Pet Quartet (ch8)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!

How will our flock handle the vet?

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 8. A Stressful Visit

Inside that building, it was like a whole other world.

It was crowded with humans, most of which had animals with them, and most of which were dogs.

And it was loud.

There was only a small space for all of them to wait in, which consisted of a few couches for the humans and bigger animals, and some smaller tables for the smaller animals or cages.

Blake was thankful for the little handkerchief over Weiss' cage now as it was set on one such table, because even she was uncomfortable by the amount of dogs there were. She could only imagine how scared a little bird and mouse like Weiss and Ruby might be.

There were a few other cats as well, and as Blake's humans set her crate down on the floor, she let out a low mewl to the nearest cat, who meowed back sympathetically.

Other than cats and dogs, Blake noticed several different animals as well. There were some other birds here as well, some hidden in cages like Weiss, while other bigger and more colorful birds sat on humans' shoulders. There were a few rabbits as well as a ferret, a turtle, and a lizard. All in all, a very diverse gathering of patients.

As they waited their turn, Blake sulked in her crate, mumbling about her situation to the other nearby cats. Yang was free to roam around and talk to the other dogs, excitedly wagging her tail as she sniffed them and exchanged playful greetings.

Blake was glad the retriever was feeling energetic – that made one of them, at least. But she also kept her ears perked toward Weiss' cage to see how the two inside were fairing in such an intimidating and overwhelming environment. Surprisingly, Blake picked up on rather happy voices from inside.

"Whoa!" Ruby was saying. Blake could see her using her claws to reach through the bars of the cage and move the handkerchief aside so she could look out. "There are lots of animals here!"

"I can hear that," Weiss mumbled. "They're very loud."

"They're just nervous and excited. Oh, wow! I've never seen an animal like that before!" she squealed in reference to the lizard. "He's almost like a turtle, but with no shell! Actually, he looks more like a snake with legs!"

"Stop that," Weiss chided, flapping her good wing at Ruby. "Don't be rude."

"But they're really cool!"

Blake rolled her eyes, letting their familiar bickering calm her down a bit. She curled herself up into a tight ball and closed her eyes in an effort to relax. Like that, she could hear Weiss' surprised voice even better.

"Hey..." the bird chirped. "There are other birds here, aren't there?"

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Do you wanna talk to them, Weiss?"

"...Perhaps just a bit."

Ruby moved the handkerchief aside so Weiss could peer out of the cage.

There were several other birds all around the room. Weiss recognized most of them as parrots or macaws. One was red, one was green, one was blue, and one was yellow. Judging by their bright colors, Weiss could discern they were all males. They were all either sitting on their humans' shoulders or perched in a cage like her own. Weiss cleared her throat and called out to the nearest bird, the yellow one.

"Excuse me," she sang politely. "If it's not too much trouble, may I ask why you're here?"

The yellow parrot looked up at the sound of her voice, and the blue macaw hopped over to stand beside him on the table outside Weiss' cage. The duo stretched their necks and looked up to where Ruby and Weiss were peeking out.

"Hey, neat!" the yellow one said. "A song bird! You a canary or somethin'?"

"Most certainly not," Weiss replied. "Oh, what does it matter to you? Would you please just answer my question?"

The parrot and macaw exchanged glances. It was the blue macaw who replied first.

"Why we're here, huh?" he said. "Well, as you can probably tell, my buddy here and I aren't exactly flying around, are we?"

"That's 'cuz he knocked into me when we were playin' a game back at home," the yellow one said. "I was making this perfect arc around the room when all of a sudden-"

"Hey, if I hadn't crashed into you, you would've hit the wall, bird-brain!" the blue one cut him off. "And then you'd be here for a sprained head instead of a wing!"

Weiss straightened up a little at that.

"A sprained wing...?"

"Yeah," the blue macaw said. "Because of that little incident, we're both here with sprained wings now. But at least we're better off than that guy." He nodded his head toward where the red parrot was sitting inside a cage on a table across the room. "He's got a broken wing."

Weiss and Ruby both gasped.

"That's awful!" Weiss cried. "I would know... Mine was badly broken as well. But it just isn't healing properly now. It worries me..." She let out a sigh. Ruby sensed her discomfort and used her tail to hold the handkerchief instead, using her paws now to pull Weiss into a hug. The two male birds outside were silent for a moment before the yellow one went on.

"But hey, it's not the end of the world, right? That green pal over there, he's actually here to get his wings clipped. He says he'd rather not fly anymore. Guess he's got his reasons."

The macaw went on from there.

"Seems like the three of us are all in the same boat, huh? I'm sure we'll be just fine once the docs get a look at our wings."

His words reassured Weiss, and she nodded. She was honestly surprised that wing injuries in birds seemed to be so common, common enough to have four others in the vet's office at the same time as her. It made her feel less ashamed of herself, less embarrassed. And it gave her a bit more hope that perhaps her wing could be fully healed.

She thanked the two birds, who gave her their names as Sun and Neptune. They all wished each other luck just before the males' human came over to collect them and bring them in for their check-up. Ruby let her tail drop the handkerchief down again and cuddled up to Weiss' side.

"See? You're gonna be just fine, Weiss! We're all here for you."

Yang barked softly in affirmation to her words, and even Blake managed to send up a loud, reassuring purr for Weiss to hear. The little bird was touched by their companionship toward her. Being that Ruby was the only one she could touch right now, she hugged the little mouse softly.

