It was a flight of stairs to the ceiling of the Crawlspace where Smith’s office resides. Is it because he believed himself higher? Or was it to keep a keen eye on the nest he runs. Either way, it was a pain in the tail climbing towards there, and everyone is sure that Smith himself finds it a pain too.
Upon entering through the curtains, she watches a scene unfold. Smith is the most recognizable out of anyone. Mostly because of the scars he sustained some years ago according to the more older members of the community. He was from another community before he founded the Crawlspace, which caught on fire from the chaos during a Feral Invasion on his nest. He escaped of course, but not without having most of his fur burned off and skin suffering three degree burns.
Some say his wounds STILL burn, but his inner fire burns hotter to make sure the same tragedy doesn’t repeat itself. He is often known as “The Burned Mouse”.
“Heard it from the guards that you took more than your share and tried to escape with them.” Smith, voice raspy from the burns, looks at the persecuted with his good eye. “I must ask. If you wanted to leave, you could’ve done it without taking more than you need. So why, Jeremy?”
A growl comes from Jeremy, a lanky dark gray mouse, a bit of a curl to his back and his fur standing on its end. “My rations are less than average than the rest of your ‘citizens’, how the hell am I supposed to work in these conditions!?”
He takes a step forward only for the guards to loom over him as he steps back to where he was.
Smith turns his body to him. “Jeremy, you were tasked to be mushroom farmer and unlike your coworkers, you were barely putting in any work. They often complained that you were slacking on the job. Your earnings equate to your work. And since you barely put in any work, you will get barely a share. I do not know how your old nest works, but in this everyone pitches in.”
“Oh like you, you Roasted Rat!?” Curses Jeremy. “We’re the ones slaving away and YOU stand on top on everyone! What do YOU do all day!?”
“Ah the same old tired argument.” Smith lets out a raspy chuckle. “You have any idea how many mice that goes into this office said those words? How many times I and these guards have heard said words? Look at me. Is this the physique of a mouse who does nothing but profit from the efforts of others?”
He gestures to his body, it was indeed thin. His clothes are even a bit billowy on closer inspection.
“Then explain the stash of cheese you keep, huh!?” Exclaims Jeremy.
The guards and Olive herself took notice.
Cheese to the Singing Mice are like edible GOLD to them. Craves them like it were spagetti to Fluffies.
“What are are you going to DO with it!?” Add Jeremy. “I bet you are going to keep it all for yourself!”
Smith turns his head to the side, a naked finger scratches the only fur patch on his face. “So that explains why there is missing inventory is amongst your stolen goods. A bit hypocritical of you, don’t you think?”
Jeremy sweats.
“And it’s a closely guarded secret only I and a few trusted know about.” He shifts his eye around the room. “Have a conspirator, perhaps? Unfortunately you thought wrong that I intended it for myself. It was meant to be used for a rainy day. But it looks like some greedy mice thought that they could skim off the top. Now I can’t let you live knowing it’s existence, Jeremy.”
“Wait wait wait-!” Jeremy held his hands up in defense. “I can give names! You wouldn’t get them out of me if you kill me, right!?”
Smith takes a long thought. “…I suppose you have a point.”
“R-right!” Jeremy half sighs in relief. “I’ll tell you if you let me live-”
“Pickens, Nashville.” He looks at his personal guards. “Take him to your Guard Commander. He’ll know what to do with this one.”
“Right away, sir.” Nods Pickens as Nashville grabs Jeremy by the shoulder to drag him out of the office.
“W-WAIT-! I WON’T TELL ANYONE ELSE!” He tries to grab onto the frame of the entrance. “WAIT!!!”
Olive watches his struggle as he was being dragged away by the large guards.
“…you won’t tell anyone about this, right?” Asks Smith to Olive.
“It’s not my issue anyway.” Olive shakes her head.
“See, that’s why I like ya, kid.” Smith gestures her into his office. “All about the business. Know how to keep things to themselves. Sorry if you have to hear all that. Thought you’d take longer.”
“I thought it was urgent.” She replies as she sits down.
“I suppose it is.” The Burned Mouse sits into his own seat. “And I suppose you are guessing why I called you in for.”
