HPU - Richardson Valley

[Keeshah]

[quote="Kalvin"

Balbaroy looks at the TV for a second then turns away, shielding his eyes. "Oh, too bright."[/quote]
Rav turns the brightness down a bit...
Sorry, had to turn up the brightness, since TV's don't come with an intelligence button

Rav perks up his ears, sniffing at the breeze coming down the hallway..
Is that you Venison? Back so soon from your date with the coon??
He teasingly calls down the hallway..

[Buckdida]

It was hard to say what noise exactly came from Venison's mouth. Embarrassed gagging, prehaps? If anyone could see it, his left eye was twitching.

Through gritted teeth, Venison spoke as he walked down the hallway. From the sound of his voice, it was honestly very hard to tell if he was joking or enraged. "People with leg casts who are unable to run can easily find that jokes of that variety, especially to me, extremely hazardous to their health. 'nother joke like that and your other leg's gonna be in a cast, you annoying..."

Venison walked into the kennel room, and saw Balbaroy sitting next to Rav. He saw a chance to fire back.

"...Oh, I'm sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting anything intimate between you two...I'll leave you two to whatever you were doing."

[Keeshah]

It was hard to say what noise exactly came from Venison's mouth. Embarrassed gagging, prehaps? If anyone could see it, his left eye was twitching.

Through gritted teeth, Venison spoke as he walked down the hallway. From the sound of his voice, it was honestly very hard to tell if he was joking or enraged. "People with leg casts who are unable to run can easily find that jokes of that variety, especially to me, extremely hazardous to their health. 'nother joke like that and your other leg's gonna be in a cast, you annoying..."

Venison walked into the kennel room, and saw Balbaroy sitting next to Rav. He saw a chance to fire back.

"...Oh, I'm sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting anything intimate between you two...I'll leave you two to whatever you were doing."

Rav cackles, an his inner ears pinken..
He clomp clomp clomps over to venison, and gives him a a big hug holding him close while licking at his ears, grooming at them tenderly....
Now now, what fun would it be if the taunting was always safe and sane? Besides if i can't tease my kennel mate, who can i then?..

Rav turns to the TV, an showing Venison the programming.
We were just watching home remodeling, an landscaping shows..learning howl to fix up the barn..

What have you been up too, you have a lot of scents on you..

[Buckdida]

Venison didn't mind the hug, but when Rav began licking his ears, Venison started squirming. That didn't really do much, since Rav's grasp was fairly strong (against Venison, anyway).

"Gah! Leggo! I've had a long day so far..."

[Jimmy Jazz]

Octavian came back to his senses in a movie theater some where. "Unh, what?" he looked around and remembered. right, studio six he got and and stretched *yawn* OH CRUD! WHAT TIME IS IT? he looked around and then ran out the door.
OH GOHD MY DAD IS GOING TO KILL ME he thought running down the hall. he pushed the side door open and started running down the street. crud crud crud! was all he thought as he ran towards the park.




(OOC: well, I'm back in black, and ready to role plaaaayy! )

[Keeshah]

Venison didn't mind the hug, but when Rav began licking his ears, Venison started squirming. That didn't really do much, since Rav's grasp was fairly strong (against Venison, anyway).

"Gah! Leggo! I've had a long day so far..."

Oh come on, i'm not going to eat you up! I bet you were a pawful for your mother..
But Rav lets Venison go anyways. venison won't learn to feel safe an snug around him, if he forces him to stay next to him. Besides, Venison might bodyslam/tackle hug him again.. an that is just to hard and painful on his body to take right now..

Rav goes over an gathers up big bean bag chairs an drags them over an plops them in the floor before the tv.. flopping down into one stiffly..

So... do tell me about your adventure this day, if you please..


Rav softly pets Balbaroy's back. as he gets comfortable in the chair.. scooting the beans into place..

[Kalvin]

Balbaroy's tongue lolls out of his mouth stupidly as he sits and accepts being pet, still not looking towards the TV since his eyes can't seem to adjust to it.

--------------------

Lucky sat down quietly, staring down at the floor still, though the songs have shifted. Now he's singing in a whisper level Space Oddity by David Bowie.

[caelei]

Pavelle and Magnus followed Venison into the house, Lucky trailing along behind them. Pavelle wasn't really paying much attention to what was happening. Her brain had switched from running normally to sleep mode, probably a delayed reaction resulting from this morning's stress and fear. She supposed it was some sort of shock; she was feeling a little numb. Her ears pricked up at a catch of conversation, something about a coon and a date, but she paid it hardly any mind, though she felt like she should be embarrassed, for some reason. Instead she didn't acknowledge the reference to herself and drifted into the kennel with the others. Once Rav had put out the bean bags she found one and plopped into it, and Magnus did the same, burying it in his huge body. He immediately dozed off, curling up into a ball.

It took a minute for Pavelle to drag her mind away from nothing, but then she came to again. She didn't know why she would go into shock. Well, maybe she did. She had had her life threatened this morning. That was reason for shock. And then she paused, and thought back. Had her life ever really been threatened? Or maybe her life had been safe all along, just not her lifestyle. She thought back again, and fought her memory interestingly blank. Wow. She must have repressed the memory already. That was fast. Normally it took a couple months for her to do it. The process seemed to have sped up. She really was afraid of the woods. She sighed and yawned, eyes roaming the room. Well, it was probably for the better, wasn't it? Too traumatic of an experience, most likely. Then why did she feel like she was missing something important?

So... do tell me about your adventure this day, if you please..

