It was a cloudy day, as if rain were about to fall from the sky at any moment. A young woman clung her purse with a frown on her face as she walked down a busy street. Her pace was brisk as she stepped in her high heels. She turned down a dark alleyway and continued to walk quickly, walking for a good ten minutes before she paused. Everything in the alleyway was much darker than the sky above her, much as though things went to night in an instant. "Ugh. This place is so nasty."
 
The alleyway reeked with scents of feces, booze, rotten food, and mold. Water dripped from the top of the two buildings on both sides of the alleyway down into a pan below. The woman noticed a large tent set up next to the pan, as well as a fire pit.

"Someone seriously lives here? Ugh." She began to turn around but paused. "This way shaves like ten minutes off my walk." She loathed walking in cheap neighborhoods, especially in places where there were homeless people, but she told herself that she could just ignore them.
 
"Someone does live here." A raspy voice called out. A woman poked her head out, a brown skinned woman that looked to be in her 40s. She wore brown ragged clothing and appeared to be very malnourished. One could see the bones through her skin without much difficulty. She shakily walked out of her small tent with a cane in hand. "It has its perks to not be so tied down to one place."
 
"Yeah, you get free showers." The young woman replied with a sarcastic laugh. She had taken this alleyway a few times before, but she never recalled anyone living in it. It was strange to see the woman so lived-in, especially since she mentioned about being tied down. Was this woman just quick to settle? Or maybe the things were already there, and the young woman just never noticed before. "Shame you never take them."
 
The older homeless woman leered. "You had best watch your tongue, Sara. Lest someone cut it off."
 
The young woman's eyes grew wide. "Wait. How did you know my name?" She stepped back and reached into the small brown bag she carried. She wrapped her fingers around a sheathed knife she carried in her bag. She never thought she had to take it out to defend herself, but she wouldn't hesitate if this woman tried something.
 
"Because it says it on the side of your bag." The woman scoffed.
 
Sara paused. She glanced down at her purse and saw the name in gold writing. "Ah, yes. My father, lord Alastair, paid for that.” She enjoyed talking about her father. It wasn't that she loved or respected him, but mentioning his name,  Alastair, was often enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone she talked to, allowing her to get all the things she wanted. “My father pays for a lot of things. He practically owns this city. He also hates lower peasants such as yourself, so you'd best find somewhere else to live before he cracks down on you and your new home is behind bars. Go live somewhere else, somewhere worse. The slums are still too good for you." She waved her hand dismissively at the woman. "Go live with the rats. They could use someone like you."
 
"Is that right?" The woman reached into a pocket. "Living with the rats?" She glanced down and noticed one scurrying away from a pack of trash. Sara looked as if she were going to scream at the sight of that pest. "Rats have a hard life, you know. You look as if you had a life of everything being handed to you, far from that of a rat. Perhaps you need a new perspective."
 
Sara's feet repeatedly raised and stomped down on the ground. Alleyways with old creepy women were one thing, but rats were another. She loathed rats! "Screw that! I'm out of here lady." She turned away from the woman and began to walk away in a hurry. "You just stay with your rats, like the vermin you all are." She added.
 
"Perhaps..." The woman pulled out white powder. "It is YOU that should live with the rats." She threw the powder at Sara, striking the back of her head just before Sara could get too far away.
 
Sara tried not to turn her head. It was as if a snowball struck her though, and the powder went everywhere. She wound up inhaling it and let out a giant cough. "Ugh!" She tried to keep running away from the woman, but she tripped on her own high heels and fell onto the hard cold concrete below with her hands landing in freezing water. "You fucking witch!" She shouted. She pulled herself up and glanced down at her body. Dirt covered her front and expensive red top. She tried to walk away, but her body felt much weaker so quickly. 'If that powder was a drug, I swear I will sue her. Money or not, she's going to damn prison and rotting there like... like... uhn.'

Sara clenched her stomach and let out a large belch. It felt as if something exploded in her body and wanted to rush out of any available orifice. Her heart began to race and pound heavily. She feared whether the powder was a drug that induced a heart attack. Her body wanted to fall onto the ground, but she had to hold herself up. She was already so dirty from the earlier fall and loathed to touch that ground once more. 'I just have to get home.' She raised her foot again, but as she lifted it upward, it slipped out of her high heel. She only had straps to keep her feet in place, but that was usually more than enough. She froze in her steps and tried to put her foot back in the high heel, but the heel felt... bigger? What's more, the entire world around her seemed larger. The alleyway that once was smaller than her massive hallways in her mansion now looked so much bigger. It was more than just that though, her dress became loose on her body. It wasn't so loose that it fell off, but more of her shoulders exposed themselves above the clothing. 'What's going on?' She thought in a panic.
 
Sara felt something brush up against the side of her head. She reached up and felt two massively growing ears, her own ears. Her eyes grew as wide as her ears were getting. She had to get out of here, now. Maybe it was the powder, or maybe it was something in the air. Whatever it may have been, it was a drug she had to get away from. Her nose pushed outward and revealed small whiskers growing underneath. She couldn't see them, but they felt so itchy that she reached up to scratch, and then wanted to scream. Green gas began to pour out from her mouth, and white gas from her much longer ears. White fur covered much of her arms, which she was trying to use to keep that gas inside of her. Her body shook wildly, though she did her best to keep standing.
 
