Silence

Chapter 13

"Tomorrow I'll show the two of you around." Rat said as he was putting on his jacket ready to go outside.

"So you know where the latch building is?" I asked him as I looked up from a book I was reading.

"No, I don't. We don't have anything fancy as street addresses here." Rat replied simply pulling up microfiber cloth over his head to use as a hoodie. "But I got hold of a map of this region, from back when it was a proper city. There was an area with a name from the message." Rat informed the both of us as he pulled down his hoodie making a light flapping sound as he did so.

"You looked it up for me?" Shion asked in a hopeful tone.

"I had time on my hands." Rat replied simply, but I couldn't help to lightly snicker in my head about the obviously lie coming from his mouth.

"I didn't think you had free time. Since you're always so busy doing..." Rat silenced Shion by putting his hand over his mouth and placing a finger on his own mouth in a motion to tell me to keep quite.

"I hear something." Rat whispered as he glared at the door. 

I paused and listened also hearing a faint sound of footsteps as I also focused my attention onto the door as did Shion. The person seemed to run towards the door very urgently. The three of us stared at the door as someone had knocked on it twice, but the knock came from the bottom of the door as if a child had knocked on it. Shion started to make a motion to walk towards the door, but before he could I stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Wait. Shion it could be dangerous to open the door, we don't know who's on the other side." I warned him.

"It's just a child, and it sounds pretty urgent." Shion said looking back towards me, but I still didn't let go of his hand.

"Anyone could knock on the bottom of the door, plus what if it's an armed soldier I can't lose you." I said with a pleading tone as my grip on his wrist tightened. Shion stared back at me seeming to contemplate if he should actually go and open the door till a little girl's voice broke the silence.

"Help...please..." The voice seemed to quiver as if the person speaking was in tears.

Without another thought Shion ran towards the door unlocking it and opening it. Rat and I called his name to stop his actions, but he just creeped the door open wider.

When Shion had fully opened the door a small girl stood in the door way with driving wet hair and tears streaming down her face as well as water from her hair. 

"Help! Hurry! He'll die!" The girl yelled in a pleading tone as more tears streamed down her cheeks.

Shion took the girl's hand dashing through the door heading outside and yelling at us to bring a first aid kit and some towels. I quickly turned around getting towels and rummaging around for a first aid. When I had gotten everything Shion asked for I started to head out passing Rat in the process, but held onto my arm and stopped me.

"You do realize that if it had been someone else at that door we'd all be dead by now, right? He endangered our lives." Rat said as the both of us made eye contact.

"He was just being concerned. He didn't grow up in the same circumstances as you did. He has more sympathy and empathy than you do. He'll try to help whoever he can without thinking twice about it or if he'll end up hurt in the process. He's just being a good person and there is nothing wrong with that." I said as I pulled away from him and started to run outside with the lasting in my memory was Rat's shocked face at my speech that I had just given him.

I ran outside only to be hit by a gust of win and with it rain to, but I just shook it off running towards three figures. One was the little girl standing worriedly next to Shion's figure who was holding a smaller boy.

"Call his name!" Shion ordered the girl as she called the boy's name which I had now learned was Rico.

"Rico can you breathe?" Shion asked the boy as he shook him.

"Rico!" The young girl called as concern was etched on her face.

"S...sis..." Rico's eyes started to open up as I sighed in relief as so did Shion.

The next scene was heart warming I smiled gently at the scene before me. The girl had enveloped the younger boy in a hug as she cried tears of happiness that her little brother was still alive and breathing.

"Here drink this." Shion told the boy as he gave him cup of water which I'm assuming the girl had gotten for him. "Does your stomach hurt? Does your chest feel right?" Shion started to bombard the boy with questions who just gulped down the water he had been given. Then Shion picked up a nut off of the ground, "A nut? What would you eat this for?" I crouched down to the boys level starting to rub his back and I had rapped the towel around his smaller frame as well.

"Because he's hungry, of course." Came Rat's voice from behind us. I turned around to see him heading towards us with his hands in his pocket, "Those nuts are edible if you grind them up. he probably got hungry while he was gathering them up, put one in his mouth, and swallowed it by accident."

"Rico's always hungry." The girl said as she playfully glared at her brother.

"The bread's too small! Even if I ate some of Mom's, it's not enough." The boy argues back. I just chuckled lightly at the scene standing up as I stood next to Rat.

"If your throat still hurts, I'll treat it for you. Just come find me later." Shion said with a closed eye smile as he chuckled at the two's behavior as well.

"You'd better see them home." Rat said as Shion looked towards him in confusion.

"Me?"

"You're the one who saved them. You have to make sure they're okay. Their home is at the bottom of the hill. It's not far."

"But...But I..." Shion was cut off by the girl squeezing his hand with both of hers. Shion looked down was the girl who looked up at him with gleeing bright eyes.

"Thank you for saving my little brother."

"Oh...Um...It was nothing. What's your name?" Shion asked in a slight flustered tone as he scratched his cheek.

"Karan." The girl replied simply.

"Karan? That's my mother's name, too."

"Really?" 

"Yeah."

"I'll take you guys home lead the way, Karan." Shion said as he picked up the boy with towel still rapped around him as the girl pointed and started to lead the way.

I smiled light heartedly at the retreating figures as I made my way back inside following Rat. When we got inside Rat had taken off his jacket and microfiber cloth and tossed them onto the couch as he went into the kitchen while I just sat back down and started to read again.

In the silence I could hear Rat cooking, but then I heard him mumbling something. I made my way towards the kitchen's entrance as I stood there unmoving as I eavesdropped.

"It's all his fault. He doesn't know how to doubt others, or be careful. He doesn't even know how to be afraid. Only someone raised in a cushy environment could be that dumb and defenseless."

I stepped into the kitchen as his backed faced me. "You know some would call his stupidity bravery, and atlas he has could intentions at heart." I said walking up besides him as he just scoffed and turned his face away from me. I sighed at this, but brushed it off as I asked. "So do you think I can help you with cooking?"

"Might as well serve as your punishment for eaves dropping." Rat said as he gave me a teasing smirk.

"I wasn't-" Rat just cut me off instead not letting me finish.

"Yes, you were now, go to that cabinet and get a carrot and start to cut it up." He said pointing behind me as I sighed and turned around doing as I was told.

Then a cheshire like grin spread across my face, I turned around slightly to grin at Rat as I said, "As you wish, Mother."

"Why you..." Rat threw an onion at me as i just giggled and raised my hands up in defeat and turned around going back to my task that had been given to me.