Disclaimer: See previous chapters...

Chapter Four- Getting to Know You

Ruby was not having a good day.

After three hours of showing RJ around what would, much to her chagrin, be his new home, she had decided that she'd had enough of the male raccoon. He was such an infuriating, stubborn cad that she believed fully that given the choice, she'd rather spend a whole night foraging at the campgrounds with Tristan than spend one more hour with him. Unfortunately, she couldn't exactly get rid of him without making herself look bad, and the last thing she needed was to have anyone declare her unhospitable. So the best option was to grin and bear it... Or just bear it. She hadn't been doing much grinning these past few hours, and she didn't have any intentions of starting any time soon.

"So, I guess you've showed me everything by now," RJ casually smirked. "Except your place. I haven't seen that yet." He winked at her suggestively.

"And you never will," Ruby replied darkly.

"Wow, you really don't like me much, do you?" The male raccoon smirked, a hint of slight anxiety hidden in the expression. "Lady, tell me honestly, have I given you a real reason to dislike me?"

Ruby turned to face him, sapphire eyes narrowing. "No," she said honestly.

"Then what's the problem?" RJ demanded, waving his arms indignantly.

What was the problem?

That was an excellent question. Aside from RJ rubbing her the wrong way there was really nothing about him to despise. It was almost like she was intentionally forcing him to rub her the wrong way, just so she could make something despicible about him emerge and give reason to her actions. Nothing, however, seemed to work, and his relentless attempts to be charming only aggravated her more. Tristan was right, though she hated to admit it. She was intentionally keeping him at a distance by acting coldly towards him on impulse just so she didn't get close to him. If she got close to anyone, the queen would just have them forcibly torn from her side as she'd done before. Velma was the only creature she was allowed to be close to, and she accepted that. She didn't like it, but she accepted it, and it ever since Aiden, it hadn't been a problem to keep everyone at an emotional distance.

This little cretin was breaking down her defenses like they were nothing.

She knew it, and it was starting to become obvious. As Shakespeare said, "methinks the lady doth protest too much." There was something about RJ that gave her a fluttery sensation just by looking into his light blue eyes that glimmered like new steel. How long until she finally gave in and stopped telling herself how badly she wanted to hate him just for showing up in this place and trying to cater to her wounded heart, which so desired the touch of someone new to help her get rid of the ache she felt whenever she dreamed of Aiden? How long until she stopped cursing the obvious charm that just oozed out of him like honey from a hive and embraced it? Curses! She'd only just met him the previous night! It was foolish to think that someone could affect her so quickly in such a short period of time. She wasn't a lovestruck kitten. She was a young adult in the prime of her life. She was too strong and too smart to get mixed up in the wiles of a raccoon playboy who would probably dump her the moment she succumbed to him. She knew the type. Males like him were all the same and there was no denying that. She wouldn't allow herself to become vulnerable again. That's what happened with Aiden. She had went into that relationship expecting to be the one in control, and she wound up completely losing that control the moment she fell into his arms.

No other male would ever do that to her again, she had vowed. She had to remain in control and strong in order to keep from losing herself completely in the thralls of the queen's demands. No little charlatan was going to undermine that if she had anything to do with it.

After all that, all she could finally say to RJ was simply, "I don't know."

She turned to walk away, barely cognizant of the fact that RJ wasn't following her. "Why don't you tell me why you're so sad?" He called after her suddenly. She froze and turned to face him, her expression stunned, yet unreadable beyond that.

"What?" She asked.

RJ took a tentative step forward. The expression on his face was one of complacency, and gone were all the traces of amusement and wry charm and wit. For some reason unknown to her, he was being genuinely serious. "You don't hate me. There's more to it than that, so why don't you just tell me why you're really so sad?"

Ruby looked away, not liking this one bit. She found him to be much easier to deal with when he was being an aggravating little cretin, but this... This was too much to handle. She turned back to look at him, narrowing her eyes as she tried to think of something to say to his question that wouldn't betray her. Finally, she simply pulled the one wild card she had and hoped it would strike a nerve. "I'm not the only one hiding behind a mask, and I'm not the only one with secrets," she said. "Maybe you should share yours before you ask me to share mine." She didn't bother to stick around to see the dark and slightly pained expression that crossed RJ's features. She just walked off, assuming he'd eventually catch up to her or rejoin his friends. Right now, she just didn't want to deal with him anymore.

RJ watched her leave, having no desire to follow her. She'd hit a rather severe nerve and he wasn't certain he liked it. No, scratch that- he knew he didn't like it. However, he couldn't let her think she had gotten an edge over him, so he called after her sarcastically, "You're a real tough customer, lady! I bet you didn't even clap your hands to save Tinkerbell!" When she didn't reply, he waved her off and started to head back towards the circle of trees in the middle of the valley, his mind racing. Had she really sensed what no one had ever sensed before? That underneath this scoundrel, lies a poor, lost individual with a tainted past that supposedly only existed within the pages of bad paperback novels? Or maybe she was just grasping at straws, trying to make him feel bad about bringing up something she'd rather not discuss. It was the kind of sneaky, under-handed thing that he'd do.

This female was smarter than he'd given her credit for. He'd have to keep his eyes on her.

