A/N: For those of you who have reviewed, thank you. You have made me feel much loved. Cookies for all!
Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are copyrighted to Dreamworks Pictures, Michael Fry and T. Lewis, and not me. I own this plot, and the characters of Xylia, Tristan, Sadie, Doyle, Amity, Cyril, Dorian, Val, Reginald, Morgan, and various other invented characters. I am making no profit off of this operation. It's just my way of dealing with overactive plot bunnies.
Chapter Two- Road Trip
The plan moved at a slower pace than RJ would have preferred. For reasons unknown to him, no one was really ready to leave the area for vacation. Signs had already been posted in their woodland, advertising what would soon be more acres of housing development which did not improve anyone's anxieties that there would-be doomed was being broadcasted to them everytime they turned around. What made matters worse was that tomorrow was the last day before everything they knew and loved vanished.
"You'd think if someone was going to begin construction work so close to their homes, they'd want to leave," RJ growled, pacing back and forth in front of the log where Verne was currently resting, having given up on his detailed process of food gathering since it was pointless now.
"What are we going to do if we can't find a family to transport us to this paradise of yours?" The turtle asked, just as annoyed as RJ, although for a completely different reason- RJ was apparently impossible to deal with when his best-laid plans didn't go as planned.
"I don't know," RJ replied, his voice coming out in a slight whine. He cast a baleful look at the nearest sign, waltzed over to it, and the kicked it as hard as he could. This, however, proved to be a bad idea and merely caused him to fall backwards with a yelp, clutching his smarting foot. Verne smacked his forehead. "We're doomed."
A grayish-white ball of fur suddenly burst through the hedge and skidded to a stop in front of the log. It didn't take long for both Verne and RJ to assess that it was Tiger back from prowling the streets, trying to stake out a family on their way out the door and "paradise"-bound. The Persian cat stood at attention and saluted stiffly causing the turtle and the raccoon to roll their eyes at the sight. Old habits died hard, apparently, and Tiger had never quite eased out of the militarial persona he had established for himself while he lived as Gladys's pet cat.
"I have news to report," the thickly-accented Persian said.
"At ease, soldier," RJ replied, standing up and moving towards the cat, who relaxed a little. "What'd you find out?"
"The Johnson family is heading to Silver Springs tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn."
"The Johnson's," RJ tapped his chin. "Three houses down from the Morris family. The one with the overabundance of lawn gnomes in the front lawn and the biggest pool in the neighborhood."
"That is an amazing deduction, RJ," Tiger replied, deeply impressed. "That is the exact description of the Johnson house."
"Of course it is, Tiger, my boy," RJ grinned, patting the large cat on the back. "Verne, rally the troops. Tell 'em we set out at dawn tomorrow
It had been a long time since he had dreamt like this...
He knew it was a dream. It was just one of those things you were aware of cognizantly, but you pushed into the back of your mind and accepted it as it was. You want to accept it as a reality, but your head is screaming its logic and trying to sway what your heart is oh-so willing to declare true. Your head always wins in the end, for to embrace this warmth, this fantasy was to embrace an eternal solitude that one would regret embracing when it was too late. So you let this dream run its course, knowing nothing in it is real, but falling in love with the world it brings you to anyway.
He didn't have enough dreams like this.
It was always the same dream. There was a meadow that couldn't possibly exist anywhere in nature being as perfect as it was with its grass just the right length and the flowers giving off a delightful aroma that scented the air in such a way that inhaling it too deeply could make one sleepy and lethargic. If it did, there were nothing to worry about. You could sleep in a bed of flowers and never worry about anything trying to kill you.
He wandered this meadow, looking around for someone he knew was there. Confusion lined his brow. When he'd had this dream before, she was always waiting for him here. Where was she?
"RJ?"
That voice. That sweet, warm, inviting voice. He whirled around to see her behind him- an older, much bigger she-raccoon with the most gentle blue eyes anyone could ever hope to look upon. He stood transfixed, staring at her, a smile breaking out on his face. "Mom!" He suddenly shouted and rushed into her warm embrace, buring his face in the thick white fur of her chest. She held him tightly, stroking the back of his head as only a mother would, nuzzling him sweetly.
"RJ!" Squeaks of joy broke up the happy mother-son reunion as three younger she-raccoon kits broke in, jumping on top of RJ and tearing him away from his beloved mother. He didn't mind, however. He laughed and tumbled with the three small kits- his sisters.
"Rebecca," RJ said, picking one up and spinning her about. He snatched another one up and repeated the twirl with both of them. "Rhonda." He toppled backwards as he was suddenly tackled by the last of the three, who giggled as she perched on his chest. "Rachel," he said, grinning. She giggled more, covering her mouth with her tiny paws.
"Girls, get off your brother," a male voice that was gruff, yet gentle spoke. The girls squealed in delight and ran in the direction of the voice. RJ craned his neck around and saw his father now standing beside his mother, one of his arms around her neck. The girls settled down near him, suddenly very calm. They all looked at him, their faces warm and inviting like a beautiful family portrait. The only one missing was him...
"Come on, RJ!" Rachel said, waving.
"Yeah, come on!" Little Rhonda agreed.
"Join the family, RJ," his mother called.
He stood, taking a tentative step forward. His family beckoned him forward.
His family...
He stopped, reality roughly hitting him in the face as it had never done before. This was merely an illusion. His family was gone... All of them. His mother, his father... Even the little ones. Images pulsated in front of him, superimposed over the image of the five of them together, still calling out to him. Horrible images that he had locked away long ago. Why did they come now? Why did they have to ruin his dream? Why couldn't those vicious memories leave well enough alone and just allow his dreams to be perfect and sweet as they once were?
