A Different World - That of the Rat

[animalobsessed1]

Chapter 1

"Hurry up!" Tarana called from ahead, "If we don´t hurry, there won´t be any of the good food left by the time we get back!"
"Well then, why don´t you carry this if you think you could go faster?" Feah replied, tripping over the bread crust she had found on the sidewalk.
"Because I´m already carrying the bedding." Tarana snorted. "Or would you prefer to sleep on stone?" Despite her rough tone, she had already stopped to wait for her friend, and bit the bread crust in half once Feah had caught up with her. Then she picked up the other half and carried it herself, while somehow still managing to carry the piece of cloth at the same time.

With that, both of them were occupied and conversation ceased until they reached the hole in the rotting old door that led into the abandoned house the Colony was using as their Base. There, they were met by one of the Guards.
"Hey Zabex! Good to see you. We brought back some bread. We were in a hurry and didn´t have any time to go hunting." Tarana said in a hurry, while Feah was standing next to her, trying to catch her breath after such a long run.
"Okay, that´s fine. I´ll take the bread to the storage, you guys go ahead and get to your Nest. They´ve already distributed the food, and if you don´t hurry, there might not be anything good left for you two." Zabex told them.
Tarana brushed past him into the Base. Feah managed to breath a thank you before following after Tarana.
When they got there, it turned out that they had been right to worry. There were only a few measly crumbs and a single meager beatle left. Obviously, Tarana took the beatle for herself, playfully explaining to Feah that it was her fault they were late in the first place. When Feah didn´t deny it, Tarana had a short and rare moment of guilt, and decided to leave at least a tiny piece for her. After that, they joined the others in the Nest, Tarana teasing the others by showing them the soft, comfortable piece of cloth she had found. The only ones who got excited over it where Avery and Tilia, the two youngest members who had only recently joined and didn´t know Tarana well enough yet to realize she wasn´t planning on sharing.
Just before they all went to sleep, Nana came over to Feah and Tarana, who where huddled together with their precious cloth, and told them to get up before dawn the next day, because there was something important she needed to tell them. She had already discussed it with the other members of the Nest while they were still out.

Feah woke up early the next day, remembering what Nana had told them the previous night and feeling a twinge of worry. What could be wrong with Nana? Would they have to look for a different Trainer? But who would want to take on two rats of their age? After all they were almost ready to become recognized Hunters already!
When Feah saw that Tarana was still happily snoring away, she gently nudged her to wake up. Tarana gave a little twitch of her hind paw, but otherwise there was no reaction. After a few more attempts, Feah nipped Tarana´s tail in frustration. That got her to wake up. The bad part was that everyone else woke up too, due to Tarana´s startled shriek. Feah waited for Nana´s irritated voice to tell them off, but it never came. Then she sniffed the air. She´s not here! Feah realized with a start.
"What´s wrong?" Tarana gumbled.
"Nana isn´t here..."
"What!" Tarana spat. "First she tells us to get up early and talk to her, and then she´s not even here!?"
They all fell silent as they heard paw steps coming towards them. Feah sniffed the air in an attempt to identify who it might be. There was the scent of several rats coming towards their Nest, but, while they all seemed familiar, she couldn´t remember who they belonged to. All except for one.
"Okay, see you then." Nana´s voice could clearly be heard throuhg the silince in the Nest. "What´s going on here?" She asked as she entered, looking rather confused. When nobody responded, Nana sniffed the air, but couldn´t detect anything that would have made her companions this tense. "What´s going on." She repeated, this time demanding an answer.
Hadara, the leader of the Nest, got up, walked over to Feah and Tarana, then forcefully pushed them out of their bed, in Nana´s direction.
"These two over here had to go and wake up the entire Nest. Now go and take care of your students." She told Nana. She no longer looked all that elegant and threatening with her fur sticking up in all directions, but not even Tarana had the courage to say so. Instead, they slunk out of the Nest, making themselves as small as possible. Then they waited while Nana and Hadara had a short conversation, but they didn´t dare eavesdrop when Hadara was in such a bad mood.
When they were done talking, Hadara went back into the Nest, while Nana turned around and looked at the two young rats. Then she told them to follow her and walked off without even looking back to see if they actually were.
Feah jumped forward to walk beside Tarana, who was keeping a small distance between Nana and herself so that they could talk without having her overhear every word they were saying.
"Why is she trying to be so mysterious?" Tarana grumbled.
Feah flinched at Tarana´s tone.
"Don´t say that. There might really be something wrong!" she squeaked. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got. Who were those other rats that Nana had talked to? Could they have something to do with it? Feah stopped when she noticed Tarana looking at her with a strange expression in her eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"So that´s what´s bothering you." Tarana said. "Don´t worry. Do you really think Nana looks like she´s in trouble? I think she looks even happier than normal!"
Feah glanced ahead to look at Nana, then realized she wasn´t there anymore. She tensed when she saw a large, reeking, group of rats flowing into the room instead. Luckily they were still on the window sill, or they might even have been run over. But where is Nana? she asked herself. Then she spotted her coming out of one of the drawers where the food was kept, carrying two dead baby geckos in her mouth. Her eyes widened when she saw the mass of rats.
Feah got ready to jump down and join her, but a tough from Tarana stopped her in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder at Tarana, and realized her friend was abnormally nervous. Tarana doesn´t get nervous! She´s always composed! This just isn´t right! Feah thought, now getting nervous too.
"They´re Warriors." Tarana whispered in a shaky voice.
Feah looked back at the mass of rats, there were about thirty, maybe even forty! She gulped when she realized her friend was right. Almost all of them had three horizontal scars running down their face, starting between the eyes and ending where the whiskers started. The mark of the Warrior!

