Copper let out a small chuckle. "Sorry, just always wanted to say that. I have had a few names in my life, but I guess you can call me Kip." The dog continued to walk just behind the raccoon, waiting for his chance as they made it further into the woods. "So where are we going again?"

Rikki kept doing this half-turned slowing, trying to get the dog to catch up and walk beside him, "Uh, well, you said you wanted to move further into the woods, away from the road... I dunno, is this far enough for you, or...?"

The setter looks around. "Um, any clearing or field or stream or some kind of running water around anywhere?" Copper just leans against a tree, stopping the walk and looking at the raccoon.

Both Jack and Johnny grinned
"Should we spy on you..." Jack said
"...you wouldn't even notice." Johnny added "Lead us, Sid."

Mason found the two quite odd but didn't show his concern as he simply nodded.

"Sandbox works" Max said, "or maybe swings... Either works.... Sandbox means castles though... and tunnels..."

"Um... Ok!" Peter-Rabbit smiled, "I guess we can play in the sand-box then..." he started edging in that direction....

======== The Seagle Residence ========

Sid raised a brow at the weirdo twins, "I'm not sure what planet you're from, but I do not consent to any probing without at least a nice meal and twenty minutes of fore-" he stopped, rolling it off, "Nevermind, you wouldn't get it, let's just go..." he turned and started heading for the door....

======== The Forest ========

"Uh, yeah! There's one a brook not too far from here, it empties into a pond where I taught my kids how to swim..." he seemed to waver a bit in the phrase, omitting the fact that one of those kids was gone. "It's, uh... It's this way..." he waved for Kip to join him as he started to lead him off toward the brook...

Pepsi smiled softly, his head hurt a bit, but being used to them he ignored it, not wanting to ruin the fun, his tail wagging as he kept pace with Peter, already imagining a few castle designs a couple based from games he'd played or books he had read, one or two of his own design

Copper "Kip" followed behind the raccoon, noting a few facts down for his memory."You have kits? How old might they be?"

"This'll be their fifth winter comin' up... They're, uh... Kinda gone now though... Only one of my sons is still around now..." he shrugged, "His name's Taku, we might run into him: I haven't seen 'im around in a day or so..."

(( At least, I'm pretty sure that Rikki and Taku haven't interacted today... ))

"And where did they go? Off to find new territory or some such?" The dog tried to keep the raccoon talking, making a mental map of where they went as they headed toward the stream.

"Oh, uh... Well, Roki left for some other forest with his mother and... Well..." he sort of stopped there, his voice getting a bit shallower, "I... Don't wanna talk about my... Daughter... Uh.... What's your family like?" he seemed to blurt the question, desperate to get off the subject of his daughter...

Jack and Johnny shared a look, shrugging a second later, then grinned. In a few seconds, Johnny was launched (boosted by Jack) over Mason and Sid (the cat), landing right in front of the door on his feet.
"Allow me!" he said with a light bow and opened the door.

The setter smiled slightly, eyes alight as he found his chance. "So you have a daughter? Did she get a mate you disapproved of or something? Maybe she ran off after a fight? Perhaps she has passed on? Something tells me she is not at the den right now." He knew it was only a matter of time until he could find peace once more.

Mason managed a small chuckle. He liked little antics like that since it reminded him of his better days in teh circus. He then walked out and waited for the others.

Sid crossed his arms, peering through the glasses at Johnny as he passed him. "Look out Mason, we're about to enter an episode of the X-Files..."


======== Brookshire Preserve ========

Rikki sighed, confronting it, "No... A couple years back, there was a group of poachers in the park... They... Well... They killed alot of people... And my daughter... I don't know what happened to her..." He took a deep sigh, "Look, this is a really bad subject, can we talk about something else...?"

The Setter just shrugged. " Keep it in and it becomes it's own poison, you know. Might be a good idea to let it out. If not, then You can point me in any direction and I will leave you to your reveries once more..."

Rikki shook his head and waved it off, "No... Brooding does me no good at this point, and brooding is all I can do by now..." he sighed, then waved for Kip to keep following, "I'd rathar get my mind off of it with some pleasant conversation... So what are you doing out here anyway? Looking for a nice spot to sit down, or...?"

The Setter sighed at realizing the raccoon was just hiding. "Hmm? Oh, just out to find a private, secluded place to practice. I must keep my training up. It is the only thing Sifu left me. I will always keep it up."

"An episode of what now?" Jack asked, smiling, (suddenly appearing) in front of Sid (the cat) "Apologies for the stupid question. We're not used to watch television."

Max sat calmly holding on just a bit as the dog followed the cat.

"Never watched too much TV myself either." shrugged Mason nonchalantly as he followed along. "Being on the road, I don't get the luxury as much."

Sid shrugged to Mason, "Oh, don't worry Scully, I've never seen it either. I just know that these two," he looked back and fourth between Jack and Jhonny with a half smirk, "are right outta Roswell..."

