Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Let it go Ed!”

“Why? Finders keepers.”

“You found it in my room!” On the bridge of the Pluto, a small chihuahua jumped up and down repeatedly, trying to grab a little golden wrench from the much taller dog’s paw. Stella, who had been previously trying to resolve the situation, gave up to briefly rethink her life choices.

The pilot, Nomi, ignored it and instead stared longingly at the turbo button on the ship’s steering wheel.

“Don’t do it Nomi! I don’t have my seatbelts on!” She pouted, having been shut down by the captain of the ship, who was coming back after going for a pastry break. Though, that button wouldn't be unpressed for long.

“Ed! Give Chonies his wrench back!” It ended up being the tall, intimidating, oddly-colored husky that fixed the situation. The kleptomaniac immediately gulped nervously and dropped the wrench, walking back with his paws up in defeat. Almost the exact moment everyone was buckled in, the over-excited pilot slapped the turbo button.

“Okay okay! Jeez, no need to get so angry Kira…” The purple dog had been in a rather poor mood recently, after having been turned into a puppy, a rather humiliating affair in her eyes.

Nomi looked back at the older dog, admiration in her eyes, not paying attention to where they were going. “Good job Kira!”

She just huffed, crossing her arms and sending a glare to the not-at-all guilty-looking dog sitting near her. “Hopefully he’ll learn his lesson this time.”

“Hey, hey! All I’m doing is trying to make a buck, can’t blame a guy for that. ” Kira growled at that, making Garbage chuckle before Stella suddenly yelled, having snapped out of her thinking.

“Nomi , look where you’re going!” The entire crew looked up at Stella’s screaming, only to see the ship heading right into a massive asteroid, and started to collectively scream. Unfortunately the screaming didn’t help, as the ship ended up indeed flying right into the asteroid, causing it to suddenly spiral out of control.

While all the dogs were in seatbelts that didn’t stop them from getting severe whiplash and continuing to wildly yell and scream as the ship spun through space. Garbage’s half eaten pastry flew out of his paw and right onto Ed’s nose, though, everyone was so distracted no one noticed. Nomi quickly tried her best to regain control of the ship, though it didn’t work very well. No matter what she tried the ship seemed to refuse to listen to her, and just kept spiraling out.

Through the windshield (spaceshield?) of the ship, the situation swiftly got even worse as they veered off towards a nearby planet. All they could see was a deep, dark brown on the quickly approaching planet.

“We’re gonna crash! Captain, do something! I’m too young to die!” Chonies began screaming even louder, making everyone's ears wince.

“I CAN’T TURN OFF THE TURBO…I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT!”

“CAPTAIN DO SOMETHING! PLEASE!” Unfortunately, Garbage had no solution for the poor chihuahua.

Stella started screaming as well, getting dizzy. “WHY WEREN’T YOU WATCHING?!”

Garbage, unable to do anything, just resigned to close his eyes at the surface of the planet, which was closer than ever. “BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

Kira growled at that, but unable to offer anything better, closed her eyes as well. Stella turned on her shield in an attempt to avoid fatal injury, with Chonies also turning on his personal bubble. As they entered the planet’s atmosphere they could see themselves nearing something resembling a thick forest, crashing through the leaves and branches. The only luck in the whole affair ended up being what they seemed to be landing onto; some sort of mud pit in a clearing within the trees. As they landed in it the ship literally bounced off the ground, skidding off and bouncing on the mud like a stone skipping over water, until they finally crashed into a thick tree and the engines shut off with a whine.

Even with the impact dulled, all of the crew was thrown forward into their seatbelts. All around the bridge, and the whole ship in general, things had flown off and made a mess everywhere. Everyone was incredibly dizzy, and within a few moments, Chonies had thrown up onto the ground. Virtually everyone was groaning, waiting for the world to finally stop spinning.

After nearly a whole minute the crew seemed to get some of their senses back, panting as their heart rates very slowly went back to normal. Stella would be the first one to speak up, though even then it was interrupted by her groaning. “Dangit Nomi, you have-ugggghhhhhhh-one job!”

“Sorry…”

“I blame Ed for distracting us all to begin with!”

The aforementioned dog looked furiously at Kira, insulted. “Me?!”

Garbage whimpered as he unbuckled his seat belt, taking uneasy steps forward, the world still spinning a little. “Okay okay, enough arguing! Also…can I have my pastry back Ed?” The crew let out some nervous laughs, though weren’t much more calm, maybe just less mad at one another.

“Nomi, where exactly are we?” Silence rang out as everyone got up to make sure their legs still worked, except for the captain who began checking the star map.

“We’re on planet 7BG5, or apparently the nearby Trelkins call it Catillac.”

“Like the car?” Nomi looked quizzically at Ed, who just shrugged. “What? My owner always let me stick my head out the window of his.”

“Anyways, apparently it wasn’t on the search list because the trees produce poisonous gas…yikes. Happy explored it the other day. Luckily there aren’t any holes in the ship at least.”

Garbage’s eyebrows furrowed, as he rolled his eyes. “The air is probably fine then.”

“Well, let’s say it isn’t, just to be safe.” Stella sighed.

Looking out the space shield at the tree they could find it didn’t even seem damaged, seeming ridiculously stable. It was a dark shade of brown, almost black. The green they saw from space were the leaves, a lighter dirt brown.

Kira walked over to look over Nomi’s shoulder, stamping her leg. “So, can we leave?”

“I-I think so. Let me just try to slowly…” As she attempted to turn the engine back on and restart the ship, a whine rang out, before the engine stalled. Several attempts later, and there was still nothing.

“Well, looks like we aren’t leaving. About that pastry Ed…” He at least received his snack back, nervously munching on it.

Stella was the first to react, striding over before coming back with spacesuits, handing them out. “Everyone put them on to be safe.” Stella grabbed her spear as well, looking out the windshield anxiously. “Who knows what might live here, better be careful…Chonies, can you come with me to check the engine?”

“I’m going to go check my room. My plants better be alright…”

Kira quickly walked off, leaving Nomi to groan and lean back against the chair, seeming regretful. “I really messed up this time…”

Garbage went over to comfort her, only for Ed to speak up first. “Yeah, you did.” He was given a glare by Garbage, before huffing and walking off.

“Don’t worry Nomi! You didn’t mean it! We’ll be fine. Come on, we’ve been through way worse. Hey, maybe this planet will be the-”

“Poison gas, remember?”

“Oh, right…well, we’ll still be okay! I bet they’ll come back right now and tell us it’s just a little dent.”

Right on cue, Chonies and Stella returned, with expressions clearly signaling something bad.

“Well, how is it? It’s fixable, right?!”

“...Do you want bad news or good news first?” Chonies gave a nervous chuckle, avoiding looking at anyone’s eyes.

“Good news of course!”

Chonies gulped, giving a nervous chuckle. “Well, I’m happy to say the engine isn’t completely wrecked!”

“That's great! And the bad news?”

Chonies suddenly grew quiet, with Stella swiftly following up. “The battery is nearly dead, and we have no way to charge it because the emergency ones are wrecked.”

Garbage couldn’t figure out a way to positively spin that, and the only noise they heard was Nomi smashing her face into the steering wheel, a loud honking noise ringing out to replace the silence.

Chapter Text

While Garbage tried fruitlessly to comfort the distraught Nomi, and Chonies tried to contact Loaf, Stella went off towards Kira’s room. She knocked on the door, holding the last unused spacesuit. “Hey, Kira?”

“What is it now?” She seemed annoyed and rather angry, making Stella suspect that her room hadn’t survived unscathed.

“I have your spacesuit. Can I come in?”

A small silence followed, Kira seemingly thinking it over before sighing. “Yeah, come in.” The door opened, revealing an annoyed Kira, and a very untidy room. Plants had fallen over and spilt dirt everywhere, with it looking rather fitting as part of a ship that had just spun out through space.

While Kira grabbed the suit and put it on, Stella began tidying up, feeling bad for her friend.

“Well, can we leave? What are we waiting for?”

“Er, actually, we can’t. There isn’t much left in the battery, apparently it was damaged. If we tried to take off, it would die too fast.”

This alarmed the husky immediately, who looked almost panicked. “What?! Well, send a message to the M-Bark!”

“Chonies is trying. We have emergency flares if we need them too, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worrying. Just making sure I don’t get stuck on a planet, alone, again!”

Suddenly understanding what was going on, Stella sat on the edge of the bed, trying to be calming. “Don’t worry Kira, you won’t get stuck again. Even if we were to be here a few days, you’d have us, remember?”

All that caused was a nervous chuckle, as Kira started to pace back and forth. “I had a crew when I crashed too. They didn’t last long, and they were more competent than some dogs here.” Seeing Stella look insulted, Kira clarified, though didn’t look very sorry. “No offense, just…you know what I mean.”

“Like I said, you will not be alone again. I promise. We’ve been through a lot, you trust us, don’t you?” A small silence followed, with Kira refusing to answer. “You do trust us, right?”

Kira huffed, going back to cleaning up to occupy herself. “I do! Well, mostly. Sometimes!”

“Sometimes?!”

“Oh come on, we both know that not everyone here is trustworthy. Remember how well the heist went? Or Gooey? Or the puppies?!”

“We all made it out fine those times! We'll make it out of here too.”

“But we almost didn’t. No one here focuses enough, or takes things seriously. Anyone can die on these missions at any moment, but no one focuses. You eat pastries and bicker instead. That’s how we ended up stuck here!”

“We are not stuck here!” Both parties were a tad emotional now, emotions heated from the stressful situation, glares being sent both ways. “We’ll leave soon enough, just stop panicking.”

Kira stopped cleaning to make sure her spacesuit was on tight, huffing. “I am not-okay. I’m going to go take a breather.”

“The air isn’t-”

“You know what I mean!” Stella watched as Kira walked off, wanting to follow, but also suspecting that she might want some space. Besides, the husky could defend herself, right?

Kira went back to the bridge, only to find another argument going off. Nomi and Chonies were in each other’s faces, while Garbage tried weakly to calm things down. Ed was just sitting idly and eating a stolen pastry, watching like it was a TV show.

Stella quickly came in to break things up, grabbing Nomi and Chonies by the scruffs of their necks and splitting the two up before things got violent. “What has gotten into both of you?!”

“This is all her fault! She ruined my ship, and now we’re stuck here!”

“I already said I’m sorry! Besides, it was all his fault!” She pointed accusingly at Ed, who just shrugged and chuckled.

They started yelling at each other again before Stella shook both of them, which managed to mostly get each other to stop. “Last time I checked, none of you are puppies anymore! Stop acting like it, this isn’t helping anyone. I want both of you to sit down.”

Both of them did as they were told, Stella sighing. “Good. Now, I want both of you to calmly tell me what’s going on. Chonies, did you contact Loaf?”

“No, our communications systems are down too.”

“Okay, can we fix them?”

“Maybe in a few days we could.”

“Okay, we have emergency flares, right? Let’s send one up.”

Nomi was the one to get up, seeming still upset. “I’ll go do it.” She walked off, leaving the four together. The bridge had been cleaned up a little at least. It didn’t look organized at all, but looked slightly better at least.

“There’s no point arguing about this anymore. Chonies, how long could we stay here?”

“The power will probably last a week or two if we ration it out. But, I’m not sure how long the air will last, captain. I think the shop’s readings are damaged, because the air seems to be the same as on Earth. But it’s poisonous, it shouldn't be; it doesn’t make sense.”

Garbage perked up, as if having a slight victory. “Aha! So Happy was wrong!”

Stella sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s just be careful and say it is. Last thing we need is someone getting poisoned.”

Ed finished his pastry, licking his paws. “What now?”

Garbage thought, humming. “Stella, why don’t you, me and Kira explore around a little? See where we are exactly? Nomi, Chonies and Ed can stay here.”

“I’m not sure leaving them alone is the best idea…”

"I'd be with them!"

"You don't count Ed."

“Oh yeah, you’re right. Nomi can come with you wo, I’ll stay with Chonies and Ed. Where is Kira, anyhow?”

“About that, we had a bit of a fight.” Garbage immediately frowned at that. “She went outside, apparently she needed to be alone a little. She’s just scared about being stuck somewhere alone again, I guess.”

Garbage sighed, scratching his ear. “Well, make sure she’s okay. Don’t go too far, and make sure you stay on your walkie-talkies, okay?”

“Got it captain.” Her and Nomi walked off, the boys looking at one another.

“Captain, what do we do now?”

“Hmmmm…want to play cards?”

Ed immediately lit up at that, and Chonies agreed after a bit of convincing. None of them could do much else, so they decided to just take some weight off. Or at least, they did until the walkie-talkie came to life, and the panicked voice of Stella was heard. “Captain? Captain! We have a problem.”

Garbage sighed, groaning. “Not again…” He clicked it on again, the other two looking up with a mix of curiosity and worry. “What happened?! Where are you?!”

“Not too far outside the ship.”

“Well? What is it?!”

“It’s Nomi and Kira…they’re gone Captain, someone took them!”

Chapter Text

Immediately all three of them ran outside, weapons in hand. They found Stella right on the edge of the clearing, visible from the ship’s exit. She already had her shield on and spear in hand, looking at the forest like a tree would attack her at any moment. Up in the air the flare had at least been shot, as they could see it.

“Stella! Stella! Where are they?!” Garbage ran up to her, pointing his blaster at the woods.

Stella pointed at the ground, where they saw what seemed to be a fight. Paw prints were everywhere, two being Nomi’s and Kira’s, while the others were all much smaller paw prints. Kira’s arm blaster laid there discarded, along with Nomi’s blasters and her flare launcher.

“They were gone when I came here.” Ed looked around, trying to examine it.
“I think that there was a fight. But it must’ve been a quick one, because there aren’t any blaster marks, and the gun barrels are cold.” The other three looked at him in surprise, making him scoff. “What? I’m good at things!”

“These are a lot of paw prints. Hmmm…” Stella crouched down, sniffing at them, before she flinched. “Smells…familiar. Can’t place my paw on it though.” The rest of them tried to do their own scent investigation, but all came to the same conclusion. Familiar, but the answer was just beyond their grasp.

“If someone was able to take them out that fast, what if we’re next!” Chonies cowered behind Garbage, trembling.

“Don’t worry Chonies, we’ll be fine…do we know where they went?” Stella thought about it, pointing towards the woods.

“The paw prints lead towards there. But there must be a lot of them, it could be dangerous.”

Garbage responded in an instant, already taking steps forward, keeping the blaster out and turning on a flashlight. “Doesn’t matter, we need to rescue our crew.”

Chonies gulped before following with Stella, Ed looking at the three at a loss. Not having an option he followed, looking around warily. “There better be some treasure for me here…”

The four dogs very slowly walked forward, Stella moving them into a diamond formation to watch each other's backs. Garbage was in the front following the tracks, with Stella watching their backs, and the other two on either side. The forest’s roof was so thick with leaves that the only natural light coming in were small rays of sunshine. All they could see was darkness and brown, a lack of plants or color. Their flashlights were what they had to depend on, giving a small circle of light to shine on the bark and dirt.

Throughout the whole walk, they couldn’t help but feel that they were being watched. Each of the dogs could swear they saw little yellow pinpricks in the darkness, but when the light shined there, nothing was found. Garbage was uneasy about this, gulping. “You all see that too, right?”

“How could I not? It’s like gold shining at me…”

“I do too, captain.”

“We really are being followed…just stay in formation.”

They went deeper and deeper into the forest, following the prints. There seemed to be maybe six or seven. The prints showed them to be bipedal just like the dogs. There was a large trail that started midway, as if they got tired of carrying Kira and instead started dragging her. The small Nomi was carried, apparently.

They kept walking for nearly twenty minutes before stopping suddenly, Ed bumping into Garbage. “Hey, why’re we-” The light was shown forward, only to reveal that the tracks stopped right in front of a cave. It looked foreboding, worrying really. Like something straight out of a horror story.

The diamond formation was broken as they all lined up to look at the cave. “The tracks stop here, they must’ve gone in there.” The cave went down into the Earth like a pit in the ground. There was a massive tree right above it, and roots hung at the roof of the cave.

Stella sighed, shaking her head. “A dark, spooky cave. Of course it’s a dark, spooky cave! Dangit…”

“I-I can’t go back in there! Oh please Captain, can’t I go back to the ship?”

“No way Chonies, what if they come back? If they took out Kira and Nomi that fast, you don’t have a chance. Uh, no offense.”

“None taken…”

They all paused for a moment, looking down. “It’s alright, it can’t be that bad, right?”

The cave, or tunnel or whatever it was, was rather small. Instead of doing a diamond they instead just went in a line, with Garbage and Stella still in the front and back respectively. There were weird things inside the cave, like a random seemingly unrelated assortment of goods. There was a yarn-like material made out of vines, sprinkled across the ground. Dead little mice-like creatures everywhere, some just skeletons and others recently killed. Some mud on the ground showed more small paw prints, showing they were going into the right way.

“Captain, I have a bad feeling about this.” Ed agreed with Chonies, suggesting they should go back.

“For the last time, we aren’t going back! We need to rescue them.”

So they kept moving, deeper in. The tunnel really did become a cave as it gradually widened out, the dirt roof with roots coming out quickly turning into stone. They went deeper and deeper down, and eventually, saw a light ahead. Moving forward, primitive looking torches came into view.

“Someone’s down here. Smart people, like me.”

“Humble.”

“Or the Captain, or Stella.”

“Or…”

“That’s it Ed, that’s it.”

Ed was about to open his mouth to say something back, however, was silenced when they were greeted with the end of the cave. The end of the cave found a large circular room, and in that room were Kira and Nomi. They were tied up, and even worse, their helmets were completely discarded. They had their snouts tied and gagged, having to breath in the planet's air.

