Rats: The Story Of "Half"

At least, that's what he'd been told. He'd been told that his kind had been chosen, among many others, to become The Inheritors. What they were inheriting, he wasn't always certain, because nobody told him. But he was certain of other things; he was certain that he was strangely different from the rest, in a weird way. He couldn't put a paw on precisely what made him different...

But he was certain of one thing, and that was Guide. Guide was huge; too tall to see from his feet to his face. In fact, he wasn't totally positive what Guide's face looked like, precisely. But he heard his soothing voice, saw his feet walking through the bustle of rats, dropping foodstuffs; and felt his warm strokes along his back when he caught him when he was still.

He liked Guide quite a bit.

He waddled off to his favorite in-the-morning spot, on top of a small stone. He felt its warmth under his feet, and cleaned off his whiskers in preperation for the day. He perked his ears a bit as he felt something different in the air; a certain... strangeness. More things to be uncertain of! But now, with this, he could find the source. Unlike what made him different, or what Guide's face looked like - he could find this out.

He hopped off his rock and pattered along through the grass. It was stiff and, minus the constant trails of rat-scent, smelled of nothingness. It was sort of comforting, in a way, to have no other scents to interfere with those you knew so well. He was always reminded that his friends and family were there. He just had to find them - or they had to find him.

Finally he came across a small cluster of rats sitting on the squishy roots of a tree. It looked hard and rough to the eye; but when you touched it, it was relatively squashy and soft, with round edges. He enjoyed sitting on such roots.

"Hey, guys," He chirped, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. "Does something seem up to you?"

He recognized one of the rats as his brother, Gleam - a totally gray-black rat with a single white dash on his head, and noticeably shortened whiskers. "Yeah, a little. Why do you ask?"

"You know him," One of Gleam's friends, a doe, commented snidely under her breath. "Always asking questions. He never quits."

"You've never met him," Gleam defended, letting the fur on his back bristle up a little. "He's kind, and helpful. He'd never leave a rat behind."

"Perhaps we should leave him behind." She said sharply, then hopped off the root and skittered off, disappearing through the scentless foliage.

"Don't mind her," Gleam's other friend said when she noticed his dejected look. "She's in a sour mood these days. Maybe she's expecting pups."

"If that's the case, I'll need to listen to her," He moaned miserably.

"So, what's your theory on what's going on?" Gleam said swiftly, hoping to change the topic of conversation. He sighed gratefully, and then let the thought turn in his head.

"It might have something to do with Guide," He guessed after a moment. "Have you seen him, lately?"

"Nope," Gleam said with a small shrug. "He might be busy. You know he's been known to disappear for days on end."

He blinked a few times, shook his head a little, and then skittered away with no goodbye. He wanted to figure this out - he wanted to decipher what the anxiety in the air was for. Odorless grass kicked up behind him as he ran, his tail flicking constantly behind him as his ears went flat.

Finally he came to the Door. It was huge - as big as a monolith - and that was where Guide came in and out of their world. The Door would make a hissing sound, open up into darkness, and Guide would come walking through, out of it.

He flattened his ears, realizing something curious. He stepped forward nervously, stepping as cautiously as possible so he couldn't be detected. Sniffing about at the base, he scented just the tiniest bit of fresh air coming from under the door. He also felt a breeze coming from the sides, oddly enough! Flicking his whiskers, he rubbed his small pink paws across his face in order to think clearly.

"What are you doing way over here?"

He turned and realized Gleam had followed him here, and had presumably noticed his snooping. He'd have to explain his intentions, probably - though Gleam was hardly expected to understand.

"I'm trying to decide how to find Guide," He admitted. "And I was just thinking... He comes through this, right?"

"Right."

"And we come through things too, right? Like roots and such?"

"Right..."

"So if we have to go from one side to the other, to go through something, so does he. Right?"

"... I don't follow."

"Watch, then!"

He hopped over to a small root system nearby, flicking his ears as he inspected the roots. He found a small root that stuck out of the floor, and nosed his brother over to it. Then, he snuck forward and slipped through it until he was half-in and half-out.

"See? There has to be one side in order for there to be another side." He declared proudly.

"But the Door is solid," Gleam said, hopping back over to the metal expanse above their heads. Demonstrating, he touched a small paw to the Door, nodding when he couldn't go through it. "There is no other side, see?"

"But that's just the thing," He admitted, hopping over. "Even if you can't see the other side, it's still there."

"How can that be?" Gleam asked, ears flat.

"Well, is Mother here?"

"No, of course not."

"Does that mean she doesn't exist?"

Gleam went silent, turning this thought over in his head while the smaller of the two bucks sniffed around the reflective surface. Finally, he narrowed his eyes and wedged his nose under the Door. He flicked his tailtip back and forth, before forcing himself forward.

"Uh..." Gleam chirped. "What are you doing?"

The little buck groaned with effort as he worked his shoulders underneath the thick sheet of metal. "I'm getting to the other side!" He wheezed desperately, gritting his tight molars together.

"You're insane!" Gleam cried out, gripping his brother's tail in his teeth. "Get back here! Mother will have a heart attack!"

"She's got new pups now." He wheezed. "Besides... I'll regret it if I don't!"

"You'll regret it if you do!" Gleam wailed as the last piece of his brother's pink tail slipped under the door.

He was about to say something when he suddenly went flying. He let out a cry of surprise as he skittered across a strangely smooth floor. He eventually came to a full stop, splayed on the floor, sniffing a bit as he tried to regain his composure. He eventually lifted his head a little, and glanced around; there was a little bit of light - like twilight, almost - but after about a dozen rat-hops in either direction, it faded into pitch blackness.

"I'm on the other side," He gasped eagerly, pulling himself to his paws. "I'm on the other side! I told you there was another side!"

"You're crazy, Half!"

His name hit him like a bullet. He flattened his ears. He didn't know why he hated his name so much; it felt weird. Gleam's name was so pretty, so lovely. His mother's name was Sky - she was as pitch black as the midnight sky, so motherly and beautiful. Even his father, Moss, had a nice name - it was said his black-and-white patches had the same pattern as moss on a rock. He'd never met the buck before, but he had a nice image in his head.

Taking in his surroundings, he suddenly came face-to-face with another rat. He let out a cry of shock and fear, jumping back and flattening his ears, hunkering low to the ground in momentary shock. I didn't think there were any other rats on this side of the Door!

But, upon a moment of thought, he realized. It wasn't someone else. It was him. He slipped forward, pushing his ears forward and twitching his whiskers. This was the first time he'd truly looked at himself; the Door was dull and lusterless, a pale gray in color. All of the water sources were constantly moving, distorting his image grotesquely. But now, he had a smooth, clear item to admire himself in. Now he could see what his face looked like, and he understood his name.

That was when he heard the footsteps down the night-blackened hallway.

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