Having resolved to assist the elderly rats with their predicament, I prepare to have a bit of fun. With my audience waiting in anticipation, I march from my hiding spot. Channeling my inner child, I raise my hands high like a warrior preparing to show the world their strength. The elderly rats tilt their chubby necks and take a few steps from their burrow to get a better glimpse of my performance.

Giving a small hazy curtsy, I announce in my head, ‘Thank thee for coming to see my performance tonight, gentleman!... or perhaps gentlewomen? I am embarrassed to say I cannot tell, and I fear I may never be able to.’

The elderly rats obviously cannot hear my thoughts, but regardless I feel a tad tickled by my performance. As if understanding or perhaps simply acting submissive, the elderly rats imitate my gesture.

I nod happily. ‘Aye! Participation is encouraged, my furry, long-nosed audience!’

The elderly rats look between one another; I ignore that their pupils are so dilated from evident fear that they resemble a large platter. Moving on, I point at the metal container, the cattail, and then make an eating gesture as best I can manage without a mouth. The elderly rats just seem confused, but that’s as expected. With the brick still engulfed, I raise the cattail high above my head.

‘Let’s see how hard I may strike it.’

With all the force my cattail can gather, I bring it down upon the metal container like a knight slaying a horrifying beast! A metallic noise reverberates throughout the chamber pot tunnels causing the elderly rats to flinch.

‘Behold, wafers for the masses!’ I motion toward the container. ‘Oh. Wait.’

Next to the wafers, a small dent in the rock is all that I seem to have accomplished.

‘I... I must have missed it. Ah! We can salvage this, Constance! We have proven ourselves mighty after defeating the Copepod Throng!’

As before, I whack the container once, then twice, and even thrice! Each whack sends out a mighty ding. Yet, this container simply refuses to break. Despite lacking the ability to do so, I swear there is a cold sweat on the nape of my neck.

‘Geh!’ I cover my violet eyes dramatically. ‘Do not look at me! I am ruined; I shall’ never recover from this.’

Pondering for a moment, I realize what I am doing differently. Thus, rotating the cattail, I bring it down anew. Finally, I hear the sound of air escaping the container.

‘Oops, I was not hitting it with the edge of the brick as before.’

A few strikes later, while also pulling at the waxy paper, it exits the container. Tossing the waxen package to the elderly rats, they stare at it before one walks over and plucks it from the ground. The elderly rat rips the paper with his teeth and pours some of the wafer crumbs onto his paw. He looks at me, and I can almost feel the dissatisfaction rolling off his body.

‘Art thee serious!? Thee art but a rat, just be happy with what thee gets. I ate thirty pounds of it yesterday…’

The elderly rat licks its paw, and the dissatisfaction wanes. With a bang, another container lands at my feet. I look to see another elderly rat has tossed a container to me with the expectation of me opening it.

‘Fine, but thee could just do it thyself.’

So this time, I release the brick from the cattail and approach the container. My hands cannot produce enough force to break it, but my plan is to simply show the elderly rats how to do it themselves. Holding the brick with the edge side down, I grip both sides of the brick with my hands; otherwise, it would slip out.

‘This is a bit annoying; the thickness of my hands is so low they seem to have difficulty grasping heavy objects.’

With what little force my arms and hands can produce, I whack the containers a few times while pointing at the elderly rats. Eventually, one gets the idea and picks up a brick and starts lightly tapping the container. Motioning at it, I try to make him hit it harder by gesturing violently. This seems to cause him anxiety as he begins to breathe rapidly and starts striking the container furiously.

‘Aye. That… that is enough.’

However, he does not stop; with wide, panicked eyes, he keeps striking it with nary a sign of ceasing. I simply watch in wonder as the container is flattened and the waxy bag within bursts, raining wafer crumbs down upon the elderly rat. He throws his short arms up in celebration and begins to lick the crumbs from his damp fur.

The other elderly rats gather around him, pointing and squeaking with what I assume is disbelief. Following his example, the others rush to grab containers before smashing them into flatness until they finally burst. They hop from the ground and dance around, licking their fur with high-pitched squeaks.

‘Aye…’ Watching them dance while some attempt to catch wafer crumbs on their tongues, like snowflakes, I am uncertain how to feel. ‘Although not what I intended, I suppose this works.’

Soon the elderly rats skip toward me with their arms held wide, seemingly wishing to embrace me, but before they may get too close, I strike the metal container sending it bouncing in their direction. They freeze mid-stride with the same triumphant expressions frozen dumbly upon their faces, making me feel a bit guilty.

‘Sorry, but if thee gets too close, it could be thy death.’ I await their reaction, but they just stand with their arms still open as if waiting for me to walk into them. ‘This seems rather exaggerated, though.’

I wave my hand, trying to break them from their stupor. However, the only thing that moves is their pupils, which dart between themselves and then me. They squeak together and run in circles with their arms waving loosely in the air. The elderly rats inevitably crash into one another and tumble to the ground with a muffled squeak. Nevertheless, they recover quickly and point with shaky arms.

‘It was not that scary, was it?... Wait, are they pointing at me or...’

