Rats

Rubbing her shoulder to ease the pain, Voah winced and then grabbed up the plump little beasty and skittered quietly back the way she came, around a corner and dipped through a broken door as a couple of the dark robes searched the proximity.

She was not afraid of rats, in fact, she used to keep them around as pets on occasion when she was a young girl, even into her teenage years. It was one of the reasons that other kids found her strange. Voah thought the critters were quite sweet while also understanding the point that infestations were never any good, but she would actually take offense when her peers likened rats to witches saying they should all be destroyed. How dare they offend rats like that?

No, she was not afraid of the roguish little rodent, but the feeling of its sudden presence paired with the adrenaline of her stealth investigation had startled her. She was excited and bit on edge.

Sweat rolled down her neck and chest as she hid in the dark corner behind the broken door, breathing quietly, waiting for the men to pass… and they did.

It was late afternoon, but awfully hot. Voah held the rat in front of her face and scrunched her nose.

“You nearly gave me away, shïūm. Whose side are you on, nnn?”

The rat retorted with a squeak. She smiled and tossed the thing gently onto a bed of sand that had formed a dune along the wall of the interior of the abandoned building.

Voah had followed the robed crew further into the city; far away from the sounds of chatter and music from the fresh crowds; far from the delicious smells of hot food and spices.

Her curiosity for these individuals had led her to a ward of abandonment; a faded remnant of a time gone by; home to rats, strays, and the forgotten. Some might call them vermin, but she had a soft spot for them.