Chapter 4: Cats, Birds, and Concern

Ghost was walking around the house, looking for a nice place to enjoy a nap, when a sudden noise disturbed her. Looking up, she saw Domino, falling down the stairs like a sack of potatoes, though not having a care in the world. When she got to the bottom, Ghost just gave him a look of "Really?" and walked away, leaving the other cat to her own shenanigans.

Ghost then went to the doors leading to the back yard. Amity, who just so happened to be looking in that direction, smiled and opened the door, allowing Ghost to join them outside.

"Hey Ghost. Looking for a good place to nap?" Amity asked the sleepy Palismen.

"Mrow…"

Ghost then found a nice, sunny patch that was out of the way in the back yard, and promptly laid down and took a nice nap.

"So, find anything in any of those books Hunter brought Amity?" Luz asked.

"No, nothing yet." Amity said. "I doubt you're the first one from the Boiling Isles to make a portal to Amphibia, so there has to be something in one of these…"

"Well we have to keep looking! None of the science books from Earth seem to have anything useful!" Anne said as she tossed a magazine off to the side. "Ugh…"

Hop Pop, noticing how frustrated Anne was getting, tried to comfort her.

"Listen Anne, I know how badly you want to get back and rescue Sasha and Marcy, but we're just going to have to be patient!"

"But…" Anne said before looking down. "I'm worried…"

"Hey, look at me." Luz said and Anne complied. "We'll figure this out, ok?"

"… Right."

At that moment, Mr. Boonchuy came out and gave Hop Pop a refill on his lemonade.

"Man… I haven't felt this pampered in ages!"

"Glad to see someone is enjoying themselves…" Amity groaned out.

Anne just looked at Amity and frowned. She had a point, she and Luz were guests, and they have been pretty much constantly working to help her.

"Hey… why don't the two of you take the rest of the day off." Anne said.

"What? Are you sure?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, you've been doing so much to help and… well, I feel bad." Anne said. "So please, take some time to relax, I gotta take Domino to the vet anyways."

"Sorry Anne, but you have something else that needs to be done." Anne's mom said as she came outside. "We gotta go to the dentist!"

"What?!"

"Oh, it's time for that part of this whole thing, huh?" Luz asked.

"Huh? What part? What thing?!" Anne asked.

"The part where you gotta get your health checked out, duh." Luz said. "My mom and I spent a whole three days just going to doctors and dentists to make sure I was still healthy after being gone for so long."

"… Oh no…"

"It's just going to be the dentist for now… but maybe the eye doctor might be a good idea." Ms. Boonchuy said.

"But… but… what about Domino? I mean, I still have to take her to the vet today!" Anne asked.

"Well, maybe your father can take her?"

"No can do, I gotta watch the restaurant!" Mr. Boonchuy answered.

"Oh uh… hmmm…"

Suddenly, Hop Pop shot out of his seat.

"We'll do it!"

"Huh? Really?" Amity asked. "I mean, Luz and I could…"

"Nope! You two have done enough to help already!" Hop Pop said. "Let us do this!"

Anne then got up and hugged Hop Pop, wrote down the address to the vet, gave them some instructions, and was promptly dragged out to the family car to go to the vet.

"What was that all about?" Amity asked Hop Pop.

"Well, your off handed comment made me realize something! We've become freeloaders!" Hop Pop explained.

"You mean like…?" Polly asked.

"Yup! Cousin Stanley!"

The other two frogs gasped at this information, though Sprig seemed fine with it, since he was kinda considered family now.

"Uh…?"

"We'll explain later." Polly said. "Just know, he was TERRIBLE!"

"O…kay then!" Amity said before turning to Luz. "So uh… what should we do?"

"Well… Anne showed me a couple of nice places around town the other day… maybe we can go have a nice day out!" Luz said. "You know… like a date?"

Amity smiled widely at this. "Ok!"

"You two kids have fun, leave Domino to us!" Hop Pop said.

"Actually, maybe we should help you get Domino in her cage… cats can be a bit… much… especially when they are… well…"

Amity then gestured to the sleeping Domino on the floor.

"Psh, it's just a cat, it seems simple enough!" Hop Pop said.

"ENOUGH TALK! SEIZE THE BEAST!" Polly shouted as she leapt onto Domino's stomach.

When Amity saw Domino's eyes narrow, she knew that they were in for a rough time.

"Uh oh…"

One Catnado later, they finally managed to get Domino into the cage… the Plantars took a beating though.

"Ok! We're off!" Hop Pop said as the three of them began to make their way out of the house.

"… Amity…" Luz said.

"I know I know… I don't want to leave them alone either." Amity said.

At that moment, Ghost walked back into the living room, and brushed up against Amity's leg.

"Hey Ghost, do you think you can keep an eye on the Plantars? Make sure they get to the vet alright?" Amity asked the cat.

Ghost gave Amity an unamused meow, signifying that she didn't want to do it.

"I'll get you your favorite snack while I'm out!" Amity offered.

