Here's a non-trans story about a rat

When I first woke up I was really scared of the blurs. They screamed through the darkness, and shone their many eyes. But eventually I realized: you know what? It’s fine! They’re fixed to their paths, bound to forever retrace their steps. Honestly, I could relate. Just stay out of your way and they’ll stay out of yours. Too bad Limper had to find out the hard way.

Eventually I found the great bright place, full of noise and roaming pillars but also incredible food. They screamed, sometimes, too, which usually meant it was a good idea to get out of there.

I knew they weren’t just pillars. I wasn’t dumb. Well, not since I woke up, at least. They were definitely beings like us, but bald and stretched upward grotesquely and bedecked with flapping colors and their snouts smashed backwards into their heads to fit the column of the rest of them.

And I realized the blurs weren’t so scary either. They rested in the bright place, and the us-but-tall went in and out of their mouths. Or maybe it was their butts? They seemed to use the same openings for both.

I always felt this instinctive panic come over me when I was in the bright, especially if there was no dark nearby. But it was worth it for the stuff the tall ones dropped! Their food had all five of the mouth tingles. They even had some tingles that were completely new to me, if they even were tingles? They made my mouth feel hot or cold, but my paw could feel that they weren’t.

Sometimes I went with Loper to the bright, but usually I went alone. It was easier to avoid notice alone, and besides sometimes Loper was kinda a pain.

The tall ones came in and out of the great bright by climbing huge terraced mountains. I always wondered what was up there. Father said it was a huge land full of monsters, but Father said a lot of things.

Then one day, I noticed… a lot of the blurs were missing. I convinced Leaper and Licker and Leaner to come with me to investigate, because they were big and strong and old enough to not be careless, and I was scared something was killing the blurs. Loper insisted on coming too, of course.

We crept slowly towards the great bright, only to find that it was empty too. Not completely absent of tall ones, but far fewer than there had always been. It was like that the next day. And the next one too.

Our family had grown large relying on the tall one’s debris for sustenance, and suddenly there wasn’t nearly enough to feed all the hungry mouths around. Father called an emergency meeting.

“Before the awakening, we used to simply let our children die if they could not feed themselves, but it is not the old times anymore. I know the mountain’s peak is a huge and dangerous place, but I fear we have no choice. Those of age, stay and we will plan our expeditions.”

I was assigned to a squad with Leaner, Lighter, and Liker. Leaner would be the muscle and pack mule, Lighter would scout, Liker would keep watch, and I would coordinate this all. I was worried Liker was too soft and distractible, but Father said the squads had to be even and wouldn’t let me have Leaper.

Slowly the four of us ascended the mountain, having to stop and rest after several terraces from the effort of pulling ourselves up to the next ledge. At the peak, a great brightness--greater than even the great bright--grew and grew in its awful brilliance.

Finally, the brightness engulfed us, and we found ourselves staring at a vast plain of stone and earth, stretching far outward beyond the limits of our vision. It was quiet, which I hadn’t expected, except for the boxes that blurred by. They seemed related to the blurs, but they didn’t scream. Maybe the blurs just didn’t like the darkness, like how we didn’t like the light.

Regathering my thoughts, I started sniffing and smelt the telltale scent of tall one food.

“Lighter, head that way--” I pointed with my snout--”and report back. The rest of us will remain here so we can retreat down the mountain if necessary.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he said, before flicking his ears up and rushed off in that direction.

“Liker, stay alert. Leaner, you’re with me.”

“Understood!” Leaner said. Liker was silent.

“Liker?”

“O-oh, sorry, I was just… a little overwhelmed. How can the tall ones live up here?! Are they just constantly afraid and walk onward through that?”

“Well, we don’t know if they even can feel fear, really,” I pointed out. “Or if they do, it might be very different from the way we feel it. That said, please do keep watch or I’ll have to report you to Father.”

“So sorry, ma’am. On it!”

We waited breathlessly until Lighter returned.

“There’s a guy,” he panted.

“What?” What in the tunnels was he on about, honestly.

“There’s a guy! He’s about our size but he stands like the tall ones but he has a pointy face that he kept stabbing at the air and I think he yelled at me but I couldn’t understand him.”

“Did you successfully locate the food? You know, the goal of this mission. We weren’t sent up here to find extratunnelar life.”

“Yes ma’am. That’s why the guy was yelling, I think. He got mad because he was by the food first, stabbing it with his face. It’s one of the big triangles, too, with the meat tingle and the dust tingle.

“Well, we need this food more than him. Leaner, are you prepared to engage a potential hostile? Lighter, I want you to lead us there and then provide backup if needed.”

“Yes, ma’am, ready, willing and able.” I believe it, too. I’d seen how he kills the small hard scuttlers. Sometimes he scared me a little, but right now he was the perfect guy to be on my team. Besides, he was family.

Lighter led us to the food where, indeed, a strange being was trying to drag a slab of food away. At first I thought it had no forelimbs, but then they suddenly flashed out then back in. out and in, like the flapping of the tall one’s colors.

Leaner tensed up, pulling his ears back and whipping his tail. He lunged at the being, giving it a hard bite. It released the food and shrieked and, to my shock, flapped its forelimbs and rose into the sky.

Leaner was up on his hindlimbs, trying to snap at it, but it was already too high. “Let it go, Leaner. It’s gone. Just grab the food and we’ll head home. Lighter, check if the way back is safe. Liker, watch our tails.”

“Yes, ma’am!” they chorused. Lighter ran off as we started creeping homeward, and returned with an all clear.

By the time we managed to drag the rat-sized triangle down the mountain, I was exhausted but satisfied with our day’s work. Father should be proud.