Mama always say, "Mornin's don' fix problems. Dey just remind ya dat da problems still there."
*****
I woke up feelin' like I ain't sleep at all.
Da floor was too hard. Da air was too still. Da smell of damp dirt an' old fur clung to my whiskers, remindin' me exactly where we was.
Still here.
Still in da Capybara's world.
Still stuck.
Mama was already up, sittin' near da entrance, watchin' da tunnel like she expected trouble.
She probably did.
She probably wasn't wrong.
I stretched, feelin' da ache in my paws.
My stomach grumbled, remindin' me we ain't had a proper meal since da day before.
We had food now. Da Burrow made sure of dat.
Didn' mean I trusted it.
Didn' mean I wanted to owe 'em for it.
I sat up, blinkin' at da Silent Three.
Grim, Grit, an' Gale was awake, but dey wasn't doin' nuffin'.
Jus' sittin'.
Still.
Silent.
Waitin'.
Mama glanced at me.
Didn' say nuffin'.
Didn' have to.
Her eyes already asked da question.
What now?
I took a deep breath.
Brushed da dirt from my fur.
An' said it.
Squeak ("I'm gonna get da others.")
Mama Ain't Happy
Her tail flicked, but she didn' look surprised.
Squeak ("Not a good idea.")
Her voice was calm, but I heard what she wasn't sayin'.
I crossed my arms.
Squeak ("Dey don' know where we are. Rusty probably think we got eaten.")
Which wasn't a joke. He actually might.
Mama exhaled slow, like she was tryin' not to argue.
She rubbed a paw over her face.
Squeak ("Ya know da tunnels by now. Dey know where we started. Dey'll find us.")
I frowned.
She wasn't wrong.
Didn' mean she was right.
Squeak ("Maybe. Maybe not. I'd rather not wait to find out.")
Dis time, she did look at me.
Real steady.
Real long.
Like she was thinkin' through what might happen next.
Mama didn' like takin' risks.
Didn' like takin' chances she didn' control.
She was da kind to wait things out, to watch, to move only when she knew it was safe.
Me?
I wasn't like that.
I couldn' sit still.
Couldn' just hope things worked out.
Not when our family was out there somewhere, guessin' where we was, maybe worried, maybe gettin' into trouble.
I needed to go.
I needed to do sumthin'.
She sighed.
Finally.
Squeak ("Ya go, ya don' make noise. Ya don' get followed. Ya don' get caught.")
Her tail flicked again.
Squeak ("Ya get da others... an' ya get back.")
I nodded, already standin' up.
Didn' need to be told twice.
Silent Three, Still Watchin'
I glanced at Grim, Grit, an' Gale.
Dey hadn't said a word.
Didn' even look surprised dat I was leavin'.
Like dey already knew how dis was gonna go.
I hesitated.
Squeak ("Ya three comin'?")
Grim blinked slow.
Grit scratched at his ear.
Gale tilted his head slightly, like he was considerin' it.
Den—
Nuffin'.
Didn' even shake dey heads.
Didn' matter.
I didn' need 'em to come.
I was goin' either way.
Mama sighed again, mutterin' under her breath.
Didn' catch what she said.
Didn' ask.
Cuz in da next moment, I was already slippin' into da tunnels—
Headin' back to find da rest of my family.
Back into Da Burrow
I moved fast but quiet.
Didn' wanna be seen.
Didn' wanna be stopped.
Didn' wanna explain why I was leavin' da place we just agreed to stay in.
Da tunnels felt different now.
Not new.
Just... heavier.
Like now dat I knew what dis place really was—I could feel it.
I passed by rodents who barely noticed me.
A mouse dartin' from one tunnel to another.
A rat loungin' against a dirt wall, pickin' at his claws.
A squirrel tyin' up a small bundle of stolen cloth.
No one stopped me.
But dat didn' mean dey wasn't watchin'.
I could feel eyes on me.
Hear quiet murmurs.
A sense of awareness.
Like da Burrow was a livin' thing, an' I was jus' a tiny part of it, movin' through its veins.
Dis wasn't a home.
Wasn't a hideout.
It was sumthin' bigger.
A system. A world wit' its own rules.
An' we was a new piece on da board.
Didn' matter.
I had a job to do.
I moved faster, takin' da quickest tunnels, sniffin' out da air, followin' da faint scent of home.
Rusty.
Poppy.
Twitch.
Peanut.
Cricket.
Sumo.
Grizz.
All of 'em.
Dey was out there.
An' I was gonna find 'em.
Da Burrow was big.
But I was faster.
Smaller.
Sneakier.
Da tunnels stretched out ahead, twistin' an' splittin' like a giant maze, a tangled mess of dirt, roots, an' old burrow paths.
But I wasn't lost.
I followed da scent of home.
Rusty's fur always smelled like dirt an' burnt berries.
