Pet Quartet (ch11)

Glad you guys guessed who the skunk was! I'll say some of you got it right! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 11. A Friendly Skunk

"A what?!"

"A skunk?"

"What's a skunk doing in our yard?"

As the others reacted in confusion, Blake flicked her tail and lifted her nose a bit, daring to inhale. There was a faint stench on the wind, but nothing nearly as bad as it could've been. Blake had been around animals that had gotten fully sprayed before, and this was nothing by comparison.

As Blake considered what could be done about the intruder, Ruby was voicing her own thoughts again.

"Maybe he's just hungry."

"Aren't they all?" Weiss sighed. "But he's not in the garden."

"That's good!" Yang barked. "At least he's not stealing the veggies and stuff. I don't think we gotta be hostile. Maybe he's just passing through."

"I agree," Blake nodded. "And besides, everyone knows that scaring or angering a skunk won't end well for us. Let's be calm about this."

They proceeded with amiable caution through the grass. Weiss perched herself on Yang's head, though she was ready to fly at the slightest hint of a raised tail. The retriever stayed at the back of the group, as not to startle their guest, and to keep her more sensitive nose as far out of range as possible.

Blake kept in front of her, believing it best to send Ruby – the friendliest and least intimidating of the bunch – out in front. But the cat was sure to keep close behind her, in case something went awry.

The mouse scrunched her nose a bit as she approached the strange animal digging in the grass. The skunk had a black head and flanks, but almost all of the back and fluffy tail were white.

Ruby crawled up slowly, circling around to stop next to the other animal, rather than behind it. She swished her thin tail and cleared her throat as she sat up on her back legs.

"Um, hi there."

Evidently, the skunk had been so focused on grazing the little flowers in the grass that it hadn't even smelled the other animals until now. With a start, the skunk jumped and spun around to face them, tail raised high. But just as the others all flinched and waited for the worst, the skunk surprised them not with a hostile voice, but a friendly one.

"Oh! Well, sal~u~tations!"

Aside from the fact that the skunk probably wasn't going to spray them – at least not right away – the others noticed one more thing. She was definitely female. The natural defensive smell had masked the scent of her sex, but now Blake could tell by her voice. She did her best not to be rude and opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello, there. How do you do?"

The skunk whipped around to face the others, evidently only having noticed Ruby until now. As she moved, the others noticed she had one patch of fur on her flank that was oddly rust-colored.

"Oh, wow!" the sunk said. "There's a whole bunch of you! I'm fine, thanks for asking! It was very nice of you to ask."

Ruby was clearly already warming up to the friendly creature. She moved a step closer, her whiskers lifting in a smile.

"We live here!" she announced.

The skunk blinked her little black eyes.

"Oh! Then I guess it must've been your guys' scent I was catching earlier. I was a bit confused because I couldn't figure out which kind of animal it was. Now I see it was four different kinds!" Suddenly she gasped, lifting her tail again, making the others flinch. But again, it was just a shocked reaction, not a threat to spray them. "Oh no! I'm not trespassing, am I?"

Weiss had been about to say something – likely an affirmation to the skunk's words – but Ruby was quicker.

"Not at all! As long as you don't eat our humans' food that they're growing in the garden, you can pass through here!"

"Oh, no!" the skunk reassured. "I haven't gone anywhere near the garden! I promise! I like eating flowers the most!" To demonstrate, she picked up a tiny purple blossom in her claws and popped it into her jaws to chew. The others all watched her curiously, ears perked and eyes wide.

"Flowers..." Weiss murmured. "That's a first."

"I think it's adorable!" Yang barked, tail already wagging again, though her nose was a bit scrunched.

As the skunk finished her snack, she put a paw to her mouth and swallowed.

"Oh, right! My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you all!"

The others all smiled awkwardly, save for Ruby who wore a genuine grin.

"Hi there, Penny! I'm Ruby!" The mouse looked expectantly around to the rest of her companions. Blake stopped holding her breath and added her name.

"My name is Blake," she said quickly.

Penny nodded, then looked up at Weiss. The bird titled her head a bit, then shook herself off as though steeling herself.

"I'm Weiss."

At last they all turned to Yang. The retriever was clearly trying not to use her nose, and her friends knew it would be most difficult for her to speak to the skunk. Even though she hadn't sprayed their yard or anything near it, there was still a constant, faded scent that followed the skunk around.

But Penny's eyes were patient and innocent, and she curled her tail lightly around her paws as she awaited the introduction. Yang swallowed and did her best to smile.

"Hey, there! I'm Yang!"

Weiss whistled a bit of a laugh from her perch atop Yang's head, rather impressed that the dog hadn't coughed or sneezed in the middle of her words.

With everyone introduced, Penny sat up on her haunches, lifting her front two paws up off the ground as she sniffed the air.

