PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XXV Part V

Sparky cocked a brow, smiling. "Or cats?" he said rather smugly.

"O-Or cats," Rover responded, crossing his arms.

"You okay Rover?" Sparky said, giggling at the petulant frustration that crossed the terrier's features.

Rover sneered, looking away from Sparky "Yeah, I just don't like them," he grumbled, much to Sparky's concern. "I've heard they do so many awful things!"

"Rover?!" Sparky said shocked and confused. "Where's this all coming from? When'd you start to hate cats?"

The jack russell groaned, "I don't know if I hate them, but everyone else seems to!" He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Every dog says all they do is steal and use magic- that's cheating!"

"Rover! That's not true! We've been with a cat this entire time!"

"Wh-Whauah!?!" Rover exclaimed, nearly fumbling onto the ground as he was shocked by the statement. "Who?! Have they been spying on us?!"

"Coco! Coco's a cat!" Sparky said, crossing his ghostly arms as he became almost angry at the terrier.

"I-I didn't know she was on their team! C-Captain, why didn't you tell me?!" Rover said, a tear growing in his eye at the fact his captain didn't tell him this sooner.

"... Team?" Sparky said, uncrossing his arms and looking confused.

"Yeah!" Rover said, waving his paws around, "The Wildcats!"

There was a moment of silence, then Sparky spoke up. "Did you mean... they use magic to cheat at the game?"

"YEAA!" Rover shouted, "So many dogs say they hate the cats because they use magic!"

"... And what do they steal?"

"Bases, obviously." Rover shook his head disappointedly. "It's so unsportsdoglike!" He paused, pondering. "Or... unsportscatlike?"

Sparky laughed a boisterous, genuine laugh. "Oh Rover! You had me worried!"

Rover cocked an eyebrow. "Worried about what? I'm worried about Coco being a spy!"

"No I mean she's a cat, like... the ones with whiskers?" Sparky rose a paw up to his ghostly muzzle, using his paws as pretend whiskers. "The ones that like fish, yarn, all that stuff?"

"Oh! Those kind of cats!" Rover rolled his eyes, smiling, "Why would anyone care about if Coco's a cat? She's still Coco!" He bared his teeth and shifted his eyes. "It's those rumors about the Wildcats that get to me, I don't want to play against a team that cheats!"

Sparky chuckled as pinpricks of memories trickled in. "Rover, those are just rumors! We played against one of the Wildcats, remember? She was really fun to play with, right?"

"Yeah, I guess she's fine," Rover sighed, realizing he might be wrong in assuming the Wildcats were all that his mind had set them up to be. "I guess we'll just have to play against the whole team if we wanna find out."

Sparky could only smile at the dog. Rover had clearly been troubled recently, and seeing him acting in such a way was great concern for the husky, especially with the knowledge that his anxiety probably stemmed from his own death. He was glad Rover was able to get past it, and talk about sports in such a feverish and passionate way, even if it came at the cost of him being rather unkind to the idea of playing sports with another team. He hoped by the time he met Tigger again, Rover would be rearing to play a round of baseball with the cats of Kemono Woods, hopefully one that would conclude in a day that was less unfortunate than the one Sparky couldn't remember much of.

"Hehe, sorry, I'm getting us off track," Rover said, nervously chuckling at his own lack of focus.

"It's fine Rover. Honestly, I'm happy to see you... well, er, happy! I thought I wouldn't be able to help anyone now that all I am is a floating mouth, but I'm really glad that's not the case." Sparky smiled, crossing his arms and looking off to the side. "I really care for you Rover, you're like a little brother to me, seeing you smile makes me smile."

Rover's eyes welled up with tears. "Y-You really mean that?" he whimpered out, bringing his paws to his mouth and covering it before it began to tremble.

"Yeah! Of course! I... originally didn't want you coming along with me because I was worried you'd get hurt," Sparky scratched at his forehead, "kinda ironic, huh?"

They shared a moment of silent appreciation for one another.

"Thanks dude," Rover said, calm in enjoying the moment.

Sparky remained with his positive expression, desperately wishing he could hug the russell terrier. "Don't mention it. Let's head-"

Sparky was suddenly interrupted by the door swinging open, stopping about halfway through its stride. Sparky was angled towards the door, and able to see the silhouette contrasted against the beige walls and bright lighting that wasn't very prevalent in Coco's room. For a second, he wondered who it was, what dog had a ponytail, black and white fur, and wore a junior's vest, shirt, and pants. Then, it clicked.

"Angel?" Sparky asked, looking at the calm, menacing demeanour of the cat bound in a dog's body. Sparky knew something was immediately wrong, but couldn't put his paw on it, and could only furrow his brow in surprise as he observed the bloodied wrappings coating the creature's head, arm, leg, and chest.

Rover turned around suddenly, eyes going wide in fear, then narrowing in determined defiance of the dog standing at the doorway.

He parted his muzzle, taking a shallow breath of air that anticipated the words to follow. "You know Sparky, we really have to stop meeting like this."