Mama always say, "Survivin' ain't da same as livin'."
We survived da fight.
But dat didn' mean we was safe.
Da Capybara didn' waste no time.
Right after da fight, he flicked his ear, lookin' at us real slow-like.
"Kweek." ("Ya live. Now ya follow da rules.")
Mama sat up straight. Her fur was still messy from all da fightin', but she didn' show no fear. "Squeak?" ("What rules?")
Da Capybara's big ol' paws flexed against da rock.
Den he spoke.
*Da Burrow's Rules*
[Da strong get first pick. Food, shelter, weapons—da biggest an' smartest take what dey want first. If ya want more? Get stronger.]
[Ya don' steal from da Burrow. Take what ya need, but take too much? Ya get thrown to da Wilds. Da Wilds don' let no one back.]
[Ya fight if ya challenged. If sumone wants what ya got, ya gotta earn it. No refusin'. No cryin'. Ya win or ya lose.]
[If ya make trouble, ya get thrown in da Pits. I dunno what da Pits is. I don' wanna find out.]
[Da Capybara decide what's fair. An' what he say? Go.]
Mama listened real quiet.
Her whiskers twitched. Thinkin'.
She didn' like it.
I didn' either.
Rusty, meanwhile—
"SWEEEEEEK!" ("DIS SOUND AWESOME!")
Mama smacked him immediately.
"Squeak!" ("HAVE YA EVEN THOUGHT BOUT WHAT HE SAID?")
Rusty blinked. "Sweek?" ("Ya mean da part where we get strong an' take what we want?")
Mama groaned.
Da Capybara watched us. His tail flicked against da stone. "Kweek." ("Ya can leave if ya don' like it.")
Mama stiffened.
Cuz we knew.
Leavin' meant death.
Da Wilds was crawlin' wit' stabby-fluffies.
Da hooman ruins had da metal monsters.
If we ran?
We'd have nowhere to go.
Mama knew it.
Da Capybara knew it.
We wasn' guests.
We was trapped.
Mama sighed. "Squeak." ("Fine. Where we stayin'?")
Da Capybara flicked his ear toward Torn-Ear. "Hup." ("He'll show ya.")
Torn-Ear grinned."Squeak." ("Follow me, squeakers.")
*****
It wasn' much.
Jus' a small cave dug into da tunnels.
Dirt walls. A couple piles of old, chewed-up cloth for beds. A tiny hole dat let in air from da surface.
But it was ours.
Rusty flopped down first.
"SWEEK!" ("DIS NICE.")
Twitch shivered, huggin' himself. "Sqwek." ("Dis feel like a prison.")
Peanut groaned, floppin' on his back."Sqeek." ("I dun care. I could sleep in a pile of rocks right now.")
Mama sat in da middle, lookin' round da cave real slow. Thinkin' again.
I knew what she was thinkin'.
We needed a plan.
Da Burrow was tough.
Da Burrow was dangerous.
An' if we wanted to live here, we had to get tougher.
We barely even got to sleep before Poppy snapped.
She woke up in da middle of da night, twitched her whiskers, an' growled.
"Sqweeeek." ("I gotta do it.")
Cricket groaned, half-asleep. "Sqeek?" ("Do what?")
Poppy sat up. Her eyes burned."Sqweek." ("I gotta find dat prairie dog an' lick IT.")
I sat up real fast."SQUEAK?!" ("WHAT?!")
Rusty shot up grinnin'."SWEEK!" ("I LIKE DIS PLAN.")
Mama grabbed both dey ears.
"SQUEAK!" ("BOTH OF YOU GO BACK TO SLEEP.")
Poppy struggled."Sqweeeeek!" ("IT LICKED ME FIRST!")
Rusty giggled."Sweek!" ("Poppy, I'll help.")
Mama smacked both of 'em.
*****
Mornin' came.
Hunger came faster.
We needed food.
But da Burrow had its own way of handlin' dat.
Mama led us through da tunnels, sniffin' out da marketplace.
It weren' much—just a big open cavern where all da rodents swapped supplies.
Old beetle shells for armor. Sharp lil' bones for weapons.
An' food.
But we had nuffin' to trade.
Mama kept us close as we walked.
Twitch still looked spooked from last night. Poppy twitched her whiskers every time a prairie dog passed us, mutterin', "Sqweeek." ("If I see dat Chee-Chee again, I bite him first.")