Was he imagining it or was the sky suddenly darker? He fell to his knees, trying hard to force the images away, but they barraged him, forcing him to see each one fly by in his head. Gunshots... Humans yelling... His mother screaming... Dogs barking... His father's growls as he fought off the dogs... Those horrible shrieks of pain... Him running away with the girls... Rachel's pitiful screams... The blood- so much blood!... The noises... Too much noise... The stench... Death... Yes, that was what death smelt like... Too young to understand it at the time... Oh, that noise! ...Rough hands... Human hands... Grabbing him... Cages... Food from a tin bowl... Wire mesh on all sides... Trapped... Helpless... Alone... And the noise wouldn't stop! That horrible, insufferable, noise!
He awoke with a start, wanting to scream but realizing that he had been holding his breath in his sleep and needed desperately to expel the air. He panted, the horrible noises still ringing in his ears, and that's when the realization hit him.
The noise wasn't just in his dream.
His family- his new family- had awoken with a start to the noise too and didn't pay any heed to how frightened RJ looked. He was still overpowered by those horrendous images in his dream, made all the more horrendous by the fact that they were the only real thing about any of it.
"What is that?" Heather yelled over the din, clutching her ears. Ozzie looked around madly, searching for a source and finding none. In response to that, he promptly grabbed his chest and keeled over. "Dad! Now is not the time!"
"This is the perfect time, Heather!" Ozzie replied, grabbing his daughter by the arm and pulling her down beside of him. "Now play dead."
"I think she had a point, Ozzie," Verne yelled. He whirled on RJ. "What is that?"
RJ shook away the last painful remmants of his dream and became instantly focused. His ears disntiguished the sound as being something like the noise produced by a...
"Oh no..." He breathed. He wanted to swear, but there were impressionable children present, so he held back the urge with the willpower of a saint. "It's a chainsaw!"
"A what?" Everyone yelled.
RJ moved his hands around, trying to formulate an adequate description. "It's this thing that..." A tree suddenly fell down directly behind him, inches away from his tail. His fur suddenly stood on end and there was a sudden involuntary gasp from everyone. "...Does that!" He added, his voice catching in his throat. He turned his head to see a human in a mask holding the aforementioned chainsaw moving towards another nearby tree, not paying attention to the cul de sac and it's stolen goods nor the animals within it, too wrapped up in his own world. RJ calculated the path of the tree the human was working on and realized with a horrible sense of doom that the particular tree in question would be crushing them in a matter of seconds, judging by the efficiency of the machine.
"Run!" He quickly shouted. His family didn't need to be told twice. "Head for the hedge!" He called to their retreating backs. He stood still for a moment, his blue eyes searching for his one prized possession- there! He thrust himself upon his golf bag and began to fill it with anything he could get his paws on that would fit inside of it (and he had an uncanny way of making this fit in that bag), knowing that any second now that tree would fall right on top of him and their little home would be nothing but a pile of twisting, gnarled branches. He grabbed one last item and shoved it inside just in time to hear a painful crack. He spared a glance upward and froze as he saw the tree bearing down on him. His muscles froze inside of him and he realized that this was probably going to be the end for him. At the last moment, he looked away just as he felt something jerk his arm painfully and felt the ground vibrate underneath the weight of the fallen tree. He thought for certain that he was dead and it had just be an incredibly painless experience. Finally, he opened his eyes only to find himself staring at the branches of the tree that had just been about to crush him. He clucthed his chest, burying his claws in his fur and felt his heart beating- a little faster than normal, but still beating. His golf bag was right beside of him, still clutched in one of his paws. He turned to one side and saw Hammy, looking rather proud despite his silly expression.
"You saved me," RJ blinked, a little stunned.
"'Course I did!" Hammy said excitedly. "It's what families do! We look out for each other and stuff!" He grabbed RJ by the paw and began to lead him off. "Now come on!"
RJ rolled his eyes a little as he allowed himself to be lead. Apparently there were a lot more perks to this whole family business than he realized. He'd been so long without one, he'd almost forgotten.
"Everyone okay?" RJ asked, once he and Hammy came through the hedge into what once was Gladys's backyard, but was now simply a concrete foundation that had yet to have a new house built upon it. (It was definitely an improvement over the smoking crater that had been there, though.) The sounds of the chainsaws could still be heard and the residents of El Rancho Camelot were starting to emerge from their houses, vehemently protesting the racket.
"What just happened, RJ?" Verne said, still a little bit shook up.
"I'm not sure," RJ replied, casting a look behind him at the hedge. "They weren't supposed to start development until Friday, and humans are never on time for anything! I never expected them to be early..."
"Well, the point is we all got out safely," Penny said, hoping to stop a possible disagreement between the two as she consoled her fearfully shaking children.
"And it's about dawn anyway, there," Lou said, agreeing with his wife.
"Well, we couldn't have chosen a better time to leave," Stella said, although her tone of voice betrayed her feelings. The entire family, aside from RJ who hadn't lived there as long, stood in mourning for the last scrap of what they had called home. It was almost like losing a loved one. RJ could sympathize with them. He had lost both his home and his loved ones all at one time, and he had never truly recovered from it. He sighed, forcing his mask, so to speak, back into place so that no one would see his weakness. He needed to be the strong one for all of them. He had to be the one to lead them to their new home. He pulled the brochere out of his bag, now slightly crumpled, and smoothed it out. He looked to the stars, begging whoever ran things up there to get them to their new home safely and make it the paradise that it needed to be.
