Another day, another lost cause.
The setting sun painted the sky with brilliant pinks, reds, and oranges, the brilliant last shafts cutting into the tiny alleyway filled with trashcans. The billowy white clouds of breath being pushed out rose miserably into the air, before disappearing.
A slim cat shivered in the chilly air, disappointment etched clearly on her face.
The gray fur on her tail was bristling when she rounded on her bigger companion, snarling, "You dumb mutt! We could've been eating like kings if you hadn't messed up back there!"
"I'm sorry Rita! Definitely, definitely sorry. I'm a really, really bad dog aren't I? Yep, a bad dog." An abject whine rose from the dog beside her, as his head lowered in dejection.
A long, soft sighed flowed through her lips as she sat on her hind legs, ears drooping miserably. There wasn't any need to worry about freezing to death- both had warm, thick fur and Runt let off enough heat to make up for any that Rita might be needing.
"Come on Runt, we should go find somewhere to sleep for the night."
Dejection forgotten, the dog bounced to his feet, tail wagging furiously. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Where should we sleep today Rita?"
"How about back to that old textile factory the humans left behind?" Rita muttered to herself- it was locked up so no humans could get inside. Plus, there was some leftover cloth that they could make a bed out of- it had been one of the more comfortable beds overall in all of their years of wandering around.
The two began the journey towards the textile factory. Almost unbidden, the lyrics came to the female cats lips.
And it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
I still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
I still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home
As the last note hung on the still night air, the dog sighed-
He loved Rita's voice. She had the prettiest voice he had ever heard, most definitely. And he'd heard a lot of voices and a lot of singers over the years. None of them were half as pretty, nor half as soothing.
A shiver ran down his body, slightly surprising him- it was slightly odd, he didn't feel all that cold…
"Runt? Ya alive back there?"
"Yeah Rita! I was just thinking on how nice it would be to find some food. Yep, definitely some food. I'm feeling pretty hungry."
The cat blinked in surprise, and circled around to stare at her partner- Runt had never complained about how much, or little, food he had gotten. And these past few days had been one of the more particularly tummy filling days.
"Is something wrong Rita? I've been a bad dog again, haven't I? A bad, bad dog."
Runt's head was drooping, and the cat shook herself out of whatever stupor she'd been in. If Runt was hungry, then she'd just have to go find some food. In fact she could smell some over that way-
She held up a paw, "Hold it Runt! I think I smell some dinner!"
The dog's ears pricked, and his own nose rose to the air to sniff. A large, goofy smile crossed his face. He knew Rita would find a place for them to eat! He took a step forward, and ended up falling flat on his face.
Rita, unnoticing as she followed the scent, continued to the mouth of the street. Runt shook his head, blinking rapidly. He pulled himself to his feet, feeling yet another shiver run down on his flanks.
With one last head shake, he followed Rita into the back alleyways.
Ten minutes, lots of screeching, and one cat fight later, the two of them bolted out of the alleyway, triumphant. In Rita's mouth was clutched a fish, and Runt carried an bunch of sausages in his own mouth.
Rita leaped onto Runt's back as he ran, grabbing onto the large ears.
Runt, taking his cue to speed up, broke into a full run, heading straight for the old factory. Slowly the background noise dwindled into nothing, and the dog slowed down. Rita was practically smirking as she jumped down from the dog's back. Runt gasped, out of breath as he paused for a single moment.
"We're eating well tonight!" Rita crowed in laughter- She looked a little stunned, as if she couldn't believe that they had actually managed to do it.
Runt grinned as he nodded. "Yep, we've definitely, definitely did it. I must have wat, three sausages? Yeah, three sausages."
Rita looked back at the sausages now scattered on the ground from where Runt had spat them out. An eyebrow arched over cool green eyes, and she pointed out, "You're not going to get anything if you don't pick up those sausages soon." She picked back up her own fish to illustrate the point.
Runt nodded frantically as he regathered the sausages, and both trotted off towards the factory.
Runt didn't quite understand why the slight lightheadedness didn't disappear with each passing minute- in fact it was rather growing worse. Was it because he had forgotten to breathe again? He hadn't forgotten- see, in through his nose, and out through his nose.
The street wavered, and he shook his head, trying to dispel the dizziness. Nope, didn't work, definitely didn't work.
