"Momma?"

Silva opened her tired eyes, their dark brown contrasting against her white fur. She slowly rose her head, looking to her side, her pup nuzzled into her warm belly.

"Yes, Frost?" Silva asked in a slow and low tone, a yawn escaping her shortly after. It was late in the middle of the night, what had Frost up this late?

She looked around to the other mothers, seeing them all asleep, making out Marigold and her swollen belly just a few nests over.

Frost nuzzled closer to her, his white fur blending into hers. "I... I had a bad dream..."

Silva fought back hard to hold back a groan. She should have known it was something small. "Don't worry, dear, nothing bad is going to happen," she said, hoping it would convince the pup to go to bed.

He huddled closer to her. "Y-you said you didn't want me anymore... and ran away, and then monsters came and try to chop my tail and ears off..."

Silva flicked her ear in a dismissive manner, wanting to just get this conversation over with. "I'm not leaving, dear... and no one is chopping your tail or ears."

Frost shuffled his paws under him. "Hey... Momma?"

"Yes, dear?"

"What happened to dad?"

The question made Silva stiffen. She looked to her pup, his unsettling blood red eyes shining in the small light from outside the nursery.

It was amazing how such a deep red can make you fear a pup so small.

"Your father... I didn't know him that well. I lived with a couple of strange rats, tall monstrous rat with no fur... they kept me in a cage, only letting me go when I was needed too... your father was just an arrangement between our owners. Donut, I think his name was,"

"That's a weird name..."

"Tell me about it. Anyways, my owners came here to The Maw to get away from the City life, but the flea-brained long pawwed rat dropped my cage and let me out. I left, the Lower Colony took me in, had you and what would have been your sisters, and here we are now."

Frost lowered his ears, nuzzling into her side more with his muzzle. "Do you miss them? Your owners?"

"No, definitely not. They food they gave me was bad and no space to be free..."

"What about... my sisters?"

"..." Silva thought the question over and over in her head. Three pups she never got to know? Well, it won't be the first time her pups would be taken from her.

"No, no, I don't. I don't think I'd miss you either." She didn't see the point of lying. Lying would get a rat in trouble, while the trust may sting, it won't send you in a tizzy to find what a rat truly feels like.

The answer silenced the pup, Silva feeling him shift away from her. Cool air brushed her side, making her fur raise slightly from the uncomfortable feeling. Frost rested his head down on his paws, pink tail curling around him.

"I think I can go back to sleep now..." Frost whispered.

Silva watched as the small pup slept in the other side of the nest. It was cruel wording on her part, but the sooner he learned the sooner he could get over it.

Silva laid her head down on her paws, heavy eyes closing, falling asleep in just a few heartbeats.

~~~

"Hey, there's two dead bodies over here!"

Silva looked to the side, seeing Sterling over by the corner at the entrance of the Lady's elevator. A body? Which poor soul got killed by the fox this time?

Silva came over to him, looking to where the gray rat was staring at. Her eyes widen, fur standing on all ends, claws digging into the ground under her.

"Frost!"

Dried blood pooled stained around him and the other rat, which Silva soon realized turned out to be Marigold. Frost was stuck in a silent scream, shiny bits in his mouth covered in blood, while Marigold only have a sharp peice of glass impaled in her side.

Silva came to the white rat's side, curling around it. Cold and stiff, no warmth linger at all in his fur at all. The scent of death was already filling the air around them.

The only surviving pup she had was dead. Why was she so upset? She wasn't there for him, so why did she feel tears lining her eyes.

She left him to avoid becoming attached, left to live a life she won't feel so horror stricken or sorrow filled. She left to protect herself from these feelings. She didn't want to feel the pain she felt with her past litters when they were ripped from her.

But... maybe that's why she felt so horrible.

Her pup died, knowing his mother didn't want him.

Just because she was so selfish.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Finished - Oct. 4th, 2021

I'm half awake making this, so if this doesn't make sense, that's why.

Hope you enjoyed

Take care!