Before I start this story, I just wanna make it clear that this story does not take place in the same universe or timeline as Taz-Mania: The Final Chapter and Animaniacs: The Untold Adventure. This is it's own separate story in it's own universe. It has no connections to the previously mentioned stories. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1: An Unsure Path

Rita and Runt have been looking for a permanent home with a promising owner or two for quite a while now. It's not exactly clear how long they've been without a home, but what is known is they have been across much of the United States and even overseas to Europe to find a place to call home. However, they were not in luck and ended up having to leave a short while after. Wherever they'd end up, they'd be forced out due to some kind of unfortunate scenario. There was a lot of factors that would lead to that happening, but most of the time, they just had to leave for their own sakes.

Despite their situation and how frustrating it must have been, the friendship both Rita and Runt had was an amazing one. It may have been an unbreakable one too. And even though Rita was a cat and Runt was a dog, it didn't really matter. As long as they had each other, everything would for the most part, be alright. But even then, they still wanted to find a home, since living stray was not easy and not particularly fun.

It was the late afternoon in an unknown location, presumably somewhere in the outskirts of California. Rita and Runt were digging through a trash can nearby a bus stop somewhere within a small town. They had traveled to so many locations by now and Rita was getting exhausted from it. "You know, sometimes I wonder if we will ever find a home," she sighed, "We've been looking for how long now? It's been too long to even keep track by this point." "It's been forever! Definitely forever!" replied Runt. Rita wasn't particularly surprised by Runt's answer. "Well, it's getting kinda tiring doing all this traveling," said Rita, "We've been through most of the country, we've been to Europe, only to have to leave because of some crazy nutjob or an entire town targeting us! What are we gonna do if we can't find somewhere to stay?" Runt thought about it. "Hmm," he replied, "Well Rita, I heard this thing where a guy said, 'If you find yourself in weird spot, look back at where you started and see the errors you made along the way.' I don't know what it ment, but it sounded important. Definitely! Definitely, important!"

Rita looked at Runt like he had two heads. "I don't know what that means, but whoever that guy was must've left his brain in the attic for a long time before writing whatever poetry that is," said Rita. A map then came out of the trash can. It looked to be a map of the area where the two were at. "This might be helpful Rita," said Runt. Rita looked at the map and noticed where they were on the map. At the ends of the map, there were red arrows indicating where they led to. She then saw an arrow at the bottom right that said Los Angeles. Rita began thinking of the night when they broke out of the pound, as that was not only where they met, but the same location of where they were at the time.

"You look down Rita, what's the matter?" asked Runt. Rita didn't realize she had a bit of a depressed look on her face until Runt said that. "Oh, uhh, nothing," she said. Runt wasn't so sure, "Are you sure Rita? You look like you witnessed a cat steal food from you." Rita sighed, "Just saw a familiar name on this map. It's nothing really." Runt looked at the map, but nothing looked familiar to him, which came as no surprise. Meanwhile, Rita was thinking how she didn't wanna go back to the very place she and Runt started at. Every other area with red arrows they had already been to. Was it worth going back to that area to take another chance?

Just then, an animal control van pulled up and out stepped two individuals. One woman who was short and a man who was tall, both of whom wore animal control uniforms. "Would you look at that?" said the female officer, "We got ourselves some strays!" "Uhh, I can see that very clearly," said the male officer. The female officer rolled her eyes, annoyed that her partner took it literally. "We atta run!" said Runt as he and Rita moved out of the way of their nets and ran. Both animal control officers ran after them.

The two ran down the street, passing by many people. The female officer blew his whistle. "Animal control! Get out of the way! We got runners!" she shouted as she and her partner continued to chase Rita and Runt. "Don't mind her, she's REALLY committed to her job!" said her partner. They continued to chase them for about a minute until they turned a corner and couldn't find them. "Where did they go?" the female officer asked as she looked around with her eyes, "Have it your way, but I'll find you!" She and her partner headed back to the van.

Rita and Runt hid in an alley way. "Are they gone Rita?" asked Runt. "Yeah, I think so Runt," said Rita. "Temporarily," said a voice, which made both the cat and dog jump in surprise. They looked behind them and saw an old dog which looked to be a beagle. "Officer Sharon is not an easy one to avoid," he went on, "She will eventually track you down if you aren't hiding good enough. Her partner Officer Warren isn't much of a worry, or at least he seems to back off of us animals rather easily. But be warned, as long as Officer Sharon knows you are around, not a damn thing is gonna stop her."

"Who are you?" asked Rita. "The name is Ruggles," said the old beagle, "I've been living in this town since the day I was born. I've seen many duos over the years, but boy I have never seen a dog and cat together." "Cat? Cat?! Where's the cat?!" said Runt as he began to look around and growl. "What? Your friend's a cat!" Ruggles said, "Have you not seen a cat before?" Runt stopped and looked at Rita, "Rita? She's no cat, she's a dog. Definitely! Definitely a dog!" Ruggles looked super confused. "Just ignore him," Rita said to the old beagle. Ruggles sighed, "Anyway, what brings you guys out here? Your owners at work and you went to venture out while they did so?"

Rita explained to Ruggles who they were and the journey they've been on. "Strays?" Ruggles said in surprise, "I would have never guessed! I mean, you both look in decent shape. But wow, what a journey you 2 must have been on. My owner and I have been on plenty of adventures, but I'm sure it was nothing compared to that. Where are you guys going to anyway?" "I suppose eh...Los Angeles?" said Rita unsurely, "Or at least around that area." "Oh really?" asked Ruggles, "30 minutes ago, I ran into this dog that said he is from that area and was just staying around here for vacation while his owners were off on their own vacation. I can't remember his name, but he isn't much of a talker, probably because he's around humans all the time. But he did mention this is his last day here." Rita tried thinking of who that could possibly be, but she couldn't think of who. "Eh, doesn't ring a bell," she replied.

"It was good meeting a funny dog like you, but me and Rita gotta go," said Runt. "With Officer Sharon knowing you guys are out and about?" asked Ruggles. "Oh please, this wouldn't be our first time with the law," Rita said. She and Runt then walked out of the alley way. "Well, suit yourselves," said Ruggles.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 1 published 6/8/23)