Chapter two! Hope this is going well. BTW, for the sake of my fic, plumbing exists.

(-)

Once outside Chuck's house, Cooro let go of Husky. "Nana, I am not a pretty boy!" Husky protested. They started to walk as they argued. It was twilight and almost no one was outside.

"Are you a pretty girl then?" Nana inquired innocently.

"Yes-I mean no!! Just don't call me pretty at all!" Husky told her.

"Whatever. Cooro and I can fly around once we're out of town and look for a possible location for our new house." Nana said.

"And while you're doing that what are me and Senri supposed to do?" Husky asked, crossing his arms.

"You could look at pretty jewelry like you like to Husky." Nana said suggestively.

"What are you trying to imply by that?" Husky demanded.

"Maybe she thinks pretty jewelry will make you prettier Husky." Cooro told him seriously.

"Stop calling me pretty!" Husky shouted.

"Shh. Someone is following us." Senri said suddenly. They all got quiet, and they could hear little padding footsteps. Then whoever was following them stopped.

"I'll stun them. Cover your ears." Nana warned them in a whisper.

Once Nana heard their pursuer fall to the ground, she stopped stunning them. She walked back to where their pursuer fell and said, "Come here, you won't believe this!"

Cooro, Husky, and Senri ran up to join her. Lying on the ground was a boy that looked like a raccoon +Anima. His clothes were ragged and he had a raccoon's tail and paws. His face was furry and was striped like a raccoon's.

"What should we do with him?" Cooro asked.

"He should obviously come with us." Nana replied.

"But look at that pouch at his waist." Husky told her, pointing at the bulging purse on his belt. He opened it and some coins spilled out. Sorting through the rest he found a ring, a watch, and a small golden statue among more money. "I bet he was planning to rob us!"

"Aww, why would he do that Husky? He already has so much! Look, I can barely fit all the coins back in." Cooro said, demonstrating by zipping all the valuables back in. The purse was fit to burst.

"Look, he's waking up!" Nana pointed out.

The boy was stirring. "What happened? Why am I dizzy? Why-" the boy stopped speaking when he saw them hovering above him. He tried to scramble away, but Husky grabbed onto him.

"Why were you following us?" Husky demanded, pushing the boy against the wall of the nearest building.

"I wondered who you were. You're new here, so I was wondering if you were traveling or if you had business here." the boy replied, sounding very calm despite the cold glare Husky was giving him.

"What's your name?" Cooro asked sociably.

"Laurel, why do you want to know?" Laurel wondered, sounding suspicious.

"You're a +Anima." Nana said.

"Oh, so you're +Anima haters, huh? Well I can take all four of ya!" he challenged, his claws biting into Husky's wrist.

"Ow!" Husky cried out, dropping the boy and holding his bleeding wrist. Senri picked the boy up with his bear arm and held him against the wall again.

"Don't hurt Husky." Senri said, sounding dangerous.

"Wait a minute, you're a +Anima? How come you have friends?" Laurel wondered, looking at Cooro, Nana, and the injured Husky.

"Because we're +Anima too!" Nana told him, showing her wings and ears.

"A bat, a bear, and then what are they?" Laurel asked, nodding at Cooro and Husky. Cooro spread his wings but Husky just gave Laurel a dark look and continued clutching his bleeding wrist.

"Oh, heh, sorry about that. Thought you were going to try to beat me up." Laurel told Husky sheepishly.

Senri put Laurel down and his arm returned to normal. He went to Husky. He removed Husky's hand and blood dripped from his wrist, but Senri pulled Husky's wrist to his mouth and began to slurp up the blood. He then started to lick the cuts as Husky winced.

Laurel looked kinda creeped out, and he asked, "Shouldn't the bat girl be the one drinking his blood?!"

"Hey, who said I drank blood? Don't stereotype me!" Nana objected.

"Sorry. We aren't getting off on the right foot here are we?" Laurel noted uneasily.

"No. We're not. But Cooro, Nana, and Laurel you need to change back before someone sees you." Husky hissed as he glanced around. It was completely dark out and the streets were totally deserted but if they wanted to do anything like build a house near here, people had better not know that they were +Anima.

His friends and Laurel obeyed, and as Laurel's raccoon face shrank away, they saw his +Anima markings. They were two big black rings that circled around his eyes. He quickly pulled out some dark goggles to hide them.

"So you can see at night with those on?" Cooro asked, waving a hand in front of Laurel's face.

"Yeah, the goggles look dark but I can see through them like they're clear." Laurel explained.

"It's too late to fly around Cooro, so we should just go back to Chuck's house." Nana said.

"What about Laurel?" Cooro wondered.

"We should just leave him here." Husky told him, still looking bitter about his wrist.

"We can't do that Husky. What about our plans? You heard him. He doesn't think +Anima can have friends." Nana pointed out.

"Not when they attack people who just happen to be there!" Husky retorted.

"Hey, you were holding me against a wall. Not a friendly thing to do." Laurel defended himself.

"He has a point." Cooro agreed.

Husky looked betrayed. "Cooro, you're supposed to side with me!" he protested.

"Sorry Husky, your best friend is very honest, both with himself and with you." Nana said.

Husky now looked startled. "He's my best friend?"

Cooro put on a hurt face. " I thought we were close personal friends! Who have you been seeing?! Is it Senri?!" Cooro threw an accusing look at the bear boy.

Husky blushed and turned away muttering something about Cooro being silly. True, he had always considered Cooro to be his greatest friend, but he had no idea they were best friends. Aren't you supposed to tell someone something like that?! How else are you supposed to know?!

"Anyway, considering what we have planned, it wouldn't make sense for us to not try and get him to come with us." Nana told Husky sensibly.

"…But he'll just-! Nevermind. Fine, do whatever you want." Husky replied sullenly.

"Husky, whatever will we do with you?" Nana wondered, watching him curiously.

"Laurel, now that Husky has agreed, would you like to come with us?" Cooro asked.

"I guess so. But first I want to hear these 'plans' of yours." Laurel replied, still looking doubtful that any of this was happening.

"We want to build a house so we can have somewhere for all +Anima to be able to come and live without everyone being against them. Eventually, maybe a village." Nana explained.

"Wow, a whole village?! That does sound great. But if that many +Anima are living in one place, there's no way people won't find out. Then the whole village will be attacked and they'll try to kill all of us in one fell swoop." Laurel pointed out.

"But with enough +Anima, they wouldn't be able to." Nana argued.

"Forget anymore discussion tonight. I'm tired, wounded, and I want to go back. If Laurel wants to join us, he can find us at the old town hall tomorrow. Let's go." Husky said, heading back to Chuck's house. The rest said good bye to Laurel (Senri waved) and followed him.