The Californian Wildlife Preserve; a wonderous forest where animals of all shapes and sizes reside in their natural habitats. Birds flocked, deer grazed and rabbits burrowed. Among these majestic creatures was a predator that when he arrived, could not be taken seriously. Fur had been both shaved and burned off in various areas and his taste for anything short of fish left him as harmless to the other creatures as a tit mouse.
This was the way of things for the better part of a year. What the woodland animals didn't know was that the predator was suffering from what one could call a prolonged stupor; a constant state of disbelief over certain actions in his past that left him effectively a drooling idiot, running on autopilot. But with many events, they must come to an end.
The predator mentioned was a bear, an American Black Bear to be precise. And as his fur grew back, so did his sense of self. Needless to say, the woodland animals were not prepared to deal with the once sluggish and distant bear. The peace they had known turned to chaos in the span of an hour.
The bear tore through the forest, using his natural senses to guide him. Any animal he spotted was immediately killed as he made his way to a specific destination beyond the confines of the wildlife preserve. All the while, a single thought perpetrated his mind, brought to life by the single sentence uttered under his breath.
"I'm coming for you, RJ!"
Meanwhile, within the confines of El Rancho Camelot Estates, resides a small forestation where twelve small animals of varying species enjoy the end of the Fall season. With Winter on the horizon, and the log in which they all reside filled to the brim with various goods, the family of foragers celebrate a successful gathering. One of the animals in particular was heading this celebration with a digital camera in hand.
"Okay guys, gather around in front of the log. I want photographic proof that we gathered all of this in case Verne decides to give it back again." he said. The animal in question was a racoon. He held the camera to the log, adjusting it to get a good picture.
As the group gathered, they laughed at his joke, even the young turtle called Verne relented a chuckle. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?" he asked, earning a brotherly hug from the racoon.
"Relax, Verne. I'm just messing with you." he said, letting his friend go to join the group. As he looked at the screen, the racoon could see all the animals that made up his family. The two Porcupine, Lou and Penny; with their kids: Bucky, Spike and Quillo. The little family were huddled to the right of the screen. Beside them were the new and odd couple; Stella the Skunk, and Tiger the cat. How the two came together could be attributed to Tiger's sense of smell, or rather, lack thereof. Beside them were the two Opossum; Ozzie and his daughter, Heather. And beside them was Hammy, the ever fidgety and fast-paced squirrel. Not a fool, but easily distracted, Hammy might just as well have been the biggest child of the family. Finally, beside him was Verne, the turtle that despite everything was the one the racoon could count on the most.
The racoon lost himself as he looked at his family through the screen and just smiled. He didn't even notice them smiling back at him, each of their faces looking at their missing member. Ozzie was the one to speak up. "Come on, RJ. Set the timer on that thing and get in here." he said, wrapping an arm around his daughter who smiled and leaned into her father.
The raccoon, RJ broke out of his thoughts and nodded. "Sure thing, Ozzie. Alright, just set you down here." RJ muttered as he placed the camera on a small stump, facing the family. He'd set the timer for five seconds, and as it counted down, he joined the group, going in for a dive. He slid in to the front and lay across the ground, appearing beside Quillo who giggled at his friend's cheeky nature.
"Say Cheese, everybody!" RJ said, earning the exact same response from everyone just as the camera went off.
"Cheeeese!"