This story will explore RJ's friendship with Vincent, like how he met Vincent, and how he eventually came to the conclusion that he should distance himself from Vincent.
CHAPTER 1: On the run
RJ's lungs were surrounded by huge collections of air. The raccoon needed food, and he needed it now. The only thing he had to make his journey easier was a mini, golf-like bag that contained various things that he could use to his advantage, like a tiny net with a hook that he could throw to ascend above certain boundaries, like a rocky area.
It was pitch black, and RJ was only just coming out from the woods. His main target was finding food, but not just any food; food that came from the humans. The raccoon has seen human food in the past; those crisps, chocolate, and a bunch of cookies from human picnics that have happened in the woods he's just coming from. The raccoon craved a ton of human food, but in order to even get to that point, he had to find a strong population of humans; where the heck is he going to find that in a pitch black wood, with an empty, dull road?
RJ wasn't your ordinary animal, either. Whilst some live in their natural habitats, without a clue or knowledge about humans, RJ knew precisely how they worked. Crucially, he knew that humans despised pests such as himself, and so, he made it a priority not to be seen too much, especially when it comes to the food. On top of that, he knew they could drive those giant automatic machines (they're cars, but RJ hasn't heard of that name for them before). Alongside other things, RJ, with his past experience, came to know a ton about humans.
The raccoon's mini golf bag was slipping and sliding on his back as the handle barely maintained a strong grip on his furry miniature chest. He needed to cure his thirst, alongside his hunger. The raccoon was running like a race car down the side of the empty road in the middle of the seemingly-long woods, where he noticed an entirely rocky mountain, that had an edge to it at the top that looked like a balcony, except without the fences obviously, given that it was a mountain.
"Woah...could there be something around here for food?" RJ whispered to himself, as he panted with exhaustion.
The raccoon stopped for a moment, to look behind himself; on the road, right behind him, rested two glaring yellow lights that were seemingly approaching him at a rapid pace. He could hear what sounded like a motor, which was as loud as a roar, before a grey car came storming down the road right past the tiny raccoon, making his mini-golf bag and fur vibrate, as if he was on a roller-coaster.
"EEK!" RJ yelled, caught by surprise from the rapidly passing by car.
After the car sped forwards and beyond, RJ placed his hand on his chest briefly, before sprinting forwards once again. As he got closer and closer towards this rocky mountain, he got to an opening, where the woods had seemingly stopped for a moment; not only was there a path that led into the woods for humans to walk on, but there was also a glaring light in the shape of a square. There was a transparent surface separating what was inside this square light; it was a vending machine, and boy, did RJ's eyes widen the second he took full notice of the machine.
"F-FOOD?!" RJ yelled, beaming with joy.
There were stacks of crisps in the seemingly abandoned vending machine, which was out here in the middle of nowhere given that no human was here. Crisps, from various flavours, it was the perfect stop for RJ. He took off his mini golf bag and situated it right against the vending machine, before studying the machine itself; he knew that the transparent surface separating him from the crisps was glass, which made him wonder; how was he going to get the food?
"What the...how am I supposed to get in here?" RJ asked.
The raccoon moved towards the left side of the vending machine as the rock mountain with a noticeable cliff edge firmly and vacantly sat behind his miniature body. The raccoon noticed the coin slot, and then, like a light bulb, it hit RJ.
"Coin...I need a COIN!" RJ exclaimed, wondering if there was going to be a penny on the ground.
Again, RJ wasn't like your average animal; he knew how humans operated and the stuff they used, and that slot in the machine reminded him of those silver, small round things humans use to buy stuff from shops and so on: coins.
As RJ searched the ground, coming back onto the empty and vacant road just a little to the left of the vending machine, some giant footsteps could be heard coming from the nearby woods; to RJ's shock, it was two human men, who looked like tourists with their vibrant looking clothes and shorts and caps. The raccoon, in the blink of panic, ran right next to the vending machine to hide, but it was no use; these human guys were going straight to the vending machine to buy themselves some crisps.
"Frederick, you got some extra coins for me?" the first guy asked, as RJ could overhear the conversation by hiding besides the vending machine.
This information gave RJ more clues on how the machine specifically works. As they continued talking, he could hear the machine operate, and without a warning, a brief, soft dropping sound could be heard; it was the crisps that the two guys had selected to buy; the packet was dropped into the grab-it section of the machine.
As the two guys walked towards the road, one of them noticed RJ.
"Hey look at this, it's a raccoon!" the guy who noticed RJ laughed.
The raccoon simply made a run for the woods, leaving his mini-golf bag against the machine.
"Kill it, that thing's carrying diseases!" the other guy exclaimed, which alarmed RJ; these guys were going to kill him.
"F-Frederick, do you see that bag against the vending machine there?"
The two guys, in the midst of their panic over noticing RJ, noticed the raccoon's mini-golf bag the raccoon had left unintentionally.
"W-What the? Animals don-"
"IT'S A GRIZZLY BEAR! OH MY GOD, RUN!" one of the guys yelled, suddenly.
A black, thick collection of fur roared towards the two guys as they sprinted for their lives; one of them dropped their crisp packets. It was a no brainer; no human would remain calm and collected when a bear, a deadly animal, comes charging for you. As RJ heard the bear roar at the guys running, with the bear stopping to pick up the packet of crisps that the humans had dropped, the raccoon looked to regain his mini-golf bag.
"I know you're there, who do you think you're fooling?" the bear said, referring to RJ.
The raccoon revealed himself to the bear, walking from the nearby woods; this bear's teeth looked ever so menacing, like he could chomp anything.
RJ had noticed that this bear deliberately got those guys to run away to grab their food.
"Y-you're not gonna kill me, are you? I just need to get my things..." RJ said, pointing towards his bag.
"Take it, who are you?" the bear asked, as his dark, black, fluffy collection intimidated RJ due to the drastic size difference; a bear could more than maul a raccoon to death in an instant.
"I'm RJ...who are you?" RJ asked, getting a comfort-vibe from this bear, who at first seemed to be a deadly predator.
"Vincent..."