Pavelle's ears pricked again. She stared intently around, focusing on Venison and Lucky. Though her memory was fogged, she might remember what happened more clearly if someone explained it to her, story style. And for some reason, suddenly she found herself wanting to remember better. She truly felt like she had forgotten something important. Something that meant something to her, her past, or her future. Maybe about supplies of some sort, or about a certain person or place. She found herself leaning forward a bit, and tried to stifle the look of utter curiousity on her face. She composed her features, looking calm and casual. A bit of impatience showed on her features, but other than that, there was nothing to give away her agitation.

((Sorry I took so long to reply. School just restarted, and I've been a little busy with buying supplies and going to open houses and whatnot.))

[Buckdida]

'If there's one thing I'm good at, it's telling stories...'

"Alright, so this mornings events. Sometime during the morning, uh..." Venison pointed his thumb at Balbaroy. "This guy knocked on the door. I was about to let him in, when Pavelle ran up to me, quite panicked for some reason. In her panic, she told me that her brother was missing in the woods...and...asked for help? Kinda. I can't recall when this dog, Lucky, appeared, but he also offered to help. After a little bit of arguing, all three of us agreed to go find Mangus. Once we were well into the woods, Lucky found rope traps. I had Pavelle climb the trees and knock out the traps, and she found Mangus, hanging from a trap a little bit over. Me and Lucky soon found out that these traps were maintained by ferals, and we were confronted by their leader. I threw a rock at his face. Naturally, he became angry, and left to get the rest of his pack. Of course, this time would be when lucky manages to step into another trap, and pass-out. By the time me and Pavelle get him back down, Mangus has already gotten himself down, and then all of us had to run out of the woods with a raving pack of ferals on our tails. Lucky led us out, while I kept throwing rocks at them and Pavelle had a great idea to run the pack of ferals into their own traps. They managed to fall for that, and we got away. Apparently, pets who get caught by those traps usually end up being recruited by the ferals into that pack. We should warn other pets to stay out of the woods."

[caelei]

Pavelle nodded. That seemed right. Her memory was a little clearer now, and she supposed that was all she needed. Now. What was she trying to figure out? It was so close to mind, on the tip of her tongue, as the saying went. What was it? She strained her mind, but nothing came to. With that failed, she tried to push the whole concept away from her thoughts. It wasn't like she'd go back into the woods anyways. She shuddered at the thought. But if Magnus strolled in again... no. He wouldn't. She'd tell him to stay far, far away, in case Venison's warning hadn't registered.

She muffled a yawn, and rubbed at one eye. Running took a lot out of her, especially since she had hardly gotten any sleep last night. She yawned again, and then turned to address Venison. "So are you just going to go door-to-door and tell all the pets that they can no longer go in the woods? What if they don't listen, or want to see the ferals for themselves?" That could be bad. And then there was always truth or dare. Little pets, pups and kittens and their friends, might start daring each other to go into the woods and talk to a feral, or sleep in there overnight. And that wasn't a good idea.

What they needed was some sort of authority. Or at least someone well-liked that the other pets would definately listen to. The leader of a large club, possibly, or maybe even a human to give orders that no one would disobey. But even if there was someone who could put the woods out-of-bounds, there would always be a pet around who would go out and try to reason with a lost friend turned feral. And they would probably get caught themselves. Maybe it would have to go so far as to shut down the trail or block it off or something of the like.

Pavelle looked at Lucky. He could be beneficial to the cause, considering his luck. People might be more swayed to listen to him. But what if he himself wanted to go back and find the pack, and rescue his friend? Venison had promised to get the lost pets back, but what if Lucky couldn't wait the weeks it would take to plan? What if he snuck back in tonight? Her stomach knotted. Great. Just great. Now she was worried about Lucky, too. She cleared her throat. "Lucky? You wouldn't ever go back into the woods alone, would you?" She didn't want to seem rude, but maybe if he promised not to go back, he wouldn't. A pet of his word.

[Kalvin]

Lucky's response is delayed. He whispers to himself a few more lyrics before looking up surprised. "Hmmm, what? Sorry, I spaced out there for a second. No I would never go into those woods alone."

[Jimmy Jazz]

He skidded around the corner and continued to run down the street. he ran down four house's and sprinted to the door. painting on the front porch he tried to open it, but unfortunately the door was locked. *Wham wham wham* "Hey, dad! I'm back!" he yelled. nothing, no response. he looked around the porch and found a note on a chair it said Went out shopping, be back around 8:30 or so - Dad "oh, ehehhe... no point running up here then" he crumpled the note up and put it in his pocket. he wandered off thinking about how he needed some way to tell the time.

[Keeshah]

Rav perks up his ears in puzzlement..as he listens to the groups adventures..

That is very odd behavior for ferals..
setting traps to catch intruders, yes.. but to recruit new members into the pack, that does not sound very likely..
Maybe capture a female or two for breeding, but they were going to kill, or eat you all..

Rav cuddles up against the coons back rubbing her shoulders, an petting down her sides..

yes it is best that the pets stay away from that area until i can confront them..
He rubs his chin thinking..
It's too bad you all didn't stand an give them a good nose blooding, instead of getting chased from the woods.. They might be embolded to raid into the town now..

[Buckdida]

Venison smirked. "I gave at least one of them a good nose bloodying. The leader hates me now, I do believe. Rocks are wonderful projectile weapons. Anyway, I remember him specifically saying something about getting a new recruit for his 'pack.' And he arrived shortly after Lucky set off one of the traps. Anyway, next time they want to mess with anyone," Venison picked up the Balishock off the floor of the kennel. "I'll have this. Don't know why I didn't remember it this time, but next time..." He put it away in his pants. "But there is one detail I should mention. Because this pack is made of former pets, we can't just go in without any plan...and don't think you're doing that alone. In the meantime, how do we go about telling the pets to stay out of the woods? Pavelle is right, we can't just go door to door..."

