Rick was awoken by rather loud meowing, that of a cat he was positive was scared of the alarm clock. It was only when he felt a hand on his head that his eyes were forced open. He rose his head to look up at Dell in almost in an annoyed way as he spoke "Be a good boy till I get back." He told him as he left the room. Rick was now by himself, since Duchess followed after him, her tail swaying gently in time with her steps. With a sigh Rick hauled himself up. Another day of being a wolf, and another day to try and figure out how to change back.

Once he heard the door close he made his way to it, and looked out the window to watch as Dell went off to work. Now it was his turn "You know the drill, fluff." He said as Duchess looked off to the side.
"Are you not going to eat?" she asked, Rick rolling his eyes at her.
"You worry about you and I will worry about me." He told her as she huffed walking toward him as he pressed against the door.

"Dumb dogs will be dumb." She hummed as she hopped onto his back, pawing at the lock until it clicked. With step one done she hooked her paws on the handle and pulled down on the knob to open the door. Once it was open a crack Duchess hopped down off his back and slid her way through the crack with her tail held high.

"Where do you think you're going, Princess?" Rick asked as he pushed the door open so he could fit through. Duchess paused when she got to the steps, turning her head to him.
"I am coming with you."
"Like hell I am taking you, power puff, I got enough to worry about." He told her "You stay here." He told her but she stubbornly remained outside despite his words.

He could tell by the look in her eyes that she had made up her mind and was not going to take 'no' for an answer. "You—" he paused to let out a sigh "Fine, but I am not going to save you if we get into trouble." He turned to the door, raising himself to two legs and placing one paw on the doorframe. With a little bit of a struggle he grabbed the door handle with his mouth to close it, nearly toppling over but managed to close the door and not fall.

With that the duo started down the long dirt road toward town, they had quite a few hours until Dell was supposed to be home so time should not be a problem, as long as Duchess moved at a quicker pace than wandering. "I can outrun you by walking." Rick told her with a frustrated grunt, Duchess did a short sprint to catch up.

"I have shorter legs than you." She stated simply, now at a jogging pace next to Rick, though he doubted it would last long. There was a long silence that went on for at least a mile before rick noticed her slightly limping. The memory of the conversation between the lady at Petco and Dell, came back into his thoughts.

He slowed to a stop, Duchess coming to one as well, though a few paces ahead of him. "Why are you stopping?" Duchess questioned, a little bit out of breath.
"What happened to your shoulders?" Rick inquired all of a sudden.

Duchess sat down with a huff "You can-"
"Just answer the damn question." He ordered sternly.
She grew quiet for a moment before speaking. "A coyote." She spoke with a dignified tone to her voice "I was attacked, not that it matters." Her tail twitched in agitation of this confrontation. Suppose the coyote broke her shoulders and they just didn't heal correctly, plenty of things could have happened during a coyote attack that could create long-lasting problems.

Rick sighed, shaking his head. "Get on my back and hang on." He lowered himself so she could get on.
"wh-"
"Do it or I will carry you in my mouth." It sounded unpleasant but he couldn't just watch her keep walking when she was in obvious pain. When she did as she was told, Rick rose back up and headed forward at a quicker pace.

They reached town surprisingly earlier than Rick had anticipated he'd arrive with Duchess tagging along. Not taking it for granted he set off to find strays, really any sort of animal he could speak to and get an answer.

Alley by alley he had no luck until it started to enter a neighbourhood; a very poor looking neighbourhood. The houses had paint chipping off the walls as well as some just being abandoned all together, houses with broken windows and torn walls. Perhaps at one point this had been a nice place to live, it looked like it had been once upon a time.

In one yard, Rick saw children's toys scattered around, the elements having worn away the colour of most the items. It almost made him sad to see those toys having been left behind. It was a few houses past, when he came across a dreadfully skinny canine chained to a fence. Duchess shifted on Rick's back upon seeing the dog, obviously uncomfortable while Rick approached the open chain-link gate. The dog didn't seem to see them at first, perhaps they should've taken that for a blessing for when it finally did notice them it bolted upright with a growl, its ears falling back as its lips curled back to reveal their large fangs.

