"What about... Remy? What do you think?"
Remy... it sounded good.
He didn't know what a name was, but hearing the human call him that filled him with something unfamiliar yet comforting. The name felt like a bond, an invisible thread tying him closer to the human. And he liked it.
Remy liked being with the human. Life with him was peaceful, and for the first time, Remy felt truly safe. Not only did the human give him food, but he also gave him something much more—he gave him a sense of belonging.
For a rat who had known nothing but the harshness of survival, this feeling was foreign. The warmth he felt when snuggling beside the human was what some might call home. And as he drifted off to sleep, Remy couldn't help but dream of his past life—the life in the sewers.
Remy had been born into a colony of sewer rats, a species regarded as pests by the humans aboveground. Their rapid reproduction caused them to become a nuisance, so much so that the city lord issued a decree for their extermination.
Life in the colony was built on a strict hierarchy. At the top was the Rat Queen, the one responsible for the colony's ever-growing population. Below her were the worker rats, rats like Remy, whose lives were bound by duty. They scavenged for food, fought off invaders, and served the queen without question.
But Remy was different.
While others fought for scraps, Remy used his wits to survive. He had no love for the colony or its queen, yet he knew escape was impossible. The queen's control was absolute—until the day the extermination decree came down.
Chaos erupted when the human mercenaries descended into the sewers. The Rat Queen was killed swiftly, and with her death, the colony broke free of her control. Rats scattered in all directions, but the humans were merciless. Many of Remy's kin were slaughtered. By sheer luck and cunning, Remy survived.
He escaped the sewers and made his way aboveground. But life there wasn't much easier. Remy scurried from house to house, scavenging for food wherever he could find it.
Every day was a gamble. The humans above were no kinder than the ones below. He remembered the kicks, the poison, the boiling water, and the sharp objects aimed at him. Yet every time, Remy survived.
One day, while creeping through the outskirts of the city, he stumbled upon a building near the forest's edge—an orphanage.
It was there that Remy first saw Kael.
It was late at night, and Kael was sitting in his wheelchair in the orphanage kitchen, quietly stealing food. Their eyes met for the first time in that dimly lit room. Remy, cautious and always on edge, froze. He expected the human boy to shoo him away or worse, but Kael simply stared at him with those indifferent, tired eyes.
"So, you're here to steal food too, huh... Here."
Kael tossed a piece of bread toward Remy. The rat hesitated, wary of poison, but after a quick sniff, he grabbed it and scurried off. As he ran, he heard Kael mutter to himself,
"Guess I'm a rat now… scrounging for food."
A noise interrupted their quiet moment—a caretaker entering the kitchen. The man caught Kael red-handed and immediately began berating him, slapping him and accusing him of stealing.
Remy watched from the shadows. The human could have easily blamed him, could have shifted the guilt onto the rat, but Kael said nothing. He took the punishment in silence, his bruised face betraying no emotion. As Remy slipped away into the night, he found himself thinking:
"What a strange human."
After that, Remy returned to the orphanage often, sometimes just to see Kael. The boy was different from the others. He never lashed out, never chased Remy away, and sometimes even left food behind for him. A silent understanding began to grow between them, an unspoken bond.
Back in the Present
Remy stirred from his sleep, nestled against Kael's side in the cave. The faint memories of the orphanage lingered in his mind—memories of the boy who shared his food despite having so little himself.
Remy glanced at Kael, now lost in slumber. The human had always struggled with finding food. Whenever he attempted to steal, he was always gets caught and harshly beaten.
Remy's whiskers twitched as a thought crossed his mind.
"This human doesn't know how to find food... But I do. Don't worry, human. You gave me food when I needed it most. Now, it's my turn."
With a quiet determination, Remy slipped out of the cave and into the night. He would bring food for Kael. He would repay the human who had given him a home.