[animalobsessed1]

Chapter 2

From her perch on the window sill, Feah searched the crowd, frantically trying to find Nana again. Chills ran down her spine when she finally saw her. Nana had been pushed into a corner, and facing her where five very bloodthirsty looking warriors. She had dropped the food long ago, and was now just staring blankly at the rats as they slowly moved toward her. Then one of the Guards jumped between her and the Warriors, knocking two of them off balance in the process. Then he moved forward to slash the muzzle of a third one. Of course the other two had gotten back on their feet by then, and were varily eying their attacker.
Feah gasped when she recognized who it was. Zabex! Zabex had come to the rescue of their Trainer at the very last second. Feah relaxed a little as she realized that Nana now had a strong and skillful protector on her side, and as she did so, she noticed the miserable pile of fur next to her.
Shocked at Tarana´s state, Feah moved closer and gave Tarana´s ear a comforting touch, almost flinching at how cold it was. Tarana was staring at the warriors with the same blank expression as Nana had been. Only now did Feah truly understand why even Hadara got such a frightful look whenever she talked about the Warriors. She had always considered it annoying when they had warned her of getting near them. Ha, she had even called them paranoid!
"Tarana, it´s okay. Look over there. Zabex is there to help Nana. Nothing is going to happen to her." She whispered into her ear, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. How can I comfort someone when I myself am feeling 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 rotten lowlives who had dared attack their Trainer, and who were the reason for her best friends´ sorry state. She wished she could just jump right in there and tear them all to pieces, but she knew that she would have no chance against them. If she was lucky, she might have been able to land a single blow on one of them before getting torn apart and eaten alive, but she probably wouldn´t even be able to do that much.
Feah was ripped from her thoughts when she sensed Tarana moving, and when she looked, she saw that Tarana´s ears had perked up again and she was staring to breathe normally again. Her voice was still a bit weak when she said
"Oh look, the big hero just saved the day." Feah recoiled, but at the same time she was also glad that her friend was back to her old self. "No really Feah, I mean it. Look!" Tarana was actually starting to get excited!
Feah looked back to the corner where she had seen Nana and Zabex. Zabex was completely on top of one of the Warriors, tearing viciously at his shoulders. At that point, Feah first realized the difference in their size. Zabex was almost twice the size of the Warrior, who was completely crushed beneath him, terror in his eyes as he watched his friends abandon him.
The other Warriors were also starting to diperse, and after a short time Feah felt safe enough to jump down and check on her Trainer. Tarana followed close behind.
When they reached them, Feah saw that, although Nana didn´t have a single scratch on her, she was still shaking, 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- " Zabex looked up, and immediately the Warrior tried to use the chance when his attacker was distracted. He grabbed Zabex´s flank in his mouth, and Zabex sprang back, gritting his teeth in pain. The Warrior wasn´t free for very long though. Another rat suddenly jumped into into the mix, bowling the injured Warrior over and holding him down by the throaght. The injured Warrior didn´t even try to resist. After holding him in that position for a while, the other rat lifted his head and looked straight at them. The scars in his face ran from his eyes to his whiskers, and Feah and Tarana moved back behind Zabex for protection. Zabex just stood there, his head lifted high, his fur not the least bit ruffled. That´s no fighting position! Feah thought, confused.
When Zabex moved forward, the other rat moved off the injured Warrior, acting equally calm. For a few seconds, they just stood there, staring straight into each others eyes, while the three Hunters huddled in a corner. What´s going on? Feah felt her nervousness return. Zabex´s gaze was cold. Feah felt her fear creeping back, but not only of the Warrior. In all the time she had known Zabex, she had never seen him with such a cold, unemotional look.
Then the Warrior dropped his gaze. He´s submitting!
"I am deeply sorry for what happened here." He said, glancing at the other Warrior, who was still lying on his side, watching them nervously. Now he suddenly seemed just like any other rat, and Feah noticed that he couldn´t be much older than her. "I promise you, they will be punished for their behavior." The Warrior went on glaring at the other one. The young Warrior´s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to protest, then obviously thought better and kept quiet. "I hope something like this will never happen again."
Zabex nodded, the same cold expression still on his face. "And so do I, Kavan. Keep your Warriors under control." He said.
Then the older Warrior, Kavan, turned around, grabbed the younger one by the ear and dragged him back onto his feet. The younger Warrior winced, but followed close behind Kavan as he walked off. He was limping. Badly.
Feah couldn´t help but feel a little bit sorry for him, and she had to remind herself what he had done to Nana. She sensed Zabex relaxing as the two last Warriors left. When she looked at him, she saw that he was bleeding too. He had scratches all over the place, though none of them were as deep 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 his eyes had returned.
"Well, they may be aggressive, but they are also very usefull to keep our territory free of any other rats or predators." He smiled. "And as you can see, their leaders also don´t encourage them to act like that." Despite what he said, it was obvious he hated them just as much.
"Well, I still think it feels like we´re feeding our own enemies." Feah scoffed. Then she turned around to where Nana and Tarana were lying, comforting each other with reasuring licks. Zabex came up behind her and began sniffing them both.
"Feah, you seem fine, but I think you should take these two back to your Nest. They seem to be in shock."

