World of Rats

Chapter 2

Fromher perch on the window sill, Feah searched the crowd, franticallytrying to find Nana again. Chills ran down her spine when she finallysaw her. Nana had been pushed into a corner, and facing her wherefive very bloodthirsty looking warriors. She had dropped the foodlong ago, and was now just staring blankly at the rats as they slowlymoved toward her. Then one of the Guards jumped between her and theWarriors, knocking two of them off balance in the process. Then hemoved forward to slash the muzzle of a third one. Of course the othertwo had gotten back on their feet by then, and were warily eyeingtheir attacker.
Feah gasped when she recognized who it was. Zabex!Zabex had come to the rescue of their Trainer at the very lastsecond. Feah relaxed a little as she realized that Nana now had astrong and skillful protector on her side, and as she did so, shenoticed the miserable pile of fur next to herself.
Shocked atTarana's state, Feah moved closer and gave Tarana's ear a comfortingtouch, almost recoiling at how cold it was. Tarana was staring at thewarriors with the same blank expression as Nana had been. Only nowdid Feah truly understand why even Hadara got such a frightful lookwhenever she talked about the Warriors. She had always considered itannoying when they had warned her of getting near them. Ha, she hadeven called them paranoid!
"Tarana, it's okay. Look overthere. Zabex is there to help Nana. Nothing is going to happen toher." She whispered into her ear, trying to keep the desperationout of her voice. How can I comfort someone when I myself amfeeling scared? She thought to herself. This is so not right!She should be the one comforting me, that's how it always has been!She could feel her fear fading, giving way to anger at these rottenlowlifes who had dared attack their Trainer, and who were the reasonfor her best friends' sorry state. She wished she could just jumpright in there and tear them all to pieces, but she knew that shewould have no chance against them. If she was lucky, she might havebeen able to land a single blow on one of them before getting tornapart and eaten alive, but she probably wouldn't even be able to dothat much.
Feah was ripped from her thoughts when she sensedTarana moving, and when she looked, she saw that Tarana's ears hadperked up again and she was starting to breathe normally again. Hervoice was still a bit weak when she said "Oh look, the big herojust saved the day." Feah jumped, but at the same time, she wasalso glad that her friend was back to her old self. "No reallyFeah, I mean it. Look!" Tarana was actually starting to getexcited!
Feah looked back to the corner where she had seen Nanaand Zabex. Zabex was completely on top of one of the Warriors,tearing viciously at his shoulders. At that point, Feah firstrealized the difference in their size. Zabex was almost twice thesize of the Warrior, who was completely crushed beneath him, terrorin his eyes as he watched his friends abandon him.
The otherWarriors were also starting to disperse, and after a short time Feahfelt safe enough to jump down and check on her Trainer. Taranafollowed close behind.
When they reached them, Feah saw that,although Nana didn't have a single scratch on her, she was stillshaking, staring at the Warrior that was still crushed under Zabex,screaming in agony as he tore at him in a frenzy.
"Erm,Zabex... " Feah said tentatively.
"Wha- " Zabexlooked up, and immediately the Warrior tried to use the chance whenhis attacker was distracted. He grabbed Zabex's flank in his mouth,and Zabex sprang back, gritting his teeth in pain. The Warrior wasn'tfree for very long though. Another rat suddenly jumped into into themix, bowling the injured Warrior over and holding him down by thethroat. The injured Warrior didn't even try to resist. After holdinghim in that position for a while, the other rat lifted his head andlooked straight at them. The scars in his face ran from his eyes tohis whiskers, and Feah and Tarana moved back behind Zabex forprotection. Zabex just stood there, his head lifted high, his fur notthe least bit ruffled. That's no fighting position! Feahthought, confused.
When Zabex moved forward, the other rat movedoff the injured Warrior, acting equally calm. For a few seconds, theyjust stood there, staring straight into each others eyes, while thethree Hunters huddled in a corner. What's going on? Feah felther nervousness return. Zabex's gaze was cold. Feah felt her fearcreeping back, but not only of the Warrior. In all the time she hadknown Zabex, she had never seen him with such a cold, unemotionallook.
Then the Warrior dropped his gaze. He's submitting!
"Iam very sorry for what happened here." He said, glancing at theother Warrior, who was still lying on his side, watching themnervously. Now he suddenly seemed just like any other rat, and Feahnoticed that he couldn't be much older than her. "I promise you,they will be punished for their behavior." The olderWarrior went on glaring at the other one. The young Warrior's eyeswidened, and he opened his mouth to protest, then obviously thoughtbetter of it and kept quiet. "I hope something like this willnever happen again."
Zabex nodded, the same cold expressionstill on his face. "And so do I, Kavan. Keep your Warriors undercontrol." He said.
Then the older Warrior, Kavan, turnedaround, grabbed the younger one by the ear and dragged him back ontohis feet. The younger Warrior winced, but followed close behind Kavanas he walked off. He was limping. Badly.
Feah couldn't help butfeel a little bit sorry for him, and she had to remind herself ofwhat he had done to Nana. She sensed Zabex relaxing as the two lastWarriors left. When she looked at him, she saw that he was bleedingtoo. He had scratches all over the place, though none of them were asdeep as the wounds on that young Warrior had been.
"Why!Why do we have to feed those things?" She spat,frustrated.
Zabex turned around to look at her. The warmth in hiseyes had returned.
"Well, they may be aggressive, but theyare also very useful to keep our territory free of any other rats orpredators." He smiled. "And as you can see, their leadersalso don't encourage them to act like that." Despite what hesaid, it was obvious he hated them just as much as they did.
"Well,I still think it feels like we're feeding our own enemies." Feahscoffed. Then she turned around to where Nana and Tarana were lying,comforting each other with reassuring licks. Zabex came up behind herand began sniffing them both.
"Feah, you seem fine, but Ithink you should take these two back to your Nest. They seem to be inshock."