Venison stood and thought a moment.

"Wasn't there some hyper cat that runs a news thing?"

(OOC: Brittles, if you can't get back in with a prompt like that, so help me.)

[Keeshah]

Venison smirked. "I gave at least one of them a good nose bloodying. The leader hates me now, I do believe. Rocks are wonderful projectile weapons. Anyway, I remember him specifically saying something about getting a new recruit for his 'pack.' And he arrived shortly after Lucky set off one of the traps.

Rav Hmmms.. Do the members of this feral pack, have a notch out of there right ear, an a green metal tag in there left? while i was in the pet retraining an correction center, i saw the humans doing that to ferals that they had cought in a round-up an were going to release, after they were inoculated an fixed. perhaps we should just tell are perents about this group of ferals, an where there hiding?
Anyway, next time they want to mess with anyone," Venison picked up the Balishock off the floor of the kennel. "I'll have this. Don't know why I didn't remember it this time, but next time..." He put it away in his pants.

Because your part of a pack and among friends now, an don't need it anymore? even if your not ready to admit it. How else would you explain, running off without a second thought to help pets, that you just met? That is not something a loner does, taking risks that won't benefit you directly.

"But there is one detail I should mention. Because this pack is made of former pets, we can't just go in without any plan...and don't think you're doing that alone.

Rav Blushes in his ears. I'm touched, i didn't know you cared.. I'm not that easy to take down, an while Alphas often have more bravo then sense, i wouldn't go without back-up.. But which pets in this town would be good in a fight?
In the meantime, how do we go about telling the pets to stay out of the woods? Pavelle is right, we can't just go door to door..."

Venison stood and thought a moment.

"Wasn't there some hyper cat that runs a news thing?"

Rav loops his ears about..
What? a cat doing what?? what news thingy???

(OOC: Brittles, if you can't get back in with a prompt like that, so help me.)

[Kalvin]

Lucky perks his ears up. "You mean Espresso? He hangs out in The Wall most of the time. If not we can probably at least find Dee. She can normally tell you where he's out. I can go over there, see if I can talk to someone?"

[caelei]

Pavelle was not accustomed to other pets touching her. And here was this dog, Rav, petting her. Again. The second time. It felt weird, but not bad. Just... different. Still, it was her natural instinct to tell him to shove off, and it took nearly almost all of her restrain to keep from shrugging his paws off her shoulders. He was just very, vey affectionate, it seemed.

She listened quietly to their conversation, trying to keep from fidgeting. The newspaper? That was actually a pretty good idea. Most pets read it every now and then, and it did have authority. She should have thought of it immediately as a solution. She scolded herself silently. But the cat, Expresso. He was going to want to know the whole story, which wasn't a problem. But he might do some investigating in the woods for more coverage, and could get trapped. Of course, if they told him how dangerous it was in there, he probably wouldn't go.

Something Rav said earlier touched into her thoughts, again. Most feral packs didn't recruit like the one in the woods did. That was odd. What were they doing, just trying to become a larger, more powerful pack? Or maybe there was going to be some sort of battle and they needed gullable troops who would do anything they said. Did feral packs even have wars? She imagined they did, mostly over turf or supplies, of course. But if it was a battle, that meant that there was another pack around, somewhere near. Or maybe they were planning on ransacking parts of nearby towns. Which meant that they would probably come to the closest first. Which was this town. And that was bad, because her house was one of the nearest to the woods, and might be overtaken. She looked up. "I'm just curious, but have any of you heard of a second feral pack located around this area?"

[Jimmy Jazz]

(OOC: i was planning to do this later, but this must live on! i must make some thing interesting happen! >:l)

He walked down the street passing the path that his bike broke on. he looked into the woods, smelled the leaves and the wood mixed with the stench of the road and the trash on the side of the side walk. he felt weird, a instinct he never felt before. the instinct the rrun and never come back, to flee his life with humans, to avoid civilization. he took a step towards the woods and looked around, nobody in sight. he launched him self into the woods running like a bat out of h***.
he sprinted for a 9 or 10 minutes before stopping and resting for a second. painting he looked around what the hell am i doing? the rational side of his brain said. the other quickly over powered the other side and forced him to keep running.
not long after that he felt some thing tighten around his ankle and he was suddenly hoisted up side down. instinct was still flowing trough his veins like hot lava. he flailed around trying to loosen the naught around his ankle he slowly calmed down.

he tried to calm down upside down, it was pretty hard. he heard a rustling from the bush's near by. a shaggy dog walked out and looked at him with such fearsomeness that he flinched away. he looked back and the dog was smiling widely at him. "sorry about that" the dog said "I'm Griffin, looks like you need some help" said Griffin. he looked questioningly back "yeah, help would be nice" Griffin walked over and untied the rope around his ankle *WHUMP* he fell to the ground and yelped with pain. Griffin grabbed his hand and pulled him up "thanks" said Octavian "names Octavian" he held his hand out to shake.

[Buckdida]

"I'm just curious, but have any of you heard of a second feral pack located around this area?"

"No, I don't think so," responded Venison. He thought a moment. "But there was an extremely large feral population in that nearby city, from what I saw going through there. Far too big, densely overpopulated. Very low amounts of street food, animal control working overtime, things were going "food-chain;" quite nasty, a complete mess. Good thing I was only passing through. If I had to stay there, the first thing I would do is get out as fast as possible." He turned to Pavelle.

"Why do you ask?"

[Keeshah]

"I'm just curious, but have any of you heard of a second feral pack located around this area?"

