Pet Friendly - Brookshire Meadows

[RockstarRaccoon]

Melinda nodded, "West Brookshire Zoo, They just built a couple years ago, and are still filling the enclosures. Some of the first animals in it came from this very preserve, though not many, as they had to volunteer for it... We got a few animals who were old and weak though. A few of them even older than you! They're probably still there if you ever want to go talk to them... And pets are allowed in as long as an owner accompanies them at the gate, it's very Pet-Friendly, like the rest of the town, so there isn't even a leash rule for pets who behave."

Taku looked back and fourth, not even entirely sure what a "zoo" was...

-------- At that very zoo --------
Rikki nodded, "Yeah, back when I was in rehab, they had to keep me inside, so I slept all the time. That was pretty boring... Back when I lived in the wild, there was always something to keep me busy just to take care of myself, or I could go play with someone. Now it seems playing's all there is to do... So, I take it you're in one of those 'breeding program' things? You got a mate in here?"

[FunkyChickenFace]

"Eh. We crocs ain't ones for mates. We just kinda go with the flow, y'know? If there's a girl says she's up for it, we'll keep her happy, but we don't keep mates. The girls, Meg n' Lucy, ain't feeling to frisky at the moment, if y'know wut I mean, hehe."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki nodded, "Yeah, me and my own mate were like that.... Maybe it's not mating season for you yet? I remember I had to court her all summer before she finally agreed, then we had to wait until fall to actually do anything... heh..." He scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you and all, but I think Frank here has more he wants to see... Good bye Greg." He gave a smile and a wave and started walking off.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Greg smiled toothily. "Nice to meet ya to, mate. See ya around!"
Frank sighed, crossing his arms behind his head. "Anything else you want to see? I got nothin'."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki blinked at him, slowing his pace, "Well... I dunno, I figured this was your thing. You didn't have anything in mind?" He looked up at a sign, "Well... We're closer to the raccoon exhibit, so I guess we could go there... It might be interesting to see what my life'd be like in here... Or we could go see some sort of feline for you... how's that sound?" He looked back over at Frank with a half-uninterested expression.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank shrugged. "Let's go to the raccoon pens then, if you're game."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki nodded and walked off in the direction the sign had indicated, "Sure, I suppose it should be interesting... So... You ever been to a zoo before?" He chatted idly as they walked through the sparsely populated zoo.

[FunkyChickenFace]

"Yeah. Like I said, didn't much care for them."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki nodded as they came in sight of the Raccoons, which were in a giant cage with trees and playground-equipment all over. He examined the enclosure and all its intricacies, "Well... looks like they made sure they had places to play... Not sure I'd like to be locked in there long-term though..." He watched two raccoons playing tackle-tag to pass the time... "At least they have company..."

[FunkyChickenFace]

"Well, I suppose you get used to it," mused Frank, leaning on the fence. "May as well make the best of it, y'know?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

"Yeah," Said Rikki, "I suppose it'd beat starving in a famine... Still seems a bit sad that they're locked in a cage all day and don't get to leave. I can't see why anyone would volunteer to- Wait... WAIT...." he froze, his eyes bulging out of his head and his jaw dropping limp.
"DAD‽‽"

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank fell over in shock.

[RockstarRaccoon]

Inside the enclosure, a raccoon which had been messing with a fruit froze, his eyes widening as he slowly turned to look out at them. He narroed his eyes and leaned forward, straining to look at them, "...Rikki?" He looked alot like Rikki, except for his black markings having faded to a dark gray, and streaks of silver going down the sides of his head and back. His whiskers were longer, thicker, and drooped slightly, and his eyes were much more weathered.

Old Kinut had gotten even older since the last time Rikki had seen him, but he was indeed the same raccoon, "Dad!" He called out again, "What are you doing in here‽"

Kinut slowly got to his feet, walking towards the front of the enclosure to talk to them. The other raccoons who had been playing looked up and respectfully moved aside: Kinut was intensely aged and wisened, and had been one of the most respected animals in the forest when he'd disappeared 2 summers ago. "It's a long story," he said, leaning against the bars to talk to them, "I'd like to know when you got that collar." He gave a half-smile, which caused the side of his face to wrinkle, "It appears we both have stories to trade..." His eyes moved up and down his son, stopping briefly on his leg before focusing on his face.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank slowly pulled himself back to his feet with the fence. Hand over hand, he eventually reached a somewhat upright position. Stumbling to his feet and leaning against the fence dazedly, he turned to Rikki.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Rikki, I thought you were born in the wild? What's your dad doin' in a zoo?!" he asked, gesticulating wildly and almost falling over again.