"Just let me make sure I've got this right," she said. "Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang! Is that right?" she wondered, pointing her nose at each of them in turn.

Ruby nodded.

"Yup! You got it!"

"Oooh!" Penny cried. "Then allow me to thank you all!" Without so much as a warning, she scampered across the few feet of distance between herself and Ruby and threw her forearms around the reddish mouse. The others watched, baffled, but not necessarily alarmed. Ruby squeaked as she was pulled into a hug against Penny's soft belly, feeling the skunk's fluffy tail wrapping around her back.

"U-Uh..." Yang was wagging her tail now. "Seems like you made a friend, Ruby!"

At that, Penny seemed to become even more animated than before.

"Really?" she gasped. "Can I be your friend?" She let go of Ruby so the mouse could shake herself off a bit. She fixed her whiskers, then smiled up at Penny.

"Yeah! I'd love to be your friend, Penny!"

The skunk squeaked and pulled Ruby into another hug, waving her tail enthusiastically. Yang stepped forward to bump the skunk with her nose in a benevolent way. Blake and Weiss were a bit hesitant to touch the skunk just yet, but they offered happy words and purrs.

By the time Penny was finished with hugging Ruby, the mouse was frazzled, but she laughed happily. Yang gave her a lick to smooth her fur. Penny was very nearly bubbling with joy.

"I can't believe I made a friend today!" she said.

"More than one!" Yang put in for her. Penny gave another delighted squeak. Weiss chose to stay on her perch on Blake's shoulder now as she addressed the skunk.

"So," she began. "Are you new to this neighborhood?"

Penny blinked up at her and nodded.

"Yes! I've been wandering for a while, but I'd hoped to find someplace I can call home." Looking around the yard full of flowers, she sniffed. "Do you think... it would be okay if I lived here...? I want to ask first because it is your territory, right?"

The other four were still for a moment, sharing puzzled looks. Weiss addressed them in a hushed voice.

"As much as I'd hate to smell that stench every day, it could do us well to have a skunk nearby. It might help keep pesky intruders away."

"And," Ruby added. "Our yard has lots of flowers she likes."

Yang nodded and wagged her tail.

"And in cold months she could hibernate under the porch!"

They all looked to Blake. She was the first animal to live on this property, so it was a bit of an unspoken rule that her word about these sort of things was law. The cat was thinking carefully about all of this, considering all her friends had said.

"I think it should be fine. Only..." She flashed a glance down the lawn and across the street. The others immediately knew her worries. Penny was sitting on her haunches, waiting nervously for a verdict from them. Blake decided to be the spokesanimal.

"Penny," she began. "We all think our yard would make a great home for you. The flowers grow back quickly and there's a lot of shelter under the porch and in the bushes. Our humans are also very kind to animals. If they see you aren't causing trouble or spraying excessively, they'll probably let you stay."

Penny perked up hopefully and nodded.

"Yes, of course! I only ever spray for self-defense! Though some animals have told me before I'm a little smelly even without meaning to be..."

"That's fine," Blake said. "That should help prevent unwelcome guests from bothering you. But I do have to warn you..." She lowered her voice to a growl, and Penny understood this was a serious matter. The skunk moved in closer to listen as Blake continued.

"There's this tomcat... he likes to harass us a lot. He causes a lot of trouble around here. We just don't want him to hurt you..." She twitched her whiskers and looked up at Penny's face.

But rather than be startled by this news, she seemed rather relieved.

"Oh, is that all it is?" Penny sighed. "That's all right! I've dealt with a lot of mean creatures before. Even bears!"

"Bears?" Yang gaped.

"Yup!" Penny said proudly. "I'm combat-ready! I can take on anyone! Don't worry about me! And hopefully with me here from now on, that mean cat won't bother you guys either!"

Blake's ears flicked and she gave a small purr.

"Let's hope so."

Ruby scurried up to hug Penny again.

"Welcome to our yard!"

"Thank you, Ruby! I'll be sure to take good care of it! For now, I'll start collecting twigs for a nest!" With a friendly wave of her tail, Penny scampered off into the bushes.

The others watched her go, a bit baffled at what had just happened. Weiss was the first to speak up in a sigh.

"I guess we'll get accustomed to the smell..."

"It's not so bad," Yang said.

"It's bad enough," Weiss replied. "You and Ruby need to take a bath."

"Awww!" Ruby complained. "But Weeeiissss-"

"No arguments! It's fine to smell like skunk out here, but not inside the house." She opened her wings and flew up a bit, herding the retriever and mouse back inside. Blake smiled as she followed.

This really could be one step closer to preventing more problems with Adam. She just hoped it wouldn't cause more too.

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A/N: We've met yet another new friend! I think it's time for some new enemies, don't you...?