This was Catria’s favorite part of being a scout. The actual scouting. She used a trifle of mana to warp to the top of the roof across the street. It was a two story building. It was a cheese shop of some sort with an apartment above. It looked like a lot of the buildings here shared that design.

The main street ran up a hill but she wasn’t going that far. She surveyed the area from her new vantage. There were three large human-sized squirrels perched on a building two blocks away and a wandering dog in the streets. Larger than normal, but didn’t look like a threat at this time.

The buildings were tightly packed with no alleys between. It made walking across them easier. Snow and ice covered every inch of the roofing. There had to have been at least a meter of the stuff. I hate cold climates, Catria grumbled to herself. She wasn’t a fan of environments where just existing was painful.

The plaza was a large concrete plain covered in yet more snow and ice. It looked like the storm was letting up. Less gray, less snowfall. Even the wind had faded away. There were a dozen or more vehicles in the lot and two of the buildings had signs of forced entry. Broken glass, a door hanging off the frame.

Always something, Catria located the Pizza House. It was obvious by the gigantic sign with the name emblazoned across it. The snow around the front door was disturbed, but all the snow here had been. Something had come through. Not humanoids. She’d already done another scan for that. The door and large glass windows on either side were still intact.

Catria teleported, hand on the door handle and stepped inside without missing a beat. She did a quick once-over of the room and jumped the front counter. No sounds or signs of anything. Two employees were frozen in place at the counter, one handing a pizza to an older woman who was frozen mid grab. Sad, Catria thought.

The next room was filled with pots and pans, ovens and coolers. Shelves lined every available wall and were cluttered with everything pizza. There was no snow here but the floor was slick with ice. Everything was frosted over and frozen down. When she pulled on the first cooler door it wouldn’t even budge. The second one was no better.

There were two employees back here, one frozen in place pulling a pizza from the oven and the other folding pizza boxes.

Crash!

The front windows exploded inward.

Catria teleported between two tall freezers and crouched behind a stack of pizza boxes. Two huge fuzzy creatures had tussled through the window, one huge raccoon and the other an equally big brown squirrel. Their teeth and claws had become like long wicked sharp knives and they were close to Catria’s size.

I’ll just hide for now, Catria thought. There was an exit sign over a steel door back here she could escape from, or the front. The door might be frozen shut. Both would probably give her position away and she hadn’t even gotten any food yet.

“Get off of me!” The Raccoon growled, throwing the squirrel back through the window. He dashed into the back. “Gotta hide. Gotta move. Gotta -” he paused and looked at the frozen pizza that had just come out of the oven. “Food?”

The squirrel slammed into him and they rolled through across the food prep counters. Pots, pans, cheese, and bits of toppings were thrown in all directions. The raccoon ended up on one side of a counter and the squirrel on the other. The raccoon began to pull down pizza pans and hurl the metal discs at his opponent.

The squirrel, frustrated and unable to make any forward momentum, retreated back to the front and out the gaping hole in the window. “Yeah! Get lost buddy! You don’t wanna mess with this!” The raccoon shook a pan at the fleeing squirrel, then slumped back against the counter in relief when he was out of sight.

Catria didn’t think the oversized fur ball would have been much of a challenge for her if she revealed herself. She could reason with it, recruit it to help them with the anomaly. This wasn’t the first earth with sentient animals she’d visited.

“Hey there,” Catria stepped out from behind the stack of boxes she was crouched behind.

“Ahhhhhhh!” The raccoon hit the ceiling, startled by the sudden appearance. He landed in a pile of pans on the counter and frantically launched them in all directions while trying to flee.

“Stop that!” Catria covered her face with her arms, blocking the debris.

“You can talk?!” The raccoon was on all fours now, looking flustered at Catria.

“Obviously?”

“What do you mean obviously? Normally humans just make weird noises! Some weird stuff had been going on today, man!”

“OK, just calm down. Yes, something has happened today.”

“Everything is wrong!”

“We’re working on returning things to normal. Or as normal as it can be,” Catria was eyeing the room, making sure she had an exit if this went downhill.

“We?” He asked. “There are others? Like me?”

“No, not exactly. I have two other humans.”

“Oh,” the raccoon was a little downcast.

“We could use your assistance.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must have some skills?”

“Sneaking and eating.”

“That’s perfect, I’m here sneaking around trying to find something to eat.”

The raccoon lit up. “Well, if its food you want, I’m your guy. This here's a place of deliciousness. If we hit the dumpster out back, I’m sure we’ll find something amazing.”

