The Rat in The Signal

Chapter 13

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.