Okay, so here's the latest. Sorry it took so long. I've been busy with school, The Hunger Games, et cetera. And I feel pressurized to do it right. I remember hearing some eight-year-old piano genius on the radio a few months ago. He said that he felt he had to play the pieces right, that it was "disrespectful to the composer" if he messed up. At the time I thought that was silly, that they were putting too much pressure on the kid, but now I realize that I feel the same way. I would feel like I'd insulted the story if I got anything wrong, any facts or anything. Maybe I'm just too hard on myself, but there you have it.
Enjoy. Or else.
My words did not quite have the grand effect that I had expected them to. Instead of being awed to silence, the two rats guarding the passage stared blankly at each other for a moment, and then burst into peals of laughter.
"Very funny, pup," managed One-Eye. "Very funny indeed. Now go on back to your cave to play with your little friends. We grown-up rats have important business to attend to."
I stood there in the tunnel, facing the two guards, trying to suppress the angry tears that were beginning to flow. Why wouldn't anyone just listen?
"Seriously, you ought to leave," growled the one with the limp, sounding impatient now. "We don't have all season."
Still I stood my ground, my paws planted firmly on the stone floor, my legs too tense to move.
Well, well, well," said the one with the limp. "Looks like this one needs to be taught a lesson about respecting his elders. What do you think, Ratchet?"
"I think so," said One-Eye, and, chuckling nastily, he and his companion began to advance.
I openly welcomed the rager sensation. I was not only willing, but eager to fight these guards, teach themthe lesson, make them think twice before they bullied someone else. The rager in me took control of my limbs, working them like a marionette, my claws shredding anything that came within reach, my tail lashing back and forth at lightning speed like a whip, my head snapping around to bite at their tails and limbs.
But these rats knew how to fight. They'd been in many battles, whereas all I had under my belt were a few lessons with Father. They blocked even my most vicious attacks, and knew how to fight as a pair; rushing at me from opposite directions, one coming up behind me while I was engaged with the other. The narrowness of the tunnel didn't help either, and I had to be cautious of extending my limbs or tail too far, for fear of hitting the wall.
And suddenly, whether it was from the rager side of me or simply from my own ingenuity, I knew what to do. I lifted myself up on my hind legs and began to spin, my front claws doing the slashing. I could sense, with some part of me, the guards becoming weaker and starting to give in, but I kept fighting, clawing away, eager to tear, to kill…
"No! Stop! All right, we give up! We'll take you to the king! Just calm down!"
These words helped to rouse me from my trance, and I paused. With a great effort, I managed to wrench myself back to consciousness. There was blood spilled across the floor of the tunnel, and splattered on my coat… but it wasn't mine. I squeaked. The rats were several feet away. Neither of them seemed seriously injured, but both were sporting several new blemishes in their already flawed coats.
"Very well, then," I said calmly. "Lead the way."
The two rats got to their feet wordlessly and began to stride purposefully through the tunnels. I followed in their wake, marching briskly to keep up.
We came out of the tunnel and into a huge cavern. The ceiling extended far above our heads and many lengths outward, the far side registering only hazily with my echolocation. The cavern also extended downward. I had come out onto a ledge above a great canyon, which filled most of the cavern. Compared to this, the chasm I'd crossed a short while ago seemed like a tiny fissure in the stone. I peered into the gaping chasm and squeaked, but I could sense no sort of bottom at all. It was simply too deep for my ears.
"Come along, now," said One-Eye testily, and I turned and followed him along the narrow ledge, keeping one ear on the guards and the other on the abyss. The ledge was pretty thin, and one misstep would send me hurdling into the great canyon. It had to become wider sometime, I reasoned, or the guards wouldn't have led me this way. Unless they were planning to…?
As if he had read my mind, the limping guard said, "Watch your step, pup. Even a rager wouldn't survive the fall if we decided to pitch him in." More nasty chuckles. I said nothing, but for the rest of the journey I lagged behind the two guards.
The ledge eventually deepened , to reveal a natural stone archway in the wall. I could sense a wide space beyond, and a large depression in the ground at the end of it.
"A pit," said One-Eye in response to my unasked question. "To imprison those who do not obey."
I stood there for a moment, lost in thought. How many rats had been tortured here? What crimes had they committed? The entire place reeked of death and decay, and for a moment I thought I could feel the spirits of the rats who had died in the pit. A chill ran down my spine.