Her dress slipped up, and her underwear down as her spine cracked and expanded out into a growing tail that matched her fair skin, though it was covered in a light dusting of fur. Her tail grew outwards, stretching in length until it measured longer than her legs. She could feel the tail touch the ground, and it made her yelp.
"Fix this now!" She shouted, though much of it came out as a squeak. Her long brown hair began to fall from her head like raindrops with white fur replacing it. Her body shrank down so much that her top also dropped and revealed her naked body. She kept herself clean of body hair, though she was mortified to see more white fur covering her body. While it covered much of her body, she noticed skin underneath. She raised her hands with horror gracing her face, and noticed they had a wrinkled appearance to them, complete with clawed tips. If this was a drug, it was an enormously powerful one. She felt the tickling and itching sensations of fur all over her body and the tail that lashed behind her. She saw the snout in front of her, also covered in fur just like the rest of her body. Had she not assumed she was drugged, she would think she was becoming a rat, but that just couldn't be possible!
 
Sara began to hear her bones cracking, along with various other things happening inside of her body. She couldn't stop herself as the alleyway looked larger around her. She put her hands on the ground and felt disgusted. She heard a squeaking noise, and her head shot up to see one of the many rats in the alleyway watching her, though the rat was much larger than before. She'd estimate it was as big as a large dog now but getting bigger by the second. 'No... ' It wasn't the rat getting bigger, it was her getting smaller! Just as she came to realize that her clothing fell from her body, too big for her to wear. She attempted to keep it on, but she was disgusted at her own hands to hold anything in front of her. She felt her furry arm against her body and wanted to retch. She wanted to yell at the woman to fix this, but her voice came out as a loud rat squeak.
 
Sara's now exposed breasts retracted, though they remained a part of her, and she felt additional nipples growing. She loathed to check on how many she was getting though. She didn't want to look at herself, yet she could feel her bones crack, her muscles shift, and the world around her become more frightening. The rat that watched her appeared larger as she continued to shrink. She soon measured just as big as that rat, but her closed eyes prevented her from seeing him. She smelled many more rotten scents, odors that were now much more appealing to her brain than they were moments ago. Her tail lashed behind her, though the movements were limited. She tried to let out a cry for help, only to come out as a squeak that sounded exactly like that of the rat she was.
 
The fur that mostly covered Sara's body covered her now completely from head to her toes, which changed into rat claws, perfect for climbing and grabbing onto things, just like her hands. Her arms and legs shortened, slowly retracting into a frame that was now much chubbier and rounder, much more like a pear shape of a rat, but the rear was much larger, as if to entice the male rats more. Sara could tell that she was no longer transforming as much, but she feared to look at herself. No drug was this powerful.
 
Sara slowly opened her eyes and saw the white fuzzy snout in front of her. Her nose twitched rapidly, and the long whiskers moved with her long nose. Her human clothing surrounded her, and the gas that expelled from her body was long gone, as well as any trace of her humanity. The tent the woman was in before has now vanished. She only saw the many eyes of beady rats surrounding her, the massive, yet gentle raindrops from the sky, and darkness. She could see much better in the darkness, but it horrified her how not only her body changed, but her senses too.
 
Sara blinked rapidly at the sight of the rat staring at her. She could smell the rat, and it smelled appealing. There was a salty, almost rotten smell, yet Sara's body was aroused at such a scent. 'Oh god, why am I so turned on by that?' She turned and tried to skitter away but froze as her claws walked on top of her clothes that were once her own, back when she was human, which felt like a lifetime ago. 'I have to fight this. I... I have to get home!'
 
Sara scurried as fast as her new body would take her. Her claws felt her finely made clothing as she crawled atop of them. She tried to travel along her clothes as long as she could to avoid the ground, but she knew there'd come a time when she'd have to touch the dirty soil. She wished she could take her high-heels with her, but her shoes were so much bigger than she was now that she could fit her whole body into one sole. 

She then noticed something at the very end of her long sleeve that was once her clothing. She saw a lone gold ring with a small diamond tip. The ring itself was valuable, but compared to Sara's other belongings, it was practically worthless. She thought back to the days of when she was much younger. Her father gave her that ring, the first piece of jewelry she ever got. She was told it was handed down to him by his parents, and by his grandparents to his parents, and continued down for countless generations. Despite its age, it always looked brand new.

The woman, transformed into a rat, crawled up to the ring. She already hated leaving all of her belongings behind, but there was no way she'd survive staying around them. She could already feel the eyes of countless peasants seeing her belongings and snatching them up like the dogs they were. She couldn't give them the ring, and it was just small enough. She slipped the upper half of her body through the ring and found she was able to carry it almost like a belt around her waist. Her rear was too plump for it to slip behind her, and she'd know if it slipped from her front side. The ring was heavy, but she was going to take it with her and hold on to it for dear life. Should she ever get back home, she'd be able to replace the rest of her belongings. She still hated leaving them all behind, but the ring was too valuable for her.

