Scratch and Zaya walked along the alleys somewhere between the vet's hideout and the suburbs. Scratch needed some air, and she wasn't comfortable with Tom around, even if Raeon had told them he'd keep to himself. They'd had the vet drop them off in a secluded area in the city, where they could gather some resources and plan their next move.
Zaya glanced over at Scratch again: she seemed so resolute now. It was like she'd managed to bottle up all of her feelings, going emotionally cold, despite what she must've been going through...
Scratch had managed to keep her composure as they destroyed her beautiful brown coat, a rare trait among raccoons, it wasn't until the razor was trimming down her fluff that she started to cry. She could barely stand to see herself in the mirror now... Male raccoons had often told her she was quite attractive, and she was happy with her rough and tumble, semi-feral appearance. That was all gone now, and she looked like a stray black dog. She'd never been too fond of dogs. Not that she didn't like Zaya: she could be friends with them, but something about domesticated species just never sat right with her. Being a wild animal had made her feel free, like humans would expect her to do things on her own, but as a dog? She felt like everyone she met from now on would assume that she needed humans to take care of her, and that killed her.
Zaya led her down an alleyway between two older looking brick buildings, then slowed near the end of it. "This is a good spot to talk for a bit..." she said, "There isn't a good place to listen in from, and the street's pretty loud outside. Also, there's a good flow of energy through here from that church across the street, so no Bad Things here..." She reached into her satchel and pulled out the half-sandwich she'd saved from earlier, leaning against the brick wall to unwrap and eat it.
Scratch sat down on concrete floor of the alley, leaning back against the other wall. Zaya took a good long look at her new disguise...
"So... What should we do now?"
Scratch sighed, "I'm not exactly sure... I don't really have a good plan in my head for finding their base yet... I mean, we could do something to lure them out and maybe track the car, but are we willing to do that?"
Zaya shrugged, "It's an idea, but it could be really dangerous: we don't exactly have our hands on a tracking beacon or anything, so we'd have to follow in our own car. Either way, we're likely to get caught..." she thought, "Hmm... Maybe I could call in a favor..."
"A favor?" Scratch asked.
"Well... I know this dog named Cruiser... He's training to be a police dog... Maybe he could help?"
Scratch cringed, "A cop? Eh... Even if I was comfortable working with one of those goons, I don't want to endanger anyone for my sake..."
Zaya sighed, "Scratch, come on, you've got to take some help here! Cruiser's a good dog, and I trust him to help us if we tell him what's going on... Besides, he's a police dog: they're SUPPOSED to risk their lives to help!"
Scratch gave Zaya a look, "Zaya, you just told me yourself that I can't go around getting people killed! What about this guy? I know you're in with all this, I've known you've been in it since Feldspar. This guy sounds like a housepet to me though!" she leaned in, putting a hand forward for emphasis, "They have no idea what goes on in the world, at least not enough to agree to risk their lives for me!"
Zaya gave another sigh of exasperation, "Scratch, if what you say is true, then Carl's in some serious danger! You can't be picky about who helps anymore!" she knelt down next to her, "Scratch, you told me you couldn't do this alone, and I said I'd help you. I owe you and Carl that. Right now, you have to let me do this..." she gave Scratch a pleading look.
Scratch sighed, staring back at Zaya for a while. Finally, she relented, "Alright... We can ask him, but I'm not pulling him into any serious danger on my account..."
Zaya gave a smile and nodded, "Alright then..." she reached out a paw to help Scratch up, and both of them rose to their feet, "Let's head to his house..." she turned to start walking.
"By the way," Scratch said, "You can't call me Scratch in front of anyone."
Zaya nodded, "So, you've thought of a name then."
Scratch nodded, "Yeah: if anyone asks, it's Daisy. That's always felt like a good name for a dog to me..."
Zaya shrugged, "Alright then. Let's go find Cruiser..."
And with that, they set off towards the suburbs...
