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It was supposed to be a simple dumpster dive.
Him and Niki tried to fetch some good trash for the rest of the pack but the lid had closed on them, leaving them stuck in the container for the rest of the night.
It wasn't even that they were scared or anything, they were just bored to the core, trying to heave the lid of the thing before just giving up.
Niki decided to use the time to further inspect anything that was in the container while Wilbur only whined, telling her how bored he was and how he wanted his guitar so badly right now.
Only because they were raccoons didn't mean they couldn't have fun with non-raccoon things.
Niki just rolled her eyes at the whines, putting her paws into a pack of Fettuccine and getting some left over noodles out, munching on them as a little snack. These were actually good, she didn't know why people would throw these out.
Both of them spent some time before someone opened the lid, keen on throwing trash in the container.
"What the fuck."
What greeted them was the funny human they saw several times, blonde dirty hair on his head and a big yummy trash bag in his hands. Wilbur and Nikki were in their full raccoon forms to avoid any suspicion but it was still hilarious as they jumped out of the trash, both of them bouncing on Tommy's head and shoulders respectively as the boy fell face first into the trash container, swearing up a storm.
Both of them snickered and just ran, acquired food in their mouths to be taken into the forest right next to the house the blonde was living in.
Back to their den.
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Worry was an understatement of what Phil felt when the two didn't return for the whole night. He was just about to send out Techno and Eret to search for them when they burst through the entrance of their den, laughing up a storm. Both of them stopped and looked down on the ground as they saw Phil's expression, both whining lowly as an apology.
"We were stuck in a trash container again."
Nikki said through the bag she was holding in her mouth which was promptly put into Tubbo's paws, the small raccoon getting it stored in one of the other den rooms where it would be safe.
Phil raised a brow, paws crossed over his chest as his wings spread, making him look a little bit bigger.
Wilbur whined, pouting, as he walked up to Phil, ears down and eyes locking with the pack leader once again.
"Well, we didn't want to get caught but something made the lid close so we waited for the funny blonde to open it in the morning."
Wilbur chuckled to himself, remembering the dumbfounded expression of the teen.
"At least you brought some food. It would've been one hell of a waste to have you be gone for so long and not bring anything."
Phil just nuzzled him softly, a soft chirp escaping him before turning to Niki and doing the same.
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Meanwhile, on the edge of the forest, Tommy didn't have the greatest time. He had been tipped into the dumpster by these fucking raccoons who always landed their asses into his trash container. It was annoying to be the only house around while the village was farther away but at least he didnt need to interact with people.
But these stupid raccoons got on his goddamn nerves sometimes. He even caught them laugh at him, what the hell.
The boy swung himself out of the container, some of his leftover food from yesterday sticking in his hair. Disgusting.
Now he needed to take another shower.
One day he'd catch one of these creatures.
A couple of days went by before he got sight of another one of the little raccoons. But before he could even think of what to do, he saw it lying on the ground, motionlessly. A wave of actual worry washed over him as he crouched down and picked the little one up, seeing small horns grow next to its ears.
'Wait, raccoons aren't supposed to have horns-'
He quickly shook his head and put any questions aside while picking up the small animal, holding it close while running back inside.
Dashing through the door, the boy put the small thing on his couch, getting over to his cupboard to get medical supplies. Pulling out a roll of bandages and some antiseptic spray, Tommy went right back and kneeled down, looking at the raccoons back which had a puncture wound.
It seemed like it had been bitten by a dog or another bigger animal but it didn't seem to be bleeding too much, probably pretended to be dead while he had carried it to his house.
The antiseptic spray was soon sprayed on the wound and the roll of bandages was pulled tightly around its stomach, keeping the wound protected.
Now he had to wait.
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Tubbo woke up in a haste, looking around him frantically. Before he registered anything else he smelled food. Very delicious smelling food.
His eyes opened and he noticed that he was lying on one of these weird, soft and long sitting thingies that most of these other people had. Then he felt that he was actually warm, as if it was summer, but Tubbo knew for a fact that it was winter, Phil had said so- Phil!
He would be so worried, Tubbo had to go back before he got even more worried than he actually was right now.
The small raccoon tried to stand up but winced loudly, plopping back down onto his stomach as he felt his back burn, trying to reach it with a paw. But something soft and weird was blocking it, making him whine and try to get it off.
