Rat Hunters- Rattul Part 2
Another update! I’m finally continuing the story of Rattul’s transformation, this time through the POV of Ratdito Chase! To be honest, I have no idea how to write like a cowboy, so that’s why you might see one to many “yeehaw”s towards the end when I started getting burned out. I actually am really enjoying writing this series though, the Castle Trio is turning out to have my favorite dynamic, even beating out the Rat Hunters themselves for that found family stuff.
Anyway, Tumblr won’t let me put linebreaks/horizontal lines, so you’ll have to bear with the weird asterisks for now. If you missed part 1, you can read it here!
Rattul belongs to @hilda-mc and Ratdito belongs to @probably-chase
I haven’t had the luxury of living inside the castle for more than a month and a half, but it was obvious from the first day that this “lighter sentence” was still ungodly strict. Even though I was hired under the position of mercenary, Rat King Cora would often delegate and demand of me to other tasks, from being a sentry for the dungeon to a guard in the courtyards, to my favorite job which was acting as the court jester. Other servants joked amongst themselves that I had taken up the mantle as the new chancellor to the king, and while all my responsibilities left me less time to think of new hijinks or pranks to pull, it did give me a glimpse into the ins-and-outs of the castle beyond the sphere of the servants. I was expected to know everything because I saw everything.
For instance, the bossman broke his routine and went out Wednesday night and returned late and in the rain, a bundle of rainwater heavy in his arms. Usually when he arrived home, I was expected to gather the rest of the maids and butlers by the front door so when he stepped through the threshold we could all scramble to claim his cloak and put away his public crown and occasionally the scepter, offer him a hot cup of tea with some brie, and maybe respond to whatever other booming demand he had for us to fulfill. But, when one of the guards came to deliver the news that they had spotted the king coming down the walkway, I knew from a cursory glance that something was wrong. I had the guard take back the cow I had stolen and planned to stuff inside my chambers until the Rat King noticed, and then I called for only three of the best servants to accompany me to the front door. When the footman pulled the brass handles on the heavy doors open and the rat in question came sopping in, soaking through the floor with silence on his lips and a bundle of a girl in his arms, we all were stunned.
I dismissed the servants to ready two different baths, one for the king and one for his guest. Once they were gone, I gestured the king through the foyer into the doors that led straight to the Ratmilian chapel and then I moved to take the woman. He relented easily, letting the lump of her roll straight into my arms. I almost sunk to the bottom of the ocean with the weight of her, but I held strong, looking down at her pale parlor and seeing the strange, slime texture of the remains of her hair and her clothes. I knew something was wrong, but once she was transferred to me, the boss seemed to perk up a bit.
“She needs medical attention. Clean her up and have the women bandage her. I will need the finest physician to look at her tomorrow at dawn.”
If having dead eyes and muttering through a barely ajar mouth counted as perking up, that is.
“The royal physician, boss?”
“No, no. A human we need. The finest human physician. Tonight, actually. We will need them tonight, in case she-”
“Woah, slow down there, partner,” I shook my head to cut him off before he started hyperventilating, “You need to head on back to the bath. I’ll take her from here.”
“Prepare a room for her too. Her own. No, put her in mine, I want to make sure she… No, she needs her own,” He started to walk away, but stopped to reach out and run a soggy paw along her scalp. With sad eyes, he flickered his gaze to me.
“Just make her comfortable. Please.”
“Will do, boss.”
“Thank you, I’ll be off now. Thank you, Ratdito.”
I waited until he was out of the side door and back into the halls of the castle before I slunk back towards the secret pathway, built behind the altar. I didn’t want to cross paths with him again and get delayed on my way to help the girl, but I needed to move quickly. Luckily, in my efforts to avoid as much of my responsibilities as possible, I had discovered vents and hidden tunnels that were built into the walls that I could hide in to escape the wrath of the boss or just to plan out my next scheme without getting interrupted. The tunnels were quiet, dark, not quite big enough to hide a cow or a horse in, but I was certain that one day I would find my cowboy partner who could brood and listen to Old Town Road with in peace.
I brought the girl to the third floor on the east wing, set her on the bed and assessed her condition. A bath would be ready in about ten minutes down the hall, but in the meantime, we would need to find some clothes for her. Was she injured? Why was she covered in this substance? I should’ve called for one of the women, but wanting to assess the situation for myself, I peeled her out of her coat and began to move around the other layers of soggy clothes, searching for cuts or bruising. Instead, I found a strange rash forming along her stomach.
That wasn’t all. When I lifted her to remove the coat, something shlucked against the sheet, a black inky substance that I realized had fallen from her head. Her hair was falling out in clumps, and after my other inspection, was being replaced by the same bumpy, scaly rash that was forming on the rest of her body.
Voices were mingling in the hallway. I tiptoed away from the bed and stepped out to call for someone to take her laundry and get some fresh linens, then, I let two of the chambermaids accompany me to the bathroom, and with the strictest instructions I could muster through my soft, slow, southern drawl, I left them to care for her. Then, I went to go find the king.