“Nomi! Kira! You're helmets!" Garbage ran forward immediately, finding the two dogs squirming. They looked panicked, saying out muffled incomprehensible words and shaking their heads.

“Wait wait, here!” Garbage quickly undid Kira’s gag first, with the others helping undo the bonds. As soon as the gag was gone Kira started speaking.

“It’s a trap, a trap! Behind you watch ou-” Before she could finish a small dart suddenly shot out from the tunnel into Kira’s neck, making her yelp before slumping over. More darts ended up finding their way into the thin spacesuits. They poked through the sleeves, quickly hitting and puncturing their skin. They quickly fell over onto the ground, the venom taking effect fast. From the ground all they could see where Nomi-sized blurry figures approaching them, with small paws akin to their own. They couldn't see much more though, as within a few moments, they were knocked out cold.

Chapter Text

When the captain finally woke up again, he felt like his namesake. His limbs felt numb, and he found himself having to try exceedingly difficult to even think straight. He gave a little whimper, trying to stretch, only to feel restricted. Opening his eyes he found himself in a far different environment, now himself being tied to something with thick vines.

Looking around, they were now in what actually seemed to be a hollowed out tree. The walls were obviously hand-smoothed, but still clearly wood. On the ceiling, which was maybe a little taller than Kira, he found a small bag hanging there. Inside were tons of little purple lights flying around it; fireflies? The only other thing in the room was an opening hidden by a thick animal fur, oh, and of course his crew besides him. All tied up as well, to posts.

“Hello? Where are w-”

“Shhhh, keep it down captain, they don’t know we’re awake yet.” Stella sat separate from her usual armor; in fact, all of their weapons were missing. As well as something else.

“Our helmets! The air!”

“Captain, you were right, it’s not poisonous!” Garbage stopped speaking, surprised, before recovering.

“Er, of course I was!” Sniffing the air he did find it to actually be rather pleasant, and smelling almost like a mix of vanilla and gingerbread. It didn’t hurt to breathe, and was actually kind of nice, feeling almost lighter than air in a strange way.

“Who else is awake?” He was met with an immediate flurry of whisper-shouts, with everyone speaking up.

“Great, I’m the last one awake. Who woke up first?”

“Me.”

“Alright Kira, good thing you're awake, now tell us what happened from the start. I’m sick of not knowing what’s going on.”

She nodded, almost immediately beginning her report, eyes trained on the animal skin for any signs of movement. “When I went outside, I saw something watching us from the forest, but it ran off. I tried to chase it to see what it was-”

“Which is risky and not the smart thing to do!”

“Hush Stella, not now! Anyways, Nomi came out soon and shot out the flare. I called her over for help and she explained how we’re screwed-”

“Keep your chin up Kira, we aren’t screwed.”

“You asked for the report, let me finish!” She took a shaky breath, trying to be less tense, though to no avail. Her body was almost completely rigid, ready to struggle at a moment’s notice, and determined not to get shot with another dart.

“While I was explaining what I saw, those stupid darts came out and shot us. Then those furry little cretins came out to attack us! They’re fast, and were all covered up, I couldn’t
tell what they actually were. I was knocked out a bit after Nomi.”

The dog nodded at her being mentioned. “It was so crazy captain, you wouldn’t believe how they moved!”

“Right, and-”

“Wait wait, how come I got yelled at for interrupting but she didn’t-”

“She was adding to the story! You asked for this so can’t you listen! Now, for the last time hush!” Garbage really did hush now, realizing how angry and bitter she was about all this. "Anyways, next thing I knew when I woke up was us tied up in that cave without our helmets. The two that were left with us hidden in some hidey hole behind rocks. Then you came, and we all got knocked out again!” She growled in frustration, tail stamping the ground beneath her. “Stupid tranquilizer darts.”

The captain waited until he was sure she was finished, not wanting to induct the wrath of interrupting again, before speaking. “Does anyone know what they are?”

Everyone gave variations on ‘no’ before Stella spoke up. “Okay, let’s figure it out. There must be some clues.”

“Well, they’re fast.”

“And sneaky!” Nomi nodded, adding to Kira’s deduction.

“They’re clearly civilized, or at least sapient.” Everyone was silently impressed at Ed’s competence being on display. A small hit to the ‘got the job via bribes’ theory.

“Oh! They smelled familiar, remember Captain?”

“Oh yeah, you're right Chonies!” The chihuahua beamed at his captain’s praise.

“They must be carnivores, there were those dead mouse things in the caves…”

Everyone went silent, trying to deduce it. But as they were focused on thinking, the animal fur suddenly shifted. They all snapped to attention, being greeted by a shocking sight. The clues suddenly slipped into place, as in front of them was…

Chapter Text

…a cat.

Not some strange, rainbow colored alien cat with tentacles. But one that was undoubtedly the same species as that of Earth. There were certainly some differences with her, and the complete lack of clothes made it clear she was a her, compared to normal cats.

Just like the dogs, she walked on hind legs. Obviously she didn’t just have the primitive thinking of a normal animal. In her paw was a cane, with what seemed to be some strange hand-crafted glasses on her face. It was a genetically modified cat, but just the fact that an Earthly cat was there shocked all the dogs into silence.

“Ah, more of you have come, hm? You may have grown more smart, but just as stubborn I see.” She gave a dry little chuckle, not moving.

The first one to come to was Garbage, someone who had chased many cats on Earth, and now spoke with an angry tone. “How are there cats here?!”

The cat remained silent for a few moments, eyebrows furrowed. She had orange fur which was now quite faded, showing an older age. After what seemed to be deep thinking she slowly spoke, each word seeming to be carefully spoken. “You are…surprised by this?”

Nomi scoffed, having a sarcastic tone. “Well, duh! How could we not be!” The cat just hummed in response.

“Watch your tone Nomi. Ed’s our ambassador, maybe he should say something.”

“That’s quite a nice ring on your finger. What is that, gold?” Stella groaned, regretting having spoken up. Though the cat’s amusement didn’t cease, as she just laughed.

“Mm, it is. A different variant, but, gold nonetheless.”

The shock was starting to wear off now, and practically everyone had something to say. Before they could the cat spoke up first, making even Ed close his snout.

“If you did not know we were here, you must have many questions. But you must be very tired too, hm? Those darts are effective.” She said that pridefully, giving a little grin. “We cannot give you your weapons back quite yet. But we can provide food and a table to speak of things more thoroughly. I’ll remove your bonds, but I must warn you not to act aggressive. It may be hard for you, but there are guards outside.”

Slowly she walked beneath them all, and one by one slashed the vines with a claw. Immediately everyone, still feeling woozy and starstruck by the developments, took a few uneasy steps back. Though, when Nomi and Kira tried, they almost fell over before being caught by dogs around them.

“Ah, I almost forgot about that. You two are the ones that were found first, so you got two doses. Perhaps you two should go to our healers instead-”

Captain Garbage immediately hated that idea, shaking his head. “I don’t want us to split up. Everyone is staying together.”

The cat’s expression suddenly changed, eyes now glinting with a mischievous testing look. “If we wanted you dead or hurt, you would be. They can hardly walk. It does not make sense for them to follow along now.”

Garbage stood strong, refusing. “We can help them walk. If they need doctors, you can invite some to the table.” There was a silent and intense stand-off for a moment, before the cat’s expression turned back to the tired amused one, while she shrugged. “Very well, if you mean to persist, I’ll relent. Make sure to follow closely behind and not to wander. Come now.”

She didn’t wait, striding outside of the room. Kira leaned on Stella for support, with Ed being forced to help out Kira. They soon followed behind, and were greeted to a new sight. The dogs now witnessed a society like they hadn’t seen before, immensely foreign and familiar at once.

Outside of the tree, for they had been in a massive tree, was what resembled a primitive tribal village. There were huts and homes not in trees but built around living ones. It was dark outside now, but there were little lanterns everywhere, filled with either small fires or the fireflies previously seen. Paths of dirt led around like a makeshift road. It resembled a somewhat-primitive society, as if they were pre-industrialized. With how little the dogs knew about these space cats, maybe they were.

All around them cats hustled and bustled about, giving them wide-eyed looks. They whispered and murmured amongst each other, hissing about the foreign dogs that had come back. Back. That was a key phrase they caught. They weren’t strangers to seeing dogs; Happy likely had in reality been here. None of them wore clothes, just like the old cat who spoke to them. The only exception were the two guards on either side, which had blasters similar to the dogs’, and armor that far closer resembled what was on the M-Bark then something fashioned in the wild like their huts.

It wasn’t anything like a tour. They felt quite a lot like prisoners about to be interrogated, like they were being escorted to a cell. Slowly they progressed through the village, noticing more and more as they went. No one seemed to be possessing or using any technologies that would come inherent in space travel. They had ordinary tools and crafted paper books. No holo-technology or arcades. In fact, they couldn’t see any businesses at all. Rather, they must’ve been in some housing district. There were little gardens of crops and kittens running around playing. The were all awestruck by seeing these hyper-intelligent cats running about like this. All it produced were more questions.

How did cats get here? Why weren’t the dogs aware of them? When did they leave earth? How long had they gotten here? If other dogs had found them, why didn’t they know? Nothing made much sense at all. The dogs here could only hope they’d get some answers in this upcoming meeting.

Eventually they did reach a destination. It was the largest hut around, being several stories tall. In fact, the term ‘hut’ didn’t fit it very well. While it had the naturalistic aesthetic and materials, and was still built around a tree, it was much more advanced. Heading inside they found comfortably decorated interiors, with furs scattered about. More of the fireflies flew around, captured. They were led to a large central room where there was a small table, and instead of chairs there were cushions to sit down on. She sat on the cushion at the head of the table, motioning for them to follow suit. Only once they all were seated did she speak up.

“Now, I’m sure you all have many questions. I’m not as young as I once was, so I’d like to only speak once.” Everyone nodded, especially Kira, who sent a look at the others. The elderly cat took a deep breath before starting her tale.

Chapter Text

“I’ll start back where we all did; Earth. Things had gotten, well…bad. We all know that, I don’t think I have to explain that. Humans decided that the situation was untenable, and needed a way out.” The dogs appreciated that there were even just a few sentences they understood and weren’t surprising.

“What you may not know was that, in 22XX,” That was three years before the dogs had left, “they sent us.” The understanding had been nice while it lasted. “They took cats and modified us. We were made smarter, stronger, faster. We got thumbs!” She showed off the new digit, grinning. “Hard to get used to that.”

“I was put in charge of the mission. We had a council of course, apparently just like yours. But I was supposed to head the voyage. On Earth I had just come from a nearby shelter in Detroit. People weren’t exactly my forte…but they came and got a lot of us.”

“We trained and learned and experimented on. I don’t think we were actually supposed to be sent out. We were, er, proof of concept. But apparently they didn’t have time to waste. So as soon as we were theoretically prepared, they gave us the go ahead.”

“They gave us a ship and packed it full of us. The Hiss-cursion. Everything we’d need was on that. Smaller ships to explore, DNA modification chambers, solar energy. Theoretically we could keep going for years, though, the plan was a four year journey.”

“We sailed in space for months. Contact stopped after the first year. We got…worried. All our attempts at communication failed. Radio silence persisted. It wasn’t easy to keep up morale like that. Everyone started doubting things, you know?”

“Some of us had really nice owners on Earth. But an equal number, if not more, didn’t. We had kits, and we didn’t really teach them about the absent overseers we had. Gradually we just…didn’t really view them as our ‘mission’. Sure we kept travelling and exploring. But we thought of it more as a necessary action for ourselves, not for them.” While she spoke another cat, a hairless one, came to bring in some food. None of the dogs paid it much attention though, except Ed who couldn’t help but grab one.

“It was around the start of our third year that we got here.” She got a happy misty look in her eyes, as if reminiscing. “We were overjoyed! Finally we’d found a new home. We landed here and happily explored. A more perfect planet couldn’t exist. There was food, fertile soil, a swell atmosphere, no other sapient life.” Her smile disappeared though, as she continued.

“But, it’s then that we suddenly realized what this meant. Our mission was over. When we sent a message, the humans would all come here. Even if they let us stay like this instead of turning us back, they’d make us pets again. We’d lose all the freedoms we’d come to enjoy. And for what? Treats? We could make those ourselves!”

She sighed, shrugging. “So…we stayed here. We sent out a message saying that we were destroyed and cut off the signals. And we’d been here ever since. Other than who I assume were your fellow crewmates coming to see us a few days ago, we’ve just lived here for a few years.”

Silence followed as she finished her short tale, as everyone absorbed what they’d heard. She went out to grab what resembled a baked good, taking a bite. “Pastries?”

The first one to speak up was Garbage, sounding exasperated. “How could you just abandon humans?!”

“They abandoned us by cutting communications. For all we knew they were dead. It was better for cats, for us. We’ve been searching the cosmos for years for them. Why shouldn’t we reap the benefits rather than them, while we’d lose our own freedoms?” Everyone looked distraught by that except for Kira, who seemed to more or less just think it over silently.

“But they haven’t talked to us either, that doesn’t mean we should give up!”

“Shouldn’t you? Why do you keep searching for them?”

“Because they love us!”

She just chuckled, taking another bite of their snack. “I think I’m beginning to understand why they chose you to succeed us. None of you seem to be thinking of this rationally. You’re just viewing it emotionally, because of your good memories. I’m sure your pups won’t think like that.”

“Why not?” Nomi spoke up, with the cat just humming in response and skipping a proper answer.

“Where is your ship, or ships? Why do you all live in huts like this?”

“Oh, we still have our ship. It’s hidden in case something ever forces us to leave. All our stuff is out there. We just don’t need it.”

“You don’t need it? What about food? Electricity? TV?!”

She just laughed, shaking her head. “We don’t need any of that. That’s all just things humans passed down to us. We live naturally. What’s the point of clothes if it’s so warm and pleasant here in the summer?” The chihuahua seemed utterly perplexed by that.

“I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t the Council inform us of this? Why wouldn’t the humans?” Stella sounded almost betrayed, and the rest of them were feeling the same way.

“That I cannot tell you. While I have my own theories, I am unsure of the true answer. That is what you must ask yourselves when you return.”

“And how will we do that?” Kira moved the topic to practical matters, preferring to think things over herself later.

“Don’t fret, we’ll help you. We have surpluses, and we can give you whatever you need to fix what is broken. But that is for tomorrow. For tonight, we’ll provide you with bedding and food.”

“I don’t like that idea.” The she-cat just laughed again, something that was starting to bug all the others.

“I see why your crew likes you! But I’m afraid you do not have a choice. It is too far to walk in the dark. You and I can continue speaking amongst each other. The others will be led to somewhere they can rest, mm?”

Before Garbage could respond Kira did, looking at him. “We’ll be fine Captain, don’t worry. You and Ed should stay here while we go.” The cat looked at her pleasantly, nodding.

“I assure you that your crew will be safe. We have more to discuss while they can rest, perhaps sleep those drugs off, mm?” After a moment of thinking and looking amongst his crew, who either shrugged or nodded, Garbage requised.

The four got up and slowly left, Garbage looking regretful at his decision. But in the end they were left together, Ed taking another pastry while the she-cat dipped at some small drink.

“Now I believe it’s my turn to ask some questions, is that alright?”

“Erm, yeah I guess!”

“Woah woah woah Captain, leave this to me.” Ed wiped off the pastry on his shirt, leaning forward. “We don’t even know this lady!”

A laugh came from her, making Ed nearly roll his eyes. “You must be their ambassador, eh? I can see why. It is a fair point however. My name is Angie, what’s yours?”

“Ed.”

“Captain Garbage of the Pluto.” She gave a scowl at that, shaking her head.

“You dogs really are loyal aren’t you? Your owner named you that and still, you go above and beyond to defend them.”

“It’s endearing! Because when I was a puppy I-“

Angie put up a paw, shaking her head. “I’m sure there is some adorable story behind it. But that isn’t the question I wanted to ask.”

She took another sip of her drink before continuing. “It is my understanding that you crashed here. However, I’d like to know why you came here at all.”

Ed stepped in, trying to prevent the actual events from leaking out. “It was an accident. We were trying to go to another planet.”

“And your radars said what; that this planet just didn’t exist?”

“Just that Captain Happy’s crew had been there, and that the air was hazardous.”

“And you weren’t notified of our existence?”

“Nope.”

“How long do you think you’ll stay here?”

“We aren’t sure. A week, tops. It depends how much damage there is. Now, may I ask you a question?”

She motioned with her paw, a small smile evident. “Why, of course, dear ambassador. I cannot promise I’ll answer all of your questions. But I hope to answer many.”

“May I see more of your gold and-“

Garbage gently whacked the back of his head, grunting. “Dangit Ed!” He turned back to Angie, who just looked surprised and bemused. “Sorry about him. He’s…special.”

“Perhaps you have some questions then?”

“Would you happen to have food you can spare? Our ships aren’t packed with enough food for this long.”

“Of course, we have surpluses to share. Other goods we could deliver to you?”

“I think that’s it. Where’s the rest of your Council?”

“Well, we don’t really have one anymore.”

“But then who advises you?”

“Everyone. If there’s an emergency we just hold a referendum on it and I ask whoever’s qualified.”

“But what if they make a bad call?”

“What if I make a bad call?”

Ed spoke up again, having deemed it enough time since the smack to speak again. “Well, if you're like our ship’s captain, you were appointed to make good calls.”

“Oh, well, technically. But we don’t really follow that anymore. I’m elected, I suppose I’m just popular.” She laughed again, shrugging.

Garbage sighed, thinking more. “This is all so…”

“Strange? Surprising? Sudden?”