“It’s… my find?” Olive tilts her eye, raising an eyelid.
“The large risk find, yes.” Smith puts his elbows onto his desk and clasps his hands together. “See, most normal mice wouldn’t dare take unnecessary risks. But necessarily risks however… and with winter coming up… it will keep the nest fed for the season without cutting the daily rations short again.”
“Then…”
“Congrats, Olive.” Smiles Smith. “Your scout team will be working with a scavenger and a fighter team to procure the goods using your instructions.”
“That’s- that’s great-!” Olive said surprised. “But…”
“Yeah, your captain protested.” Shrugs the leader of the Crawlspace, “But I reminded him that we don’t have the luxury to keep things safe.”
“…I meant to say that with a large group, we might attract ferals or even humans.” She corrects.
“As I heard, you took some vent ways to travel about.” Smith leans back onto his chair. “And the teams you will be working with are experienced at what they do after all. I’m confident that this mission will be fruitful.”
“It’s an honor, sir.” Olive lowers her head.
Smith chuckles, “Well, think I have taken enough time already. Been a while since you had proper sleep, yes? You need all the energy for the procurement.”
“Al-Alright.” She stands up. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
As she turns to leave, Smith leans back to his chair.
“Hope not with that issue of yours, kid.”
He sighs as he closes an eye. While he finds her fit as a scout. It is a compromise to let her out there and not as a fighter or a scavenger. It has been a decade since she has first arrived to the Crawlspace after all. What happened to the Vale was a tragedy during the mass invasions that cut off the nests from all the others in the state.
…
A much younger Olive opens her eyes, finding herself under a dandelion which is looming over her and another young mouse next to her. Making shade over them from the sun.
“Dang it, we overslept again.” She stands up and nudges the other mouse. “Aldin. Aldin wake up. It’s close of nightfall already.”
Aldin, a white and black mouse with the tuff of black hair, opens his eyes. “H-huh?”
“We need to get back. Our folks are going to get worried.” Olive puts her hands to her hips.
“Right…” He gets up. “Geez, the old guys are always on edge.”
“Yeah, yeah, just come on.” Olive takes him by the paw and pulls the drowsey mouse along.
The Vale was a quiet and isolated town of mice. Located in a ditch hidden in a forest, away from humans, but not exactly cut off from the more urban nests. Despite being so rural, the houses of the Vale was relatively well made thanks to the ingenuity of the mice using the lay of the land upon the grassy slopes leading to the creek below. And a stone bridge over it and the creek itself is connected to an irrigation system to their farms.
Not to mention their fluffy friend, whom they called Leaf, a forest green unicorn feral fluffy that serves as their town guardian, nestles at the edge of town.
“Hey Leaf.” Olive greets the town’s protector.
“Hewwo Owive, hewwo Awdin!” Leaf waves his hoof.
“Hey to you, Leaf.” Said Aldin. “Keeping the town safe as usual?”
“Nu wowwies! Weaf am pwotect aww mousie fwiemds fwom bad munstahs!” Replies the fluffy.
Now Leaf isn’t that capable a fighter due to his intelligence and slightly cowardly nature, but he cares for the Vale’s civilians enough to protect it as much as he can. Well, at least as has any opportunity to. He’s mostly there for comfort and as a security blanket to some of the mice here.
“Alright, you do you, big guy.” Chuckles Aldin as he and Olive goes past him. “Never really understood why humans make something like him. They are pretty kinda dumb and are a bunch of scaredy pants.”
“Hey, don’t call Leaf that.” Repremands Olive. “He’s trying his best. And he wouldn’t hurt anyone. He’s too friendly for that.”
“Maybe, but that means he couldn’t protect us if there is anything dangerous comes this way.” Aldin steps down the stone stairs with her.
“IF anything dangerous.” Olive shrugs. “There are ferals like Leaf, but pretty sure WE could scare them off if that is the case. Seeing how naive Leaf is, the others will be the same, right?”
“Dunno. But… do you want to at least want to know what it is like outside the Vale?” He asks.
“Huh? Why? What’s wrong staying here?” Olive turns to him surprised.
“Aren’t you at least curious? What the outside is like? Where humans are?”
