Ratcatcher stopped daydreaming when the ground shook. She looked around before noticing that the wall around the village was shaking. She had learned many things in her short life. Not the least of which was that mountains don't move. You can't just come up to a stacked and compressed wall of steel and shake it and move it. Not even Mom can do that!

And yet that is what is happening now. The wall that has surrounded them for years has been lifted like a pillow. And the one who was doing the lifting was a woman, standing taller than even the Other, her enormous blonde hair gathered in a tight bun behind her head. The woman, who both had more muscles than Mom and somehow retained her elegance, was dressed in a blue buttoned suit with a gold emblem of a sprawling tree attached to the lapel of her collar with a gold chain.

The woman held the weight above her with one hand; her beautiful and heavenly features frowned in concern as the metal finally bent under its weight and parts of the wall collapsed. She looked down at the village, then up, and nodded. And in response to that nod, a disk formed above her palm, spreading far and wide.

And into that disk the wall went. It was sucked in, like water in a crack in the ground. The steel was bent even more and sucked into this strange opening in reality. On and on it went, the roar of moving tons of steel seemingly stretching into infinity, leaving the people of the village speechless before such a display of divine power, their ears ringing with the screeching of steel and the rustling of chains.

But eventually the wall disappeared entirely, leaving nothing in return. Literally nothing. This woman, whoever she was, walked into the Scrapyard and deleted vast parts of it! Ratcatcher saw monsters; she saw Others, she got shot with energy weapons; she saw the cruelty of the outsiders… And now a goddess came to her village. And Scrapyard lost a good chunk of its protection, revealing the horizon and blue sky in the distance. Like a can, their home was pried open and exposed to everything.

“Found you, little missy.” The woman said, coming closer to the girl. Her voice was warm and gentle, just like her features and her eyes, which reminded the girl of the unattainable sky she had seen before. With a snap of her fingers, another disk opened over the village, shining daylight on the awestruck people.

The villagers cried out in fear. Some fell to their knees, others tried to run away. She, too, nearly released her own bowels at the sight of blue taking over the metal roof. The sky! An empty space, unsupported by any pillars or walls! A roof that could fall at any moment, crushing everyone beneath it. Space. So much open space. This woman created it. Fresh, cool air poured out of the swirling, circular opening into the cave, causing the wind to blow dust off the ground.

Not all of the villagers gave in to despair. The girl saw several people armed with spears and knives helping others to retreat and form ranks. If they're not scared, she won’t falter either!

And most importantly. Ratcatcher could understand her! She could understand an outsider!

Behind this intruder, there were familiar faces. People in dirty clothes or armor, all armed with weapons, shouting angrily. Their words sounded strange at first, like barking, but after a while, Ratcatcher understood them as well. It was a strange feeling, as if a barrier surrounded the woman, and when sound passed through it, it changed, allowing the girl to understand others.

"Kill them! These monsters have taken our daughter! Give the girl back, you freaks! Burn their whole hellhole and save Nadya!" The crowd roared, and she jumped to her feet.

Burn them? Burn her brother? Their home? Take away everything from them? And let them throw the girl down again for some strange ritual?

Never. She decided and lunged at the woman, who tilted her head.

Ratcatcher jumped and aimed a clawed kick at the woman's knee. Taking advantage of the moment when the woman's eyes shifted to look at her foot, the girl grabbed a few pieces of rubble from the ground with her tail. The plan was simple. Wound the knee, throw rubble into the opponent's eyes, bounce off the knee, circle, and hit the tall woman across the temple.

None of it came to pass. Effortlessly and very gently, the woman grabbed the girl, lifted her up and held her at a distance, not allowing the kicks to reach the arms and not letting go. The flying stones were casually brushed aside by the gloved fingers. The giant woman smiled at Ratcatcher's frightened face, ignoring the tail that tried to pry the fingers open.

"How... how are you here? How did you find us?" Ratcatcher fired, before a terrible thought raced through her mind. "Please, don't hurt my family! Take me if you want, just spare them!"

“No one will be hurt today, little lady.” A shot cut the woman’s words short, but no bullet has reached the girl. A space in front of the bullet shattered, forming a circle that swallowed the projectile. The blonde continued in an apologetic tone, "Forgive the people; they are understandably riled up.” The calm blue eyes glanced at her shoulder, noting the spot where her muscles bulged and tore the bandage. "So that is why you ran. Don't worry, girl, the pain will be gone in a moment."