"Come along!" snapped the limping rat.
I followed the guards past the archway, and back onto the narrow ledge on the other side. It was not long before we came to a tunnel in the stone, extending backward for an indeterminate length. The guards led me into the tunnel. We turned left. Walked up a corkscrewing path. Turned right. Walked down the tunnel, and came to an opening at the end. I could see light beyond.
The opening was blocked by yet another rat. I didn't need the dim light to be able to see his unfriendly glare. "Ratchet. Twingetail. What are you doing here? And who's the mite with you?"
"It's a matter of urgency," responded the one with the limp, Twingetail. "This pup needs to see the king at once. He says he has important news."
"King Bloodsheen is too busy to make time for every mangy pup who wishes to see him. Send him away," growled the guard.
"With all respect, his request does seem worth considering," said Ratchet. "The boy claims to be a rager."
"Indeed?" asked the guard, looking genuinely surprised. "A rager? Perhaps he should see the king." He turned his gaze upon me. "But be warned, pup, those who waste the king's time don't always turn out happily." He stepped aside with a sarcastic bow.
Eagerly, I pushed forward, all three guards hurrying behind. I trotted into the cavern… and stopped short, taking in the wonder of it all.
It was a fairly large cavern, much larger than our nest at home. The luminous fungi grew on every surface, glowing brightly from every nook and cranny of the cave. Light fell on the numerous gems and crystals scattered uselessly about the floor, and the rocky pool of water in a corner large enough for a grown rat to bathe in, as was of course the intention. The light shone off the shelf of rock on the far side of the cavern, about the shape and size of a bed, and covered with soft, comfortable moss.
Lounging on the stone bed was a large rat with an elegant burgundy coat. The first thing I noticed about him was his powerful body… or what had once been powerful, long ago, in the king's younger days. He was still large, but in a different way, with a massive stomach that spilled over onto the bed. I also noted a patch of wispy whitish fur around his muzzle… white with age, not naturally.
Upon my arrival, King Bloodsheen heaved himself, with some difficulty, into a sitting position. For a minute he silently surveyed me, or perhaps he was simply too lazy to work his jaw. When he finally did speak, I almost jumped.
"Pup. What is your name?" The king's voice was low and rumbling; pleasant, if you ignored the fact that he had called me a pup. With the guards it had been one thing, as they'd obviously been trying to goad me, but the king had thought me a pup out of sheer ignorance, which somehow made it a million times more offensive.
"Ripred, your majesty," I said, a slight tremor in my voice.
The king surveyed me through beady eyes almost hidden by rolls of fat. "Ripred… of Wrathspur's litter, were you not? Yes, I knew your father. I was most disheartened to hear of his death."
King Bloodsheen's words had pierced me to the heart, but through my sorrow, I seemed to notice a whiff of some strong emotion in the air… fear?
"Yes, your majesty," I answered quickly.
"So… why have you come to see me?"
At this, one of the guards, who was hovering near the opening, spoke up. "Sir, the pup claims to be a-"
"SILENCE!" thundered the king, so loudly that a pebble fell from above and plinked to the floor nearby. "Let the boy speak for himself. Ripred, why have you come?"
"I-I'm a rager, your majesty," I stuttered.
The king was a long time in responding. Finally, he said, "I see. How long have you known of this talent?"
"Since I was a pup, sir," I said. "I got in a fight with…" I trailed off, in no mood to detail my quarrel with Cleaver.
"Interesting," rumbled the king. "So your ability is untested?"
"Yes, sir."
"But you are sure of it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Ripred, we are indeed in want of your abilities. Negotiations with both the humans and the spinners have broken down, and we may be facing a war with either or both in the foreseeable future. Having a rager on our side will be an irreplaceable asset to our army."
Standing there, I was puzzled at the king's instant acceptance of my rager abilities. The guards had laughed at me when I'd told them, my own father had taken weeks to figure it out, but King Bloodsheen had believed me immediately, almost without question. Of course, the king hadn't struck me as a particularly intelligent or inquisitive type, but still…
"In the meantime," the king was saying, "I assume that you're weary from your journey. You may pick any cavern that you like in the nearby tunnels to be your own. You may wander where you will, but do not go too far, and stay away from the Great Chasm that you saw on your way here. The ground is unstable there. Other than that, you have free reign, except for your lessons, which should start soon. There is a lake nearby, and caverns full of mushrooms, which should be adequate for your food supply."