“Yeah, like I want to be NEAR them. I heard stories. They control beasts to specifically hunt us down. Concoct poisons that give us painfull illness. No thanks, think I’ll stick with Vale until I get old.” Olive walks forward then stops for a second. “But… if you want to go out so badly…” She turns around to face him. “Then I follow you.”
“Really? Thought you would be scared.” Aldin raises an eyelid.
“Of course I would be!” She exclaims. “But… I don’t want to have my best friend go at things alone. So wherever you want to go, I’ll be right behind you all the way.”
“Promise?” Aldin chuckles as he held up a pinkie.
“Prom-”
She was about to held out her own, until a forest green and red mass tumbles down the slope, crushing the houses as it went down as it makes a splash into the creek below.
The two young mice turn to look down as well as many onlookers.
To see the beaten and bruised Leaf, laying halfway into the water.
“…Leaf?” Said Olive agast.
“W…wun… Mousie… fwiemds…”
The mice looks up, to see a gathering of fluffies with setting sun behind them.
“Dummeh poopie fwuffy. Dis am Smawty wand nao.”
“HEY!” Shouts one of the braver mice. “YOU CAN’T JUST GO UP TO OUR NEST AND CALL IT YOURS!” He steps up the slope with a hoe in hand. “GO ON! GIT, YOU STUPID ANIMALS!”
That was then one of the toughies of the herd raises a hoof and slams into that mouse, crushing him in one swift motion. And all hell broke lose.
The onlooking mice starts to run. Some try to gather their belongings in the evacuation. While some try to hold the line with their farming tools.
But the ones who chose to fight either get stomped on, or have been swooped down and chomped.
The other fluffies, while their toughies and Smarty began to make their way down, killing anyone who stood in their way. They decided on taking the spoils that is their crops and food supplies.
“Wiww make gud homesies! Wots and wots of nummies!” Said a mare, gorging herself on the crops.
“HEY! THOSE ARE OURS!” Shouts a farmer as he was smacked away by her hoof.
“Dummeh sqweakie munstah! Dis am fwuffy nummies nao! Mummah wiww take nummies to make milkies fow babbehs!”
The farmer, straining to get up, “We have young too, you thoughtless-”
The mare then lets out a heap of excrement upon.
“Nu cawe! Dese nummies fow mummah nao, dummeh munstahs!” Huffs the mare.
“Yea! Gu way sqweakie munstahs!” Adds a foal. “Babbeh wan milkies!”
Another mouse, the farmer’s mate, drags him out of the shit. “We have to go! It’s not worth it anymore!”
“But-!” He grits his teeth as he was dragged by her and their son.
“Why… why are they doing this…” Olive looked on at the death and destruction in horror. “I thought fluffies were meant to be kind and gentle!” Then she realizes, her family are on THIS side of the creek. “Aldin- my mom and dad-! They’re still at home!”
Aldin, looking that he wants to go, but he turns to look at her and nods. “Alright!”
They run on all fours towards at the direction of Olive’s home, avoiding the fleeing mice and the hooves of the fluffies. Until they reached it and barges through the door.
“MOM! DAD!” Shouts Olive, seeing that her parents are already packing.
“Olive!” Her mother comes up to her in an embrace. “I’m so glad you’re alright!”
“Mom- there-”
“We know, sweetie!” Interupts her father in a haste. “We have to go, now!”
“But where DO we go!?” Exclaims Olive.
“I know of a nest near here.” Her father replies. “The Vale makes trade with them from time to time! Come on! We don’t have much-”
The roof caves in as a fluffy tore it down as Olive’s father pushes her away to collide with Aldin to the ground. As she opens her eyes, she looks up as Aldin with a gash over his left eye as he pushes off the piece of rubble over them. And as she looks down… she sees her father crushed under the rubble and under a hoof of that Smarty.
“No- DAD!” Olive cries out, while her mother looks at her mate’s body, catatonic and unmoving.
“Ou dummeh munstahs nebah shaddap?” Said the leader of the invading herd.
“You’re… YOU’RE THE MONSTERS HERE!” Yells Aldin “WE DONE NOTHING TO YOU! Yet you come here! KILLING US AND STEALING FROM US! AND YOU CALL US THE MONSTERS!?!”