**
“Someone has been sent into the city to contact a physician. They will return as soon as they can.”
“That’s fine, that’s fine,” I watched the king run his long claws through the tuffs of fur that stood up on his head and ran down along his spine. He looked positively wrecked, “She was in some sort of container… I- I don’t know what they did to her, but I-”
“Forgive me, but they, sir?”
His eyes were dilated and jerky. He should really have been in his bed at this hour, but after his bath he insisted on meeting with me from the throne room. Seated on the red velvet with a gold frame, his white, fluffy bathrobe looked out of place on his sweaty, stained body. One would assume he simply hadn’t actually bathed, but I could tell that his allusion was struggling to revert back to his clean self. Bloodstains would appear on his hands and cheeks before they faded away, turning pinkish before they bloomed bright red once more in a new spot. It was like fireworks across his form. He took a moment to process my question, but realization then quickly dawned on him.
“Yes, they, uhm… Well, now I see that they were only trying to help, but at the time, I… Her research, it’s confidential, but she wasn’t supposed to be an experiment. She fell into a tank and instead of pulling her out they decided to let her rot in there… No, not rot... They didn’t...” His wet paws dragged along his face, “I think I will need more of your services, Ratdito. I need someone to cover up what occurred at the lab.”
“Would you like me to go now?”
“No, no! Not yet,” his voice and body jumped out of the seat before he deflated and went back to a neurotic whisper, “I know you said the maids were helping her get clean but, I don’t think I can trust anyone with her. She’s far too fragile now… She’s breaking, I don’t want anyone but the best around her.”
“Would you like to hire the physician as part of the castle staff?”
“No, no, no. I couldn’t deal with someone like that all the time. An outsider is no good. I might snap their neck too if anything went wrong.”
I could see what he was getting at. Up until now, I had my arms folded behind my back as I addressed him, but I sighed and let them fall to my side before I shook my head.
“Sir, would you like me to watch over her?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know what I want for her. I don’t even know if she’ll survive-”
His breaths started coming in fast desperate gulps, and within seconds I broke from my position and rushed up the steps to the throne, putting one hand on his back as I reached for a chalice.
“Breathe slowly, Sir. In and out, follow me…” I offered him the cup, “She will survive, we will make sure of it.”
There was a knock on the large doors at the end of the room. As the king recovered, I nodded to the two guards as they let in one of the maids.
“She is in her room now, dressed and awake. She requested to see you, your highness.”
“She spoke?” He lifted his head, an unreadable emotion crossing over his face.
“Uh, no, sir… She was pointing at one of the paintings of you in the hall. We gave her a sheet of paper and a pen so she could communicate.”
“Oh,” and there it was. The anguish quickly caused him to falter and he buried his hands against his eyes and tried to not sob in front of one of his servants. The maid shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly.
“The king is in distress. Leave and retire for the evening. We will see to the girl’s wellbeing tomorrow.”
She quickly bowed out before the guards could pull her back, but before the doors shut, I looked to them too and nodded for them to leave. Once we were alone, the king spoke.
“I can’t see her… Not now. I’m a monster, she’ll see that. She’ll look at me with those eyes, and all I’ll see is anger… She knows what I did… I can’t deal with her judging me, glaring at me, hating me…
“Ratdito,” he looked up, “you should go. You can make her laugh again. If she sees you, surely she’ll cheer up... “
“I will not go until I know you are asleep, my king. I cannot leave you here without any guards.”
“I will not sleep, Ratdito,” his voice twisted into something malicious, a crazed laugh ready to erupt at any second as his eyes turned cold and hungry, “I will not sleep for 100 years now that I have seen the soul of Rattul destroyed... “
“Then I will wait until you are in your room and safe.”
He glared at me, “You know I would gladly snap your neck given the chance.”
I smiled, the old king was back, “I know, but you wanted me here. You hired me.”
“Hired? Hah. Just go before I decided to finally follow through,” he said, but got out of the chair and began to hobble towards the exit again. I trotted behind him until we reached his royal bedroom. The door creaked open and he slipped through into the darkness, eyes flashing at me through the dark as he gave me one final warning.
“I’ll cut you a break from your other duties, but if I find out you made her cry, you will be a dead man.”
“I understand,” I said with a flourishing bow, and the door slammed shut in my face. Straightening up, I tilted my hat and sighed out, “Yeehaw, he’s a tough one, alright.”
I made my way down the hall towards the room we had laid out for the girl. Passing by a few servants, I requested a small meal be brought up, and then waited patiently outside the door until it arrived and the rest of the maids exited. They seemed worried as they scampered off.
