"Hey guys, and good morning Yakko!" I cheered, already finished packing up my things, as soon as I woke the next morning, to get ready for another boat ride back to Burbank, California.
I reached the breakfast table, my tail swishing in excitement, and got milk and cereal, then ate my meal. Sitting around me, was Wakko, Yakko and Dot eating soundly, their breakfast.
"How's sleep doing for ya'll?" I asked with food in my mouth. Dot was the only one with a disgusted look shaking her head.
"Ew, Red...swallow, then talk!" Dot said rebuking me as I then chuckled.
"Well, that's one way to start talking, Dot." I said, this time with nothing in my mouth. Yakko and Wakko, both laughed playfully but not as robust as last time. It concerned me. Normally they would get up and show me gags and stuff but today they were well mannered for the first time.
"Hey, boys, you both alright?" I asked leaning my head to one side, while holding my spoon, getting ready to put another chunk in.
"We're good, Red, why you ask?" Yakko asked.
"Normally, you both would go around, annoying me and stuff." I said smiling softly. This time, Wakko and Yakko both dropped their facade and revealed they were still sad.
"I'm still sorry for what I did, last night. I don't know what got into me." Yakko replied.
"I keep telling him it's not his fault! He won't listen!" Wakko said pointing an accusing finger at Yakko, dramatically.
"I know that, Wakko!" Dot said enraged now. Seems that he's been saying that repeatedly even before I woke up.
"Yakko, it's alright...I'm not hurt, okay?" I said trying to console him to drop his apologies. This time I stood up from my seat and walked up to him, the bent down to hug him. Yakko went red all over, but I didn't notice any of that. But this close contact made him cry, this time of joy, that I forgave him.
"Shh, it's alright, Yakko..." I said softly, stroking his back gently to calm him down.
"Thank you, Red," Yakko said softly when his crying finally subsided. I smiled at him then took my plates and the plates of the rest to wash them, while the others just cleaned the tables.
"By the way toots, you look gorgeous!" Yakko said in his ever rakish self. While I washed the dishes, I discretely blushed but didn't want to let him and the others see it. Wakko and Dot just sighed at the both of us.
"Ha, take a picture...it'll last longer." I smirked while rolling my eyes, getting back at him, as he then in turn, got red, diverting his gaze to the things he was doing.
I sighed happy it didn't get to me that much, today. Though, I know I would have to tell him one day but he has to admit it to me first, then I'll tell him. No matter. I am always waiting.
"Alright guys, time for us to depart!" I announced. And we all got to it.
Today, I wore a flowing, orange skirt, wore black pants and a red shirt, having an archery logo, then wore a black Cape, with a hoodie...to make myself look more epic. Yakko wore his normal orange slacks, Dot wore her usual, pink flower and pink skirt, and Wakko wore his normal blue jacket and brown slacks, along with his signature, red cap.
"Wow, the best outfits to get back to Burbank," I said happily and they all blushed, drowning in flattery.
"Aw, shucks!" Dot exclaimed smiling, "You look amazingly, mysterious!"
"Wow, I know right!" I said.
We are now on our way to get to the docks, with luggage on hand, at the same time, asking for directions again. Finally, we got the right directions, from a nice lad, who showed us where to, actually, go through. We took a few left and right turns, until we stumbled across a subway station. We looked up at a sign, that would tell us where the train was headed. This train was headed, straightway towards, Burbank. But it was going to take a week to get there.
"Huh, looks like we don't need a cruise!" Dot exclaimed stating the obvious.
"That's because Nevada and California are close to each other. Why hadn't I thought of that!" I said with wide eyes, just as the realisation hit me like a truck.
"Well, sibs and Red, what are we waiting for, let's go!" Yakko said about to head for the train but I pulled him back.
"Wait, we'll need a ticket." I told him.
"Say no more!" Yakko exclaimed then ran around swiftly, like flash, pickpocketing the passer-by individuals and grabbed hold of their tickets but only took out four tickets, for each of us.
"Brilliant, Yakko!" I told him and he stood there smiling proudly with eyes sparkling.
"You're welcome, Red," He said flirtingly, but I just dismissed it for a playful comeback, that I rolled my eyes at him.
We finally got in and gave the conductor our tickets that had our destination, Burbank. We all walked into one of the carts of the train and found our seats. I sat next to the window while Dot sat next to me, then Yakko and Wakko.
Once we finally settled in, I looked more into my surroundings. The subway train we rode on, was purely white and streaky clean, showing that it was hardly ridden on, but only a few times, like new steed that was beautifully groomed and was hardly rode on. It looked really, high tech. Though as soon as we walked in, it was even better and grand, fulfilling the statement being "high tech". The seats were robotically doing what they were supposed to do, making the passenger comfortable and giving out the necessities that the individuals needed. The walls of the train was porcelain white with golden streaks painted to it, and the seats were velvety purple, and comfy. People around us were certainly sounding like individuals from a higher class. I felt out of place but I never showed my uneasiness. I was just glad we found an escape, and boy, how fast the train went it felt like we were zooming through time.
