Hoppy kicked a soccer ball up and down on her knee, a wide grin on her face.
she wore a bright pink and blue friendship bracelet and a yellow lightning bolt pendant.
"how do you do that?" Dogday asked, sitting on the bleachers a few feet away.
he wore a bright purple ribbon around his tail, golden sun dangle earrings and an orange & yellow sun pendant.
"it just takes practice, its pretty easy" Hoppy replied, still kicking the ball.
"Hoppy!" someone then yelled from behind her.
the rabbit critter kicked the ball high and caught it with both hands before she turned to look in the voices direction with Dogday.
"its so good to see you!" the owner of the voice squealed, hugging her tight.
he was a preteen bright blue raccoon critter with dark blue stripes. he wore a gray short jumpsuit with long sleeves and gray leg warmers.
"Ryan! what are you doing here?" Hoppy asked, pulling out of the hug.
"we-" he paused to pull out a twig from his tail.
"we came to visit!" the raccoon critter, Ryan replied.
"where's dad, mama and River?" Hoppy asked.
"they're back at your house! its the shed right?" Ryan queried.
"oh boy" Hoppy muttered, her mood instantly dampening.
"Sun-" a preteen orange & yellow dog critter with a light blue tail called out as she ran over, pausing when she saw Ryan.
she was a german shepard dog critter with the yellow on her paws and lower half of her face wearing a yellow bandana with white flower petal and a sun embroidery.
"what are they doing here!?" the preteen dog critter and Ryan yelled in unison.
"what do you mean?" Hoppy asked as Ryan walked past her and the preteen dog critter walked closer until they were standing on either side of Dogday.
"I'm visiting my sister!" Ryan spoke before letting out a loud bark at the preteen dog critter.
"well I'm visiting my brother!" the preteen dog critter replied before giving a similar bark back.
"Petal! Ryan! why are you fighting?" Dogday asked as he stood up.
"hes my enemy!" the preteen dog critter, Petal yelled. "shes my rival!" Ryan yelled.
"okay, but why are you enemies? or rivals?" Hoppy asked, coming to stand next to Ryan.
"they betrayed me!" the preteens said in unison.
"I? betrayed you? you little fibber!" Petal protested.
"jerkward"
"ugly"
"behemoth"
"stupid"
"dalcop"
"son of a-"
"okay break it up! break it up!" Dogday spoke, pushing them farther away from each other.
"why are you fighting?" Hoppy questioned, crossing her arms.
"he betrayed me" Petal grumbled.
"yes, I got that. but how did he betray you?" the teenage dog critter asked.
Petal and Ryan scowled at each other before turning away from each other.
"so, what happened?" Hoppy asked, scratching her chin.
Ryan then walked away into the bushes, disappearing in the leaves.
"are you going to explain?" Dogday asked, turning to his sister.
"hmph" Petal replied before walking back the way she came.
"well this is going to take a while" Dogday thought aloud, his shoulders slumping.
"yep" Hoppy agreed, nodding her head.
"why are you waiting outside my door?" Kickin' asked, standing in the front doorway of the shed he called his house.
he wore an oversized darkish yellow collared buttoned jacket. standing in front of him was a dark green adult rabbit critter, a dark blue and black adult raccoon critter and a darkish blue and very dark blue preteen raccoon critter.
the adult rabbit critter wore a bright red t-shirt with a single white stripe down each sleeve and a big eight on the back.
the adult raccoon critter wore a simple black capelet.
the preteen raccoon critter wore a beige jumpsuit with disconnected sleeves.
"wait, is this Hoppys house? we're her parents and stepbrother" the adult raccoon critter explained.
"oh. no, this isn't her house. her house is over there" Kickin' replied, pointing to the hill opposite to his where a carrot shaped house stood.
"thank you!" the preteen raccoon critter squeaked before running off in the direction of the opposite hill.
"thanks kid. Kickin' right?" the adult rabbit critter said.
"no, I'm Albert" Kickin' replied in a weird posh accent.
both adults looked at him with confusion and slight disgust for a moment.
"yeah I'm Kickin'" the chicken critter continued in his normal voice before shutting the door on them.
the darkish blue and dark blue preteen raccoon critter slid down the hill to Kickin's house with a smile on his face.
"River!" Ryan called out as he ran over, stopping next to a thin tree.
"Ryan! why do you seem so low?" the darker colored preteen critter, River asked.
"I saw Petal" Ryan grumbled.
"Petal? who is that again? is she the one you have a crush on?" River asked with genuine curiosity.
"no! you're thinking of Tom tusuki. Petal is my rival" Ryan replied.
"why is she your rival?" River asked.
"she betrayed me" Ryan replied, nodding his head once as he looked away.
"betrayed you how?" River questioned.
"oh hello. what brings you two here?" Picky asked as she walked over.
she wore a desaturated green bandana around her neck with the knot in the front and a red apple pendant.
"our stepsister lives here" River replied.
"oh? who's your stepsister?" Picky asked.
"Hoppy hopscotch!" Ryan replied.
"w-why did you say her full name?" River questioned, to which his brother shrugged.
"oh, Hoppy never mentioned having siblings" Picky commented.
"neither did Bubba but he's friends with his sister" River replied.
"River!" Ryan yelled, spooking both Picky and River.
"sorry! sorry! brother! looks like I'm still getting used to it" River apologized.
"okay..." Picky muttered.
"wait. aren't you Ziggys sister?" Ryan questioned.
"oh, yeah. how's he doing?" Picky queried.
"he's doing good. at least from what I can tell. he's giving me sewing lessons" Ryan replied.
"oh. your still here" someone said from nearby.
all three critters turned to see Petal standing there with her arms crossed.
"of course I am. I'm visiting my sister" Ryan replied, his mood instantly changing at the sight of her.
