Chapter Text
A shivering child walks down the street, rain drenching through their clothes without the coverage of a raincoat. The roads of East Pine are empty, save for them and a couple of sleeping strays.
The youth's attention snaps to the dong, dong, dong of a heavy bell in the distance, immediately setting them uneasy. They hug themselves and walk faster.
A peculiar cat with two flaming tails tumbles out of a knocked-over trash can at the corner, fur splotched with pink, lilac and green. It gets onto its back legs and begins walking around on two legs like a human, which baffles the kid.
It then sniffs the air, and turns to face the child. The two meet gaze and freeze.
"....BRRRAAAAAAAAIIIINSSS!!!" the feline roars out, barreling towards the young. They shriek, turning on heel and running back the way they came.
The child runs back into Southmond, blazing down Coconut Quarters with the cat five steps behind. Through the tears clouding their vision, they notice a tall, shambling figure ahead. "Please, help me!!!" they cry out to the adult.
"Braaaaaiiiiinss.." the person groans, swiping at the kid as they pass, successfully ripping into the skin beneath their sweater sleeve.
"WAAAAAAAHHH, HEEEEELLP!!" They grip their bleeding arm, racing past the gas station on Motor Road with two monsters now in hot pursuit.
The adolescent trips on a huge crack in the sidewalk and hits the ground hard. They curl into a ball as they sob, knowing they just sealed their doom through a clumsy mistake.
Two thuds hit the concrete as a gentle touch rubs the young's back. They unfreeze and look up from the ground at a blonde woman in a white coat.
She smiles softly. "Hi.. could you come with me? You'll be safe." She extends her right hand, the left occupied by a comically large hammer.
The child, finally saved, slips their unbloodied hand into hers, getting up and walking with the woman to the Scrapyard.