“Why not this freezer here?”

“Haha, oh, wait. They keep stuff in these? Like big sideways dumpsters?”

“Not exactly, but you get the idea.”

The raccoon waddled over and wrenched open the door Catria had struggled with. His eyes lit up at the stacks of uncooked pizzas. There was no power to the building and the ovens were frozen over. She’d have to leave it up to Jordan and her fire elemental to do the cooking.

The pizzas crashed out of the freezer in a pile. “Why is everything so cold?” He grumbled. The pre-formed discs shattered like glass when they hit the floor, sending shards of sauce and cheese everywhere.

“We can heat these up when we meet back up with the others.”

He agreed. They gathered up the food. Catria pulled clean ones from the freezer in a bag and the raccoon gathered up the ones off the floor.

“I hope those overgrown chipmunks are gone,” the raccoon said as he cautiously approached the front of the store.

Crash!

A car tire smashed through the window and straight into the raccoon, throwing him backward against the wall. Other objects followed. There was a loud chittering and suddenly the building was being pelted from all sides. Catria and the raccoon retreated back into the kitchen area.

“I’m going to warp,” Catria announced.

“What?”

She grabbed his arm and focused on the clothing store they’d come from. Warping with another person inside a building was a little different than warping alone. It was easy to imagine herself in a space but not as much for somebody else. They could end up in a wall or impaled by any ordinary item, so she’d warp them to the roof first.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

ZZzzzzp!

Everything spun and the raccoon collapsed. Catria was used to the feeling. She looked closely at the clothing shop exterior. No changes. Good. She moved to the other side while her new companion uprighted himself and shook off his dizziness. Down the street along the rooftops and plaza were rioting squirrels.

“There’s an army of them!” The raccoon hissed, taking cover behind the short wall that ran along the rooftop.

Together they warped down to the street. Catria tried to hold him for balance this time. It didn’t help. He fell and pulled her down into a snowbank. The raccoon’s pizzas were flung in every direction. Catria warped out of the snowbank and was covered head to toe in snow.

“Come on! Before they see us!” Catria rushed across the street and threw the door open. Grant and Jordan were at the front counter mixing potions. There was a sweet sulfuric aroma in the room. Bombs?

“Woah! You’re being followed!” Grant yelled, leaping the counter knife in hand.

“He’s friendly! Get inside!” Catria pulled the door closed and locked it. “It might not be safe here much longer.”

“Why?”

“Overgrown chipmunks,” the raccoon said.

“Who’s this cute little guy?” Jordan said in a cutesy baby voice, rushing over.

“I don’t know if he has a name,” Catria admitted. “I didn’t ask.”

“I’m most commonly called Scram!”

“Do you like that name? Jordan asked.

He nodded.

“Can he join the party? Is that a thing?” Grant asked.

Scram has joined the party!

The door rattled. Then the windows rattled. Glass from the skylights rained down in the next room. “Oh no,” Scram whispered. “They’re here.”

A squirrel fell through one of the skylights. “We need to go, and fast. Grant! You got those mana potions?”

Grant nodded, handing her all the ones he’d made so far. She downed one and the squirrel crept around the clothing area. It hadn’t seen them yet. Jordan and Scram ducked behind the counter.

“What’s the plan?” Grant asked.

“I’ll take Jordan first, she can summon an elemental to defend and I’ll come back for Scram. Then we’ll have to hold out until my mana regenerates. Get ready to run.”

They all nodded in agreement. She warped Jordan first.

“So uh, this happen often?” Grant asked.

“The squirrels? Yeah. They hate me.”

Zzzzzzp!

Catria was back, then gone in another flash with Scram. Just Grant left now. He peeked around the desk and could see clothing racks moving around now. The door rattled again and the pitter patter of a hundred steps could be heard on the roof above. Fuck this, he thought.

One peeked over the desk above and looked at him. Grant was eye to eye with him. Then stabbed.

Voidknife (Grant) deals 12 piercing and 8 void damage to Giant Squirrel!

You have defeated Giant Squirrel! You have received 125 experience points!

Grant pulled his knife back and the body fell limp on the counter with less than a whimper.

Smash!

A vase crashed into the wall next to his head. He ducked and moved away, peeking out to scan one of the squirrels. There were three looking his way and one creeping closer to figure out what had happened to his buddy.

Giant Squirrel (Threat 1)

Beast

Health [17]

Mana [9]

Stamina [13]

Power +2

Spirit +2

Mind +0

Magic +0

Luck +1

Zzzzzzp!