"well I'm visiting my brother. I'm sure your sister can deal with you leaving earlier then the rest of your family one time" Petal scoffed.
"hi Petal" Picky waved, recognizing the dog critter.
"well why don't you do that?" Ryan retorted, his paws on his hips.
Petal stood there looking visibly stun and deeply hurt before scowling, shoving him aside as she walked past.
"that was just too far" Picky stated.
"why?" River asked as Ryan watched Petal enter the most normal looking house belonging in the small village and slam the door.
"Petal visits every month. you know why? because there's no other family else to visit Dogday" Picky replied, looking at Ryan disapprovingly.
"oh" was all Ryan could say, looking down in shame.
Dogday stood between a TV and a long couch in a small barn. Crafty, Bubba, Bobby and Kickin' sat on the couch while Picky and Catnap stood behind it.
"okay, Petals at my house and Hoppys giving her family a tour of her house. the problem here is apparently Petal and Ryan, Hoppys step brother, have some huge rivalry" Dogday explained.
"honestly it isn't too bad except for that family comment" Picky commented.
"what was it?" Kickin' asked.
"Ryan asked why Petal couldn't just leave while the rest of Dogdays family stays. he quickly went and apologized for that after I explained the situation to him" Picky replied.
"oh that is bad. so why do they have a rivalry?" Bubba asked.
he wore a yellow and dark blue light bulb pendant, and a brightly colored fabric anklet on his left leg. along with that, he had the beginning of a tattoo right below his right eye and a scar hidden under the anklet.
"that's the thing. I don't know! both of them refuse to explain. we'll have to sort this out without knowing. any ideas?" Dogday queried.
"what about a sword fight?" Crafty asked, shocking everyone in the room.
she wore a simple pale yellow buttoned dress lined with white fabric while her cyan mane was tied in a low ponytail by a clip matching her rainbow flower pendant.
"no!" "what the heck!?" "why would you suggest that!?" "that's so messed up" "they're children!" "nuh uh"
"it was just a suggestion! I saw lots when I was younger" Crafty replied to all of them.
"how about we just try to get them to tell us so we can sort it all out together?" Bobby suggested.
she wore a dark red headband, a darkish red buttoned up t-shirt and a red heart pendant.
"tried that. Petal just tried to call Hoppys stepmom the wrong type of critter" Dogday replied.
"what did she try to say?" Kickin' asked.
"'son of a b-tch" Dogday quoted.
"Dogday, that is a much worse insult to non-dog critter culture" Bubba replied, twitching his tail.
"I think Petal knows that too" Crafty added, holding back a laugh.
"any other suggestions?" Dogday asked.
"pull it out of them" Catnap replied, giving a creepy smile. he wore a darkish purple hoodie, black shorts and a yellow moon pendant.
"no!" "what the heck!?" "why would you suggest that!?" "that's so messed up" "they're children!" "which one?"
"Crafty why are you like this?" Bubba whispered to Crafty, only confusing the unicorn critter.
"like what?" Crafty whispered back.
"oh my goodness" he muttered.
"hey Hoppy! your bathrooms boring!" Ryan shouted down from the entrance to Hoppys bathroom, which was at the top of a staircase. for some reason.
"its a bathroom! what do you expect? a whole pirate ship?" Hoppy replied from where she was talking to her dad on the couch.
"yar me hearty! go swab the deck" River joked from the kitchen.
"its my house! you go swab the deck!" Hoppy laughed back.
"Hops. did I forget to teach you manners? that's not how you treat your guests" her dad replied.
Hoppy burst out laughing at that, followed by everyone else.
Ryan quickly stopped when he felt himself wheezing for air.
"I'm gonna go get some fresh air" he quietly announced to the room, pulling out his asthma reliever as he came down the stairs.
"okay. be back once your feeling better okay?" his mama replied from the kitchen, immediately knowing why he was heading outside.
he left the carrot shaped house before using the asthma reliever in his paw.
as he did so, he shoved his free paw in his pocket while leaning back slightly against the wall.
"oh great. your still here" Petal grumbled from where she was sitting on the grass next to Dogdays house.
"so are you" Ryan replied, finishing clearing up his breathing.
"I f-cking hate you" Petal growled.
"what 'cha gonna do b-tch?" Ryan smirked.
"you do realize I'm not my brother right? I know that's a swear word to non-dog critters. b-tch" Petal replied.
"I'm gonna go back inside" Ryan scowled as he opened the door.
"traitor!" Petal barked at him.
"it was one time!" he called back before slamming the door shut.
"what was one time?" Hoppy asked.
"none of your rings" Ryan responded.
"did you talk to Petal again?" River asked.
"yeah" Ryan replied as he sat down at the dining table.
"I really don't understand why you hate her so much. she seems like a really nice kid" his mama said from the kitchen.
"shes also a stupid idiot" Ryan grumbled.
"didn't you two used to be friends?" Henry asked.
"they were?" Hoppy questioned.
"hey are the cookies done?" Ryan asked, changing the topic.
"I think I should be heading back to the orphanage now. bye everyone!" Petal announced, standing up from the duck, duck goose circle.
"nuh uh, your not leaving until you tell us why you hate Hoppys stepbrother so much!" Bobby declared, blocking the preteen critters path.
Petal sighed before reaching up and whispering something in Bobbys ear, shocking her.
"thats it!? a dodgeball game!?" Booby cried out, absolutely shocked.
"he betrayed me" Petal insisted, crossing her arms.
"he hit you in the knee with a dodgeball while you were on the same team. that's not betrayal, that's just stupidity" Bobby deadpanned, her paws on her hips.
"oh my Gris that's so stupid" Catnap whispered.
"eh, I've seen kids be mad over smaller stuff" Kickin' shrugged.