He nodded at her suggestions, sighing. “Yeah, all of those. I just…I’m not sure what to think about all this. Usually I can make fast decisions.”

“This must be quite the change. You have time to think. How long have you all been traveling?”

“Going on three years now.” Garbage didn’t even seem disheartened at that number.

“Mm. And no luck I presume.”

“No, there’s always something wrong. We’ve kept up hope though!”

“You certainly have…” He dodged the smack this time, focusing on a final snack.

“Why is one of your crew mates purple? Have you conducted more genetic experiments on yourself?”

“What, Kira? No no, she um. She got stuck on a planet for…awhile. It affected her.”

“She was left on a planet? And you didn’t go search for her?”

“It was a smaller, older mission. We weren’t told.”

The cat truly showed an emotion other than amusement now, seeming more amazed. “And she still works alongside you?!”

They both nodded, which just made her shake her head more. “Hm. I think that’s enough for tonight. Why don’t I walk you to your lodgings?” The two nodded, before the three set off again back towards their friends.

Chapter Text

Kira, Chonies, Stella and Nomi were all led out of the large building, where Ed and Garbage remained with the she-cat. They were carefully escorted in silence away, down another path. There were less cats around, seemingly back in their homes. The ambience of the forest reminded them all of Earth, filling them with a sad nostalgia. There were noises like crickets, though much deeper. The sound of birds in the distance, a small breeze rustling the large leaves overhead. It gave all of them a deep homesickness, though they tried to ignore it for now.

The two guards that escorted them eventually led them to another building, this one much more like a hut then their previous location. A guard looked at them all, squinting gently before speaking. “We will be waiting outside. Don’t run off, alright?”

“Don’t go chasing after a squirrel!” They snickered softly, with Kira giving off a growl which shut them off. She clenched her paws, but Nomi quickly grabbed her wrist and led her inside.

“We won’t! Bye!” As soon as the other two followed them inside the small dog shut the door, and began examining their new quarters. It wasn’t as comfortable as the last place, that was for sure. There were a few cots haphazardly put there, being only five. There was an old coffee table without any cushions for seatings, some wooden shelves and one other room where there was a small bathroom.

The four went to sit down on their cots, and Chonies almost immediately started talking.

“They’ll be okay, right?” Chonies sounded worried, and Stella did her best to comfort him, petting his head gently.

“Don’t worry Chonies. They’ll be okay! They’re…capable enough of defending themselves.”

“Besides, the cat was right. If she wanted us dead we would be.” Stella gave Kira a look which she just shrugged off. “I’m right. Besides, that’s good news. It means we won’t be killed at the very least.”

Nomi started pacing around while talking, unable to sit still. “None of this makes any sense. Why did the star maps show us that this planet was unlivable? This planet is perfect! We found it!”

Stella hummed, thinking. “Happy knew about them. So the Council must’ve too. There must be a good reason why they didn’t tell us. Something we don’t know.” Kira nodded in agreement, though, was more silent.

“B-but the Council wouldn’t do that! Why would they hide that? They would’ve told us!” Kira scoffed at Chonies again, though looked regretful at that once she saw Chonies looking obviously confused and even sad.

“The Council probably has a reason, even if it’s a bad one. When we get back we’ll have to ask them.”

Nomi started rummaging through the shelves, looking for anything of interest. “I don’t like how they talk about humans. It isn’t right!”

“Isn’t it though?” Everyone looks at Kira, not exactly surprised, as this tracked well with her attitude. “Think about it. Why would humans tell us that we were their second option? Their backup plan? They want us to be loyal, that’s why they chose dogs and made us even more unconditionally loyal.”

“Humans wouldn’t do that Kira. They aren’t that cynical, you just are.”

“Ugh, open your eyes! Don’t you see that they aren’t some perfect gods? They’re using us, and whether or not that’s good or bad, it makes sense that we wouldn’t be informed of information that could compromise our loyalty.”

Stella shook her head, but stepped around the topic. Kira was steadfast in her beliefs, everyone knew that by now. “Even assuming that’s true. Why would the Council keep this from us?”

“Yeah! That doesn’t make sense! What do they have to gain from that?”

“Maybe for the same reason as humans. They don’t want us to get the idea that we could do this. That we could just stop searching and settle down.”

“Because we can’t! What about our humans?”

Kira huffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “For the last time, they-” Before the argument could be recycled all over again though, the door opened again, and in walked Ed and Garbage. Everyone immediately jumped to attention, Chonies nearly tackling his captain to the ground with the force of his hug.

“Oh Captain you're okay! Thank goodness!”

Garbage hugged him back, grinning. “Aw, of course I’m okay Chonies!”

Kira instead turned her attention to Ed, who after looking around, almost immediately went towards the shelves. “So? What did you learn?”

“Hm? Oh, we didn’t learn much. Hey, is that jam?!” Kira turned her attention back to Garbage, who shook his head.

“That’s not true! We learned a whole lot!”

“Like?”

“Well, that lady is Angie, their leader. Um, she’s elected. She’ll give us food and supplies…yeah, a lot!”

“What else, captain?!”

Garbage slowly relayed their conversation, with occasional inputs from Ed when he wasn’t busy eating jam. At the end it was Kira who spoke up, who looked and sounded less than impressed.
“What about how many of them there are? How far from the ship are we? Where exactly are we? When can we get our weapons back? If we can use some communications systems they must have lying around? How much technology do they have available?”

Garbage blinked, feeling a bit dumb. “Uhm, I didn’t think to ask.”

Kira stared at him for a moment before going and grabbing an extra pillow, and lying beneath the table. “Good night.”

“What, Kira?!”

Stella sighed, laying down herself. “No, I think she’s right, Captain. We could use some rest. Tomorrow we'll probably need to be in good shape for whatever we'll be doing.” Nomi soon followed suit, and once Ed had licked out the entire jar of jam, he eagerly jumped into the bed.

Before Garbage could sleep though he quickly spoke, wanting to keep everyone together. "No one leave before we're all awake, okay?" Everyone confirmed they wouldn't, soothing their captain's worries.

Garbage watched his crew ;ay down before feeling some exhaustion coming onto himself. Laying down on a cot he stared at the ceiling, wishing for the millionth time that he was back at home with Chelsea, before falling asleep to the Earthly sound of crickets outside the hut’s walls.

Chapter Text

Young in the next day, in the wee hours of the night, Nomi woke up. She gave a quiet and annoyed moan, feeling that she had to use the bathroom, so slowly got out of bed. The fireflies that had previously lit up their hut must’ve all been dead now, as it was pitch black.

After making her way slowly through the dark she eventually did make it to the bathroom, finishing her business before leaving again. Her legs were still very sore and tingley, numbness still prevalent. On the return trip though was when she bumped into something on the ground, and was met with an annoyed grunt.

Nomi blinked in surprise as she heard a voice, and almost screamed in surprise before a paw came out and closed her snout shut. “Don’t, you’ll wake up the others, it’s just me.” Nomi identified the voice, relaxing, and the paw left.

“Kira?”

“Mhm.”

“What are you doing awake? Do you have any idea how late it is?”

“I could say the same to you.”

“I had to use the bathroom.”

Kira sighed, before quietly responding. “I just…am having trouble sleeping. Thought I’d just keep watch instead.” If it wasn’t so dark, red tints might be visible on the husky’s cheeks.

Nomi watched her for a moment before sitting down next to her. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not, particularly. I’m not all that good at talking.”

“I know. But maybe it would be nice to, at least, I think it might be. I always feel better at least.”

Kira gave a tired sigh of defeat, before speaking. “I-I’m just worried. About them.”

“You said that we wouldn’t be hurt, right?”

“Killed. We won’t be killed. But…we don’t know their motive. Why they’re helping us or what they're keeping from us. What if we’re separated? Or captured? Or tortured?”

Nomi yawned, rubbing her eyes before responding. “Mmm, I don’t think we will be. It’s like you said; they would’ve done it already.”

“Still. I feel safer staying here at guard.”

“…You know that we’d never leave you behind, right? Even if we were split apart. We’d find you first, and then leave. With you.”

Kira gave another tired sigh, trying without success to rub exhaustion from her eyes. “I know. And I want to believe that but…I just want to make sure. I can’t get stuck behind again, or abandoned.” She sounded sad, looking down at the ground.

Nomi leaned against her friend and placed a paw on her head. While Kira flinched at first, Nomi softly started petting her friend. Something that always helped her relax, especially back on Earth.

“I promise you won’t be left behind Kira. But we both need to get some sleep okay? Why don’t you just close your eyes for a quick nap, okay? I’ll make sure you're alright.”

Kira shook her head, not accepting that. “No, you need some sleep too. I’m used to it. I couldn’t stay still much with those Emulicks and moving vines.”

“I don’t think there are any of those here. We’ll both just go to sleep, okay?”

“But-“

“You have my word that we’ll be alright. You trust me, right?”

“How would you know that?”

“Mm…pilot’s intuition.”

“You crashed us here.” Kira said it more teasingly than angrily, making Nomi roll her eyes.

“It was an accident.” Kira was given a playful shrug before Nomi leaned on her again, yawning.

“Good night Kira.”

“G’night Nomi.”

The two fell asleep like that, laying against one another. When the others found them in the morning, they all wished they had cameras for blackmail. Not having any, they just looked at the wholesome sight, trying to let them sleep as long as they could.

Chapter Text

Kira and Nomi would be the last ones to wake up. Only a half hour before noon Nomi jolted awake at the sound of something dropping, hitting Kira's head in the process. The husky snapped awake too, blinking a few times. The two locked eyes with each other before suddenly looking away, both blushing with embarrassment, and silently agreeing not to talk about it.

The loud sound they heard ended up being Ed, as usual, who had thrown a fork across the room at the wall. He then picked it up, nodding with satisfaction. "Mm, this is real silver."

"How can you tell?" The other dogs sat at the table, which was ladden and absolutely covered with food. Garbage had his cheeks full, with bits of food covering his snout.

"I just can. Interesting..."

Stella sighed, putting her face in her paws. "Ed I swear, if you try something I'm going to kill you."

"No no, you don't understand. This is useful information, I swear."

Chonies looked a bit curious, though, it was mixed with severe skepticism. "How is that useful information?"

"Because it means they're either still using the ship's technology, or have set up some type of smithing, maybe even some industry. They may look like it, but they aren't only primitive animals."

"That," Stella paused and thought carefully, "Actually isn't stupid. That does make sense."

"See!"

Kira chose this time to make herself known, speaking up. "They could just be some silverware from the ship. It hasn't been that long that they've been here, or at least definitely not long enough for the forks to wear down."

They looked at the two in surprise, now aware they were awake. Stella grunted, looking narrowly at Ed. "Thin line, Ed. Thin line." Thankfully he was let off the hook early, as the attention was brought to the two.

Nomi sniffed the air and jumped up, sprinting over. "Where did all this come from?! It smells amazing!"

"Tastes good too." Garbage sounded approving, before stuffing his mouth again.

"They were there when I woke up, not really sure where it came from. When I asked the guards they didn't say much besides to stay inside until Angie gets here." Chonies just shrugged, with Nomi going quickly to sit down and grab some food.

Kira tried getting up, but as soon as she was on their legs, she promptly felt immense nausea. She leaned back against the wall and slid down it, groaning as she sat back down. "That isn't good..."

Garbage frowned, putting the food down. "Kira? What's wrong?"

"I'm still all woozy. I don't think I can stand still."

Stella hummed, scratching her chin. "Interesting. Maybe those tranquilizers are still in effect? I'm not sure."

"But Nomi is fine!"

Stella shrugged, getting up and walking over before offering her a paw. "Maybe you just need some food." Kira begrudgingly took it, being led to the table. As soon as she sniffed the food she took several bites herself, nodding in approval.

"Dang, this really is good. What time is it anyhow?"

Garbage haphazardly rubbed some crumbs off his face, missing the vast majority of them which remained. "I'll just go ask!" He did exactly that, walking to the door and loudly speaking.

"Hey, guards? What time is it?!" Silence came out, and he just shouted some more. "Hello! I know you're there! All I want to know is the time! Hey! I just ate a big breakfast I can yell all day and-"

A high-pitched groan came, followed by a voice. "Okay, okay! Just cut that out! It's just about noon, happy?"

"Thanks. Can you contact Angie please? I'd appreciate that."

"I will send a message to Miss Angie that you asked. Please stop screaming. She'll probably be here shortly."

"Thank you!" Garbage promptly sat back down, feeling accomplished.

Stella took a sip of her water, curiously humming. "Got a clue what we'll be doing today? They must have some plans for us."

Chonies shrugged, feeling just as curious. "I don't know. But hopefully I can get back to the ship. Maybe with their help I can get the comms back; can you imagine how Loaf is feeling?"

Garbage and Nomi simultaneously cringed at the thought, Garbage shaking his head. "Oh boy, that can't be good. He's probably going ballistic over there."

There was some minor back and forth for the rest of breakfast, but not much else. It was nice to talk like this; the atmosphere was a million times better and less tense than yesterday. Everyone was calmer, filled with good food, and even smiling. It was at this moment that the door opened, revealing the old cat's re-entry.

“Good morning my new friends! It’s nice to see you all well rested. And from the sight of those empty platters, quite well fed too!” She gave a laugh, though, it didn’t bother them as much now. They even found it a little charming, surprisingly enough.

Stella took the initiative to quickly reach over and forcefully clear off Garbage’s face, making him wince before turning to the cat. “We, yeah! Thanks for the food and beds.”

“Your welcome, no worries. Why don’t we talk now? I’m sure you have many things you’d like to accomplish?”

Chonies almost said something before Stella piped up. “We could use some doctors maybe? Kira isn’t well yet.” The husky glared at Stella, huffing.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing big.”

Angie raised an eyebrow, looking amused and beckoning her to come closer. “Well I’m sure you are dearie. Walk on over here just to prove it?”

Kira, not willing to back down, tried to stand up. She promptly took two steps before nearly falling, Ed catching her by the sleeve. “Watch it!”

“Thanks, Ed.” He grumbled in response, not saying anything before sneakily slipping a stolen little trinket into his pocket.

Angie’s tail moved behind her, in a slow manner. It waved around, showing off some interest in a way. As if being amused. “You could definitely use some help. We’ll send you to the medics. As for the others-“

“Miss Angie-“

“Please, just Angie.”

“Angie, I don’t want us to split up.”

“I’m afraid we’ve already gone over this captain. It just doesn’t make sense for you not to. Do you not believe you are safe?”

Stella now spoke, looking thoughtful. “We’d feel a lot safer with our weapons.”

There was a pause as Angie thought, responding slowly. “We can give you your weapons back. However, you can’t carry them here.”

Kira huffed, having sat back down, looking upset. “And why not? Your guards have them.”

“And they are the only ones who are allowed to be armed. Guards, and hunters. Just a way to maintain order and safety, if you will.”

Kira didn’t look anymore happy, but stayed silent as Angie kept speaking. “But we will give you them back. One of you will be brought to them and you can take it back to your ship, mm?”

Stella raised her paw, cleaning her snout. “I’ll do that.”

“Excellent! Now, one of you should definitely go re-examine your ship. We can send some of our engineers over too to help.”

“I’ll do that!” Chonies stood up on the chair, still being smaller than the seated Kira. “I’m the mechanic, I’ve got it.”

Nomi raised her paw too, speaking quietly and a little embarrassed. “I’d like to go too. I-I’m the one that crashed and got us here. And I’d like to help out if I could?”

“Awww, Nomes…” The chihuahua gave her a little hug, Angie just nodding.

“Good for taking responsibility! Rare to see people willing to fix their mistakes. Of course you can go as well.”

She looked to the two remaining crew members, giving a kind smile. “Ah, the ambassador and the leader of this…expedition. Would you two care to come with me for a tour? I’d love to show you around our homes.”

Garbage looked at Ed before nodding. “Yes, of course! We’d love to, thank you.”

“Excellent! I’ll be waiting outside to bring you all to your destinations. Your captain will want to, ah, see you off after all.” She turned, walking out the door. “Please don’t leave me waiting!”

Chapter Text

"Cmon Jerry, let me in please! I need to speak to the Council and find my crew! They need our help!"

"For the last time, cut it out!"

In front of the entrance to the Council's chamber, in the M-Bark, an overweight and panting bulldog struggled. He jumped up and down trying to get around the guard, an infinitely large dog who was guarding the entrance. He'd been doing this constantly since he lost contact with the ship, the tracking beacon last stating that they had crashed on a nearby already-explored planet.

It has been nearly twenty-four hours since the dogs had crashed. At first Loaf had just loudly panicked and ran around, struggling to breath while he desperately tried to contact the crew. But once the communications were clearly down he avoided common procedures to calmly take care of matters, send out scans, and file a report. Instead he had promptly run out of the communications building, right towards the Council's chambers. Apart from a quick pit stop for emergency sugar, he'd run all the way there before promptly collapsing at the door, wheezing out his report.

When the guard dog, Jerry, had figured out what the dying dog was talking about, he relented a small bit. He himself went into the chamber to interrupt a meeting on food prices and briefly summarize the situation. Only then was he let in, able to see the whole council.

They sat in silence as he explained what had happened. At first the only questions they asked was to verify what planet the crash had been on. Their faces fell when it was confirmed. The Pluto had indeed crash landed on planet 7BG5, also known as Catillac to the Trelkins.

When Loaf had run towards here, he had been expecting a fast response. For the Council to immediately set out a ship to rescue them, especially from the toxic atmosphere. If their helmets had holes then they'd desperately need a quick response. However, what he got from the Council was the exact opposite.

