The trip of running on the rooftops was a quiet one. Mono and Rain didn't share much of a word between themselves besides calling out to each other to help the other get across a jump.

The way to the Hospital would be a relatively short one, seeing as it was only across The Rift from The School.

They were already halfway there, Mono could see the tall build, the faded red plus sign symbol almost completely faded off from the lack of upkeep on it.

The City wasn't normally like this, now that he though about it. Before, the City use to have at least a little bit of business. Even at night, when he would scout for supplies, he had to be careful not to draw attention.

Now, it looked abandoned, every building looked run down with massive cracks along the sides of them, sides littered with holes from so many broken windows.

What happened to everything?

Before he could think and ponder over it all, he looked back to the path ahead him, careful to not fall off.

Some of the rooftops were dark, puddles in small dips in them. Shiny tin twinkled with fresh rain drops, reflecting the tiniest of light that hit them.

It was almost like walking on stars from the contrast of shiny droplets and dark rusting tin. It was actually kind of pretty.

Rain jumped down from a small ledge onto the starry tin, the Oracle looking down at the droplets carefully walking along the middle of the point where the two roof sides came together to make a point.

Mono gave a small smile, standing there for a few heartbeats, taking the sight in. He jumped down to join her, holding his arms out to help balance him. The point was wet still, making it more of a hazard than a pretty sight.

Across the tin they went, before getting to a ledge, a small jump waiting them. Rain took a leap, clearing the pit with ease, landing on a fire escape. The boy in the trenchcoat carefully stepped forward, looking down at the dark hole below.

As pre usual, the bottom was topped with a thick fog that he couldn't see passed. He could tell they were closer to the ground though, as he was able to see light from a lamppost near being a little closer than before.

"There's a ladder here, we can get down safely using it," Rain said, though she didn't turned to him to properly speak to him.

At least he hoped he won't screw up. Instead, he gave a small nod. He jumped across.

He slipped on the slick tin.

"Rain!"

He gripped the metal bars tightly, the loss of ground under his feet making him kick his legs wildly to get up. The previous rain showers made the metal bar hard to hold onto, fingers loosing their traction on the thin metal.

He was going to fall, he was going to fall, he was going to fall-

Rain grabbed his arm, pulling him up. With a bit of a struggle, he was able to get his other arm over the ledge. He helped by pushing himself upwards and fall forwards, able to get his waist over, followed by his legs.

Rain help sit him up, looking at hands for any cuts. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She asked, gently running her thumb over the underside of his fingers, red imprint from where he grabbed onto the bars for dear life.

He shook his head. He didn't feel any pain, more so of what pride he had being hurt.

He should have watched out better, shouldn't have taken the leap like that without being more careful. He could of died right there if it wasn't for Rain.

Rain... she helped him again...

"Why?"

Rain looked to him, stopping from running her thumb over his palm to check for any pain. "Why what?"

Mono looked up, meeting the other's eyes. Such a pretty shade of jade, the ghastliness to them couldn't keep up with the kindness he always saw twinkling through them.

Her hands were soft, not having hardly as many scars as his did. Warm, and methodical with each touch. She was the opposite of her brother, quiet and conservative, not seeing a reason to cause destruction.

She was timid in front of crowds, she made sure she put her reputation over herself. She only spoke when spoken to, and never objected.

"Why are you helping me?" Mono asked with a small mumble. Rain didn't smile, nor frown, rather she looked at him, seemingly just as confused as she was.

"... Because, if I don't help someone in need, I'm just as bad as any other monster in this place."

Rain let go of his hands, getting to her feet. She didn't hold out her hand to help him up, rather taking a few steps back before turning to climb down the ladder.

Mono didn't move for a few heartbeats, running her words though his head. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, the thought unsettling him.

He got to his feet, almost falling against the brick wall next to him. He used the rough wall as a support, feeling his body go light headed. When was the last time he ate or had a drink of water? He never felt himself this poor of condition before.

Didn't help he didn't get a bite of whatever Seven and Squeaks brought back from scavenging around. Not that he minded, he was sure that feral probably contaminated it with who knows what kind of diseases that had festered in her mouth when she lived with rats.

Nasty creatures, funny how someone with a bad history of being stubborn and destructive could make friends with a flea ridden beast.

Pushing the thought aside, he climbed down the ladder. Rain was busy looking around, presumably to look to make sure the coast was clear on all ends.

He got to to the ground, coming over to her. She glanced to him, before walking to the corner that lead into a back street alleyway.