[animalobsessed1]

This is just for me so I can remember, but if you want to, you can go through it too:

Hunters

Feah (pronounced Feh-uh)- main character. She cares about her friends a lot.
Tarana- Feah´s best friend and hunting partner. She´s the more dominant of the two, and bosses Feah around a lot. She also absolutely hates Sio (Feah´s brother). Because she is so bossy, there are very few rats that she gets along with. Her fur is also unusually dark. Normally wild rats are brown, but her fur is almost black.
Nana- Their Trainer. She´s nice and oftern just lets them do as they please. She is now pregnant though and won´t be able to take care of them for much longer, so she wants them to hurry up and become recognized Hunters already.
Sio- Feah´s littermate. He´s the only littermate she kept in contact with after leaving the nursery to become a Learner. He doesn´t get along with Tarana, but is generally nice to other rats. He´s also unnusually small for a male. (and Tarana teases him about it! He´s gotten used to it though and usually just ignores her.)
Felix- He´s Sio´s partner. He´s one of the few rats that Tarana doesn´t fight with.
Hadara- She was Nana´s Trainer when Nana was younger, and is now the leader of their Nest (which she founded).
Unnamed- She was Nana´s hunting partner when they were still Learners, and they still enjoy to hang out together.
Avery- one of Unnamed´s Learners. Gets along well with Feah, but not with Tarana.
Tilia- Unnamed´s other Learner. Gets along well with Feah and just keeps out of Tarana´s way. (Actually she´s a little frightened of Tarana.)
Xylon - Male rat. He´s Nana´s mate.

Guards

Zabex- He´s a Guard that Feah finds especially nice and likes to chat to. (She thinks a lot of the Guards are a bit stuck up.) He does have a cruel side to him, but Feah only finds out about that later!

