Pet Quartet (ch21)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!

Gosh, some of you are very salty toward Adam, huh? Even as a kitty cat!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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												Chapter 21. A Dangerous Fight

Every single hair on Blake's body stood on-end as she faced the cat in front of her now. Her heart thudded hard in her chest, so hard it made her feel like she was going to be sick.

Adam stood there in the darkness, orange eyes burning with hunger. Equally terrifying eyes glazed all around him from the shadows. Adam took a step forward, and Blake took one back.

"Adam- wh-why are you doing this-?"

"You know why, Blake," he hissed. "I told you this wasn't over. Not until I've made you understand the consequences of deserting me."

"Then hurt me!" Blake begged. "Leave my friends alone! Let Penny go!"

But Adam just shook his head slowly and purred.

"Oh, Blake. Don't you see? The best way to hurt you is through them." He flicked his tail, a signal Blake recognized as an order to advance. The cats and dogs all around her yard began prowling closer, and she heard the shriek of a hawk somewhere overhead. She looked back to the door again, but Adam's guards were standing firmly at their post, teeth bared. She looked back to her old friend with beseeching eyes.

"Adam, please… don't do this."

But he didn't even budge. He just narrowed his eyes.

"You gave me no choice, Blake."

"Bullcrap!" came a bark from Yang. "You had plenty of choices, and you chose this? You could've lived all by yourself and minded your own business!"

"She's right!" Weiss chimed in, though Blake could tell she was watching the skies for that hawk. "You must be the pettiest creature alive if you couldn't even let Blake go live her own life! You just had to make it all about you, right? Well guess what; you're just going to have to get over yourself!"

"Big words for such a small snack," Adam growled.

But Weiss didn't budge.

"You don't scare me, you coward."

"Or me!" Ruby squeaked, standing up on her hind legs. The slight breeze blew her cape out behind her. "Now let Penny go!"

Adam scoffed and shook his head.

"You just don't get it. No matter. I like my food with a little life still in it. I'll show you all what fear is." He looked up to the dog who still had Penny dangling in his jaws and smirked. "Do it."

Blake whirled around, paws itching to jump, but she couldn't. She just froze.

She watched as the dog curled its lips in a smirk and opened its mouth a bit to prepare to bite down with all his might. But just before he could-

"Noooooo-!"

A tiny bundle of brown and red hurled itself at the dog's muzzle. Ruby latched onto his nose and used her tiny claws to scratch him with all her might. At the same time, Weiss flew up in his face, beating her wings over his eyes to confuse him.

Yelping, the dog opened his mouth to whine, and Penny rolled out into the grass. Yang instantly leapt forward to shield her, no longer needing to hold back against the other dog now. She lunged at his neck and gave a few warning snaps, showing that she wouldn't be afraid to bite harder if she had to. With all three of them attacking at once, the dog stumbled back and tripped, then quickly tore off into the night. Blake heard Adam hiss after him.

"Worthless mutt!"

Behind her, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss were crowding around Penny now.

"Penny!" Ruby cried. "Are you okay? Talk to me!"

The skunk moaned and opened her black eyes weakly. She shuddered.

"Ruby…?"

Yang sniffed her over.

"I don't smell blood. He must not have bitten down too hard."

"He wanted her alive," Weiss surmised. "So she could draw us outside. Into this."

Penny coughed weakly.

"I'm… so sorry…"

"Don't be," Blake called back to her, though her eyes stayed on Adam. "None of this is your fault, Penny."

"You're right," Adam said simply. "This is no one's fault but yours, Blake. You're going to get all of them killed tonight."

"Oh yeah?" Yang snarled. "Not if we wake up every human on the block!" With that, she began to bark as loudly as she could. Blake quickly joined in and started yowling.

Adam's ears went flat.

"Cowards! Trying to have humans fight your battles for you?" He raised his tail, circled it, and then whipped it forward. "Attack!"

At his command, the bushes burst alive. Blake's cry was cut off as a pair of cats tackled her into the grass. She felt the air get knocked right out of her, felt their claws already sinking into her body. After she'd left Adam's clan, she'd never used her claws for violence again. But now she had no choice.

She had always been one of his best fighters, and she was about to remind him of that fact tonight.

With a snarl, she tore herself from under them, knocking one cat off his back legs and into the other one. She bit a foreleg, heard a shriek, then bowled her weight into one of their flanks. The two toppled over each other into the grass, but Blake didn't have time to chase them off.

Instantly, more cats were upon her, streaking in over the grass at high speeds. Blake only managed a short run before they caught her. She had no choice but to use her claws and teeth now, slicing at their faces and ears, chomping down on the ends of their tails.

She felt plenty of searing pain shoot through her body as they did the same things to her, but the fury coursing through her at this ambush - at this attack on her friends - fueled her power. She screamed and hissed and slashed like Adam had taught her to, though she only just barely managed to control herself and not aim for vital spots. Past her own chaos, she could catch glimpses of the others.

