Gregor's eyes were closed. His head was on a fluffy pillow, his body wrapped in a warm blanket, and he wanted to go to sleep. Oh, how he wanted to drift away from the world, to forget everything for a while, to sleep. But every time he did, he saw it again. The dieing people, the blood, and one especially horrifying scene- the Bane, sinking his teeth into Ares neck. Ares had been his best friend. They had been through too much together to just forget.
There were others that Gregor missed, such as Hamnet, or Twitchtip. Twitchtip. His eyes opened, and he bolted up. How, even in the midst of the war, had he forgotten her? Never even said a few words in her honor? Twitchtip was one of the few rats that he actually got along with. Had gotten along with, that is.
Gregor stood up and slid out of bed. Off of that couch that he slept on, anyway. His feet shuffled against the wooden floor, and his toes were cold. He pulled on a hoodie and some sneakers, and slowly opened the door to the apartment, hoping it would not creak. If some one woke, he would be in trouble. He was hardly supposed to leave at all, for his parent's fear of the Underland.
The halls of the building were eerily silent at the late hour. What time was it? He automatically glanced down at the little watch that Mrs. Cormaci had given him. 2 am. Oh, boy, would he be in trouble.
Taking the elevator seemed too conspicuous. Instead, he took the stairs, pausing and shrinking back into the wall at the slightest creak or moan from the old building.
When he got down to the lobby, he went without hesitation through the doors.
Outside, it was border freezing, and he pulled his jacket tighter around him. The streets were empty, not surprisingly, except for the occasional late partier who would zoom down in their fancy sports car, paying no attention to Gregor of course; why would they? Even in the middle of the night, when he should clearly be in bed, he was still just another twelve year old boy. And in the accounts of most people, the world had too many of those anyway.
Gregor loved the night besides- it reminded him of Luxa, as well as the rest of the dark Underland. He took a moment to stare up at the moon. It was just like her- pale, and beautiful.
He then continued walking. His feet moved automatically, as if they knew where he was going, all though his mind wasn't quite sure.
Finally, he reached what seemed like a good destination. He was standing over the slab of rock, the very same one that was an entrance down into the Underland. Then he wasn't quite sure what to do. So he just sat down, and rested his head in his hands, and tried to think of something nice, for Twitchtip. He could say a few words, but that didn't seem right. She had never been much of a talker anyway.
Finally, at (according to his watch) five am, he stood, feeling, somehow, more serene then on a normal night spent twisting and turning in bed.
As he walked away, Gregor thought he saw a rats eyes peering out at him in the darkness. He almost laughed at the irony of it. Then, he realized that it probably wasn't really ironic at all.
Wow, another really short oneshot. That was my first Underland fic, so I just wanted to try that out. It was short, yeah, but I think it's kind of sweet. Feel free to read and review as you please.