Warriors

Kavan - A Leader of the Warriors. He´s just above the Nest Leaders, so two ranks above the regular Warriors.
Turi- He´s a Nest Leader, although he doesn´t exactly seem to act like a leader... He´s way to jumpy and nervous. Actually, the rat that Kavan killed for attacking the Hunters belonged to his Nest.
Unnamed2- A young male Warrior. (Because other people might read this, I´m not going to say anything more about him just yet.)
Unnamed3- Unnamed2´s Trainer. He´s just like all the myths say about Warriors: violent, aggressive, dangerous, and selfish.

Name Collection(for names where I haven´t decided who will get that name)
-Jaiden
-Ramia
- Tola
- Kiy
- Yaro
- Oleg
- Vaya
- Mona

[feathertail245]

awesome!

[animalobsessed1]

awesome!

Aw, thank you! I´m hoping to write more every day, but if I can´t do that, I´ll write at least on the weekends.

[animalobsessed1]

To me, writing this is just like reading it. Every time start a new chapter, I have no idea what is going to happen in that chapter. I just write whatever I see (in my imagination).
So I´m basically desperate to find time for writing because I myself am dieing to know what happens next.
That sounds weird huh?

[animalobsessed1]

Chapter 3

As Feah helped get Nana and Tarana settled back in their Nest, Zabex´s words still rang in her ears: "Maybe now you understand a bit more about why you don´t show weakness to a Warrior. If you´re strong, they will leave you alone, but they will pounce on any weakness they can find."
It was true. Though she had been told so many times, she had never really taken that warning seriously. It had just been one of the many standard things they tought you when you wanted to become a Hunter. Feah had never thought that it would actually affect her.
Once Tarana and Nana were calmly snoozing away, Feah realized that she herself was also tired out from all the stress. She twitched her ears. The others are just starting to get up, and we´re already back in the Nest. Oh well... Almost as soon as she lay down beside the two, she was asleep and dreaming.
It was not a good dream though. She remembered the first time she had seen a Warrior. Back then, she had been tiny. Only about three or four weeks old. She vaguely remembered that it had been when she was with her former Teacher and about fifteen other female kittens who where the same age as her. They had discussed Warriors the day before, and on that day, their Teacher had wanted to show them some live ones in action. So she had taken them to the testing arena on a day when young Warriors where going to be tested to become recognized Warriors. Each and every one of the Hunter kittens knew what would happen, since they had been told the day before in order to prepare them. They knew, and yet they hadn´t understood.

When the first drop of blood began to flow, the realization hit them as if they where the ones under attack. Most of the kittens bagan squealing like an eagle was about to swoop down on them. Many of the older rats turned to stare at them, but the kittens barely even noticed. By the time the first rat fell, even those who had been acting tough and had stayed quiet in the beginning where wailing. After watching three rounds, their Teacher decided they had had enough to understand the dangers of the Warriors, and took them away. For many nights after that, Feah had suffered from terrible nightmares.
The second time she saw a real Warrior had been in a similar situation, only this time she had been older and more mature, and she had known what to expect. Shortly after Nana took over their Training, she had told them that they would need to know the truth about the Warriors if they where going to become real Hunters. She wanted to remind them so that they wouldn´t take any unnecessary chances with them, and it was all just to keep them safe.
So Nana had taken Feah and Tarana to the arena to watch the Warriors´ tests. When the first two pairs entered, she stiffened. There where two entrances, and out of each entrance came two young rats. At the center of the arena, a female rat stood on her hind legs. She had the Warrior´s scars on her face, but those weren´t the only scars she had. Her left ear was completely torn up to the point where it no longer even looked like an ear. It just looked like a bunch of loose strings of skin hanging on the side of her head. She had a massive scar on her belly, even more visible because she was standing up. One of her toes was missing on her right hind foot, as was the end of her tail. In addition to all those old scars, there were also plenty of new scratches, and it had taken Feah a massive amount of concentration not to let her feelings show. One thing she was certain of: she never wanted to meet that rat face to face. But as she looked around at the other watching rats, Feah realized that she was already surrounded by Warriors. There where barely any Hunters in the crowd. There were a few Guards, but they where mostly standing around the edges and where probably just there because it was their duty.
Her attention was torn back to the arena when the female in the middle screached a battle cry and then whipped around to head out of the arena; out of danger. As soon as the female had all four paws on the ground, the four rats that where taking the test began circling each other. There where two teams, and the survivers of whichever team managed to kill both opponents would go on to become recognized Warriors. A thought flashed in Feah´s head. Why wourld they risk so much just to become recognized? Is that really worth risking your life for? When she had asked, Nana had simply shaken her head and told her that it was because they where Warriors by blood. Just like she and Tarana enjoyed hunting, the Warriors enjoyed fighting. Nobody, besides another Warrior, could understand what they where thinking.
Back in the arena, the Warriors circled each other for quite some time, looking for an opening in their opponent´s defence. Then, when the first rat made her move, all hell broke loose. All Feah could see was a whirlwind of fur, together with angry screaches coming from the arena, as well as from the watching crowd of Warriors. Or at least, that´s how Feah remembered it. The ground was splattered with blood, but the rats were moving too fast for Feah to be able to tell just where the blood was coming from. The noise only ceased after the battle had ended and three of the rats where lying dead on the ground, leaving only one survivor to become a full Warrior.
After a short period of silence, the watching crowd of Warriors began cheering excitedly. At this, Feah began to feel sick. How could they cheer so happily when three of their own had just been killed? But the thing that truly horrified her was what the surviving rat did next. The Warrior glanced at each of the dead rats, including her partner, then looked up and smiled.

