Back to present time stuff, we're done with the past related stuff. Whooooo

Rat squeaking, human speaking

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Rain nervously rubbed her wrist, her head low as Seven explained to her what happened. All of what happened. He hated telling her the whole truth, but... it needed to be said.

"Did... did he really try... really try to kill you?" Rain whispered, barely loud enough for Seven to hear her. He nodded, there was no doubting it, he remembered the events perfectly. There were some night on The Maw where he had nightmares of the Commander drowning him at the creek, which sometimes got to the point he would wake up other the kids from his screams.

His eyes drifted to the book that still laid in his lap, Squeaks looking at the dark scribbles with minor interest, rather looking up to them every now and again.

Rain looked down at it with him. "I'll read the journal to see what happened with this Cini person. I... I need a moment to think of all of this," she explained, hand reaching out to take the book from her brother.

Seven looked at her hand, eyes glancing over a darken mark on the underside of her wrist. He closed his eyes, taking a breath before he spoke. The question had been eating at him since the moment he saw her leave Mono's chamber is such a hurried fashion. The dark circle around her eye...

"Has he hurt you?"

Rain looked caught off guard, looking up with a dull shine in her pale green eyes. She didn't answer for a moment, lowering her head as she waited for the book to be handed to her. She shifted in her spot.

"Sometimes he just gets really clingy... he doesn't like it if I stay out all night and when I talk to some of the others here... but," Seven waited for her to continue, gently flinching as she spoke up barely above a whisper, "he still cares for me..."

"Rai, there's something wrong with him. This isn't the Mono that saved me or you. Besides, caring for anyone doesn't mean he has the right to leaves marks on you. Don't you remember mom?"

"Mom chose to stay with dad, she could have left any time before then. Besides, I can't leave. I'm the Oracle, they need me..." she muttered under her breath.

Slowly and reluctantly, he gave the book to her. He couldn't meet her gaze, even if he tried. Squeaks suddenly perked up beside him, staring at the curtain to the entrance tunnel.

Seven could barely hear it, but knew the found. Footsteps. Seven grabbed his blanket, fanning it up, before shoving Squeaks down to the bed, flipping on his side, hiding the other with relative ease, if you didn't notice the bright yellow sleeve that poked out from the top near his head.

"Squeaks, stay," he whispered, feeling the other squirm slightly next to him. She eventually died down, Seven trying to fix his position where he could spy on whatever was happening.

The curtain moved, showcasing who he had suspected. Quietly, Mono entered, his coattails slightly stirring dust lightly behind him.

He came over to Rain, who smiled slightly to him, regaining total control of her once nervous attitude. She bowed her head, book still in her hands.

"Commander Mono, good evening," she greeted with a small chirp. It was nearly impossible to see Mono's face, but he did give a small nod to her.

"Rain," he greeted back, before looking to the fake sleeping Seven, whose eyes were barely cracked to allow him to see. "How is he doing?"

Rain looked over to her brother, a small smile on her face, puzzling Seven at just how good of an actor Rain was. "He's banged up, but Nosebleed said he'll be fine," she replied to him.

Mono looked back to her, before looking down, noticing the book held tightly in her grasp. "New notebook?" He asked, pointing to it. The Orcale nodded.

"Yes, my last one is getting pretty full, luckily Five found this one for me. It's pretty old, but it'll come in use. Need a few new charcoal sticks though," she mumbled quietly. Mono didn't speak, but did come to her side, gingerly taking her hand.

He twirled her around and pulled her close, her back to his chest, wrapping his hands around her torso in a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I'll ask Two to make some later. We have a few hours before nightfall," he muttered quietly, the hairs on the back of Seven's neck rising as he heard him.

Rain wiggled free, for a moment, she broke her calm character. Mono let her go, tilting his head slightly to the side at the other's quick movement.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Seven could barely hear them through the blood that rushed in his ears from adrenaline, beginning to hear his heartbeat as Rain tried to fix her mistake as smoothly as possible.

"Commander Mono, pardon my manners. I need to get ready for tonight's hearing. I'm going to ask Three to go with me in case of a feral attack," she said, defusing Mono's slowly growing suspension something was wrong.

Through the small crack of vision he allowed himself, Seven saw the other relax his shoulders, nodding. "Right, I should handle that as soon as possible. Don't want any other accidents happening," he muttered.

Mono looked over, Seven momentarily looking at the dark holes in his Commander's bag, seeing the rips he had caused from their fight two years ago. He guessed they were hard to come by, paper bags, or he just preferred the rips or whatever.

Rain reached out, grabbing the other's hand, lacing their fingers, softly smiling to him. Mono turned his attention back to her, gently tightening his grip, before letting out a grunt of pain, holding his head with his other hand.

Rain looked to him with concern, her hand raised to rest on his shoulder, before Mono brushed her away. "Are you okay?" Rain asked quietly.

The Commander nodded his head, taking a deep breath. "Just another migraine, don't worry. Stay safe out there, Rain, don't stay out too long," he said to her, retracting his hand from hers, making his way back to the curtain, leaving the room soon after.

Seven waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared, before getting up, Squeaks pushing up next to him. Seven didn't pay the girl in yellow any attention, looking to his twin with a worried filled gaze. Even for someone who just learned their leader tried to kill her brother, the way Rain jumped free from him seemed a bit too scared and frantic.

He wanted to ask more about it, but Rain quickly made her leave. "I have to get ready. Try and get some sleep, Sev. You too, Squeaks. If I run into Bandage, I'll tell him you will be staying here," she said, looking over the feral in the coat.

Squeaks tilted her head, but didn't say anything, seemingly confused as to what the other had said. Seven watched as Rain's yellow coat disappeared behind the curtain, left alone with only his thoughts and Squeaks.