At that moment the blonde human walked in, making him stiffen. It looked at him for a second, saying something he couldn't quite make out. Don't get him wrong, he could talk and understand the human language they spoke around here, courtesy of the pack leader, but it was hard to switch over so fast when he didn't use it in such a long time.
He concentrated on the human's voice and made some words like 'food' and 'wound' out. He was hurt, that was right. The big barking thing had run after him and bit him but he didn't remember getting brought into the blonde human's house.
The small raccoon looked up at Tommy with big eyes, and the human sighed, walking back into the kitchen and reappearing with a bowl of cat food that he had in his house from the time he took care of a wounded cat.
The kid really was prone to picking up strays, wasn't he.
The small animal dug in happily, chirping up a storm after it was done eating, almost forgotten that Phil would probably be very worried that he didn't appear at their den yet. Tubbo didn't even know how long he was gone, so he needed to get home fast.
The human moved again and kneeled down right before him, holding out a hand. Tubbo sniffed at it before nuzzling into it, as a sign of gratitude for the food while Tommy's hand wandered to his back, taking off the weird fabric that he had on his back. The wound was almost completely healed which was weird for Tommy but not for Tubbo, he was a hybrid after all.
Now that nothing was pressing down on his sore back he could actually stand up, hopping on Tommy's shoulder as he chattered away in his raccoon speech, making the blonde chuckled a bit.
Guess he had to leave the small one out now.
With an opened front door, Tubbo was gone as soon he saw the forest, only turning around and waving with his paw as if he was telling him goodbye.
That was only Tommy's own imagination, right?
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When Tubbo finally arrived at the den, the kit was soon fussed over by a worried Eret joined by Phil as they asked him where he had been, looking at his back as they noticed the red spot.
"Something attacked me but… The blonde human helped me! He even gave me food."
The small raccoon told them about how nice he had been, probably bringing him inside when he was hurt and protecting him from the predators outside that would've taken his life if it weren't for him.
And somehow, all of the other raccoons began to hold a deep respect for the human.
There were several more incidents where the human had helped them.
He had protected Wilbur's kit, Fundy, from one of the big barking things humans called dogs, even getting hurt in the process. After noticing them more frequently, he put out his scraps and cat food for them which was really appreciated by the gaze.
But one thing really put their admiration on a high. This human was really friendly, even through all the cussing and swears at them, and it seemed as if he genuinely cared about this small group of raccoons, never hurting them in any way.
One day though, as some of them were out at night to search for food, they found the human on the ground in the middle of the forest, covered in pricks of thorn bushes and bitemarks as if he was attacked and fell down the thorn bush ravine about twenty feet away.
He probably did.
Eret and Ranboo, who had found him, chirped loudly, alarming everyone else that they had something important for them to see.
As they scurried to them and gathered around, Tubbo was already next to the human, looking him over with worry.
Soon, Phil arrived and looked the human over, shifting into his own hybrid human form, fur changing to his usual kimono attire, wings spreading out behind him, glittering with a blue sheen over his normal black feathers. A pair of fuzzy ears were twitching on top of his head and his long fluffy tail swayed behind him.
He crouched down and picked the wounded human up, looking almost like a child in his arms, was he a child? And started walking back to their den with the rest of the pack following him, some shifting as well like Nikki and Tubbo, holding branches and twigs away from the two others so Phil had a clean path back to the den.
Back at their home, Phil went down the slope with the wounded in his arm, this entrance used primarily for when they were in their human form, which led directly to the main room of the whole den, big enough so they could all comfortably walk around it as humans.
The boy was set down in a prepared cot made of moss and leaves as Nikki turned up next to Phil, already touching the wounds on his body as his skin emitted a green light, the wounds fading into white lines. Phil sighed in relief and helped Nikki sit down, giving her some food and telling her to rest up for the rest of the night.
Tubbo had sat in the background, having shifted back into his raccoon form, and looked at what had happened up until Nikki sat down and rested, slowly shifting back as well.
Phil was the only one who stayed in his human form, still worried over his own pack. He could never be too careful, even if this human wasn't like the rest.
As he finally saw the opportunity, the small horned raccoon ran over to Phil and lied down next to Tommy, cuddling up to his side while his head was on on of the humans arms.
The others did the same and soon they were one big cuddle pile, being watched over by Phil as he slowly drifted as well, a small smile on his face.
And if Tommy woke up only to be surrounded by this ragtag group of trash pandas while being watched by an overgrown raccoon bird, he told himself that he wouldn't ever go out in the forest at night again.
Or maybe he would.