Silhouette

James looked at the two young female rats before him as they navigated through the sewer tunnels.

Once they had caught the scent of cockroaches - much to Blanche's regret, she was still coughing from her large intake of putrid air - Foudre and Blanche knew which way to go.

Good, at least once they have a trail they know how to follow it.

The tunnel they were currently in was on the smaller side, though James had long realized that the size of the tunnels in these sewers made no sense.

It feels like they made the big tunnels with the main canals in the first place, which is logical, but then decided to fill everything else with bricks BEFORE realizing they actually needed more tunnels for maintenance and had to dig those. And THEN someone else began making tunnels that made no sense for no reason. Which, now that I know Villains are a thing, is probably what happened and worries me a little.

What James didn't account for either was also the numerous tunnels dug by the local fauna and flora, though those were much rarer and more primitive than the usual small rectangular ones or the large ones with a curved roof. The tunnel they were currently exploring was one of the small, dusty rectangular ones.

Foudre suddenly stopped and held her paw, signaling Blanche and James to stop too.

Soon, a small cockroach emerged from a hole in the wall, its antennae moving left and right to feel the air, trying to find food or a potential threat. It turned slightly in the group's direction before beginning to crawl on the wall, scuttling left and right.

It noticed a patch of moss on the wall, and approached it slowly before stopping and nibbling on it.

And then Blanche's spear pierced its thorax.

James was delightfully impressed by her performance. Throwing a large nail like a javelin, for someone as young as her and without opposable thumbs, was remarkable. He definitely wasn't as good at it when he did in sports class.

Still, as a young rat, Blanche didn't have the strength to lodge her weapon deep in the stone wall, meaning that it quickly fell off the patch of moss with a live - though not for long - cockroach still skewered on it, making a small "clunk" sound once it hit the floor.

"Good aim and nice reflexes, perfect moment to strike. Bravo, Blanche, bravo."

The albino ratling quickly had a smug look on her face.

"And Foudre, good work. You noticed the potential prey or danger, quietly communicated with the rest of the team, and took the right decision."

The young rat with a lightning-bolt-shaped tail was just as proud as her sister.

"Now, let's switch places. Blanche will track and Foudre will strike."

The two sisters' pride quickly deflated.

"Sque-"

"No. The point of this exercise is for you two to be able to do the basics of every task your group may have to face. Foudre, I'm not asking you to make a kill as effective as Blanche's, and Blanche, I'm not telling you to rub yourself with sewage to hide your scent."

The white rat shuddered at that, a perfectly understandable reaction for James.

"I'm asking you two to at least know how to find and follow a trail, as well as to initiate an encounter and, ideally, to subdue a target as quickly as possible. The latter of the two doesn't need to be perfect, it's what the sparring and the soon-to-be gym are for. So, ready to switch places?"

The two sighed before nodding, Blanche slowly stepping forward and scrunching up her snout as she began to truly focus on the many odors that spread around. James could swear she somehow got paler and greener, both at the same time somehow, before barely stopping herself from puking and pointing toward the end of the current tunnel.

James and Foudre gave her a moment to recompose herself before following her lead, stopping from time to time so she could catch the scent trail she was following once more, taking a few seconds to get over the omnipresent pestilence and advancing again.

Sheesh, at this point I think I should ask Goliath to make her a gas mask. I'm sure he'd figure it out, somehow. Worst case scenario I have to infuse it with shadows, not that I don't already do that whenever I can. Urgh, I really overly rely on the whole shadow thing, don't I?

He couldn't help but sigh mentally.

To think a week ago I was still human... At least I think it's been a week? Maybe more? Losing the need to sleep and staying underground kinda ruined my perception of time. Not that it was that great, to begin with. Like that time I showed up to work on a Sunday, just because I thought it was already Thursday...

He internally chuckled. Thinking back on it, maybe THAT was what the rest of the employees at the pizzeria saw in him? He may have been an airhead but he still was willing to work, when given the chance. Maybe his antics also provided some well-deserved entertainment.

I think I know why they kept me around now. Yes, just like I still take care of the ratlings despite it not benefiting me most of the time, I do it because they deserve it. Maybe because it helps with the lack of human interaction, too. No matter how selfish it may be, in the end, everyone is happier that way.

James watched as Blanche finally puked, her last cockroach meal exciting her stomach through her esophagus as a green goop. Foudre quickly ran to her sister's side and began patting her on the back.

Even if we don't always realize it.

James took out a plastic bottle filled with clear water out from his body, pouring some water in the bottlecap before placing it next to Blanche who quickly lifted it with both of her paws and gulping down its contents in a blink of an eye, forgoing any of her usual grace and etiquette. Not that etiquette mattered when your throat felt like it had melted lead poured in it.