"No, I don't think so," responded Venison. He thought a moment. "But there was an extremely large feral population in that nearby city, from what I saw going through there. Far too big, densely overpopulated. Very low amounts of street food, animal control working overtime, things were going "food-chain;" quite nasty, a complete mess. Good thing I was only passing through. If I had to stay there, the first thing I would do is get out as fast as possible." He turned to Pavelle.

"Why do you ask?"

I think she is saying that, this feral pack is collecting pets, to be used as expendable troops in some battle with another feral pack.

[Jimmy Jazz]

"Nice to meet you Octavian" said Griffin shaking his hand. "would you like to come to a party of mine?"
"uhm, sure" said Octavian wondering what was going on. "so, its my friends birthday and we're celebrating by inviting every one" Griffin was leading him deeper into the woods. "where do you live?" Octavian asked "not much further" Griffin said pushing some bush's out of the way. they walked for minutes on end, Griffin stopped and turned around. "my home is just past here" he said "follow me" he gestured to Octavian to follow him and disappeared into the bush's. he hesitated and then leaped trough the bush's.

Behind him two pets slipped behind him to block the way out. "huh?" he looked around dogs there where dogs every where a few where sparring in the back of the clearing. "whats going on? Griffin!?" Griffin tapped him on the shoulder "Calm down, look i think its time to tell you the truth" he said with a smile that was oddly calming. "The truth?" Octavian said relaxing a bit
"I took you here to offer you some thing better then what you had, some thing more then what you had back in the city" he walked towards a small hut thing that was in the side of the hill. Octavian followed him listening intently "Back in the city you where suppressed even if you didn't realize it, they had restrictions where pets couldn't see them after so long"
he sat down on a tree stump in the musty smelling hut "We're animals, we should be free to do what we want, free to hunt, free to run! don't you see it yet? they want you to become there children, humans, they ruined this world, they polluted it! they are unworthy of this world, animals never polluted it, humans fought wars and made cars, plains, powerplants. they all pollute" he got up and started pacing the floor "If you join us, this so called Ferrel pack, we could try to take back whats ours!" he slammed a fist on the table. "so, what do you say? will you help us?"

Octavian looked hesitant, and nervous. he looked at his feet i was going to run any way, why not?... because they're Ferrel... so? he is right! they ruined this world! we need to fix it. his brain fought like this until he quickly stood up and said "Yes, i will help you" and they shook on it. "Glad you saw it our way" said Griffin.

(OOC: oh snap! long post for me.)

[caelei]

Pavelle nodded at what Rav said. "Yeah, I was thinking about possible feral war. Or that maybe they might be obtaining lots of pets to be more able to ransack any nearby towns for needed supplies, or such. That's probably not the case, but Rav said earlier that most feral packs don't recruit like this one, and so I thought that there had to be some reason behind it. Do you think it's possible they're doing something like that?" She looked around nervously for a second, as though ferals might come crashing through the windows or door at any time. Then she moved her eyes back towards the group to lock eyes with Venison, and then to meet Rav's and Lucky's. "And if they happen to be planning some sort of attack, especially if it's on this town, we should try to warn the other pets to have their guard up for strange dogs, and possibly cats or rabbits or whatever." She thought briefly of Venison's list and frowned. "And who knows? I may be being overlly dramatic, in which case I apologize about this statement, but maybe even strange humans. If there have been packs of human/feral caliber before, there might be again. Though, like I said earlier, that's probably not the case." She knew she probably sounded stupid, but then why would the pack be staying this close to the city? And, for some reason, she was getting this weird feeling in her stomach. Almost like dread, or possible apprehension. She had never felt it before, but somehow it was telling her that those ferals were not to be trusted. Well, of course not trusted, but maybe more like not forgotten. Like she shouldn't turn her back on them and go on with her life like normal. She crossed her arms.

[Kalvin]

(Time for an ironic post! )

Lucky rolled his eyes a little, finally joining in on the conversation. "Oh please, I'm sure it's nowhere near as ambitious as that. It could just be alot of strays. Maybe their pack is running low on numbers so they can't hunt anything successfully. It's not like they're trying to overthrow our way of life or anything."

--------------------

Balbaroy sits up, having dazed off for a few minutes without realizing it. "Huh, what are we talking about?"

[ToastyJester]

Jester was sleeping down under a tree in the park, when his music player suddenly switched to a song that had a loud intro. He jumps off the ground as a reaction and looks around, dazed and confused. He blinks a few times as he sees Octavian tearing down the streets. He pulled out his earphone after the fox ran by, and watched him run around frantically, in a huge hurry. Jester scratches his head and stands up, stretching his legs, and watches Octavian run by. He walks over to the street and looks around, wondering how long he'd been sleeping, then stands around a bit, still half asleep. Soon, Octavian rushes by again, drawing Jester's attention. How does he have so much energy... He thinks, blinking the daze out of his eyes. He jogs in the direction Octavian took off in and heads down the road. When he rounds the corner of the movie theater he sees Octavian staring down the path that Jester first met the fox on. He watches him, eyes half open, until suddenly the fox just took off into the woods. Okay. That's just weird. I'll just hang out in the lobby until I see him come out. Jester continues to the theater and heads inside, saying hello to Debra and standing against the counter, looking out the glass doors.