Rusty was bouncin'."Sweek!" ("Look at all dis stuff! I wanna touch ALL of it!")
Mama grabbed his ear. "Squeak!" ("You touch nuffin'.")
Rusty pouted.
Da marketplace was loud.
Rodents squabblin' over trades. Squirrels dartin' between stalls, bartering wit' scraps of old hooman cloth. A chinchilla sittin' behind a pile of stolen trinkets, polishin' a shiny button like it was gold.
Food sat in piles, stacked up in corners.
Seeds. Mushrooms. Dried beetles on sticks.
Rusty stared."Sweek." ("…Dat a bug kebab?")
Cricket tilted her head."Sqeek?" ("Would it be bad if I said I kinda wanna try one?")
Mama ignored 'em. She walked up to a fat squirrel sittin' behind a crate of nuts an' berries.
"Squeak." ("We need food.")
Da squirrel sniffed. "Meep." ("Ya got trade?")
Mama shook her head. "Squeak." ("Not yet. But we can work for it.")
Da squirrel sneered.
"Meep." ("No trade? No food.")
Den he took a berry an' ate it real slow.
Just to be a jerk.
Mama's ears twitched. "Squeak." ("Maybe dere someone else we can—")
"Ssssqueak." ("Fight for it.")
We turned.
A rat—big, one of da Burrow's tough types, sittin' near a pile of dried roots. He gnawed on one real slow, watchin' us.
Grizz tensed.
Mama sighed. "Squeak." ("Dat's how food works here?")
Da rat grinned.
"Ssssqueak." ("Dat's how everythin' work here.")
I was too busy listenin' to notice Sumo wanderin' off.
Sumo—one of my brothers.Roundest outta all of us, not big like Grizz, just… soft.
An' right now?
He was stuck starin' at a pile of mushrooms.
"Sqwek." ("Dey look so soft…")
"Meep!" ("HEY!")
I spun around just in time to see a squirrel shove Sumo.
"Meep." ("NO TOUCHIN'!")
Sumo stumbled, blinked.
Den, real slow, he muttered.
"Sqweeeek." ("I hungry.")
An' den he grabbed a mushroom an' ATE IT.
Da whole market went quiet.
Mama turned so slow.
"SQUEAK?!" ("SUMO?!")
Sumo chewed.
Nodded.
"Sqwek." ("It good.")
Rusty died laughin'.
"SWEEEEEEK!" ("HE JUST ATE IT!")
Da squirrel was FURIOUS.
"MEEP!" ("DAT A CHALLENGE!")
Da crowd erupted.
Torn-Ear popped up outta nowhere."Squeak!" ("Dat mean fight!")
Mama slapped her own face.
Sumo swallowed.
Den blinked. "Sqwek." ("Wait… fight?")
"MEEP!" ("YA LOSE, YA GET BIT!")
Sumo's ears flattened."Sqweeeek." ("...Oh.")
Mama groaned.
*****
Sumo was so dead.
Da squirrel was bigger, faster, meaner.
Sumo?
Sumo was round.
Sumo was soft.
Sumo was already regrettin' everythin'.
"Sqweeek!" ("CAN I JUST SAY SORRY?")
Da Capybara flicked his ear."Kweek." ("Begin.")
Da squirrel charged.
Sumo froze.
Didn' dodge.
Didn' move.
Just squeaked in terror."SQUEEEEEEEK!" ("DON' KILL MEEEE!")
Den—
He fell over.
Not on purpose.
Sumo just collapsed.
Outta fear.
His big round body rolled—straight into da squirrel's legs.
Da squirrel tripped.
Didn' just trip—he FELL.
Hard.
Right on his own tail.
SNAP.
Da squirrel let out a horrified screech."MEEP!" ("MY TAIL!")
Da crowd GASPED.
Sumo lay on da ground, eyes closed.
Didn' even realize what happened.
He thought he was dead.
Silence.
Den—
"Hup." ("Winner.")
Mama's jaw dropped.
Rusty screamed."SWEEEEEEK!" ("SUMO ACCIDENTALLY WON!")
Sumo opened one eye."Sqwek?" ("I ain't dead?")
Poppy poked him."Sqweeeek." ("I fink ya just invented da fall-over fight style.")
Mama sighed. "Squeak." ("Fine. We keep da mushrooms.")
Sumo sat up, confused but happy."Sqwek." ("I like dis place.")
