Rat squeaking, human speaking

Art by me

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The first streaks of dawn light came soon after Seven and Rain woke up, Squeaks sleeping outside when they crawled out of the hidden cave. She was curled in a small nest she made in the sand, the outside dotted with a few shells she nosed over. A small crab was on her back, clicking its pinchers in a very pissed off manner.

Rain was nice enough to pick up a stick and shoo it away before it could attack the feral with a mighty pinch of its claw. Seven did swear though it would probably have flipped them off if it had hands.

Nosebleed came soon after, and before long, the three started to work on moving some of the TVs.

They were incredibly heavy, taking all three of them to push a single one to their destination. They had chosen a small clearing, where it didn't immediately throw any red flags. They made sure to leave spots open for Squeaks to run through if she needed, mostly at Seven's order that there some form of way for her to escape.

It took them all morning and most of the afternoon to slowly push the TVs together, and that didn't include the time in finding them all. Most had bullets holes in them from the Hunter using them for target practice, so what few were still in tack seemed to be be pretty scarce. It was scary how good of aim that man had.

Stacking the TVs was a whole other challenge, trying to lift it up and flip it was near impossible without the help of a strong branch and rock placed under it to pry it up. Eventually, they had their stacks, along with very tired muscles and Seven was sure he nearly threw his shoulder out from picking them up.

At least Squeaks was nice enough to hunt for them. Soon after they were done, panting and resting against screens, she came padding out of the tall grass with a small dove in her teeth.

Where she learned the hunt, Seven had no idea, nor was he so keen to eating the bird raw like the feral seemed to plan on doing. She offered the dove to them, nudging it over with a closed hand, and he and the others refused it, not wanting to catch anything from it. She didn't seemed to care too much, plucking the feathers away with her teeth, spitting them out, making a small cushiony pile next to her. Her jaws opened, pointed teeth ready to bite into the bird before seeing the concerned and slightly shocked eyes of the others.

She glanced at them, slowly closing her mouth and straightening up. A small look of anxiety Seven was all too familiar with creeping along her. It didn't help it looked like they formed a wall around her. The feral looked away, before pushing it away with her hand, looking away from them.

Nosebleed cleared her throat, before offering to try and cook the dove for them. Seven nodded his head, pulling out a small pack of matches he had in his jeans pocket for her to use. She gave a quick thank you before going off to gather a few sticks to burn. Rain quickly left in an offer to help her.

Left alone with the rat child, Seven glanced back to her, seeing her now laying on the ground. She kept looking at the dove, but the look of unease on her face told him clear as day what was running in her mind.

"Squeaks, you can eat if you want, no need to feel embarrassed around it. I'm not gonna judge you," he muttered. He remembered having the same look when he was back in the Nursery, kids having to watch him eat to make sure he won't try to escape.

They would get annoyed if he took too much of their playtime, telling him to hurry up, while some just watched him with disgust as they remembered what he had done the first week he was there. It wasn't his fault her took a kid's arm off, it was Arcane's; but saying it out loud that the talking shadow in your head made you do stupid things wasn't a very good thing to say, especially if you only known them for maybe the ten minutes you were stuck together.

Squeaks looked back at him, like for once she understood him. She slowly got back up, taking a small step forward, before taking a small bite into the tender flesh of the bird.

A deep bite mark near the neck could be seen, the killing blow Seven concluded. Blood covered her mouth, quietly chewing with her head still down, taking another, much smaller bite.

After her few nibbles, she pushed it away, getting to work on cleaning herself up, wiping her face with her hands, smearing the red liquid onto her raincoat sleeves. After a moment or two, did she start to get annoyed, the boy in blue giving a small chuckle at her feebly attempts.

He got up, walking over to her and crouch down. "Hang on, you got it all over you," he joked, taking his sleeve and trying to clean her face with it. She squirmed and pulled away, shaking her head back and forth, making her hood floop slightly.

"Squeeeeeak!" She drew the noise out, narrowing her eyes at him. The former Pyro tech rose a brow.

"Are you trying to curse me out or complaining because I hurt your pride a little?" He teased. Squeaks gave a small grunt, before looking away, eyes gazing at the short walls of TVs around them.

Seven followed her gaze, looking at the shiny screens. Each stack was two TVs tall, since there was no way they could stack three on their own. It ringed around them, but luckily from the outside, you couldn't see the ones on the sides.