The Council stated that they 'could not make a decision at this moment' and would 'have to take time and discuss to make a final choice'. Loaf had been shocked and confused, but received no explanation. Instead he was told to take the day off, and by no means tell another dog about this, keeping it under wraps. Even the other dogs at the communication center were reached out to, and told not to spill the beans on the matter.

For a few hours Loaf had been stuck at home, pacing anxiously. But nothing was able to calm his nerves. Not food, or drinks, or squeaky toys, or even a failed attempt at napping. Absolutely nothing calmed him. Soon enough he'd gone crazy in his small apartment, and left.

Loaf promptly went back to the Council's chamber, only to be pushed away. Six times he did this, and now on his seventh, Jerry had had enough. "For the last time, no! You've been doing this for ten hours! If you come back here one more time you will be banned and I'll lock you in your apartment. Now, scram!" He picked Loaf up by the scruff of his neck before throwing him. Loaf looked back in distress, but feeling defeated, felt no other choice than to go back home.

For the first time in his entire life, Loaf had no appetite. No desire to stress eat. He'd been up for more than a day, had spent an immense part of that stressed out of his mind, and was at the end of his rope. The Council was still trying to make a decision - something Loaf thought was immensely stupid - and he clearly could not rush them to a decision.

It was at this point, sitting destitute on his couch, that he found it. Loaf found the answer. It was immensely scary, risky, dangerous, and stupid. But Loaf had no other cards to play. No, he was just going to have to take things into his own paws.

Not having much in the means of preparation, Loaf quickly packed a bag and started to try and sneak out. That had never been his strong suit either. But he technically kind of knew how to fly now! Granted he had kind-of-sort-of crashed the ship. And nearly had a heart attack during it. But if he could rescue his crew, then it'd be worth it.

Trying not to look suspicious was shockingly harder than Loaf had expected. He tried his best to keep his head down, bag tucked under his armpit. In it were some medical supplies, and a small oxygen tank he had just in case his anxiety got really bad and he couldn't breath. Deep down he knew that if they really had been inhaling poisonous air, then that small tank wouldn't be very much for six different dogs. Loaf just hoped that it wouldn't be necessary.

Eventually he was able to get to the tourist ship. His streak of good luck seemed to continue when there was no one there at the moment, a sign reading 'on break come back later'. Stepping inside he was able to rush forward to the ship itself, closing the hatch and sitting down.

Looking out into space he tried to take deep breaths, seeing his reflection. There were bags under his eyes, he looked tired and ungroomed, and his heart had been beating far too fast for several hours. This was his last chance to turn back from what was technically treason. But, it was also his last chance to save his crew himself.

Taking a deep breath the dog reached forward before pressing the 'launch button'...only for the hatch leading to the M-Bark to close and lock. The ship powered down at once, only having air systems still on. A robotic message rang out, as the ship read that it was on emergency power. "Please Do Not Attempt To Leave The Spacecraft. Help Will Arrive Shortly."

It was at this point that Loaf promptly collapsed, sliding out of the chair and onto the ground.

Chapter Text

The dogs looked at one another, none of them looking amazed at the thought of splitting up. Chonies wasn't as worried as he'd normally be at least, as he had the usually-dependable Nomi on his side. But the chihuahua still quivered a little before walking out, not having anything to grab.

The rest soon followed; Kira having to depend on Stella to walk, something that made her dislike the fact that she'd be alone with some 'doctors' alone. Being surrounded by drugs and saws and everything else she imagined, and being unable to make an escape just in case? Yeah, no thanks. Alas, she had no choice.

As soon as they walked out Angie gave a little smile, leaning on her cane. "We'll go retrieve that engineer first. Luckily he's not too far, but we'll still take it slow. My leg is hurting quite a bit today." Without further ado she turned and began walking away, the guards suspiciously eying them. There were exactly six of them, at least one per dog.

They followed closely behind, looking around. The town really did look substantially different at day. At night with just some lights it really had looked rather primal; like something straight from a period piece. But here it looked much better. The houses looked more colorful and bright, having even some sort of paint for some of them. Many more cats were walking around, now conversing more loudly. The dogs caught wind of discussions about some game or sport named 'P&P', talks about home lives and work; everything one would expect from a town. It reminded them a bit of their own home on the M-Bark, albeit much more quaint and natural.

They walked along the path, walking past the cats. Just like the dogs there was a large variety of them. Some fluffy while others hairless, old elderly cats and little kittens. Ed even saw two teenage-looking cats run past them, the scent suspiciously like skunk and an Earthly recreation.

"Ugh, what was that?"

Angie got a mischievous look, snickering. "Er, it seems those two were high. It happens occasionally. School isn't in session now."

"High?" Garbage wondered why Nomi was curious, and shivered at the thought of Nomi using drugs.

"Mm; there's a plant here similar to catnip on Earth. We were...quick to gather it, let's say. Though, I never liked it much myself. The scent sticks with you for days." There was no more words on the topic; already they'd arrived at a small albeit nice looking home. The dogs stayed on the road, not wanting to intrude, while Angie went to knock.

They all heard very loud meowing and some muffled speech before the door was opened. There stood a cat that looked somewhat middle aged. He was a little pudgy and chubby, with his eyes appearing tired. He was an all black cat with blue eyes, and a little pink nose.

The reason for his exhaustion was there as well. On his head was a kitten who'd jumped onto him and was now latched onto the back of his head, yelling and laughing as she kept whacking him. She was the same shade of black, though, noticeably having white spots as well.

"Hello Malek, how are you?

"Er, good, I suppose." Neither of them seemed very concerned or interested in the cat, who didn't seem to notice Angie or the dogs either. "Yourself?"

"Oh, not much besides the old leg acting up again." She seemed to just remember the dog's existence, motioning to them. "We've had more guests..."

Only then did the cat's attention turn to them, and in turn, the kitten's. The aforementioned little thing leapt off their dad, who tried and failed to swipe the back. Without hesitation the kitten ran forward, the dogs standing still unsure of what to do, only to leap onto Garbage, their little body covering his face. Muffled panic came out as he screamed.

"Gerritoff, Gerrit Off!!!" Kira and Ed tried, only to find the kitten had a grip like steel. It just wouldn't come off.

"It's you, it's Fluffy!"

The tired cat gave an even more tired sigh before coming over. "Cmon Allie, back to dad." He raised his paw and gently poked between the kitten's neck and shoulder. Almost instantly her grip relaxed, as she giggled uncontrollably.

"Tickles, tickles!" Her dad picked her back up, pulling her away. She gave a disappointed groan, reaching for Garbage. "Fluffy! I wanna hug Fluffy!"

"I am not Fluffy, my name is Garbage!" That just made her start laughing again.

"Garbage, Garbage! His name is Garbage!" She kept laughing, her dad looking unfazed and giving a quiet 'sorry'.

"Er, did you need something Angie? You can see I'm a bit...occupied."

"Oh yes, I can. However, I am afraid your services are needed. Could you come with us to examine their ship?"

He just looked at his daughter before looking back. "I'm not really sure I can do that right now..."

"Mm, a crashed ship is no place for a little kit. And especially not such a cute one!" Angie's demeanor changed as she leaned forward, playfully poking Allie's face a few times. She just giggled and it made Malek smile, a warm genuine one.

"Could she go to her mom?"

The smile instantly vanished from both of their faces, Angie cringing while Malek just looked sorrowful. "She's...not here anymore."

Nomi got the message, looking instantly regretful, and speaking so fast no one could understand. "OhmygoshIamsosorryIdidntmeantoallIwantedwasforyoutohelpusand-"

Malek interrupted her, shaking her head. "It's okay, I know it wasn't your fault."

"We need to go take the purple one to the infirmary. The daycare is on the way, we could bring her?"

"A-are you sure? I don't want to be a bother. There's other engineers and she, well, you know how crazy she can be and-"

"No worries Malek, it's not a problem at all. Besides, there aren't any engineers as bright as you." He shined at the praise, before giving a tentative nod. "O-okay. I guess so." His attention turned to his daughter, who he spoke softly to. "Daddy's gonna go help Fluffy, okay? Can you go with Miss Angie here to see your friends at the daycare?"

The girl nodded instantly, pure excitement on her face. "Yeah I wanna, I wanna!" He just smiled, before putting her down, where she started jumping up and down excitedly. "Let's go let's go!"

He crouched down, hugging his daughter. "I'll be back later. You are good for Miss Angie, okay?" He poked her nose, making her giggle before nodding.

"Promise!"

"Good girl; love you sweetie." He gave her a kiss on the forehead before standing back up, now serious and tired looking again. "Where's the ship?

"Ah, a little ways away. Don't worry though, I've granted you a speeder, you'll be fine. Johnson here will escort you. Thank you again dearie." They shared a hug, Malek nodding before turning his attention to the dogs.

"Who's coming with me? Chonies and Nomi raised their paws, with Malek just nodding. "Alright Johnson, lead the way." Malek walked off, waving to his daughter and making funny faces until he was out of view. Nomi and Chonies waved as well, the two guards trying to hurry them along.

"Bye Nomi! Bye Chonies!" They all shouted their goodbyes, feeling a bit glum at their reduced number.

Angie looked at the remaining four, smiling. "Ah, well, let's be on our way!"

They continued on their way, continuing to travel. As they did, Garbage was completely occupied by the kitten travelling with them. She constantly jumped around him, even leaping on top of his head and pulling his ears. The corgi groaned in annoyance as the others just snickered and laughed, including Angie.

"Fluffy, play with meeeeeee!"

"For the last time my name is Captain Garbage!"

"You're Fluffy!"

Garbage looked at the old cat, now completely understanding why Malek had looked so exhausted. "Why does she keep calling me Fluffy?"

"Ah, it's a picture book we made. About a corgi who goes on space adventures named, well, you know his name."

Ed snickered some more, before talking to Angie as well. "So, what happened to your leg!"

"Ed!" Stella looked aghast, while Angie grimaced.

"What?! Just making conversation."

While Stella whacked his face, Angie spoke softly. "Ah, it's a long, boring story. Nothing important. Old age, you know."

Ed opened his mouth to question it before Stella smacked him again, which made Allie giggle. The kitten kept pulling Garbage's ears, who'd given up on trying to get rid of her, and just gave her a ride. "Why are you here, Mister Fluffy?"

"Ah, well, we...um..."

"Long story or short story..." Kira muttered under her breath, though Allie still heard.

"Storytime, storytime!"

Stella tried to dull the impact, thinking up a tale. "Well, we uh, are going on an adventure! Yeah!" Unfortunately, Kira didn't really care about that.

"We accidentally crashed here while looking for a planet for humans."

"Kira!"

"What? Why were you lying?"

Allie's eyes suddenly grew tenfold as she gasped. "But how will you get home?!"

Thankfully, Angie took over. "Don't worry little one, they'll be just fine. We're gonna help them get back." That seemed to calm the kitten down who nodded, before gasping dramatically again.

"Can I help?!"

Kira opened her snout, but Garbage spoke before she could say something traumatizing. "It's okay Allie, but thank you."

The kitten went silent for a minute, before quietly speaking. "You'll say bye before you leave, right? You can't just leave like momma did..."

Angie sharply inhaled, stopping before speaking. "Of course they will, dear, don't be silly."

The dogs looked at eachother with questionable looks on them, before Angie stopped in front of a large building. They could see what seemed to be a playground in the back, with tons of kittens running around. "Alright dearie, say goodbye to your new friends okay?"

She hugged the back of Garbage's head, which he felt numb to by now. "Bye Fluffy! Bye Fluffy's friends!"

Garbage sighed in relief when she hopped down, and crouched down to hug her too. "Bye, Allie." She squealed in excitement, jumping up and down.

"Fluffy hugged me! Fluffy hugged me!" She made sure to give the rest of them polite hugs too, Stella giving Kira and Ed warning glares not to do anything against it.

Finally the kitten hugged Angie, who just smiled and patted her head. "Go on sweetie, tell Miss Nettles that I sent you, okay? Your dad will pick you up later."

"Okay! Bye bye!" She ran off, waving before running inside the building.

Angie sighed, sniffling. The dogs realized that she was looking rather sad, but before the dogs could say anything, collected herself. "Alright, let's get you to the doctors."

Just like that they were on their way again, the air seeming much more calm and collected without the kitten there. "What was your name again?"

"Me? Kira."

"You seem very...serious, Kira."

"We've crashed on a possibly hostile planet, have no weapons, no communications, and I cannot walk. It's a little hard to relax."

"Mmm, that is fair. I suppose I cannot blame you for that." They walked over to a large field; another clearing in the otherwise dense forest. There were a lot of tents there, made of leathery-looking animal material. Cats hustled about, wearing very human-looking white coats. The weirdest part was the technologies present. There were IV bags and heart monitors about, not just some elixirs made from plant matter.

Stella hummed, watching it. "You use the ship's technology here?"

"We do like to live naturally here. But there's just no benefit to someone dying of an infection, mm? Might as well use what's available to us to improve lives." She took a breath before smiling at them. "I'll just go grab a doctor, stay here." She slowly left, with the four dogs and their guards being left behind.

Garbage looked at Kira, who was staring at the tents silently. "You'll be okay Kira."

"I hope so. I just...don't exactly trust these doctors. Or these cats."

Stella patted her back, looking thoughtful. "You'll be fine, trust me. If you aren't we'll come get you, promise." There wasn't a response, with them just waiting until Angie got back, another cat accompanying her.

"This is Doctor Lola, she'll be taking care of you. She is very skilled and experienced, trust me."

The cat seemed to be a young adult. She was a very fluffy cat, with tons of blond fur. There were glasses on her head, tied around by a band because of how small her nose was. She extended a paw to Kira, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Kira. Let's go see what's going on, mm?"

Kira shook it, nodding. "Where am I, ah, going?"

"Don't worry, your friend can take a break now. I'll lead you there."

"Oh I don't think that-" Before Kira could finish the cat had gone to her other side, pulling her away from Stella. She had a surprising amount of strength, easily supporting the husky. "Oh, okay. Nevermind, I guess."

Kira looked at her friends, appearing a bit worried. "Alright, well, I'll see you guys later I guess." She looked a tad worried, and then surprised when Garbage went to hug her.

"Don't worry Kira, we'll come back to get you later." His attention turned to Lola as he tried to look serious, puffing out his chest to try and seem a little threatening. "Don't hurt her, got it?" Ed started laughing, and even Stella had to try not to chuckle.

Lola just nodded, looking bemused. "Er, right, I won't. We'll take good care of her, trust me."

They watched Kira be guided off towards a tent, where she gave one last look to them before being put inside, with Angie scratching her chin.

"Well, alright you three. Let's go get your weapons." So, Angie began walking away, the three dogs following behind.

Stella walked straighter now, feeling relieved not to have to carry the husky's weight. "Miss Angie, could I ask you something?"

"It's just Angie, but yes, of course you can. Though I can't promise a satisfying answer."

"Do the kittens know about humans?"

Angie hummed, thinking. "What made you ask that?"

"Oh, well, Allie just made me wonder."

"Mm...they know a very...toned down version of the story. Sort of how humans would teach kindergartners about the origins of their country, or their empires or whatnot. We tell them that humans messed up their home and sent us out, but then we just stayed here and nicely said goodbye to the humans. When they're older they actually learn, you know, the truth."

Garbage piped in, still feeling distraught by this whole human-hating. "You don't teach them about the good stuff people did?"

"Such as?"

"Loving you! Being nice owners and stuff, even if not to some of you personally."

"Some cats do talk about that with their kits. Those with good relationships with their people. But even they understand it's mostly just sentimentality."

Ed didn't really care about any of this, but decided to play devil's advocate. "Isn't that indoctrination?"

"Well what do you teach your kits, or, puppies I suppose."

"That humans are amazing! They cuddle us and take care of us and-"

Angie looked at Ed and chuckled. "I'm not sure that we can honestly speak about indoctrination."

Garbage sighed, surrendering. "I think Kira and you would get along very well."

Angie raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Oh? Why is that?"

Stella grimaced, shaking her head. "Kira doesn't really like humans. If I had to guess, she'd probably love it if we just settled on some planet like this.

"I should talk to her later then, I'd agree that we might get along fairly well."

Garbage, Stella and Ed simultaneously thought that 'd be an awful idea, but didn't voice it. Ed scratched his chin curiously, looking around. "Where, ah, are the shops?" Stella shot him a suspicious glare, though Angie didn't think anything of it.

"There are none."

Ed looked distraught. "None?!"

"None."

"Well, then how do you have food? Or picture books? Or daycares or toys?"

"Why would we need shops to make food?"

"Well, people do need shops to get food." Angie didn't touch on his sarcasm, though Stella looked ready to possibly hit him again.

"Do they? Why? We have farmers, we have writers and artists, teachers and toymakers. You don't need stores to hand those out."

"How do people make money without businesses then?"

"There is no money."

Ed nearly had a heart attack from hearing that. "No money?! Then why would anyone work?"

"Because they want to. Some see it as their passion, others just want to be helpful to society and others. It's good to be busy after all, or else you start thinking too much about everything."

Ed was at a loss of words, and felt rather depressed. The other two didn't really care much about it. It seemed strange to them, but not bad. Besides, preventing Eds seemed like a respectable goal.

They stopped in front of a rather secure looking building. Unlike the others this one was made of stone, not just wood. "This is our armory. I've told them you're allowed to take your own weapons out, and they'll drive you back to the ship. But I must emphasize that you cannot carry these around. There will be...consequences if you do."

No one questioned what those must be, not wanting to know, instead just nodding. Stella looked at Garbage, hugging him. "Bye Captain."

"We'll see you soon Stella, make sure you see how Nomi and Chonies are doing."

"Will do." Her attention turned to Ed, and expression soured.

"Don't get into trouble, I'm serious."

