It's really hard to explain! Feeling is far more critical than thinking for matters of the spirit. Here is how splitting feels (bounce: Dozens of sparks of always-present joy and comfort in the dark, echoing the same feelings back in cycles, even when one vanishes none have really vanished; Hard-long-desperate-tired-learned-fear warring with opportunity-curiosity-wonder-awe; A sense of mounting tension, then- Like the sudden departure of a dance partner, sudden nothingness, freedom and loneliness bittersweet.)

Awwww. This Elf is going to quietly put in for leave from her job because she is going to be escorting traveler-rats around for the foreseeable future. Is there anything in particular they would like to see?

Human and orc cities seem nostalgic, like the mine they've spent so long in. Also crowded, though. There is too much unknown. All they really know is that they want to learn magic.

Okay. She doesn't know if groups of rats can learn magic. Can they sing?

...Not really.

Maybe they can learn wizardry. Can they read?

They could probably learn?

Okay. She will take them to her home and try to teach them to read.

The rats are perhaps surprisingly clean and sanitation-conscious. It helps keep down on disease. They're very curious about this new place, carefully exploring it and asking their friendly escort elf all sorts of questions. Where is her family? What does one even do when food and safety and ensuring future food and safety aren't immediate, overriding concerns? Besides learn to read, which they are gamely attempting.

This Elf is not married; her sister and brother-and-law live next door, and her parents live the next town over. She's in osanwë range of all of them, osanwë between Elves might reach father than whatever holds the rats together. She likes to sing and play the piano and go on hikes and ice skate and, yes, also read, when she isn't working.

Music is... Strange, but not unpleasant. They are very motivated about how so many secrets lie behind the veil of reading and are trying very very hard about it. They have better luck parallelizing long passages rather than reading a single word at a time.

They understand family more than any of those other hobbies, and would be delighted to meet hers.

She will let her family know that she has a guest that is a rat hivemind and they will probably come over! Her nephews might want to pet the rats.

They will decide if any rats wish to be pet after meeting them.

That's fine. The nephews will not pet them without permission.

Sister and nephews come over to meet rats! Hello rats! One nephew, who is learning to count, counts rats.

There are 25 rats, including 9 not-quite-babies-anymore!

Counting is a good secret, small twolegs! It lets you know more about which things are, much better than some, many, and few. We learned to count our food and cleverly plan when to get more.

Do the rats like food? Counting Nephew has walnuts in his pocket! Will a rat come take a walnut and... ... ... be PETTED??

Everything likes food, we think. We have not smelled that food before, it smells good!

Two smallish light-grey ones will come and patiently be petted.

The nephew is VERY excited. His older brother pets the second one.

As long as he gets a bit more gentle after a small warning squeak, more rats will come be petted a few at a time sniffing at his hands and clothes, including the little-kid-rats whose fur is very short and soft, bodies just two or three inches long including tail.

Your family is not as close as our family, we are one and many and almost all the same. What is it like?

I'm still little and don't know how to think private yet, says Counting Nephew, so maybe it is kind of like you! Only in only one direction.

It's quiet, says his brother.

We think we don't get lonely the same way as you. It's not quiet, everyone is always there and we are only smart together. We would be lonely if we split up, but we never do that, it would be terrible.

How do you only be smart together? Does one of you do counting and one of you do figuring out how to go places and one of you do remembering stuff and - stuff? asks the older one.

The rats consider this for a minute.

We think one thing and echo it and then we think a different thing and echo it, like a circle. Sometimes we don't think and just react fast, like if we're scared.

Which of you is next to which other ones in the circle? wonders the older boy.

It's not a next to. Ripples in a pond. Important thoughts get echoed more and distracting ones don't.