Just Roomates | A ZanexOC FF

Chapter 13

Aaron's POV

Kawaii~Chan translated what Zane had said, since she was the only one of us who could understand him, and at that it was minimal. We had asked Lucinda if she could fix a spell or potion to allow us to understand Zane before we left. Unfortunately, though it wasn't complicated, she had few of the ingredients and we had no time to lose. Back to the present, we followed Zane as he trotted along a dirt path, leading us to an old, abandoned-looking warehouse. Utterly confused but still trusting, we got closer and he put his front paws on a wall. He barked as quietly as he could. A few minutes later, Kawaii~Chan clarified. "Zane~Kun thinks that this is where Violet~Sama is." Happy to rest a while, if not anything else, I leaned against a massive apple tree and sat own on the fresh green grass. Others followed my lead, sitting down and relaxing for once. I caught Zane lying down in the shade out of the corner of my eye. Is it just me, I thought. or does he have a little less fur than yesterday? Lucinda seemed to read my mind and gave us an insight as to how long me have left to find her. "Zane, dear, the potion is wearing off. We've got to find her fast. If this really is where she is, we need a plan to get in, save Vi, and get out causing the least amount of damage or suspicion." We all nodded, and Zane stared at her unblinking. A dogs' way of understanding. Aphmau proposed a plan. "I saw me sneak in at night, and get some really cool ninja outfits, and learn some basic "How to Ninja" off of Youtube or something." We all chuckled a little, knowing she was trying to lighten the mood. Even though er "plan" was a bit of a farce, sneaking in at night sounded like a good choice. "All jokes aside," I said. "Sneaking in at night is a pretty good option compared to busting in now and getting beat. Anyone vote against it?" No one denied that it was the best thing we could do right now. Perfect timing, too. The sun had started to set. "OK," I started whispering. This sudden speech caught them off guard, but I got their full attention. "Here's the rest of the plan, we'll split up. I'll go with Aphmau, covering the far right side. Lucinda and Kawaii~Chan take the far left door, and Garroth and Zane will take the middle." Though uneasy at the sound of 'splitting up,' the group understood, or, at least I think the understood, the importance OF splitting up. A few more hours later, and I checked my phone. It read that the time was almost midnight. I nodded my head towards the warehouse, and we made our move.

Lucinda's POV

Aaron made a move for the door. I followed, not happy that I was stuck with Kawaii~Chan, but willing to work with her for Vi. Well, really to make Aaron and Zane happy, which I knew would make Aph happy. Only reason I'm doing this. Kawaii~Chan put an ear up to the door, probably to see if anyone was awake on the other side. She giggled,  and gave us the "All clear, but be quiet" signal. Everyone opened the squeaking metal doors at the same time, doing it the old fashioned way. Me, well, I used a spell and cut a hole large enough for a person. When me and Kawaii~Chan entered, the sight before me almost made me lose my lunch. Dozens of men, every age from late teens to early fifties, were sprawled across the thick concrete floor in every direction, making movement near impossible. The heavy smell of cigarettes and alcohol filled the room. Kawaii~Chan, being such a graceful little kitty, stepped lightly in between twitching hands and flailing feet. She got past them easily. Me, on the other hand, have no balance. Knowing this, I used my magic to my advantage. I glided across the army of drooling men. Once past them we continued our search. We looked at every nook and cranny, but found nothing. The worst part is, we got a little lost and couldn't find our way out OR back to the others. Crap...

