Rabbit Foot

Chapter Six - A Scent Emergency

Part One

Ivory ran as fast as her four legs could carry her. She stopped when her bracelets beeped for the last time. She collapsed in an alley she didn't recognize.

Nala leaned against the wall. It was covered in multiple things, most of them unrecognizable, and some Nala didn't even want to think about.

"Idiot." Nala mumbles, "Now she knows your weakness. She can target that. I should know this!" She goes from mumbling to yelling, her voice bouncing off the walls and hitting her ears.

"Weakness isn't always a bad thing." Nala jumped and spun around. Because she was standing in the alley, the voice bounced around, making it hard for Nala to pinpoint it.

"It is when the one who sees it will use it as an advantage." Nala clapped her hands over her ears and sat on the ground again.

"And who exactly would that be?" The voice sounded... oddly familiar.

"That stupid Peacock." Nala felt rage twist inside her just thinking of her.

"Pyra? She's so nice, though. Well, she doesn't get along with Ivory. Some of the insults they threw around today was terrible."

How do you know about that?

Nala tried to think. Familiar voice, they know about the insults, and whoever it is was a guy and he was being secretive. She could think of one person.

Agreste.

Nala jumped up and soon to see Chat Noir standing in the shadows, his signature grin plastered to his face. She rolled her eyes.

"Why do you care anyway Ag- Chat."

"What were you about to say?" Chat's grin faded, and he stepped out of the shadows. He was a lot taller than Nala, but she could still beat him.

The cat loses to the dog after all.

Nala looked Chat in his glowing eyes as he stepped up to her. She had to tilt her head back slightly, but she was determined not to look away.

In the wolf world, looking another in the eyes shows dominance or aggression. Why would that change in the human world?

Nala forgot that humans aren't like wolves. Wolves stay in packs and they look out for each other. Humans wander by their selves, especially at her age, but sometimes with one other. Nala had spent so much time around Ivory, the wolf pup, that she forgot the human world was different. She had to act normal here, she couldn't snap at people or growl, and when she glared at them it did nothing. Whenever Ivory stepped out of place Nala would glare at her, showing her dominance.

While that worked for Ivory, it didn't work for humans. So Nala continued to stare at Chat's eyes. He stared right back. There was no anger, just curiosity mostly.

"I wasn't ABOUT to say anything. I said your name. That's what I meant."

"You're from Ireland right? Why don't you crawl back there instead of trying to insult me. I could end you right now."

"But you won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're a hero, not a villain. You don't kill because I make you mad. You save everyone in Paris."

"Let me rephrase that. Get lost. This alley cat doesn't need company."

"You're a human under that mask, Chat Noir. You don't stroll through the alleys picking through dumpsters. Trust me, I know how you live."

Seriously Nala? Dead giveaway. You're done for.

"And how would you know that?"

"I have my ways."

Chat snorted and stepped back. He looked displeased like he was about to say something rude, but decided not to. Which was good because Nala needed to get out of there and get Trapp some food.

"I'll leave you to scour the alleys." Nala turned with a sour face but laughed when she was far enough for Chat to not hear her.

~~

Nala stopped by the store on the way home. All she needed were some strawberries, but of course nothing is ever that simple.

"Nala?"

Nala groaned and turned around, but instead of a bratty girl there, she saw Marinette, smiling cheerfully.

"Mari." Nala smiled and Marinette ran to catch up.

"Where'd you go today? You just kinda left just before Pyra came in and didn't come back."

Well, truth be told, I ran away as Ivory where I sat in an alley and snipped at your partner-in-crime before coming here.

"I'm allergic to Chloe's perfume." Nala couldn't really think of a better excuse. Nala and Marinette laughed about it for a while, parted ways, then Nala finally got the strawberries and went home.

Master Fu waited on the mat inside the door when she arrived. Nala bowed slightly, greeted him and started towards her room.

When she got there, she pulled the strawberries out of her bag and set Trapp on the carpet next to her.

"I'm sorry it took so long, Trapp."

"Next time less socializing and more buying berries." Trapp nibbled at a strawberry and Nala giggled before grabbing one for herself.

The two sat peacefully nibbling on berries for a while before there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in." Nala giggled as Trapp responded in a voice like Nala's. She had a mouthful of strawberries so Trapp had done her best impression of her.

Master Fu opened the door slowly, Wayzz floating nearby. He smiled when he saw Nala and asked how her day was. Trapp was a little out of it since Nala passed by Chloe, as she explained.

A wolf's nose is much more sensitive than a human's, and as Nala's excuse earlier claimed, Trapp and Ivory were actually allergic to Chloe's perfume, which was part of the reason Nala hadn't gone back to school.

Which was a problem, since whenever Trapp was sick, Ivory's powers didn't work. It was too hard on Trapp for Nala to transform when she was sick.

"Yes, that is a problem. There is a reasonable solution, but do you feel like being reasonable?" Master Fu smiled slightly, knowing Nala's extravagant and outgoing personality. Nala stared blankly for a minute, waiting for him to take it back. When he didn't, she understood exactly what he meant.

"Of course not."

~~

Ivory bounced around on her way to the hotel. When she got there she was met by Hare who popped up next to her.

"Out late, fluff pup?"

"Out on a mission, cottontail."

Hare snorted a little and smiled.

"So we have nicknames for each other then?"

Ivory smiled next, exposing the white canines that had grown into wolf-like fangs during her transformation.

"What mission?"

"Trapp is allergic to Chloe's perfume," Ivory stood looking across the street at the hotel, "which means I am too."

Hare nodded, putting the rest of the puzzle in place. The mission was simple. Destroy all of the perfume in the hotel, including Chloe's secret stash of it.

Ivory stood and reached for the triangular Rubix cube on her belt. She clicked it a few times until the grey side was completed. The Rubix cube changed into some sort of metal-detector-like device. It was similar to a game remote with a screen in the middle, and it found all the perfume.