[animalobsessed1]

If you find any mistakes, please let me know so that I can fix them. I often forget to spell things with capital letters, so if I wrote nest, instead of Nest, hunter, instead of Hunter, or any other such things please tell me where I made that mistake so that I can fix it. Also tell me if there are any other spelling/typing errors.
When I proofread it myself, I already know what it´s supposed to mean, so my brain doesn´t register those small things. So please tell me when you find anything!

[animalobsessed1]

Wow, this story is not going the way I expected it to go! It´s so violent! Why is it so violent!? I didn´t want it to be like that, hence the main character is a Hunter, the only group who is totally clueless about fighting.
... I´ll have to fix that in the coming chapters...

[animalobsessed1]

Chapter 4

Feah was woken up by the sound of running pawsteps and heavy breathing coming from outside the Nest. Just as she lifted her head to smell the air and find out what was going on, a strange male rat came barging into the Nest. So he that´s where that noise was coming from! Feah thought sleepily.
The male rat was breathing heavily, as if he had just run a long distance. He stood in the entrance, scanning the darkness of the Nest. When he spotted Feah´s pricked ears, he took a step towards her, softly saying something she couldn´t quite understand.
Still too drowsy to question anything, Feah layed her head back down- but not for long.
When Feah rested her head on her paws again, the male rat must have realized that she hadn´t really heard him, and this time, spoke more loudly.
"Nana?" Was what he said.
Feah jerked her head up. Why was there a strange rat in their Nest, asking for Nana?
"Who´re you?" She asked him without any hesitation.
"I´m Xylon. And you must be Tarana?"
"No, I´m Feah. But I still don´t know who you are..."
The male rat, Xylon, looked confused.
"Didn´t I just say that I´m Xylon... ?"
Feah nodded.
"Yes you did. Should I know that name? Have I seen you before? Why are you here, and what do you want from Nana?"
"Oh! I see! Nana said she was going to tell her students, but apparently she hasn´t yet, because of- " He broke off mid sentence when he saw Nana. Then he jumped to her side and began licking her gently. He stopped when he noticed Feah´s intent stare. "I´m her mate!" He gasped. "I heard what happened!"
"Oh... "Feah pulled her head back, surprised. So that´s what she was going to tell us! She licked her lips, embarrassed now for all the questions she had asked Xylon. "Well then, I´ll be leaving..." She got up hurriedly, but when she was halfway to the entrance, She heard Tarana´s sleepy voice calling her name. She stopped to see what Tarana wanted.
"Where are you going?" Tarana asked with her eyes only half open.
"Um... I was going to go visit Sio and tell him what happened." Then, when she saw Tarana glancing at the male rat, she whispered "That´s Nana´s mate. His name is Xylon."
At this, Tarana opened her eyes wide. She was now fully awake.
"Erm, I´ll go with you... you know... to make sure you don´t miss out on any details when you tell him."
That made Feah smile. She knew that her brother and Tarana hated each other, but just like her, Tarana jumped at any chance to get out of this awkward situation with Nana´s mate, who they hadn´t even known existed until just a few moments ago.