"The Rift is just past here. No signs of any adults around," she mumbled to him, quiet in fear of gaining attention.

"At least something good is happening today..." he muttered back, "any signs of Seven or the feral?"

Rain turned to look at him over her shoulder as she started to head to the mouth of the alleyway. "You mean, Squeaks?"

"Yeah, her," Mono answered. He followed the Oracle through the alley. Trashcans were knocked over, and dumpsters made the walkway hard to get through, squeezing between the wall and the container to get past.

Rain was ahead of him, occasionally she would look back to make sure he was still following.

"None yet, but we also got rid of the monster chasing us. Hopefully they lost the guy chasing them by now," Rain answered. She climbed on top of a silver trash can, before jumping down to the other side.

Mono jumped onto it shortly after, hopping down to the other side after the other. "Hopefully they did, don't think my legs and balance can hold out for sprinting."

The Oracle looked over to him, continuing to take the lead, staying just out of reach from him.

"Is your head still hurting you?" She asked.

"Not since you gave me that pill. What was that?"

"Just a pain reliever, they normally help you."

The were silent after that, helping each over a few jumps and climbing on top of a dumpster to continue on.

The Rift came into view, the giant split in the ground spilled out thick fog. The bottom of the drop couldn't be seen, a haunting eerie feeling filling Mono as he looked at it. He always had a fear that he would fall whenever he had to go over it when he went out on supply runs.

Rain carefully crept over to side of the drop, looking over. "Careful, the sides are slick," Mono said, coming over to a plank that stretched across the large gap.

It was... a lot thinner than he last remembered. Would it even support him and her still? It didn't look like it would last long at all, not with both of them at once. That left them with...

"I'll go first," Mono stated, looking to the other for any objections she had. She gave a small nod, carefully stepping away from the edge to avoid falling in.

Mono took the first step out onto the board, his arms out to balance him. He narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on the plank it self, old tactics and training kicking it. Don't pay attention to the smoke, he had to watch where he stepped, ignore the drop.

The first few steps were the easiest steps, but when he came to the middle, a howl of wind under him made him flinched, tensing in place. No, focus, almost to the halfway point.

The board creaked under his weight, the board not use to holding the weight of a small teenager.

The drop overfloated with fog and smoke, beginning to cover the board in a faint cloud. Snow, imagine it was snow, snow that wasn't cold and that he couldn't fall into. The slight turn in the two planks came up, and after a little testing, he figured it was safe.

The halfway point was now behind him, two third of the way there already. Mono took another step, but felt himself freeze.

From the cold fog and rain, a thin layer of sleet was on the end of the board. They had to be careful, especially at that part. It would be easy to slip and fall, and that wasn't something on his to do list.

He finally came to the other side, looking behind him across the plank. Rain seemed to be glancing between the board and pit, but slowly and carefully stepping out. Mono didn't speak, watching on with baited breath.

Rain carefully walked along the bored, it creaking slightly under her light weight. She took her time with each step, arms out to balance her.

She got closer towards the middle, when the board creaked louder. The two froze, Rain staring at the wooden plank for a few heartbeats.

Heartbeats turned into what felt like minutes, but slowly, she took another step, getting closer to the end.

She was almost within reach, Mono holding his hands out. "Careful of the ice, you might slip," he said in a quiet yet cautious manner.

Rain took a carefully light step on the clear, slick, and ever dangerous ice. She reached out, putting her hands in his, using them as leverage and support to get off of the plank.

"Thanks," she muttered. Mono gave her a smile, the two standing there for a moment. He looked at her face, her cheeks having a pretty pink blush to them from the coolness from the recent rain showers.

He didn't realize Rain was tugging her hands away from his until she spoke. "Let go of me, please."

Mono found himself back in reality, letting go of her wrists. Once free from his grip, she rubbed her wrists, but no red marks could be seen, and it seemed it was more for a self comfort thing.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..."

Rain didn't look fine, but the former scout didn't push on. The hospital was just a small walk away now, no uses of making the walk awkward.

He took the lead to not make the other uncomfortable. Rain's footsteps were heard following him, staying just a few steps behind him. Just out of reach.

Mono didn't give the voice a second thought, brushing it off as he pressed on. The sky suddenly lit up in a flash of lighting, making the two rebellion members jump back from surprise.

A loud roll of thunder sounded above them, a sudden harsh feel of freezing cold raindrops stabbing into his skin felt like sharp needles.