He cast a look in the direction Ruby had gone, and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to run to her and take her in his arms, and...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" RJ said out loud, grabbing his head as he realized where his thoughts were going. "Hold on there, RJ, I don't like where that was going. You are not falling in love with that demanding, overbearing, callous excuse for a female. That's just asking for trouble."

And yet he couldn't seem to shake the thought of her out of his mind.

"This is going to end badly for me, I just know it," he gritted his teeth against the image.

But that, said a nagging voice in the back of his mind, is a risk you'll just have to take.


Night began to fall over the valley community as the family began to reconvene to discuss their adventures during the day with their so-called "buddy." Only RJ and Verne hadn't arrived back yet, which left Val gossiping like crazy. The truth was Verne and Velma were inside the cozy hollow of the oak tree the female turtle shared with Ruby, where they had been for most of the afternoon after they had completed their tour. Now they were watching the whole scenario play out as Val placed her theories on where the two "couples" had gone off to.

"Is she always like that?" Verne asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Yes, but don't worry, there's not a creature in this valley who takes anything she says at face value," Velma shrugged it off with a wave of her hand. "Now tell me more about yourself, Verne. How'd you wind up with a group like that?"

"Well, it's sort of a long story," Verne said, before jerking his head in the general direction of the outside. "Shouldn't we go out there and set the record straight."

"I can wait," Velma smiled. "Besides, this is the most fun Val has had in a long time. Let Ruby set the record straight when she gets back. So go on, spill."

Verne sighed, knowing there was no other choice but to tell her even though he wasn't uncomfortable with some skunk he barely knew talking about him behind his back when he was within ten feet of her. "Well, back before our forest was turned into a huge suburban development, we sort of came together by chance and circumstance. We all had only two things in common- we had either lost something or were looking for something and we had all lived in that same forest all our lives. Lou, Penny, and Ozzie all met after Ozzie's wife Iris died. Penny was an old friend of Iris's, and Lou had been pursuing Penny relentlessly for awhile, so they all sort of met up at the funeral. Soon Penny and Lou were married and they sort of helped Ozzie raise Heather before they had their own children. Stella joined them a little while later after her entire family abandoned her and left her alone in the forest. Hammy was in the exact same position, though probably not for the same reasons and joined them a little while after that. They finally all met up with me. I had this nice little area of the forest to myself. It had a log. A very nice log. Anyway, they sort of stumbled upon it. Pretty soon we were helping each other gather food for the winter, and in almost no time we were a family." Verne smiled dreamily, lost suddenly in the memories.

"That sounds nice," Velma grinned.

"What.. Is that not what it's like here?" Verne asked, a little confused.

"No," Velma laughed, shaking her head. "We're just neighbors in the same community, maybe even good friends in some cases, but I'd never define us as a family. I'm a little jealous, Verne. You've got a good thing going here... Although, I am a little bit confused about one thing. Where does RJ fit into this?"

"RJ?" Verne chuckled. "We met him about two months ago by accident. He was trying to gather enough food to pay back a homicidal bear and used us as a means to an end."

"And yet you still consider him a member of your family?"

"Yeah," Verne looked down, hiding a smile. "What can I say? He may have his quirks, but... There's just something about him."

"Raccoons," Velma rolled her eyes. "You learn to love them for what they are and what they never say."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's a staple of their kind to be ambiguous. What? You mean to tell me that your friend RJ has been willing to give you insight into his soul that goes deeper than the surface?"

"No... He hasn't," Verne replied, vauge realization apparent on his face.

"Ruby's the same exact way," Velma shook her head. "Raccoons are very secretive creatures, you see. They don't tell you anything about themselves, but you learn to deal with that aspect of their kind, because it's the only way they know to be. Like you said, they may have their quirks, but there's something about them." She motioned for him to follow her. "Come on, I guess we should go and do damage control before Val gets out of hand."

Verne hesitated for a moment, his mind still processing her words. "They don't tell you anything about themselves, but you learn to deal with that aspect of their kind, because it's the only way they know to be."

He suddenly realized for the first time how little he knew about the creature he thought of as his best friend.


Ruby didn't return to her home when she left RJ in the forest. This RJ knew firsthand since he'd been following her ever since they'd split paths. Part of him kept telling himself that he was only following her in the hopes that she'd lead him to the campgrounds so that he could get a decent act of food larceny out of his system. It had been such a long time since he'd had a decent heist.

However, the part of him that was actually right said he was following her because he was actually interested in where she was going.

He told both parts of his duality to shut up and continued on his way, being as cautious as possible. So far she hadn't suspected a thing. At first he figured it was because she was blinded by sheer frustration, but that no longer seemed to be the case. She moved through the forest with an air of purpose as if she knew exactly where she was going and had completely forgotten about him, so thoroughly wrapped up in her own little world was she.

As darkness rapidly began to fall, he took notice of the pair of the trees that Ruby had just passed between and saw the red markers tied to them. He stared blankly at them, recalling the words she had spoken earlier, and then watched her walk onward, unflinching as she made her way towards her single destination. She didn't seem to care about the risk of the so-called danger she had mentioned earlier and feeling vehemently emboldened by this fact, he continued to follow her.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think she knows I'm following her, RJ thought bitterly. That thought was soon put to rest when Ruby finally arrived at her destination. He froze, ducking behind a tree as he stared at the ediface that lay before him. It was a simple brick building with mesh fencing on both sides of it that extended all the way into the forest and around it as well. There was something about it that sent shivers down his spine even as he watched Ruby scale the fence and vanish over it again.