He put a paw on his heart, dramatically gasping. "Me?! I'm insulted!" She just rolled her eyes before walking into the building, leaving the three alone.

Angie looked at the two dogs remaining, smiling. "Now, let's get on with that tour, mm?"

Chapter Text

“SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN PLEASE SLOW DOWN!"

"I have been told to get you there in-"

"FASTER FASTER! WOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A thin hovering vehicle sped through the woods, constantly dodging trees. Inside a guard drove, while Nomi sat besides him, and Chonies in the back besides Malek. The engineer seemed bored, trying to nap. Chonies gripped onto his side, holding on for dear life while repeatedly screaming. Meanwhile, Nomi didn't have any seat belts on at all.

They'd been going for about ten minutes now, and the entire drive had been like this. The cat driving was seriously considering crashing into a tree to escape all the screaming. Thankfully the clearing swiftly came into sight, saving the passengers from an explosive end.

The speeder was parked a little ways away from the crashed ship, coming to a harsh and abrupt stop. The roof was opened up by sliding back, allowing them to leaf. Nearly instantly, Chonies leaped out the speeder and immediately vomited on the ground.

Nomi panted, coursing with excitement, getting her desired adrenaline rush. "Can I drive it? Please please please please please?!"

The driver gripped the steering wheel, just opening the baggage, where Malek went to receive some tools. "For the last time, no."

"Please? What if I-"

"NO! GET OUT!" Nomi got the message, getting out as well and going to comfort her vomiting friend. Once he finally stopped they left towards the ship, with Malek starting to follow before stopping.

"Malek?" He turned to the other cat, who sat in the driver's seat. Their expression looked as though he'd like to ram his head into the steering wheel. "You'll be okay if I stay in the car, yeah? Please don't make me go after them..."

The cat nodded, motioning to a walkie talkie on his hip. "If I need anything I'll ask, but yeah, don't worry. You can stay here." His assigned guard nodded, leaning back on his seat with a face of pure relief. "When the other guard comes with the speeder full of stuff, he'll watch you."

Malek just hummed in response before going to the ship. His tired and emotionless expression changed into one of interest, looking around the dog's ship. Walking inside his eyes wandered as he explored, finding the dogs back in the cramped engine room. "So, what's the problem?"

Chonies sighed, rubbing his chin. "Well, it's a bit more than we thought. The battery isn't only dead but also has had acid leaking onto it, so it's busted. The comms have damage too but it's at least fixable, and there's some exterior damage from the crash. But that's mostly stuff we can fix, it's really the battery that's the problem.

Malek sat down, taking out some tools. "The engine looks a lot like what our ships had, though, it seems like there's been some improvements." He used a strange looking laser pointer to emit a blue light, which revealed several stains. "You're right, there's acid everywhere. Melted a lot of it. No way we can just fix it, it'll have to be replaced."

Nomi looked down guiltily, whimpering. "Sorry..."

"It's okay Nomes; could you take this and walk around the outside of the ship. It'll see how strong the metal is; try and remember when it reads below 30%. If it does then we'll have to fix it up a little." She nodded, going out to achieve her task.

The two remaining there worked in silence, but it was efficient silence. They were able to communicate remarkably well, and soon had a thorough description of what was wrong. A plan was soon developed, and Nomi came back right in time.

"How is it Nomi?"

"It's mostly good, except for the front of the ship. Most of it read in the tens. What does that mean?"

Malek shook his head. "It means that if you lift off, the pressure of leaving the atmosphere will cause the metal to collapse. Killing all of you."

"Oh..."

"But, thankfully, it isn't all bad news. Right Malek?"

"Mmm...yeah, it isn't. Taking out this old battery and putting in a new one is a pain, it'll take a few days for sure. But I think we can get the comms running by the end of tomorrow. And the engine might not be fully repaired, but it won't take too long to make it last enough for you guys to get back to the Howl ship or whatever it's called."

"The M-Bark?"

"Yeah, that. We can get some metal and meld it on, fix up the scratches and try to fuse it to make it last. For now we'll just get started on the communication equipment. I'm sure you want to talk with your friends or whatever." Chonies nodded and they moved over to where the radio was at.

There they got to work, Nomi sitting idly. It was there she realized that her skillset in actual ship repairs was, well...a little low. She had to learn it for her pilot training in emergencies like, well, like the one they were in right now. But about a minute after the final exam, it'd left her mind. So while she sat and occasionally passed things along, she struck up a conversation.

"What do you do as an engineer?"

"Well, I did work mainly on the speeders and making sure some machinery we made for the doctors and speeders worked. But I haven't done that in awhile, been staying home with Allie."

"She's really cute! Looks just like you, besides the white spots."

He laughed, smiling. "Yeah, she got those from her mother. We always used to call her snowflakes, because her mom's name was Snowball."

Nomi looked at Chonies, who had the same question on his mind, and was the one to say it. "What happened to her, if you don't mind us asking? Sorry if it's personal."

He stayed silent for a bit before responding. "It's okay. She was, uhm, a marine, what the guards are now, on the ship. When we landed her she stayed as one, always wanting to protect us. Little after Allie was born we got attacked by the, er, Trelkins. Mean ones, they are. She didn't make it."

Nomi's ears fell as she frowned. "I'm sorry, that sounds hard."

"Yeah, I guess it was. I was a bit of a wreck for awhile, but I'm better now. Allie went through it surprisingly well, though I think she's still not over it. Hard for her to really understand what went on."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth, or, in a toned down way I guess. That her mom got hurt while saving us from bad guys, and she had to go away. I'll tell her what really happened when she's a little older."

Nomi nodded, going to pat his back. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. You seem like a good dad." He flinched at first but then leaned into the touch, before moving back to work.

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

The three kept working together, making some progress on the radio. The other speeder came, carrying more equipment. By the time they stopped for a lunch break it seemed like it was going great, as they slowly fixed more and more. The conversation got lighter, much less serious and more fluffy.

"So, what is P&P? We heard some cats talking about it."

"Oh, Prey and Predators? It's sort of a really big sport here, it's the one everyone plays mainly. It's got two teams, like the name says. You try to hunt and tag the others down, but with some rules and stuff. It's a bit complicated to explain, but Allie loves it, even if she's really bad at it."

"That sounds cool!" Nomi didn't even know the game, but kind of wanted to try it. She had a feeling she'd be great at it.

"Yeah, it is. What do you guys do on the M-Bark?"

"We have games too. I really like mech fighting!"

Malek's attention peaked as he looked towards Chonies curiously. "Oh? What's that?"

"Well we build mechs and then fight each other. I'm pretty good if I have to say so myself!"

"Yeah, but he always gets second place to this other dog, Atlas."

Chonies growled, furrowing his eyebrows. "I hate Atlas."

Malek laughed, nodding. "That sounds awesome. Bit violent, I'm not sure it would catch on here. But I'd love to see some."

"I think I have some footage, want to see it when we're on break again?"

"Of course I do! Can't wait!" They were interrupted soon though, as they heard noises outside. Nomi quickly went to check before coming back, looking excited.

"Guys, Stella's here!"

Chapter Text

Walking into the tent, Kira was instantly on edge. She was as tense as a rock, eyes glancing around the tent. She didn't just notice the machinery by a bed, but also possible weapons. There was only one exit point in there, so if anything she'd need to somehow fight her way out. With her walking being so damaged it wouldn't work very well. But she might not have a choice.

Lola noticed how rigid her patient's body looked, and gently set her down onto the bed. She did her best to not look directly at her and keep her back turned to the husky, but made sure the dog could see everything she was doing. "Alright, what's your name again? Just so I can write it down."

"Why do you need to write it down?"

"We make sure to keep detailed records. Maybe whatever's wrong with you will happen to someone else, and we could just look back to see what fixed it." Kira couldn't argue with that, nodding.

"Kira."

"Alright Kira, how old are you? I'll check your height and weight as well." There was some more routine stuff down, and more questions on her blood type. Reflex tests showed that Kira should be fine, and there wasn't an obvious reason as to why her limbs were still numb.

"I'm going to get a blood sample, okay? The tranquilizer should've worn off in your sleep but it didn't, so maybe something else is wrong. You mentioned you turned this purple shade because of an alien planet, right? Is it possible that something altered your bloodstream or otherwise entered your body?"

"It's possible, I guess. I was there for a long time. But I felt fine before I got here and the doctors on the M-Bark didn't mention anything." She winced when the needle went in, and watched as Lola put it in a small machine, which started spinning the sample around.

"Sometimes we don't realize something isn't right until it actively goes wrong. Doctors get tunnel vision like that. Not exactly great for our line of work, but, oh well." Lola sat back down, waiting for the test while getting the clipboard back.

"Is your diet okay? Getting plenty of vitamins?"

"Yep."

"What about sleep? You do look a little worn down, though, if you didn't sleep last night I wouldn't be surprised considering the circumstances."

Kira went silent before deciding that telling her would be acceptable. They'd be gone here soon anyways, so it wouldn't matter. "I actually did sleep well last night, a friend helped. But I do have some trouble sometimes, yes."

"Do you take any sleep medication?"

"No." Kira responded instantly, now avoiding eye contact.

"Why not?"

"I don't want them and I don't need them, period."

Lola hummed, writing that down. "That's actually quite common among people who struggle to sleep. Makes them feel vulnerable, and considering your past experiences I understand if you do too."

"I don't feel vulnerable, I just don't like them." Her tone was defensive and she knew it, glaring up at the tent's ceiling.

Lola opened her mouth to respond before she heard a beep as the machine stopped. She went to check the printed out readings, eyes narrowing as she looked at it. Kira didn't like that.

"Well? What's wrong with me?"

"There seems to be a lot of cortisol in your bloodstream; a very high amount."

"Translate, please."

"Cortisol is the primary chemical in stress. Are you experiencing more stress than normal?" Kira just gave her a look, and she chuckled. "I suppose that is a silly question, this is a stressful situation. But I think that might be the cause. The cortisol weakens your body's natural reaction to slowly wear down the tranquilizer. That's why you've regained some feeling but aren't able to get rid of the numbness; it's sticking around."

"Okay, so how do I get rid of it."

"Well, I do have some solutions in mind. But before I say them I want to keep in mind that this is for the benefit of your health, mental and physical, okay?"

Kira sighed, having a feeling she wouldn't like it. "What is it?"

"I'd recommend either therapy-"

"No."

"-or yoga."

Kira gave her an unimpressed look. "Yoga?"

Lola nodded, responding with a blank face. "Yes, yoga. Exercise in general is good for removing stress, helps your body return to a homeostasis by 'simulating' an emergency. But running would be rather hard for you now. It works out well; Finnick is going to start a session in about a half hour, which isn't too far."

"If I can't walk, how am I supposed to do yoga?"

"You should take it lightly, yes. The key point is trying. The more you attempt to move the more your body will try to let you. If you're able to relax and at least get your heartrate up, stretch your muscles, you should be able to walk soon, okay?"

Kira thought about it, still a little unconvinced. This seemed like a very strange hippie solution, and she instantly thought of one better. "Don't you have a DNA modification machine or whatever? Humans gave you the technology to make us intelligent and you can't de-stress me?"

Lola shook her head, moving to dispose of the blood. "First of all, the machine wouldn't be able to do that. The cortisol is being caused by your mindset still being in a fight or flight response, and trying to prepare your body to defend itself. Trying to get rid of that via a machine is risky; tampering with the mind is a last resort, since it can go south easily."

"More than that though; we here don't like using those machines. They're temporary solutions, you know? It's better to learn natural methods to deal with your problems. That'll help you more in the long run. Stress is natural and can even be good for you; but you need to learn how to dissipate it before it turns unhealthy."
Kira huffed, but requised. "Fine, I'll try and go to the stupid yoga. But can I at least have some crutches or something so I can walk on my own?"

Lola nodded, making Kira somewhat pleased to have a problem semi-fixed to her pleasure. She left before quickly returning, handing a pair to Kira. She immediately got back up, testing them out, and found she could move around with them. "Thank goodness, I was sick of leaning on people."

Lola laughed, holding the tent flap open for Kira. "I'm glad you can move; let's get you to the yoga studio, hm?" That put a slight damper on Kira's mood, but she walked forward soon anyway, moving alongside Lola.

Kira didn’t like how the passing cats looked at her. They were just like the other cats, and even other dogs, and kept whispering about her. Conversations behind paws that she couldn’t hear well enough, and looks that she caught before their eyes quickly moved away. It angered Kira, but she knew that she couldn’t actually do anything about it, just like on the M-Bark.

They walked over to the yoga clinic, and it wasn’t really a ‘clinic’ at all. In fact it was in another, albeit small, clearing. On the grass there were cats all about. Some stretching, others just talking. There was a small wooden stage built up at the front, and on it was a young male cat.

Lola led her towards there, Kira following behind. She was able to get a closer look, and found what could only be described as a feline hippie. He was immensely fluffy, but his fur was laden with braids and beaded. It looked utterly ridiculous to Kira, but she tried not to laugh or be rude. The cat perked up when he saw Lola, rushing off the stage and over.

“Hello Peter, how are-” Before she could even finish the cat, apparently ‘Peter’ had her hugged and in a kiss. Kira blinked in surprise, looking away. This lasted a few moments before Lola gently pushed him away, blushing. “Y-your good I gather?”

“I was, but much better now that you’re here.” That made Lola blush deeper, before motioning towards Kira. “You have an, er, visitor for your yoga session.”

He finally noticed Kira, walking over and extending a paw. Kira expended a shake only to be caught in a tight hug, making the canine tense up all over again. “Ah, good to meet you my friend. I am glad you’re here!” He thankfully didn’t hug her as long as he did Lola, who seemed unfazed and still recovering from the previous kiss.

“Uh, yeah, Lola said I should. I need to exercise or something.”

“Then you came to the right place! Yoga is great exercise, this is just a short session for a few hours. You’ll love it!”

“Wait, a few hours?!”

“Yep! And I recommend removing your clothes, we just feel so much more free. So much more natural and in tune with the world’s wavelengths.”

Kira had gotten fairly used to the nude cats by now. It was still strange, but after a while, it didn’t seem as shocking or embarrassing anymore. However, the thought of her herself stripping down in front of all these cats was an absolute no. “I, uhm, think I’m okay?”

He simply shrugged. “Do not worry, dear friend. As long as you are comfortable we will both be happy.” His eyes went up to the sky, where he stared at the sun before nodding. “It is almost time. Take a spot on the grass, alright? Try and take it easy; if you feel yourself getting tired or your muscles hurting too much, take a break.”

Kira scoffed, but nodded. “Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine.” He just gave a knowing smile before shrugging again. “Well, very well. If you say so.” The hippie made sure to give Lola another deep kiss before leaving back to the stage, leaving the two alone.

Kira raised an eyebrow at her, as she stuttered. “H-He’s sweet! And, uh-”

“I didn’t ask, you do you.” She nodded, looking over the canine.

“I’ll leave you now. Try to get into it! Trust me I didn’t like it much too, but I do now!”

“I would too if my boyfriend was on stage doing it naked.”

Lola gave her a playful smack before shaking her head. “Oh, shush! Come back if you need me. Otherwise, good luck. Take his advice seriously, you will get tired.”

“Suuuuure I will. Trust me, I won’t break a sweat even if I’m injured. I’m a natural at downward dog.”

Kira had no idea just how wrong she’d be.

Chapter Text

Other cats started coming in, more and more flooding into the clearing. A lot of them sent glances towards the dog, but honestly there were less than before. Maybe these yoga-doers had some more manners than the other cats. Kira was complacent to just sit there on the grass and wait, but a few had different ideas.

Two cats came up to her, sitting on either side. One of them honestly looked like the feline version of a bodybuilder. She had to be literally the biggest cat Kira had ever seen, maybe even three feet tall. Their muscles were toned, probably being able to crush Kira if they tried. Their friend meanwhile seemed to be the opposite. He was a beanpole, but at least shared the same white fur as his sibling.

"Heyyo! I've heard a lot about you!" He had a smile and a friendly tone, but Kira didn't trust it.

Kira squinted at the beanpole, tensing up. She didn't like how she was surrounded, and seated at that. "You have? How?"

His smile wavered a little, as he nervously scratched his chin. "Ah, y'know, just gossip. B-but I wanted to know more about you, Katie!"

"Kira."

"Right, Kira! What are you doing here at yoga?"

"Er, Doctor Lola said that I should. Relieve stress or something."

The bigger cat nodded, humming. "She is right. That is why I come." She had a very deep voice, almost comically so.

Kira blinked, sighing as she realized they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. "So, what are your names?"

"Soult!"

"I am Vannny. It is good to meet you." She bowed her head, while Soult just extended a paw. which Kira lightly shook.

"So, uhm, what do you two do?"

"I fight." Kira raised an eyebrow at Vanny, who didn't elaborate.

"Okay..."

"Don't worry about her, she's more on the quiet side. I'm a gymnast! Yoga is good practice, y'know. Keeps me on my toes; Soult really never lets up! Is this your first time doing yoga?”
"Mhm."

"Oh, make sure to take it easy! It can be tough. I see the crutches; are your legs broken or something?" He looked over to try and see if there were any casts, to which Kira sent him a glare, and he backed off.

"No. I've just been stressed apparently. Or that's what the doctor says anyways. Keeping my muscles mixed up or something." Kira thought for a moment before quickly following up. "Don't tell anyone I said that." He nodded, with Vanny seemingly not paying attention and just doing some starting stretches.

“I won’t, but you came to the right place! Yoga is great for that.”

“Mm, we’ll see.” It was at that moment that Peter got on the stage, clearing his voice and clapping. That got the attention of everyone, Kira looking up with apprehension.

