him as she said the final word, the blue coated other paying her no heed.

"Huh? How come?" Scarf asked. The Oracle shook her head.

"That's enough questions. If you don't mind, I'd like to spend some alone time with him so we can catch up," Rain said politely. With a small sound of defeat, the small boys walked out, Three following behind.

"Come on, let's go see if Two made lunch yet," the hulk of a child suggested, corralling the children down another rabbit tunnel.

Rain turned towards him after they left. There was a small disbelief look on her face as she reached out to touch his cheek. "You really are alive..." she whispered, Seven swore he heard a tone of relief to her words. There was a look in her eyes that seem to shine a little brighter than before.

Seven pushed her hand away, eyes back to narrowing at her. "Don't, touch me," he growled. Rain didn't seem too bothered, but didn't continue. Instead, turning her attention to Squeaks, who wasn't quite sure what to do, so just curled up and watched them curiously.

"Sev, who's this?" Rain asked. She down to her knees, the feral child growling as she did. Slowly, she reached a hand out, top side up, allowing the other to greet her.

Squeaks cautiously stepped over and sniffed, sitting up. With a tug, Squeaks pulled Rain by her arm closer to her, beginning to sniff all over her. Up her arm, to her neck, her braid, her coat, Rain was clearly caught off guard. Smirking a little, Seven remembered how off guard he was too when the other first sniffed over him.

Flat on his back, seeing two rows of perfectly pointed teeth, a feral curiosity in warm brown eyes baring into his soul. He would have sworn if it wasn't for Squeaks' cheerful and loving nature, she would have killed him with a quick bite to his throat. Even now, he feels his skin prickly uneasily with fear at the thought.

"Definitely feral, but not by wolves like that other kid," Rain muttered, before flinching as Squeaks pulled her braid.

Seven shrugged his shoulder. "Rats, smells and acts just like one, plus I met her family."

Rain gave a small annoyed groan. "Of course, the one feral language I haven't learned yet. She got a name?" she asked, the other child finally allowing her to pet her messy mop of black hair.

"Just been calling her Squeaks," he mumbled. Squeaks looked up at him, tilting her head.

"Squeak squea?"
  
     
  
"What is it with you and flowers?"
  
  
   
Rain got up, dusting off her dirty coat, looking up towards a tunnel with a blanket hanging in front of it, hearing her name from the other side, "Rain! What's going on out there?"

Seven flinched, taking a step back as he immediately recognized the voice. That rather odd, almost static voice with the underlying strength Seven knew its owner possessed. Squeaks perked up, suddenly on high alert as the curtain moved out of the way, all eyes looking at the intruder.

Rain smiled, dipping her head in a greet. "Commander Mono," she said. Seven bit his tongue to hold back his growl as he saw the figure.

A dirty brown trenchcoat clothed him, brown pants dusty from the floor of the warren. A paper bag with large scratch marks covered the boy's head, wearing a plain, dirty, beige shirt, but not as dirty as the end of his cape-like coat tail.

The boy froze as he saw the new pair, taken aback by their appearance. "Seven? Is that...?"

Seven growled, once again baring his teeth. "Yes, I am alive!" He shouted. Mono rose a hand, wet ink still on his fingertips from whatever he was doing in what seemed like his room.

"Now, now, no need to yell. It's just a shocker, you were reported dead a while ago," Mono said calmly, coming over to them. Rain gave a smile, standing between the two boys as Squeaks watched with caution filled eyes.

"It's good to see you again, old friend. Where have you been all this time?" Mono asked. Seven muttered under his breath, before brushing it off. He knew better than to get anger or smart with him.

"No where special, just been on a God forsaken nightmare of a ship called The Maw," he said bluntly. Rain's eyes widen.

"The Maw? Wait, are you the one who took out The Geisha?" Rain asked quickly. Seven eyed her, a chill in his blood settling it as all eyes stayed on him. Their gaze was stuck on him, making him grow anxious, what was he supposed to say? 'Yeah, stuck a piece of glass in her neck after getting gaslighted?'

Take a breath, calm down, act normal. Don't tell them all the details.

"Yeah, news got here already?" He asked. Rain nodded her head, her and Mono sharing a glance it seemed like.

"It's all the news in The City, never would have guessed it was you," Mono explained under his breath. Seven gave a small groan. Of course The City knew, The Geisha was a higher up, any news of a higher up dying would spread faster than any wildfire.

Rain spoke up, her tone cheery as she held her hands out in a delicately folded manner. "Commander, I'm going to take Seven and his friend to the his room, may I ask for a feast in honor of his return?"

Mono took a few heartbeats to answer, seeming to think it over. Seven locked eyes with the dark shadow of holes in the paper bag on his head for a moment, making his blood chill. Slowly, Mono gave a small nod. "Of course, it's been a while since we had any good news like this. I'm sure everyone be happy to have one."

Seven didn't say a word, one of the many voices in his head telling him to stay alert, nothing seemed right. Excitedly, his sister gave a nod back to him, before reaching out taking Seven by his wrist, pulling him along behind her.

"Thank you, Commander Mono! C'mon, Sev!"

"Rain, stop dragging me! Squeaks, c'mon."

Squeaks looked up to the boy in the trenchcoat, slowly going around him, padding along behind the twins. As she came to the doorway, she looked over her shoulder, a sudden feeling of uneasiness as she no longer spotted the boy in the trenchcoat where he once was. A small feeling settled in her belly, before scurrying off to try and find the other pair of strange rats.

Seven looked around the room he was dragged into, silently looking in awe. His old room looked perfectly untouched, nothing was moved from its spot from the last time he was here.

A long nook had been dug out by hand into the wall, a small perfectly folded blue blanket placed at the end of the make shift bed. A small oil lamp was placed on the ground next to it for easy access on the bed, the fire lit and giving light into the room.

Towards the other end were small pieces of board stacked together and making a small desk, scraps of paper holding some of his past ideas for monster settlement destruction. The drawings and print were worn, barely noticeable on the aged paper.

There was no dust on any of the surfaces, like someone had taken time out of their day to make sure it was clean and spotless, just how he liked his room to be.

"Don't tell me you kept it clean in here for the past two years," Seven said, looking to the other with a small tone of disbelief. Rain gave a small hum, as though thinking of her answer.

"Maybe~" she teased. Squeaks trotted inside, padding and sniffing around curiously, before finding the blanket on his bed. She jumped up, and curled into the worn material, Seven didn't really mind, his attention still on his sister.

"It looks like I hadn't left at all..."

"That's the point," Rain mumbled quietly.

Seven looked to the other, hands back in his pockets. The look of both hurt and relief on Rain's face filled him with pity. "I didn't want it to start looking bad after you left, and it even made me a little happy to do something other than Oracle stuff."

Seven gave her a small smile, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks, Rai..."

Rain was taken aback by the hug, but quickly returned it with her own. "It's no problem, Sev. Welcome home."

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Finished - Jan. 29th, 2021

Hope you all enjoyed! I don't really have much to say this time, so I'll leave the small A/N here.

Take care!

* Edited March 11th, 2021 *

On the school laptop, not sure how to do bold, but here we go anyways.

The only small things I did was add a few more words and worked on a tiny bit of Seven's perspectives on things and how he is feeling. Not a lot actually changed, but I wanted to get this out for everyone to read after school and such.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited May 18th, 2021 *