"You can't back out now, RJ," he whispered, trying to reassure himself as he pushed away his nervousness. "It's just a building, kid." He took a deep breath and darted all the way to the fence and scaled it with one deft motion, falling easily on the other side. He leaned against the mesh and sighed heavily, his eyes closed in relief. "Made it." He opened his eyes and suddenly his heart stopped when he realized in what sort of place he had found himself.

Long rows of large wire-mesh pens stretched as far as the eye could see, each filled with various animals. Ruby wasn't even in sight anymore and she hardly mattered anyway. His breath caught in his throat and his chest felt like it was about to burst with his heart beating a rough tattoo against his small rib cage. This was all-too familiar. He had been in a place like this once before, and he shuddered to think that somehow he had ended up in one again. Images from his dream filled his mind again. Why did they keep coming back? Why couldn't he escape them? Why did he follow Ruby to a place like this? He fell to his knees, clutching his head. Was this some sort of joke? Was someone out there mocking him? He desperately wanted to run, but he couldn't move. All those memories that had come in brief flashes during his dream suddenly hit him full-force in the face, and he remembered.

He remembered it all.


It was two years ago...


"Rachel!" RJ called out, wandering among the thistles and brightly colored flowers of the meadow. The grass was taller here, providing the perfect cover for a raccoon kitten playing hide and seek. However, the older brother of said kit was growing weary of the game and wanted desperately to find her before night fell. Judging by the dark pink and blue hue of the sky, that would come sooner rather than later, and once darkness came so came the predators. His mother and father had always warned him never to stray too far from the den when it got this late, and he knew Rhonda and Rebecca were already home, waiting for him to return with the ever-mischevious Rachel who had once again hidden to well in the sibling's daily game of hide and seek.

Time was running out.

"Rachel, come on!" He yelled again. "It's getting late."

There was a giggle to his left and he saw a small brown ball of fur shuffle further into a patch of flowers. Smirking, RJ crept quietly around behind the little kitten. As quick as a flash, he snatched her up and she squealed with delight, giggling excitedly as RJ tickled her.

"Okay, okay!" She shrieked. "RJ, put me down!"

"Promise you won't try to run away and hide again?" RJ said, still tickling the writhing raccoon kitten.

"Yes! Yes! I promise!"

"Okay, kiddo, fair enough," RJ put her down gently, and she looked up at him, gleaming adoration shining in her blue eyes. Her elder brother tousled the fur on her head and jerked in his head in the direction of their den. "Let's get home before Mom and Dad start worrying."

They started back home just as the sky started to get darker. Rachel drew closer to her brother, latching onto the thick fur on his thighs. He could tell she was shivering as she walked, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as well as they neared the den. Something was wrong. He stopped and sniffed the air apprehensively and snorted as an unfamiliar and unpleasant smell wormed its way into his nostrils.

"Rachel, stay close," he whispered. The shivering little female kitten nodded, clinging tighter to her brother. The two of them took a few steps closer to the den just as a red mass of fur, teeth, and claws appeared out of nowhere, throwing itself at the two of them. RJ snatched Rachel up in one arm and clambered up the nearest tree, narrowly avoding having his tail bitten off by the creature, which he could now discern was a large dog, as he did so. Rachel cried out for her mother and RJ desperately held onto her, trying to soothe her and avoid the dog which leapt at their, regrettfully, low branch, savagely barking. Shouts accompanied by bright lights came from further in the forest and another dog- this one gray and white- had joined the first and was occupied with trying to dig its way into the den.

"Mom! Dad!" RJ shouted. Rachel screamed her despair as the red dog made a dangerous leap that nearly reached their branch.

"Come on down," he snarled, panting as he paused in his perpetual jumping. His partner, however, didn't stop its digging and kept right on clawing at the dirt and sticking its long nose deeper and deeper into the hole. "We just want to play."

"Fat chance," RJ snapped back. The dog lunged again, once again just barely missing their branch. If only the tree were taller!

Suddenly the other dog let out a yelp of pain as it jerked back away from the den, its nose bleeding profusely. "It scratched me, man!" It whined when his companion whirled to check on his status. "They didn't say these things would fight back, man."

"Suck it up, soldier!" The red dog growled. Suddenly his eyes widened as he looked towards the den which had been left unattended by the other dog, who was currently nursing his wounded nose and muttering under his breath. RJ followed the dog's gaze and saw his family- his mother carrying Rhonda and Rebecca on her back- running out of the den. "You're letting them get away!"

His father whirled on the two dogs as they started to round on the raccoon family. Meanwhile his mother gestured frantically for RJ and Rachel to come down. They did so as quickly as possible and together the five of them took off running, the sounds of frantic clawing and biting echoing at their backs. RJ spared a glance behind him and saw the lights he saw earlier closing in on the fight. There were more undiscernible shouts and he felt something whiz past his ear with a sharp, painful noise. His mother gasped and pushed him down into the tall grass, dragging the little ones with her. "Stay with the girls, RJ. I'll try to lead them away."

"No, I'll lead them away," RJ pleaded. "The girls need you."

"Shhh, baby, just do as I say," his mother whispered frantically. "Just hide here and don't move or make a sound."