Speaking of Squeaks, Seven looked over as she nudged under his arm, draping it over her shoulder, brushing her face to his chest. "Frien!"

Seven felt a smile come to his face, giving a small side hug to the other, ruffling her hair with his other hand. "Missed you too, Squeaks."

The girl gave his a bright grin, her long fangs pointy and glinting slightly in the candle light. She looked down at his chest, her grin dropping as she looked at the wounds once again. She gave a small whine, before reaching up with a closed hand, brushing against a line of poorly done stitches on his collarbone.

He looked down at it, flinching as she touched it. Until now, he never realized how beaten and exhausted he was from whatever happened from his hunger spell. His body suddenly pulsed with an ache, grunting as a small trail of pain flared where her hand was. He gently took her hand off, forcing a small smile. "Hey, no touch, okay? Got the shit kicked out of me, and I'm still a bit hurt, so easy, alright?"

Squeaks looked up, eyes rounding with worry. "Frien... hur?" She tried to say, her voice sounding shaky as she tried out the new word on her tongue. Seven had to hand it to her, she was slowly getting better as talking, even if it was only one word she randomly picked from what she heard.

"Yeah, friend hurt. And sleepy, so, I'm gonna try and get some sleep. You gotta get going, okay? It's not safe for you here," he told her. Squeaks tilted her head, before shaking it.

"Squeaks, you have to go back out,"

"Sque!"

"Squeaks, no, no stay,"

Squeaks gave a growl, scrunching her nose, shaking her head no again.

"Squeaks," Seven said in a more harsher tone, his eyes narrowing under his bangs. Squeaks huffed, before sticking her tongue out, turning her nose up, looking away.

Seven huffed back, raising a brow. "I'm sorry, am I getting sass? From a rat?"

The rat child looked back, a sudden grin back on her face. Seven gave a small chuckle, rolling his eyes. "Fiiine, I guess you can stay, but only for tonight. I'm not comfortable with you out with Mono about to hunt you and that other kid down anyways."

"Squea squea!"

"Okay, now shut up before someone hears you," he chuckled softly, reaching down and clicking the oil lamp off, the room washing into darkness. He took the blanket, bringing it up to his shoulders, not minding his feet poking out. Squeaks happily curled up beside him, resting her head on her hands, before letting out a loud yawn.

Seven rested his head on his arm, laying on his back as he gazed up at the dark ceiling of his dug out bed. Taking a deep breath and exhaling softly, he closed his eyes, trying to get at least a little bit of shut eye.

"Night, Squeaks."

~~~

Rain sat at the sandy beach just east of the forest, running her fingers as she mindlessly drew in the sand as the stars slowly grew brighter and brighter as the sun sank down.

Fog started to rise from the large stretch of water that separated the forest from the city, the last bit of sunlight disappearing on the horizon.

Rain's ears heard the faint sound of whispering, before slowly becoming clearer and louder as she drew.

"You're early, dear," Eerie's sweet tone greeted her. She shook her hand in the sand, erasing the marks in it, looking up as she saw the large open sky above her, the moon shining brightly on her and the water's surface.

"Yeah, yeah, maybe she just wanted to see me early today. I am pretty awesome after all," Beetleguese's voice chided boastfully, a giggle coming from the young Oracle.

"Don't flatter yourself, Beej, I just... have a lot on my mind right now," Rain answered, her voice dropping the more she spoke. Eerie gave a curious hum, taking interest in the other's statement.

"What's wrong, dear?" the star asked. Rain looked back up, silent for a moment as she tried to think over her words.

"Eerie, Beej... what... what happened that night two years ago. The one with all the smoke from Seven's special Molotovs?" She asked.

Beetleguese gave a groan. "Oh yeah, the night the whole damn forest nearly went up in flames. I remember it, it was too smokey and cloudy to reach you."

"You... you said about a week after that something wasn't right and to stay on my toes. Did... did you see what happened at the riverbank?" Rain asked. The stars murmured softly to one another.

"No, dear, it was far too smokey to see. As much as I hate to admit, we didn't see anything on the riverbank. I was too occupied trying to get to you," Eerie muttered.

"I'm with Eerie on this, that was the night we tried to warn ya about the fire. Didn't really think the smoke get that bad, but..." Beetleguese said, siding with Eerie.

Rain frowned, but nodded her head. Of course, if they had known, they would have warned her about it.

The Oracle brought knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them to hold them in place. "Okay than... so, what do we have for tonight? New warnings, future Oracles, what's new, huh?"

"Well, Spoon girl-"

"Beetleguese, quit calling her that, it's rude" Eerie chastised quickly.

"Yeah, well, still gonna call her that. Anyways, Spoon girl has-"

"My words, the manners of you sometimes,"

"Eerie, just let me speak!"

Rain gave a soft sigh, resting her chin on her knees, looking up as the two stars bickered. Tonight was going to be a long night...

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Finished - Mar. 6th, 2021

Well, almost 2,000 words. Oh well, we were close.

Anyways, it's getting late and De is tired. So, hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited Mar. 23rd, 2021 *

And we're all caught up! Time to get back to write actually chapters again.

Also, De has idea for covers given to me by your guys and friends from school. I did a few sketches, and asked almost all the people in my grade to pick which one they liked best and now we have three choices!

1. A blacked out rat in a wildfire, smoke around it with TV static in the eyes.

2. A shot of a TV in the forest, signal tower behind it, with glowing eyes surrounding the bushes around the TV.

3. A shot of Seven and Six in the forest, Seven holding up the lighter with glowing eyes around them.

I'm going to be working on sketches for everyone to see in my art book on what I mean.

* Edited May 29th, 2021 *