“Before we start we’ll just take some deep breaths. Everyone sit down with your legs crossed please.” They did as told, Kira feeling like she was back on Earth as a puppy again.

“Let’s breathe in for four counts, and then breathe out. Keep your eyes closed, feel your body working as intended. Ready?” Kira felt ridiculous, rolling her eyes, but doing as she was told. They kept breathing for a good minute, before he just told them to breathe again, this time for five.

This kept going, increasing every little while. Kira didn’t see the point of this. Why was she just breathing? Soon she was so bored that she basically spaced out. Eventually all the sounds of nature and her heartbeat just blended together, and she stopped actively thinking about it, just doing it by instinct.

They did this for nearly ten whole minutes, before he stopped them. “Alright everyone, that’s enough for now. We can start with the yoga itself now, okay friends? We’ll start simple, something I’m sure we all know how to do. Downward dog, try and hold it for twenty seconds, okay? If it’s too intense then lower yourself and hold your rear lower. Ready? Let’s go.”

Kira was rather confident in herself, and found that her legs were already a little easier to move. Strange; she didn’t know how that worked so fast. But regardless, she quickly got into the pose. Looking around her she felt very thankful that she had all her clothes on.

Without too much trouble she kept it up for twenty seconds, Peter giving everyone a calming smile as he paused, laying down on his belly. “Alright everyone, let’s do a small pause, and then another twenty.” Kira did that just as easily, feeling slightly bored.

“Good job! Now we’ll do our two warrior sets, starting with One. I’ll do a quick demonstration for you first, don’t worry.” The pose was essentially just moving forward a little, with your hands up. It felt harder for Kira, but not too hard. The second version was more so lunging forward and touching the air with paws forward like a t. It left Kira feeling a little sore in her leg, but not too much, just a small cramp from having to hold the pose.

“Make sure you have deep breaths, okay? Now we’ll just do an extended side angle.” This one consisted of just leaning all the way to the side. Kira had never been the most flexible dog; she was strong, and had muscle. But flexibility? She could do some basic combat roles and jump, but not touch the back of her feet or anything. She found herself struggling a little, and looked to Soult to see how he was doing.

She’d gotten mostly used to the nudity of cats. But seeing them stretching and being so…open was still a surprise. Kira blushed and immediately looked the other direction, only to see Vanny. She decided to just keep her eyes at the ground and Peter from now on out. Yeah, that was a good solution.

Soult looked and saw the tint of redness, grinning. “Tired already?”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Not a bit.”

Kira did better with each exercise, but she finally realized that she was indeed growing more tired. Each individual exercise wasn’t that strenuous, but over time it wore her down. Muscles started feeling constantly sore, her heartbeat consistently high. Her body felt hot and she panted more. An activity where they did a variation on squats really broke her, and she stripped down to just a tank top, the jacket left on the ground.

“You know, if you're getting hot you can just take off your clothes. Why do you dogs wear it anyways? We have fur!”

“I don’t know, we just do. Decency? Because humans do?”

“Humans are overrated, they just use you as slaves. You dogs are so loyal.”

Kira scoffed, shaking her head. “Trust me, that is not how I feel about people.”

Soult playfully mocked her while doing the next exercise. “Aww, you sure? You don’t want to be a good girl?!”

Kira scoffed, feeling herself growing a little annoyed. She did not like people! And honestly…they did kind of have a point? Why did the dogs wear clothes? That didn’t exactly make sense. It was just what their human oppressors had left onto them. “Fine, I’ll prove it.” Her clothes were soon discarded as well, leaving her feeling open.

None of the cats really seemed surprised by this, Soult just shrugging. “See, doesn’t that feel more normal?” To be honest, it did help with the yoga. As it tired her more and more she had to focus more on her breathing, the light breeze kicking in felt nice against her bare fur. Eventually though, Peter finally stopped.

“Alright everyone, we’re about a third of the way through now. Let’s take a break, go get some water. You can be back here in around twenty minutes.”

Kira’s jaw dropped as her eyes bulged. “A third?!”

Soult laughed, nodding and standing back up. “That’s right! Cmon, I’ll let you share some water.” Kira gave a shaky sigh before giving a depressed nod.

“Yeah, okay…”

Chapter Text

Stella wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she walked into the weapons facility. The feline society seemed so strange with its relationship to technology. Their guards seemed to be on par with whatever the dogs had. Blasters, modern armor; it’s not like they were using spears. Their medicine was in the same way modern. But then they preferred to live all ‘naturally’. Stella just didn’t have solid expectations anymore, before expecting a surprise.

As soon as she walked in she was greeted with a counter in the front, with the most bored looking face she could possibly imagine. It was just an ordinary teenager, or just a very short looking cat. Telling the ages of these felines was tricky sometimes. Not knowing what else to do Stella walked up to the feline, who just looked up.

“Hello, my name is Stella. I’ve been sent by Angie to-”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Follow me.” She sighed and got up, waving Stella to follow. The canine did exactly so, being led into a corridor. Makeshift lockers were against the walls, and had an open square on them with bars. Through it she could see blasters and more combat equipment. Apparently their armory was well stocked, even if they didn’t like using it.

“Aren’t you a little young to be working in a place like this?”

She gave Stella a weird look, scoffing. “All I do is sit at a desk.”

“Yes, but, at an armory.”

“You dogs are so weird. I can’t imagine a bunch of super smart dogs running around, that’s crazy.”

Stella sighed, mumbling. “Trust me, I thought the same about cats.” She was continuously led down, and ended up passing by a repair room. Inside was what could only be described as battleworn equipment. There were armor plates scattered about with burn marks on them and holes, and a lot of them too.

“Woah, what’s that all about?” The employee sighed, closing the door.

“Someone must’ve left it open.”

“No, why is the armor broken?”

“Uh, from battle?”

Stella really didn’t like this cat, but also was fond of answers, so kept talking. “Who do you people fight against?”

She shrugged, seeming disinterested. “Aliens. There’s been a couple. I don’t really know much about it. But apparently they just don’t like us.”

“Why?”

“Jeez, I dunno, don’t ask the teenager. Ask Vanny or Angie or something.”

“Who’s Vanny?”

“You’ll probably meet her eventually, she just left for yoga.”

“Okay but who is she?!”

She just sighed before finally stopping and pointing to a crate in the corner. “There’s your stuff, I gotta take you to a speeder. They’ll take you to the ship.” Stella was quick to grab the two crates, picking them up. She instantly felt a little safer with weapons in hand, even if they weren’t literally in hand.

They didn’t talk much after that, and instead Stella was just led outside the building. There was indeed a speeder there; technically the M-Bark had some like these as well. Though they weren’t used much. Apparently they were meant for exploration of a more suitable planet beyond just a small crew and scans. But since that hadn’t happened they just sat in storage.

“Bye Stella.” The dog wasn’t even given a chance to respond as the feline went back in, making Stella scoff.

“Rude.” Stella just got in the speaker, keeping the crates on her lap. She wasn’t willing to let those go, no way. Instead she just awkwardly held onto them, the driver not saying much, and her guards going into the seat behind her. They got out towards the ship, at a steady pace. The driver looked somewhat bored, energyless-ly avoiding trees and obstacles as they drove in a tense silence. Thankfully that didn’t last long, as the ship soon came into view.

The speeder parked alongside another two, where cats sat out on the hoods. Stella didn’t pay them any mind, hearing them talking briefly as she left.

“-just let them sit-”

“-Malek would say someth-”

Stella was happy to see the guards left behind, herself going forward. A smile widened when she saw Nomi come out, squeal before running back in and screaming. “Guys, Stella’s here!” Chonies soon came as well, along with the cat they’d met, who looked slightly less tired now.

Stella put the crates down in the hangar of the ship, and the dogs soon did a group hug. It hadn’t been very long since they’d seen each other, but it had felt longer. “It’s nice to see you guys again, how’s the ship?” Nomi’s smile went away, and after Chonies gave his report, Stella’s soon did too.

“The engine is busted?! How are we gonna get out of here again?!”

Malek finally spoke to the dog, leaning against a wall. “Well, either wait for some of your dog friends, or slowly do some repairs. We’re working on communications right now, maybe we can get it done by late night.”

“Why haven’t they come yet? They should’ve seen the flare ages ago…”

Chonies shrugged, unsure. “Should I shoot another one? Let them know we’re still here?”

Stella nodded, thinking tactically about it all. “Maybe they just didn’t see it, even if it isn’t likely. Surely they must’ve noticed we’re gone by now, this long without communication. They must be back soon, I’m sure of it.”

“I hope so!” Nomi looked at Malek, awkwardly chuckling. “No offense.”

“None taken, I’d be homesick too. I’m sure you all have families of your own to miss.”

They soon got back to work, getting right back for more repairs. No more disturbances came for a while, until late in the day, when Garbage, Kira and Ed came back.

Chapter Text

Ed and Garbage looked at Angie, the latter excited about the tour, while the former showed mild interest. Angie more or less looked like she usually did, a mix of bemusement and watchfulness. "As we go to explore now, is there anywhere you would particularly like to see?"

Garbage thought before nodding. "Can we see your ship? It has to be around here somewhere right?"

"You may not see it."

"Why not? You don't use it right? Can't we see it?"

"It is hidden in case of emergencies. Only we know where it is, in case we need to leave. It could be destroyed if our enemies find out, you understand?"

Ed felt his senses tingling as he looked questioningly. "What enemies?"

Angie began walking, the others following behind. "Mister ambassador, surely you must know that giving away foreign policy to strangers is not the best idea, mm?"

Garbage huffed, never liking this whole game that diplomats played. Or, however much of a 'diplomat' that Ed was. "We told you all about yourselves!"

"Your mistake is not one that we have to repeat ourselves. We can talk about happier things! In fact, why not take you to our theater? There will be a show tomorrow, but you can see where it is today." Ed looked dissatisfied, but requised, instead asking other questions.

"How large is this place?"

"We do not cover very much of this planet. None of us live outside this specific forest, besides a small outpost at a nearby mountain for...astrology."

"Why? Are there other species here?"

"There are not. We simply don't need anymore. We all live here as a large organized community. It's easier to meet together and speak amongst each other like this. Distance is unnecessary, and most cats won't ever leave here unless they wish to explore. But most people don't find that idea very appealing." She chuckled, shrugging.

"How many of you are there?"

She thought for a moment, squinting up at the sky. "Mmm, that is a good question. We do keep records, but I forget the exact number. Cats are born and die often after all, as is life. But I believe the number has to be hovering somewhere around fifteen thousand."

Ed looked impressed, humming. Garbage looked at him quizzically, whispering. "Is that a lot?"

"It's thrice what we have on the M-Bark. How did you do that after so little?"

"I presume you have population limits, yes? As to how many dogs can be born on the M-Bark?"

They nodded; Ed was very thankful for this. Technically he could ask for a parenthood permit at any time. But he had absolutely no interest in this. Garbage didn't either to be fair, or at least not for the time being. Most crews didn't. The ambassador nodded. "We do, I think it's no more than five percent growth."

"Do you think dogs naturally do that?"

"Do you think cats naturally have medicine and IV bags?"

Angie laughed, raising an eyebrow at Ed. "Well that's why there's success, eh? We pick and choose what we actually need, what distinctive benefit there is. Nature dictates we can't have litters of nine or ten because of food or water supplies. There are no limits here; parents can have as large or small a family as they wish. At the end of the day what's important is their happiness."

Garbage thought about it while Angie led them around, going in a straight direction. "Why can't you just send a small number of people to look for planets? You said there are some people who want to explore right? Give them a ship!"

Angie stopped, looking back with an intense glint in her eyes. "No one leaves the planet. We have few rules here, but that is a big one."

Garbage scoffed, unable to comprehend a life without space faring. "But-"

"No buts! We are here, cmon." They had arrived on what was another clearing in the forest. This time it seemed to be filled with a...circus? They saw several big ropes and across the trees, hoops strung up there. Most notably though was the menagerie of familiar creatures.

"Emulicks?!"

Angie looked at Garbage, appearing a little surprised. "Oh, you know about them?"

Both crew members turned tense and on guard, watching the creatures carefully. They seemed somewhat calm, laying down in the clearing and napping. They're skin was as brown as the trees, with bark for skin. "Yeah we do, we fought them! What are they just doing here?"

"They're our friends, they help us for the shows." Garbage looked at Angie with shock, while Ed silently pondered on the money-making potential of such a performance.

"Friends?! They're dangerous! How could you have them as pets?"

"We don't have pets here. It would be a bit ironic if we did, eh? No, they are our companions. We provide housing and food and anything else they might need. When we came here they were nearby, but after a forest fire, we let them stay here. They perform because they want to."

Garbage still looked wary, thinking. "I-I don't know..."

"Trust me, you are safe here. Tomorrow night you'll accompany us to the performance, mm?"

Ed nodded enthusiastically, liking the idea of this performance, and the opportunities that came with it. "Thank you, I can't wait to watch."

Angie smiled before waving for them to follow. "I have something special for you, some of our craftspeople made them. Let me show you." Ed now felt a renewed vigor, looking enthusiastic. Garbage felt the same way, though still sent Ed a look.

"Thank you! I can't wait to see it." They walked past the show and the sleeping emulicks, instead wandering down the street again, this time down towards a series of smoke rising above the trees in the distance. It was only there that they saw what looked like a mix of medieval and futuristic factories. Some people hammered on anvils with fires raging, other hand engineering tools.

Ed scoffed, shaking his head. "You cats make no sense. How is this naturalistic?"

"You miss the point. It is to live how is best with the most joy. You seem to have a lot of trouble understanding that."

They wandered through the craftcats, watching them. Some seemingly made jewelry with gems that made Ed's eyes twinkle, while others were chiseling statues out of stone. Others still created abstract art from metal, which changed colors depending on the angle the dogs looked at it from.

It was an impressive sight, which eventually led to them arriving at one of the anvils. There was an absolutely tiny grey cat there with goggles on her face and oversized gloves on. She walked over to them, extending a paw. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tamie." She had an extremely deep voice that didn't suit her appearance at all.

Garbage shook the paw, grinning. "I'm Captain Garbage! This is my friend, Ed."

"You have child labor?" Ed received a punch right in his crotch for that, which made him wince before falling over.

Angie looked at him disapprovingly. "I'll choose not to address that. Tamie created a gift for you Captain! She got to work on it when the last dogs arrived, but they left too early. It's completed now though!"

The small cat nodded, looking proud. "From one of Earth's animals to the other."

Garbage looked excited, his tail wagging. "I can't wait to see it!" Once Ed had recovered they were led up to a tarp that, when uncovered, made Ed drool hungrily. It was a small statuette made of a golden-looking substance that shined and gleamed. It showed the Earth with two paw prints on either side, one of a dog and one of a cat.

"It's made of Yertta, which is a substance we found here."

Ed's ears perked up as he kept his eyes on the prize. "I've heard of that. Very rare, very expensive."

"Very problematic for us..." Garbage gave Angie a look, but didn't mention the problem, just going to Tamie. He immediately bent down to hug her, making the cat look rather embarrassed.

"Thank you thank you thank you! This is so kind of you! The council is going to love this!"

"It's heavy, so we'll wheel it to your ship later. For now however, speaking of councils, would you like to see where our government is headed?"

Ed was noticeably more disinterested, and disappointed that he couldn't take the trophy himself, but Garbage nodded before he could say anything, stepping on his foot for good measure. "We'd love to!"

Angie smiled, and off they went again. They travelled around for hours, with a few more gifts even coming, mostly food and a copy of the children's book that made Garbage wince. Eventually though as the sky darkened Angie nodded, satisfied by the tour.

"We should probably stop now; I've grown rather tired I'll admit. Let us go get your purple friend and your friends at the ship." Off the two dogs went with her to recover the other four, with even Ed missing them a tad.

Chapter Text

Kira panted, completely wiped out. She laid down on the clearing, struggling to get full breaths in. The yoya had finally ended, but with it so had her last ounce of remaining strength. All her muscles felt sore and stretched as full as they could be. She thought about checking if she could walk, but honestly she couldn't even imagine herself getting up much less taking any steps.

Coming from her side came Soult, holding bowls in his hands. He put one by Kira's head, grinning. The cat hardly looked fazed or even tired at all, even looking invigorated. "Something wrong, Kira? I thought that was simple, right?" Kira just gave him an unimpressed look. "Kidding, kidding. There's some water, trust me it'll help."

Kira took his advice, sitting up just a little. She winced from the movement but almost immediately felt better when she grabbed the water and started lapping at it. Has water always felt so good?! It almost made her feel like her muscles weren't on fire anymore, which was a definite relief.

Vanny came back next with her own bowl of water, sitting down by them. "Good yoga." Soult nodded, while Kira just focused on the water which she finished within a few more seconds.

Once she finally got her breath back Kira forced herself to sit up, sighing. "I'm never going to do yoga again." Soult laughed, while Vanny just hummed.

"Opposite."

"What?"

Vanny looked thoughtful, pondering. "It's the opposite. When you feel stressed again, you can do this. Will help, but it's a waste of time if you never do it again." Soult looked impressed, nodding, while Kira looked absolutely shocked. Her jaw remained open, with Vanny suddenly looking down bashfully. "D-did I say something wrong?"

Kira shook her head, giving a small chuckle. "No no, it's uh, probably good advice. I just never heard you talk so much." That just made Soult laugh more, with Vanny silently licking at her water.

"So you're an acrobat, right? Do you have a circus or something?"

"Er, kinda, we perform in this clearing." His face lit up as he thought, nodding. "Yeah, actually, you and your crew should totally see us! Come see our show tomorrow night!"

Kira thought about it, humming. "Mm, maybe. I'll have to see what the others have to say about it. They might have plans."