"I think it went this way," a voice called. "Colonel! Max! Sniff 'er out!"

"Stay safe, RJ, for me," His mother whimpered nervously. "I love you all so much. Don't forget that." She turned and vanished from their sight. There were more shouts and more of that horrible noise he had heard before, followed by a shriek of pain and a triumphant howl from the dogs.

"Mommy!" Rhonda yelled. RJ clamped a paw over her mouth. "Shhhh!"

"What was that?" It was the voice of the reddish-colored dog.

"I dunno," the gray dog replied. Their voices were growing closer and fear gripped RJ's heart as he watched the tall grass surrounding his and his sister's hiding place start to shift and move as though two large bodies were moving seamlessly through it. "We already got the bigguns, we don't need anymore, do we?"

"It's the principle of the hunt, Max," snarled the voice of the red dog. "Leave no enemy alive."

"Aw shucks, Colonel," the dog called Max said. "They's just littleuns. I wouldn't call them an enemy."

"And that's why you'll never make a decent soldier."

RJ had to make a decision and fast. His mother had told him to stay put, but if he did, they'd surely be torn apart by those dogs. He didn't want to think about his mother and father and how they were probably dead by now, judging by the way the dogs talked. He had to protect his family at any cost.

"On the count of three, we run," RJ whispered.

"But Mommy said-" Rebecca tried to protest, but RJ cut her off severely.

"Mommy's not here! Now... One... Two..."

"What was that?" the dog, called Colonel, growled, apparently catching the whispers on the wind. RJ became frantic.

"THREE!" He shouted. The four young raccoons took off running as fast as they could go. There was a howl of rage from one of the dogs, Colonel most likely, and the two of them began to tear through the grass after them. RJ gripped Rachel's paw tightly in his and kept his eyes straight ahead. He was so focused on his desire to get out that he didn't realize until it was too late that Rebecca wasn't following him anymore.

"Becky!" Rhonda sobbed. She made to stop, but RJ grabbed her arm with his free paw and jerked her forward.

"We can't stop now!" He tried to be strong, but tears stung his eyes at the loss of one of his sisters. The pounding footsteps of the dogs drew closer and closer, but RJ kept running, feeling as if his heart was going to burst in his chest. They had lost the meadow long ago and no longer had the cover of tall grass as they ran. The dogs were right on their heels, their hot sticky breath on their backs. He felt Rhonda being forcefully jerked from his grip and didn't dare look back. Rachel's scream said all that he feared, however. He picked her up and continued running with her in his arms, afraid that her tiny body would give in and she, too, would fall victim in to the dogs. He had to protect her- his beloved Rachel. If he could save her, he at least wouldn't have completely betrayed his mother's dying wish.

In his single-minded attempt to escape, he failed to notice that his terrain was changing and tripped as the ground suddenly sloped downward. In the ensuing fall, Rachel fell from his arms and despite his desperate attempt to reach for her again, they both tumbled in seperate directions. He landed painfully in a briar patch, and became instantly tangled up horrifically in the thorny branches. Each time he moved, the thorns pierced his delicate flesh and tore at his fur. The more he struggled the more pain he was in, but he tried to ignore it in his futile attempts to force himself free. He just had to save Rachel!

Rachel...

Was that her painful scream he'd just heard? Yes, it was. The scream gave him new strength and he clawed and bit the branches that held him in their thrall, with each movement drawing more and more blood. His eyes became hazy from bloodloss, but he kept going. He snarled and waged a horrific battle against his plant captor, fighting and hissing and weakening every second.

A soft chuckle met his ears. "Will you look at that, Max?"

Colonel. RJ didn't have to look to know the voice that had become so familiar to him this night. Beyond the overpowering scent of his own blood, he could also smell the blood that dripped from the dog's fangs. The blood of his family. His sisters. Maybe even his mother and father too if the creatures with the lights hadn't gotten to them first. He saw red for one instant, thrashing wildly as an irrational, animal part of his mind took over, thirsting for revenge, but even it couldn't disentangle him from the briar's thorny hold.

"The little guy's a little upset, isn't he?" Colonel snickered. "Guess he knows that his entire family's dead."

"You... You murdering," RJ choked out, his eyesight starting to blur. He felt woozy and lightheaded all of a sudden, like the only thing he wanted to do was sleep.

Colonel laughed. "Sticks and stones. I guess it's a small mercy that bush got you before I did. You don't have to suffer the same fate as your little sisters."

"Colonel, please," the one called Max whined. "Can't you just let the little thing die in peace?"

"You're weak, Max, and you always will be," Colonel snarled.

"Colonel! Max! Get up here, boys!" A voice called. The dogs jerked their heads in the direction and through the glaze of his eyes, RJ could see Max leave and then he could see nothing more.

"In your last agonizing moments of life," he heard the Colonel's voice whisper, "just remember that you took the easy way out of this world."

And then his world dropped away to blackness.

He didn't die that night, though for one week he felt like he was dying over and over again. He wasn't certain what happened in that one week, but he recalled exactly what happened when it was over.