Nosebleed carefully tied a long piece of strong vines around each of the nobs, allowing the TVs to be off until they were turned on by them when Mono ran into the clearing.

If all went according to plan, they hoped for him to pass out from being bombarded by the signal all at once. They would tie his hands and blindfold him to hopefully avoid him using his powers, and hopefully talk the rebellion members into believing them once they told the trust of the whole matter.

Still, the question of why the Commander wanted the city bugged him. Pale City didn't have a lot to offer, much less salvage from the looks of it. Towering buildings that were twisted and bent in awkward angles, rumors of a giant ravine splitting the city into two different side, the tower that seemed to pulse a corruption (by the stars he hated that word-) induction transmission-

The tower. Seven looked over the TV walls, seeing the faint light coming from the tallest building. Maybe it was telling Mono to go, like it was controlling him or something to make him do anything to get too it.

He couldn't seem to really stop himself from tuning the transmission. The journal talked about glitching remains, possibly another way the tower could catch him. But that Cini girl... it still didn't seem to click.

Cini sounded a bit like cinema, maybe she was related to him? Grandmother, maybe, she would probably be too old to be his mother. If so, won't Mono's mother or father be known by the previous rebellion members for static powers? Maybe it was one of those 'skip a gen' kinda things...

Squeaks gave a small squeak to him, catching his attention. She reached out, pawing at his hand. Curiously, he turned it palm side up, before smiling softly as she put her hand in his, moving them up and down.

"You remembered shake. Not bad for a flea-bag," he said, turning his hand back over, standing up, "remember any other tricks?"

Squeaks looked at him, before putting her hands on his knees, wobbly standing up. He grabbed her arms to help secure her footing, giving a small smile as he remembered dancing with her to escape the guests.

She wobbled slightly, but seemed to try and pull him along with her. She seemed to remember it too.

"It would be a bit weird to dance to no music, but we'll survive," he muttered, not really speaking to anyone in particular. He started to try and lead her like he did before, but was surprised when he found himself in the more traditional female role, Squeaks trying to lead them around instead.

She was a bit clumsy at first, nearly falling into him, but slowly got the hang of it. Seven quietly counted them off, which seemed to help her.

They danced around the edge of the ring of TVs, the two enjoying the moment of peace they shared before the night. Seven didn't know if the plan would work, or if someone would get hurt, so the moment without the normal irritation or other negative emotions he felt was nice.

It felt like they had all the time in the world, already on what Seven thinks is their fifth circle (Squeaks moved pretty fast for someone who was unbalanced). Before long, the bushes rustled, Rain and Nosebleed coming back from gathering their firewood.

When Squeaks saw them, she stumbled back, surprised by the sudden intruders. She let out a small yelp as she tripped over, the rubber fabric of her raincoat slipping past Seven's fingertips before he could try to catch her.

"Squeaks, you okay?" He asked, crouching down. The rat child curled up, before finally raising her head to look at him. She seemed fine, but judging by the way she dug her nails into the dirt under them, she was a bit shaken.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to sneak up on you guys," Rain apologized quickly, placing the small pile of sticks in her arms down onto the ground. Nosebleed came over to check her over for any injuries, her talent as a healer showing as she gently touched the feral's hand.

"She may have just landed on her wrist, she'll be okay though," Nosebleed said, reaching to pat the rat child's head, but stopped as she was met with a growl coming from said child as she neared her hand to her head.

After the small incident, they gutted the dove and roasted it, Seven watching the smoke to make sure it didn't give them away. They ate with a bit of small talk, before the sun finally started to set.

It was near the time for their plan to fall into action. After Rain was done trying to explain the plan to Squeaks the best she could, the feral left. Nosebleed left around the afternoon to avoid suspension from the rebellion members, and soon, the twins were left waiting to turn the dials and catch their target.

Seven only hoped everything would go okay...





Six's paws were light as she tried to avoid traps, continuing on to where the rabbit warren was at. Ribbon told her to lead the rat in the bag back to them, but to not get too close to him for some reason.

She didn't have to worry about that though, she wasn't getting near him anytime soon.

When she quietly slid down a small ledge, she heard the low rumbling of something ahead of her before she saw the metal beast. The glowing yellow lights of its eyes shined down the path in front of it, strange rats walking ahead of it and beside it, as though guarding it.

Some were in the back, while some were riding on the metal beast, the sound of glass hitting glass barely being heard. Six settled herself down in the grass, eyes looking over for the right rat.