"Great, guess we gotta hurry," Mono groaned. Rain hurried past him, an arm held over her face so she could see. Where did this rain even come from?

Mono hurried after the Oracle, his normally wild hair now a tangled wet mop on his head, trenchcoat keeping his arms and body mostly dry. It would be nice to have his paper bag again, at least it was kinda water resistant and helped with keeping dry.

Puddles started to get larger, to the point the streets were starting to get a little flooded, water coming up to their ankles.

Rounding a corner, The Hospital came into view, the large building looming over them. The once white walls were grimy and crumbling, red flags going off just by the abandoned looks alone from the place.

There on the steps, Seven and Squeaks could be seen. Seven's jacket was bloody, and Squeaks seemed a bit cautious, watching the other as he gently petted her fluffy black hair.

Squeaks stood up as she noticed them, letting out loud squeaks and began pacing back and forth at the top of the stairs.

"There you are," Seven said. Mono and Rain jumped up to the step, getting out of the harsh downpour behind them. Mono looked back, but could hardly see through the white sheets of the monsoon.

"It's never rained this hard before," Mono muttered. Rain nodded her head, beginning to untie her ribbon to wring her hair out.

Their coats and legs were drenched in rain water, hair plastered to their faces. Seven looked at them.

"And here I thought the rooftops won't take you guys that long. What happened?" He asked.

"Didn't want to risk the plank over The Rift not supporting both of our weights, so we went one at a time," Mono explained.

Rain nodded again. "Yeah, but what in the world happened to you?" She asked her twin, looking at the blood that covered him.

"Just a hunger spell, don't worry about it," he answered in a nonchalant manner. Rain stopped messing with her hair, spitting the ribbon that had previously been between her teeth out, turning to him.

"Seven, don't tell me you ate the guy," she said frantically. Seven shook his head.

"Nah, we lost him before I got hungry. Just a rat, reason why Squeaks' is so upset."

Mono glanced over to the feral, see her shift slightly while looking at the boy in blue. The former scout gave a small smile, reaching down to pet the feral, only to stop as she hissed and bared her teeth.

Right, she didn't like him either. So much for making a new friend. Rain crouched down, reaching out as well.

Squeaks pulled away, studying her before gently leaning forward, brushing Rain's hand into her bangs.

"You go too fast for her to be comfortable with you. Here, try again, but slower."

Mono reached out slower this time, holding his hand out. Squeaks looked at his offering hand, slowly leaning forward and sniffed lightly.

She gave a snort, shaking her head, running a curled hand over her nose, like she was trying to get rid of something.

Rain gave a small chuckle. "Give her some time, you gave her a pretty bad first impression."

The boy in the trenchcoat lower his hand, instead, watching the Oracle pet the feral's on her head. Squeaks started to sway slightly, before falling over and rolling onto her back, looking up at Rain with smile.

Seven gave a small offended noise. "Squeaks, I thought that was our thing!"

Rain rolled her eyes, giving a small giggle, reaching over and scratching along the other's midsection.

"Rats bond with a lot of people, Sev, not just one person," she said. Squeaks gave a small noise of happiness at the Oracle's touch, before she flipped over suddenly.

She came over to Seven, squeaking at him, resulting in him crouching down and petting her head. Rain looked a little disappointed, but didn't voice it. Seven noticed though.

"Rats bond with a lot of people, Rain, not just one person," he teased, a small smirk of victory on his face, ruffling the feral's hair.

The frantic movement made Squeaks jump back with excitement, throwing herself into a play bow. "Frien, frien!"

"No playing for now, okay? When we get through here we can set up camp, then play some." Squeaks didn't seem to catch what he was saying, rather happily followed him with a small bounce in her step when they came to the giant white doors.

Seven was able to open one of them, the inside dark and decrepit. Already, knocked over medical beds and small boxes of what looked to be prosthetics laid all along the floor.

"The Hospital has never looked like this..." Seven whispered, pulling a flashlight out of his pocket, clicking it on. Mono came over to stand next to him, looking into the darkness that flooded the Hospital's walls.

"We'll have to be really careful then, don't know what could be in these halls."

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Finished - Oct. 13th, 2021

And another chapter is done. Time for the good part now, ladies, gentlemen, and lovely people.

Also, I hoped you like the Squeaks scene, it's probably my favorite scene in this chapter.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

*Edited - Oct 17th, 2021*

Fixed this, finally.