He awoke on a hard surface that felt rough to his cheekbones. His entire body was sore and his muscles were stiff. He tried to sit up straight and his head bumped against something hard. He woke with a start and came to the painful realization that he was no longer in the meadow he had called home. He was in some sort of wooden box with wire mesh on one side, allowing him to see outside but preventing him from fully embracing it. His body cried out in pain as he circled the small enclosed space, tripping over a small tin dish filled with pellets of some kind. The smell wafted to his nostrils and he realized pitifully how hungry he was. He devoured the pellets and then resumed his pacing, finally stopping and placing his paws on the wire mesh.

"Let me out!" He cried. "Where am I? Where's my family?"

Memories came back to him. His entire family was dead and he was alone in the world, not to mention trapped in this horrible place. He sank helplessly to the floor of his prison and began to sob, unable to hold in any of the emotions that writhed within him. The one thing his mother asked of him and he had failed. He hadn't kept his sisters safe. They were dead, just as he should be. Colonel should have killed him when he had the chance. Just dragged him bleeding out of that briar patch and finished him off. Death couldn't possibly be as horrible and living with this pain and loneliness.

Death would have been a mercy.


He spent nearly a year in that place. Eventually, creatures whom he came to know as human beings (they apparently ran things) moved him to another pen with others of his species, all of them older, who had been there since they were small, having come to this place after being injured or orphaned like himself. There were other animals in this place too, all of them inside pens like the one he found himself in. Humans would come and stare into the pens, gawking and making faces. He learned a lot about humans from all the time he spent there. It was knowledge he put to good use when he finally made his escape.

He couldn't quite remember how, but he did escape. Maybe someone had helped him, maybe not. It was all a blur to him. He knew, however, that one he got out, he had fled from there and never looked back. He thought he was free of that horrible place that had stolen one year of his life even if the ones responsible for running it had saved his life. (A life that might have been better left unsaved.)

He thought he was free.

Now he knew he never would be.

He didn't know how far into the horrible memory of his past he was when he started crying, but he knew he was choking back uncontrollable sobs when he came out of it. How on earth did he wind up in a place like this again? It wasn't the same one, he knew that much. When he escaped the last time, he had run so far and so fast that he doubted not even the farthest of wanderings could lead him back to that place. The field where he was born, where his family's den had been, lay as far away from where he stood as that place.

And yet why did it feel like he had never left?

Why did he feel as if he was sitting upon the blood-soaked ground where his mother, father, and sisters had fallen?

Why was he surrounded by the cages that once held him prisoner and kept him alive when all he wanted was to die?

Why was this happening to him?

His head hurt from an overload of suppressed memories and the throb of what amounted to the threat of an oncoming migraine. His heart was beating furiously in his little chest which was heaving as he continued to sob, pressing his face to the ground, his paws clenched over his head. It was all coming at him too hard, too fast. It was all too painful.

"What are you doing here?"

A voice? He knew that voice... That soft, lilting alto. Yes, it was Ruby's voice. His mind raged against the thought of her, threatening her with cruel thoughts. She led you here. She's the reason you hurt so badly. Never mind the fact that his head and his heart had schemed together in a cold act of rebellion to make him follow the she-raccoon to this place.

Had she realized how much pain he was in? Did she know he was crying out his despair for his tortured past? Did she even care?

"I asked you a question. Answer me! You shouldn't be here... You shouldn't have followed me. They'll kill you if they find you outside the boundary. Don't you understand?"

He didn't. He didn't understand much of anything anymore.


The silence was defeaning to her. There was no adequate way to describe the void she felt when, in one heartbreaking moment, he suddenly stopped sobbing and lay still. She feared he might have died, but his heart, still beating furiously in his chest, disproved that thought.

Why did he follow her? Why did he disobey the single command she gave him and his so-called family? What had he hoped to gain?

But most importantly... What was wrong with him?

He touched his shoulder as he lay curled up in a pathetic ball, convulsing in silent, yet fitful dreams. She had carried him away from the Sanctuary not long after she'd found him and it became painfully obvious that he was physically incapable of answering her. They were safely within the borders now, but she was too tired and too sore to carry him much further, so she'd found an abandoned tree hollow for them to stay the night. She could have left him there, she supposed. Left him to collect his own sanity and find his own way back to the valley. Nothing would hurt him here within the safety of those markers unless the queen demanded his death, which she didn't seem apt to do at the moment.

But she couldn't leave him.

What's wrong with you? She thought, looking at the pitiful creature who had been so cocky, so sure of himself earlier this very day.

Had it been the Sanctuary that made him so? How could it be? There was nothing but safety in those cages. Most of the creatures she had befriended there enjoyed their life and those who didn't were there because of some unspeakable animal kingdom crime they had committed and gotten captured by humans for, so they deserved their unhappiness. Sometimes she longed to find safety in those pens and cages... And then she recalled how much she loved her freedom... If one could accurately call what she had that. Whatever it was, it was what she was used to and she enjoyed as much of it as she could.

Her thoughts went back to RJ and how he had looked when she first found him. What was wrong with him? Had he suffered at the hands of something less than the solitude of her Sancutuary? Had the Sanctuary simply reminded him of that horrible place? She didn't know.

If RJ was anything like her, she would probably never know.

"Have any of you seen RJ since this morning?" Verne asked.

"Ruby's missing too," Velma agreed with a nod.

It was getting late and neither of the two raccoons had made it back yet. The community had gathered for one last meeting before everyone bedded down for the night, and this stunning new revelation shocked them, especially given circumstances that the newcomers didn't yet know about, and if the community had their way, would never know about until an appropos time... Like when someone else vanished.

