Pet Quartet (ch16)

Yes, a bit of fun after the drama!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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											Chapter 16. An Exciting Day

Yang's jaws were wide open, her tongue lolling out as she panted in a hyperactive manner. Ruby was crawling up over one of the seats so she could peer out the car door more easily to see beyond her big, golden friend. Weiss and Blake were understandably much less enthused about all of this.

"Dogs!" Weiss was wailing. "Dogs, of all things! They're even worse than cats! No offense, Blake."

"None taken," she grunted. "Why would they take us to a dog park?"

"It's not just a dog park!" Yang barked. "Look, look! There are all kinds of animals around here! The dogs are just the biggest ones! Come on out and look!" She jumped out of the car and landed in the soft, warm grass, and instantly started running around in excited circles.

Blake waited for Ruby to climb up onto her back and for Weiss to perch on her shoulder so she could carry them down. The humans seemed like they were going to stay there and wait in the car until it was time to go. The woman crouched down to talk to Blake and the smaller two specifically.

"If there's any trouble, have Yang call for us. I know this place looks big and scary, so if you don't want to go play, you don't have to."

It was at her words when they all realized that this little adventure was probably meant for Yang specifically. She'd been harboring a lot of energy the past few weeks, only so much of which could be expended by chasing a ball around the yard a few times. Now that she had a giant open field to run around in and plenty of other dogs to play with, she could burn off some of that energy at long last.

"But," the woman went on. "I think there are a few friends here you should be familiar with. So go say hello."

When she was finished, Blake crept through the grass towards Yang, her eyes wide as she surveyed the huge park. She could feel Ruby and Weiss huddled together on her back, both nervous and excited. Yang was still running in circles, pausing only briefly to sniff at a patch of grass or a nearby rock, then starting her circles all over again.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" she yipped. "This! Is! So! Cool! I can't believe they took us here! This is awesome! I haven't been to one of these since I was a puppy!"

Blake's hackles were still raised, and she could feel Weiss' talons curling into her fur and could assume he feathers were ruffled. But when they saw Yang looking so excited and happy, both their hearts melted.

Ruby had already slipped off Blake's back and scurried over to Yang to climb up onto her, getting a better view of the park from the somewhat higher perch.

"Whoa! You were right, Yang! It's not just dogs! Blake, Weiss, look!" She was pointing her tail up ahead into the field. The cat and bird peered out through the grass to see.

At first glance, being animals that were typically prey to dogs, the canines were all they could see. But once they looked harder, there were a few surprises thrown into the mix.

Some of the smaller 'dogs' weren't dogs at all. There were actually a few cats here as well, most of which had curled up beneath the trees in groups, resting either in the shade or the sunlight based on preference.

Blake's ears perked up when she saw them dozing together and grooming one another, all of them relaxing without a care in the world. Briefly, she wondered how they could all be so calm with all these dogs around.

She got her answer when a loud, pesky terrier darted up to a group of them. The cats all turned on it and started growling in warning. But they didn't chase it off.

To Blake's astonishment, a handful of other dogs came rushing to defend the cats, shooing the terrier away. She watched in shock as the dogs each went to a certain cat to affectionately groom or talk to them. Blake's tail swished.

"Huh... I guess Yang's not the only dog who likes cats..."

As she was watching this heartwarming scene unfold, Weiss was busy looking to the trees. There were all kinds of birds around here, some wild and some pets. There were brown sparrows and green parrots and white cockatiels.

But by far the most ostentatious birds was a pair of macaw and parrot. Weiss' eyes widened when she recognized the chatty pair they'd encountered back at the vet a few months ago.

"Hey! That's Sun and Neptune!"

"Really?" Ruby piped. "Where?" As she looked around, she noticed a few other peculiar animals as well. There were a couple groundhogs waddling around, as well as some rabbits, and even a few pigs. And when she squinted, she could even spot a few other mice. "Oh wow! This place is amazing! Come on, come on! Let's go say hi to everyone!"

"You said it!" With Yang's agreeing bark, she carried Ruby off into the grass at top speed, bound for the other animals. Blake and Weiss hesitated. The cat's tail flicked uncertainly as she looked up at Weiss, and the bird twittered nervously as she looked down at Blake.

"Well?" Blake sighed. "Shall we?"