“Dummeh!” The Smarty stomps his hoof on the ground, splattering the corpse. “It cawse ou weak am dummeh! Wat Smawty wans Smawty TAKES! Cawse AM SMAWTY!” He then raises a hoof at the downed Aldin and Olive. “ND SMAWTY WAN OU TO GO FOWEVAH SWEEPIES!”
“WEAVE DEM AWONE!!!” While injured, Leaf tackles the Smarty off the collapsed home.
“Leaf!” Exclaims Olive.
“WUN FWIENDS!” Leaf tries to push at the Smarty. But from his wounds, he was easily overwhelmed.
“Dummeh poopie fluffy!” The Smarty stomps on Leaf’s face. “Ou shouwdda stay downies!”
“Olive-! We need to get out of here!” Aldin pulls her up.
“Not without mom!” Shouts Olive. “Mom, get up!”
Her mother just still looks down, then looks at her. Realizing what she has left, the light returns to her eyes as she stand. “R-right! Come on, children! Over the bridge!”
While the Smarty pummels Leaf’s head into the dirt, the three mice makes their way to one of the bridges. However a fluffy follows behind in a sprint.
“Come back hewe sqweakie munstahs!”
The mice are fast, but the size still makes the difference. Aldin pushes Olive and her mother forward, sending them rolling towards the middle of the bridge.
Olive raises her head, turning it over to see her friend’s tail being trapped under the hoof of a fluffy.
“ALDIN!”
“Ged sqweakie munstah nao. Wunda sqweakie munstahs make gud nummies.” The fluffy’s maw opens, ready to decend towards Aldin.
Olive’s mother looking on, decided that she isn’t going to do nothing, looks at one of the farming tools left behind on the ground. She runs up to take it and leaps at the Fluffy, stabbing it into one of his eyes.
“SKREEEEEEE-!!!” He bucks away, letting Aldin go as he flails his head around, Olive’s mother holding on tight. “SEEING PWACE WOWSTEST HUWTIES!!!”
“KIDS! GET OUT OF HERE!” Shouts the mother.
“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME LIKE-!” Olive reachs out of her.
Aldin runs up to her and pulls her away.
“ALDIN LET ME GO! WE NEED TO-”
“AND DO WHAT!? FIGHT THAT THING!? WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE!?”
Olive looks at to her friend.
“…just hold onto me close your eyes.” Aldin pulls her in close. “Just close your eyes!”
He picks Olive up and runs.
She couldn’t see, but… she still heard the screams of her mother amongst the tearing of flesh.
…
And then she opens her eyes to find herself in her bed. She sits up and look out the window, at the dimmly lit underground of the Crawlspace.
It was that dream again. Always that damned dream. The same dream, that same memory, had haunted her for a decade.
She puts a hand to her face as she still remembers the blood, and the screams. Especially the screams. And especially… the effects afterwards.
The Crawlspace became her new home once the Vale has been taken over by ferals. She thought she had her friend by her side. But it shook him as it shook her. To the point he disappeared one night and never came back. Everyday she wondered what had become of him. And every day she wondered if things could have turned out differently that faithful day if she made a different decision.
But all she knows is… while there are good Fluffies, there are too many bad ones to find them redeemable. While cats and dogs are considered monsters to the mice, but they are just animals. Fluffies showed them what real monsters looked like.
She clenched her fist in frustration until she heard a knock on her door.
“Yo, Olive.” Mel opens it. “You up?”
“…am now.” She gets off her matchbox bed and stretches.
“That dream again, huh?” She asks.
Olive can only nod.
“Seriously. For every grain you had that dream,” Sighs Mel, “You would’ve gotten far out of this dump a long time ago. Well, hope you had enough rest. The briefing’s starting soon. So get dressed.”
Mel pats her on the shoulder and went out Olive’s room.
Olive herself pops her joints as she leans against the wash basin with the pocket mirror in front of her.
She grips the edges of her wash basin tightly, and them proceeds to groom herself before putting on her clothes and gear. Then steps outside her room and dorm. Ready for the mission at hand.
“I want to take the world back from those parasites, Aldin…I know it is an impossible goal… but… I’ll make a world safe for us to explore together. I swear on it.”