Catria was back again. She jumped, startled by the dead squirrel and blood dripping down the side of the counter. “I need at least another two minutes,” she said, pulling out her sidearm.

“One creeping closer, three squirrels on the far wall that I could see.”

“You get the one coming closer, I’ll cover the wall,” Catria said.

They nodded in agreement and popped out. Grant activated his Void Step and appeared beside the surprised squirrel.

Void Knife deals 10 pierce and 7 void damage to Giant Squirrel!

Circuit Blaster (Catria) deals 15 pierce damage to Giant Squirrel! (3 Hits!)

Lamp (Giant Squirrel) deals 8 blunt damage to Grant!

Who throws a lamp? Grant thought as he teleported back to cover. It had smacked him straight in the forehead and left a lump. He’d gotten another experience prompt, this time reduced 30% for having a two person party. Catria popped out from behind the counter and finished off the squirrel she’d hit on the wall.

The gunfire had drawn more of the squirrels to our location. Two more fell from skylights above us onto the counter. One of them bit Catria!

Bite (Giant Squirrel) deals 7 pierce damage to Catria!

Void Knife deals 9 pierce and 10 void damage to Giant Squirrel!

Void knife deals 14 pierce and 7 void damage to Giant Squirrel!

A thought barely crossed my mind as I struck with my blade. I struck twice, two quick cuts that rendered both squirrels defeated.

You have defeated Giant Squirrels! You have received 175 (base 250 - 30% for Party) experience points!

You have gained level 5 in Voidwalker! Open your Status to select a Domain!

You have 1 unspent attribute point!

Grant peeked around the corner and saw nothing but a sea of fur. “They’re coming!”

“Short range warp, we’re going to the roof,” Catria grabbed Grant and they were gone.

They were back to the spot Catria was scouting from. But there was a problem.

Bite (Giant Squirrel) deals 9 pierce damage to Catria!

Bite (Giant Squirrel) deals 10 pierce damage to Grant!

Bite (Giant Squirrel) deals 6 pierce damage to Grant!

Grant’s health dropped to 28 from 44 as two squirrels descended on him. They were up on this roof, too! Catria kicked hers off the roof to his demise below. Grant struck one and used Void Step to get away from the other. The squirrel let out a shrill screech to alert the others.

Thunk!

Void Knife (Grant) deals 14 pierce and 6 void damage to Giant Squirrel!

Catria grabbed his knife and they both warped from the rooftop, then to another rooftop. They watched the squirrels scatter, searching. When they noticed them, they warped again.

“This way,” Grant said, warping down to ground level and running between two buildings. Catria followed.

He warped twice more, looking back to make sure Catria was following. The squirrels were still jumping from building to building towards them, but they were headed outside of the busier part of town where buildings were becoming sparse. They warped past the power station Grant had killed his first monster, then to the doorstep where he’d awoken to this frozen nightmare. His place of residence.

It wasn’t his, per say, but he rented it with two friends who he was pretty sure were dead. So was his landlord. That made it his, right? Grant walked through the open door and headed straight up the stairs towards his room.

Catria checked the windows for the squirrels, but she was sure they’d lost them. After the warps to get away she needed another couple minutes for her mana to regenerate for a long range warp. Grant came back down the stairs a few minutes later carrying a chest.

Inside was a collection of knives, from which Grant picked up and examined each one. There were two notable ones that he set aside.

Mastercraft Knife, knife, rare

A masterfully crafted weapon that deals 6 - 20 piercing or slashing damage.

Curved Knife, knife, uncommon

A knife with a wicked curve that deals 6 - 12 piercing or slashing damage and has a 20% chance to bleed an enemy for 5% of their total health.

The rest of his collection, as cool as it might have been to some nerds, was prop-quality that was no better than the kitchen knives he already had.

“Some of these are cool,” Catria examined a few of them. “Impractical, but cool. Can I have this one?”

“Sure!”

Grant didn’t part with all of them. He kept the two higher quality ones and two of the sentimental ones from his collection. It was with a heavy heart that he stepped away from his collection.

“I might never see any of this again, right?”

“Right,” Catria replied. “You ready?”

“No. Should I be? Everything that’s happened is kind of ridiculous if you ask me.” Grant sighed. “But yeah, I’m ready.”

Catria nodded. “We’ll do what we can to make things right,”

She placed her hand on his shoulder. He nodded. “Thanks.”

Zzzzzpt!