Here we are, a fic idea that's been bouncing around my head a while. Perspectives will differ from chapter to chapter, just a forewarning.
Crawling along the creaking wooden vessel, the rat stopped, rearing onto its hind legs and sniffing the air. Nose going back and forth, it pinpointed the source of the strange smell. Lowering itself back onto all fours, it continued along, pausing in the shadows of a half-open door. It could hear voices, humans. Their chatter was indistinct to the rodent, the vermilion eyed creature peaking its head around the door frame. There were a great many humans in the room, but the smell was strong here.
It was different from the typical one carried by humans, and the rat was still curious. Darting inside, it scurried to hide behind a barrel, then from the barrel to the small space behind a wooden trunk. Carefully, it crawled closer to the humans, watching from behind the trunk. A few of them were laying down, with other humans dipping rags in water and putting them on their heads.
The smell permeated the rat's nose, and it crept closer, unnoticed by the mob of humans. Just as it reached the first human laying down, the human's head turned and blew air at it. Startled, the rat turned, preparing to flee when one of the other humans caught sight of it. Shouting sprang up all around it, feet slammed down in places that it had been just a second before. The humans were following, chasing it from the room and down the hallway.
They didn't stop until the rat managed to dart through a hole in the wall, traveling down into one of the few havens on the ship. Settling down after its near-death adventure, the rat's confusion still remained. What was it that smelled so strange? It hadn't been able to pinpoint it precisely. The human just looked like any normal human, there hadn't been anything odd the rat could see. And yet, there was certainly something odd.
Something very odd indeed.