Ratcatcher teared up when she noticed sharp needles coming from the woman's gloved hands. Her eyes widened as the needles pierced her shoulder, and she felt a substance being injected into her bloodstream. Maybe this was the Spider Goddess and she was going to suck her dry? She remembered the scary stories other boys and girls told about a woman with a half-human, half-spider body who lured hunters nearby before grabbing them with her legs.

She gritted her teeth and prepared to meet the excruciating pain head-on, like a warrior! An itch began to form on her shoulder, and she made one last prayer, asking every known deity and spirit to keep Mom, Dad, and her brother safe.

“My name is Eugenia Mylli, and as for how I found you…” The woman’s lips formed a cheeky smile. “I have a superb nose. Learned how to use it from a rival of sorts. Would you please tell me your name, my new frie…”

I brought her here! Ratcatcher panicked. I have doomed the village! My fault! I am a murderer and a monster now!

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“Let my daughter go!” Mom roared, leaping at Eugenia.

Ratcatcher had never seen Mom fight before. She came at the bigger woman like a ball of fury, but when Eugenia easily dodged the claws aimed at her face, Ratcatcher found a tail wrapped around her chest. Mom didn't fight senselessly. With a flick of her tail, Bloodsworn sent her daughters into Dad's arms; her leg stomped the ground up to the knee, cracking the stone.

“I assure you, violence isn’t needed,” Eugenia said, raising her palms. “Let us talk. Please.”

“Take the kids and run!” Mom snapped, tearing her leg free and raising a slab of stone into the air.

With an elbow kick, Mom smashed the stone slab, sending countless pieces of debris at Eugenia. No portal opened this time; the woman simply walked through the onslaught, dodging each piece of debris instead of blocking projectiles. Mom came at the invader, allowing her arms to be caught by her opponent and thrusting her head forward.

Her jaws opened, and her tail aimed at one of her blue eyes. Mom aimed, if not to kill, then at least to maim her opponent. But the fangs only closed on empty air, while the tail struck a disk that appeared in front of Eugenia. Another disk appeared behind Bloodsworn, and the tip of her tail emerged from it. Eugenia let go of her opponent and somehow turned into a ghost. Ratcatcher could barely see Mom's blurry movements, her ferocious kicks that could bend steel, and her cruel hooks that could cripple bones.

She saw almost nothing of Eugenia's movements, witnessing afterimages rather than moves themselves. The woman only ever shifted her axis, dodging each attack perfectly, not allowing her clothes to catch so much dirt, let alone a touch of her opponent's flesh.

Mom and Dad often taught her how to fight. Not that there was much good in it. Other girls and boys liked to fight now and then, but most of the time everyone in the village was friends and no one went all the way. Fighting spiders and other predators also required little knowledge, just ferocity and the abuse of the insects' instincts. And Outsiders, well... they had guns. You can't fight guns with your fists without getting injured.

But now she recognized when Mom had switched her style. Where simple thrusts no longer worked, feints could have saved the day. Pretending to strike with a fist aimed at Eugenia's right eye, Mom made the woman shift to her left and immediately followed with a brutal elbow. At the same time, she kicked horizontally to break the opponent's knee.

Both strikes missed. Ratcatcher had no idea what had happened at first, only that Eugenia was standing some distance away, well out of Mom's reach. And then the girl looked down. Eugenia's footprints told her everything. Somehow, the woman moved out of reach, faster than the eye could follow.

Dad grabbed Ratcatcher, holding her little brother under his armpit and the wounded girl in his tail, and ran. She tried to argue; she tried to tell him to let her go so she could help Mom; she cried that it was her fault and she had to stay behind...

“Momm…y?” Her desperate howl, filled to the brim with fear of losing a dearest person, stopped upon seeing Mom fighting before them. But… Dad was running in the opposite direction? Seeker came to the same conclusion and darted again, only for a circle to appear in front of them, enveloping them and once again placing all four facing Eugenia.

"Please calm down, everyone." Mom's blow went straight through Eugenia's face and only hit the air as the taller woman reappeared to the left. "I understand that this is a shocking event for everyone involved, but we have children in the area and I would rather not hurt anyone..."