This, however, didn't stop Reginald from blurting out at random, "They've become victims of the Vanishing!"

"What?" Verne blinked.

"We weren't informed of any, uh, vanishing there, Sara," Lou said, mildly confused, looking to the female hedgehog.

"Oh don't mind, Reggie, he's just being overly dramatic as usual," Sara said, reassuringly.

"Or is he?" A soft-spoken, southern-drawled accent spoke up. The owner was a red fox that Verne and his family hadn't seen before, who had seemingly just arrived. Situated behind him was something resembling a child's pool float with a rope lead attached to it, loaded down with food of the variety that RJ was want to steal.

"Who are you?" Verne narrowed his eyes.

"Did someone forget to tell the new blood around here who I am and what my duties are? How rude..."

Velma rolled her eyes and gestured to the fox. "This is Tristan. He's our chief food-gatherer."

"Charmed, I'm sure," the fox grinned smugly. "I was just bringing your rations by and I couldn't help but overhear Reginald's stirring speech."

"Not now, Tristan," Velma said under her breath.

"Oh, but shouldn't they know the valley secret?"

"What valley secret?" Stella said with a wry look at the fox. "Fox, you better be spilling before I yank it out of you."

"And we wouldn't want that," Tristan said coyly. "Well, my dear friends, it seems that something odd has been happening in recent years in this valley. Friends and family have a bad habit of going... Missing in the night. Like Sara's husband Harold... Or Sadie's husband Bert... Or even that nice, charming young lad Aiden."

"That's quite enough," Velma snapped, rounding on the fox with a look of disdain in her green eyes. "How dare you come here and try to frighten these newcomers with your little fantasies of doom? You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm positively devastated at how horrible I am," Tristan said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Do us all a favor and crawl back into the hole you came out of," Velma turned on her heels and started to skulk off just as Tristan laid a paw on her shell and whispered so softly to her that only she heard the words that came out of his mouth.

"There's only one individual who is allowed to talk to me like that, and you're not her."

Velma didn't waver. She simply replied, equally as quiet, "Still holding that torch, are we?"

He released her, a look of pure loathing and hatred on his face. The expression only worsened when Val spoke up, a rather mischevious look on her pretty face.

"Personally, I think they've just shacked up somewhere," she said bluntly.

There was a small crash as some of the tins that Tristan had gathered fell from the top of the pile and hit the ground, brought about by the fox skulking off in an angry huff.

For some reason, this amused Velma immensely.


Morning sunlight streamed across RJ's face and he yawned and stretched. His front paws touched something soft and it took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone. At first, he thought he was back home in the cul de sac behind the hedge near El Rancho Camelot, but on closer observation, he realized that the gray and black body fast asleep beside hi didn't belong to anyone in the family. This puzzled him for a moment until the events of the previous nights came flooding back to him. Their home was gone and he was in a new place, a valley that he and his family had embraced as a paradise.

Or not. The memories of the previous night's horror also came back to him and he shuddered. He had blacked out completely at some point, and so he had no memory of how he ended up in what amounted to a tree hollow with...

Ruby.

Normally this would have been seen as a triumph, but he was still reeling from last night and couldn't see it as such. He didn't think of the possibility that she had probably saved his life back there, and avoided any thoughts that put her in a good light as he leapt from the tree and landed gracefully on the ground. Part of him decided that it didn't want to forgive her for leading him to that place even though she really wasn't at fault in the situation.

The rational part of his mind wasn't working, apparently.

It didn't take him long to assess that Ruby had woken up and was trotting along behind him. He thought about trying to lose her, but he was still too tired and drained to do much more than walk on at a haughty pace. She eventually caught up with him, and grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. He didn't push her away. He simply stopped, but refused to look at her. Again, the dual sides of his heart and mind were at war. On one hand, there was no reason to be angry with her, but on the other hand, there was a long list of reasons why he should be that really didn't make any logical sense to a normal person, but they sounded pretty good to that part of him and that was all that mattered.

"RJ, I want some answers." She sounded desperate. Had she been worried about him? No... She'd proven the past couple of days that she didn't care anything about him.

Then why had she stayed?

He ignored the nagging little voice and started moving forward again. "42, Delaware, all of the above, 90 degrees, the south of France, A, D, Matthew Broderick."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" She snapped. "Stop being so infuriating for once in your life and just talk to me."

RJ turned on his heels. "I just met you. When did we get to the 'just talk to me' phase?"

"When I found you curled in a fetal position beyond all reasonable help last night," she replied without missing a beat.

RJ narrowed his eyes, refusing to allow how deep that had struck him to show. "Like you said, I'm not the only one with secrets. I'm not the only one hiding behind a mask."

"Don't give me that!" Ruby stormed over to him. "Just when I think you've gone as low as you can go, you find a basement door, but..."

"But what?"

"But last night I saw a side to you that I don't think you've ever let anyone see."

"And I don't intend to show it to anyone again, so do you mind? Are we through pawing? I've got a family that's probably worried about me." He turned to go again, but was stopped by a scrawny red fox standing in his path.

"Did I intrude upon a lover's tiff?" The creature chuckled dryly.

"Tristan, you are the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time," Ruby scowled. "What do you want?"