After a few heartbeats, she finally spotted him. He was towards the back, hands in his fur's pockets, walking slower than the others, possibly to make sure nothing happened.

After he started to pass her, she moved forward, poking her head out to try and catch his attention. He stopped, and all around them, the world seemed to glow blue as he raised a paw.

He turned his head, looking at her, and since the time when she first met him, she felt fear creep on her. From the shadows of his bag, she could see a dead stare, emotionless eyes looking forward with a dull shine.

She finally moved, retreating back into the bushes and running out before anything could happen. She leaped up onto the ledge she slid down on, looking back.

For a moment, it didn't seem like he was following, before the world around her turned blue once more. Loud white noise filled her head, making her grit her teeth in pain.

She focused back on running away, jumping and dodging over traps with as much grace she could in her rushing. Her paws pounded on the earth under her, adrenaline in her veins as she tried to focus on where she was at.

Suddenly, it felt like she was running in mud. The world around her was once again blue, and her movements were much slower, like she was in slow motion. The white noise in her head grew louder, to the point she just wanted to scream, but she wouldn't be quick enough to even hold her head in time before he caught up with her.

The feeling of static electricity charged the air around her, and every time she charged through a bush or ran into a small twig, red hot pain from being shocked stuck on her face and paws.

She finally burst into a path, and from the corner of her eye, she saw a large mass of a monster. She looked over with wide eyes, recognizing the monster to be the one who she and Bandage had ran into. The Hunter looked at her with just as much surprise, before bringing his rifle up to where he could aim.

All of a sudden, the world lost the blue tint it once had, and she was left back into a normal pace. She dashed into the foliage as quick as she could, jumping and barely feeling the bullet graze under her belly as she barely jumped over it.

The monster went to grumbling, fixing his rifle in his large, dangerous paws. Six scrambled to get away again, but flinched as the world turned blue again, only lighter this time.

The sound of a gunfire sounded in her ears, and for a moment, she thought the Hunter had killed the one chasing her. She turned to make sure everything was okay, but was left horrified as she stared out in front of her.

The strange rat-- no she didn't even consider him a part of her species at this point-- the monster pup had the bullet and Hunter frozen in his grasp. With minimal effort, he popped the bullet's casing, letting it slowly fall to the ground.

He focused on the rifle, raising his hand and slowly bent the end to the point it aimed back at its owner. The Hunter started to make noises Six counted as noise of distress, watching as he shakily was forced to bring his finger to the trigger.

Six closed her eyes as another loud gunshot filled the air, the sickening thud of the large body falling making her want to vomit. She didn't look, didn't want to see the aftermath.

She forced her legs to move under her, to send her running back to the safety that was the ring of Static Stones.

Static. That's what she would call that monster if she got out of this alive.

The feral saw the ring laid out just ahead of her, and with a newfound hope of surviving she sprinted as she looked out at the final stretch.

The world around her turned blue again, the familiar tingle in her paws from the static electricity around her.

She tried to ignore it the best she could, her heart racing in her chest as she finally entered the circle. She braced her muscles under her, before jumping up to grab onto a Static Stone to pull herself up on.

All of a sudden, she felt an invisible force grab her, slamming her into the ground. She whinced as she closed her eyes, a pain erupting from her back and shoulders from where she was knocked into the ground.

She looked up, seeing the bag she already hated to look at. The white noise in her head started up again, growing louder and louder with each heartbeat as he reached down to grab her.

Suddenly, the two of them were flooded in a bright light as the Static Stones turned on, the sounds of shrieking nearly exploding their eardrums. Six slowly got to her paws, looking up as she saw the other trembled and hold his head as the noise grew louder, before falling to his knees.

"Sunrise!"

Six looked over to one of the holes they left open, seeing Blueberry calling her over. Slowly, she carried herself to it, slipping out on tired and weakly shaking paws.

"Good job, we'll take care of the rest," she heard him mumble in his normal growly voice.

She was left panting, the pain in her shoulders and back pulsing with each of her quickened heartbeats. The adrenaline finally started to leave her body as she tried to calm herself down.

But it was futile as the sound of the Static Stones shattering behind her echoed all around them.

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Finished - Apr. 15th, 2021

I'm so proud of how this turned out. A little bit of wholesome mixed with action.

Anyways, not a lot to say this time.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited June 20th, 2021 *