Sara heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She glanced around alert for a hiding place. She could fit into her own bag if she so wanted, not that it would have done much good if whatever was walking to her took that bag. She could only think of one thing to do. Her long tail dragged on the ground behind her as she raced out of the alleyway. Rain continued to fall at a gentle pace above the now transformed white rat as she ran as fast as her small body could take her. Her heart pounded heavily, and she breathed just as hard. Her much smaller lungs made her breathing much more rapid as a strange emotion filled her while she ran. For the first time in ages, she was afraid. The world was so much bigger than she was. It took so much longer to get home, and she had to avoid the feet of many people along the way. Her ears twitched as she picked up the noises of the people overhead.
 
"This city is so filthy. Rats everywhere. Look at that one! How has that good for nothing done anything about our rat problem?" One man said with an insulting tone.
 
"He owns the city; he doesn't live in it. He has no fucking incentive to fix up these issues." Another man replied. “Why does that rat have a ring anyways?
 
'They're talking about father, I know it.' Sara would have stopped and spoke highly of him. She would have told them how her father knows what he's doing, and then taken her out to get some of the most expensive food, clothing, jewelry, and then come home to the countless servants to care for her. Surely, her father could fix this mess with her. She'd get back to normal. She just had to get home, convince her father something had happened, and the rest would resolve itself with money, just like it always did.
 
The world looked so different from Sara's perspective. It was hard to stop dragging her long tail, now long as her body. She scurried along until she left the city, but it felt as if it would be ages before she got back home. She had never run so much in her life, and she quickly felt the exhaustion setting in. Her body sweat underneath her fur and her heart pounded harder than ever. She glanced out into the distance and couldn't even make out her father's home. 'Oh father, what should I do?' She wanted to keep going, but she was unsure how long it would take for her to get back to her father's home. She would normally take a carriage to get from the city and back home, but there was no feasible way a rat was able to do such things. She glanced briefly at the streets, but she picked up the sound of more walking. One giant foot blocked her view of the cobblestone street one moment, and she could see freely the next. She feared what might happen if these feet were to step on her. Sara would scream and demand others kill mice whenever she saw them, and she imagined others might do the same. She noticed a sewer grate, but she had no intention of going into such things, even if it were just to hide.
'I may be a rat, but I still have my dignity.' She looked down at her mostly naked furry body. The only thing that she kept to remind herself of her humanity was her ring, and even that felt like a burden to heave around. If the right person found her, they'd just steal the ring and demand she scurry away, and she couldn't have that. 'I must hide from these lowlifes. One will desire my ring, and I cannot allow that!'

Sara ducked between two large buildings. The gap between the buildings was much too small for a person to fit into, yet perfect for rats. As she slid in-between, she picked up the smell of other rats, and her heart began to pound. 'Just how many rats live in this damn city? I swear there must be more rats than people.' She wanted to find a place to just sit and think about what she could do, and how to get home.

The very small crack between two buildings had small paths that connected one building to another above her, as well as doorways that looked as if they slid up versus outward. The smell of mold and signs of cracks in the foundation showed just how old these buildings were. One of the doors was ajar, propped open, and Sara noticed a trail of ants crawling inside, and outside of the building in a marching formation. Sara would normally just crush those ants. However, the ants were now much larger with her much smaller body. They weren't threatening, but the size of those pests sent shivers down her spine.

Sara knew she couldn't keep roaming the streets. Her stomach rumbled hungrily, though she dreaded to think what rats would eat. She scurried to the partially open door and shoved her way in. She was left wondering how people would even use the door if the alleyway was too small for people, but the city's design often perplexed her, even as a human. She'd never go to such obviously cheap hovels. The scent of rotting food and mold grew stronger as she crawled inside the building. She noticed the second story of one of the rooms collapsed farther inside, and she saw even more rats scurrying about.

'This is so disgusting.' She felt her vagina slowly grow wet with arousal. She was still herself mentally, but her body felt as if it craved those rats. She tried to shake those desires from her body by shaking herself wildly, but to no avail. She couldn't go onto the streets with the humans. Humans might crush her or steal her priceless heirloom. At the same time, she was loath to be in a part of the city where she saw rats everywhere. She'd fit in, but she feared she may lose more than just her humanity if she was around the rats long enough, especially the way her body acted.

Just then, Sara jumped as she felt a cold sensation behind her tail. She turned and noticed one of the many rats behind her. She could immediately tell this rat was male based on scent alone, and she was disgusted by the fact her body told her that. Her nose kept rapidly twitching as it smelled the rat. She knew what the rat wanted, and while her body desired it, her mind did not.
Sara's tail flicked up, but just as she felt the rat push his nose against her rear, she scurried off. She crawled into the room with the collapsed second floor and jumped onto a wooden beam that served as a ramp to the next floor. She wasn't even sure how she was able to climb it so well. It was as if her body just took over and her mind took a backseat to her scurrying. If transforming into a rat was unbelievable, then running away from rats in a destroyed building must have been something beyond that, in addition to a nightmare.

The second floor was just as dark as the first. The only lighting was from the outside from broken windows and gaps in the ceiling, although there were at least two more floors above Sara, there were holes so big in the upper floors and the roof that there was a shining bluish light coming down from them. Sara also heard more rain, and watched it drip from the ceiling down in small drops. The rain seemed to attract many mice to drink from the puddle it formed, as if giving the small creatures a watering hole. Sara's mouth was dry and her body exhausted, but she didn't want to be anywhere near those rats, as needy as her body felt.