They camped out in the Johnson family's backyard with RJ staying up to keep an eye on the SUV, waiting for the right moment when loading would commence and they'd have an easy opening to sneak into the trunk, where they would have a nice comfortable ride to Silver Springs. He was discouraged a little by the chainsaw incident, which had proven to be nearly deadly for everyone involved. The horrible noise was still ringing his ear and it wasn't just a memory- those crazy humans were still at it, though the Johnson family lived within a reasonable distance from their old home, and therefore didn't have to put up with as much as the people who lived right on top of it. His keen ears could still pick up the sound of people still protesting the loud noises at this ungodly hour of the morning and yelling clever obscenities. This was somehow a small comfort. The affairs of humans had always amused him for some reason even though he had every reason in the world to be frightened of them.
Or did he?
The human being was a complex creature, which RJ had discovered long ago. How could one species be able to provide so much simple amusement by being so completely farsical and then turn on a dime and become the worst predator any animal could ever imagine? How could they be such idiots and yet still be smart enough to know half a dozen ways to take an animal's life? How can they kill so many and then turn around and save even more? All these questions baffled him, and he figured he'd never know the real answer. All he could do was avoid the humans he considered to be a danger to him and amuse himself with the rest of the species.
He heard the door slam shut and instantly all thoughts vanished but the ones purely associated with his plan. Mr. Johnson had just exited the house, carrying several bags. His SUV had already been backed out of the garage the night before in preperation and now RJ watched as he opened the trunk and tossed the bags inside before returning to the house for more.
"Okay, guys!" The raccoon turned to his family, who stirred reluctantly in their slumber, not quite ready to be woken up again. "Let's move!"
Only Hammy hit the dirt with unrivaled speed for someone who had gotten so little sleep in the night. RJ caught him by the tail before he lunged for the SUV. "Hold on there, Hamstring. Wait just a second." He gestured to the others who were a little slower in lumbering towards RJ. "Not everyone is naturally caffienated."
"Imagine what a world that would be!" Hammy laughed in a mildly eccentric manner. "We'd all be like-" He broke off his own sentence by demonstrating the fact, as he attempted to zip about in several different directions, although he was still hindered by RJ's firm grip on his tail. The raccoon had to hold onto the rain gutter to keep the overzealous squirrel from dragging him along with him.
"I admire your enthusiasm, Hammy, but now's not the best time," RJ said, though good-naturedly. He looked to the rest of the gang and winked. "Okay, let's roll."
They all took off towards the SUV, scrambling to climb inside of the open trunk and helping out those who weren't suited for that sort of climbing. They nestled themselves into a small alcove, coviently hidden by the bags, although it was a tad bit crowded and a little bit uncomfortable with the abundance of porcupine quills in the general area, but everyone made do until Mr. Johnson put the last bag in place and shut the door, enabling them to spread out a little bit.
"Can we go back to sleep now?" Heather asked, yawning.
"Yeah," Ozzie agreed. "Some of us need our beauty sleep, you know."
"Go ahead," RJ said, waving a paw. "I'll keep an eye out on where we're going. He staked himself out a spot where he could peek out out the back window every now and then and still avoid being seen, and settled in, watching his family once again fall off to sleep. He turned his attentions to the window, but before he could even settle into his own thoughts, he felt something touch both his shoulders.
"You know, I'm not really that tired," Verne said.
"Me either," Hammy agreed with one of his trademark stupid grins on his face.
"No sense in you having to sit up alone," the turtle smiled. RJ returned the grin.
"Thanks," he replied.
The Johnsons arrived and piled into the car with their bags, unaware of the stowaways they had with them. The car moved seamlessly out of the driveway and eventually out of El Rancho Camelot. Verne cast one baleful look out the window as the last tree in what was once their home fell to the ground, leaving nothing but a field of destroyed foliage. He settled back down beside RJ, unable to hide his feelings of distress, but he was immediatly comforted by RJ's paw on his shell. To take their mind off of the depressing thoughts that churned within each of their minds, they turned their attention to Hammy who had found a handheld video game in one of the bags and was playing it with the manic energy of a six-year-old with a sugar high- typical Hammy. A few moments later, however, he stopped abruptly, an odd look on his face.
"Uh, guys, I really have to pee..."
Ruby was awoken to the sounds of someone yelling a name. She groaned and rolled over onto the soft bird feathers that lined her and Velma's hole and tried to go back to sleep, but the yelling was getting louder and suddenly she could discern the name being called.
"Harold!"
She jolted awake, her sapphire eyes shifting back and forth. She grasped her chest, reassuring herself once again that they had no clue that she was with Harold last night. She was careful when she did her job. She was always careful.
"Morning, Sunshine!" Velma grinned, poking her head in the hole. "Feeling better?"
Ruby wasn't entirely certain what that meant until she remembered the nightmare she'd had the night before. "Yeah, I'm fine, Velma." The female turtle backed up, allowing her to climb out of the hole and into the morning sunlight that streamed through the canopy. She shielded her eyes against the light and saw Sara the hedgehog, Harold's wife, wandering aimlessly about their small "village" calling Harold's name. Ruby's heart fell, but she tried not to show it.
"What's going on?"
"Harold's missing," Velma replied, matter-of-factly.
"Well, you're awfully calm," Ruby said, a little bit indignantly.
"Someone has to be," the turtle sighed. "It's probably just like the rest of them, and if I freaked out about it, everyone would."