Ten minutes later, Jester is tapping his paw against the candy display in an impatient manner.
"What's wrong with you?" Debra says, noticing his behavior. Jester sighs and says, "I saw someone I know take off into the woods across the street. Last time he went in there he totally destroyed a bike, I'm just worried about what he'll do on foot." Debra shrugs and says, "You mean that fox animal that came in here earlier? I never saw him leave... Must've used one of the side exits." Jester continues to stare out the doors and Debra continues with, "Well why don't you go looking for him?" Jester looks at her like she's crazy and says, "What, in the woods? Yeah right I've seen enough things moving around in there from my nights on the roof to know not to go in there alone. What I want to know is what made Octavian think it was a good idea."
Jester sighs again, a normal thing for him, and Debra says, "Well I'm sure he'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?" Jester gives her a look like she's crazy then says, "I'll be back later. See ya mom." She says goodbye and Jester walks outside. Man I really hope Venison and company aren't busy. Wouldn't want to interrupt anything important. He jogs down the road, until finally reaching the house from earlier that day, and the day before. He takes a big breath then knocks on the front door, bracing himself for any angry animal that may answer.

[Buckdida]

Lucky rolled his eyes a little, finally joining in on the conversation. "Oh please, I'm sure it's nowhere near as ambitious as that. It could just be alot of strays. Maybe their pack is running low on numbers so they can't hunt anything successfully. It's not like they're trying to overthrow our way of life or anything."

"You've obviously never met any of the extraordinarily smart strays, or dealed with some of the larger feral packs. You'd be surprised how many of them want to expand their territory, watching, waiting, for the right moment to strike. Or how many want to do something violent for animal's rights. Idle threats, mainly, but the idea is still there..."

Venison looked up with a rather insane looking smile.

"...always in motion. Now, I'm off to find Espresso. With a name like that, he's probably at the coffee shop. I'll bring him back or something, so that we can all tell the story. I'm off."

Venison rushed out the back door, before a loud knock was heard from the front.

_______Soon at The Wall__________

Venison walked through the door, the bell at the top ringing. The place was rather empty; there wasn't even anyone at the counter.

"Hellooooo? Is anyone here?"

[Keeshah]

He jogs down the road, until finally reaching the house from earlier that day, and the day before. He takes a big breath then knocks on the front door, bracing himself for any angry animal that may answer.

Rav perks his ears up at the knocking on the door..
Oh just who could it be now?..
The big dog, gets stiffly up onto his paws, an thumps thumps thumps down the hallway to the door, peering out the window before opening it..
Hello there, howl can i do you for?he barks..

[Kalvin]

Lucky sighs and sits back. "Well, I guess I should follow Venison. It would probably be a good idea for somebody who Espresso has actually seen before. Plus I follow his website so I know a little about what motivates him." He follows about a block behind Venison, trying his best to catch up but is unable before he enters The Wall. "Uh... what happened here?"

[Jimmy Jazz]

(OOC: Dang Griffins high Charisma )

He walked out into the clearing, Other pets where sparring in the back of the clearing while other dogs and cats sat under a tree licking wounds. there a re not pets any more, and nether are you he thought. "take the rest of the day to rest, tomorrow you start you're training" his mind repeated this words that Griffin said to him. "Hey, you must be the new guy" said a voice behind him. he turned around to see a scruffy looking cat that was Brown and white spotted. "Griffin told me to show you around" said the cat "My name is Sekhmet, don't ask" Sekhmet started showing him around. "well that's the Living space, sleeping area, what ever you want to call it" she said pointing to a tree with cloth draped around it to make a tent like room. "that's the Medical rest area, basically when you're wounded you stay there until you're better" Sekhmet pointed to a tree with cats and dogs laying there licking there cuts and gashes. "that over there is the training area, you should go over there tomorrow, Cerberus will be you're, heh, as we like to say it 'Judge, jury, and executioner' " she stopped and turned
"the advice i give every new guy is just 'obey' Cerberus has been know to harm a few of our cats and dogs... any way you know the leaders cabin, and you eat where ever, you can find a sleeping spot when you get tired" Sekhmet finished. "I'll be seeing you" she said with a smirk and walked off.

[ToastyJester]

"Hi, my name's Jester. Someone I know ran into the woods a while ago, and uh, I don't really know that many people that could really help besides Venison. Please tell me if I'm just overreacting." Jester responds, and makes a mental note to learn the talking pet's name. He starts to nervously fiddle with his toast figurine again and turns his head to look down street towards the theater.



(OOC: Gah I hate posting short)

[Keeshah]

"Hi, my name's Jester. Someone I know ran into the woods a while ago, and uh, I don't really know that many people that could really help besides Venison. Please tell me if I'm just overreacting." Jester responds, and makes a mental note to learn the talking pet's name. He starts to nervously fiddle with his toast figurine again and turns his head to look down street towards the theater.

Rav offers his paw, struggling hard mentally to not say Shake!..
Hello, I am called Rav by my mom.

Rav lays back his ears, an whines desperately, wanting to go after them himself..
Who is it that has run off into the woods? an how long have they been missing since they went into there?
He asks an he hobbles from paw to paw nervously, his tail lashing in agitation.
It is not safe at all in the woods, there is an strange an aggressive feral pack in the woods. it's very dangerous to go into there at this time.. infact we fear they might be raiding into the town down..

Venison an Lucky have gone down to a place called.. The Wall. if you know where that is.
They are looking for a cat named Espresso. Apperently he runs some kinda of newspaper or something.. an they were going to have him post a warning about this new danger in it..
So you will find Venison there, or on his way coming back here.
Be on the look-out for an stay away from strange pets you might encounter..
I wish i had someone to escort you there, but i'm very new in town, an haven't had time to train anyone in how to be protective..he whines.

[Alex]

"Alex... wake up. We're arriving soon."

Alex heard those words... or did he just dream them? His head was still foggy, and his eyes still closed, although he was slowly waking up.