[CY_Law]

Melinda nodded, "West Brookshire Zoo, They just built a couple years ago, and are still filling the enclosures. Some of the first animals in it came from this very preserve, though not many, as they had to volunteer for it... We got a few animals who were old and weak though. A few of them even older than you! They're probably still there if you ever want to go talk to them... And pets are allowed in as long as an owner accompanies them at the gate, it's very Pet-Friendly, like the rest of the town, so there isn't even a leash rule for pets who behave."

Taku looked back and fourth, not even entirely sure what a "zoo" was...

Xuan nodded slowly as he listen,"Okay... interesting, but then I don't think I would want to go to the zoo now... perhaps now I could just stay here for a while or just go back."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Melinda chuckled, "Well, I wasn't suggesting we go there right now... It's way into town anyway... if you wanna stay here, maybe you should hang out with Taku? He hasn't had much company lately... as long as he doesn't run around too much, or hit his nose on anything, he should be fine playing or something..."

Taku looked back and fourth at them, Play? ...maybe... I guess I'm bored, but I don't know what to do without running around...

[RockstarRaccoon]

Frank slowly pulled himself back to his feet with the fence. Hand over hand, he eventually reached a somewhat upright position. Stumbling to his feet and leaning against the fence dazedly, he turned to Rikki.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Rikki, I thought you were born in the wild? What's your dad doin' in a zoo?!" he asked, gesticulating wildly and almost falling over again.

"That's what I wanna know!" Rikki said with wide eyes, "Dad, you've been gone for three years! What happened to you? Why are you here? Were you captured or something?" Rikki was frantically confused at the whole situation.

Kinut held up a paw, shutting Rikki up. "I was not captured. I volunteered. When this facility was built, they came to the preserve looking for animals to fill the exhibits. When I heard of this, I volunteered to be taken. I knew you'd try and stop me, so I didn't say anything to you about it when we last met." He stood calm against the cage, looking at Rikki with a fixed expression.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank was almost hopping up and down from curiosity and anticipation. He bit his lip, seeing that this was clearly one of those "Father and son" moments and he shouldn't interject anything. But he wanted to know so BADLY.........

[RockstarRaccoon]

"But... But... WHY‽ Why would you want to live in a cage like this?" Rikki sputtered, shocked and confused at where his father was at.

"The famine. I warned everyone about it, but there was nothing anyone could do: you eat food when it's available, and you don't eat when it's not. First the plant-food died out, then the animals that ate it died out. That's what happened right? I predicted accurately?"

"Yes. Yes, you did, but... how did you know that would happen??" Rikki remembered the entire fiasco and how his father had warned the forest of it just before he left.

"Simple reasoning and experience, Rikki. There was a sudden surge in the populations of all animals: more prey for the predators. I don't know what happened, all I could tell was that the diseases which brought down the populations weren't doing their job anymore. The undergrowth could only stand a year before a dieout among the herbivores was inevitable. I knew that after that, food would be scarce for an entire year, as it is now. (Correct?) I couldn't stand to think of myself eating the food that you and your children would desperately need, competing with you, so I left when I found my chance. Now I live outside the forest's ecosystem, and the food-shortage is not an issue in my life." Kinut stood, allowing his statements to sink in.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank scratched his head. It all made quite a lot of sense, actually. But...
"Is that why there've been lotsa reports of feral intrusions over in Yorkshire? I heard a rumor that the city's planning to set up a city wide extermination of ferals or something. Granted it is a rumor and it's probably not true, but there have been problems over there. Do you think the food shortage has had any effect on the relationship between ferals, humans, and pets over there?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki and Old Kinut looked at him, Rikki speaking up, "Well... I don't know about Yorkshire, it's kind of far away... But I think it's a different issue there: here, humans have set up clear boundaries and kept to them, our problem is ecological. Yorkshire's problem is that the humans are encroaching on the surrounding wilderness, leaving less space for the animals. I don't know about their food situation, only that they're having an ecological breakdown."