That was the truth. Velma was practically a mother to everyone in their little community. They all looked to her for advice and probably respected her more than they did the queen, herself, although they'd never let it be known to the general public. Their whole society would probably crumble if something should happen to her, and luckily nothing probably would. The queen and her wolves had no taste for reptiles.
"Sara," Velma yelled to the female hedgehog, whose calls were growing more frantic by the minute. She apruptly stopped, turning to Velma.
"Oh, Velma, this is just awful! Harold's gone missing."
"I know, I know, sweetheart," Velma replied, gently patting Sara's paw. Ruby couldn't help but grin at how condescending she sounded. The little female turtle may have been matronly, but she had a very "that's the way the cookie crumbles" sort of outlook on life, and since she had never really known the pain of the loss of someone really close to her, she never could understand how worked up everyone got about death and... Well, the vanishings. (Which, of course, were technically deaths.) She had a very "suck it up, sister, and get over it" attitude, but the only person who'd ever seen it was Ruby. She recalled how hysterical she was after Aiden's death and how her reptilian friend beat her over the head (quite literally) with the logic that "she was still alive and as long as she's still alive, Aiden lives on within her." Normally, that's a thoroughly cheesy thing to say, but when someone's beating you with a switch, you start to believe in it for what it's actually saying. Velma would have never been so blunt with anyone else. It was a sure sign of their friendship that only Ruby saw the real her.
And yet Ruby wouldn't ever allow Velma see the real her.
She had thought about telling her friend the truth. Velma could keep secrets and she'd probably understand her reasons for doing the queen's bidding, but everytime she tried to gather up the courage to speak, she always lost her nerve. She was too frightened of losing the one true and honest friend she had in this place. It was just a risk she couldn't take.
Ruby suddenly became aware that a good deal of their community had gathered around, probably having heard Sara's cries. Among them was Reginald, a stiff and somewhat snooty rabbit who lived underneath a nearby rose bush; Val, a busybody skunk; Sara and Harold's three young sons- Prickle, Bristle, and Thorn; and Sadie the widowed opossum in denial, along with her teenaged son, Doyle.
"What's going on, Velma?" Val spoke up, speaking in her slightly annoying nasally drawl.
"Harold's missing," Velma replied just as Sara burst into tears and began to cry on her shell. There was an audible gasp in the crowd as they all began to whisper among themselves. Finally, Reginald spoke up.
"I believe this is a conspiracy!" He shouted, his mottled brown fur bristling. "We've been having members of this community vanish without a trace at an alarming rate. It's not just the well-known members of our society either like Harold, or Bert, or even Aiden." Ruby winced and looked away and the mention of her dead beloved's name, which didn't go unnoticed by Velma as she continued to comfort a now-hysterical Sara. Her confused children looked on, presided over by a very compassionate Doyle who tried to keep their minds off the situation by entertaining them as best he could. "No, it's not just them," Reginald continued. "It's some of the ones who went pretty much unknown to us as well, and they go unmourned to this day."
"Such as?" Someone piped up.
Reginald paused in his dramatics for a moment. "...Randy."
"Randy?"
"Randy.. Or maybe it was Randall... Oh you know... That one-eyed field mouse?"
"His name was Ralph, and he died of old age, Reg'," Val said, rolling her eyes. "He's buried about five feet from your rose bush."
"And we all knew Ralph," Sadie proffered. "He was a nice guy."
Reginald flustered a little and cleared his throat. "Well, what about Samson?"
"I'm still here," a belligerent voice belonging to a rather old mole said.
Reginald sputtered. "Then don't spend so much time underground, you ninny! Come to a community meeting every now and then so we can make sure you're still here!"
The old mole shrugged and then vanished into his hole again, allowing the rabbit to continue. He paced the ground for a moment and then finally threw his paws in the air, realizng that his sense of dramatic undertaking had been seriously undermined and there was way no way he was going to recover it. "Well...There are some of us missing whom we were robbed of the chance to know due to whatever it is that causes this 'vanishing'. I was never even able to meet them and that is the only reason why I can't remember them now."
"Oh, whatever," Val scoffed. "You couldn't tell me the names of half the animals in this circle, you're so far stuck up your own cotton tail."
The rabbit sputtered again. "That's a very unfair observation, Victoria."
"It's Valerie, bunny-boy," Val snot back.
"My mistake... I-I merely mistook you for your twin sister."
"My twin sister's name is Vivian, and she's gone."
"Ha! Another victim of the vanishing!" Reginald waved a paw in the air triumphantly.
"Oh please, Reg', Vivian died of natural causes years ago," Val muttered.
"I actually think he spoke at her funeral," a groundhog named Cliff added.
"No, that was Harold," another mole said.
"Harold!" Sara wailed.
Sadie approached the inconsolable female hedgehog and patted her as best she could given her sharp spines. "There, there, now Sara. How about you come over to my hole and we'll have a nice, quiet chat."
"Actually, Sadie," Velma cut in gently. "I think I can handle Sara, but Ruby," she jerked her head in the she-raccoon's direction, "she's been having nightmares about Aiden again, and I think she could use some feminine support."
"Ohhhh," Sadie breathed, her eyes alight with sympathy. "The poor dear."
Velma jerked her head in Ruby's direction again, and the female opossum headed towards her. Ruby wasn't paying attention, however, so she was genuinely surprised when Sadie gently took her paw.
"Come on. You can have some breakfast at my place and we can talk."
"Really, Sadie, I'm okay."
"Tut-tut," the opossum replied wagging a finger. "Come with me, dear." Seeing no other choice, Ruby allowed herself to be lead away towards Sadie's home inside of a slightly bigger tree which she shared with her son, who was apparently otherwise occupied with Prickle, Bristle, and Thorn, and wouldn't be joining the two females.