"Go!" Adam was shouting. "Taking down the dog is our top priority!"

Yang crouched over the three smaller animals in the grass and barked furiously enough to fend off the attackers for a moment. All of the cats froze in fear at the size of her teeth, and even the other dogs looked hesitant. Yang snarled as loud as she could.

"Stay back, you flea-bitten furballs!"

"Attack!" Adam yowled again. "There's only one of her and how many of you? Go!"

At his orders, a few of the animals charged. Yang snapped at the cats frightened them away, but they only got out of range before coming in again. Adam's army had been trained to fight dogs and creatures much bigger than themselves - that was for sure.

Yang reared up on her back legs and slammed her front paws down on the ground, demonstrating her weight and bulk. She kicked away a couple more cats, then struck a blow across another dog's face, still managing to keep them at bay for the moment.

"Ruby! Weiss!" she said above the din of the fray. "Get Penny out of here and the three of you hide!"

"But where?!" Ruby wailed. "The porch and the house are blocked off, and there are cats everywhere!"

"We aren't leaving you, Yang!" Weiss protested.

Yang grunted as she tackled another cat into the grass.

"Yes you are!" With a sudden sweep of her tail, she gathered all three of them into her long fur, then pushed them into the nearby bushes. All of the attacking animals were guarding their exits or fighting, so they had a clear path for a moment.

"Go!" Yang barked.

Now without having to worry about them underneath her, she could fight more roughly. She charged at the oncoming ranks of cats and spooked them back a bit, then rounded on the dogs that came from behind, snapping and scratching.

Weiss watched from the undergrowth, but understood this was better for Yang to be able to fight back. She looked over Penny and Ruby, who were both shaken, but the skunk was finally getting her bearings back as she got up onto all fours.

"Penny?" Ruby piped. "A-Are you okay?"

"Yes…" she murmured. "Just a little sore… But I know somewhere we can hide. Follow me."

The skunk took off limping as quickly as she could with Ruby at her side, and Weiss flitting just overhead. Penny was leading them off toward the neighbor's yard, and luckily for them, the cats and dogs all seemed to be focused on Blake and Yang for the moment.

But Ruby hated to leave them alone. She kept glancing back over her shoulder, not paying attention to what was going on around her…

"Look out!"

Weiss' sudden warning was followed quickly by a small pressure on Ruby's back. Weiss pushed her down into the tall grass, bounced off her, then spread her wings wide and suddenly took off. Seconds later, a huge gust of wind nearly bowled Ruby over. She heard Penny shriek and felt tiny teeth in her scruff, pulling her away. Ruby shook her head and looked up. It was so dark she could barely see. Weiss was gone.

"Weiss?!" Ruby shrieked and huddled up against Penny, trembling.

For a moment, she only heard the sounds of the bigger animals fighting.

Then, there was a tiny flash of white through the air.

Weiss flew as quickly and as hard as she could, zipping through tree branches and around the side of the house. She could hear the loud, heavy flapping of wings behind her, and then a horrifying screech. She didn't dare to look bad, only down as she darted across the sky. She could see that Ruby and Penny were unharmed.

Weiss dropped down low out of the hawk's path for an instant to call to them.

"Go!"

Ruby stood up on her back legs to reply.

"Weiss! Come with us!"

But Weiss arched away as the hawk gained on her. She backflipped over him and ended up at his tail, leaving him to chase nothing.

"I'll be fine! This guy is no good in the dark!" She was just glad it wasn't an owl.

As the hawk screeched and rounded on her again, Weiss turned and took off, using her smaller size to her advantage. Now that she was in the air, she could keep an eye on the others. She called out warnings to them as she went.

"Yang, on your left! Blake, watch your tail!"

All the while she evaded the hawk, taking brief shelter in the bushes or trees whenever she lost sight of him. But he was always on her again before long, curling those huge talons right at her. Weiss continued flying, but stuck to her yard so she could help her friends.

But this allowed the hawk to begin predicting her patterns. Before too long, Weiss was finding he was gaining on her, little by little…

Ruby whimpered as she had no choice but to turn and leave Weiss and the others now. Penny still looked woozy, so she made it her goal to protect her no matter what.

"Come on! The others are buying us time, so let's use it!"

"Should we go find help?" Penny asked, bounding along with her toward the neighbor's yard. "I don't think any humans have woken up yet…"

"Hm… Maybe we could-"

But Ruby cut off with a loud gasp as a familiar scent reached her nose.

Two scents, actually.

The shadows beside her shifted and revealed two pairs of eyes. Ruby bristled and backed up against Penny to defend her as Emerald and Mercury slunk out into view.

Their beady black eyes gleamed in the night, and their yellow teeth flashed in the shadows.

"Well, well, well," Emerald chuckled. "We meet again, Ruby."

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A/N: Gosh, it was actually really fun (don't kill me pls) to write this chapter because I knew I'd be cutting it off on yet another cliffhanger. The gang is all separated now...