"Lessons, your majesty?"
The king laughed, a rollicking, booming sound. His enormous belly wobbled like jello. "You may be a rager, young Ripred, but you still have much to learn about fighting in an army. I shall make sure that you are taught. In the meantime, make yourself at home." And with that, the conversation was over.
…
The lake was rather large, with many curves and inlets, and tunnel openings on every side. After exploring the tunnels nearby and getting the general layout of the land, I chose a cavern near the lakeside to be my own. The first night was terrible. I kept rolling over, wanting desperately to cuddle up with my siblings… and not being able to. I finally slept huddled in a corner, my back pressed against the icy stone wall, my belly exposed to the air, easy prey for any adversary who might chance to enter the cave.
Indeed, it was quite a long time before I got used to sleeping on my own, which turned out to be the way I would sleep for the rest of my life, with a few exceptions.
The next morning I was visited by a messenger. "Your first fighting lesson shall take place today at the training field. Be there promptly in three hours." After giving me directions on how to get to the training field, he departed.
I set out at the proper time. Upon entering the training field, a large, high-ceilinged cave that seemed to stretch out forever in every direction, the first things I sensed were the rats. Rats everywhere, sparring, leaping, snapping, their tails flicking back and forth and all about, their claws slicing erratically. One rat skidded across the ground on his back, coming to a stop not ten feet from me. Without a word, the rat leapt to his feet and rejoined the fray.
I stood on the edge of it all, unsure of what to do… surely the messenger had gotten the time wrong. Nobody here was giving me a second glance. I was just about to leave when I perceived a change.
Instead of continuing to spar with each other like partners in some bizarre dance, the gnawers were now silent and still. Not a whisker twitched. Everyone was facing toward the far side of the field, where a single rat had risen to his hind legs.
"FORM RANKS!" he bellowed, his voice making my ears twinge.
There was a great shuffling in the cavern as the rats wordlessly rearranged themselves. Within a surprisingly short amount of time, they were standing in a new formation entirely. Now, instead of standing scattered across the cavern, they were arranged in an enormous rectangle, shoulder to shoulder, row upon row, each staring solemnly forward. The speed and ease at which they had all moved as a group was quite intimidating.
Standing at the tunnel mouth, half in and half out, I slowly began to shrink back. Clearly I had come at the wrong time. These lessons were for experienced soldiers, not novices like me. I should leave right now, before anyone-
"You!" bellowed the rat standing at the head of the formation. "You in the back!" He waved his tail in my direction, and I realized that he meant me.
"What?" I managed to squeak.
"Come forward. Now!"
I stumbled forward, through the ranks of soldiers, who shifted slightly to clear my path. After an eternity, I finally reached the front. The commander was a big brute of a soldier, as large as those two tunnel guards had been.
"So, pup," he said, his voice at a level tone but dripping with menace all the same, "Why did you not form ranks with the rest?"
"It's my first time, sir. I-I don't know how…"
"Idiocy is no excuse," hissed the head rat, his face in mine. "What is your name?"
"Ripred, sir."
"Well, Ripred, you are now a part of the military force for the gnawer nation. You will treat those above your rank with deference. Tell me, who arranged for you to be part of the military?"
"King Bloodsheen, sir."
The commander scowled. "King Bloodsheen? Nonsense! The insolence of it! How dare you presume to-"
"I'm a rager, sir," I said quietly.
I could sense the soldiers in the cavern all looking at me with awe. In front of me, the head rat scratched at his head unconcernedly. "So it is you? Youare the rager they are talking about? You don't look like much."
The commander could be excused for this impolite comment. I was still young, and in the short period of time since Father's death I had eaten a dangerously small amount, and as a result I was scrawny, with damp, bedraggled fur. Perhaps everyone expected a rager to be a massive, twice-sized hulk, like the legendary white rat, not a plain, featureless adolescent.
Without warning, the head rat swung his tail in my direction. I started, and squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the blow… that never came. I squeaked, and found that his tail was inches from my face, clasped in my paw. Without meaning to, I had blocked him.
"So," said the commander thoughtfully. "You're the one they told me about. The rager, the young prodigy, well to me you're nothing but another worthless brat to teach. If you want to get out of the army alive, you'll follow my commands to the letter. Is this understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good, then. My name is General Coilthroat. I will be your instructor."
