Zack felt the sun pouring in and resting across his face. He grumbled before reaching out and moving a large tuft of red hair over his eyes. He sighed for a second but immediately after Sarah reached out to reclaim the hair that was once covering her eyes. Zack mumbled before deciding that sleeping wasn't a feasible option and so lugged himself up into a sitting position as to where he could see his trousers and various other pieces of clothing strewn across the floor as if placed in a hurry.

They had both found a nearby hotel and so had gotten a room on behalf of Leonardo's near to limitless cash supply of legally questionable tender. Zack, not being able to stand the light blearing in, pushed himself up off the bed and made his way over to the curtains that lay ajar as the breeze from the above vent fanned the white veils around. The day was bountiful as it was fresh and glowing by yesterday's rain.

"Fucking 'ell these curtains are a bitch."

Zack pulled them shut, plunging the room back into darkness before moving back into bed. Him muttering the whole time.

"Fuck getting up. I'm too tired for that shit."

Zack instantly fell back under the duvet and once he was in bed once more, curled forwards until his head met Sarah's neck. The Zoroark grunted as she moved her head onto the crown of his. They both cuddled for a while as they both tried the dubious task of sleeping.

Zack fell back to the events of yesterday as he began to slip back into a light slumber only to be brought crashing back to reality by a noise.

Three loud thumps at the door, followed by a sequence of knocks that corresponded to those used by Leonardo.

Zack let out a growl that could contest Sarah's as he contemplated wither he should actually get up or just leave his friend hanging.. Zack got up but this time around, rolled towards the side that he was to get out of. He opted to let gravity do all the work this time as he fell off the side of the bed and landed on the cold, hard, dusty floor. The sheer chills from the white carpet caused Zack to jump up in shock as his body was assaulted by the freezing conditions that it was subjected to.

"I'll be there in a minute!"

Zack bent over and grabbed his jeans. He dipped his hands in several pockets before finding the keychain that held the apartment keys. He proceeded to the door, rubbing his arms and jumping to try and keep his feet of the ground. He took no time with swiping the lock as a little light changed from red to green. Zack twisted the handle before yanking the door open.

"Oh hey Zack."

Leonardo was stood out in the hall, Jewl standing attentively by his side. Zack stared with glazed eyes at the red ribbon that was tied to her left ear. Zack just tilted his head and pointed at the cloth while both Jewl and Leonardo figured out what Zack was pointing at.

"Oh, that? Jewl wanted to put a bow in her hair."

Jewl smiled as her tail swished behind her. Her grin was accompanied by a brief though of hers:

"I thought it would look cool."

Zack continued to stand behind the door. He pulled at the hem of his underwear as the elastic was irritating his skin in the way that tight bands of rubber do. There was the snapping sound as the elastic struck Zack's side. He yawned, yet again, before answering.

"You do that then… Why exactly did you come to my door?"

Leonardo and Jewl just awkwardly stood there while shuffling around on the spot a little. Zack could feel something was about to arise and so far Zack had a feeling that he knew what it was about. Bell, the ever so charismatic creature, was supposed to be with Leonardo in all of her sunny dispositional glory. She must have still been up in his apartment sulking over yesterday.

Sarah had now sat up in her position on the bed. Her face looked as if she had gotten a good night's worth of sleep after all the trauma of the kidnapping and Zack's outburst. If anything, Zack was jealous that she had rested better than himself who was currently gasping for caffeine but knew that the sweet creamy beverage could wait… for now.

"Hey Sarah, d'you sleep well."

Yet again Leonardo and Jewl were suppressed from the situation as Zack prioritised the person he cared for most. Sarah yawned a toothy yawn as her tongue curled; Zack smiled in contempt at the sight. Sarah was just too cute for Zack to handle first thing in the morning. Her silky grey fur and her gorgeous crimson red and cosmos black locks of hair that trailed and acted like a multipurpose head piece and blanket. Evolution had never looked so fine.