She stopped as rows of Others appeared in the village. They came without a sound, but when the newcomers marched to stand side by side with the villagers, their stomping drowned out Eugenia's voice.

"No one will be hurt." Eugenia nodded at them, and some sort of understanding came between them as the insectoid-looking beings lowered their terrifying pincers. "Please, my name is Eugenia. How may I address you, Miss?

"Call me Bloodsworn." The mother jumped back to stand closer to her family. Her eyes scanned the people behind the intruder, never quite leaving the woman out of sight. With one hand, Mom checked on her children. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"Just look at your daughter's shoulder." Eugenia beamed innocently.

Ratcatcher followed the order, gasping in shock. Her wounded shoulder, where the bullet had hit her yesterday, was now covered with skin. And not just that! Her skin was clean, without a trace of scar or bruise, and a few strands of new fur had begun to grow.

Mom came closer, grimacing and holding a palm between her legs. Her nose sniffed Ratcatcher's arm before touching it with a finger and then her tongue. Finally she looked back at Eugenia, still suspicious, but now a little less hostile.

"Speak. Why did you ruin our home?"

"Enough of this!" the crowd roared. "Return our child!"

"Everyone, calm down! Miss Bloodsworn, I am so very sorry for the intrusion and subsequent displacement of your property." Eugenia bowed, not afraid to show her neck. "But Mr. and Mrs. Erickson over there are in a panic about losing their daughter, little Nadya, over there." Eugenia nodded at the girl, and Mom stepped in front of her. "Imagine you had lost your own child like Mister. How would you act?"

“No idea, because it will never happen on my watch," Mom said stubbornly. She sighed, as if remembering something, and continued. "But one thing's for sure: I would never have shot a person who saved my daughter like that bastard did!"

"You eat people, monster!" A large man, one of the two Ericksons armed with a pistol, shouted, holding his weapon with shaking hands.

“Screw you! We saved your daughter, scumbag!” Mom’s spit landed at the man’s feet.

“Lies…”

“Lies?!” Mom roared. “You are the ones who keeps coming to our lands, hunting us like animals and hurting our children! We never, ever left the Scrapyard to come to your land, so why are you lot always coming to our home?! Why do you even think that we eat humans?”

"Look at you—claws, fangs, and a tail! You are just trying to trick us; give Nadya back!"

"Why, so you can throw her off a hill again?" Ratcatcher yelled, and Mom nodded.

“Yeah, the poor girl has suffered enough. I’ll raise her properly, safe and sound, not to worry,” Dad added calmly.

"I will not leave my daughter with a bunch of freaks!" The man tried to raise his gun again when his wife pushed forward and fell to her knees in front of Mom.

"Please." The woman's voice broke between pleading and whimpering. "My husband... he is a good man. We are just afraid. Pol and I are not soldiers; we never meant to hurt or attack any of you. Look at us! We both pale with fear just by looking at your people! It's just..."

“Just what?” Mom demanded to know, hitting the ground with the tail.

“We work here! It’s our only source of income! If we couldn’t collect scrap, we would not be able to feed our daughter, and we have no one to leave her with after Dad died, and… Oh God, I am so sorry. Nadya is young. She saw something curious and ran away. I should have looked after her; I should have taken care of her; it is all my fault…” The woman broke into tears. “Please, I beg you, just give her back to us. I can work as your slave; I can…”

“Enough,” Mom told her in a tired voice. “The girl is safe. Take her, love her, and watch after her this time!” She looked around and shook her head at the angry faces. “And this is justice, yes? You call yourself humans, and yet you have gathered to lynch us without giving us a chance to speak.”

"No one will be lynched, Miss. I promise you that." Eugenia walked alongside the woman to retrieve the child and smiled again at the Ratcatcher.

“Yes, you just ruined our home; these people shot at us, and now we have n…” Mom coughed. “N-nowhere to h-hide.”

She fell to one knee, and Eugenia was already near her, even faster than Dad. Ratcatcher panicked; she barely heard Dad's explanation that Mom had just given birth yesterday. She took her crying brother and tried to calm him down, looking at one thing and one thing only. Mom's pants were soaked with blood.