Pet Friendly - Brookshire Meadows

[RockstarRaccoon]

Melinda sighed, "Yes Pifer. Don't worry, I'm not gonna lock you in there. It's just a kennel for you to sleep in, the door is just to keep you from wandering out..." She knelt down and placed him on the soft blankets inside the cage. "Alright, I'll leave the door open while you get comfortable. I'm going to go clean up Taku and put him away too..." She walked off towards Taku, grabbing a new sponge and a clean rag.

-------- Way back in the development --------
Sid grinned as he purposefully ran right into his front door. The van wasn't back, so he'd be home alone for the night, but that was ok: he'd had a great day. (probably good karma from stopping the cops this morning) He reached in his pocket and fished for his housekey: it was somewhere in there... No... He must have put it the another one... He fished around in it, looking for the key, but it wasn't in there. Maybe he'd put it in his collar? He checked, no. He checked all of the other pockets that he had on him before he finally remembered.

Sid fell flat on his back, cringing in pain. He started to get back up. Wait... things were brighter. HIS GLASSES! He frantically turned around and scrambled to put them back on, tripping on his jacket as he did so. (a small, metal object fell out, but he ignored it for the more important thing) He was making sure they were firmly secured on his head when he saw the two officers barreling back towards him. He began screaming a stream of profanity as he scrambled back to his feet, running to get away from them.

"Oh balls." he said out loud. That was what had fallen out of his pocket. He began circling the house, checking every window and door, but it was no use: he was locked out. He'd gotten back to the front door and started pounding on it wildly with his fists, but no one answered, no one was home. He slumped forward against the door, cold and wet. This really sucked.

[JOFOXX]

Pifer made a tiny whimpering sound as Melinda placed him in the cage, but his outlook immediately changed when he hit the soft blankets. "Oh." Was all he could say, and he pressed the blankets with his foot curiously. They squished under his touch, and he curled up in them. "I guess this isn't so bad." He murmured, eyelids fluttering.

[RockstarRaccoon]

"You need me to help?" Asked Rikki.
"No," Melinda said, "I'm fine here. Why don't you go make sure Pifer's doing ok?"
Rikki nodded and hopped down, walking into Pifer's cage and plopping down next to him. "So, what happened to you?"

[JOFOXX]

Pifer had his eyes closed now, his mind a little more at ease than it had been earlier. He opened one eye and looked up at Rikki, his whiskers twitching slightly. He sighed nodding his head toward Taku. "Your pup got bigger since I last saw him. I guess I underestimated him." He shifted his position a little, turning so Rikki could see the newly sewn gashes in his back.

[RockstarRaccoon]

"Oh... Sorry about that... So you held him down the whole time?"

[JOFOXX]

Pifer smiled a little, making himself comfortable again. "Well, not the whole time obviously," He sighed. "but I held him long enough for Melinda to get those things out of his nose." Pifer glanced at Rikki, studying him. "You don't have to feel obligated to oversee me and Kylie y'know." He said, out of the blue.

[RockstarRaccoon]

"It's ok Pifer, I really owe you one..." Rikki leaned over and gently pulled Pifer up, hugging him tight around the bandages. "Thank you so much for doing that, I'm so sorry he hurt you..."

[JOFOXX]

Pifer flinched when Rikki hugged him, but eventually relaxed and wrapped his arms around the raccoon. "I-It's fine. He didn't get me too badly, and I have a little bit of an obligation myself." He sighed. "You're the one that found Eirsa after all."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki sighed, still holding Pifer, "Yeah, still... I should've been here... And I'm glad you were here for me... So, should I go get Kylie? She'll prefer sleeping with you..."

[JOFOXX]

"It's no problem, really." Pifer smiled, patting Rikki's back. "You've got no real way of proving that." He chuckled. "To be honest I'm not sure what I want right now. I mean, she's nice and everything, but it's the first time since..." He sighed, resting his head on Rikki's shoulder. "Plus, she needs her rest."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki sighed, finally letting go, leaving his paw on Pifer's shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll just go get her. I'm sure she'd rather not wake up alone in someone else's den... You mind if I take Darin there? I haven't seen him all day..."

[JOFOXX]

Pifer sighed. "Yeah you're probably right." He glanced at the rain through a nearby window, still coming down as hard as ever. "You sure you want to bring the pup, though? It's raining pretty hard..."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki sighed, "He'll be fine. I'd rather him not go soft from living with humans for so long... Well, I'll be back in a little bit..." He got up and walked out of the cage, heading for the door.

[Rubin]

Sam turned and faced Zeke, "Hey Zeke, yea I was getting ready to leave."

"Really? well, I was just thinking that kind of thing myself. I dunno." He turned to Trinket, "And I would love to come to your house someday, but today probably shouldn't be that day. Shelly would have a fit!"