"Yeah Zack… I'm fine."

"Das good…"

Zack stated with a spoofed accent. He turned back to the two at the door. Glancing back and forth between the human and canine, Zack told Leonardo his idea.

"Can you give me and Sarah, like, five minutes then we'll meet at yours?"

Leonardo gave off a small nod and a roll of his eyes before strolling off. Zack overheard his friends snarky comment as the Asian conversed with the Lucario.

"Their probably gonna screw in the shower for the better part of thirty minutes or so."

Zack smiled at Leonardo's statement but not without calling down the corridor.

"Then you better find a way to occupy yourself cause my vixen has a libido higher than a crack dealer and she ain't going to wait for her wakeup call with sugar.

By the sounds of light laughter, it would seem that the woman in question was now awake, she had been listening in the whole time that the three at the door had conversed. Sarah was now up and around the room. Stretching, she reached out and grabbed a small box off the mini kitchen's counter top. She poked the lid open with a claw and removed the last doughnut from a box of four and promptly shoved the whole thing in her mouth. Zack watched as the other two silently retreated down the corridor.

"Right Sarah what are you going to do while I shower."

Sarah strode over to the curtains and pulled them open. The whole room filled with light as both Zack and Sarah had to stop and adjust. Zack let out an audible hiss of protest. The vixen just rolled her eyes at his childish antics and started a casual conversation.

"We could always fuck. I'm still waiting for you to rut me sideways… you know; my 'morning sugar'."

Zack grinned. She was humorous, even when just up.

"I think you'll just have to settle for the doughnut for your sugar just now… But if you so desperately wanted, we could always share the shower?"

Zack raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner as he tried pulling off a really creepy facial expression. Sarah once again laughed before dismissing Zack's attempt to seduce her.

"Nah. I'll just watch t.v. or whatever."

And with that the Zoroark fell back onto a couch. Sarah moved to lie across it before pulling her hair over herself. A hand was seen to protrude from her hair while holding a remote.

Zack was ok with Sarah keeping herself occupied and so with his temporary state of freedom from his own worries on the waking day, he moved to gather up all his clothing from the floor and moved to a closet. Zack grabbed a light blue towel from near the top before sneaking into the bathroom. The lock for the door quietly clicked as Zack was now left in the gleaming, white, pristinely clean room.

'Wow what a busy morning. Well I'm up now I guess… Probably should talk to my dad when we pick him up. Hmm… I know exactly what I'm going to do about him and Bell.'

Zack threw his towel next to his clothes that were piled on the floor. He slid the glass door open and reached out for the showers control.

'Jees, you'd think it was NASA designing these damn showers with the buttons and adjusting knobs. Christ!'

Zack spent a while messing around with the shower before finally being satisfied. He stuck one foot in and then the other as the hot water beat down on him. It was both relaxing and unwinding for someone with as much worries as himself.

'And what in the living hell I'm I going to do about Sarah. I can't keep hiding her from the world and disguise her and if anything I'm surprised that nobody has found her out yet. Heh. I wonder how people will react to her…'

Zack stopped lathering his hands with soap. How would the public react? Some would obviously be overjoyed and others would despise the idea of another sentient being but ultimately… Zack thought long and hard about the situation. If biologists deemed her to be extremely valuable, which of course a being that is capable of telepathy and creating sensory illusions to masses while possessing a biology that is highly different to humans, then most medical firms would be backed by the world leaders in a manhunt or in Sarah's case a Zoroark-hunt in which they would pull her apart in various ways just to justify their work in 'forwarding a constantly evolving society'.

And of course the infamously infamous rule thirty-four would have a percentage of the internet pouring their heart (and bodily fluids) out at the sight and thought of her. And quite frankly, that's Zack's job.

Zack moved to washing his hair. He lifted the complimentary shampoo that had been placed on a nearby rack and emptied a decent amount onto his hands.

