Chapter 32: House sitting

Zaine had watered all the plants in the house, fed the fish in the fish tank, dusted the house even. Now, he was restless. There was nothing to do in this house.

Sure, he had gotten a book with himself to this house, but he didn't want to read. He had done so much reading these past three months, that it was almost unreal.

Dropping to the floor, he began to do push-ups. Then, when he was about to the fifteenth one, he heard the door open. Jumping to his feet, he took his two-handed hammer, and edged silently towards the back door.

The owners of the house weren't supposed to be back for two more days. He was to wait in here for that time. Two days, in which he had to be left in an unfamiliar place.

When he entered the kitchen, he saw a raccoon down on the door near the open cupboard. Zaine blinked at the little robber, then placed his hammer in its harness. With sure steps, he went and picked the raccoon from the ground and stared at it.

There was no food on its snout yet, but the packages were pushed around. Zaine thanked his lucky star, that the little critter had not managed to get any of the food on offer.

"Out with you," Zaine said, and then the raccoon hit him with the saddest look a creature had ever given him. Zaine bit his bottom lip, and sighed.

"I suppose I can give you something to eat first," the berserker figured that this was how the raccoon learned to come by the house in the first place, but he was going to lock the door, and keep the troublemaker out.

Zaine placed the fluff ball on the ground, and rummaged in his bottomless bag. Taking out a piece of meat, he filled up a bowl with water, and placed it down. The raccoon sniffed the meat, then took it and washed it in the water.

As his uninvited guest ate, Zaine took a closer look at the animal. It was plumb, with a shining coat. This was someone's pet.

"Are you the family raccoon?" Zaine asked, and the raccoon stopped eating long enough to stare up at him. "Oh, what am I doing? It is not like you could understand me."

The berserker sat by the creature, and watched it as it ate for a while. He reached out a hand, and touched the soft fur on the head of the little critter. Smiling when the animal didn't snap at him, he began to pet it.

"My life is so weird, these days," Zaine began, not knowing why he was opening up to a raccoon. "I have new parents, am ranked F, no longer live on the streets."

Zaine chuckled at the last one. Back before Filarion had taken them in, before he had paid for the inn, his brothers and he had been homeless. They had lost the farm because the local lord had cheated them out of it. Adventuring had been their only way out.

"I don't approve of Morrel still," Zaine said, as the raccoon went, and sat on his lap, so Zaine can pet it better. "But Filarion is in love. So is Johnny, I suppose. Still, until when is that tank going to play at family? I mean, Fil did some bad things. That is the truth."

Zaine sighed, and hugged the raccoon, kissing it on the head, he watched in amusement as it began to shake its head.

"I wish that Johnny would never turn against Fil again, but he might. Where does that leave our little family?" Zaine asked, and the silence stretched between him and the raccoon. The little animal patted his hand a couple of times, and Zaine realized he had stopped petting the animal. With a chuckle, he began to pet it again.

"I just want to have a stable home," Zaine murmured his greatest wish. "I know I am seventeen, and should be on my own way in life now, but I still want a couple of years with my brothers. Us being a party is the best thing we thought of so far."

The raccoon suddenly stiffened, and Zaine heard the front door open. Placing it down, he was ready to see if there was an entire band of raccoons that were descending on this house.

Instead of a raccoon, there was a man, with a mask on his face. Zaine immediately took off his hammer.

"Leave here, and no one gets hurt," Zaine told the man, who was lingering in the doorway.

"I could say the same to you, little boy," the voice was raspy, and sounded like sandpaper. Zaine moved closer to the man. He had never attacked a human before. Was it a human? Was this man an elf? Didn't look tall enough.

Zaine stopped centimeters from the man, and hefted his hammer up for him to see.

"I am a berserker of the Westermire guild, and am not afraid to use this hammer," Zaine tried to put more bravado in his voice, than he actually felt. It was a hard task.

"You won't attack," Zaine could feel the smirk through the voice, even though the mask hid it. "You are just a rookie. Besides, I am not alone."

The front door opened again, and in came three more thugs. Zaine's eyes widened, and he decided that now was the time to take in the initiative. He rushed the first thief, aiming for the man's stomach.

Then, just as the hammer was going to crack some ribs, a cold sweat ran through Zaine's back, and he stopped. The thief hadn't moved, and his companions began to snicker.

"See? Tie up the kitten, and let us rob this place blind," the thief said, and the three advanced on Zaine. Before Zaine could do anything, one of the thieves had an arm around his mouth.

A blur latched itself to the thief's face, and Zaine watched as the small raccoon who he had fed and petted began to bite the thief's nose. The thief took the small fur ball, and slammed it to the ground.

Zaine heard a whine and the sound of cracking ribs. Then, he saw red.