Zane's POV

Once inside the huge warehouse, We were greeted by dozens drunk men, all passed out on the floor. The horrible stench of tobacco and beer infiltrated my nose, and was magnified by my stupid dog form. I stepped backwards onto Garroth's foot. After getting used to the atmosphere of the place, I practically sailed over the deadbeats. My unfortunately clumsy brother, however, did not have such an easy time getting past. About half way through he gave up and ran, apparently hoping not to wake any of them, not that he could either way. On the other side of the drunk idiots, we followed Violet's distinct smell, surprisingly. Correction, I was following the scent and Garroth was blindly following me. It got stronger and stronger, stronger still until we reached another heavy, metal door. I couldn't open it (duh), but neither could Garroth. It had to be locked. I thought back to LITERALLY a minute ago, and recalled how Lucinda used her magic to open the door. Great...now we had to find her. I walked off, and again Garroth followed. I ran, but slow enough for Garroth to keep up. I heard voices  around the corner of a huge wooden crate and stopped on instinct. "I swear I 'eard voices round 'ere somewhere.." a gruff, male voice said. "You didn't hear a damned thing, you knuckle'ead." a deeper voice complained. For a moment, I stopped breathing. I think Garroth did too. Luckily for us, the two buffoons went the opposite direction, giving us free passage. I searched for Lucinda. It wasn't hard. Lucinda didn't have a very distinct scent, but Kawaii~Chan did. I followed the awful cat stench around boxes and equipment, until I finally found them. "Zane? Garroth? Thank Irene you found us!" Lucinda whispered. I trotted off again. Now I had three people to look after. I lead them all the way back to the door me had found. After inspecting it, Lucinda got the message. She laser beamed a hole through the door, or something. No matter, I leaped through only to be bombarded by terrified screams and male laughter. "Girlie, I just love it when you fight me!" This guy sounded like the one who answered Vi's phone. Another voice broke my thought process. "Get away from me!" cried a feminine voice. Vi! Completely unaware of what was happening, I bolted down the log flight of stairs, running so fast that I had to hop on the wall when turning corners. At last I made it to the bottom, and what I saw disturbed me. A tall man with curly hair was leaning over a woman, a half-naked woman may I add. In the dim light I saw a lock of deep purple hair fly from her hair. If I wasn't positive that it was Violet before, I sure as hell was now. Furious that this jerk dared to even look at her, I ran in head long and bit him. He cried in pain and rolled on to his side. Stupid mistake, buddy, I thought. I ran in again, but not fast enough. He managed to see me coming and hit off to the side when I was within his reach. Violet cried. She didn't know it was me. I know she didn't know it was me. Even still, she sobbed. The man walked over to her and whispered something I couldn't hear. Whatever he said, it made her shake with fear and cry louder. Where is my group? I asked myself. The crying got louder and suddenly stopped to a mere sniffling, all at the sound of someone slapping something...I regained enough strength to look at them. I saw what I had heard. This man, this heartless, evil man, hit her. He HIT her! The nerve! No longer caring about myself I felt rage boil inside of me until it was a bubbling mess. I raced in between them and guarded Violet. I bared my teeth a made the most terrifying noise I had ever heard. To be honest, I even scared myself a little. The man looked at me like I was foaming at the lips. He charged at me and I leaped at him. At that very moment, Garroth, Kawaii~Chan, and Lucinda came bursting down the stairs followed by Aphmau and Aaron. The ladies looked horrified, Watching the blood spew from wounds in both me and the man. Garroth wanted to help, you could see it, he just wasn't sure how. He finally managed to throw me off of him. I rushed back in blinded by fury when he kicked me in the stomach. It all happened so fast. Before I even knew what was happening I landed hard against a wall and fell limp to the floor. I didn't have the strength to get up, or even move. The other five had enough, and found a way to fight back. Aaron was first, and managed to get the man in a choke hold. Kawaii~Chan, though a peaceful woman, unsheathed her hidden claws and tore him to all but pieces. Even Garroth took a couple punches. Lucinda walked casually over to Vi and freed her, while I saw Aphmau running towards me. Lucinda came over too, and knelt down beside me. I could still breath, which was good, but I could feel it, slow and shaky. I heard the man grunt in pain, and managed to see blood ooze out of an open wound. Violet was still bawling where she was left. I saw a magic white glow surround me, and immediately felt better. Not perfectly fine, but good enough to move. I stood up and walked unsteadily towards VI. Frightened still, she jumped when I got closer. Relaxing a little, she started crying silently. I nosed my way under her arm and licked her. Not in like, a weird way, just a friendly little action. She smiled, wrapped her arms around my neck and continued to let her tears fall free. After a short while the others joined us for a group hug. After making the long trip back home, driving of course, Me reached the neighborhood. Violet still had tear streaks marking her face, but it didn't matter. On the way home our journey was explained, and when she was told that I, Zane, was actually the dog, she blushed a little. She his it well, but Aaron and I both knew. I didn't think anything of it, because it should be natural to blush when you know a close friend saw you in shorts and a bra.It was extremely late when we got home, and we all went straight to bed. I made sure Vi was OK in her bed, and turned to leave when I heard her whispering. "Z-Zane, I-I'm still scared." Understandable. I looked back and saw she had more tears in her eyes. "They know where I live. What if they come back?" Her bottom lip was quivering. I was contemplating how to help her, when I got an idea. Not the best one, but n idea nonetheless. I hopped onto her bed and curled up into a dog ball next to her. She put her arm around me and I licked her hand. She hugged me and fell asleep. Thankfully, I did too.