Ghost then gave her a look that said "Say no more!" and began to follow the Plantars out of the house.

Then, Luz whistled out, calling Bluebert to her side.

"Think you can help Ghost out today?" Luz asked.

Bluebert tweeted, and began to follow.

"Well then, now that that's settled, let's get going!" Amity said as the two of them began to leave for their day out.

Please note, for the next portion of the story, we shall be able to understand the animals

"Now all we have to do is take this bus to the vet!" Hop Pop said as he gestured to the bus stop.

Meanwhile, Ghost was on top of the sitting area of the bus stop, watching them.

"Hey Ghost!" She heart someone chirp out from above her.

Looking up, she saw Bluebert above her.

"Hey Blue, Luz wanted you to come?" Ghost asked.

"Yes, mom did ask me to come." Bluebert said.

"Ugh… for the hundredth time, she is not your mom!" Ghost said annoyed.

"She gave me life, so she is my mom!" Bluebert reasoned. "Therefore, I shall call her 'mom.'"

"Fine, whatever." Ghost said as the Plantars boarded the bus.

Ghost then hopped onto the roof, and dug her claws into it to hang on, with Bluebert flying above.

It didn't even take five minutes for the Plantars to get kicked off the bus though.

And so, they were setting off… on foot.

"This is not going to end well…" Ghost said.

"Isn't it our job to make sure it does?" Bluebert asked.

"Yeah, but even we can't salvage this…" Ghost groaned out.

"Come on, have a little faith in them!" Bluebert said.

"Sprig just got run over by kids on bikes."

"… Ok, this is bad…"

Thankfully, by some miracle, the Plantars managed to get to the vet without any of them dying!

"I actually cannot believe that they made it here…" Ghost said.

"I mean, there were a couple of close calls, but they did fine!" Bluebert said.

"Whatever, they still need to make it home." Ghost said as they saw the Plantars leave the vet.

"It shouldn't be tha-" Bluebert started, but then he noticed something…

Domino leaving through a window.

"… You have got to be kidding me…" Ghost groaned out. "How did they lose her?!"

"Come on! We need to follow her!" Bluebert said.

"No! I will follow her! You let the Plantars know that they lost her!" Ghost said as she began following Domino.

"Right!" Bluebert said as he flew over to the Plantars.

When he got there, he quickly began pecking the top of Hop Pop's head.

"Ow ow ow! What the?!" Hop Pop asked.

"Hey, isn't that the blue bird that Luz is always taking around with her?" Sprig asked.

"Did something happen to them?" Hop Pop asked.

Bluebert got off of Hop Pop's head, and began tapping on Domino's cage.

This prompted the frogs to look inside, and discover Domino's absence.

"WE LOST HER?!" Sprig asked. "Oh no… Anne's going to be devastated!"

"We have to find her!" Hop Pop shouted.

And with that, they all scrambled around, trying desperately to find Domino.

Eventually, Sprig opted to calling Mr. Boonchuy, who advised them to go to the nearest shawarma restaurant.

"So uh… anyone have any ideas where this place is?" Sprig asked suddenly.

And the Plantars all stopped running, realizing that they had no clue.

Deciding that he needed to help, Bluebert flew up high, and began looking around.

Eventually, he saw what he was looking for, and chirped down to the Plantars, before flying towards the restaurant.

"I think he found it! Come on!" Sprig said as they began to follow.

Meanwhile, Ghost was not having as good of a time.

"Where are you going?!" Ghost asked.

"Shawarma… I'm hungry." Domino said plainly.

"Seriously? There's food back home! Just wait a bit!" Ghost tried to reason.

"Yeah, but it's not Shawarma… I love Shawarma."

"You'll make Anne super worried though!"

"Eh, I'll be home before her." Domino said. "Those frogs would probably just get us lost."

"That… is probably true… uh…" Ghost said.

"Listen, I'll be fine! Just gonna get some food and go home. Simple!" Domino said as he hopped into the window of Shawarma.

"Ugh, fine… but that's it!" Ghost said as she laid down nearby.

After waiting for a while, the Plantars and Bluebert arrived.

"Bout time you guys showed up!" Ghost said.

"Sorry, had to find this place first." Bluebert said as he touched down next to her.

"We have to get that cat at any cost! It may even cost us our lives…" Hop Pop said grimly.

"Uuuuuuuuuh….." Ghost and Bluebert both said at the same time.

"Don't be silly! All we need is a distraction!" Sprig said.

"Ok good, no-one is dying!"

Thankfully, all they really did need was a distraction!

They managed to get Domino out of there, into the cage, and thanks to Mr. Boonchuy showing up at a good time, they were out of there!

"Oh, and looks like Ghost and Bluebert are with you." Mr. Boonchuy pointed out. "I'll take them with me to the restaurant, Amity and Luz are already there."

"Wait really? What are they doing there?" Sprig asked.

"They wanted something to eat to end off their day out." Mr. Boonchuy explained. "Though… they seemed be talking about something… something about unity?"