As I looked outside the window right next to me, I saw only glimpses of the beauty of the world out there. Glimpses of the glorious, green grass, swaying with the breeze, the birds flying beautifully in sync together, with their feathers ruffling in the wind as the sun shined on every beautiful creature and plant. But most of the time, was mostly spent looking at dark tunnels and the void since we are still underground. Not much to look at but space. I sighed missing the color out there but I was glad we had transportation, on our way back home.
We started to get hungry, so we asked the AI computer to fetch us a meal and it did, giving us the meal, perfectly. There we asked for lots of things, like blankets, food, comfortable clothes to change into, as we started talking about our days and even previous happenings before I even joined them in these weird adventures. We all laughed and talked since there was not much to do, we even annoyed some passengers, but it was only minor not those major ones since we didn't want to risk losing our only way back home. It was then night time, and so we all went to sleep.
The next morning was a buzz. The conductor said through the speakers, loud and clear, that we were now entering the borders of California. My ears flickered to noise and I woke up as a head start and nudged the others awake. The others groggily opened their eyes and yawned, making me yawn in suit too, but we all had stars sparkling in our eyes when we were met with a familiar looking sign saying, Burbank. We hopped off our seats eagerly, carried our luggage and strolled out but were only met with one more train to ride. This time it was old and rickity, brown and rusty, striken in age. It sat there waiting for others to hop into it, like a grandmother that has been waiting for her grandkids to take notice of her. Yet our eyes were filled in glee knowing we were almost home.
"Ah, I can smell the aroma of home from here!" Yakko exclaimed, as we all chuckled at his excitement while I held onto my fears, that only I should worry about.
Again we hopped onto the train, but the atmosphere was better filled with excitement that we met Slappy and Skippy. Slappy being the old, grey squirrel wearing a green hat with a flower stuck onto it with her young one sitting by her side jumping in glee, whose name was Skippy. Brown and young, was he.
"The name's Red, Slappy," I said happily, bending down a bit, shaking hands with her and her nephew, in greeting.
"Pleased to meet ya, Red!" Slappy said, as Skippy and Slappy, greeted the Warners.
As they talked happily, while the train accelerated to move, a beautiful white mink, with long, blonde hair, with a pink petunia flower on the side, wearing a soft red robe, wearing red pumps, with purple mascara painted onto her eyelids, came, as her tail glided across the floor, making her way toward us.
"Hi, I'm Minerva Mink, how do you do?"
"I'm Red Pandalore, just call me Red!" I exclaimed, introducing myself.
"Wow, you look so beautiful in that outfit! Where are you headed? I would love to give you a tour around Burbank, if you were to arrive at the Warner Movie Lot!" Minerva exclaimed with eyes sparkling, holding my hands in encouragement. I blushed at her comment, seeming weirded out but it felt nice to hear it from others.
"Speaking of the Warner Movie Lot, as a matter of fact, I'm going there along with the Warners and-"
"Oh, my goodness! Are you a celebrity?!" She asked in anticipation.
"Um, no but I'm a friend of theirs," I stated.
"Yeah, whatever. Whoever is a friend of the Warners, is a friend to me, too!" She exclaimed bubbly.
"Oh, thank you, Minerva. But I'm..." But my voice was caught in my throat, hesitating if I should continue, but her eager eyes, that saddened by the minutes, compelled me to.
"I-I'm...a side toon..." I finally spat it out softly, that only her could hear, as I dropped my head in shame.
"Oh, but at least you are with the Warners?"
"I was originally supposed to be part of Jay Pac's group...but these guys found me and showed me that there is more to this world than what meets the eye." I explained a bitter feeling, filling my guts.
"W-what? You mean, THE Jay Pac?" She asked in wide eyes of realization. I nodded answering her hyped questions. But her attitude changed toward Jay Pac.
"Eh, he's cool, but he has to work on his attitude towards people. Ego goes directly to his head! I was invited by my friend to go with her to her date which is with him, to be there for her if things go wrong, and things definitely went wrong. He talked a lot, wasn't even aware that the things he was talking about wasn't to her interests like money and gold, so she dumped him."
"Wow! Um, so you are against him?"
"Yup..." Minerva said then she caught Yakko staring at me without me noticing but her. She then smirked, "Hey, by the way..."
"Yeah?"
"Are you aware that you and Yakko may actually look great with each other?"
I then blushed at what she just said but hurriedly whispered in case I was on personal ground, "W-Wait...I'm sorry if you have a crush on him, I didn't know you were-"
But Minerva just laughed, "No, no, no, we are not together. Yes, he can be charming but I've got other interests."
"Oh...yeah I do have a crush..." I said sighing deeply catching a glimpse of his figure, "But I bet he isn't that, interested."
"Girl, he is, Red!" She said placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Look...I just want to hear it from him. But right now, I wanna take it slow." I said seriously. Minerva's brown eyes looked at me with understanding as she then nodded her head, with a soft smile.
"You know what, all mushiness aside, you and I should get to know each other!" Minerva said with delight, as we both sat down next to a window and talked about everything we could talk about as I smiled, at the warm welcome.