Like the boss’s room, the door was made of a heavy wood painted white, a large indent against the elaborate walls with protruding designs. The doorknob was a polished obsidian, and beneath its threshold, the mosaic tile transformed to a plush carpet. Built only a few years ago, when I was first brought here, I was surprised by how old fashioned the place was, and how much care the dirty creatures had put into adding art. If it was up to me, the whole place would be decked out in fake cow print and the walls would be a burnt orange. Then again, if I had my way, I would’ve knocked the walls down and run off into an open canyon, thousands of wild horses running along beside me.
I pushed those thoughts aside as the servant came by with the cart loaded up with the small dish full of cheese and sliced meats. Hopefully this would tide her over until the morning. I opened the door slowly-
“Ma’am? I’ve brought you something to eat.”
The curtains were pulled back to allow some of the navy blue light of the storming sky outside in. Flashes of light from cloud to cloud danced and illuminated the figure cloaked in shadows sitting on the window seat. The noises of the wind and storm were whistling just beyond the closed aperture. Her silhouette had changed, the dirty, wet clothes that had dragged down were replaced by a smooth tunic and leggings. Her legs were folded on the cushion and her head was wrapped in bandages. I could see something oozing from between the wrappings.
“Excuse me?” I pushed the cart in and held the door open with my foot, casting more white light from the hall into the blackened room. The sky had gone dark for a moment, but as I took another step inside, and opened my mouth to say more, it erupted in a single crack that split the horizon in half as the electricity struck the earth with a thunderous shattering clang.
CRACK!
A yellow gaze suddenly pierced me as the flashbang of the light exploded and simmered, two neon, radioactive orbs outlining black, empty pupils. The face was ghostly pale, her lips were chapped and peeling, but it was more skin than dead skin that was falling off. The ooze from the bandages shook loose and dripped down her face as she turned towards me, and one eye shut as it drizzled down over her lid before trailing towards her split lips.
“Ahh… Ahh…” she was reaching out for me now, her mouth open as her throat released two pathetic moans. I shut the door and moved the cart to the side.
“Sorry, I know you wanted to see the boss.”
“Ahh… Ahh…” she moved forward more, reaching farther off the window seat when her body toppled forward. I rushed front and hoisted her up before she could hit the floor, but the awkward angle caused her legs to flop off and smack the floor weakly. I lowered her down slowly before I moved back to the cart.
“Here, drink some of Adam’s ale. It might help,” I said, offering it to her. She looked much worse than I had seen her when she arrived. She carefully took the cup from me, and tried to sip it, but the moment the water touched her lips, the glass was flying at my face and screaming was resounding off the walls.
“Woah! Woah! Hold it,” I said, trying to remain cool as the glass shattered against the floor. I was smart to keep their rooms apart, or else the king would have surely come running for my head by now if he heard that sound, “What’s wrong?”
She was screaming a terrible noise. Her throat was raw and the screeches barely had any tone, it was all pain and rawness coming from the raspy state of her throat. I reached out and grabbed her wrists, trying to stop her from clawing at her lips, “Calm down!” I shouted as the bandages loosened under my grasp.
A bad idea. She began to thrash about and panic more and more, her pain giving her strength as she stood up and backed up against the window, jostling the latch loose. She nearly flew out of it if I hadn’t lunged to catch her ankle. I reached over her and heaved her up as I slammed the window closed before I tugged her back inside. She was whimpering now, laying haphazardly on the plush window seat, and without any candlelight, I could at last see why.
Everything tonight had been a bad idea. She hadn’t looked this bad when she came in. She had some swelling along her skin and that strange state of her hair, but nothing to this extent. The king couldn’t see her for a few days, no, a few weeks, however long it took for this to heal. If he saw what we had done to her, we would all be dead.
She was covering her face, soft, animal like noises sobbed from her as she could do nothing but shake from the pain. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, locking the window shut. I could do nothing but talk over her, trying to coax her with empty words until she pulled away from her face, revealing peeling, red sore infested skin burning from the acid-like rain that had pounded on her when she toppled backwards. Her lips were purple and charred in the chapped cracks, the entire area around her mouth looked rotted. Underneath the bandages, I could see the skin had been rubbed raw and almost tortured, mostly likely by the maids who were only trying to help the unconscious girl who was covered in muck, not realizing what they were doing to what little remained.
Any other time that the king had given me a threat, I had brushed it off. When it came to him going after the rest of the castle staff, I didn’t mind it that much. Despite my position, I didn’t have that many connections that I cared. Chaos was my motto, and seeing others trip up and get lost in my own labyrinth of lies and jokes normally did nothing but make me smile.
However…
Perhaps it was the realness of the bossman’s threat, or maybe the look in his eyes when he said it. Maybe it was how he had walked down the wet path to the castle, the weight of his stance as he slopped his way through the rain, shielding the small figure I had yet to know, but it was all the more likely the realization of the very real, indescribable pain I was seeing wrench itself across this poor girl’s face.