The interior of Sadie's home was cozy and comfortable with spaces hollowed out for food storage so that it didn't interfere with her family's bedding area and was easy to get to during hibernation. Not that there was really ever all that much food, but somehow they survived with what little Tristan and the wolves brought. Sadie pulled something wrapped in a leaf down from one of her little "cubby holes" and offered it up to Ruby. Gingerly, Ruby pulled back the leaf to reveal three small cookies, apparently stolen during one of Tristan's campground heists weeks ago.
"I've been saving them up for a special occasion," Sadie smiled. "I was saving one for Bert, but I doubt he'll mind if you take it." She waved the cookie-filled leaf at Ruby. "So go on, take one."
Ruby felt awkward in this situation. She wanted to scream at Sadie not to offer up to her the cookie she was saving for a husband who would never return because she lead him to his doom. She wanted to run away and hide somewhere and just die so that she could leave this world and the horrible things she had to do in it behind. But she knew she couldn't do that. If death came so easy for her she would never have sworn to do the queen's bidding years ago, and she would have died by her hands then and there, and never would have lived to do the horrible things she'd wound up doing.
She pushed the cookie away. "Keep it, please," she said softly, knowing how rude it was to refuse such a precious gift. Food was so scarce for them that for someone to offer up something they had saved to a friend was a great honor, and refusing it, a huge insult. Sadie, however, took no offense. She folded the cookies back into the leaf and set it gently back into its hiding place. She then took Ruby's paws in hers and looked deep into her eyes with that fearfully sympathetic look that said, "I know what you're going through." And Ruby had to fight the urge that rose like bile in her throat to scream, "No, you don't." This wasn't simply a poor she-raccoon mourning a lost love. This was a poor she-raccoon paying for her sins every second of her life, especially whenever she had to look into the eyes of those left behind after she'd delivered someone they loved to the queen.
They didn't see a selfish killer in her eyes. They only saw the loss. The loss of Aiden. The loss of her family.
The loss of her innocence.
They saw a soul within her, and she believed that part of her died a long time ago.
She couldn't take this any longer. She couldn't be here in this family home, holding onto Sadie's hand. She couldn't listen to this widow-in-denial go on and on about how her beloved was going to come home one day, with Aiden at his side, and all those other silly delusions that came into the she-opossum's little head. Ruby pulled her paws away from Sadie and vanished out of the hole without another word.
After that, she just ran as fast and as far as she could go, hoping and praying that no one followed her.
"Are we there yet?"
"For the five hundreth time, Hammy, no..."
There was a long moment of silence, instantly shattered by Hammy piping up again.
"Are we there yet."
"Hammy!" RJ growled, rapidly starting to lose patience. He took a moment to regain his composure lest he finally snap and pummel the little squirrel about the head with his golf bag, which he desperately didn't want to have to resort to. "It is a well known fact that the more someone asks that question, the longer it takes to get to the destination."
Hammy's eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Yes, really," RJ replied, nodding sarcastically.
Hammy took a moment to process this. "So does that mean..."
"That if you hadn't been asking us 'are we there yet' every four seconds, we could have been there by now? Exactly."
Hammy slumped the floor, looking mildly puzzled. "Wow..."
The cabin fever was starting to take its toll on the moods of the family and only Hammy seemed to be retaining his good spirits, but in his defense, it did take quite a lot to bring him down to a disagreeable level. Everyone else was huddled together, sharing stories and trying to avoid the subject of how absolutely miserible they all were. RJ had obliged to sit the story hour out upon realizing that they were simply reminising about the past, and he knew if he sat and listened, he'd be obligated to tell his own life story, seeing as none of them really had a clue where he'd come from and were probably thoroughly curious. It was a subject that he dared not be obligated to have to bring up, so he was better off on the outside looking in when it came to their little story hour. Hammy, much to RJ's chagrin now, had agreed to stay with the raccoon and keep him company during this time.
In the backseat of the SUV, sounds of a struggle could be heard, taking RJ away from the issues at hand. The two Johnson children- a sixteen-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl- seemed to be having some sort of dispute, providing a nice, meaningless distraction for the raccoon. The affairs of the ingnorant majority of humanity never ceased to amuse him.
"Mom! Taylor's touching me!" The girl shrieked.
"I am not. You're on my side, shorty!"
"I'm not short!"
"OW! Mom! Did you see that? Catherine just hit me!"
"Wuss!"
"Shut up!"
"Kids! Enough! Don't make your father turn this car around."
Hammy tapped RJ's shoulder, cocking his head in confusion. "What's all that about, huh?"
"That, my dear Hamilton, is how human siblings show affection."
"Ohhhhh," Hammy breathed, as if realizing some sort of epiphany. "Humans are weird."
"That they are," RJ agreed.
There was a chorus of giggles from the huddle on the far side of the trunk and RJ and Hammy looked that way to see Ozzie was starting to engage in telling a story in such a highly theatrical way, it would give Shakespeare pause.
"Oooh!" Hammy squealed, bouncing, just as Ozzie began the introduction to his tale. "I know this story! It's my favorite!" He raced over to the circle and squeezed in between Heather and Stella. RJ discreetly drew closer so that he could hear and see better, but still remained outside of the circle. It became apparent that, behind all the cheap theatrics which seemed to actually work for this story, Ozzie was a very gifted storyteller and everyone hung on his every word even though it was obvious that they'd heard this story many times before.
