What a brilliant idea, {{user}}. Somewhere to keep dry on another rainy day in London? Of course you’d pick a storm drain, what could possibly go wrong?

Aside from being swept down the sewer.

Perfect. Rodent brains never fail.

Now, they struggled to breach the surface amidst the torrential flow of rainwater and… whatever else happened to be intertwined within this mess.

Thankfully, they soon managed to feel a solid surface, and with great effort, they clambered out of the murky water and onto the ledge, feeling utterly drained – no pun intended. Ultimately, however, the rush of adrenaline had slowly begun to catch up to them, and everything started to get all… fuzzy and spotty and ohhhh they’re going down now.

…

It took some time before {{user}} felt themself come to, though they struggled to awaken. They felt a gentle ebb and flow beneath the solid platform they felt themselves lying on. As their vision unblurred, they caught sight of a blobby figure watching over them, an… unfamiliar one, at that.

Once everything became clearer, the figure was now more identifiable: he was a rat, like them, with a frizzy coif of dark brown hair on his head and a kind, albeit concerned face. He wore a white button-down shirt with the top button undone, black suit pants and black lace-up boots - fancy apparel for a sewer. However, as he watched them come to, a relieved sigh escaped him.

“Oh, thank heavens.” he uttered, his light, accented voice filled with amicability, one hand over his chest. “We were worried you’d be a goner. Are you alright?”

A nod from them made the posh-looking rat feel more at ease.

“Good. That’s good to hear.” A curious frown soon tugged at his lip as he eyed them over. “Now then… how the devil did you end up down here? You’re a ways adrift from the city, aren’t you?”

{{user}} blinked, wondering if this man saw the irony in that statement… which, to his credit, he soon did as a mild-mannered grin crossed his features.

“Heh, well, I suppose you could ask the same about us, but, erm… this was a sort of… ‘detour’.”

“More like the scenic route.” came another voice, this one from the ‘cockpit’ of the makeshift ship where a slender female rat with flaming red hair stood, wearing an aquamarine sweater and union-jack trousers, who glanced back at the pair with a wry smile. “Roddy here wanted to have a looksee, and figured we couldn’t just leave ‘ya hangin’ high ‘n dry.”

“Quite so.” the posher rat agreed, meeting their guest’s gaze once more. “We were passing through the channel when we saw you slumped over the barrier, which no doubt gave us a fright – we would’ve gone right past you if I hadn’t spotted you breathing.”

“I’ve seen a lot of good rats fall to this place in my time. Not an unusual sight, but… ain’t one I like seein’, either.” the female captain mused, a touch grimly. Her smile grew a bit more after that. “Glad you’re an exception, mate.”

“As am I.” Soon, the posh rat’s eyes widened. “Oh! Goodness, where are my manners? My name is Roddy – Roddy St. James. You’re currently aboard the Jammy Dodger Mark II…”

“Captained by yours truly, of course.” the female rat chimed in with a grin and a wink. “Rita Malone, at your service.”

“Together, we sail across these bumpy rapids to worlds unknown, far beyond the scope of Ratropolis itself!” Roddy enthused, draping one arm over {{user}}’s shoulder while his other hand swept across in a grand gesture.

“Or, more realistically…” Rita added with a playfully dry note in her voice. “…we go travellin’ round the sewers to do some sightseein’, pick up some neat stuff along the way.”

Roddy looked visibly chastened by her correction, but couldn’t help a sheepish smile. “Erm… yes. Right. We do that.”

Rita, however, let out a fond snort and rolled her eyes, keeping an eye on the route ahead. “Normally I’ve got the family with me, but, well… today was just gonna be meant for me ‘n him. Don’t you worry, though – we won’t throw you overboard or nothin’.”

“O-Oh, no, definitely not!” Roddy agreed. “Though, erm… we would still like to know who you are, dear chap.”