"K-Kira?!" Speaking of the other dogs, Kira suddenly heard a loud yell from a little ways away to her left. Looking up she saw Ed and Garbage there with Angie, looking embarrassed.

"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" Ed got an amused look while Garbage blushed, looking straight up at the sky.

"W-where are your clothes?!" Kira suddenly remembered that she was, in fact, naked, and that was, in fact, strange for them dogs. She scrambled to get back up, finding she could force herself to stand as she quickly got dressed.

"I forgot, sorry. They kinda have a point, y'know. We're so much more flexible without clothes, and it feels more normal than clothes do."

"Hippie..." Ed shook his head and gave a disapproving look as they came closer, Garbage finally looking back down when she was fully dressed again.

"So, uh, how was yoga?"

"It was...hard." Ed just laughed along with Angie, who nodded.

"Ah, that's what everyone always says after one of Peter's lessons. He doesn't really know how to 'take things easy'." Almost right on cue the cat approached, immediately giving Angie a hug from behind.

"Well, I did try to keep it easy!" The old cat jumped a little, giving him a small whack on the head with his cane.

"Don't surprise me like that!" He just giggled, backing up before looking at Kira.

"I am glad that you're feeling better Kira. You're welcome back any time. So are your friends." Kira nodded at him, giving a polite thanks, while Garbage and Ed just looked at each other.

"Er, thank you, we'll think about it."

Soult looked at Kira expectantly. "Aren't you going to introduce us?!"

"Oh, uh, right. Garbage, this is Soult, he's an acrobat."

"Oh! We just saw the place!" Garbage smiled at him, the two on equal wavelengths of excitement.

Soult smiled excitedly. "Oh, awesome! Will you guys come to watch the show tomorrow?"

"I think so! We still have to make plans but yeah I hope so!"

Kira felt herself grow tired, unable to handle the combined energy of essentially two Garbages. “Anyways, this is-” She looked back before frowning. “Hey, where’d Vanny go?” Soult looked back, indeed finding that she was gone.

Angie chuckled, watching their confused faces. “Oh don’t worry, you’ll likely meet her later. For now let us go, mm? Back to the ship, your friends are probably waiting.” That got their attention, all of them eager to go back home.

Kira looked at Soult, extending a simple paw. “Er, bye Soult, we’ll see you-”

Almost immediately he hugged her, Kira responding with a small pat on the back. “Bye! Hopefully I’ll see you soon!” He waved at them while they left, before leaving himself, Angie walking with them away.

“So, how was the tour? What did you see?”

Garbage’s eyes sparkled, and Kira regretted asking while he responded loudly. “It’s amazing! We got to see where they meet, the performance center, these crafts people-oh! We got a gift! It’s so cool just wait until you see it!” Kira soon had to get used to this babble, which was mostly uninteresting, as Garbage talked the entire way back to the ship with the occasional comment from Ed. By the end, Kira found herself somehow wishing she was back at yoga.

As they got there they found the guards sitting outside on a speeder, with what seemed to be some sort of strange playing cards sprawled out on it. They snapped to attention when Angie saw and started walking over with an unimpressed look, one of them trying to sit on the cards. The other dogs ignored it when Angie started chewing them out, instead going to the ship.

The reunion was nice after a long day, full of hugs and talking, except for Kira who only let Nomi hug her. After their time together last night she found it didn't feel so bad anymore, and she maybe even enjoyed the contact. Of course, she wouldn't tell anyone that, and went with Malek to inspect the ship herself instead of talking with them.

As soon as Angie returned it was back to business, with all the dogs being gathered together again. "Thank you for your work Malek dear. You can go if you'd like, take a speeder on your way back and see your daughter if you want to." Malek jumped at the chance, instantly nodded. Nomi got a small head pat as a goodbye, while he and Chonies gave a brotherly sort of side hug, back-pat and all.

"I'll come back to work some more tomorrow. Just don't wake me up too early please." The dogs collectively got the idea that his kitten wouldn't result in him sleeping in anyways, but they didn't say anything.

"Now, I will leave you to your own devices soon. Once we make plans for the night, you can go back to your quarters, and-"

"Wait, we can't sleep here?!"

Angie gave Chonies a look as she shook her head. "No, you cannot. My apologies."

"Why not?!"

"Because she wants to keep us in view, and doesn't trust us alone all night with access to weapons." The old cat's attention turned to Kira, who she gave a wide smile to.

"Regardless of why, the quarters will work fine. It'll also be easier to transport you wherever you'd like to go. For now let us just decide where that will be, mm?"

"Can we go see the circus performance? Please?!" Garbage looked excited all over again, making Kira groan.

"Of course you may, I wouldn't dare say no. I think Soult may kill me. It will be a nice way to cap off the day, I am sure." Her head then turned to Kira, studying her. "I'd like to speak to you tomorrow in private, if that is alright? We can drink a nice cup of pongo; it's sort of like tea."

Kira looked suspicious, narrowing her eyes. "Why?"

"I simply would like to get to know you. Out of all your friends, you're a curious case from what I've learned."

Kira remained silent for a moment before giving a tentative nod. "Mm...okay. Fine."

"Excellent! For the rest of you?"

"Me and Nomi will keep working on the ship!" Nomi nodded, Chonies looking determined albeit a little tired after a day spent on repairs. "We should be able to fix the communication systems by mid-day I think!"

"Very good, very good. Always important to focus on what's important. Captain?"

"Hm; I'm not really sure? I hadn't thought about it."

"Perhaps you'd enjoy participating in a friendly game of Prey and Predators? I believe there will be a scrimmage tomorrow, I'm sure they'd let you join."

Garbage looked like he'd just been giving gold, tail wagging at the thought. "I'd love to!"

"My dear ambassador, how about yourself?"

Ed pretended to look thoughtful, nodding while he spoke. "I'd like to return to the craftspeople, or craft-cats or whatever they're called. Very beautiful art indeed." All of the dogs gave him a look, with even Angie appearing to be in the know, but she didn't mention it.

"I'm sure they'd love to show you more. What about our last remaining member? How would you like to spend your time?"

Stella thought for a moment before speaking curiously. "Could I be taken to wherever your research station is? I'd like to have copies of any records you made when your cats traveled to other species, as well as on this planet."

Angie hesitated, face conflicted before speaking tentatively. "That may be arranged...to an extent. I will speak it over with my staff." Stella nodded, the cat's face relaxing.

"Now, the speeders will take you back to your quarters. I will see you all tomorrow. Please, enjoy your dinner, and have a good night." They gave her friendly goodbyes as she limped off, appearing somewhat tired, before speeding away. Before long the dogs were in speeders too, guards quiet after their talking-to's.

Luckily for all of them, they got back to the quarters right as cats were inside, setting up dinner. They were all somewhat famished from the day; the planet had shorter days than Earth and they hadn't eaten much between them since breakfast. As soon as the cats finished setting up the food they sat down, getting started.

All of their stories were recounted with the others as keen listeners. Kira mostly got laughs, Chonies and Nomi hoped, Garbage and Ed interested looks, while Stella brought worry.

"Battle damage?"

Chonies hummed, nervous like always. "Malek did name something about fighting..."

"I don't know the full extent of it, however, I just think we should stay focused. On guard." The others nodded, conversation moving to lighter topics. Time flew by until there wasn't an unchewed bone left, everyone satisfied and climbing into bed.

As they did so Nomi gave Kira a look, as she didn't even get under the covers. The peppy dog went and jumped onto the bed next to her, Kira looking surprised.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm, uh, 'keeping watch' with you."

Kira looked embarrassed, shaking her head. "No, it's okay. You really don't have to-"

"Hey." Kira looked at her nervously, stopping. "It's not a bother. You need to sleep, and if it helps having me here, then of course I'll help." Kira looked conflicted but thankful, nodding.

"Thanks." Nomi smiled at the whisper, and although none of them knew it, for the first time ever all of the Pluto was asleep together before midnight.

Chapter Text

An hour before sunrise the town was asleep, no one awake unless they needed to be. In the dog's quarters they were no different, even Kira asleep cuddled up with Nomi. Garbage snored as he slept, Stella having put a pillow over her head. Chonies were curled up completely under the blankets, the hairless chihuahua finding a breeze coming through an open window bothersome. They all seemed to be happily asleep, no doubt ready for a day ahead full of-

BAM!

At once the peace was interrupted, with the door being forcibly kicked open. A dozen guards stormed in, blasters in their paws, red tactical lights focusing on the dogs silhouettes. The lights flicked on, awakening the dogs.

Kira looked around sleepily before snapping to attention, leaping up out of bed. But before she could do anything both she and Nomi were shot with low-energy stun bolts, sending them flying across the walls before landing unconscious.

Garbage dove to the back of his cot, peeking out the top of it. "What's going on?! What are you doing?" Stella leaped under the table and threw it over, creating cover as she sat behind it.

"What's going on? All of you stand down now and start talking!"

Their pleas were hopeless as instead the guards moved around the room, easily finding the dogs, and within moments both of them were shot. The cats narrowed down to the last one, a figure under a blanket who trembled so much he was easily visible. The blanket was thrown off, revealing him cowering and putting his paws over his head.

"D-don't shoot! Don't-" The last dog was shot quickly, leaving all of them unconscious.

Garbage began to stir later, feeling his head spinning. His entire body felt numb and tingly, a dull throbbing headache making him whimper. He forced his eyes open to try and take notice of the situation; only to see nothing. Not the black of night but instead he realized he was blindfolded. Not just that, but his snout was gagged, and both arms and legs tied together.

He tried to focus on the situation, sniffing the air. He could smell only Chonies, not within touching distance but clearly in the same space. There were two other felines there as well, forward ahead of him. He could feel they were moving quickly in a speeder, but that was all he could feel.

Garbage stayed still, mostly because he couldn't move, still being tranquilized by the blast. A flurry of questions filled his head. Why had they been attacked? Where were the others? Where were they going? Garbage didn't know the answer to any of these, but prayed he'd find out instead of just being thrown in some jail. Or executed. What was happening?!

They kept going for a long while, Garbage having no idea how long. He guessed at least an hour, but for all he knew it was several, losing track of time quickly. Chonies didn't wake up or stir as far as Garbage could tell; the stun blast probably hitting the small dog harder. Garbage had no choice but to stay still and wait; his worst quality. Not trying to struggle against the binds went against his most basic instinct, but amazingly he persevered.

The speeder finally started slowing down before stopping entirely, Garbage holding in a breath. He thought about trying to fight them off, but had to discard the thought. He had nothing on him opposed to blasters of trained guards; the dog had to just play unconscious and bide his time. Within a few moments one of the cats roughly picked him up, grunting. "Jeez, you had to give me the fat one?"

Garbage resisted the urge to growl, barely staying silent. His ears perked when he heard Chonies giving muffled resistance and a growl, seemingly in defense of the captain. It warmed his heart, and made him feel slightly better as he was dragged out the speeder. He could feel some sunshine even with the bag, so it was at least after sunrise. That's all he could tell as he was dragged forward, the sound of paws on dirt changing to stone, making him guess they were in a building. 

For maybe five or ten minutes he was dragged, going through so many turns in the path that he couldn't remember them all, until he finally heard a door open. At once he was thrown in there, Chonies landing next to him. The guard sighed, shaking his head. "Jeez, that was hard. Both of you stay here until we come back for you." The door slammed shut again, leaving the two alone.

Garbage quickly struggled to a sitting position, sniffing at the air. Chonies was right by him, soon enough they sat back to back. They were in some kind of cold, stone room of some sort. There was a single light somewhere on the ceiling, and beyond that they couldn't tell anything else. Garbage focused on trying to bite through the gag, but it was made with some kind of weird rubber-fabric combo. It wasn't until he felt Chonies tapping him and stomping his tied paws on the ground that Garbage realized what he was doing; morse code. Hopefully he hadn't forgotten all of it.

It was a slow process, but eventually he got Chonies' message. "Are you ok?" 

Garbage struggled to give a message, nodding for good measure. "I'm ok. You?"

"Okay. Worried. Confused."

"Same. Where others?"

"Don't know."

"Can you move?"

"No."

There was a pause until Chonies gave a longer message. "Sorry they called you fat. Very mean."

"It's okay, but thanks."

"You're not fat captain."

"You're the best."

There were some more unimportant talks just to pass the time, including a rant from Garbage on his dreams. Until at last the door was open again, with the two felines grabbing them. There was a different cat dragging Garbage; apparently they'd switched. 

They were dragged much less this time, quickly approaching a room. This time Garbage was hit with a flurry of smells. Stella, Nomi, and Kira all sat next to each other. Ed sat nearby but more forward, and near him was clearly the head cat herself, Angie. Garbage and Chonies were led down before being shoved in seats, with their bags finally taken off.

What they saw was a large room, kind of resembling where the Council sat on the M-Bark, except it was arranged similarly to an American courtroom. Garbage and Chonies were seated at a long table beside the other dogs, except for one. Angie sat with a couple other cats, including Vanny up at a high table in the front. Then in a small table to the side sat one other dog; Ed.

Ed had seen better days. His face was all beat up, and he looked guilty, avoiding eye contact. Garbage had a very bad feeling regarding him. 

Behind them all were seats filled with cats, seeming to be ordinary everyday people. Garbage recognized none of them, but they all looked at the dogs very suspiciously. 

The two final dog's gags were removed, a flurry of worried comments coming from the others. But before Garbage could respond Angie sacked a gavel on the wood, her usual bemused expression replaced with a studious angry one. "Silence! None of you speak until we tell you too."

Kira growled, glaring back angrily. "Why should we listen to you?! You betrayed our trust!"

"We did?!" Another old looking cat glared angrily. "How dare you?!" The courtroom threatened to erupt before Angie smacked the gavel again, giving an angry sigh.

"Silence! If anyone speaks again, I'm going to use this gavel in an unintentioned fashion." Silence was finally reached, letting her continue. "Thank you. Today we are here to put Ed of the Pluto on trial for charges of thievery, assault, struggle, refusal to comply and foreign aggression. Does everyone understand this?"

All the cats besides them seemed understanding, nodding. All the dogs meanwhile looked shocked, with Chonies raising a little paw.

"Yes?"

"W-well, Angie-"

"Miss Angie, here."

" Miss Angie, I think I speak for the five of us when I say, uh...what?"

Chapter Text

The courtroom stayed silent, looks of sheer bafflement on the dog's faces. Angie narrowed her eyes at them, looking distrustful. "Are you to say that none of you were aware or assisted this dog in his crimes?"

Garbage looked aghast, looking around in confusion. "Crimes? Ed, what did you do?!"

He tried to put on a look of innocence, giving a small laugh. "What? Me? Of course not Captain, what could you be talking about? I'd never do such a thing!" Not a soul in the courtroom believed his words, as Angie smacked the gavel down again.

"Silence! I'm going to call Captain Garbage up for questioning. Please remember that you are on trial, and if you lie we will have grounds to detain you for further measures." The dog stood up, a somewhat distressed look on his face. "Tell me what you were doing last night, from the arrival at your quarters to your awakening."

"Nothing! I sat down with my crew, I ate, I bathed-okay that one's a lie, I didn't bathe. But I did normal things before going to sleep!"

"Was your ambassador still there when you went to sleep?"

"Yes!"

"Very well. Kira, please come to the stand."

The husky gave a similar story, not looking fazed, with a voice sharp and confrontational. "I do not know what our ambassador did, but I assure you that the rest of us had no part of it." The rest of the dogs were soon called up as well, giving similar stories.

"Very well. Terrence, can you back up what they're saying?" One of the guards who had been stationed outside the front door to watch them stood up, shrugging.

"I didn't see any sign of them being gone, I don't know how the ambassador escaped, but everytime they peaked in I saw all their silhouettes in bed."

Next up to speak was someone named Daphne, who was apparently one of the ones tasked with apprehending them. "Can you give your official mission report please?" None of the information was very new or shocking to the dogs until she mentioned that in Ed's place had been a pillow, something that earned him a dozen glares immediately.

"Can't a dog cuddle a pillow sometimes? I get lonely!" Angie sent him a look before sighing.

"Briska, yes you in the front row, stand up please." A young teenage looking cat stood up, looking nervous, with their mother giving a bashful glare beside them.

"Briska, could you tell us where you were yesterday at 23:44?"

She fiddled with her paws, muttering. "Well, uhm, I was outside with my friends. We were...studying, and going to buy some textbooks, and-"

Their mother interrupted, hissing under her breath. "If you don't tell the truth I swear you'll be grounded until you leave home."

"...Okay, I'd been out doing some catnip with my friends."

Angie's face softened the tiniest bit with amusement, though it soon returned to steel. "Why don't you tell us what you saw then."

"One of the dogs was out in the dark, sneaking down through people's yards. It was a tall one, but that's all we could see in the dark."

"Thank you dear." What came next were a series of cats confirming that they saw him going through the dark, until at last, came a burly pudgy cat.

"Yoshi, why don't you tell us what happened to you?"

"I was out there late, because I'd forgotten my bag, and I needed it tomorrow, or today?" He looked confused for a moment before continuing. "Well, when I got there, he," an accusing finger pointed towards Ed, "was there. I saw him with bags in his hand grabbing things. Jewelry mostly, anything really that looked shiny. When I flashed the light at him he tried to deny it, and then ran. I chased after him and tackled him down. Called the guards, of course, then y'know, we got over here."

Stella facepalmed, shaking her head in disappointment. Ed stayed silent and gave a nervous grin at attempting innocence.

Angie finally turned to the dog on trial, raising an eyebrow. "Now why don't you tell us what you were doing last night..."

A pause came before he spoke, standing up. "Your honor, I plead innocent! I've been framed and did nothing. It was him!" He pointed to Yoshi, scoffing. "Wants to accuse me! It's all a scam your honor, I've been framed!"