"I suppose..." She remained sitting in between Blake's ears as the cat treaded much more slowly after their companions. To Weiss' surprise, and slight flattery, it wasn't long before the two familiar birds caught sight of her. Sun, the yellow parrot, had been chasing the blue macaw Neptune around in an aerial game of tag when he spotted her.

"Oh, hey!" Sun squawked. "We know you! You're that canary from the vet's office!"

"I'm not a canary," Weiss corrected him from her perch. "But yes, we have met before."

"Sweet!" Neptune glided down with Sun behind him, and together they perched on a small bush nearby. Blake lifted her chin to them in greeting.

"It's good to see you guys again. How are things going?"

"Oh, y'know," Sun shrugged. "Same old, same old. Been chatting with a raven and an old crow a lot recently."

"You don't say," Weiss replied.

As the three birds began chatting idly, Blake took her leave from them and headed off for a cat nap. The other felines there welcomed her with amiable waves of their tails. A couple of queens invited her over to lay down between them, and they quickly got to grooming her.

Blake sighed as she relaxed under their careful treatment. While she loved and appreciated Yang's grooming, nothing could really compare to the smaller, gentler, and much drier tongues of her fellow felines.

A little ways across the field, Ruby had hopped off of Yang's head and scuttled over to a gathering of field mice, rabbits, and other smaller mammals. Even Coco and Velvet were there. The ferret was incredibly defensive of the rabbit, but Velvet kept reassuring her that there was nothing to worry about here.

Yang had run off to play with the other dogs, which varied in breeds and sizes. She took a few excited moments to take in all of the scents, some new, some familiar. She traced a few in particular to a group she knew very well.

"Hey! Pyrrha! It's me!"

The chestnut-colored Great Dane had been lying peacefully in the sunlight with her companions all around her when she instantly perked up at Yang's call.

"Yang? Oh, it's so grand to see you! Jaune, Nora, Ren, Yang is here!"

Respectively, the yellow terrier, cream-colored pomeranian, and the black poodle sat up from where they'd been napping and playing together. Together, the four of them scampered over to greet their retriever friend. They bumped noses and licked foreheads, all while their tails wagged wildly.

Once they'd settled down just a bit, they decided to play a game of tag. Despite her size against the larger dogs, Nora was rather speedy, enough to weave between Pyrrha's legs and climb up onto Ren's back in order to avoid being tagged. Jaune, however, was much less fortunate, and was left panting and whining as he tried to keep up. It wasn't long before he collapsed into the grass and wheezed a declaration of defeat.

"All right, guys... that's it for me... never running again..."

"Noooo!" Nora howled, pouncing on top of him. "Jaune, don't go toward the light!"

As Jaune struggled to kick her off, Ren trotted over to pick Nora up by the scruff and remove her.

"I think we could all do with a rest," he advised.

"You're right," Pyrrha panted. "But that was a lot of fun!"

"I'll say!" Yang's tongue was lolling out as she bounded back over to them and settled herself down.

Everyone enjoyed themselves that day. While the dogs played, the cats napped. While the mice gossiped, the birds sang chittered.

At one point, Sun, Neptune, and several other birds glided around to all the different mammals to tell them of a special event that was about to happen. Once everyone had perked up their ears and tuned in, they could hear a small, melodious sound.

All of the songbirds, Weiss included, had gathered atop the tallest tree and started up a chorus of music. Their voices sounded like a hundred little raindrops had synched up into a calming tune.

They sang until the sun went down, and all the humans came over to bring everyone home.

Yang was the first to rouse herself when Pyrrha's and Nora's humans came to bring the group of dogs home. They said their goodbyes before Yang headed off to find Blake. She was curled up in a pile of all the remaining cats, sleeping soundly. With a soft lick, Yang woke her. Blake stretched herself out and said farewell to the other cats before following the retriever across the grass.

Ruby had fallen asleep a short while ago on the back of a brown pot-bellied pig. Blake carefully picked her up and deposited her onto Yang's back.

Finally, the birds dispersed and went their separate ways. As the others flew off, Weiss flittered down to her four-legged flock. Her throat was a little sore from all the singing, but she felt happier than ever that she'd gotten to sing with a chorus for all of her friends to enjoy.

They could already see their humans approaching, ready to take them back home.

It had been a long, exciting day, and they were all ready to nap in the car ride back, and then curl up for bed right away once they got home.

At the end of the day, even the animals who'd been having doubts about coming here at first ended up having more fun than they'd ever expected.

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A/N: Some much-deserved fun times!