Chapter Text
Day 365
It’s been a full year since they took me off the street. A full year since I was ripped from my pack midmigration.
Do you think they miss me? I know I’m just a plain Pacific Rat, but I would like to think my own family misses me
I think im 19 now. I’ve kept track of days. Dates slip through the cracks. I don’t know what to do, trapped in this apartm
Peggy quickly looks up as there’s the sound of movement behind the large metal door of the apartment, pen scratching against the paper as she tenses up. She places down the notepad with an “It’s about time!” As she goes over, crossing her arms impatiently. As the flap flips up on the slot she tries to look out, but food is immediately put into her view before she can make out anything. Her tail flicks in annoyance before taking the tray, sitting down at the dining table with a sigh. She drags over another magazine she’s read tons of times now, lazily flipping through as she scans words. Really the food was the only good part of this imprisonment. It’s hard to argue with fresh eggs and toast. You can feed a Pacific Rat well. You can give her magazines. But cage her in one place? That’s the real cruelty.
She groans lightly as she leans back from the finished plate, magazine resting lazily across her muzzle. She doesn’t even know where she is, and all she wants to hear right now is the sound of the ocean. Maybe she can draw it another time-
Her attention is pulled back, ear flicking towards the sound of clicking at the door. She freezes, listening to the handle jiggle for moment before leaping out of the chair, discarded magazine flinging across the floor
Never has a turning knob sounded so sweet
She flies across the apartment, bashing herself against the door before slamming her fist into it repeatedly
“HELP!” She cries out against it “SOMEONES IN HERE! PLEASE! OPEN THE DOOR!”
Every emotion rushes out of her at once as she pounds against the metal.
A dizzying cocktail of Hope and Despair
Sobs escape her as she keeps slamming her fist, begging for release from whoever could be outside this door
Her breath catches as the moment she looks up, thick claws punch through the steel inches from her face. They tear through like knife through butter. Metal screams. A glowing eye peers through the widening split.
Then the door is ripped clean from its hinges.
A giant wolf stands in the doorway, foam dripping from snarling fangs
His front paws hit the floor with a thud, before he stalks forward, eyes locked on Peggy
The wolf’s growl feels like it vibrates the entire apartment. Peggy watches the predator shift, screeching and leaping to dodge as it pounces. It tears into the couch, head whipping side to side as cushioning flies across the room. Peggy hesitates only long enough to survive-then she’s gone. A streak of brown fur and pure animal terror
She skids to a stop, flames licking up the walls ahead, entire building alight. She looks around quickly in panic as she takes in the damage, before darting down the hallway. If the place was a maze, fine. Rats were built for mazes. She just had to find the exit.
Flame in every window
Every stairwell blocked off
She hesitates at the elevator, before spinning to look behind her. An owl pads into the hallway, eyes glowing blank and pale. It meets Peggy’s gaze.
Then it calmly reaches back and pulls a bomb from the container strapped to its back. She whips back to the elevator, jabbing at the button in panic. It winds up, the elevator dings, and she’s suddenly yanked inside with a yelp. She tumbles into the space and doors slam shut, the sound of an explosion behind them.
She looks up, blinking at the side of a black Roof Rat, surrounded by other races in suits. He takes a moment to breathe before looking down at her
“Sorry-Izrail Rattus. Division One, Future Foundation Sanctuary. Director of Field Strategy and Resource Management.”
Peggy squints with a breathed out “Future Fou…division…what??”
“We got an anonymous tip that there was a captive here. Took some convincing to get the Foundation to deploy for a single Rat, but-” he shrugs almost nonchalantly
“Took you a year…” she grumbles before shakily standing, leaning on the wall “What the hell is going on? What were those things?”
“We call them Beastkamis, and the owl was a Bombfukuro. There’s-“
He looks up quick as the doors open and cut him off, more bots gathering to intercept the elevator
“OKAY no more time to explain!” He shouts in a panic, the other members in suits running out to defend. He tugs Peggy out, before pushing her towards the door of the apartment building “Run, there’s a helicopter a couple blocks down. Tell them who you are and that I sent you-“
Peggy chokes out a “What about-!”
But Izrail is gone, just seeing his tail slither around a corner. She takes a couple steps back before turning, a bot wielding a flamethrower turning to her. She freezes in place before there’s a siren, and the sprinklers suddenly trigger, raining down on the bots. They spark and glitch, appearing weak to water. She stumbles back, slips on the soaked floor-then bolts for the street.