I fell to my knees. Lightning struck across the sky, illuminating us in black and white for moment. The sounds of her cries subsided slowly as morning crept into night, but the storm outside did not end.
**
It did not end for another three days, in fact. I had decided quickly that Rattul could not stay in a conventional bedroom. Her skin condition and whatever else was happening to her was reacting badly to any sort of surface. Woven things like blankets and sheets which may have been soft on our skin scratched and clawed up what little tissue remained. Instead, she was living most of her life inside an empty bathtub, the polished, smooth porcelain having been dry for days after we discovered her allergy. When I visited for meals, she was usually staring up into space, eyes aimless as she struggled to even breathe. After two days of not being able to eat or drink and the physician looking her over, we administered her with an IV, and then set about testing out what else she could possibly be allergic to based on a small section of skin.
With some fluids in her system, her cries had gotten louder and more vicious. She was able to shout without much damage to her throat now, but to the doctor’s surprise, a black inky substance dripped from her tear ducts. I had to hold her down whenever she fought against the tests, and after she became too weak to struggle anymore, I have to confess I would find myself facing the corner of the large bathroom, pulling my hat over my eyes to hide my own expression.
Water, as we assumed, was becoming almost deadly as her condition worsened. Her tears gave us some clue into what liquids she was able to come in contact with, and while the inside of her body could handle water, it seemed that submerging her in any amount was going to scar her even more. The doctor needed more information on Rattul’s medical background so he could monitor her condition better, but I refused to let him visit the king. I told him I would be able to fish out some files within the next day, so if he could come back then, we might be able to make some more progress.
Afterall, I still had another job to complete.
As I had been entrusted with Rattul, I didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone for what may very well be a few hours, or with one of the other servants. This “clean up” job sounded like it might take a while, and the king had made it very clear that no one besides himself or I was to be with Rattul for an extended period of time, not that he had made any effort to visit her since he dropped her off here. Still, I was doubtful of how long I would be away, so after I had the physician escorted out, I sat beside Rattul’s tub as I packed.
“I’m going back to where Boss found you. I’ll be picking up a few things there, then coming back. All in all, I’m hoping it will only take thirty minutes so you won’t have to be alone for that long, but I really don’t know what I’m getting into,” I said as I zipped up my suede jacket, flinging my arms to the side to let the fringe flare a bit.
“It might get boring, but I could leave my phone or something with you. Loop a playlist of some western Tik Toks or vines if it would help,” I sighed. I really had no idea what I was doing, and to be frank, sitting in this room day in and out was getting tiring. I couldn’t wait to show off my skills at this job, even if it was just disposing of few bodies and not actually taking anyone out myself.
I picked up my war sack and stuffed a few more apples in there, skimming RatTube for a few old videos. Ever since the take-over, the recommended had been nothing but the rat’s in Ratmilian’s arms Let’s Plays since they were technically “celebrities”. I was thankful the Boss didn’t have time for such trifles, but it didn’t help that it clogged up my feed when I was trying to listen to some good banjo playing. I quickly found a playlist and shuffled my feet a bit, I had planned on stopping by the stables to hang out with an old horse or two and then rushing through the job, but as I placed the phone down and began to leave, my humming was interrupted by something gripping onto one of the long fringes that ran across my back.
I slowly turned around, seeing the slimey, pale fingers clutched across the thin piece of brown animal hide slipping through the soaked bandages that were falling off an arm in spirals. Murky, muddled, dark locks of hair that was stringing its way off her scalp parted along the remains of her old nose’s bridge and underneath all that mess, a yellow eye burned up at me.
**
I helped her out of the car when we arrived at the old building. She had wordlessly given me directions, pointing resolutely and suddenly, causing me to send the car into a wild turn, my arm flinging out to hold her back from flying into the dashboard whenever I lost control. I hated cars, but I couldn’t very well ride my horse into the city on a good day, let alone now that I was carrying her. A carriage was no good either since we wanted to sneak out of the castle without much interference, and if it began to rain, she would be completely exposed. I had found a sheet of a very stretchy aquatic fabric in one of the tailors’ rooms that I helped bundle her up in, as she was mostly bare in the tub, and we moved through my hidden pathway to get to the chapel before we jumped out the window into the gardens. When we came near the grass, I hoisted her up and carried her to the car, not wanting her to lash out in pain due to her skin’s oversensitivity.
I took an extra second when getting her in and out of the car to adjust her bandages and make sure everything was okay, but when we were outside the lab, she shifted the fabric so it dragged on the ground, and choose to walk stepping on it each time. She only took my hand briefly as we walked up to the old place, and I could sense her nerves as she squeezed it unconsciously ever few steps.
The door was unlocked, and so, we went in.
My snakeskin shoes were immediately subjected to a puddle of ink washing over and destroying them, and I let go of her as I hopped like I had sat on a cigarette, trying to wrestle my shoes off.