"Now, come on. You don't want to miss any details in our new neighborhood, right?". The words came with a gentle scratching behind his ears. It felt nice, so instead of waking him up, it just made him more sleepy. He turned to the side and slept back in.
"Now this is just unbelievable. Just look at him! He fell asleep again.... Well, I'll wake Mai up." The woman leaned towards the other cat and gave her the same scratch behind the ears, while waking her up with her voice. Unlike Alex, Mai opened her eyes, and yawned while stretching.
Uh... good... good morning. Are we there yet?
"No, not yet. We will arrive in half an hour or so. I woke you up to get a look at the neighborhood while we drive through it."
Mai nodded, and put up her usual, careless smile. Then she turned to Alex.
Uhm... mom? Why didn't you wake up Alex?
"I tried."- replied her mom. "He didn't even open his eyes." Mai lowered her eyebrows down.
This isn't fun! I want him to wake up.
"Well, wake him up"- said the man who was driving. "Maybe you will succeed at it."
He didn't have to say it twice. Mai returned to her smile in an instant, and she loosened her seat belt so that she can come closer to Alex.
Alex...? She gave out only a quiet whisper. Alex didn't respond to it.
"You will have to do more than that to wake him up"- smiled her mom.
How about....? Mai lifted her finger towards her mouth, and looked to the sky, like she was thinking hard.
I KNOW!
She loosened Alex' seat belt, too, grabbed his shoulder, and- started shaking him violently!
Alex!!! Wake up!!! Wake up, Alex!!!
Ouch! Ouch! Mai! Stop! Mai!!!- Alex shouted at her, but she either didn't care or she didn't want to stop. After a couple of seconds of shaking, she let go of him, and returned to her place, while putting on her seat belt again.
You are crazy!- said Alex, after he recovered. What made you do that?
Mai opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by her mother.
"Alex, we're arriving soon. I intended to wake you both up so you can see the neighborhood, but I managed to wake up Mai only."
So you let her do the dirty job?- said Alex, now in a calm and sarcastic voice. The woman smiled.
Now come on, Alex, play something with me!
No.
What?!
No. I want to write something.
Alex' voice was calm, but Mai's face became red, and she put on an "angry" face. She turned her head away from Alex.
You're boring! Mom, Alex is boring!
These words didn't have any impact on Alex. He took out some papers out of his bag, and a pencil. Then he started writing. Once Mai heard the sound of the pencil going over the paper, she turned towards Alex again.
You're really going to write instead of playing with me?!
Why, yes. That's what I said, isn't it?
Noooooo! You can't do that!
Mai grabbed Alex' paw and pulled him back towards her.
Play with me! Play with me!
She wasn't very strong, but her persistence seemed to give her more strength. With a lot of effort, Alex managed to free his paw.
Okay! I'll play with you! After these words, Mai changed her expression again to the cheerful, stupid smile.
Yay!!! What are we going to play first?
We'll play... "cessnirp". Mai looked confused.
How do you play that?
Look out of the window. Once you see something that has the cessnirp color, shout it loud, and then you've won.
Sounds easy!
Mai turned to the window, with her eyes wide open. Their mom couldn't help but laugh, but luckily for Alex, Mai didn't notice it.
---------A couple of minutes later----------
"So, Alex, what are you writing?"- asked their mom to interrupt the silence.
A new song.
"Ohhh yeah, you had your own band back in our old town, right? I've always found it cute how you pets get together and pretend to be a real band."
Uh... mom... we weren't pretending. You even heard us perform! And besides, that doesn't matter anymore, because we've left. Disappointment could be seen on Alex' face. He leaned his head down and continued writing.
"Now now, I'm sure you will find somebody in this town, too."
You mean, I will find. Alex never goes out anyway.- said Mai out of a sudden, with her sight still somewhere out of the window.
You're not allowed to speak while we're playing cessnirp.
Mai jumped, and covered her mouth with both paws.
"We're here."- said the man. "Home, sweet home."
The car parked in the garden of a house with 2 floors (counting the ground floor). The facade was light-yellowish and clean. There was a small garage for one car by the house. The roof was red. The family stepped outside of the car. The man opened the trunk, where there were a lot of traveling bags.
"Now comes the worst part- the unpacking. Alex, Mai... most of these bags are too heavy or big for you. Why don't you go for a walk. Meet other pets, find some friends."
Not me. I have to finish Chrono Trigger.
Aww hell no! You're coming with me! I don't want to go alone, and I definitely don't want to stay in the house.
Alex opened his mouth to reply, without looking at her, but his mom was quicker:
"Alex, I don't know where your gaming stuff is. I'd have to open every bag to find it, and I don't want to do it so you can just finish a game. Enjoy the fresh air."
He leaned his ears back, and Mai put on a wide smile, wider than before. She walked away, and Alex followed her, although moody.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Mai pointed to a nearby house.
Look! There are 2 dogs standing at the door! Come on, Alex, let's meet them!
Alex' eyes followed Mai's hand to the house. She already started running towards the dogs.
Oh no! I have to stop her!
Alex jumped towards Mai, and grabbed her tail. She jumped in shock, and turned around, with the silly attempt to put on an angry face again.
Alex! What's wrong?! Instead of an answer, Alex dragged her a couple of feet back, and then he whispered:
Look carefully next time. One of the dogs seems to be... whining. Don't go there.

