While the first chapter is only a prologue and I don't expect to get many followers from it, I will have the second chapter out soon. I know that there are many people who tend to to avoid reading stories that focus on original characters, heck, even I am guilty of that. I just want it to be known that there will be plenty of instances where familiar characters are woven into the story, I just felt that the world of Zootopia was too great to only focus on a few of the main characters. I would love any and all reviews, everything from grammar corrections and typos to comments and questions to suggestions, it all will be appreciated, even if the review only reads "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?"

Lost in the Cold

The small plane rocked awkwardly in the turbulent winds, making him nauseous, but before he could get up and make his way towards the bathroom, a hyena brushed past him holding his mouth. "Dammit," Peter mumbled under his breath, "there is always someone in front of me." The ram grumbled as he started digging around in the pocket of the seat in front of him, looking for the vomit bag. Not finding one, he reached over his drowsy wife's lap and started digging around in her pouch, rousing her from her half-asleep state. She looked at him and sighed when she saw his jaw clenched, "are you okay?"

"No, some damn bone eater got the bathroom and, AH, there we go!" Peter said, breaking the polite silence of the late-night flight. He pulled out the vomit bag he had been looking for and whipped it open with one hand and brought it to his mouth. He started puffing in and out, the crinkling of the waxed bag earned some irritated glances from nearby passengers, but he paid them no mind. Peter glanced at his wife and in between his deep breathes asked, "what? You know I can't stand these tiny planes and how shaky they are."

Hilde tittered softly and rubbed his back as soothingly as she could manage, "I know flying makes you stressed, but you don't need to rude." Peter looked at his wife's soft brown eyes and started to relax. He soon felt the nausea pass and he stuffed the bag into the pouch in front of him. "You know it's not just the plane. We had to end our trip early because the office needed you for some big merger, it's not even your job. I hate how you have to take your work home, and I really hate how you had to take it with you on vacation!" Peter puffed up in annoyance. They had planned this trip for six months. "Nari Co knew you were going to be gone, but NO… they couldn't plan for this two weeks ago…" he trailed off as Hilde started to scratch at the base of his horns just the way he liked.

"You know that isn't how things work. We only lost a few days off our trip. Plus, it's not like we didn't have fun," Hilde lowed her head to his shoulder and whispered the last part into his ear, "and we can always find a hotel away from the kids and spend a few days picking up where we left off." Peter glanced around the cabin with a nervous smile. Hilde knew he was starting to blush beneath his grey fleece, so she lifted her head and gently nibbled on his ear. He stiffened for a second and she smiled as she could barely make out the furious blush that covered his face. She nestled her head back down onto his shoulder and he jokingly grumbled, "Now I can't wait to get back."

Hilde started to say something but stopped when the speakers crackled to life, "This is Captain Leffus, we're are going to be passing over the Ridgeback Mountain range before we start our decent to Zootopia and with the currently weather conditions we expect a little turbulence, so please return turn your seats and keep your seatbelts fastened until the seatbelt light is out."

Peter groaned as he grabbed the vomit bag and clenched it in his hoof, waiting for a new wave of nausea to hit him. His wife giggled and blew on his neck, "Maybe it will help to think about something else." His blush deepened as she pulled his free hand into her lap and held it between her legs.

It had taken them forever to set up their tent with the wind picking up, constantly blasting them with frigid air and snow. Elisabeth let out a happy sigh now that she was snuggled up in the tent with her boyfriend. The alpaca had complained about going mountain climbing with her ever since they started making their way up Teiger, one of the tall but easier mountains to climb near Zootopia. After their first day, Lloyd had stopped complaining, Elisabeth thought it was cute how he started to get serious. After their second day, he happily stated he knew he could keep up with her the whole time, but she didn't have the heart to pop his adorable ego and tell him that she had slowed down quite a bit. She knew climbing the mountain with him was going to be slower than what she was used to but she just wanted to be with her boyfriend out in this icy world where it was just them.

Lloyd was grinning in his sleep, he had passed out the moment he pulled himself into the sleeping bag. Elisabeth scooted closer to him and cuddled up against him. It wasn't the same as lying in bed cuddling but having only the mountain storm around them and no other noise gave her a little thrill, like they were the last animals on the planet and they had everything to themselves. She blushed to herself about where that little fantasy of hers usually led. "Maybe if he doesn't pass out tomorrow," she whispered and then froze, realizing she said that out loud. Lloyd hadn't stirred at all.

Lloyd had been a little skittish about their intimacy with her being a pronghorn and him, an alpaca. Maybe she was a little overeager, they had only been dating for a few weeks despite knowing each other for almost a year, but he was so damn cute all the time. She loved it when he was focused on work, something about graphic design. His tongue would sometimes peak out of the corner of his mouth as he would sketch and redraw a logo, so focused that she could run her hooves through his wool coat without him noticing. It was so soft that she wanted to just bury her hooves in his chest fur and squeeze. The first time she saw him without a shirt on she nearly squealed, his chest had thickest fur she had ever seen, excluding the internet, but she didn't want to scare him off, after all, it took long enough for him to realize that she was interested in him.

Elisabeth tussled a little bit of the wool sticking out of the hood of his coat and sighed again. She knew she had to go to sleep soon if she wanted to have any kind of a decent day tomorrow. The wind picked up and shook the tent a little, causing Lloyd to stir. She quickly pulled her hoof back inside her sleeping bag and felt her face warm with blush. Maybe if the storm held up, they would have to delay their climb, she smiled and leaned into him. She certainly hoped so.

