Rita awoke twelve hours after she checked into the hotel, and felt like a lead weight. She got up and stretched. She had a few knots in her muscles, and they were gone after she finished stretching. After that she felt normal. Rita realised she was starving, and slipped her flats back on and went out into the hallway. Roddy was in the room across the hall and she knocked.
"Roddy? I'm sorry if I'm waking you up, but if you need me I won't be in my room. I'll be in the dining room getting breakfast, ok?" she called. She strained to hear his faint reply.
"Yeah, sure, whatever..." he called faintly. Rita had to laugh a little. She didn't know he wasn't a morning person because the only time she had woken him up was on the way back to Kensington, and she had woken him up with the horn, which was able to scare the heck out of anyone if they woke to it. She went into her room, grabbed a slip of paper and wrote him a note. It read:
Roddy, if you get up and you want to get me, I won't be in my room. I'll be in the dining room or window shopping for hair clips to look a bit more girly. I know, that doesn't sound like me, but I need to be a mix of tomboy and girly girl. If I'm not in any of those places, check my room. I might have decided to shower or something.
Rita folded the note hastily in half and wrote Roddy's name in big, bold capital letters. She grabbed her card key and slipped the note under his door. She put the card in her pocket and went down to the dining room. Wow, it smelled wonderful. She had a cup of coffee in the styrofoam stuff and grabbed a low fat muffin and went out the door to look for accessories. She walked into one store and found bracelets and chokers which matched her oufit style perfectly. She bought a silver wire choker which had fake gems which matched her top. She also found clippy earrings made from items from up top and bought them.
Rita's contacts were bothering her, so she went into a bathroom and took them out. She pulled the box out of her pocket and looked at the description. It said one day use. She threw them away and as she walked out, she saw another rat which had no resemblance of her family, like the rather short snout or the accent when she talked. She also had brown hair like Roddy's, but it was long. Rita saw several other rats, male and female who had green eyes. She had been convinced that her family had the only green eyes in the sewers. She was wrong. Rita let out a silent breath of relief as she walked back toward the hotel. She saw Roddy scanning the streets and ran up to him. He recognised her by her clothing, but not her eyes. He started to talk to her, but when he began to speak he refrained. He walked into a store and Rita grabbed him by the sleeve and whispered, "It's me." He then knew who she was and was happy to see her natural eye color again. The two walked out of the store and back to the optical office. She bought another pair of blue iris contacts and also purchased the proper cleaning product. She went into a bathroom and out them in. These were multiple time use contacts, so she didn't have to worry.
The two walked to the hotel and watched a movie in Rita's room. She had taken her contacts out and was letting them sit in the cleaner. She had also hand washed her Union Jack pants and shirt and was wearing them to relax in.
"Roddy, how are we going to get another boat? I mean, I am finding myself sinking into a distrust of boats now. I think we need a small boat, like a motorboat to go on short trips, and just take a bus or something to go on longer trips. We'll have to be disguised and all that, but to keep alive, it's worth it, isn't it?"
Roddy lifted his head off the arm of the couch and looked at her. She was sitting on the bed, hair down, a little red showing through the dye.
"I guess, but you'll need your hair redyed. Red is peeking through. We don't want to take any chances. I would hate going through something like losing you. If I lost you, I'd never forgive myelf. I don't want to deal with just the loss, but the loss of purpose in my life. You're the reason I stayed. I'm afraid that if I leave, something will happen to you. I know I sound a little overprotective, but I don't want to come anywhere near close to you dying."
Rita's heart melted at his declaration of loyalty and sighed. She smiled affectionately and looked at the tv. It was blank.
"What the...it won't turn back on!" She tried a lamp, and it didn't turn on like it should've. She went to the back of the tv to see if it was plugged in. Sure enough, it was, but something was wrong. She smelled smoke, and ran to her door and felt it. Heat. The henchrats were trying to smoke them out. How did they figure them out? Rita coughed when smoke poured in from under the door. Her room didn't have a fire esape. The two were trapped. Rita's room was on the sixth floor, and if they jumped, they'd be met with a few breaths of water. They'd drown.