'Well, as long as they don't figure out that there is another planet waiting at the other side of that gate then 'earth version two point oh' should be fine for now. Knowing humanity, it would do anything within its clutches to leave this dying scab of a planet.'

Zack chuckled slightly as he thought out an old man with a cane walking through the portal while waving the long oak stick and flipping the bird back on this planet. Zack put on an old gruff voice before speaking out loud to himself.

"Fuck you earth. You can suck a bag of hairy old dicks!"

Zack smiled and calmed down from his stupid rants.

'Ah… Life is good once more.'

And with that, Zack turned off the shower and stuck a foot out of the glass panel door. He hooked his towel on his foot and pulled it towards himself. A moment of drying and dressing left him in front of a mirror. Zack put the final touched on his hairdo with a jet black comb and concluded his bathroom session.

"Hey Sarah. I'm finished in the shower. You ready to head…"

Sarah was stood in front of the T.V. Her mouth was agape as the news bulletin played out.

"…And with that it is believed that the scholar and free time mechanical physicist and chemist engineer, Zack Atles, Is now out there somewhere. Experts have confirmed that the snapshots are of a living and breathing creature that originated from Nintendo's biggest game franchise before it's inevitable demise. The creature is known as a Zoroark and at this point, officials suspect that this feral beast may be dangerous. People are warned to stay away as it can take on any form or person. Now to our specialist…

Zack watched as the air shot of Sarah and Zack riding in a red Mazda as they went to get coffee that one day. Turns out that one of the news vans parked outside had spotted the young man's escape and alerted a news chopper. They had been found out.

"Shit."

"Why do they think I'm feral?!"

Both of them were left with a pit in their stomachs. As per usual the news had taken the situation and had blown it way out of proportions. Zack felt a small vibration from his pocket. He picked out the phone and noted a text from Leonardo.

'Houston, we has a problem. Has u seen teh news? D='

Zack tapped away on his phone as Sarah continued to be gobsmacked by the announcement.

'Eeyup. /(-_-)\ This is some deep shite. Be up in a sec.'

Zack snapped his attention to Sarah. He noticed her eyes were all puffy and her lips quivered as she watched on. She honestly looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh, Sarah… What's the matter?"

Zack pulled Sarah into a hug as he attempted to comfort her. This only served to start her tear-fest as she lost it and broke down into his arms. Sarah began with a bombardment of ramblings as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening.

"Oh Arceus what is g-going on. How do they know we are he-ere and why do they think I'm d-dangerous? This makes no sense. I'm sc-cared that people are going to try and hunt me, Zack."

Zack pulled Sarah away from himself, looking her straight in the eyes showed her now damp but still adorable face as she glanced at Zack and then away. It wasn't fair for her. She didn't want this. She never asked to be kidnapped or marked as a highly dangerous creature that is made out to be a fugitive.

"Sarah.."

Zack wiped a tear from her face, the fox closing an eye instinctively as to avoid it being poked by accident. Sarah sniffled as she calmed herself.

"…Nothing has changed… Nothing will change. I will do anything and everything within my power to protect you. And don't forget it… Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Sarah smiled a little. Through everything that she had been through, Zack had been there. The vixen took a deep breath. He's right. They won't do squat to her while Zack's overlooking on things.

"Y-yeah… Your right… I just… I don't know how or why but…"

Zack chuckled lightly. He let go of the dark fox. Sarah looked to the floor and then back up. They would make it through, Sarah was sure of it.

"Like I said; don't worry. Now… We ought to go see what Leonardo wants."

Sarah had almost completely forgot about Zack's friend but surely enough it must be important if they had to meet now.

With a nod from Sarah, Zack grabbed her hand and they both strode side by side. They found themselves walking the empty stretches of corridor in a sort of serene peace. Zack looked to Sarah for one last time and flashed a smile. Her face lit up slightly under Zack's charm.

Everything was alright.

Techz: well, there you have it. Another chapter to the now infamously known NRNR. Remember to comment your thoughts and caress that sweet, succulent favourite button. You know you want to!