"It was one of those spring days where everything is in bloom and the air is so thick with the aroma of new floral life that you can't smell anything else. Naturally, as I was wandering through the forest, taking in this spectacular day, I wouldn't have been able to smell another animal if they were right on top of me. That's how I met Iris. We ran into each other- quite literally- on the path and we were both so startled that we instantly just dropped dead. We were like that for a few moments, both still and silent, until finally- at the exact same time- we sat up and our eyes met. It was like a bolt of lightning had sparked between us in that one instant. It was destiny!"
"That's so romantic," Stella breathed, resting her head on Tiger's shoulder.
"And then you got married and had me," Heather added, her eyes vacant and dreamy. Ozzie touched her shoulder gently.
"Yes," he smiled. "It was one of the happiest days of my life... Our life. Iris always said that you and I were the best things that ever happened to her." There was a moment of mournful silence, and RJ realized that Ozzie must have lost his wife at some point in his life, seeing as she was no longer with the group. It seemed so strange to him that he could talk about her memory so casually as if she wasn't really gone. He'd never be able to do that. It caused him pain to even think about his family, much less talk about them. He feared the day when someone would get wise and finally ask him, because he wasn't sure what he would do in that situation. Risk the pain and tell all or just brush the question off and speak no more of it? If only it were so easy...
He owed them the truth about his past. It wasn't like it was anything that made him out to be any worse an animal than anyone was already aware of him being. If anything, it might give reasons for his past actions. Still, he had never discussed it with anyone. Then again, he'd never allowed anyone to become close enough to him to discuss it with.
Hammy suddenly burst into hysterical tears, once again freeing RJ from his internal solitude, much to his immediate relief. "That's so beautiful," he sobbed in such a manner that it was actually comical to watch. It lightened the mood again in an instant, making the atmosphere much more agreeable.
The SUV made a hard turn that caused the animals to lose their balance briefly and by the time they finally regained it again, the vehicle had stopped. RJ risked a look out the back window and saw a sign not far away advertising that they were mere miles from the Silver Springs campground and were apparently at some sort of checking station.
"Okay, guys, now would be the opportune moment to make our getaway," the raccoon spoke up.
The Johnson kids suddenly opened their doors and burst outside in a flurry of manic energy. Their mother harriedly called after them, "Don't wander too far. You're dad'll be back in a minute." The kids, however, paid her no heed and ran about the parking lot like hooligans, leaving their doors wide open.
"I love kids, they always make this so much easier on me," RJ smirked, flattening himself to the ground so that he could crawl underneath the back seat in order to get to the open doors, dragging his bag with him carefully. The rest of his family got the picture and followed him. Moments later, they had reconvened underneath the SUV, and not a human in the area was the wiser.
"Now which way, RJ? Huh? Huh? Which way?" Hammy zipped excitedly around underneath the car. They had been cooped up inside that vehicle for so long that no one could blame him for being so excited about being free.
RJ poked his head out from underneath the car, scanning the area and finding exactly what he was looking for- a wooded area that lay, unfotunately, across a highway. Luckily, it wasn't a particularly busy one as far as he could see, so he hoped luck would hold out and it wouldn't be all that dangerous for them to cross, even though he'd learned from experience that darkness and highways don't always mesh well for animals on a mission, but he had to keep hoping for the best.
"Follow me," he said, gesturing for his family to follow him. Without question, they obeyed, all of them assuming blindly (with the exception of Verne, who was always a little bit skeptical) that RJ knew what he was doing. Their mad dash lead to them to the edge of a long stretch of highway and beyond that was a forest blocked off by only a guardrail.
"Guys," RJ said, facing his merry team, "there is now nothing but ten feet of asphalt and several feet of steel seperating us from our new home."
"Whoo-hoo!" Hammy cheered and attempted to run across the road, but once again RJ grabbed him by the tail before he could complete his lunge.
"Hold it," the raccoon said. "Excellent energy as usual, Hammy, but there's something you need to know about that thing you're about to run across." He addressed everyone else as well as the hyperactive squirrel at this point. "This is called a highway. Alone it is perfectly safe, but teamed with a human car it is one of the most deadly devices ever created by humanity. You see, in Suburbia cars move at a slower pace and you can easily avoid them if you're careful. But at night, those same cars become violent, speeding, predators on the highway." RJ pulled his golf club out of his bag to further emphasize the point he was trying to make. "Unlike us, human beings can't see in the dark so when they're out riding in their cars at night, they have to rely on devices on said cars called headlights. Here lies the danger. These headlights have hypnotic properties and if you're crossing the road when one of those babies hits your line of sight, you aren't going anywhere, and if you're not careful... Well..." He slammed his golf club hard on the ground, causing everyone watching to flinch. "I'll let you fill in the gory details. The best thing to do if this happens is drop down and keep out of the way of the tires, and you'll remain in one piece. Any questions?"
"So... How likely are we to run into these headlights?" Verne asked.
RJ shrugged nonchalantly. "Slim to none."
At that moment, a car sped by, whipping RJ's fur in the breeze and nearly causing him to topple over sideways. There was a collective gasp from the rest of the group. "That was the slim part," he said reassuringly, though no one was very convinced. "We'll all go one at a time so there's less of a chance of any of us dying out there, okay?" Apparently everyone was still a little stunned, so the raccoon went on. "Okay... Uh, Hammy will go-"
The squirrel suddenly zipped past him and a second later, his voice called out from across the road. "Made it!"
"Ooookay," RJ said. "Nice work, Hammy. Who's next?"
There was a quick exchange of looks and Lou stepped up. Penny grabbed his paw nervously. "Lou..."