'I must try to relax and think. Father would always tell me I would never do that and just buy whatever I wanted.' Sara glanced at a broken window in the room and felt the cold gust of wind blow against her fur. 'I still have my dignity. I'm still human. I'm better than these rats, and I've got proof surrounding my body.' She added with a hint of confidence, even if she was also filled with as much doubt. She wanted to tell herself that this was a dream of some sort. She kept mentally saying that the woman just drugged her and that she was just going through some sort of dream, but in that case she'd want to wake up somehow.

Sara continued to stare at the many rats drinking from the puddle of water. There were so many, that she saw nothing but rat asses and tails surrounding the puddle, and some of them climbing on top of one another just to reach the water!

Sara then heard squeaking coming from the side. Her head carefully turned away from the water where she saw two gray rats just casually fucking each other. Their tails tangled with one rat turned upwards, and another with their penis right in the first one's cunt. It was then Sara noticed the rat's behind, which both disgusted and aroused her at the same time. She was technically a virgin, claiming that no man was ever good enough for her, yet the sight of these rats...
'Fuck. Why do I like watching that so much? Is that how rats mate with one on top of another like that? God... they're enjoying it and just doing it in public too.' Even in front of so many rats may not have been considered public for them. She couldn't get her eyes off the two mating. She almost felt a sense of jealousy burning inside of her.
'No! Think about your heritage! You have your ring. You're not a rat. You're human. You have to find a way to get home. Just stay here until the rain clears and then go home. Hopefully this is just some kind of nightmare, but I have to go back to daddy in case it isn't!' Sara wanted to slap herself, but she dare not touch her own body. She was a filthy rat.

Sara inched away from the two rats mating. She felt her bare furry butt touch against the wall, and that was enough to break her concentration on the mating to rush into the next room, a bathroom. Sara noticed mold of all sorts of colors everywhere around the tub, a missing toilet, and a broken sink. The mirror above the sink was also shattered and nobody bothered to pick up the glass. It was in that bathroom that Sara was able to see herself in the mirror for the first time in her new form, and she was horrified at her own reflection.

Sara was so tiny that she could see herself from head to long tail in one piece of the shattered mirror. The long hair on her head was long gone, replaced by white fur. She raised her clawed hands and stared down at them. Where much of her body was white, each digit of her hands had fur so fine that she saw the pink flesh underneath, flesh that in no way had the same color of a human's own. Her once properly trimmed nails were much longer and sharper, and the more she stared at them, the more disgusted she felt. These weren't just normal rat hands. These were her hands attached to much smaller limbs. Her feet were just as pink as her hands, but somehow even more disgusting. They looked as if they were twice as long when it came to her body proportion, and while she still had five digits, her toes were much longer, so much so that she couldn't look down at them, but she felt them as she bent them around like a second pair of hands.

The rest of Sara's body had white fur covering most of herself. She had an exposed vagina and nipples, but she refused to look at such things in the mirror. Her small nose twitched as she kept looking at herself, and her long whiskers attached to her new rat face. She was fixated on seeing her new form, with the only bit of humanity left being the ring she carried that she could fit like a belt.

Sara let out a loud squeak as she felt something furry from behind. She was so focused on her form that she failed to see the rat beside her! She immediately jumped in the air and tilted her body away from the rat, something she never would have been able to do as a human, though her movements as a rat felt as if they were second nature. She squeaked angrily at the gray rat that nudged her. She lowered her front and bared her sharp teeth. She never had to defend herself, but she was ready to try.

The rat in front of Sara quickly scurried behind her and pounced from behind. Its furry body slammed down on Sara while both its front claws and back claws scratched the sides of Sara's plump being.

Sara squeaked again. Her black beady eyes weren't fast enough to stop the rat from jumping on her. Her own claws tried to scratch and tear at the rat's skin, but her body flailed about underneath the big creature. She felt the furry rat on her, including the massive testicles. She squeaked loudly as she tried to pull away from the rat, but in addition to her not being used to her body, instincts or not, her form worked against her, as if her transformation included more than just her form.
'No! I have to... ahn. Why does this rat feel so good?'

Sara continued to try to wrestle the rat off, but it was no use. Her belly pinned to the ground while the rat on top of her held her firmly. She cocked her head in an attempt to bite the rat, but she couldn't turn her head far enough. Her heart raced while she breathed quickly and hard. Her tail brushed up against the rats massive testicles, and it made her breathe harder. Her mind yelled no, but her body was turned on by it. 'Fight it Sara! You're going to get fucked by a rat! You're going to lose your virginity TO A RAT! FIGHT IT!'

The other rat bit down on Sara's neck. With his cock positioned behind her, it shoved itself up against her rear in an attempt to penetrate her cunt, and when it missed because Sara shifted her body, it just tried again.

The long cock brushed up against Sara's belly, and then her furry ass cheeks. She could only move her rear for so long to avoid that shaft, and every time she moved her rear, that cock was just a hair closer to her cunt than before.

Her resistance grew weaker with every passing moment, as her will to fight was replaced by a feeling of warmth and lust. Feeling that rat's genitals so close to her made her cunt drip all the more as fear slowly turned to desire. 'Maybe getting fucked by a rat isn't that bad...' Sara thought to herself absent-mindedly without paying much attention to her own thoughts. 'I can get sex whenever I want, and I'd get many children who I can nurture and feed and I'll be in a nice pack, and...' 

