Chapter 1

I've managed to limp across the black void for what feels like hours. My mind keeps saying Stop! Lay down and pray to wake up at home. But, the pain in my leg reminds me this isn't a dream.

My ears lay flat against my head and my tail hangs low. *Sigh* Huh? I look up to see a bright light. Oh no. Am I...dead? My eyes gaze at the light and my ears perk full of both curiosity and fear. Well, I guess there's only one way to find out.

I limp towards the light leaving a trail of blood behind me the whole time. The loss of blood makes my eyes flicker. Come on Ratchet! Come on! Just a bit further! I jump in and hit the hard earth. I try to open my eyes, but the light is too blinding. I think….I think I need to rest. And with that I lose consciousness.

….

Ratchet's Dream

My breathing increases rapidly as I run. There's voices! So many voices! I can only make out a few…..

"Ratchet…"

"You failed…"

"Ratchet.."

"Run.."

"Never forget…"

Others start to say my name….louder….louder!...and LOUDER! Red eyes appear in the blackness. It's voice booming out. "RATCHET!"

….

"Ahh!" I spring up in a soft brown bed panting the whole time. Huh...that's got to be one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had. *Sigh.* At least it was only a dream. I wait a few seconds for my heavy breathing to slow down before I take in my surroundings.

I think I'm in a room of some sort. The walls are all white and a few pictures are hanging up on the wall. They appear to be of ….no it can't be…. they're….Cragmites. But how? I observe one photo in particular. There's a little Cragmite girl. She mainly resembles a human, but her skin is grey and her eyes….her eyes a like yellow orbs with no white and just one black dot in the center. The little girl is smiling at the person whose lap she's sitting on. My eyes widen in terror at the realization of who he is. Tachyon.

Just as the realization strikes me the door slowly creeps open. The person who opens the door is the girl from the photo. Only now she looks about my age (16). She peeks before walking all the way in.

"I see you're finally awake." The girl says. My ears tilt to the side in confusion. Not by the words, just about…..well her! She seems to notice my confusion. But, thinking it was something else. "You were out for 5 hours. I found you bleeding out on the streets and seemed to be spazzing out. " She states. My gaze shifts to her right arm where three claw marks are now visible. My ears automatically flatten.

"Yeah...Sorry about that." I say trying to give a small chuckle to lighten the mood. I fail pathetically. The girl walks over to me slowly so I look down at the bed. Not daring to look up. Mainly because I'm not so sure if I am sorry.

My ears twitch when I feel a hand rest on my shoulder. "Hey. Kid. It's fine. Just a little scratch. Besides, it could've been worse. You're just lucky to be alive! With all those gashes in you. You could've bled to death!" The girl says with surprising concern. Gashes? I didn't notice any gashes! And did she just call me a kid?!

I decided to look at the gashes not having enough energy to argue about the second question. Sure enough, I'm wrapped like a mummy some spots bleeding through the white fabrics while smaller bloody gashes are not covered. Most of them are dry and scabbed over. My eyes widen. I can't believe I didn't notice this before! Great! Now that I am noticing it, It's starting to hurt really really bad!

I cling onto my left arm cradling it with my right. Closing my eyes and muffling a low groan, I bite my tongue with my sharp canines to keep from screaming, cutting into the flesh, and letting a trail of blood flow out. Man I hate it when this happens! I'm fine until someone points out the wounds! Thanks a lot...um….Cragmite girl who knows my enemy that I killed and for some reason saved my life.

She starts to push me back down towards the soft white pillows. My eyes shoot wide open. "You need to rest." She says. Oh not on my watch! "No! No! I'm fine! See!" I say sitting back up a bit too fast. "Gah." At that I grab onto my side feeling the sharp pain. Looking up I see she has her arms crossed and is tapping her foot. Great. I chuckle slightly while giving a small innocent smile. Which looks more like I'm dying.