[ToastyJester]

Rav. Rav. Raaaaaaav. Jester thinks, hoping to memorize his name faster, while he shakes the dog's hand. "His name is Octavian, he's a fox. I think it was maybe... fifteen, twenty minutes? Not sure. I don't pay attention to time that well." He says, slightly embarrassed. "Oh but I know where The Wall is. Thanks for your help, I'll keep an eye out for anything weird," he finishes, starting to turn around. He looks down the road a bit and sees two cats, one pulling the others tail. Jester isn't sure what to think of that, so he turns back to Rav and says, "Do cat's normally pull each others' tails for good reasons? Gah, never mind I've got to go to the wall." He does another 180 and walks to the sidewalk of the street. He walks along the street and when he passes by the two cats he raises a hand in greeting and continues past. After a bit of walking he's standing outside The Wall. He lets out another sigh, probably the 50th in total that day, and pops his head inside the door. Inside are Venison and the dog from the paper, who's name he can't remember. That morning seemed like a long time ago for him. "Man am I glad I found you guys, a fox went into the woods a little while ago, and this dog named Rav told me I could find you here. You guys are the only pets I really know in town, so I don't know who else I could tell." Jester looks around the coffee shop after saying all of that and says, "Jeez I don't remember this place being so empty..."

[caelei]

Pavelle remained seated in the room as Venison, Lucky, and Rav left to do whatever. She lounged bak a little, feeling miffed. They hadn't taken her dire suggestion very seriously, in her opinion. She'd thought that she would have gotten a better reaction from that one. Oh well. She looked huffily around, and then her eyes settled on Balbaroy and she focused on him. She'd forgotten he was even in the room. Suddenly, she felt that awkward need-to-fill-the-silence-with-conversation feeling and cleared her throat. "Um. Hi. I think I've forgotten your name, if I ever learned it in the first place. I'm Pavelle, if you didn't already know. And this is Magnus." She gestered to Magnus, who was still sleeping on his bean bag. Suddenly, at the mention of his name, his ears perked up and his head came slowly vertical, eyes opening and blinking in confusion.

"Wha...?" He yawned, then stretched, and then sniffed the air. Suddenly he was sitting straight upright. "Cat." He launched himself into the air and out of the door in one less-than-limber movement. Pavelle just sat and watched him go.

She paused for a second. "I don't really know why he likes to chase after some cats. It's not even like he goes after all of them..." She shrugged.

Magnus raced through the house, nearly knocking over a billion things in his hurry to find the cat. He inhaled again, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Cats. Plural. New cats. He loved new cats. New cats were so much fun to have in the neighborhood. Like fresh playmates. In his opinion, they were better than new dogs. Sometimes, at least.

He jumped past Rav and through the front door towards the cats, nearly knocking the wobbly dog over on his way past. There they were. Two of 'em. Two new cats. He catapulted himself forward and crash-landed in front of them, grinning from ear to ear like a maniac. "Helloooo!" He exclaimed, loud as he could. "I'm Magnus!" He towered over both of them like a giant, trying not to look scary. A lot of pets were afraid of him because of his immense size.

[Keeshah]

Magnus raced through the house, nearly knocking over a billion things in his hurry to find the cat. He inhaled again, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Cats. Plural. New cats. He loved new cats. New cats were so much fun to have in the neighborhood. Like fresh playmates. In his opinion, they were better than new dogs. Sometimes, at least.

He jumped past Rav and through the front door towards the cats, nearly knocking the wobbly dog over on his way past. There they were. Two of 'em. Two new cats. He catapulted himself forward and crash-landed in front of them, grinning from ear to ear like a maniac. "Helloooo!" He exclaimed, loud as he could. "I'm Magnus!" He towered over both of them like a giant, trying not to look scary. A lot of pets were afraid of him because of his immense size.

Ooofs hey becareful, those cats could be part of the feral pack troop!. don't go into the woods with them!!
He calls after magnus, before stumbling back into his bed room..
Rav looks to Pavelle,
I hope he has better sence than he shows.shaking his head..

We have a new problem, you remember that male fox that was here the other day? Octavian.
I was just told that he has run off into the woods! I wonder why he is running off to join the ferals??

Rav paces up an back in the room..
The question is, should we tell the humans about whats going on in the woods, or take care of it areselves?
If the humans get involved, it's going to force me an venison to stay indoors here.. as neighter of us could get past a pet check point, if the humans set one up, an was checking ID's..

[Alex]

Mai's looked confused and sad at the same time, while looking at the scene happening in front of the door. She leaned her ears down and turned towards Alex.
Why is he whining?- asked Mai. Her voice was barely heard by Alex.
How should I know? It's not lik.....- he stopped, and turned around. The dark-brown dog was coming their way. He couldn't tell what his expression is like- anger? Or rather sadness? In any way, the dog was very serious about something. While he was walking by, he raised his hand, greeting them both. Alex and Mai both raised their hands.
Hmm... this dog is definitely not in a mood to talk. Good... neither am I.- Alex turned around, and was just about to walk away in the other direction, but Mai had different intentions. She smiled at the dog while waving, and started walking towards him.
No, wait!- Alex ran towards her, grabbing her both shoulders and pulling her back again.
What? What's the matter now?- said Mai, while turning towards Alex. She looked rather annoyed this time.
Mai, you're such a dummie. Didn't you see the dog's face?
As if that's a reason enough to stop me from introducing myself.- thought Mai. Her face was still unsatisfied.
Now, come on. Let's go somewhere else. I'm sure there are other pets in this town.
With his paw still on her shoulder, Alex pushed her forward.
"Ooofs hey be careful...!"
They both turned around to inspect the source of this sudden voice. The dog that was whining was shouting at a gray, huge dog, who was running towards- them.
What!? He's huge! Don't tell me he'll attack us! These thoughts raced through Alex' mind, while he backed away a few steps, with one paw still on Mai's shoulder, and the other behind his back, where he released his claws.