Just then she snapped back to reality, realizing what had overcome her, and with a sudden flush of terror over how close she was to being penetrated, she used all of her force and clawed at the rat's face without any restraints. The rat squeaked loudly in pain before running off among the crowd of rats.

“Let this be a lesson! I am a human! I am nothing like you and I never will be!” Sara squeaked loudly among the crowd of rats. She felt proud over her willpower over her own senses, as if she had regained a bit of her lost humanity. It didn't matter what form she had, she was still human in mind and heart, and nothing would change that. 

Just then a sudden thought came to her mind. 'Why am I spending my time here among that filthy vermin? I should get out of here and find a solution on my own. Let those rats live in the filth that they are.'

However, as Sara tried to leave the room through the door she came through, a sudden gust of wind shut it right behind her. It didn't take a genius to figure out that with her current size it would have been impossible to open it back up again. 

“Great, just great... That's all I needed now.” She mumbled to herself in annoyance. “There must be another way out of this hellscape. I mean rats always somehow manage to crawl into seemingly vermin-proof places.” She looked around the room and noticed that while most windows were entirely closed, there was one seemingly displaced one located right on top of a ladder in the middle of the room she was in. 

She wondered how she could climb it considering her size, but as she clawed onto the wooden frame of the ladder, her arms instinctually pulled her upwards, without as much as a thought being needed for that action. Before long she reached the top of the ladder, and with a quick and powerful jump she barely managed to hang onto the edge of the window and pulled herself upwards. 

Upon inspecting the outside of the building, she noticed a gutter that was directly connected to a drain, albeit in a horrible condition. As rusty as it may have been, she knew it was the only way to get out. A look inside the drain of the gutter revealed nothing but pitch-black darkness. Doubts began filling her mind, wondering whether it was such a good idea to get out of the building in the first place, but a quick look back into the rat-infested room removed any last traces of doubt. 

“I'd rather die from the fall than from the humiliation of being fucked by rats.” She said with an unbending will, and against her better judgment she tossed herself down the slide that was the drain pipe. As she fell, darkness shrouded her and Sara felt as though she was surrounded by a void. She wouldn't have been able to tell at all what was happening to her, had she not felt the wind quickly brushing up against her fur. 

In an act of panic she clawed against the edges of the pipe to slow down her fall ever so slightly, but before long her rat butt was met by a bend in the metal, as she roughly landed on it and rolled out of the pipe onto the street with a loud crack from her right leg, as she landed unfortunately on it, causing her to wince in pain. Standing up proved difficult, as she felt a bolt of pain shooting right into her injured leg. 

'Oh God, that hurts so much...' Sara thought to herself as she applied some pressure to the injury. 'But... I can't stop now... If I stay here, it's only a matter of time before I get killed or worse... someone takes my family heirloom.'' As much as she struggled, her will to get home was far stronger than any pain that could be done to her. Though as much as she hated to admit it, there was just no way she was able to carry onward on two legs. She loathed putting her clean hands onto the floor, but if she wished to make it any farther, there was no way around walking on all four. 

With a shiver down her spine she slowly moved one of her hands on the hard, rocky ground. While normally she would have imagined such an odd position to be uncomfortable, her body felt at ease, as a lot of pressure was alleviated from her spine. As a matter of fact, standing like this almost felt... natural... “No, no, no... this is just temporary. I'll walk like a normal human soon enough.” Sara thought to herself, denying how she actually felt. 

Sara inched forward on all fours. The city streets had gone from crowded, to barren in the length of time she spent in the ruined building. Rain poured much heavier, complete with flashes of lightning, yet she could see well in the darkness with her new beady black eyes. It felt disgusting to place her bare 'hand' onto the dirty rocky ground. She raised her claw and noticed black dirt on it, though the sight of her new paw, whether it was sparkling clean or rancid and filthy, was disgusting to look at. Moreover, it was her claw she was looking right at. This was part of her body.

Sara inched forward. If she could have frowned, she would have. Her whiskers pointed to the ground and her tail dragged behind her. She glanced out the alleyway, back outside thanks to her big dive earlier. She was thankful to be away from those rats, but it was only a matter of time before she ran into more. 'I must think. Where is the proper way home? I came this way...' Traveling would be forever, especially with her leg in its current condition, but she had no other way, and she was not going to be around any more of those filthy rodents.

Sara scurried along the empty path as the rain struck her body. The raindrops felt particularly harder than when she was human, though she blamed that on her size, and the fact that she was nearly naked with the exception of the ring she kept on her at all times. She refused to surrender her humanity, even if she had to be on all fours. 
She'd continue to scurry along the cobblestone path in the dark, with only lightning flashes to illuminate her surroundings. It was even harder than before to tell where she was. She had no idea if she was even going in the right direction home for that matter!

Sara suddenly picked up a noise besides that of the torrential downpour and lightning. She heard the sound of hooves! A carriage was going down the road. She made sure to steer clear of the wheels so she didn't get run over, but the carriage ran over a puddle that splashed her like a large wave from the ocean.
Sara instinctively shook the water from her furry body. She froze after she dried herself, and wanted to smack her face for what she just did. 'Stop it! Humans don't do that! But that carriage...' Sara noticed a symbol on the back of the carriage, a symbol of a large lion on two legs, raised to attack a sheep on all four. The symbol was that of her family! 'Father?' Her heart pounded heavily as she used what strength she had to race after the carriage. Her leg throbbed heavily with pain, but adrenaline kept her racing as fast as her rat form could carry her.