Kira growled at him, Nomi patting her shoulder to calm the husky down. Angie sighed, thinking for a moment. "I will allow you and your friends to have a brief recess in the other room." She waved her hands and guards whisked all six of them agan. They were led into a side room with just a table, which Ed quickly cowered behind. "H-hello! How are you?"

Kira stepped forward, growling again and looking furious. "I'm going to kill you!" She leaped over the table and pinned the dog down, shaking his shoulders. "Are you insane?! Why have you done this?! How stupid can you be? Because of you we're stuck here now! You have no clue, do you? We won't be guests anymore, now we're prisoners!" Garbage and Stella went to pull Kira off him, Ed looking scared.

"Look, I couldn't help it! All that shiny stuff we saw... It's not my fault! I just went to take a tiny bit of it to take back to the M-Bark, that's all."

Stella huffed, trying not to let rage or frustration fill her. "You are going to go in there right now and plead guilty, before begging for forgiveness. Hopefully they'll give us some."

"Stella, listen. You don't know courtrooms like I do! You never plead guilty."

"You do when you're stuck on their planet and relying on them to give supplies to get off it."

"Well..."

"I'm not asking Ed. You're going to do this or else we'll leave the planet without you, I'm serious." The look on her face made it clear she was serious, and Ed looked down, requiesing.

The dogs looked at Ed disapprovingly until the door opened, a guard motioning for them to leave. "Cmon, they want you back in." They were all led back to their seats, and Angie again turned to Ed.

"I will ask you one more time. Do you plead guilty or innocent on the charges?"

"C-Can't I get a lawyer?"

"No. Answer now."

Ed looked at the dogs, seeing their glares and especially Kira's threatening one, and sighed. "Yes, I did it, I'm guilty..."

"I now ask for the Hundred Citizen Representatives to please give their opinion. All raise their paws for a guilty verdict." Every paw went up immediately, though a cat to the side still counted. "All paws up for an innocent verdict." Not one paw was raised, and the cat who counted spoke up.

"Hundred for guilt, zero for innocence."

Angie nodded before striking the gavel. "Very well. We will now discuss a verdict to be presented to the representatives." They all turned their backs to the cats and started quietly whispering amongst themselves. This went on for what felt like hours, until at long last, they turned around to the rest of the court.

Angie eyed the dogs, speaking slowly. "Considering the circumstances of which they've come, we have decided to present a lighter sentence. For the remainder of their time here, the guilty party himself will remain here in confinement. However, as no guiltiness has been shown for the rest, they will continue to be allowed supervised access to our lands. Are all cats in support of this motion?" There was an outcry of voices in support, though some notably cried for larger punishment. "Please raise your paws if you are against this verdict," Twenty-two paws were raised, "and raise your paws if you are in support of this." Seventy-eight paws were raised, and the gavel was struck.

"The verdict has passed. We thank you all for your participation, please take a gift basket on your way out. As for the dogs, you will all remain here." The cats hustled out of the room until it was just the leading cats there and the dogs, who suddenly felt they were going to receive a very uncomfortable talking-to.

Chapter Text

There were a few moments of silence before Angie sighed, looking at them with sheer disapproval. She leaned back in the chair, studying each of them carefully. When she finally spoke it was with disappointment and even betrayal in her voice, like a mother talking to misbehaving children.

"I fought very hard to gain you dog's rights. It was difficult to convince my peers and other cats that you meant no harm. Your predecessors refused to disarm. They always were on guard, spoke to us with anger and distrust, and swiftly left. I tried to give you a different option, so you could be more comfortable here. So that you could perhaps enjoy your stay and gain good views of us. Yet it seems that was a mistake." Her eyes furrowed as the dogs looked angrily at Ed, who just looked a bit glum and awkward.

"How could you do such a thing, hm? Are the riches you gained worth more than our trust?" The cats looked much more angry and distrusting than Angie, viewing the dogs as though they were foreign barbarians, a reputation they had now proven in their eyes.

Garbage spoke quietly, ears flat and guilty. "We didn't want to! If we knew what Ed was going to do, we would've-"

An old hairless cat hissed, shaking his head. "You would've, you could've, you should've. We give you food and shelter and drink and tours, and this is how you returned the favor! You're lucky that some of the others here are more favorable regarding you. If it was up to me, you would all be locked up until your ship is repaired."

Kira responded to the anger with her own, giving a quiet growl. "It was a mistake that we didn't mean to happen. Trust me, he will not do it again. I'll make sure of it..." Ed gulped at the threat, starting to fear for his life a little.

Angie raised her paw, sighing again. "Enough, enough. Now, your friend will see the rest of his stay here in a prison cell. For the rest of you, meanwhile, you will simply be under strict surveillance. Nomi and Chonies can still return to the ship once Malek wakes up. Captain, the game has been slightly delayed, but you may still participate if they allow it." She hummed, thinking.

"We will still allow you access to our star maps," some of the other cats immediately appeared to dislike that move, "so you will be fine Stella. For you Kira, we will still go speak together." She leaned back for a moment, scratching her chin.

"I do hope you don't view us harshly, as some of us now view you. Hopefully you will enjoy the rest of your stay here. Though I'm afraid you will not enjoy what comes next." She nodded towards Vanny, who stood up.

"Stay, don't move." She grunted before leaving the courtroom, Kira getting a bad feeling.

"W-we can still visit Ed right?"

"You may, though do be warned, whenever you come here or leave you must be knocked out and blindfolded to secure our safety." Kira's bad feeling was suddenly gratified when the door opened, and before any of them could react, they felt pricks in their skin. Once again they found themselves collapsing forward, slowly fading to unconsciousness.

When Kira awoke again, it thankfully wasn't in the back of a speeder. Before she even opened her eyes she felt herself laying on something cushioned and comfortable, and she smelt an overwhelming scent of...mangoes?

As she opened her eyes she forced her numb body to listen and sit up. Just as she felt, she had been laying on small little pillows on the floor. She was in a small room, but clearly one warm and cozy. There was a rug on the floor, and on shelves there were countless pictures set up. They showed what seemed to be a far younger Angie, even some showing a quiet little kitten. Across a small table sat Angie herself, giving Kira a small smile.

"That didn't take long. Certainly restless, aren't you?" Kira tensed up and tried to move into a better position but found her body now truly refusing to listen, similarly to before. It frustrated Kira; of course she was stressed! How was she supposed to be anything else? Stupid tranquilizers.

"Oh-you can't move? Hmm maybe I'll call someone in to he-"

"No, no, I got it. Just...give me a minute." She tried to focus on what the yoga instructor had said, taking deep breaths. Instead of being here she pictured herself back on that field doing yoga, stretching. Gradually she stretched a little before she regained her muscle control, sitting up straight off the pillows.

"Ah, I see yoga helped!"

"You had to knock us out?" Kira now had a distrustful and bothered look, squinting at Angie.

"Come now, nothing to fret about. Surely you must understand; it's simply for the...greater good, yes. You dogs would likely do the same." Kira opened her mouth before shutting it, unable to deny that the M-Bark definitely would react the same way.

"Fine. What did you want to talk about?"

"First, would you like some?" She motioned at a small kettle on the table, an empty cup already waiting. "It really is good, I promise."

"Er, no thanks." Angie shrugged, taking a sip from her own cup before finally speaking.

"You are not like the others. Not as...innocently naive perhaps. More quick-thinking, perhaps 'accepting of reality' would be a good way to speak of it."

"You get that way after spending so much time alone on hostile world, fending for yourself."

"Mmh; why don't you tell me about that?"

"Why?"

Angie sighed, before chuckling. "Quite the distrustful one indeed! I have no malice towards you. It is simply an old cat's curiosity."

"You know what they say about cats and curiosity."

"Perhaps you should focus instead on what humans said about dogs being trusting and open."

Kira grumbled to herself again before sighing, struggling to form her thoughts. "It was...lonely, and sad, and stressful. Struggling not to get killed and having only your own thoughts for company wasn't a good mix. But I dealt with it, and now I'm out, and that's that."

"It shocks me that no one came to rescue you." Kira looked agitated by that, scrunching her face.

"I'm not. The humans clearly didn't care enough, and so the dogs didn't do anything either." She spoke with bitterness, only furthering Angie's interests.

"You're not like them, are you? You don't like humans. Don't have a similar loyalty."

"Humans...they're good when you have their attention and they care. But that never lasts forever." The cat hummed, nodding.

"Why don't you simply abandon them? Settle on your own planet like we did?"

"Apart from not ever finding one, they don't want to. They're still dumb loyal pets at heart, propagandizing their pups too. It would never work."

"But you wish to?"

Kira instantly nodded, appearing determined. "Of course. I care about dogs, not humans. We'd be better off without them, and so would the universe. It would be good riddance for the cosmos to be rid of people."

Angie stayed quiet for a little, a hint of a smile on her face. "I knew I'd like you. You think like we do. Seems their plans of choosing more loyal pets for the next voyage didn't exactly take off."

"I don't even know what they're doing; they cut contact with us. Haven't gotten a message in awhile."

"Who's in control then? The Council?"

Kira nodded, before shaking her head. "I don't really trust them either." It felt nice to speak with someone who didn't see her words as sheer heresy. The conversation wasn't hostile as if Kira would have spoken about this with another dog. Perhaps still a biased party, but not one immediately against her.

"Perhaps you should change to elections like us."

"Hah, no, they wouldn't support that either, even if in concept. They don't see it as their job to choose the leaders; it's the humans." She spoke mockingly, earning a chuckle from them both. Kira took a small little cookie, feeling hungry. The dogs hadn't eaten all day after all.

"I don't have the support of the others on this, true." Her voice hushed, looking serious. "But I believe I could convince them. You and the other dogs could stay on the planet with us."

Kira's ears perked, eyes alight from the idea. "Really?!"

She nodded, remaining quiet. "Perhaps limited to the other hemisphere, but yes."

"That would be amazing!" Her tail wagged, nodding eagerly, before her mood dimmed. "But I still could never convince them."

"You don't need to; why don't you and Pluto stay?"

Kira didn't even consider the idea, shaking her head. "No, they'd never go for it. Nomi doesn't even want to settle anywhere, but certainly not when she has a chance to follow the other dogs further into space. Garbage and Stella are too loyal. Chonies are too loyal to Garbage. Ed won't stay where there aren't riches."

"Hm. You wouldn't be willing to part with them I suppose."

The husky had hardly pondered the idea of staying here all alone, and looked distraught by the thought. "Definitely not; not again."

"You'd have us. You wouldn't be alone again."

"I know that, just," she sighed, "I can't. Maybe they all bother me. But I do what I do for dogs, just like you do for the cats. I couldn't just abandon them. Especially not the other crewmates." She appeared embarrassed, looking down. "I've gotten attached to them."

Angie laughed hard at that, nodding. "Feel no shame; friendliness is good for the soul. I understand. Simply keep in mind that the offer will remain on the table, at least unless any of you commit more mischief."

"Don't worry, we won't. That mutt will be lucky if I don't tear him apart."

Angie sipped at her tea until she stood up again, looking at Kira affectionately. "Would you like to meet my family? They're nearby." Kira thought for a moment before tentatively nodding, being a bit curious what they were like.

"Sure." She slowly got up as the two moved, a calm atmosphere now in the air. "What are they like?"

Angie's eyes twinkled, grinning. "Oh, you'll see. I think you'll like my grand-kittens." Kira got a bad feeling as they left the room together, hoping for the best.

Chapter Text

As a whistle rang out, dozens of cats stopped moving, a rubbery ball dropped onto the ground as the game ended. Garbage almost immediately collapsed down onto the ground, panting and struggling for every breath. They’d been running around and playing for several hours, and by now he was completely spent.

He’d certainly earned some glances from the other cats when he arrived, news of the trial having spread. However, they had let him play anyway, and within a game their skepticism and wariness had worn off. Garbage had quickly gotten the hang of the game, and found himself enjoying it. It was competitive and physical, excitement always around the corner. It was played not in a field but between the trees, providing anxiety-inducing moments when Garbage had to hide from the ‘predator’ or run as fast as he could.

But after these hours, Garbage felt completely spent. The games had finally ended for the day, the players all going to go about their days. The guard that had been assigned to him had originally started by following him around, but when it was realized that that completely ruined the game, the other players were able to help and convince him to just go sit down. Technically they were now his ‘overseers’, but that hadn’t really mattered.

As Garbage went to wait in line for water, something he felt suddenly desperate for, he saw familiar purple fur heading through the trees. His ears perked up as he saw Kira, waving. “Over here, over here!” With Kira was Angie, along with two other cats. One was a younger cat that closely resembled Angie, no doubt a family member of some kind. Meanwhile, running around Kira was another little kitten, a sight that made Garbage smugly grin.

“Aha! Who’s being bothered by kids now!” Unfortunately, it was when the little kitten saw Garbage that she squealed.

“Fluffy! Fluffy!” Garbage groaned as the kitten charged towards him and jumped at him, excitedly blabbering at him so fast he could hardly understand. The cats around him laughed at the sight as Angie went to speak with some of them, the other cat walking forward, her and Kira holding bemused laughs.

“It’s nice to meet you, Captain Garbage. Sorry about my daughter, she really likes my books.”

“Your books?”

She nodded shyly, looking down. “Erm, yes. I’m Olivia, I write the Captain Fluffy books. They, uhm, became a bit more popular than I expected. Kira’s told me about you; I promise it wasn’t intentional. But, ah, the similarities are rather close.” She chuckled along with Kira, who was now the one to hold the smug smile.

Garbage sighed as the kitten verbally assaulted him with questions about supposed ‘adventures’. Thankfully, Olivia was quick to retrieve her, softly chastising her about being too excitable and to remember what ‘personal space’ was. Angie returned to the dogs, smiling at Garbage.

“Did you enjoy the game?”

He eagerly nodded, tail wagging. “It was awesome! But jeez, tiring too. But I had a blast! Nomi would love this.” Kira found herself completely agreeing with that; she could imagine the little dog taking some sport like this very seriously. Though, she’d also be a terror to the others.

“I’m glad to hear that. My bones are a bit too old and creaky to play games like this anymore, but you younglings should always get exercise.”

The kitten pouted, looking at her grandmother. “Grandma, you're not old!” Angie smiled and picked her up from Olivia, practically beaming.

“You're such a sweetheart, thank you dear.” The sight warmed the dog’s hearts, even Kira’s, though the husky was quick to get back on topic.

“What now?”

“Well, now we’ll be going to retrieve your various scattered friends. I believe Stella has since gone to the ship, and of course your other friend will not be coming here. Once we eat we can go to the show.” That excited Garbage, who quickly got some water and swiftly downed it.

“Let’s get going then!”

Back at the Pluto, Chonies huffed in annoyance, staring down at Malek at the ground. He was on the roof of the ship, doing repairs on an antenna and internal wiring inside of the ship’s panels. Stella was inside, comparing the cat’s planetary data to their own, while Nomi had been put on cleanup duty to try and get the ship’s inside back to some kind of organized state. The guards were actually watching each of them now, seemingly having taken Angie’s prior chasticing to heart and never letting any of them go unwatched.

“How are the wires?”

“There’s definitely something wrong with them. None of the electricity from the emergency battery you gave me is going to the antenna.”

Malek groaned, shaking his head. “Always something…” They chattered more about the aforementioned wires, until a speeder came into the distance.

Chonies excitedly looked up at the sight, putting down his tools and quickly rushing to the ladder. “They’re back! Go tell the others!” Malek did exactly that, heading inside while the speeder stopped right outside the ship. As Angie and the two dogs left, along with two other cats the other canines left the ship and made their way to the speeders.

Garbage made sure to hug everyone, Kira begrudgingly accepted a hug from Nomi, still unsure why she was alright with the little dog embracing her when usually she’d despise it. The two cats, apparently named Olivia and Brooke, introduced themselves to the dogs. The little kitten reminded them a lot of Malek’s, and apparently they were indeed playmates.

“So, how’s the ship?” Kira knew the answer wouldn’t be great when looks of annoyance covered their faces, Chonies huffing.

“We fixed the radio, but then couldn’t get the signal out. So we checked the antenna, and it was bent oddly, so we replaced that. But then it still wouldn’t work, and now we have to change the wires, and it’s just a big mess.”

Garbage looked disappointed, scratching his chin. “So we can’t talk to Loaf?”

“Not yet Captain, sorry. Tomorrow we definitely can though! We’ll get started on replacing the battery too then.” Garbage sighed but nodded, Chonies feeling his disappointment. “Sorry Captain.”

“It’s alright Chonies, don’t worry, we can wait. Poor Loaf though, probably panicking.”

As Nomi and Kira chatted, the captain’s attention turned to Stella. “So? What did their information or whatever say?”

“A lot of it we knew, but it did fill some gaps since they took a bit of a different path than us. But none of it is really useful beyond telling us more about the galaxy.”

“Nothing habitable?”

Angie chuckled, sending a look to Garbage. “If it was, we wouldn’t be here, would we.”

He nodded, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s okay though; it’s time for food now! Then we can go to the show too!” That brightened the hungry dog’s spirits as they quickly ran to the speeders, eagerly going towards the idea of food.

The three cats watched them, Olivia humming. “It’s kind of funny to actually see space dogs. Maybe my dream was actually some vision.” Angie laughed, nodding.

“Perhaps. Either way, you’ll have plenty of material for sequels now.”

“Mommy, how come the others were never in the stories?”

“Uhmmm…they were out…in a black hole! Yeah! Maybe they’ll come back now…” With that settled the three left to the speeders as well, the kitten talking all the way there and longer.

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Exactly what it says on the tin