“Damn it! These were new!” I continued to let out a string of curses until I had shaken them out and stuffed them unhappily into my bag. I quickly rolled up my pants, lifting my head when I heard the water sloshing about and saw Rattul slowly gliding through.
“Woah, woah, you wait here, partner,” I said, rushing in front of her and holding my hands out, “I have to do some janitorial work,” I emphasized each syllable of the phrase with my fake accent, and then placed both hands on my hips, brushing against my holster lightly, “I can’t be losing you in here. You shouldn’t even have come with me, y’know.”
Rattul shot me a glare from behind the watery curtain of her hair, her yellow eyes seeming to become lined by something blacker than dark circles and ink with each day. I ignored it and walked further into the lab.
Giant broken cases were still slightly aglow as I passed by the rows of what must have been expensive research experiments. The warehouse was flooded by this strange puddle of what must have been surrounded Rattul at some point. I knew it was rude but I feared what standing in it would do to my own skin, and wanted to hurry up this job even more so. A few feet ahead, around where the wall protruded, I saw a shape in the water. I dashed forward.
“The first body, alright,” I rubbed my hands together and crouched down, inspecting the torn up and gutted form of a wide eyed, bloated scientist who was half submerged and stained in this ink. I would have to drag them down towards the dock and throw them out into sea after tying a few cinderblocks to them. I grabbed ahold of the back of the guy’s collar and gave a hearty tug towards the door we had come from.
“Watch out, Rattul, I’m gonna start a pile-” I glanced behind me and noticed the girl was staring up at the ceiling, “Rattul?”
Her head jerked to the left and then the right before she went still, straining almost, to hear something. I let go of the body and listened too. I could hear a faint tinging sound, almost like water falling onto a pipe. Then, some shuffling.
A shadow darted across the catwalk, and the back door flew open, a hand flying towards-
“Rattul, watch out!”
I drew my guns from my holsters, spinning them up into my grasp as I disabled the safety before firing. Rattul ducked as soon as the bullets went flying, falling straight into the ink. Two of my shots whizzed past the figure that was looming over her, but I managed to snag the guy on the catwalk straight in between the eyes. He fell backwards and then pierced himself on the glass of one of the tanks. I swung around and aimed both pistols at the guy who was now leaning over Rattul, trying to grab her and yank her through the back door. She started screaming just as the door beside me swung open, three men clambering out of it to tackle me. Shoving both guns into one hand sloppily, I reached for my rifle, not even bothering to worry about the safety as I just swung the long barrel at the group and knocked them all upside the head. They fell like a house of cards on top of one another.
“Shit!” I cursed as I heard Rattul shriek as she struggled to push the assailant off of her, but one of the guys was reaching for my ankle and I was backing up as I tried to stuff the large gun away and I tripped over the body of the scientist, “Fuck!”
The three figures got to their feet and lunged at me, knocking my guns out of my hand. A hand shoved itself into my cheek as my face was crushed against the floor, and with a growl I kicked twice as I snaked my hand down to the smaller holster around my ankle.
I saw Rattul being dragged towards the door, and as my hand made contact with the small handle, in one fell swoop, I sliced upward and cut straight across the chest of the first guy. As the dagger went through him, I saw his form flicker, and realization dawned on me. With a wild sort of feeling now, I roared as I began to mercilessly attack the three until they were nothing but a crumbling piles of rats, foaming out of their illusions and sinking into the puddle. I scrambled to my feet and charged the man holding down Rattul.
“Get away from her-!”
“Ratdito! Rattul is-” Just before I could reach the group of them, the back door flew open, and the hulking figure of Rat King Cora stood over the two. His eyes flickered between us for a few seconds, and I saw the panic waft over the face of the human illusion. Realization was dawning over Cora just as quickly as was his rage, and Rattul was shuddering on the floor in pain as she curled in on herself. I set my jaw as I reached for rifle again and in another flurry of motion, struck the man straight in the chest amongst the confusion, sending him to a watery grave as well. No rats rose to the surface, only fingers floated for a second longer. Once he had been buried by the blackness, and everything had settled for a moment, the King’s voice boomed out.
“Ratdito, explain yourself. Right now-”
“Well, Boss. You see that-”
He started to charge me, but like an hour earlier, Rattul reached up, and stopped him too. Rather than grabbing his tail though, with her remaining strength, she rushed in front of him and threw her hands up, pressing them against the soft fur of his stomach as she kept her head bowed.
She slumped to her knees, falling deeper into the inky slush. Cora froze and looked down at her, and even from afar I could see her shivering, her shoulders shaking as she began to cry ink droplets that rippled against the murk that surrounded us. I looked away as Cora reached down, and slowly hoisted her up. The cloth that had been wrapped around her slipped and dangled off her knees. She croaked something into his ear, and then curled against his neck, tucking herself away from me. Cora leveled his gaze with me, but it lacked the same bloodthirst from earlier. It was stern, but somewhat sad.