The carriage went from full speed to a sudden stop. The two horses pulling the wooden wagon let out a loud whinny as the driver steering the carriage instructed them to halt.
The doorway to the carriage opened up, and then a large black umbrella popped out, held onto by a man of rich tastes. The man had a silver-colored jacket with a red suit underneath and white unstained pants, complete with black shoes. The man also had a very thin mustache and a large top hat that hid what was likely thinning hair. “Now, where is that blasted girl?” He said aloud.

Sara's large ears flickered at the sound of the man's voice. Father! It could only have been father in that stagecoach with her family's design, and her father himself searching for her. Her mind raced with several questions, but none of them mattered. He was here for her! She wished to rush to his side, though he still seemed so far away from her, and her leg began to pulse painfully, which caused her to slow her pace. 'Not now! No! Just... just ignore the pain! Father! I'm right here father!' She let out a loud squeak, though while loud to her, it was unlikely to be heard in the pouring rain.

A second man stepped out wearing nearly full black, except for white gloves. This man was much older than Sara's father. It was easy to tell with his nearly bald head with only a cloud of white hair that surrounded his head like a volcano ring. “This was where her jewelry and clothing were discovered and reported by one of your workers, sir.” The man said in a very snotty and nasal voice. “Nearly all of her belongings were spotted, stolen by thieves and the rubbish, no doubt.”

“There was a reason I gave that spoiled brat a knife. That pampered princess probably sold it to some hornswoggler for a fancy diamond before they used the same knife to rob her!” The father gripped his umbrella tightly and scowled. “Not a shred of evidence as to her whereabouts?”

'I am right here father!' Sara thought as she crawled up to him. She tried to get his attention from below by grabbing the hem of his pants. She heard her father mention her such foul names, but that didn't matter, not now. She had to get his attention!

Sara's father glanced down briefly and scowled at the sight of Sara's body. “Foul beasts.” His eyes suddenly sparkled as he noticed the ring around Sara's body. He quickly moved his boot down and held her tail tightly with it as he swiftly grabbed the ring and removed it from her body. “At least the rats don't complain about the shoddy conditions of the buildings the peasants rent, yet never repair. This one even stole some of that brat's jewelry!”

Sara squeaked loudly from the pain of a boot on her tail. She tried to struggle and free herself, but it felt as if her tail would separate from her own body as her father pinned her down. 'It's me, father! Do you not understand me! Please! This ring is ours! Why would a rat have a ring if they were not special? I am unlike the rest of the rodents, father! Please recognize that!'

“Scram, beast. Go hide and populate with the rest of the vermin.” Sara's father raised his boot off Sara's tail, and swiftly kicked her into the same alleyway which she first transformed into the rodent she now was.

Sara squeaked loudly again as she was kicked off into the darkness by her own father, now without even as much as a ring to signify her difference from the rest of the rats. Her body was more durable as a rat than a human, but the pain she endured was not so much physical as it was deep down, a pain that she wasn't sure she would ever recover from. She laid in the alleyway and watched her father. Tears ran down her eyes, mixing in with the rain beating down on her battered body.

“With that out of the way, shall I inform the authorities, sir?” The man asked. “It was not they that found her jewels, but one of your employees. The authorities would work tirelessly to find her and...”

"Are you daft? Of course I wish for the police to know! If there are still any valuables on her, I want them returned immediately. I couldn't imagine losing my precious heirlooms."

"Aren't you concerned about your daughter, sir?"

“My daughter? Why would I be concerned over losing such a useless thing? The most valuable thing she has ever earned in her lifetime was her name and bloodline. She has provided naught a cent to the family fortune and lives all day spending my money on shining jewels and trinkets, and then complains when she loses them not a day later, all whilst stuffing her face with sweets and living in my mansion free of charge. Had I not paid her school, she would have not even passed."
"..." Her father paused for a second as he looked at the ground contemplatively.
"She can lie dead in a ditch for all I care. I can always hire another nanny to take care of a new child. Hopefully that one turns out less of a ratbag than her mother. Let the mutton shunters do their work. Should they find nothing, replace the entire damn police." Sara's father went back into the carriage. “We are returning home. I despise this weather.”

“I don't believe the police like being called mutton shunters, sir.” The man replied as he also got into the carriage.

“Oh shut it you old flapdoodle. I don't pay you for criticism.”

Sara watched while the massive raindrops struck her furry body as the carriage sped off. The pain in her leg was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She was speechless, not that she could speak in the first place. She stared longingly as the carriage rushed off out of sight, unwilling to follow it, and unable to move her body thanks to the shock she just took to her system.

Does he... does he truly not care for me? Sara thought to herself as the carriage turned and vanished from her sights. It was true that she hadn't spoken with him much. She would often get out of bed, attend her school, and then spend much of the day out shopping, but for her father to truly not care for her? She tried to recall the happy memories the two of them had, only to discover they barely had any. When she was younger, he was happy and would buy her the world if she asked for it, but over the years the love felt less strong, and the money wasn't nearly as good.
 