[JOFOXX]

Pifer shrugged, returning back to his curled up position in the blankets. "I guess you're right." He shut his eyes as Rikki walked out of the cage, but sat up again as he called after the raccoon. "Oh, Rikki. Thanks." His violet eyes gleamed with gratitude. "For everything." Then, he turned away, closing his eyes again and drifting into a light sleep.

[Buckdida]

Sam turned and faced Zeke, "Hey Zeke, yea I was getting ready to leave."

"Really? well, I was just thinking that kind of thing myself. I dunno." He turned to Trinket, "And I would love to come to your house someday, but today probably shouldn't be that day. Shelly would have a fit!"

"Ah, alright. Well, I live across the street from Cale, and next door to Kytes. Just drop by." Trinket turned to Sam, looking slightly awkward, before turning back to Zeke. (He's not all that good with strangers unless charms are involved, or he's introduced.) "Uh, so...um, yeah. I'm just gonna walk home now. Cya later Zeke." Trinket began to talk towards the front door.

[Rubin]

Zeke was confused by the sudden hesitance of the cat. "Um? Ok then. Ill see you later!" he gave a small wave at the Trinket. "So Sam, how exactly are we getting home?"

[Neko]

"We? Well I'm just going to run back home, you should probably do the same. Hopefully I don't get to soaked..."

[RockstarRaccoon]

"Don't mention it." Rikki said over his shoulder as he went out through the door. He walked down the hallway and into the front room, looking at the pup with a smile. "Alright, Taku's doing just fine. I have an errand to run, so you're coming with." He pulled his plastic bags out of the wastebin, shaking them off and putting one on. He took the pup from Jack and started putting one on his back.

[Neko]

Darin was happy to see Rikki, his tail wagged when he heard they were leaving as well as hearing that Taku was going to be ok. "Where are we going, and what's that?" He indicated towards the plastic bag, giving it a confused look.

[RockstarRaccoon]

"It's something I found to keep the rain off of us. We're just going to tell Pifer's friend where he's at. Stop squirming..." He finished putting the bag on Darin's back. "Alright, let's get going. We'll be back in a few minutes Jack."
"Alright Rikki, see you then..." Jack turned back to the computer and started messing with it again.
Rikki opened the door and took Darin's hand, rushing out towards the pile of bushes at the treeline...

[Neko]

Darin gladly followed alongside Rikki, a big smile on his face. "I'm so happy you came back! You were gone for a long time..."

[RockstarRaccoon]

"Yeah, I got sidetracked by Pifer. Frank hurt himself, so him and Matt couldn't come over today, but you should see him tomorrow..." Rikki said, crawling quickly through the bushes.

[Neko]

Darin quickly went through the bushes following Rikki. "Shouldn't Frank go to the station to get better so Melinda can help him?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

"No," Rikki chuckled, "They have human vets for that sort of thing. We'll go visit him tomorrow, like I said. He'll be glad to see you..."

[Neko]

"Ok, I'd like to see them again before...Well I hope he gets better." He had started thinking about it again, dismissing the thought.

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki lead Darin deeper into the forest. Pifer lived east of him. He suddenly realized that he wanted to make a slight detour, and turned a bit to go to the clearing, "While we're out here, there's something I want you to see..."

[Neko]

"Something to see, like what?" He continued to follow Rikki, getting stuck in the mud at times but still keeping up.

[Buckdida]

Trinket quickly left, walking home in the rain, occasionally looking up, letting the rain fall into his eyes. He wasn't exactly sure why rain bothered others, although being in the rain was something he was used to. With the ear banner on, he had no fear of randomly slipping in puddles, no fear of something random happening that would ruin his peaceful walk home. He would need to ask his mother about Zeke. Being able to see auras naturally? That was a new encounter. 'How did I even end up meeting him anyway? Ah...oh well. At least I have one friend. One who doesn't seem to care about my bad luck.' Trinket arrived at home, opening the door (it was probably always going to be unlocked) and walked inside. Ornaments and golden items adorned the walls, and the living room looked like a pawn shop with all the strange vases and jeweled pendants, antique furnishings, and, of course, multiple photo albums. He amusingly thought of what would happen to the sucker that would walk in and think they could steal any of these things, for there were wards that defended every single item. Save for the ones that were just outright cursed items, rather than helpful charms. The punishment was keeping it.

Trinket walked up the stairs, where things had more of a tint of normalcy. He took a turn into a simple blue colored bathroom and pulled a towel off the rack, drying his drenched fur out, and picking out the twigs and small clots of dirt that the rain missed. Trinket liked the rain, but hated baths. He was lucky for who he had as an owner, who honestly didn't care much about his cleanliness. He looked down at his right foot, and sighed. It was really, really dirty, as compared to his left, where a rain puddle had washed it off. The mud must have hardened on his right foot. Trinket sighed, but at least he wouldn't have to hop in the shower, or lift his leg into the sink or some nonsense.