The dog jumped and landed in front of them, smiling. "Helloooo! I'm Magnus!" He was unnecessarily loud. Mai loosened Alex' grip, and walked towards him, with a big smile on her face. She grabbed the dog's paw. I'm Mai! And this is....- she turned towards Alex, and stopped in the middle of her sentence once she saw him. His fur was ruffled to the max, his teeth grit, and his eyes furious.
Looks like he just wants to meet us.... maybe Mai is right? Maybe I do play too many games?- Once he thought that, he calmed. His fur went down, and he put on the usual, boring expression on his face. Just like Mai, he walked nearer to the dog and grabbed his paw.
I'm Alex.

[Buckdida]

"Strangely empty. Owner's probably in the bathroom or something, but tread lightly regardless," said Venison.

Venison looked around. The shop was setup for business, but was empty. Must be a slow day. Venison wasn't leaving until he found someone though.

"HELLOOOO?"

[Kalvin]

Lucky tries sniffing the air. "Dangit, I can't smell much of anything over you Venison. You know you have a very distinct odor? Like bleach and... something else I can't identify. *sniff* Kinda *sniff* dog-like but *sniff* something different." Subconciously he begins to hum the theme to Jaws.

--------------------

Balbaroy has begun rolling around on the floor goofily, not even paying attention to what's happening since he lost track of where the conversation was awhile back. He has begun to scent-mark the bean bag chair he's in. (Which is not peeing on it! If you don't know what scent marking is it is when the dog rolls around trying to get their body scent to stick to something. In this case he's trying to make sure everybody knows this specific one is HIS bean bag chair.)

[caelei]

Magnus smiled grandly at the two cats, and shook both of their paws with one of his own. "Sooo...." he said, drawing the word out, "what'cha doin'?" Before they could answer, though, he remembered something and he felt compelled to tell them. "There are crazy wild animals in the forest and I think they eat people. And pets. They steal pets. And they're going to take over the planet. Or that's what Pavelle thinks, anyways." He smiled even wider, his tail wagging fast back and forth, back and forth. "What if they're zombies? Do you believe in zombies? I do. I saw them on TV, comin' out of the ground. Yuk."

Meanwhile...

Pavelle looked curiously at Rav. "Why, what's Mag doing now? And no, he doesn't have any sense, really. Never has, and probably never will." She listened to his next words, eyes warily watching Balbaroy rolling all over his bean bag. Strange behavior. Her ears pricked up. "As much as I'd like to tell the humans about this entire mess, I don't think we should quite yet. Considering that it might get both you and Venison trapped in some house, unable to go outside, like you said. You guys might even get blamed for the whole thing, because of that whole 'list' deal I heard about earlier. The people are bound to find out anyways, after 'Expresso' puts the story in his paper; I'm sure some human around here reads a pet paper every now and then. So it's only really a matter of time. The bad thing, though, is what you said about Octavian. I'm not sure if I met him before, but he's got to belong to some family around here, and they're going to start missing him when he doesn't come home tonight. Plus, there's always the threat to his safety. Especially if they aren't really recruiting and are just planning on eating the newcomers in the pack. We have to get him back as soon as possible. Or there could be dire circumstances." There she was, sounding all dramatic again. Oh well. She sighed. "I wonder if Venison and Lucky would want to go after him immediately, or maybe make some plan or alert the humans and send them in, instead? Either way, somebody's going in the woods, and soon." She looked towards a window. She couldn't really tell what time it was, but there was still daylight. "I don't know about you, but I personally wouldn't want to go into the forest at night. Especially when there's a bunch of ferals running around, setting traps and kidnapping unsuspecting pets." She shivered at the thought of going back.

[Keeshah]

Pavelle looked curiously at Rav. "Why, what's Mag doing now? And no, he doesn't have any sense, really. Never has, and probably never will."

Oh..., He went bolting off to chase some cats

She listened to his next words, eyes warily watching Balbaroy rolling all over his bean bag. Strange behavior.

Rav giggles watching Balbaroy rolling in the bean bag chair, making himself at home..
An here i thought Venison was just trying to get under my fur, but are you smitten with me Balbaroy? he asks, smiling softly through his long muzzle..

Her ears pricked up. "As much as I'd like to tell the humans about this entire mess, I don't think we should quite yet. Considering that it might get both you and Venison trapped in some house, unable to go outside, like you said. You guys might even get blamed for the whole thing, because of that whole 'list' deal I heard about earlier. The people are bound to find out anyways, after 'Expresso' puts the story in his paper; I'm sure some human around here reads a pet paper every now and then.
She sighed. "I wonder if Venison and Lucky would want to go after him immediately, or maybe make some plan or alert the humans and send them in, instead? Either way, somebody's going in the woods, and soon." She looked towards a window. She couldn't really tell what time it was, but there was still daylight. "I don't know about you, but I personally wouldn't want to go into the forest at night. Especially when there's a bunch of ferals running around, setting traps and kidnapping unsuspecting pets." She shivered at the thought of going back.

I have no idea about this list thing Venison knows about, he things they may have tried to kill me.. But right now legally, i can't leave my moms yard without being muzzled an lead on a leash by a human. infact i should be locked in my kennel right now, since she is at work. but she must think i'm to hurt to be wandering off anywhere.. which is pretty true..he growls in frustation..

best i can do is protect those who stay near me.
Rav Hmmmms looking the coon up an down...
Would you like to learn how to fight with a staff? one advantage of fighting with a staff is that humans don't think twice about a pet walking down the street with a stick.

[Kalvin]

Balbaroy sits up and looks at Rav. "Huh? What? No. I've... uh... gotten another interest."