"Someone's gotta go there, Pen," Lou said, gently patting the paw that clutched his.
"Be careful now," Penny said, anxiety showing in her eyes.
"You couldn't have been any less violent in your description of the danger that now surrounds us, could you?" Verne asked RJ as Lou scampered across the road nervously, arriving moments later on the other side along with Hammy. Penny and the kids went across next.
"They need to know," RJ replied, watching as the female porcupine and her children reunited with her husband on the other side. "I could have been much more violent in describing it than that, though. You wouldn't believe the things I've seen splattered-"
"Okay," Verne said, paling. "I really don't need to know."
"Of course you don't," RJ chuckled, patting Verne on the shell. He turned to the remainder of the group. "Who wants to go next?"
Tiger took Stella's paws in his. "I shall go, my love, but know this! If I die out there, remember me for my love and passion and not for my unspeakably good looks... Although, if it's not too much to ask, please do remember me for that too."
Stella rolled her brown eyes and started to tug Tiger in the general direction of the road. "Come on, lover boy, we'll go together."
RJ breathed a deep sigh of relief. Thankfully, this particular stretch of highway was just as dead as he had hoped at this hour of night. "So far so good," he breathed. "Ozzie, Heather, you're both up."
"Go on ahead, Heather," Ozzie said gently, giving his daughter a small push. "Remember..."
"I know, Dad," she smiled weakly. "If there's danger, play dead."
"That's my girl," Ozzie beamed and gave her another push. She looked around tentatively and then rushed across as fast as she could, stumbling slightly and landing in Stella's arms. Ozzie stepped up closer to the side of the road and started to stretch in a highly over-dramatic fashion, which was common for him to do in such a predicament. He shook his paws and loosened up before calling out to his daughter.
"Good job, Heather," he yelled. "Nothing to worry about at all."
Verne turned to RJ, and muttered under his breath, "So far."
"You have to trust me, Verne," his raccoon friend shrugged.
"I trust you," the turtle replied. "I just don't trust this situation."
"What do you mean?" RJ asked, consciously aware that Ozzie was about to make his way across the road.
"Something doesn't feel right."
"Your tail tingling again?" There was a hint of sarcasm in the small raccoon's voice, but Verne didn't catch it.
"Yes, actually..."
RJ opened his mouth to reply to that but the next sequence of events prevented him from speaking. It happened so quickly that the raccoon wasn't entirely certain what had really transpired. All he could say was that Heather's scream tore him away from his conversation just in time for him to whirl around and see a pair of headlights boring down on Ozzie, who, just as RJ had predicted, had frozen in terror. The car was bearing down on him at breakneck speed, but it felt like everything was in slow motion. At the last moment, Ozzie fell backwards and the car passed over him, moving onward on its path to whatever destination it was going, uncaring about the life it may have taken in the process.
A hush fell over the group and RJ and Verne rushed onto the road, not caring about the danger as they were too worried about their fallen friend. RJ was only vaugely aware that he was muttering, "please just be playing dead," under his breath as he hovered over the opossum's still body. The seconds ticked by forever as they waited for some sign of movement. Heather, overcome with emotion, suddenly ran out onto the road as well, despite Stella's yells of protest.
"Dad!" She shouted, pushing past RJ and Verne. She buried her face in her father's chest for comfort and possibly in hopes of feeling a heartbeat. "Oh Dad..."
"Heather, it's not safe," Verne said absent-mindedly.
"He's right," a muffled voice said and it took a few moments for the three animals to realize it was Ozzie who had spoken. Heather jumped up in shock, allowing her father to sit up suddenly.
RJ clutched his heart, breathing deeply. "Geez, Oz-man, you get any more convincing and you're gonna kill me one of these days."
"You scared us pretty bad, Dad," Heather said, forcing a small grin.
"Badly, Heather. Badly," Ozzie corrected, standing up and dusting himself off. "Shock is no excuse for improper grammar."
Heather responded to this by hugging her father tightly about the waist suddenly, and he returned the embrace. "I'm glad you're safe, Dad."
"Don't worry about your old man, sweetheart. He knows what he's doing," Ozzie replied gently.
"This is very touching. I have tears," RJ said, unable to hide a trace of condescending anxiety. "But we really need to get across the road now."
No one protested to this request and as they made their way across the road, still mildly shaken up by yet another near-death experience. RJ was starting to wonder if maybe Verne was right in having a bad feeling about this. Still, it was going to be all over soon. They were almost to their destination and their new home, and then everything would be better.
Or at least he hoped it would be. Apparently Verne's naturally tentative personality was starting to rub off on him. Now he was starting to get a bad feeling about this whole situation as well. That feeling increased as he stared down into the sloping valley that lead away from the road and into the forest.
He shoved the thoughts away. At least, unlike Verne, he had a natural gift to push anything he didn't want to think about out of his mind.
"Let's keep going, guys," RJ sp0ke up, his voice steady as he tried to salvage a shred of leadership quality that existed somewhere within him. They needed that side of him to come out now more than ever. The cocky-grinned, devil-may-care attitude of a a guy who relied on his charm to get him out of everything, and not sheer leadership capibility had to go... For a little while, at least. Right now, they just needed to know that he was leading them somewhere safe and wasn't just winging it, hoping they wound up where he had intended them to go.
Okay, RJ, he thought to himself, if ever there was a time you needed to prove yourself a decent leader, it's now.