"Huh… weird… I wonder what they did all day." Sprig said.

Earlier that day, with Luz and Amity

Luz and Amity were enjoying their day out. They went to the mall, a trip that Amity really enjoyed, especially considering the last time that she was there. They also went to the arcade, and the park.

Eventually, they were walking around, and wondering where they should go to get something to eat.

"I don't know, nothing is really sticking out to me right now…" Amity said as she looked at a couple of restaurants on Luz's phone.

"Hmmm… hey what about this place? It's close, and it's highly rated!" Luz said, pointing at a Thai restaurant.

"Thai huh? Sounds interesting." Amity said.

"What do you say?" Luz asked.

"I think it seems good! Let's go!" Amity said as the two began walking in that direction.

Eventually, they arrived.

"Here we are! Thai Go!" Luz said.

They were about to walk in when a man walked out with a few boxes, almost bumping into them.

"Whoops! Sorry kids!" The man said.

"Careful Ned! I know that you're excited to help, but please don't run over the customers!" A familiar voice said from inside.

"Wait…" Luz said, looking inside. "Mr. Boonchuy?"

"Oh! Hello Luz! Amity!" Mr. Boonchuy said with a wave. "How's your day out going?"

"Going great! We were thinking about getting something to eat here!" Luz explained. "Uh… what are you doing here?"

"Me? This is our family's restaurant!" Mr. Boonchuy revealed.

"Wait, really?" Amity asked. "That… is a nice coincidence."

"Here, come inside and I'll throw something together for you two. On the house!" Mr. Boonchuy said as the two came inside.

"Thanks a bunch!" Luz said as they sat down.

The two then engaged in small talk until the food came out.

"Thanks Mr. B!" Luz said.

And with that, they were alone.

"… Luz…" Amity said, something clearly bothering her.

"Hm? Something wrong?" Luz asked.

"… It's just that… you know I love you, right?" Amity asked.

"Of course I know!" Luz said. "I love you too!"

"Right… but…" Amity said. "I just… why won't you tell me the truth?"

"Huh? The truth about what?" Luz asked.

"… The Day of Unity."

Luz, who was about to put some more food in her mouth, stopped.

"Amity…"

"Luz… what happened that day… what happened to YOU… that was the scariest thing I ever saw…" Amity said, tears starting to form. "I… I'm worried that something is happening to you and… and I am scared that I can't stop it…"

"Hey hey, look at me." Luz said. "It's true, I… haven't told you everything about what happened that day. I haven't even told you how… that… happened…"

"Right… I tried asking Eda, since she was the only one with you when you fought him… but…"

"I told her to not tell anyone." Luz said. "I just… I did something crazy… and it scares me… it… it put some things in my head that I didn't like and… and the pain I felt…"

"Luz…"

"I just… between that and everything else… I need to come to terms with it all myself first before I can talk about it." Luz said. "When I am ready though, you'll be the first one I talk to."

Amity stayed silent at this for a moment before sighing.

"Alright… fine." Amity said. "Just know… I am here for you."

Luz smiled at this.

"That's all I could ever hope for…" Luz said with a smile.

Amity then leaned over and gave Luz a kiss.

At that moment though, the restaurant's phone rang.

Mr. Boonchuy answered the phone, and worry quickly found it's way to his face.

"Hello? Sprig? Something wrong?" Mr. Boonchuy asked.

"Uhhhh… Oh, you lost her… ok, just go to the nearest Shawarma restaurant, it's her favorite! I'll be there soon to help look!" Mr. Boonchuy said before hanging up.

"Uh… everything alright?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, the Plantars just lost track of Domino. Don't worry though, I'll zoom over and help find her, then I'll be right back!" Mr. Boonchuy said. "You two think you can keep an eye on things while I'm gone?"

"Not a problem Mr. B!" Luz said with a smile.

"Great! Be right back!"

And with that, he was gone.

"… Maybe we should of helped them…" Luz said.

"Yeah…"

End of Chapter 4

I really wanted to write a short story that was basically all about the non-talking animal companions, and Domino's trip to the vet seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Also, there is a bit of mystery around The Day of Unity! If you read my previous stories for The Owl House, you'd notice that I never actually wrote out The Day of Unity in this universe. This is the first time I am actually giving a bit of a tease about it! Not going to spoil anything, but what happened on that day in this universe WILL be brought up again.

Now for an announcement: I am starting two new stories based in this universe! … Actually, two collections of stories. A review from chapter 3 gave me an idea. I occasionally get ideas for events that take place in the universe of this story, but it doesn't really add too much to the story, so I decide to exclude it. Either that or I didn't think about it at the time the story was being planned or released. So, I decided that I am going to write these events, and put them all together in a collection of One Shots! I am going to have one taking place during One Small Change, and one taking place during this story. These will be on a more random update schedule, only updating when I finish chapters.

So, I hope you enjoyed! See you next time, where things start to get a little nutty with the changes.