Not once did her father ever instruct her on what she should do, nor did he tell her how to make any money for herself. She wondered if he left her to figure it out for herself, but was there really a point to making money when it was all given to you anyways? Moreover, if you didn't know how to make money and were never taught it, but you were given things anyways, why would you bother ever attempting to find out?

Her father never showed her any actual love. She would ask for money, and she would get it. That was all she ever got from him. She never got any aid for her schoolwork, she never was taught any lessons on how to be careful with money. Hell, she had no idea how to bake bread!

Her closest 'friend' she ever had, if one would even dare call it that, was the family butler, who had always been her ear if she ever needed someone to talk to. But of course he was paid for that, and she noticed how often he had to force himself to stay attentive. Truly, for all the money and status she may have had, for the first time in her life Sara realized just how lonely she was.

The rain clouds began to pass, but her heart already drowned in her sorrow. Her body curled into a ball and she shivered. She was stuck as a rat, unable to do anything for herself. She was the lowest of the low vermin, not even her father, even if he knew who she was, would be likely to help her. Worse yet, he took the only thing that reminded her of her status. Not that she was sure she wanted to return to that loveless life, though she knew she definitely didn't want to stay a rat!

Sara heard the noise of another creature approaching, this time from behind. The creature didn't sound human, but she was too depressed to do so much as turn her head, that was until she heard a strange 'Mrowl' noise. Now, Sara turned out of curiosity and saw a black cat with its eyes laser focused on her. Her heart pounded heavily, but she was too sad and in too much physical pain to even bother running away from the cat. Even if she could try to find a crack in the wall, her leg ached with an unimaginable pain. She squeaked, but softly. She wasn't going to stop this cat. She had nothing left to live for. Her new form, her new body, there was nothing left for her in this world. She had no idea what awaited her in the next, but anything had to be better than this.

The cat inched closer and crouched down. White claws unsheathed themselves from its paws. Just before it could attack, there was the sound of another squeak from a different rat, then another, and then a third.

Sara turned her head up and sniffed the air. The scent of the alleyway was still unpleasant with a mixture of odors she'd rather not describe. Multiple beady eyes caught her attention, eyes that resembled the ones she now had. 'More rats. Great. Are they into cannibalism? At least I'll be more useful by providing them and this cat a meal in death than I would be useful in life.' Sara kept her body curled. Her heart pounded heavily as a rush of adrenaline filled her body. She had the energy to run, she had the strength to run, but she lacked the will to do so.

Just as the creature began to inch in closer, a rat from above suddenly dove down atop the cat's head and grabbed it by the eyelids. Its back claws dug into the cat's fur while its front held its eyes shut. More rats pounced onto the feline one at a time on its back, as if riding an elephant, while others jumped on its legs.

The cat let out a loud yelp and a mrowl! It coiled back, unsheathed its claws, and tried to rapidly attack the rats that pounced on top of it, but it swung blindly with one atop its head keeping its eyes closed. 

Sara couldn't believe the sight. She had never heard of a situation where so many rats pounced on a feline and were willing to defend their own kind. The tears from her eyes slowly stopped as she stared on with amazement. The rats bit and clawed at the beast harshly while the one on top kept its eyes shut. They stayed far away from the cat's mouth, jumping away when it moved its paws to its mouth, but then pouncing right back on another spot. There were so many rats that they wound up pinning the cat down with the sheer weight alone. The scent of filth was strong, but not unbearable. She picked up the scent of blood, undoubtedly coming from the many creatures.

The cat pulled itself up, but it turned and began to amble away from Sara. As the creature moved farther away, the rats on top of the feline began to disperse. The beast began to rush faster until the final rat got off, and then it rushed away into the darkness.

Sara pulled herself up and winced at the pain in her leg. She never imagined rats to be so protective of one another. Humans were far from what these rats were. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how little rats really had but each other. 'I guess... ugh... no, I'm better than... but if rats are better than humans, then to call myself human would say I'm worse than a damn rat...'

Sara felt something paw at her side. She turned to see one of the rats looking at her while the rest of the rats retreated into a crack in a hole. She knew the rat wanted her to follow, but she was reluctant. She wasn't sure what life was left for her. She couldn't go back to her normal human life, even if she found a way to reverse her transformation, she'd have to live a different life elsewhere, somewhere far away from her bastard father. Where she wanted to go, she had no idea. She just wanted to leave and be nowhere in any building her father once owned, like the same one the many rats were running into.

The rat pawed at her again and squeaked softly. It looked as if it were trying to grab onto Sara's fur, but while rats had great gripping abilities, it couldn't quite grab onto her fur, as her fur was too short.

Sara let out a soft sigh. She knew she couldn't sit out here forever unless she truly wanted to die. What did she even have left to live for? She glanced at the rats, and then down at herself. She wasn't sure when, but she had gotten more used to her furry form. 'Fine, I'll bite.' She grumbled. If she were to die, she may as well at least do it somewhere more dignified. After all, if a cat didn't get her, then the boots of a peasant very well might. She had seen a squashed rat once, and it was the most repulsive thing she ever imagined. She didn't want to become that very disgusting thing. 
She pulled herself up and walked to the crack in the hole, though as before she was on all fours. She wished she cared that she was walking on her hands and feet, but for the moment, she barely even cared for her life. She just didn't want to end it under a foot or in the belly of a cat, but she wasn't sure where she wanted to go, or what she wanted to do. Death sounded appealing, but it couldn't have been the only answer... right? Maybe the rats would show her an alternative, or at least help make it painless. A drop from the roof, that might work.