"Just looking for you two lovebirds," he circled around RJ, making sure to smack him in the face with his bushy tail as he passed. "You've been missed."

"We're heading back, Tristan, and we don't need an escort."

"Au contraire," Tristan smirked. "You're wanted at the queen's cave, Ruby, my sweet."

Ruby scowled in disgust and turned to RJ. "We'll talk later."

RJ didn't bother to dignify that with an answer and sighing in discontent and probable disgust, Ruby left the two of them alone, but not before shooting Tristan a look that read, "You better not do anything funny." The fox simply smirked casually in reply and only once she was gone did he turn to RJ. "She's wrong, you know."

"About what?" RJ muttered.

"About me being the the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time," the fox sneered. "Because that, my friend, is you."

RJ spared a small chuckle. "Yeah, well... Story of my life." He started walking again, but Tristan bypassed him, his green eyes glinting darkly.

"I wasn't finished."

"Well, you should specify that. Use a nice transition word like 'anyway', but don't just leaving me hanging there or else I'm going to think you're done talking."

"You think you're smart, don't you?"

"Why yes, I do."

Tristan scowled briefly and then quickly slid his mask back into place. "So... RJ, is it? That's an odd name. What's it stand for?"

"Honestly? Nothing." RJ eyed the fox warily. "Tell me something. What's a guy like you doing holding a flame to a candle like hers?"

"Excuse me?" Tristan narrowed his eyes.

"You've obviously got a thing for Ruby."

Tristan bristled. "Now listen here..."

"That's a sure sign of it, my boy," RJ chuckled. He started to walk on past the belligerent fox, but was abruptly shoved against a tree by that self-same fox, whose emerald eyes were glowing with a sort of cold fire that would have paralyzed anyone else in fear.

"Don't play games with me," he snarled.

"I'm not the only playing games, Tristan. You are. You're the one playacting the part of a saint when you're really just a scoundrel. I should know, I've been there. You're just really bad at it. What have you got against me anyhow?"

"You d-don't... k-know... w-w-what I'm capable o-of," Tristan stammered, thoroughly overwelmed by RJ's heckling.

"I d-d-don't k-know?" RJ replied, mocking him viciously and thoroughly enjoying it. "Well, Tristan, why do you look like you're three seconds away from k-k-k-killing me?" Tristan released him, snarling vehemently. "I don't suppose you have to have anything against me. You're just one of those guys that can't stand anyone compromising what he's got going. I mean, look at you. Aside from us being of a different species, it's almost like looking in a mirror. Except I've faced and conquered my demons awhile ago, and you look like you're losing the fight with yours big time. I suppose that's just the way it goes. The fact is, Tristan, I'm getting the feeling that you won't be satisfied with anything while I'm here until I decide to play dead."

"If you insist on continuing this pathetic excuse at trying to outwit me conversationally, then that will be your next grand performance... And I can make sure you're quite convincing." The fox glowered and moved to leave, stopping briefly. "We don't have to have this conversation ever again, RJ. Just stay away from Ruby."

RJ had no real intentions, at least right now, of pursuing Ruby since the last night's events were still fresh in his mind, but just to yank Tristan's chain a little more, he smirked and said, "We'll see."

The expression on the fox's face as he left was worth what he hoped, for his own sake, was a lie.


"Doyle, where are you taking me?" Heather muttered as she followed the young male opossum through the forest towards some destination that he seemed eagerly excited about showing her. He had already led her around the valley until her feet ached the previous day and she had more important things to worry about- like where RJ was, for one thing- than going on some random adventure. Still, Doyle had been vehement about taking her to wherever it was he was taking her and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"It's not much further, I swear," he said, trace amounts of nervousness tinging his voice. Obviously, it had been a long time since he'd had someone his age to hang out with, and probably the first time he'd been alone with a female, and he was milking the situation for all it was worth while he still had the chance. With that in mind, Heather couldn't help but find him a trifle bit amusing in a dorky way.

Doyle stopped suddenly in front of a large rock outcropping that jutted out beyond a portion of forest. He helped her onto it, leading her all the way to the edge, and then she realized exactly what he wanted her to see.

The view was spectacular. An endless stretch of trees all surrounding a not-so-distant mountain that loomed over everything. Heather was spellbound by the beauty of it all. Coming from such a small forest in an area that knew nothing of these natural wonders, she had no clue that such a glorious place existed beyond her wildest dreams. This little patch of paradise that RJ had led them to was magical, indeed. She could feel it. There was an air of safety here in this place. There was an air of perfection, as well, and showed in every blade of grass and every summer leaf. It even showed in the rocky sections of that mountain all the way up to the craggy cave just below its highest pinacle.

"Beautiful," she finally whispered, too overpowered to say much else.

"Yeah, my dad used to take me up here with I was little and we'd watch the sunset. Sometimes we'd just come up here to talk and get away from mom," Doyle grinned.

"Where is your dad?" Heather asked. "I heard your mom say he was off somewhere." She decided to discount what Tristan had said the previous night about the so-called "Vanishing" that Reginald had brought up.

Doyle shrugged and sat down on the stone, indicating to Heather to sit down as well. She obliged and stared out at the view that spread before her like a blanket. Doyle found himself unconsciously admiring a completely different view, rather the beautiful profile of the young female opossum beside him. "My mom thinks he went off looking for Aiden. The two of them were best friends, and he was really shaken up when Aiden left."

