Things were really working out for Venison now. Richardson Valley had become, of all possible things, his home. Of course, he wasn't about to stay in one place or be owned...he liked staying mobile, he liked not being tied down. After sleeping in Lucky's house, Venison realized how sleeping in different houses had its advantages, seeing different ways of living, and different families and how they ran things. Lucky's house was upper middle class, quite comfortable...and there was always music playing. It was nice at first, but after a while, it drove Venison...crazier than usual, anyway. And it was difficult to avoid Lucky's human "sister." Thus, Venison found that leaving each house also had its advantages. He loved Rachel playing the piano as he fell asleep, and the breakfasts that Matthew cooked tasted delicious, though Venison found himself occasionally getting bored...he kept swapping from house to house, to minimize his boredom with the pet's lifestyle, feel like he was still free, and, of course, not lay the burden of his company to a single family. Of course, the families of the pets he didn't know very well usually ended up with him having a door slammed in his face, or worse, batted away with a broom. Still, no matter where he went, there always seemed to be a spot back at the Ligerr house for him...and, ironically,
the pet food that Sara had gotten turned out to be his favorite pet food. And if he didn't feel like staying at their house, there was always his room in the barn, where he could be alone.
Nothing particularly interesting happened for two weeks, aside from the whole "AC conspiracy," and that weird new program where the AC had to act like a pet for two days and wear a collar, which Venison found very backwards. He found the new name strange, too. DASH? Well, the renaming was a shrewd idea...nobody liked AC anymore, but hey, DASH was different, right? Venison scoffed at the idea, and decided it was best to keep his guard up.
One interesting thing that Ven noticed...was that Pavelle had a job. Two of them, if he wasn't mistaken. A paper route and working the counter at the wall. On one particular day, Venison walked in for a cup of coffee, but realized he had no money...and that there was quite a line...and a very frenzied Pavelle trying to fill orders. With his leg feeling better, much to the surprise of the female raccoon, Ven hopped the counter and started serving pastries, refilling the ice bin, doing what he could to help out...and in typical form, saying he was doing this mainly for a coffee and a pastry, since he was out of money. Though he had a ton more trouble coming up for an excuse for trying to help her with the paper route. When pay day came, Venison refused the money that Pavelle wanted to give him for helping, but with an empty wallet (and an ambush at the thinking tree where Magnus refused to let him go from a hug until Pavelle ordered) he finally accepted a small cut. As for Felix, there was always a slight tension when he was around. They both visibly kept a guard up, and if it wasn't for Pavelle, it wouldn't have been a far cry for them to attack each other. Finding out about Felix's match habit, Venison moved a can of aerosol disinfectant spray from his first aid kit to a front pocket...just...in...case...
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The plain never changed, really. Just a flat expanse, stretching out into infinity. There, there he could see everything. There was simply nothing hidden, no surprises. Everything was face value, really. He figured each one of the different landscapes were metaphors for something, though it was hard to figure. The forest, unlike before, was becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. It was growing. The canopy reached higher than ever before, and the roots and undergrowth covered the ground so that it could no longer be seen. But it was by far the most beautiful place so far, with fantastic scenery: bright flowers and birds, plants of all types...and some very delicious fruit. It was certainly the hardest landscape to deal with, but also had the best rewards. Then there was the lake. Always serene, hardly ever moving; in fact, it looked quite still, and it was unsettling how, despite the waterfall in the distance that feed the lake was quite powerful, pummeling the rocks. Willows draped in the water, and lily pads dotted the surface, though no life was found otherwise. Venison once again sat at the edge of the lake, a beach covered in black and white sand.
"So...what now?"
"Leaka...again? What happened to the tabby cat, huh?"
"He was a war leader. And now there's no battle to be fought. Holding up well, Ven?"
"Better." Venison stood up. "Though for everything that's happened, it doesn't look like much has changed."
"You've hit the easy ones," Leaka said, smiling, "And now there's the hard ones. The mountain, and...whatever that is over there. Probably the way out of here. Who knows, maybe you'll find that one before the getting the mountain back."
"You know, in reality, you're far, far more ditzy than this..."
"And you know you miss that. Probably why you've been letting that silly mouse sit on your head as of late."
"Dylan isn't ditzy, just a little random. There is a difference."
"Of course." Leaka kept grinning.
"Any particular reason I'm here?"
"Well, you need to be told something important. You see, your mind has gained quite some stability. I believe it's because the forest has grown so much stronger."
"The roots, I presume?"
"Yup. Stops erosion, and in this case, keeps these landmasses nicely together. The lake's been feeding the forest a lot, you see."
"I see."
"...you seem like you have a question on your mind."
"Nothing slips by you."
"You're easy to read."
"When is my mind going to stop with the metaphors and just tell me what this stuff means?"
"Why, that would ruin the entire point of this exercise."
"I always hated your little mind games."
"Anything new with that raccoon?"
"Waking up now."
"Typical you."
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Ven's eyes flickered open. "Those dreams...just won't leave me alone, will they?" Venison reached up and rubbed his eyes before sitting up in his lumpy bed in the barn. No blanket impeded him, as he had gone through the night without. It was getting quite warm these days; perhaps summer was on its way? Venison, surprisingly, wasn't wearing his pants as he slid out of bed. Unlike normal, though, it didn't really bother him because, well, he was in his room, his house, essentially. His leg was feeling far better now as well, and healed up perfectly fine, as if nothing happened. If there was one thing that Venison liked about being an animal, it was that fur covered everything.
Venison took about two steps, then jumped at the door. His arm shot through the hole and flipped the latch with one swift motion, causing the door to swing open with him riding on it. He smiled as he bailed off the door before it slammed into the wall. Perhaps it was his form of revenge for keeping him trapped inside on the days he had to move around with a crutch? Venison combat rolled across the floor as the door rebounded and clicked back into place. He stood back up, smiling at the door, clasped his hands together and reached up, stretching his back out.
"Still got it."
Venison shuffled over to a clothesline strung high across the bottom floor, gave a quick hop, and grabbed his pants off the line. Nice and washed from last night, and now dry as well, in the soon-to-be summer heat. Venison began putting on his pants, and skipped over to what used to be a horse cleaning stall in the barn. While dogs never really needed to brush their teeth often, Venison figured it had been long enough since the last scrub, and put the simple mint paste on his neglected toothbrush before beginning to ferociously run the bristles over his fangs. After a minute or two, he inspected his teeth in the mirror for a moment before spitting out into a drain on the left, and wiped his mouth with a towel.
"Alright," he said, "Let's go out and see what will keep me amused today. Maybe I'll find Dylan first."
He made for the main door of the barn.
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(OOC: Eat my steel wall of text! XD)
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