"Is it close, Blanche? If not, I'll take it up from there. You already put in a lot of effort, it'll be enough."

The white ratling looked at James before giving him back the bottlecap. She rolled her neck before rushing down the tunnel. Apparently, pain and filth didn't matter once Blanche's pride was hurt. Good to know. It was always good to know a trick or two to motivate people, especially when they tended to be divas.

Foudre ran after her, James skittering forth behind them. They quickly reached an opening that led in a room James had seen before but not thoroughly studied, some kind of sewage pool with a small space to walk around it, connected to the rest of the canal network on one end and to a grate opening leading directly into a dark abyss on the other, dirty water constantly gently falling down into the dark.

Of course, waste and rubbish stopped at the grate, leading to what could have been a dam of disgusting materials had it not been for the presence of an entire colony of cockroaches, tearing apart anything that got stuck on the rusty metal bars of the grate, only a couple of them getting snatched up by a few toads lurking beneath the water since said toads tended to get pierced by the leg of a gargantuan cockroach - which was definitely NOT here the last time James had come.

If the one James had killed when moody was the size of a large dog, this one had to be the size of a cow - if not bigger. Unlike its smaller brethren it wasn't a shade of brown or even light orange, instead opting for a perfectly black chitinous exterior with blue markings on its legs and mouth - old dried toad blood, if James had to hazard a guess.

It lifted a leg with a frog skewered on it and began to gluttonously devour the impromptu kebab, still taking care to avoid crunching on a few small cockroaches that found their way on the thing.

Not a cannibal. At least this thing has some redeemable quality.

The titanous cockroach, or Titaroach, if you will, began to turn around, its whip-like antennae slashing the air as if they had been made of dozen of razor blades, something James feared wasn't that far off. He got a good look at the thing's eyes, two deep blue ovals with a few turquoise sparkles floating in them, something James was pretty sure was NOT normal in cockroaches, not even specimens that could eat researchers.

The Titaroach stared at James and the ratling for a few tense seconds before returning to its meal, skewering another toad and beginning to tear it apart.

James immediately whispered to the girls.

"Blanche, Foudre, exercise over. We're going home. Now, step back, slowly."

They all began to slowly walk away, never letting their eyes off the Titaroach as it began to reach for yet another toad, the more James saw them the more he felt like these amphibians had to be somewhat suicidal.

Once it finished its current brochette, the Titaroach turned to look at James and the ratlings one last time before fluttering its oversized wings at a toad the size of a dog that suddenly emerged from the water, toad which ignored the warning before hopping closer and getting cleanly decapitated by a swift leg movement from the Titaroach, which, for a toad, simply meant being cut in half.

James and the two ratlings stayed silent on the way back, paying attention to look behind them every once in a while, just in case. James also made sure that they didn't go home directly but instead made a few loops around the sewers, just in case that thing was planning on tracking them once it got tired of frog legs - and heads, and arms, and tongues, and intestines...

It's only once the entrance to the nest was in sight that James spoke.

"Blanche, good work on locating a large source of food. However, I beg of you, try to avoid finding an apex predator next time."

The albino sheepishly squeaked.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not mad. I also scouted that place once and didn't see that thing around, so either it's a newcomer or it has some kind of stealth ability - both of which are terrifying for different reasons."

"Squeak!"

"And Foudre, sorry you didn't get to fight something. Actually killing the prey wasn't the focus of the exercise but I'd understand if you're disappointed."

"Squeak."

"Oh, and in case you ever stumble something like that without me around, most predators only register something as prey if they were already hunting them or if they notice that it reacts as one. So, if you accidentally meet a big bad monster and it doesn't immediately pounce on you, slowly leaving while maintaining eye contact is a good plan."

""Squeak!""

"How did that thing get so big anyway? The last one was only the size of a dog, so what... Is it that orb? The one the size of a ping pong ball you found in that smaller one? Does that giant one have a bigger one? I'll look it up online."

Which is exactly what he did.

"Orb in monster cockroach"

He didn't expect to find anything, but what a shock, the Internet was full of surprises.

"The inner mechanisms of Cores and how they affect entities : a study on the effects of Cores on cockroaches and other arthropods."

"Studies find Zalcien's cockroaches are getting more and more Cored, should we worry?"

"My pet cockroach has a Mind core and won't shut up."

"Should I feed Cored insects to my reptiles?"

"What are the chances of a cockroach Awakening?"

"Help! I just Awakened my Core and am turning into a giant cockroach!"

James' research had only brought in more questions if anything. One, in particular, occupied his mind.

What on Earth was a Core?