“Ratdito, take care of the bodies, then fetch Rattul’s things from that room. We will be waiting by the car.”
Rattul whispered something else to him.
“We will be waiting by the docks. She wants to say goodbye to her… colleagues.”
I did bother to examine any of the bodies. The rats, they could be left behind, but I dragged the one who had been persistent in attacking Rattul alongside the scientists through the back door and dropped them unceremoniously at the edge of the docks. I went back inside the get the last one and searched the back room until I found a group of files laid out on the desk. They seemed to have been manhandled and were mostly barren. I dug through a few drawers until I found some old records that had Rattul’s name on them that looked like information the doctor could use.
I stared at her photo for a moment.
It was a shame what had happened to her.
I went outside and brought the last guy out, and began chucking the asaliant into the sea first, not even bothering to tie a block to him. Let this be a lesson to them, I thought, let them see what happens to their men when they try and take her away. Cora let Rattul down to sit beside her friends and while I thought it was a bit cruel to let her stare at their gored forms, I kept my mouth shut. I could see from the King’s expression that he obviously wasn’t proud of what he had done.
Rattul merely pressed her bandaged hand over the eyes of one of them, and then she scooted back. I heaved each one off the dock and then picked up my bag. We walked back to the car in silence.
**
From that point on, Rattul’s transformation only became more painful. Unfortunately for us, the physician could find nothing in her files that was of any use, and upon reporting this news to the king, he was promptly thrown off the palace step’s by me. As he scurried away from me, I found myself panting from exertion, and it wasn’t until Cora came outside and put a hand on my shoulder to usher me inside did I realize how little sleep I had been getting.
I didn’t like seeing Rattul suffer. It was sick what had happened to transform her into such a state. Her skin was beginning to molt almost, and even the tub was becoming painful to touch. Cora and I discussed late at night while she slept, having passed out after we administered anesthesia- she was just screaming so much that her voice had faded but her mouth kept wrenching itself open as she cried- that perhaps we could steal one of the tanks from back at the lab and fill it with ink and let her live in there, but upon our return to the lab, we found it engulfed in flames.
“I know who did this,” he had whispered, staring into the red embers that danced about.
We had hashed out many other methods. I tried having the tailors use that same fabric we had found to make special bandages or at least a dress for her to wear, but now she seemed to be suffering from contact with that too. One night, over a few drinks, I proposed something that made the King sober up from his depression instantly.
“What if… wouldn’t it be better if we just… put her out of her misery already…?”
The table was knocked over and a claw was closing around my throat. I squirmed and struggled in his hold. If he squeezed me any tighter, he would make good on his promise to behead me at last. His eyes were black and his back hunched over as the whiskey glass rolled and clamoured to the floor.
“Don’t you dare suggest something like that again. She’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure out what’s wrong before…”
Before that becomes inevitable.
When he noticed my face turning blue, he glanced away, and gently set me down on the ground. He was a hulking rat, standing almost ten feet higher than me, but as I rubbed my throat and hacked a single cough, I felt taller than he ever was.
“Then you better do something to make her life worth living. Because… Right now…”
“I know,” he whispered, clutching his hands, “I’m trying.”
“Then try harder! She may not have much time left anyway! We don’t know how much her body will withstand that pain! It’s only getting worse by the day!”
“You think I don’t know that?!”
I rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his fur, having to jump to get a good enough hold and then I found myself clawing my way up him as I pulled him down inch by inch. Eventually, both of my hands fisted themselves in the tuffs by his neck, and I managed to get us eye level, but he continued to look away.
“Listen to me, you and I certainly won’t do anything to hurt her. But, she still has the strength to get up when she wants to. Just how long do you think it will be before she uses that strength to throw herself from the window at night or gets ahold of one of my guns? It doesn’t take a genius to kill yourself accidentally, or even intentionally with those things.”
He shoved me away, “You shouldn’t even have those in the room with her then.”
“And risk one of Ratmilian’s goons storming the place and striking her while I’m unarmed? We already decided it wasn’t safe to have anyone else watch her! You can’t trust the eyes in this castle!”
“Just, shut up!” He said, his paws coming up to claw at his face. He began to scratch at it violently, “I didn’t want this… I didn’t ask to deal with this! I didn’t want this at all!”
“Well, guess what, partner,” I hissed as I sauntered up behind him, my hat tilted downward even as I shot him the nastiest glare from beneath its brim, “You’re going to have to. You’re too weak to prolong the inevitable, so you might as well make her last few days really worth it. Otherwise… well, if she asks me to… I’m not going to deny the girl who one right left.”
I walked past Cora and shoved the door to the bar open, walking out of it. I was just outside of the saloon’s glow when I heard him call out-
“Ratdito, please, wait.”
“What is it?” I huffed.
“I… Can you get a ring made for me?”
I froze. My thumb slipped off my hat.
“A ring?”