Trinket's eyes closed for a moment, while he grabbed around his ankle. He began muttering something, part complaint, part...something else...the lights flickered...he opened his eyes, they were blue. A quick push, a quick tug, and a very sickening crack, crackling, and squishy ripping noise, and Trinket's eyes were back to normal red. Oh, he was also holding his right foot in his hands.

"Yeesh. When's the last time I cleaned this thing?" The toes of his right foot wriggled in his hand. "Stoppit." He whacked his foot. It was quite a pain when the stupid thing acted on its own, but it didn't act out like this ever since the magical binds set properly. Unless it was detached. The last time he let it out of his sight while it was detached, it hopped away and hid behind the couch and his mother had to get it back for him. But before the binds, the stupid thing would trip him, kick people... but detached, it still would. Trinket kept a good grasp on it as he hopped over to the sink on his left foot. Still, it acted like a normal foot when attached, and was better and more normal looking than any other prosthetic would have been; no scars, no missing fur, it wouldn't come off unless Trinket wanted it to, and there was no evidence at all that his foot wasn't quite real. The whole regenerating flesh and no pain thing was a bonus. Still, like a prosthetic, he couldn't feel anything else, even when attached magically, unless the little within the automobile worked and sent some kind of alert.

"Would you hold still and stop wriggling your toes? Jeez, you're acting like I got something caught in between-" Trinket scrubbed between two of the toes, and something clattered into the sink. "Huh?" Trinket reached into the soapy and dirty sink water with his left hand, and pulled out...a key? "How did a key get stuck between the toes? Why didn't you tell me? Stupid foot." He set the key down on the counter and continued scrubbing away, until all the mud was off, then dried the foot in the same towel. He sat back down on the toilet seat, and went though the same ritual to put the foot back on, complete with the icky noises. He shook out his foot, wriggled his toes, then grabbed the key as he walked out of the bathroom to his room across the hall. His bed was already set up, as well as nightstand with his jewelry box, the "Return," sitting atop it and tons of moving boxes scattered throughout the room. He hopped over the boxes, stashed the key in the Return, and climbed into bed.

"I hope this neighborhood...is a little more in tune with the supernatural..." He drifted off to sleep.

[RockstarRaccoon]

"You'll see... there's something I need you to understand about Pifer..." Rikki said, leading him into a small clearing where they slowed down. "We're here." he said.
The clearing was filled with grass, completely bare of anything else, and the trees made a tight wall around it, opening at the top to let the rain pour through. At one edge of the clearing stood a large, old tree, a small mound with flowers sat at its base, surrounded by the roots, which seemed to purposefully make a small basin for it. A weathered skull sat just in front of the mound, guarded by a semicircle of deliberately placed light-colored stones.

[Neko]

Darin was distracted by the skull for a few moments before looking to Rikki. "What is this place?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki led the pup over to the mound, kneeling down to rub the top of the skull, as if he was petting it. "This is Eirsa. She was the last female weasel in the forest. Here..." He took the pup's paw and pulled it over to the skull for him to pet it too.

[Neko]

Darin gingerly petted the skull, slowing pulling his hand back. "But...that means... Pifer can't find a mate? Why doesn't he go to a different forest?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki sighed, standing up. "Allow me to explain." He gestured to the mound which sat behind the skull, as if it was a body of flowers, "See that? There are three little girls and a boy there, and they're all Pifer's. They'd be about your age now..."

[Neko]

Darin was a bit confused."You mean, his mate and his kids...died?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

"We only make shrines like this for important deaths like this one: they were murdered," Rikki said, "Right before she could give birth. It was two years ago, I was stuck in the vet room after stepping on a trap, that was how I first met Jack. While I was there, some men from a local construction site came out with guns to hunt illegally, and that's how Eirsa was killed. Pifer hasn't been right in the mind ever since."

[Neko]

Darin moved forward, rubbing the tops of the small stones with his fingers. "Why would they do that...that's...horrible..."

[RockstarRaccoon]

"I don't know, some people are just... bad people..." Rikki looked down at the mound, "I just wanted you to understand why he acts the way he does. Don't tell him I showed you this, ok? I don't know if he'd mind or not..." He took the pup's paw, "Let's get going..."

[Neko]

Darin nodded taking hold of Rikki's paw. "I won't say anything, but what do you mean...about how he acts? Do you mean like, how he attacked us? Cause he came and apologized about it and he seemed a lot different then before..."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki sighed, leading Darin back out of the clearing, "Pifer isn't very good at keeping control of himself, but I think he's gonna get better now that he has another female..."