Silhouette

The black rat's snoot twitched as it sought foreign scents. Its mischief had tasked it to scout this part of the sewer tunnels near the center of their territory in the clean city, and it took this duty seriously. Doubly so since their patriarch har reprimanded them following their poor performance on the clean side of the surface. Their benefactor had been unhappy with their failings, and they were all ashamed.

The rodent paused in its scurry. It wasn't a smell that clued it in, but rather a sound. There had been a scratching on the stone above, one that matched none of the usual critters in these parts. The fact it had no smell meant it was purposefully hiding itself, for even the silent metal spiders that occasionally passed by had one.

The rat resumed its walk, showing no sign of realizing anything was off, not even looking up to the ceiling where the source of the sound hid. Fighting now was reckless. If this mystery intruder stayed put, the rat could wait simply for its next run-in with one of its family members to share the information. If it disappeared by the time they next checked on it, they could just start to hunt it down. If it tried to ambush the rodent, however, it knew these tunnels by heart and where to head to meet reinforcements.

Moments later the scratching lightly echoed once more. Not only had it followed the rat, it had gotten closer since the last time. Close enough that it could just drop on its prey.

The rat ran, no longer bothering with playing pretend, right in time to avoid the tight grasp of suctioned tentacles of pale flesh that wound up holding nothing but air. The thing fully revealed itself now, a fleshy mass of boneless limbs and eyes walking on spindly blade-tipped legs, the whole creature held together by green leaves and barks infested by fungi and insects. The furry mammal hurried, well aware it could do little if it was caught.

Sadly for the rat, its stalker wasn't alone. Another one dropped before it, this one much closer to a centipede in appearance yet still covered in flesh rather than chitin and still enveloped in suspiciously harmonious greenery. This second attacker's antennae were quite dextrous and prehensile, immediately put to use to catch the rodent before it could adjust its course to avoid the new living obstacle in its way. The rough leathery skin had no issue wrapping around its relatively small form, the powerful muscles beneath holding onto its furry hide with no issue.

"My, brother, it appears I won."

"I disagree, sister. You only caught it because it was too focused on me to notice you."

"Ah, but the fact it evaded you means it noticed you before your attempt, hereby proving I was more subtle. My design wins."

"Had our roles been swapped, I would be the one who caught it."

"You have no evidence to back such a claim. Now hush, we have a duty to uphold."

The centipede turned to face the rat's eyes. The previously nearly featureless blob of flesh opened like a blooming flower to reveal a hairless smiling human female's visage.

"Why hello there, little one. We have much to ask of you."

The many-limbed blob dragged itself closer, its eyestalks flailing about.

"Sister, you are addressing a rodent. This isn't the right head for the job."

"Perhaps, but it is more appropriate than your anemone-like self. Now, little one, could you tell us about yourself?"

The rat sniffed. Now that it was closer, it realized those two did have a scent. They had hidden themselves by perfectly copying the natural smell of the sewage.

"Intruders. Unwelcomed.

"Sister, can you hear? It speaks with human words."

The rat paused. It and its family had grown used to communicating both via their ancient ways as well as speech, following in the wake of their patriarch and benefactor. It only now realized these creatures did the same, something much unusual for those lacking a connection as its mischief did.

"I hear, brother, but more importantly, I listen. Are we encroaching on your territory, little one? Do forgive my sibling and me, we are simply curious about this area."

"You see little one, my sister seek the help of a living shadow. Do you know one?"

The animal stayed silent.

"Little one, please answer my brother's plea. We would greatly appreciate it."

"Liars. Hunters. Predators."

The human face on the centipede smiled.

"Oh little one, what could have given you such a thought?"

"Yes, little one, why do you doubt our honesty?"

"Hide. Stalk. Ambush. Not seeking help. Seeking prey."

The two abominations exchanged a few silent looks.

"Oh, how sharp of you little one. My brother would learn much from you."

"Yes, we hunt the shadow. It is dangerous. My sister and I heard word of your fellows fleeing on the surface and came to investigate. We noticed odd patches of black stone here and there."

"Not unlike the fur on your skin. Was it always this way, little one? Did you perhaps fall victim to the shadow?"

The only answer the rodent gave was biting the tubes of meat holding it.

"Little one, you would gain much from helping us."

"Much better than to lose all by trying to stop us."

The rat narrowed its eyes before slowly nodding.

"Good, good little one. See brother? My methods are always superior."

"Be mindful of your words, sister. The Biflora told you he disapproved of this behavior."

For the first time it was revealed, the female face of the creature lost its smile in favor of a frown.

"Be careful yourself, brother."

The eyestalks vibrated as the more grotesque of the two stepped back, its tentacles raised high, supposedly in some sort of sign of surrender according to what the patriarch had taught the mischief.

The two monsters putting some distance between them was the perfect opportunity and the rodent did well to take advantage of it. It bit down on the skinny antennae holding it, this time putting much more force behind it than any mundane rat ever could. Its sharp incisors cut through the prehensile body parts, freeing it. It quickly scurried away, passing beneath the surprised centipede's elevated front. In the time it took for the female to recover, the male had already rushed ahead to follow the animal, almost stepping on his sister if it hadn't been for her quick reflexes.

"Do not be such a brute, brother!"

"Now is not the time, sister!"

The two creatures quickly focused back on their fleeing prey and chased after it, no longer putting any effort into stealth in favor of sheer speed. It only a dozen seconds for them to catch up to their relatively small prey.