Sara walked inside the ruined building once more and glanced around. She saw the cracked walls, the leaky pipes, she picked up the scent of mold and rotting garbage. Out of her beady eyes, she also noticed scampering roaches, something she was very thankful not to have become. She watched the many rats that came in run about, seemingly back to their own place. The rat that was next to her though nuzzled her leg before giving it a soft lick. Normally, she'd find such a creature licking her to be nothing short of revolting, but she could tell the rat was trying to comfort her.
Sara glanced at the rat, and then over at the many other rats. Just then, one rat brought her a piece of food. She glanced down at the food, a piece of cheese that was no doubt hard, and with a hint of green to its otherwise bright orange color. Her stomach rumbled, and she let out a mental sigh. 'Okay, I get they're trying to be nice, but... ' She wasn't sure what to think. The rats were giving her far better treatment than any other human ever did. She'd normally have to pay to be pampered, but these rats were doing it for free!

Curiously, Sara grabbed the food and tried not to think about how she was holding it with her rat hands, the same hands that touched so much dirt. She opened her mouth and took a bite of the food. To her surprise, the cheese didn't taste that bad. While the food she would normally eat was far tastier, the cheese was edible. It reminded her of the time when she was very young and had a grilled cheese sandwich. Such sandwiches were plain, but they were far better than what many peasants would ever get to eat in their lifetime.

Sara noticed the rat eyeing her and sniffing her with its long nose and touching her with its whiskers. The feeling was enough to tickle her, but she hardly felt much better. 'Is this truly my life now? To live with a bunch of rats? It's nice they care for one another, but what kind of life is this? The only thing below me is an insect.' She let out an exasperated sigh. The darkness of the ruined building wasn't exactly helping her mood either.

The rat next to Sara gave her a few pokes before it scurried over to a wooden beam on the ground. The beam served as a walkway between the floor they were on, and the floor above it. The rat climbed on top of the beam, and then turned to Sara. It crawled up farther, and then glanced back at her.

Sara half expected the rats to start talking and singing, but she guessed all they might do was squeak. Still, she knew what this rat wanted. Playing along, once she finished the cheese with the exception of the moldy bits, she crawled up the beam behind the rat. It was then she noticed the massive two testicles the rat had behind it. 'Ugh. Hideous.' She thought to herself. Yet, what few times she saw the cock of a man, the balls on a rat were... impressively large.

She followed the rat up one beam, and then another. She noticed the rat looked back at her now and then, as if making sure she was still following. The rat led her down the building complex before stopping in front of a door cracked slightly open. The rat pointed its nose inside of it, as if telling Sara to go first.
Curiously, Sara looked inside the room, and she couldn't believe her eyes.

The clouds from the sky parted to reveal the moon, which shined down into the room in a beautiful illumination. There was a hole in the ceiling which leaked water fast enough to come down in a waterfall, at least a waterfall compared to the size of a rat. The moon reflected off the leaking water that went into the floors below.

'Okay, I guess some sights when you're tiny aren't bad. This would look like a leaky faucet if I were human, and I'd... demand... daddy to fix it.' Sara thought to herself as she reflected on her behavior. She really was a pampered princess. She had everything handed to her until today, and now she was going to be on her own with just the rats to help her out for who knew how long, quite possibly the rest of her life.
She felt a nuzzle from the rat on her side, and it was strangely comforting. 'Well, I guess it isn't so bad... what choice do I have?' She smelled the rat's lust and desire. She knew the rat wanted something, but restrained himself from doing it, as if waiting patiently for her reaction, and she knew exactly what she might do to help that rat. Still, she was depressed. The only reason she had gone up there was to find another way to die. Though, the rats were very kind to her, a kindness she had never seen before, and all for free at that!

'I get the point, you want me... dammit, you might even look attractive, but maybe it's my depression, or maybe it's my accursed instincts, but...' Now, Sara was unsure what she should do. She glanced up at the moonlight, and let out a soft squeak. She guessed she could stay with this rat a little longer. The rat seemed much nicer than her first encounter with them, and definitely much nicer than her father. Besides, they were almost cute... at least, when looked at in the right angle. She blamed her instincts for what she wound up doing with the rat that seemingly convinced her to not end her life, but to do something else entirely, and to assist in creating it with that very rat in the manner that was her first time mating.

As time passed, Sara found herself living with the rats and growing fonder of it. While not the most ideal of places to be as it would get hot some days, and very cold at night, the rats always seemed to have a plan, and they'd bring Sara with her. They'd be near water when it was hot, swimming in small puddles and seemingly enjoying themselves as if a night on the beach. During the cool nights they would bundle up together for warmth and sleep happily next to each other. The rats defended themselves, fended for themselves, and aided one another. Sara was shocked over how intelligent they truly were, and grew to like them. Her womb grew with life, more rats to soon give birth too, but by the time she was at full term, she wouldn't mind it. In fact, she grew so used to living with these rats that she could almost say it was better than any time she had ever been a human. Who needed the bastard of a father. She had a new family, and she was going to raise her very own. 