"Easy, I just want to ask you some questions." Rick said to the sickly-looking dog. It seemed as though the owners had left them chained in the yard. Rick couldn't count himself as an animal lover but he knew that it was cruel to just leave an animal like that. "I can free you." He said as Duchess hopped from his back, running to a nearby bush to get further from the snarling dog.
"I don't think they want to talk, Rick." She said in a scared tone. Rick turned his head slightly toward her as she spoke, pausing in his current mission to get information. "Please, let's just go-" before Duchess had the chance to finish speaking a loud snap came from the yard.

Rick's head turned to look at the dog, just in time to see it come crashing into him. Their head rammed into Rick's side, sending him rolling over in the dirt with a yelp before it took off after the cat. He had moments to think before he stood and bolted after the two. Panic surged through his mind as he saw the dog gaining on Duchess, though his lips curled back into a snarl as he found it within himself to move faster.

In these moments, he didn't falter.

The dog's snout just barely touched Duchess, enough to push her over, before Rick pounced on the dog. This sent them both falling with a thud into the dirt. A short tussle sent the other dog yelping away. Rick standing triumphantly in an attack stance, surprisingly he had come out with no terrible wounds besides a few scrapes. His breath was uneven as he turned and walked over to Duchess, who had curled up in the dirt, shivering out of fear. He paused to look at her small form before finally speaking "Hey." he muttered nudging her with his muzzle.
She quickly uncurled to see Rick had won the fight. Perhaps adrenaline got the best of her as she pressed against him for comfort "Thank you, Ranger!"

Rick was caught off guard by the name, not to mention gesture. His head tilted as she caught her mistake and backed away from him "I mean Rick." There was a short pause "Rick." Her tail was tucked between her legs. "Anyone could…mix that up." she muttered an a moment Rick debated on continuing to find his answer, he didn't know if this was a situation where he wouldn't be able to change back after a certain amount of days, but on the other hand Duchess was in bad shape, enough that she no longer knew his name. In the end something forced Rick to retreat.

"Let's go. " She muttered standing and starting to walk forward. His search would have to wait for another day. With a sigh Rick saved his question as to who Ranger was and picked Duchess up by the scruff. She squirmed as he walked back where they had come from. At one point, he just put her down, so she could climb onto his back for the rest of the journey home. It was disheartening that he found nothing of use to him in the hours he had been searching, and that the only animal he had seen nearly ate Duchess. Despite this setback the day had not been uneventful.

As the two approached home, Duchess hopped from Rick's back, walking at a slower pace than him before stopping suddenly. Rick noticed and huffed "You're never going to get anywhere like that, fluff."
She gave him a confused look "Aren't you curious?" she caught up to him as they turned a corner and walked down the long driveway.
"About what? Ranger?" he assumed before shaking his head "Not my business."

Soon enough, they made it to the door, worn out from the walk, as well as the adrenaline rush. Just like the previous time, Duchess hopped onto Rick's back and opened the door. As the two headed in, they pushed it closed and headed their separate ways.

As Rick headed to Dell's bedroom, Duchess headed to the couch, though suddenly hesitated. She looked toward Rick and thought a moment before following after him, following him. She entered the room with nothing more than a pitter as she walked up to him and pawed him on the head softly.

The canine had been quick to curl himself up for some well-deserved shut eye, but was quickly interrupted when Duchess disturbed him. He rose his head enough to get her off "What do you want?" his tone with tired and clearly showed how exasperated he was with the days' activities. Without a word Duchess ducked beneath Rick's chin and stretched as she laid down with him. One paw stretching as far as it would go around his neck as she got comfortable. With a sigh, Rick decided to just leave it be and laid his head back down so he could rest a bit.