When they got to Sio´s Nest, the first things they saw were food leftovers scattered all over the place. Not a single rat in sight.
Tarana scoffed. "Males. Not only do they waste food, but they also make a mess at the same time!"
Feah didn´t respond. Instead, she suddenly realized they had completely forgotten to eat earlier. She wondered whether it would be okay if she took some of the left overs to eat. She looked around carefully, to see if there were any other rats around. It would be pretty embarrassing to be caught eating the male rats´ left overs...
Just as she took a step toward a small crumb, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and stopped abruptly. As she turned, she saw that it was just Felix, coming out of the Nest and looking rather disheveled.
"Oh, don´t tell me you were still sleeping!" came Tarana´s voice from behind Feah.
He blinked.
"What are you doing here at this time? Aren´t you usually out hunting at this time of day?" Then he looked straight at Tarana. "You didn´t just come here for Sio, did you? There must be something more important to make both of you come here..."
"Uh, well, actually we did just come here to chat... " Feah told him.
"Then why is she here too?" came a grumpy voice from inside the Nest. It was Sio.
"That´s none of your business, dwarf!" Tarana shouted into the Nest.
They heard rustling, and then a small male rat came through the entrance.
"Actually, it is." He said. "You guys came here because of me, don´t forget that." Sio smirked.
Tarana´s dark fur was puffed up, making her look like a ball of fluff. No other rat could get to her as much as Sio did. He always seemed to have the right response to her "comments".
Since what he said was true, Tarana shut up and left Feah to do the talking.
"We saw a huge hoard of Warriors today!" She said, then stopped as she saw their alarmed faces. Mentioning the Warriors seemed to have the same effect on each and every rat. That was probably the one thing that everyone agreed on: Warriors were dangerous, and they did not deserve to live on the Colony´s territory, much less be fed by them.
After a few seconds, their shock faded.
"No really, what happened? Don´t joke about something like that." Sio said in a serious tone.
"Oh look, he´s scared! The little baby is scared!" Tarana said, delighted. "Because, you know, we actually did see them. You can ask Nana. She wouldn´t lie. In fact, she´s at the den right now, because Zabex told her to rest after that kind of shock."
They were silent.
"Do you really think we´d lie about something like that!" Feah said, frustrated at their disbelief.
"No no no no. Don´t get us wrong. I believe you that you saw Warriors, we´ve seen them too, but you´re kind of making a big deal out of nothing." Felix said, trying to calm her down.
"It is a big deal! We didn´t just see them, we were actually attacked by them. There were more Warriors than there are Hunters in both of our Nests combined!" Tarana boasted.
"If Zabex hadn´t come and driven them off, we´d probably be dead now." Feah added.
The two males looked at each other.
"Okay then, whatever you say." Sio shrugged. "Anyways, we don´t have time to sit around and listen to your crazy stories right now. Ramon said we´ve been slacking off lately, so he told us to catch an extra large amount of prey today."
"Well, he certainly seems to be right about that, as we can see." Tarana said. "You were still sleeping at this time of day!"
Sio glared at her. "What about you? You haven´t been out yet either, have you? You were too caught up in your heroic dream, fighting a hoard of Warriors!"
"Well at least we didn´t have our Nest Leader tell us we were useless, and if you don´t believe us, we can show you the place where it happened!" she said.
"Wh- " Sio wanted to respond, but was cut off by Felix.
"Well, I guess since neither of us has hunted yet, we could just all go together? And on the way, you could show us the place where you fought the Warriors." He said.
Feah, rolled her eyes. "Fine, we´ll show you, but I never said that we fought them! Zabex did, not us!" Then she turned around and headed back, followed closely by Tarana, both of them acting extra confident- more confident than they actually were at the thought of going back to the scene of their real life nightmare.