My haze vibrates, and a low rumbling noise comes from behind me. If I still had one, my heart would burst from my chest as I slowly turn my head to see a pair of wretched yellowish eyes glaring at me from thirty or so feet away.

My head shoots forward, where I discover the elderly rats have already scurried into their burrows. Without hesitation, I engulf the brick and begin to flee. ‘This world… it is so horribly cruel.’

The wretched rat gives off a loud squeak, resembling a high-pitched roar. Passing by the elderly rats’ burrows, I knock an unopened container of wafers toward the wretched rat. It stops and sniffs it before ripping it open with its monstrous teeth. Turning a corner, I lose sights of it, but I can hear it splashing the murky water as it runs.

‘It is most likely only noon on the surface, but I am leaving immediately! I just hope the surface will not be as dangerous as here.’

The wretched rat turns the corner and crashes into one of the tunnel walls. It rolls on the ground spewing puss from the sores and boils covering its body. Regrettably, it promptly corrects itself and renews its resolve.

‘Five hundred steps. Two or three thousand more, and I shall be out of here!... That thought actually makes me feel worse.’

I cast the brick behind me, and the rat catches it within its jaws and crushes it. It squeaks in displeasure and increases its pace. Faster than I, the wretched rat begins to catch up to me.

‘The wretched rat is much faster than me…! I believe there is a small pipe two-hundred steps away; I shall hide in there!’

With the rat directly behind me, I swing my cattail carelessly, and the rat chomps at it consuming the tip of the cattail. It seems to find the cattail deeply unpleasant as it stops and vomits the oily cattail into the murky water.

Although confusingly offended by its dramatic display at the taste of my body, I do not dwell on it long. Finding the pipe, I crawl as far as I can until a metal grate prevents me from advancing further. I push my body against the grate as part of it slips between the bars, but only as far as the kiln will allow before it knocks against it.

Having recovered quickly, the wretched rat rams the entrance of the pipe at perilous speeds and squeaks noisily. It reaches in with its paws, but I am still a foot or two out of its reach. Infuriated, it claws at the stone pipe wrenching masses of rock and debris in a frenzy. As its claws scrape against the pipe, an abhorrent scraping noise assaults my senses. Eventually, it widens the hole enough to stick its head inside, and it begins howling at me with that high-pitch squeak.

The wretched rat begins to soak the pipe with its saliva and puss, forcing me to raise the cattail in defense. With a mix of mostly instinct, but a bit of experience, I strike at its eyes. Seeing the cattail, the rat shuts its jaws and tilts its head. Now off its mark, the cattail knocks against it accomplishing naught but a bit of irritation to its already repugnant flesh. Yet, luckily it seems the feeling is mutual as it refuses to take a second bite of the cattail.

‘If I am not tasty, why art thee attacking me then!?’

With an opening, I again strike, and this time my cattail hits one of its eyes. It squeaks, retracting its head while grinding its eye into the rubble in a vain attempt to remove any trace of the cattail’s effects.

‘Ha! Does it burn thee?!’

With a moment to spare, I use the tendrils to pull in all the rubble within my vicinity to create a makeshift club. Not wishing to return its head to the pipe, it instead continues digging at the pipe. Now with my club, I attack with the cattail and strike at its paws as hard as I can. Rendering one big blow, a bit of black oily blood splatters from a broken nail and splashes at me. I explore the state of my body, finding small patches of haze that have been washed away, but nothing more. Yet, the grate behind me hisses, and the metal begins deteriorating.

‘Its blood is so potent? Not fair!’ The metal bubbles giving me an idea. ‘Perhaps I may break through now!’

Turning my body and bringing my cattail back, I throw it against the weakened section of the grate: the grating creaks and the place where the cattail hits breaks.

‘The Shell can fit through that surely!’

Spitting the engulfed debris from the cattail, I attempt to push beyond the grate. My body moves through with ease, but the kiln is another matter. To my great despair, the kiln wedges itself in the grate, just barely too large to pass. Struggling frantically, I use the cattail to try to pull my way through, causing the kiln to scrap against the metal grate. Just as I am confident I shall make it past the grate, the wretched rat squeaks, sounding as if it is directly behind me.

I swing my head back only to discover an immense paw rending lumps of earth from overhead. My luck is not to last as a sound reminiscent of two tin mugs knocking against one another echoes. Anguish rushes through me, making me feel as if I need to vomit but cannot. Despite some of the force having gone into ripping at the soil above, the strength of the wretched rat’s attack propels me through the grate. The kiln’s shell skips along the stone pipe, inflicting stabs of pain with every bounce. The haze barely manages to keep itself together as I come to a violent halt against a bend in the pipe.

Blunt Damage to Kiln: - 7.5 Durability

Shield Absorbs: 70% of Damage or 17.5 Durability

Durability Remaining: 11.5

Max Shield Remaining: 87.5

I shun the biting agony emanating from the kiln, and once enough haze has gathered, I flee onward. Eventually, the racket of the wretched rat’s cries fade, but even so, I maintain my pace forward.

'I shan't stop!'

Achieved Interim Prehensile Whip [Grade 4]

+1 Sturdiness

2 Stat Points Remaining