I shuddered.
We weren' invisible no more.
Dat wasn' good.
*****
Sumo won by accident.
Rusty hated dat.
He sulked da whole way back to our den, tail draggin'. "Sweek." ("How come Sumo get a fight an' I don'?")
Mama sighed. "Squeak." ("Sumo didn' get a fight, he got lucky.")
Rusty crossed his paws. "Sweek." ("Still won.")
Grizz rolled his eyes. "Ssssqueak." ("Ya wanna fight? Jus' wait. Trouble always find ya.")
Rusty perked up."SWEEK!" ("YA PROMISE?!")
Mama smacked him. "Squeak!" ("NO.")
But Grizz was right.
Trouble found Rusty real fast.
It started in da tunnels.
We was lookin' round, learnin' da layout, figurin' which paths led where.
Rusty wandered too much.
Didn' notice da huge pouched rat watchin' him from da shadows.
Didn' notice til it shoved him.
Hard.
Rusty stumbled, blinked."Sweek?" ("Wha—")
Da pouched rat grinned.
"Ssssqueak." ("Ya bumped me. Dat means we fight now.")
We froze.
Twitch grabbed my paw."Sqwek." ("Not again.")
Mama's fur bristled."SQUEAK?!" ("WHAT?")
Da rat rolled his shoulders."Ssssqueak." ("Dat's da rule.")
Rusty's ears twitched.
His eyes lit up.
"SWEEEEEEK!" ("I WANNA FIGHT!")
Mama grabbed his face.
"SQUEAK!" ("RUSTY NO!")
Rusty turned back to da pouched rat.
"SWEEK!" ("FIGHT ME.")
Mama grabbed his whole body.
Too late.
Da crowd gathered.
Da Capybara watched from his rock.
Da Burrow loved fights.
An' now?
Rusty had his first real one.
Da pouched rat was big.
Not as big as Grizz, but way bigger dan Rusty.
His claws was long. His teeth was sharp. His tail flicked slow as he cracked his neck.
Rusty?
Rusty was grinnin'.
Da Capybara flicked his ear."Kweek." ("Begin.")
Da pouched rat lunged.
Rusty swung.
BONK.
BAM.
FLASHLIGHT TO DA FACE.
"SWEEEEEK!" ("BONKED YA!")
Da pouched rat stumbled.
Da crowd gasped.
Mama facepalmed.
Da rat shook himself off.
"Ssssqueak." ("Lucky hit.")
Rusty twirled his flashlight."Sweek!" ("Dey all lucky.")
Den da rat charged.
Rusty dodged.
Barely.
Da rat's claws scraped his tail, almost catchin' him.
Rusty scrambled backward, swung again.
BONK.
Didn' hit clean dis time.
Da rat took it, shoved Rusty back.
Rusty rolled.
Twitch squealed."Sqwek!" ("HE LOSIN'!")
Peanut hid his face."Sqeek!" ("I can' watch!")
Cricket leaned forward."Sqeek." ("I wanna see if he dies.")
Mama slapped Cricket.
Rusty panted.
Da rat grinned.
"Ssssqueak." ("Ya fun. But ya done.")
Den—
Da rat leapt.
Rusty's eyes widened.
No time to dodge.
So—
He swung.
BAM.
Rusty bonked da rat right in da teeth.
Hard.
Real hard.
Da crowd winced.
Mama winced.
Even da Capybara twitched an ear.
Da rat froze.
His eyes watered.
His teeth rattled.
Den—
He dropped.
Face-first.
Didn' get up.
Silence.
Rusty stood over him.
Pantin'.
Grinnin'.
"SWEEEEEEK!" ("I WON!")
Da Capybara watched.
Didn' smile.
Didn' frown.
Den, he finally spoke.
"Kweek." ("Da guin-guin fights well.")
Rusty puffed up."SWEEK!" ("I DA STRONGEST GUIN-GUIN IN DA BURROW!")
Mama sighed so hard, I thought she'd pass out.
Den, sumthin' worse happened.
More rats stepped forward.
Bigger. Meaner.
One of 'em pointed at Rusty.
"Ssssqueak." ("He fight one rat. Now he fight us.")
Rusty froze.
His lil' ears twitched.
His grin faltered.
He turned to Mama.
"Sweek." ("I made a mistake.")
Mama smacked him."Squeak!" ("YES, YA DID.")
I gulped.