Kinut nodded at his son, "Interesting... The humans continue to expand their world, slowly pushing into ours... it seems that one day we'll have no choice but to confront them directly, and I fear that day they will be stronger than us..." He shrugged, "Such is the way of the world though... The world changes, and the people in it must adapt... Those who do not are left behind." He looked off into space, as if in thought now...

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank scratched his head.
"Wow.. that's deep. I never thought about it that way." He laughed slightly awkwardly. "Err.. Kinut, was it? Anyway, I don't really think about stuff like that. I've always lived in the moment, y'know?"

[RockstarRaccoon]

Kinut nodded, "Yes. The pets of humans have the luxury of such choices. We animals who live in nature must make decisions constantly which will affect whether we live or die, whether we are safe and fed for a night, whether we can mate and raise offspring."

Rikki nodded, "Yes, I believe I explained this to you before: wild animals spend most of our time working to survive. We have things which we must think about constantly, living on whims is not something we can do."

Kinut nodded again, "Yes. But, Rikki, you are no longer a wild animal. You are a pet. And now I am curious: how did this happen?" He reached out, flicking the tag on Rikki's collar.

"Oh... that? It's a long story... See... The winter after you left, poachers entered the forest and I... sorta stepped on a trap... So I was in rehab for the rest of the winter and got to know the Ranger really well.... So then after I was released and he got into a fight with a mountain lion, and I tried to protect him and..." He looked down at his scar, "It sorta tried to rip off my leg..." He stared off into space, feeling a bit awkward...

[Mususaki]

Jenny hopped up, smiling at Lisitsan with a wide, toothy grin.

"Lisitsan! HAI! You're here!" She pranced in front of the fox, taking him by each paw and shaking them excitedly.

"You wanna come out and play? Maybe see the neighborhood or something?" Jenny wiggled her tail so much her hips followed.

"Jenny and I were going to take a walk around the neighborhood, if you would like to join," Jenny's father piped in, grinning at the puppy's happy gestures and sliding his hands into his pockets, "Thought you might want to stretch your legs, that is, if Mr. Frederickson Doesn't mind."

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank tried to diffuse the awkward.
"SO ANYWAY. KINUT. Do the zookeepers treat you well?"

[Cornflakes]

((Response to Mukusaki))

"Sure!" , Lisitsan's toothy grin spread from cheek to cheek, "I'd love to, Jenny!" Lisitsan hopped outside, glad to be rid of the fancy surroundings of his adopted family, and get back to the outside world. He was also greatly relieved to have pet company.

[RockstarRaccoon]

Kinut blinked, "Of course. I mean... it's not the best thing ever, but they take good care of us..."

Rikki sighed, "Yeah, well... I understand you're well fed and all that, but what about other things? I mean, you're not free to roam around, how would you find another mate?"

Kinut smiled, "That reminds me... there's someone I want you to meet..." He turned to the enclosure, calling back behind a tree, "Chiku, come over here and meet one of my sons, Rikki."
A brown raccoon looked around the tree before getting up and walking over, a mild limp in her leg. She was about Rikki's age, but it looked like she had a limp in her leg. "Hello."
Kinut put an arm around her shoulders, and smiled at Rikki, "This is Chiku, my new mate."

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank blinked. Frank raised an eyebrow. Frank raised the other eyebrow. He blinked again.

"Wait... what?!"

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki's eyes also widened and blinked, "So... wait... you're in one of those 'breeding program's? And... oh..." He turned to Chiku, "It's uh, nice to meet you then. I'd hug you but... I'm on the other side of this wall, heh..."

Chiku smiled and shyly greeted him, "Hi Rikki. Kinut's told me about you before..." She hugged into the older raccoon.
Kinut smiled and nuzzled against the side of her face affectionately, "Yes, they gave me two females to court... and I sort of fell in love..." He smiled and finished with a warm lick to her snout, causing her to giggle.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank gaped. He blinked again.
"Wait.... so you.. Rikki's mother is... what the heck?!" Frank squinted in confusion and waved his arms, trying to grasp the situation.

[RockstarRaccoon]

(( Later Edit, 'cause I gotta know: What was Frank thinking about Rikki's mother? ))

Rikki and Kinut looked suddenly uncomfortable... "Um... Rikki's mother is..." Kinut started but trailed off...