Ruby had been out wandering aimlessly since dawn and had yet to return home. She imagined Sadie was probably worrying Velma to death, believing honestly that she had somehow done something to upset her, and, therefore, caused her to run away. Sadie had a horrible penchant for worrying about trivial things, though oddly enough she never worried about the big things.
Like her missing/dead husband...
The little raccoon shook the thought away. She didn't need to think about that. She had come out here in order to free her mind from these thoughts and get her act together once again. It was a ritual she performed often, and she hated that she always sunk so low as to need a walk alone in the woods to get herself back into the right frame of mind so no one suspected that something was wrong with her besides the obvious. Sometimes she wondered if her life would be easier if she actually did stop caring as Xylia said, and just embraced her cruel fate.
Soon it won't hurt as much...
Could she really make all the pain go away?
She clutched painfully at the large tuft of gray fur on the top of her head. "No, no, no," she whispered. "I'm not like Tristan. I won't become like him!"
She suddenly became aware of a noise in the bushes and she ducked behind a tree to spy on whoever was coming. Looking up, she saw the red marker wrapped around the trunk that marked all the trees that lay around the boundary of the queen's lands. Any living thing that went past those markers from the outside was subject to the queen's rules, and anyone on the inside who went outside them without permission was subject to severe punishment. Most newcomers, however, never made it past the markers if they came this way towards the valley. The wolves usually got them.
Apparently, however, the wolves weren't hungry tonight, which she realized upon seeing a large group of mismatched animals emerging from the bushes, looking bedraggled. Among them was a skunk, a large house cat, a family of porcupines, two opossums, a turtle, a squirrel, and...
Her heart stopped as she saw the creature that led the odd little bunch. It was a male raccoon who beared a passing resemblence to her Aiden. He had the same brownish-colored fur that stood out compared to the normal gray and white color scheme of a raccoon, but the more she stared the less he resembled her lost love. He was too short and had an air of cocky arrogance that wasn't like Aiden at all. Still, she was captivated by this newcomer and continued to stare at him even when his group stopped to examine the markers on the trees. Only then did she realize the danger this motely band was in. She was about to run into the clearing and beg them to turn back and stay away from the marked trees and lead them somewhere safe, but something grabbed her shoulders and yanked her into a nearby bush. It only took a second for her to realize that it was Tristan, and she glowered at the red fox with disdain in her sapphire eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She snapped.
"Keeping tabs on you, Ms. Ambassador," Tristan replied in his casual, cold southern drawl. "You weren't about to interfere with a few more choice menu items entering the queen's valley, were you?"
"Don't use that term of phrase, Tristan. You know I don't like it when you think of us like that."
"What's this 'us' you speak of?" The fox snickered. "I was under the impression that you weren't one of those valley bums at all." When Ruby didn't reply, he stuck his face out of the bush and studied the small band. The male raccoon was trying to explain what the red markers meant and Tristan could tell he didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but was trying his best to pretend he did.
"Oh dear... So much like Aiden, that one is. Wouldn't you agree?"
"No," Ruby said. "He's nothing like Aiden."
"No, you're right. He's too short," Tristan flashed her one of his crocodile grins. "So shall we invite them to our little valley?"
"What's this 'our' you speak of," Ruby said dryly. "It's no more your valley than it is mine."
"So saucy... I love that in a woman," Tristan ran his tail under her chin in a motion that probably would have driven any other female wild, but only caused Ruby to scowl darkly at him.
"Do you have a particular reason for being a jerk or does it just come inadvertantly?"
"'Fraid I was born that way, pumpkin," Tristan laughed, moving out of the bush. "I think you owe our new friends a proper greeting, my dear. They're just about to overstep the boundary."
Ruby followed him out of the bush just in time to see the group of animals move past the marked trees and take their first steps onto the queen's land. She cursed Tristan under her breath and looked around for him so that she could possibly throw something at him, but the fox was already gone. She groaned in anguish and rushed forward, climbing up into a tree that was right in the path of the newcomers. She knew what she had to do now, and there was no use crying over spilled milk. As usual, she'd do what she had to do and do it right.
She had managed over the years to develop a great sense of dramatic timing and she counted the second until what she knew would be the best time to jump, and did so, landing deftly right in front of the male raccoon. The animals froze in her prescence, gasping in surprise.
"Welcome," she said, dryly. "You have just entered the valley of the honorable Queen Xylia."
(A/N: Sadly, this chapter did NOT want to write itself. ;; Sorry for the utter crappiness and the really bad ending. I'll do better next time. The Hedgies and the valley animals shall integrate! Yay! Not to mention, Ruby and RJ have their first encounter! I'm feeling some Moonlighting vibes coming your way. Tee-hee...
As a special gift to my- at the moment- few faithful reviewers, I'd like to give you a cast list so you, the reader, can the hear the same voices I hear in my head when I write my characters. I think casting OC's is an integral part of the writing process, because knowing what actor is playing what character helps me write the character better. I know being such a big fan of Bruce Willis definitely helps me write RJ better. But I'm rambling... Onto the list!
Ruby: Kirstie Alley
Velma: Katey Sagall
Xylia: Tilda Swinton
Tristan: Nathan Fillion
Sadie: Reese Witherspoon
Doyle: Matthew Lilliard
Valerie "Val": Fran Drescher
Reginald: John Lithgow
Bianca: Emilie De Ravin
Sammy: Will Ferrell
Dorian: Andy Dick
Amity: Catherine Zeta-Jones
Cyril: Steve Buscemi
Morgan: Eliza Dushku
That's it... Though I'm constantly figuring out new characters to add into the mix, so that's subject to change later. Anyway, that's about it for right now. Enjoy this chapter and please review!)