"See...I'm fine!" I say giving my best attempt to seem even the slightest bit fine. Darn it. She's still tapping her foot and giving me the death glare. *Sigh* I have been defeated. Or have I? I give a quick smile as an idea crosses my mind, but hide it just as quick so as not to be spotted.

"Well, I guess you're right. But, hey! Before I do, could I have a glass of water?" I ask. She smiles and puts her arms down. I smile along. But, not for the same reason. "Sure! Just wait right here. I'll be right back!" She says before taking off. Nailed it.

I wait a few seconds after she leaves the room before I get out of bed. Once I get to the door I crack it open and peek through. Okay. Coast is clear. Slowly I walk out from the room and make my way down through the hall. Of course my hand is clenched to one of my sides while I limp and my ears are flat against my head the whole time.

My eyes wonder of all the pictures that I come acrossed. One of them Takyon and the girl are sitting at a table with a cake while the girl is blowing out four candles. So Tachyon had a daughter. Hmm. Who knew.

As I limp I see many more photos. Finally I find a door. Yes! Finally! I run/ limp to the door. Once I get there I grab the knob and twist. I open the door and I can't believe what I'm seeing! There are Cragmites everywhere! And by that, I mean everywhere! Most of them look like the ones I fought when I fought Tachyon, but some are like that girl and resemble humans.

"Woah." I mutter.

I watch as ships fly by and Cragmites walk down the street like any city before I decide to explore. Either I'm dead and I'm seeing the Cragmites I've killed or I'm….in the Cragmite dimension!

As I walk around I notice the different food vendors. They are are sorts of weird colors. A lot of them have tentacles. I notice a few of the residence taking a quick glance at me before muttering. That only makes my ears go flatter.

"You look like a man needing a good filling!" One of the vendors says to me gesturing to my small frame. "How about you buy one of my delicious fresh fruits!" The man shoves a lumpy purple thing with three eyes, which ate all different colors, with four tentacles and a couple of leaves sticking out of it into my hands. Gah! It smells! And it's so slimy! I want to say This is disgusting! What's wrong with you people! But, my kinder nature takes over.

"No thanks. I'm not hungry." Is all I say before handing back the purple blob.

"Alright kid. But, you don't know what you're missing out on!" He says before running over to another passerby. I roll my eyes before continuing to limp down the street. I continue on for about another ten to fifteen minutes. Most of it's just like any other city I've encountered only it's almost...beautiful. Wow. I can't believe I just said-er- thought that. I look at the waterfalls that surround the area. Their colors keep changing every few seconds. I also look at the bright green grass that covers any spot there isn't cement.

My ears shoot up at the sound of grinding. "What the?" I mutter to myself before looking above me. *Gasp* I rub my wide eyes to make sure I'm not seeing things. Right above me is a long grinding rail that curves at different points, and riding on top of it on grinding boots are…..Lombaxes.

My eyes widen until they feel like they'll pop out of my head. I can't believe it...Lombaxes! I watch in awe for a few minutes as Lombaxes of all ages zip by. Some have dark fur others as light as white. Their stripes are all different colors.

I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually one of them notices me. The young Lombax girl jumps down from the rail and runs towards me. She's younger than me, but I don't know by how much. Her fur is dark brown with black stripes. Also, her eyes are green just like mine, only a little lighter.

"Hey!" She shouts waving. I look behind me thinking she might be waving at someone else. But, I don't see anyone waving back. So, I look at the little girl and stupidly point to myself. "Me?" I ask confused.

"Ya you! What are you doing out here?" Now that gets me really confused. "Uh…?" Is all I manage.

"Come on Ratchet!" She shouts irritated.

"How do you know my name?" I ask. She raises an eyebrow at that.

"Uh, duh! I'm your younger sister! Melody!"

I just started this chapter randomly and now I've got a plot in my head. :)

Even if this story is bad I'm still enjoying writing it. Anyways hoped you liked it.