“Yes… I… I would like to propose to her… Before she passes, I… I want her to at least know how I feel. And maybe… maybe we can help her feel special for at least one day. That’s… that’s all I’ve got right now.”
I sighed. I pulled a lighter from my pocket and a cigarette and lit up in the middle of the dark hallway. I took a drag and threw my head back towards the ceiling, shutting my eyes. A smile bloomed slowly on my face.
“Sure, Chief. I’ll get it all together for you.”
**
We brought the physician back in the next day. He wove around and dodged us as we stood over him and prodded him for questions, but it was like he told us last time, her body could probably only stand another week of this at most. After that, she would begin to deteriorate or there was a chance her heart would seize up and fail.
As I left for the jewelry store, I overheard him asking the doc which would be the least painful. He offered to prescribe some euthanasia. I decided to forgo my cowboy apparel when I drove into town that day. I wasn’t feeling up to playing the part anymore.
When I returned to Rattul’s bathroom, she was in her usual position. Head thrown back, hair slinking over the rim of the tub as she appeared to melt and sink deeper into the burning porcelain’s maw, her arms lay along the sides of it while her legs stretched out in front of her. I sat in the folding chair and pulled out my phone and put on something classical for her.
“Where’s…. Where’s your…?” She whispered. It was amazing that she able to form words again, but it was only a temporary thing. Underneath her overgrown bangs that seemed plastered to her face, I could see her mouth was still misshapen and morphing. I listened closely, and watched as her pointer finger gestured slightly up and down my form.
“My cowboy look? I wasn’t feeling it much today. Sorry.”
“...Sick?”
“Me? Nah, darlin’,” I hummed, throwing my head back. I refused to let myself cry in front of her, “I’m fit as a fiddle. I had to go into town and do some things for the boss. Sometimes it’s better if I’m not as flashy, y’know?”
Her one yellow eye blinked at me, and I thought I saw a slight nod. She continued speaking.
“...brand… you… cool…”
I tried to not flinch out how grating her voice sounded, even with the IV fluids helping to keep her throat moist. I just rested my arms on my knees, my phone tightly gripped between my clenched, sweaty hands as I nodded vigorously.
“Yeah, my brand. I think it’s cool too but... Hey, can you tell me what your favorite gemstone is?”
She mumbled something and as I shut my eyes, I hummed and launched into a story.
“Why? Well, I was just thinking… Back in the day, many cowboys across the west were looking for wealth and gold and all, so….”
**
I was reading a dictionary of frontier slang when a servant knocked on the door, presenting me with something the king had gifted to help cover Rattul in. I thanked him and shut the door, setting my book down on my chair before I went about helping her out of the tub.
“The boss wants to see you apparently. He thinks it might help your condition if you were to walk a little bit. Sitting around must get pretty boring all the time, huh?”
I adjusted the royal robe on her shoulders and then wove the tassels together, tight enough that it wouldn’t slip off but loose enough that she could tug it however much she wanted.
“How’s that feel?” I asked her.
She gave me a sad smile. I gave her one in return. She wasn’t the only one in the castle feeling misery, afterall.
We had only made it down the hall before she tugged on the back of my jacket again and collapsed into my arms, wordlessly asking me to carry her the rest of the way. I scooped her up as I had done numerous times before, whether it be to use the bathroom or to change her wrappings, it was routine now. The velvet of the King’s favorite garment was soft against my hands, but I hated knowing that it was only going to keep pressing into her raw skin.
We eventually made it down the stairs to the gardens, and I spotted the king waiting on one of the stone benches. He was wearing his small crown, and from his stiff posture, I could see the small box sitting in his hand. As we approached, he stuffed it away, standing up to smile as he greeted us.
“Ah, Ratdito… Thank you. And, to you Rattul, thank you for coming. I’m sorry I had to disturb you.”
She pushed down on my shoulders and I let her crawl out of my arms. She was a bit unsteady when she hopped down on her own two feet, but I steadied her, and she shook her head. It was no trouble, she wanted to say, but her voice had grown weaker in the past few days.
“I’ll leave you two be,” I said with a bow, and walked to the edge of the garden. I watched them from afar, my hand forever resting on my gun as I dared someone from Ratmilian’s castle to disrupt this moment between them.
Rattul took ahold of Cora’s hand at his offering, and the two took a short walk around the garden. The pathway was a smooth stone, but I knew that didn’t make a difference. Still, she held in her discomfort and followed him, listening to him describe the different types of roses climbing up the trellis, or leaned over to sniff one of the sunflowers sprouting from the flowerbed. It wasn’t until they had circled around twice and she had plucked one flower for him to hold did he guide her to the square mosaic in the center and kneel down, offering himself to her.
I looked away as he slid it onto her finger. The ceremony would have to happen tomorrow night. We only had one day left anyway. Once Rattul was back in her room, and had finished showing me the ring, pointing at the gemstone and acting more lively than I had seen her in weeks, I excused myself. I had to begin the preparations.