"Aiden?" Heather looked at Doyle inquisitively. "That's the guy the fox mentioned, right?

"Yeah," the male opossum said, slightly dreamily. "He was my hero. I wanted to be just like him."

"Was he a opossum?"

"No, a raccoon," Doyle replied, matter of factly.

This time it was Heather's turn to look dreamy. "Just like RJ."

It was almost like someone had abruptly pulled the needle off the record of Doyle's life. "RJ?" He said, his eyes wide in surprise and slight horror.

"Well yeah," Heather replied, looking a little confused at the expression on Doyle's face. "I mean... Have you seen him? He's like... Dreamy, you know."

Doyle's expression didn't waver. "No," his said, his voice coming out as a squeak. "I don't know."

"Well you're a boy," Heather rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?" The male opossum whined.

Heather stood up, more than a little perturbed. "Nothing. Hey, look, I'm glad you brought me here, and I, like, hope we can be friends and all that..."

"Friends?" Doyle squeaked.

"Well... Yeah? What else would we be?" Heather rolled her eyes before turning to go. "I can find my own way back. See you around, Doyle."

Doyle watched her go, oddly dumbfounded. When she was gone, he blinked a few times and muttered rather despondantly. "That... Did not go the way I hoped it would."


There was excitement abundant when RJ walked back into the main circle of the valley where his family was waiting. He forced his tired and worn out body to return their hugs and greetings happily even though all he really wanted was to find someplace comfortable and sleep away everything that had happened to him the previous night and this morning as well.

"RJ!" Heather's voice squealed. She hadn't been with everyone else and had apparently just returned from someplace herself. The look on her face was pure joy, but she quickly hid the expression behind a mask of cool amusement. "It's totally good to see you."

"You too, Heather," RJ chuckled, barely noting the change in her expression.

"We were just thinking, RJ, that we'd like to spend a day together as a family," Penny piped up. "Would you are to join us? It'll be super."

"Uh, it sounds great, Penny, but I think I'm gonna have to decline." RJ rubbed the back of his head, obviously a little bit distressed that he'd have to miss it. He just couldn't face them right now. It was taking all the willpower he had to talk to them. "I'm really tired, so I think I'm just going to find someplace to take a nap."

"Oh okay," Penny said, disappointment apparent in her voice.

"I'll make it up to you another day, I promise," RJ assured her, "but I'm beat right now." He didn't wait for another reply and simply moved on. Verne watched him go, his mind recalling Penny's words from last night.

"Raccoons are very secretive creatures, you see. They don't tell you anything about themselves, but you learn to deal with that aspect of their kind, because it's the only way they know to be..."

Barely cognizant of what he was doing, he followed RJ to a cozy spot the raccoon had quickly found for himself. "Do you need to talk about something, RJ?"

"What's there to talk about, verne?" RJ said, sullenly.

Verne knew that the tone of his voice and the way he looked at him with those steely blue eyes said everything. Whatever had happened, the raccoon didn't want to talk about it. Without another word, Verne left him alone, curled up in a ball with his thoughts.

Those very same thoughts found Ruby and stayed there. Like an epiphany, he finally realized that she had helped him out last night. She could have left him alone in that place, but she had saved him and stayed with him the whole night. She gazed into a window to his soul that hadn't been opened in a long time, and she seemed so... concerned about what was hidden there.

Images of her filled his mind and the pain and anguish seemed to vanish without a trace, like a fog lifting over a calm sea that had once been stormy.

God help him, he was falling in love with her.

He rolled over on his side and sighed deeply. "I'm in way too deep."

Even so, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he liked it that way.


(A/N: Awww... I'm so abusive to characters I love. Now finally at least some of the plot can begin! This was soooo painful to write, mostly because my muses are evil. I had to put RJ's flashback in early just because I couldn't get any other ideas, though I suppose it works here. I can't shove everything on you later, can I? Nope, 'cause that would be stupid.

As if you guys can't tell, apparently the major focus in this story is on RJ (and Ruby, apparently). Heh... The rest of the cast will be providing a more supporting role, but that doesn't mean they're out of the picture. They still have their contributions to the plot to make, but they won't be as prevalent. The story is picking up pace as of now and is going to be relationship and plot-driven from here on out which leaves little room for vignettes, but in quieter moments, I may indulge in some. Who knows? It's my fault for throwing so many characters into the mix, I guess, and then getting caught up in them and neglecting the original cast. I'm trying not to do that! Bear with me. I actually know where I'm going now. Last night I sat down and wrote out detailed summaries of what's coming up in the next three chapters so I'm not wandering blind anymore.

The thing is, I know where I'm going with this story, I'm just struggling to get there on occasion, thus why I'm being so self-conscious about putting out good material, though I'm just doing it needlessly- you guys are just too good to me! Anyway, I have tons of conflicts that lead into each other, and just because Xylia hasn't appeared since the prologue doesn't mean she still isn't a driving force. But it's important to know that she's not the major villian... At least not right now. Hehehehe... But now I think I've got my act together. It's all gonna b a-okay!

Thanks again for your kindness! I depend on the kindness of strangers, and I promise the next chapters will be even better! I will not let you all down!)