"Thank you all."

They each waited their turns for their check-ups. Weiss' cage was brought in first by the man, who explained to the vets why there was a mouse inside as well.

Next, Blake and Yang went in with the woman together. They were each brought up onto a table, and there was a lot of poking and prodding. Blake did her best not to claw the vet out of reflex, though she did do an awful lot of hissing and growling. She was given a shot of something, but at least the pain had somehow been numbed. The vet spoke to the woman and exchanged only good news.

"I remember the first time I brought her in," the woman said. "That was back when she'd been a stray. She had all kinds of diseases and fleas."

"Yes, I remember too," said the vet. "But she's all clear now. Healthy as ever!"

Blake decided that was the best news she could probably hear in regards to herself. She also remembered a long while ago when there'd been a time she couldn't stop scratching herself.

When she'd first left the stray cats and Adam behind, her first night inside a human home had been horrible. She'd thrown up repeatedly and thought she might die. But the kind humans always pet her and gave her water. They took her to the vet to get medicine, and fed her special food.

Only because of the vet was Blake so healthy now and able to live her life as she did today. She was grateful, but that didn't mean she liked the experience of coming here any greater. Her way of saying thanks was not to claw a the vet, and when it was finally all over, she even bumped against his hand with a purr.

The woman put Blake back in her crate, and then it was Yang's turn. Blake watched as the retriever was brushed carefully, the comb pulling through her messy fur. Once it was smooth, they were able to find a good spot for the needles. Yang whimpered a few times, and her tail stopped wagging, but in the end they gave her a treat and all was forgiven.

The two of them were released with no problems to report on.

The woman carried Blake's crate back outside to the waiting room with all the couches, and Yang followed behind. But there was still no sign of Ruby or Weiss.

The three of them sat and waited for the man to reemerge from the vet's office. Yang conversed and played with a few of the other dogs in the meantime, and Blake fell into a light doze. But the second the door opened, she and Yang perked up instantly.

The man was walking out with the bird cage still covered. He went over to them and placed the cage on the ground in front of Blake and Yang, then started speaking to the woman. But Blake didn't listen to the humans.

"Ruby!" she hissed. "Is everything okay?"

There was a moment of silence and stillness, and Yang whimpered. Then, a little paw reached out to lift up the white handkerchief. Ruby's nose poked through until she'd lifted it up enough to reveal her entire body.

"Ugh!" was the first thing out of her mouth. "They kept picking me up and poking me! It really tickled! But they said I was okay!"

"And... Weiss?" Yang asked.

Ruby's whiskers twitched as a smile curled her muzzle. She stepped aside, and a familiar white bird appeared. Weiss' wing was heavily bandaged and immobilized at her side. She looked rather flustered, but no longer in pain.

"They'd said it wasn't healing properly," she informed them. "The bone was growing back wrong. So they re-aligned it."

"Yeah..." Ruby mumbled. "That sounded like it hurt..."

"But it was worth it," Weiss sighed. "Because now it should heal the way it's meant to."

Blake's ears perked up hopefully, and Yang's tail started to sweep across the floor in excited wags.

"So-"

"That means-"

"She's gonna make a full recovery!" Ruby finished for them.

"In ten to twenty days," Weiss added.

"That's great!" Yang barked.

"I'm so happy," Blake purred. She reached a paw out through her crate just enough to lightly tap through the bars of the birdcage and bump Weiss' chest. The bird nuzzled her beak into Blake's soft paw. Yang then drew her tongue up and over the outside of the bird cage, and everyone was thankful there was a handkerchief over it.

Once all was said and done, they said their goodbyes to Sun, Neptune, and the others, and their humans put them back into the car. They kept the handkerchief over the bird cage this time, and Ruby and Weiss curled up on the bottom of it to nap.

Now that the stressful visit was over, Blake decided to curl up in her crate as well, and even Yang plopped down on the back seat to rest.

By the time they arrived home, all four were exhausted. The man carried Weiss' cage in and opened the door to let them out. The woman carried in Blake's crate and then freed her as well. But it took both of them together to carry in the sleeping Yang and lay her down in the living room.

Yang groggily opened her eyes and snorted, feeling drowsy because of the shots she'd been given on top of the hectic day. Blake was feeling much the same, and as she limped over toward the dog, she parted her jaws in a yawn. She curled up at Yang's flank and let out a long sigh.

But before she could close her eyes, Ruby stumbled over and dramatically flopped onto Blake's front paws. The cat purred and began to groom her lazily. At last, Weiss hopped over to the group. She paused in front of them and met their eyes in turn.

"Thank you all for doing this. It... means a lot to me."

Blake let out another loud purr, and Ruby sat up, reaching out to hug Weiss.

"We're all just glad you're okay now, Weiss!"

"That's right." Blake leaned down to gently lick Weiss' head. "Now you should rest. We all could use it, I think."

"You said it!" Yang yawned loudly, then dropped her head into her paws. She swished her tail around to pull Blake and Ruby closer, then stretched it out for Weiss. The bird hopped on, and Yang lifted her up to her back. Weiss jumped off onto the smooth, golden fur, quickly making a nest for herself.

After the long, tiring day, sleep came to them in minutes, and the room was filled with soft, contented snores.

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A/N: So yes, I made Sun a bird in this just because a monkey would probably a bit too exotic/extreme ahha