"Dead." Rikki sighed, completing for his father, "She died when I was four, before I met my own mate." He sighed and looked up, "It's... kind of a painful subject that doesn't need to be brought up, so let's change the subject. So, when did you meet? Are you mating this spring?"

Kinut smiled, "Actually... We already have. There's someone you should meet..." He turned to the two younger raccoons who were playing about behind them, "Kids, come here, meet your older brother Rikki!"
The two smaller raccoons looked up from a wrestling match before bouncing over. One was a brown male with similar markings to Rikki and Kinut, the other was a black female, with similar markings to Chiku. They stood next to their parents and smiled up at Rikki and Frank.
"So," Kinut said, gesturing down to the female first, "This is Mylo," and to the male, "And this is Chichu."
"HI! They both giggled."

"Um, hi!" Rikki said with a blushing grin, "My name's Rikki." He rubbed his hand on his side and held it out, smiling down at the children as they sniffed it. "So..." Rikki asked, looking up at his father, "How old are they? Two?"

"Well..." Kinut said, "We had them the summer after I got here... So... they're exactly two."

"...Wait..." Rikki raised a brow, "How? I... didn't think we could have kids any time but spring..."

Kinut shrugged, "Humans have ways of making things happen, I don't know how they did it. In any case, you should come in and meet them, you know? Maybe we can convince the zookepers to let you two in?"

Rikki hesitated, "Eh... we've got someplace to be... maybe later? Then you can meet Ranger Jack, Frank's owner Matt, and Darin, the wolf we brought over here..." He looked at Frank, "How about that?"

[Mususaki]

Jenny's father smiled at the fox.

"Yay!" Jenny hopped up and down, still holding Lisitsan's paws. Her tongue plopped out of her mouth as she panted happily.

"Well, perhaps we could make our way around the block and see what all this development has, hm?" Jenny's father tilted his head to one side with his inquiry. Jenny flopped one ear to the side.

"Hey! Maybe we can find some nummy-food!" Jenny piped, her curled tail flipping about behind her.

[FunkyChickenFace]

((That worked perfectly, Rockstar. Do't worry about editing))

Frank was still confused, but decided to roll with it.
"Errr.... o... kay... then? I mean, I have no objections, really...."

[RockstarRaccoon]

Rikki, Kinut, and Chiku all gave Frank puzzled looks as the kids ran off and started playing again. "Objections... to what?" Rikki asked in a confused tone, his eyebrow raised. He had no idea what Frank was going on about.

(( And I'm not too sure either. O!o ))

[FunkyChickenFace]

"I meant, no objections to any plan you may be forming, since i don't have a plan."

[RockstarRaccoon]

"OH!" they all suddenly laughed, "Of course, that's what you meant." Rikki laughed, putting an arm around Frank's shoulder and reaching over to ruffle his headfur with the other paw.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank pushed his paw off, disgruntled at the treatment.
"Hey, I'm not a kitten, you know," he griped. "Come on, are we headed out or not?"

[CY_Law]

Melinda chuckled, "Well, I wasn't suggesting we go there right now... It's way into town anyway... if you wanna stay here, maybe you should hang out with Taku? He hasn't had much company lately... as long as he doesn't run around too much, or hit his nose on anything, he should be fine playing or something..."

Taku looked back and fourth at them, Play? ...maybe... I guess I'm bored, but I don't know what to do without running around...

Xuan looked at Taku, and put a paw on his shoulder, "So hey little guy (( lol )), I guess I can accompany you for a while. Hmm... let's see..." said Xuan while stroking his chin, thinking, "You don't play Frisbee, you can't play fetch, that would involve running and a risk of worsening your injury, and I don't think you would play tug-o-war either..." said Xuan, not knowing what would a raccoon do.

[RockstarRaccoon]

Melinda laughed and started walking inside, "Well I'm sure you'll think of something..."

Taku looked at Melinda and then back to Xuan, Ok then...

======== Meanwhile ========
Rikki gave Frank a mildly hurt look, "I never said you were, I was just being friendly..." He sighed and moved on, "Well anyway, we'll see you later, dad. Bye!" He smiled and started walking back to the wolf enclosure.

[FunkyChickenFace]

Frank blanched.
"Oh... sorry, Rikki. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Err, seeya Kinut, Chiku."