**
“You don’t have to walk if you don’t want to, sis,” I whispered just behind the doors of the chapel, “I can carry you, or I can go in and get the boss to do it. It’s only us here, after all.”
She shook her head, fisting her hand in the dress we had found in one of the old rooms of the castle. It was lacey and dotted with pearls on the bodice, had puffy shoulders that tapered into elegant, tight fitting sleeves and a train that stretched behind her while the front ended above her knee. The heels had been considered, but as much as Rattul wanted to wear them, she was too weak to even try. She was barefoot instead. Her hair we had tried our best with, but I was only able to pin back so much. She had asked me to fetch some lilies from the garden and we made a crown out of to set over her head. She squeezed my hand twice. She was very nervous.
“Alright then. We can head in if you’re ready?”
She nodded. I turned the music on from my phone and pushed open the doors.
She only made it halfway before she fell. She refused to let me carry her though. She pushed me away each time, and she had to send several glares to her fiance at the altar to keep him away as she forced herself to stand. She would crawl a few steps, limp to her feet, and then fall again. Eventually, she settled for my arm around her hoisting her up, and together she hobbled to the altar.
The ceremony was short and without flourish. Once Rattul was handed off to her fiance to help support her, I circled around and opened a small book. Cora looked my outfit up and down and I shrugged. I had actually planned to wear something plain, but Rattul insisted I needed to go all out. So, there I was, dressed in full cowprinted pants and a denim dress shirt patched with different animal prints and embroidered with swirls officiating a wedding.
There was no kiss, nothing besides the exchange of the rings that sealed the deal. I walked with them through the empty castle, (we had let everyone off that night) and was their guard as we made our way back to Cora’s room. We only had a few hours left at most, and we wanted to make sure that she was as comfortable as possible. She rode in the King’s arms as I held the door open so they could cross over the threshold, and then stepped in to help them make the bed. We set Rattul down on a spread of several pillows before the King curled himself in a ball around her to sleep against. Rattul reached out for me and I took the flower crown off of her and set it on the bedside table. I patted her forehead with the lightest touch before I shut the lights off. She grunted something at me, and I smiled.
“Yeah, see you in the morning, sis.”
The castle was empty. I went to the roof and laid out all my guns. It was going to be a long night, and heaven forgive whoever were to disturb her in her final hours.
**
I woke up to two hands on my face, lightly slapping it around. The first thing I noticed was the sunlight. It was hanging directly overhead. I must have slept for a while. It was high noon, I mused.
The second thing I noticed was a very unfamiliar face staring back at me. A black mask seemed to outline the features of the girl who was squishing my face. As my brain came to, my first thought was-
“Shit, I passed out!”
My second was-
“Oh shit, an intruder!”
I reached for my rifle, but the hands flew off my face and another, furrier pair was holding my hand down. I looked to my right and saw the King standing there.
“Ratdito, wait! It’s alright. Look! It’s Rattul!”
I whipped my head around to the mysterious girl in front of me. I skimmed her unusual form. Her head was sprouting what looked like green tentacles which had a white or silverish underbelly, and they fell along her back and dangled in front of her as she made goofy faces at me. She was wearing the same white dress that Rattul had been wearing last night, only this time it wasn’t mottled by skin covered in sores or peeling, and instead was smooth and healthy. She smiled at me with a mouth that seemed a little different, but overall normal and smiling as she picked up the dress and gave a small turn, fanning the train so it smacked me in the face. Silently, she raised one hand to her face and giggled, and beyond the ring I saw around her finger, I saw her eyes scrunch up before they opened and revealed the bright yellow orbs I recognized so clearly.
“It is you!” I scrambled to my feet, elation filling me as I reached out and gripped her hands, “You’re okay! But I thought-”
“I don’t understand it either. I was going to phone the physician, but it seems Ratmilian got to him,” Cora confessed with a sudden darkness, crossing his arms, “so we’ll have to be in the dark about it. She can’t exactly speak again yet, but she seems like she’s going to be okay.”
“That’s all that matters,” I smiled widely back at her as we began to dance. I spun her under my arm and she went twirling away, her arms out wide as she embraced the sunlight beaming down.
“She hates the dress, by the way,” Cora smirked, “She let me know right away this morning. We’ll have to get her some new clothes made.”
“She put up such a fight for that dress though. And you waited this long to wake me and tell me she was okay?!”
“She wanted to surprise you. She said she had to first learn how to do that.”
He pointed and my mouth dropped as I watched her jump into a square dance I recognized as something I had jokingly did during one of the first few days of her stay here. Filled with tears, I took my hat off and tossed it at her.
“Yeehaw, sister!”
She caught it and pulled it onto her head, snickering. She may not be able to now, but I no longer had any doubts. One day soon, she would be able to say it back to me. I elbowed Cora in the side.
“Yeehaw, brother.”
He sighed, “Yeehaw, to you too.”