Fuzzy eyes fixated on the gray, slim creature trotting ahead of him, leading the way. All he did was have to follow her, and everything would be alright. Whenever one followed her, one was going to turn out a-okay.
The ground beneath him swirled in rather pretty colors, twisting and changing. But Rita was there in front of him, telling him where to go.
All he had to do was stay right behind her all the way.
The thought encouraged him, as shivers, unnoticed, ran down his flanks in an almost continuous stream despite the fact that he was actually feeling rather warm. He was distantly aware of a warm paw on his side, and a sweet, heavenly voice urging him on.
He couldn't see Rita anymore.
Frantically he looked around, before spotting the gray and white fur that alerted him to her presence. He started turning to face her, and Rita quickly jumped to the front of him. He smiled, somehow, and his tail wagged slowly as he followed the slim gal in front.
She wouldn't lead him wrong.
She vanished from his site for a moment, as tiny paws pressed on his hindquarters. He obligingly lay down, and Rita appeared again. His tail thumped against the cool floor, as she seemed to smile back at him, before he finally gave into the tiredness.
The last thing he was aware of was a gentle voice singing softly to him.
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Rita had been surprised when she had realized that Runt wasn't right behind her, angry when she realized he'd dropped all of his sausages, concerned when she realized he was still breathing as heavily as if he'd just ran a marathon, and scared when he didn't answer her demands.
She had trotted back towards the dog, dropping her own fish with only the slightest tinge of regret.
Runt's head was bowed, breathing labored, and he was shaking like one of those massage chairs you found in a spa. "Aw, dang it Runt, you're really sick aren't you? Why didn't you tell me you stupid idiot?"
The dogs short tail tried to wag, but only managed to make a small wave. She sighed, a mixture of worry and anger as she placed a paw to his side.
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
The soft notes floated in the air, focusing all of Runt's attention upon her. He followed her guiding paws, stumbling and staggering a few times, sometimes falling, but always, always climbing back to his feet at her prompting.
It was quite touching, and any other time she'd of appreciated it to it's full extent- right now she was worried. What if humans came? Runt couldn't scare any of the bad ones off, and they wouldn't be that scared of a small gray cat. Oooh, how she hated humans.
The textile factory, big and welcoming in its emptiness loomed ahead. With urging (and a few pushes) Runt managed to squeeze through a hole in the wall, and make his way to a pillar.
The cat worriedly made him sit, and he obligingly collapsed into a lying down position. She glanced around, "Let's see here, did the humans leave behind a blanket?"
The rough burlap bag wasn't the most wonderful blanket ever, but it was far better then nothing. The cat tugged it over the sleeping dog, and sighed as she turned to go back to retrieve food- if it hadn't already been stolen.
"Well, they say let sleepin' dogs lie, and I gotta find us some food- and runt somewhere warmer."
Rita licked the back of her paw, and determinedly got to her feet. Even if it was growing almost too dark to see, she was starving. "Someone has to take care of things around here, and that's me!"
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The dorky, teenage boy complete with red hair, a pimply face, and buckteeth sighed softly to himself as he played with the camera in one hand.
Once again he'd asked a hot girl out on a date, and once again he'd gotten kicked out of doorway. He didn't even get the pleasure of being walked over on her way out! She'd purposely avoided him!
A gray cat passed by, holding a fish, looking slightly ruffled, but smug at the same time.
The teenager, bored, flicked on the camera, and watched as it disappeared into an old, abandoned factory. He crouched, and just about dropped his camera at what he saw.
There was a dog there. And the cat was giving the fish to the dog. He blinked. Once. Twice. Rubbed his eyes, and peeked in again.
Now the dog was taking a few bites.
It was official. He was going loony. Either that or he was already loony.
But he had the tape to prove he wasn't! He'd go and upload it to MeTube and see what others had to say. Then, if needed he could always get other live footage- but wait! What if they moved? He needed some way of…
A conveniently placed electronics store named Orange made him get an Idea.
Ten minutes, frantic setup, and almost cartoon-like frantic wiring and hiding, the teenager walked away, with his very own set up Wild-life Cam. After all, what kind of geek would he be without carrying his laptop everywhere?
a/n: Well, this will be a short two-shot about one of my favorite couples ever. :D