==== Playground ====

Peter-Rabbit walked over to the sand-box and plopped down onto his knees in the sand, glancing back up at Pepsi and the mouse on his head...

==== Brookshire Preserve ====

Rikki nodded, deciding not to bring up whoever 'Sifu' was, "I see... Perhaps I should show you to the lake then... There is a large field there, which is usually much quieter than the pond.... It's not that much further upstream..." as they walked, a stream was indeed becoming audible...

"Care to explain that?" Johnny said as he closed the door behind them and caught up with his twin.
"We are not familiar with that Roswell, you're referring to." Jack added

Mason just chuckled lightly. "Skip it Sid, that explanation would either be too long or go right over their heads." he said lightly with his smirk.

"Right, I figured." he turned and started walking, "Anyway, the forest's this way..."

"Lead us, then!" Both twins said as one and followed Sid

Mason nodded and followed after them. He seemed rather happy with his predicament although the thought of getting his unicycle fixed as fast as he could was in the back of his mind.

A placid smile crossed the setter's face at the sound of water, a calm rushing over his mind. "Sounds like a good place. Any places for shelter in case it rains or something?"

Rikki blinked, looking over, "...rain? Oh... yeah, pets can't tell..." he shook his head, "No rain today, but there are trees if the sun gets to you..." As they walked, he started to turn, changing their destination to upstream from where they'd been going...

======== Brookshire Meadows ========

Sid chuckled, "Yeah, 'cause I've got no leader to 'take you to'..." he kept walking down the street in front of him, heading towards the fence and trees at the end of the street...

The setter grunted softly in response, taking in the sounds and smells of the forest, trying to make a mental map of the terrain as they crossed it. He followed silently behind the raccoon now, the lull in conversation allowing his mind to wander freely.

Pepsi eased down close to Peter, instinctively putting a hand to his temple from the headache "We could build a caslte perhaps, but sandbox sand is kinda harder to do that with isn't it? he thought it over for a moment

"Oh, the sand's not that dry!" Peter-Rabbit said as he picked up a little, balled it up, and stacked it on another bit. "See?" he smiled up at Pepsi...


======== Brookshire Preserve ========

Rikki didn't really try to bring up conversation immediately, and instead just kept leading him through the forest, the soft sound of a nearby brook becoming a little louder as the soft wind rustled the trees above them...





======== Last time in... YORKSHIRE FIELDS ========

==== And now... The stunning conclusion! ====
The soft hum of the emergency lights and sizzling electronics was drowned out by the chaos of the panicking pets in Alexander's smoky laboratory, their memories in a state of flux between an old timeline and the new one which had been written around them...

Alexander held up his hands, "Everyone calm down, I'm sure there's a-"
"YOU!" the new cat screamed, rushing into the science-hound and grabbing him violently, "YOU DID THIS TO ME!"
"Calm down! I don't even know who you are!"
"Of course you know who I am you little freak! I'm BUTCH! BUTCH!!" the cat shook him frantically, digging into his shoulders with sharpened, healthy claws, "You turn me back right now or I'll... I'LL KILL YOU!!"
"I... I... I can't! I don't know wha-"
"LIAR!!" the furious cat screamed, and with a sudden, unexpected burst of power Alexander was brought to the ground, the cat's hands wrapping around his neck. Alexander jerked and thrashed mutedly underneath the cat, who just kept screaming "I'LL KILL YOU!! I'LL KILL YOU YOU FREAK!!!", grabbing desperately at the cat's arms as he tried to stop himself from being strangled to death...

Spike was taken by surprise at the cat's actions. he stared in shock for a short while as she frantically attacked Alexander. Eventually he snapped out of it and barked "CALM DOWN!"

Pepsi chuckled "So its not, well how about we make a biiig sand castle, lets try to make it bigger than me" he smiled, his tail swishing in excitement and wonder

Although barely able to focus on what was ahead of him, Rion understood that someone had to do something or else they would've had another tragedy, but it was obvious that no one was in condition to do so.
He let Kat to lay on his and her seats and, while struggling to keep himself on his feet, he managed to accelerate himself enough to ram the cat choking Alexander, barely saying "Calm down!" on the way.

They continued on for a short while, just walking toward the sounds of rushing water. "So how deep is this brook? Enough to take a dip in? How about the lake? Anyone go there often?"

Rikki shook his head, "Brooks are real low this time of year: Jack told me the water comes from melting ice on those real big hills way off in the distance you can see from the top of a tall tree on a clear day. The water's pretty deep just about everywhere for a while right after the snow starts melting, but it goes down around the middle of the summertime..." he shrugged, "Lake's real deep though, even now. The water sorta flows out of a cave way down there: I've never been able to get to the bottom of the deepest part..." He glanced back, "Might be a bit cold for a swim..."

Copper "Kip" just follows along behind the raccoon, unsure of what else to say, this being the most talking he had ever done. He just looks around nonchalantly, trying to let the raccoon get them where they were going so he could be alone again.

"So..." Rikki asked, "You live around here? You don't seem like you're too worried about wandering very far from the town..."