Poppy's had da faintest scent of flowers, from da time she rolled in sum stolen petals.
Peanut smelled like nuffin' at all. Somehow. Always.
Twitch? He always smelled like fear.
I sniffed da air.
Focused.
Found da faintest whiff of sumthin' familiar.
Da tunnels was still busy, rodents runnin' errands, carryin' food, whisperin' 'bout last night's fights.
A group of mice scrambled past, chitterin' among demselves. A rat sat in a corner, gnawin' on a bone—don' ask what kind.
Some rodents barely noticed me.
Others?
Dey looked too long.
Watched me just a lil' too closely.
I kept my head low.
Didn' wanna stand out.
Didn' wanna be stopped.
Didn' wanna answer questions I didn' have da patience for.
Chop's warning still rattled in my ears.
Ch-ch-ch ("Don' wander too far.")
But he wasn't here, was he?
Didn' matter.
I wasn't stoppin'.
I turned a corner an' froze.
Da tunnel ahead opened into a bigger space, walls reinforced wit' old planks of wood, roots danglin' from da ceiling.
Rodents were everywhere.
Mice, squirrels, rats, even a few chinchillas.
Dey wasn't fightin'.
Not yet.
Looked more like tradin'.
Seeds, cloth, scraps, tools—da kinda things ya needed to survive down here.
An' right in da middle of it—
Standin' on a rock like he was da king of da dirt pile—
Was Rusty.
"SWEEK!" ("I AM DA BONK CHAMPION!")
I groaned.
Of course.
I pushed through da crowd, ears twitchin' as I picked up bits of da conversation.
"Sweek!" ("Ya can't just take da rock, Rusty!")
"SWEEK!" ("I ain't takin' it, I'm CLAIMIN' it!")
"Squeak!" ("Dat ain't how da market works!")
"SWEEK!" ("Da market works how I SAY it works!")
I shoved past a pair of squirrels, finally breakin' through da crowd.
Rusty stood on da rock, tail swayin', lookin' smug as ever.
Below 'im?
A very angry beaver an' a confused lookin' prairie dog.
I crossed my arms.
Squeak ("Rusty.")
He perked up, ears twitchin'.
Turned to me, grinnin' wide.
"SWEEK!" ("NIBBLES! YA ALIVE!")
I sighed.
Squeak ("Ya makin' a scene.")
"SWEEK!" ("I AM MAKIN' A STATEMENT.")
"Squeak!" ("Ya makin' a mistake.")
Da beaver below him was growin' impatient.
His tail lifted.
Didn' thwack yet.
But it was close.
Thwack.
It hit da dirt once—a warning.
Ch-ch-ch ("Git off my rock.")
Rusty crossed his arms.
"SWEEK!" ("MAKE ME.")
I grabbed his tail an' yanked him off before he got himself killed.
He yelped, landin' beside me in a heap of fur an' bad ideas.
I ignored his complaints, eyes already scanin' da crowd.
Where were da others?
Poppy was leanin' against a crate, scowlin' at sumthin'.
Twitch was hidin' behind her, peekin' out nervously.
Peanut sat on top of a wooden beam, watchin' everything wit' his usual blank expression.
Cricket, Grizz, an' Sumo was nowhere to be seen.
I made my way over, Rusty stompin' beside me, still complainin' 'bout bein' removed from his "Bonk Throne."
Squeak ("Ya all good?")
Poppy rolled her eyes.
Squeak ("Took ya long enough.")
Twitch muttered.
Squeak ("Thought ya was dead.")
Peanut just blinked at me.
Didn' say nuffin'.
Didn' need to.
We was missin' three.
An' I didn' like dat.
Where's Grizz, Sumo, an' Cricket?
I turned to Rusty.
Squeak ("Where's da others?")
Rusty scratched his head.
Looked around.
Shrugged.
"SWEEK!" ("Grizz went to look for food, Cricket was talkin' to sum weird-lookin' rat, an' Sumo? No idea.")
My fur bristled.
Didn' like dat at all.
Da Burrow was too big. Too dangerous.
Even if we was here now, even if we was "safe" under da Capybara's rule, dat didn' mean rodents wasn't plottin'.
Didn' mean trouble wasn't waitin'.
Mama told me to get da others an' come back.
But leavin' without Grizz, Cricket, an' Sumo?
Not an option.
I let out a breath.
Squeak ("Alright. We ain't leavin' yet. We find da others first.")
Rusty grinned.
"SWEEK!" ("Sounds like an adventure!")
Poppy groaned.
Squeak ("Sounds like a bad idea.")
Twitch twitched.
Squeak ("Sounds like we gonna die.")
Peanut?
Didn' say a word.
Just hopped down from da beam.
We was together.
Mostly.
Just had a few more to find.
Den—
We was headin' home.