While the other rats in the troop returned to their play-fighting, General Coilthroat led me through a series of rigorous tests. First I was forced to run laps around the perimeter of the cavern. I started out beautifully, with a burst of speed, the air rushing past me, my paws flying across the dirt. By the third lap, I was stumbling, zigzagging, my tongue hanging almost to the ground, my paws and tail scraped raw on the stone floor. A stitch in my side had erupted, and I felt its jab every time I moved. Still Coilthroat pushed me harder and harder. If I paused even for a moment, he would smack me in the face, and I would reel with pain.
When General Coilthroat finally allowed me to stop, I collapsed on the cold floor, wanting nothing more than to crumble and die, become part of the stone, the lifeless, never-moving stone. But that didn't work out. General Coilthroat forced me to my feet, and led me across the cavern, to a place where the walls were made of smooth rock and extended far upward, to heights unreachable.
"Climb," he commanded, and I was scaling the wall, digging my claws into the crumbling stone, scraping footholds when there were none. Sometimes I had to leap upward to grasp a clawhold, which was exceedingly dangerous. Coilthroat silently stood and watched me, taking note of my mistakes, observing my technical skill.
And so the tests went on. Swimming, fighting, flexibility… every movement I thought would be my last, and yet somehow I managed to find the strength for one more, one more, one more. On and on, until it seemed that all of eternity would be spent in endless pain and torment. It was my first dose of true exhaustion, of which there would be more to come, much more.
Finally, after a particularly trying test of how high I could leap, I collapsed to the ground, my breath coming in uneven gasps. Let General Coilthroat abuse me, let him torment me, but I would not move a muscle. I was as immobile as the stone. I could have lain there forever without the tip of my tail so much at twitching.
I could sense the cavern ceiling, far above. I could hear each individual stalactite, each deadly point. I could also sense Coilthroat, standing nearby. Whatever I was in for, it had to be better than moving again… I could take anything he gave to me, so long as I didn't have to work my muscles…
Coilthroat walked over to me, shaking his head. "Well, pup, I honestly expected more from a rager, even on your first time, but if that is truly the best you can do…" He sighed again, as if already dreading his next lesson with me.
I nodded weakly. Anything, so long as I didn't have to move. Even the prospect of being a soldier seemed distant and far away, unimportant. Rest was top priority. I could attend to everything else later.
After a vague length of time, I rolled to my feet. General Coilthroat was gone. Practice seemed to be over. The cavern was less full, and the rats that remained were lounging about and chatting unconcernedly, as if they had all the time in the world.
One rat walked up to me. He was young, I noticed, only a few months older than me. "So," he asked in a timid voice, "You're the rager?"
I nodded wordlessly.
"The entire Underland's buzzing about you. Some even say you're going to fulfill the Prophecy of the Crown."
I was taken aback. "What?"
"The Prophecy of the Crown," repeated the rat patiently. "You know, the prophecy by Sandwich."
"What does Sandwich have to do with anything?" I asked, nonplussed.
"Haven't you ever heard of Sandwich's prophecies?"
"Father told me about how Sandwich and the other killers invaded the Underland and killed the diggers. What's a prophecy?" And what was a crown?
"You see," began the rat, "Sandwich was evil, but he was wise in the twisted way of killers. He could tell about things that were yet to come, and know of them before they happened. Most thought he was crazy, but as time went on they found that everything he predicted came true."
My head spun with new information. Not only had Sandwich been a cruel monster, but he had been able to predict the future as well? Why had Father not told us? Had he wanted to shelter me? Had he been planning to tell us when we grew older, before he had been killed?
My mind teemed with all these questions. The only one I succeeded in voicing, however, was, "What's the Prophecy of the Crown about?"
"It's about the king and queen- the human king and queen, not King Bloodsheen. It has to do with their crown, the golden band they wear around the very top of their heads to signify their royalty. It's going to change allegiance… from hand to silver paw, or something like that. I can't remember the exact wording. But there's going to be a shift in power, and the rats are going to become even more powerful. They're saying you'll be the one to capture the crown."
"I understand," I managed, even though I didn't, then quickly changed the subject. "In the meantime…"
"Oh, don't worry about General Coilthroat," the rat said earnestly. "He's harsh, but you'll get better soon. I promise!" And with than, he scampered off, leaving me alone in the middle of the training field.