Roddy was good at quick thinking, and he put this skill to use. He ran to the window. The building was made of human sized bricks. He instantly had an idea. There was a bit of cement to the right about a foot over, and Roddy altered his plan to fit this. He ran to the bed and tied all the sheets together. He threw it out the window and tied it to the heavy desk. He jumped out to see if it would support his weight, and climbed down. When he was close to the bottom, he tried to swing the sheet rope over to the cement. He jumped when he was over it and landed on his feet. It worked! if the rope supported him, it would support Rita.
Rita was changing into her skirt and leggings and top and flats before she came down. She wanted to be unrogognisable, or at least wanted to look that way. She ran to the rope and jumped out the window in climbed down the rope and swumg it. She landed on her feet and fell into Roddy's arms. His thinking had saved their lives. Suddenly a figure jumped in front of them and yelled, "Hold it right there!" It was Thimblenose Ted with a weapon. He looked embarrassed when he saw it wasn't a redheaded girl and a thouroughly brownhaired young rat who were cowering around the corner. He straightened up and stammered an apoloogy.
"Oh, sorry, um we seem to keep, well running into each other, and um, SORRY!" the henchrat jabbered, then he ran around the corner and went to the front. "It wasn't them!" he yelled.
Rita was cowering. She hated fire. But having been met with Roddy's warm embrace after her terrifying swing and jump, she was fine, mentally. Physically she was going to have to calm down. Roddy kept am arm across her shoulders as they walked to the front, where paramedics and firefighters attended and fought the fire. They both needed to be checked over for smoke inhalation, and they were in a long line. Rita coughed violently and Roddy got a cup of water and handed it to her. She drank the whole thing. She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes. She was so tired. She hated being hunted. She was tired because of the climb and jump and the energy deficiency the adrenaline rush had caused. She found herself nodding off, but was wakened by Roddy moving forward a few steps. She looked up to Roddy, who held her closer. Finally it was their turn, and Rita was checked first for smoke inhalation. She needed some oxygen. So did Roddy. They walked to a boat and the two were given small containers of oxygen and oxygen masks. The two sat on the pavement amd breathed in the oxygen deeply in and out. Rita was dozing off, and Roddy had to shake her shoulder gently to keep her awake. As soon as they had neen breathing the oxygen for twenty five minutes, they returned the containers and went to be rechecked. They were fine. Roddy and Rita walked away from the burning building and walked across the bridge to the shopping complex. Someone grabbed them and pulled them into an ally. Rita began to threaten the person and gasped in horror when she saw who it was. The Toad! He cackled evilly.
"Remember me, rodents? I doubt you do, since rats aren't good rememberers. I will just refresh your memories by taking you back to floodgate control. I'll bet some kind of old memory will arise from the depths of your tiny, miniscule brains." the Toad took them and bound their hands together and led them down the ally, away from the shopping complex. They got to the end of the ally and saw the henchrats opening the door to a boat. Roddy was shoved on board as Rita was put on a different boat.
"Roddy!!" she yelled as their boats went seperate ways.
"Rita!!" Roddy called in response. The last two calls were panicked and lonely sounding, and Rita burst into bitter tears as she began to wonder what to do. Roddy was her light, a breath of fresh air when she couldn't breathe, and now she might never see him again. She didn't want to face the cold hard truth. If the Toad decided to ice her, she was as good as gone. She couldn't escape. She hung her head and wished Roddy were there to hold her. She had noone to console her.
Roddy was not thinking straight. His partner, the love of his life, his purpose in life, might be hidden from him forever. He was led to a cell and was thrown in. There was a wood cot and a piece of fabric for a pillow and a piece of a napkin for a blanket. There was an old, rickety chair and a table in the same condition. He felt so alone. He wanted the toad dead for separating him and Rita. He heard a piece of paper crackle and reached into his pocket. It was the note she had written to him earlier in the day. This was all he had to remember Rita by. He held it close to his chest and cried softly.
Rita was thrown into a crude cell, made with metal and cement. She had a slip of paper in her pocket and it was a picture of Roddy and a love note he had written to her. She read it over and over, taking it all in. She sobbed at the words, "Rita, know that I love you, and true love can do anything it needs to.". if that was true, true love could bring both of them back together. She sobbed uncontrollably. Roddy. The name rolled over and over in her head. Roddy.