"Come back here, little one."

"If you will not heed the word of nature will, then you will be made to heel!"

"Brother!"

"You have been too kind. You let it think it could ignore the call."

At last teeth-infested suckers caught black fur and stopped the rat's flight, stopping it in its tracks.

"If you refuse to aid the enforcers of nature's will, then know there is much we can do."

"Brother, the little one is caught. No need for further threats of violence."

"No, let me finish, sister. Little one, know that all you know and much more can be extracted from your flesh. If you wish to keep it attached to your bones, you will speak and guide us to the aberration of darkness."

The rat stayed silent, much to the beast's frustration.

"Do you have any more commentary, sister?"

"Sigh, I fear not. Unless you see the light, little one, I fear that is all."

"Then that is settled. A shame, little one. Know that under the Biflora's gentle grace, you would have been welcome, regardless of your taint. For his love touches all, from the grass to the mightiest of predators."

He paused, his many ocular organs turned on the critter in its grasp. It ignored his words and stayed stoic. He groaned.

"So be it. I warned you, little-"

Gigantic white jaws chomped down on the male, ripping off the body from the tentacles holding the rat. It immediately used the opportunity to run away once more, foregoing removing the limb still attached to it by the suckers and throbbing madly. The two creatures that had stalked it this far paid no mind to its escape, far too preoccupied with the massive reptilian beast hissing as it chewed on the still-living mass of leaves and flesh in its mouth.

The crocodile had to be bigger than a bus, and covered in so many scars it turned its hide white. The centipede's skin flaps closed back on her face even as she extended her legs to try and stab the water-dwelling predator, trying to dig at its throat and the underside of its jaw to free her siblings, screeching madly. At last, the flailing of the brother one of its tentacles to the creature's eyes, bothering it enough to let the would-be-prey run free. His trip through the teeth of the oversized lizard still left a mark, missing a good of his various appendages. Yet there was no blood.

The siblings retreated from the dirty waters the beast had emerged from with haste, pressing themselves against the wall.

"Are you well, brother?"

"Well enough, sister. But what is she doing here?"

"A wondrous question, brother. MARKED! What are you doing, intruding on the Hivines' holy mission?

The guttural growl of the reptile vibrated through their very being, strong enough to form tremendous splashes in the sewage as the beast stood still. The two monsters flinched as they tried to get further away, walking to the side without ever letting the infamous crocodile out of their view.

"It appears we are not welcomed in these halls, brother."

"Her tearing me to shreds was a clear enough sign, sister."

"Spare me the snark, brother. The Biflora must be informed. She is not known for allowing others in her territory, yet she makes an exception for this Silhouette. Why?"

"A most appropriate question, sister, one I would love to uncover the truth to once we are away from the hostile ruler of the sewers."

The centipede looked ready to retort but paused for a second.

"Brother, what is she doing here?"

"I already asked this, sister."

"I am well aware. But my question is, why is she here, beneath the civilized Zalcien, and not her usual domain in the wild parts? We know of passages that allow creatures such as her to slip through, but none should be nearby."

"Sister, allow me to reiterate. While this is major information I would love to uncover, we have more pressing and violent matters at hand."

"Yes, yes, forgive me, brother."

The two fleshy beasts looked at the crocodilian threat one last time before running away, hurrying their flight once they noticed the sound of displaced water following them.

Moments later, when it seemed the large predatory threat was gone, they found themselves surrounded by a swarm of black rats nearly the size of cats, though they weren't all that sizeable compared to the monsters dressed in green. With their enhanced senses the two easily noticed a very familiar scent among the furry crowd, a noticeable bloodied one standing out from the rest of the group. The only other rodent that was more eye-catching than their little escapee was the one with a front paw not made of meat and bone but vaporous darkness vaguely shaped like a claw. Its anomalous limb wasn't the only thing that made this one special. Its eyes held a lot more intelligence than the rest, an impressive feat for animals already smarter than their already normally intelligent were.

"Intruders. You plague our domain in a doomed quest. You will find nothing here but death. Surrender and you shall live to see the light once more."

The siblings exchanged a look.

"It appears things are getting more and more dire, sister."

"Indeed, brother. Black spots, the Marked, and now a vermin army? One that refuses our savior's call? It paints quite the fearsome picture of our target."

"Should we call for reinforcements, sister?"

The centipede scoffed.

"They may be many, but there are but small omnivores while we are large predators. There is no need to worry, brother."

The rat in charge provided an impressive rebuttal by leaping at the centipede and clawing at her armored with its phantasmal limb, drawing black gouges on her body with a soul-splitting shriek from the monster as she began to ram herself against all solid surfaces to try and dislodge the mammal. Her brother had no choice but to grab her and plunge into the putrid waterway in the middle of the tunnel to make the attacker let go, giving the tentacled beast the perfect opening to scamper away with his spasming sister in his grasp.

The dark swarm pursued, relentless hunters until the blob found its way to a sewer grate and climbed out. They stay hidden in the shadows as daylight shined down, watching the intruders leave their territory in silence. Only their leader looked away, his eyes instead falling on the white mass hidden in the waters nearby. He sent it a thankful nod, with the large body fully disappearing in response.

Under normal circumstances, at least a few of them would have continued to pursue, if only to keep track of them. Even at the risk of being noticed on the surface world.

Polisson knew there was no need. The monsters were running right into his master's hands.