Morning came around and Lloyd was the first to wake up. Before he opened his eyes, there was a moment of panic as couldn't stretch himself out to yawn. His eyes snapped open and he glanced around quickly before he remembered that he was in a sleeping bag on the side of a mountain. He started to grumble to himself about how cold he was going to be when he noticed Elisabeth nestled up against him. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her sleeping, her brow was furrowed cutely. That was exactly how she managed to convince him to go climbing with her, that cute little furrowing brow. It had been all drawn together as she huffed about him not wanting to anything exciting together. He still didn't know how climbing a mountain was exciting but Elisabeth had managed to get him to start jogging with her in the morning because it was "great" and even got him to start bouldering at the gym because of how much "fun" it was going to be and both turned out to be true after a few weeks of him wheezing after her.

How in the world he, a graphic designer who worked part time for a small-time advertisement agency and freelance for some of the local small businesses managed to get such an outgoing girlfriend? His first encounter with her involved him almost dumping his coffee into her lap. His wool had puffed up in embarrassment and she just giggled at the sight. It wasn't until his first time jogging with Elisabeth that he realized that he liked her, he had tripped and ended up staring straight at her rump as he stumbled to keep his balance. Her well-toned rump with a little bit of white peaking out above her running shorts.

Lloyd's straying thoughts were interrupted when Elisabeth began to wake up. "Good morning," she mumbled as she nestled her head under his chin, burrowing her nose into the thick wool on his neck. He smiled and started to talk but was cut off as she suddenly jerked away. "Ah… no, sorry. I know you're not exactly comfortable…" she stammered, face starting to fill with blush.

"You know, it was kind of nice," he said, blushing at his honesty.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, as he unzipped his sleeping bag so he could move his arms a little more freely. Lloyd reached out and pulled her in closer. She wasn't able to do anything because she was completely wrapped up in her sleeping bag. "Especially, in this cold weather that someone dragged us out into," he continued, wrapping his arms around her.

"Do you really not like it?"

"No, it's fine, but I think I would rather on a couch snuggled up together instead of wrapped up in so much down that all I can feel is pressure on my coat," Lloyd spoke with a chiding tone, "maybe we can head back down now and be able to do that by the end of the day tomorrow."

"As much as I would like that, I want you stand on the peak with me and see that world spread out below us. It will take your breath away."

"Maybe I don't need a mountain view to take my breath away," Lloyd whispered as he looked into her black eyes, seeing the blush creep back into her face. He took a small breath, leaned in, and gently kissed her. The smallest bleat of surprise escaped her mouth before she kissed him back. They sunk into the kiss, tongues started to explore each other's mouths. Elisabeth had managed to wriggle her arms out of the sleeping bag and had pulled off a glove, slipping her hoof into his hood. She tussled his wool and pulled gently on his head, not letting him go. They inhaled each other's breath, their closeness not letting the mountain turn it cold yet. Half-lidded eyes gazed intently into his own, telling him that she had been craving this for a while.

When the two finally pulled part, their faces were flush and their ears were buzzing with the sound of their partners' heartbeat. "As much as I would like to continue this, we should probably get moving if we want to be on our way back down the mountain before nightfall," Elisabeth said as she cleared her throat in an attempt to regain control of herself. Lloyd knew she was right, but her hoof was still inside of his hood, playing with his wool. "If you insist, Elisabeth," he complained while he nuzzled against her arm. Her face bloomed red as she realized that she hadn't let go of him.

She quickly withdrew her arm and sputtered a bit before collecting herself enough to say, "If we hurry, we can get off the mountain before the end of tomorrow. Do you think you're up for that?"

"If you lead, I will do everything I can to keep up with that cute rear of yours," Lloyd stated nonchalantly before realizing what he said and stiffening in embarrassment. She could feel his wool puff up and it drove a tingle down her arm and deep into her body. "You better keep your word," she said with a giggle as she pulled her hoof from his hood and started to gather up their gear for the day. They ate quietly, leaning against each other. Before everything was packed up, Elisabeth turned to Lloyd and asked, "how long did it take you to think of that line?"

"What line? The one about you taking my breath away?"

"Yes, it was so romantic it was almost cheesy."

"Honestly? All day yesterday."

Elisabeth stared at him and then started to laugh, "is that why you were quiet? I thought you had gotten too tired to complain anymore!"

Lloyd grinned sheepishly and kissed her lightly on the side of her snout, "I was planning on saving that for when we were at the peak, but it worked out."

"Yeah it did."

They packed up the rest of their gear and head for the peak with a renewed vigor. The storm had died down and there were no clouds in the sky; it was almost warm for a snow-covered mountain. The two had almost doubled their pace from the previous days, both driven by the thought of curling up together without the cold weather gear. Every once and a while, Elisabeth would glance back over her shoulder to see Lloyd sticking close behind, huffing in concentration. She heard him stumble once and called back to him, "are you alright?" without turning around.

"With a view like this, I could keep going for a while."

"Yeah it is beautiful up here," she responded looking back off the mountain and out into the distance before seeing that Lloyd had been staring at her the entire time. She blushed and started climbing again, mumbling, "damn fuzzy flirt, when we got off this mountain…"

It was a little into the afternoon when the couple reached the peak. They both sat for a moment to the enjoy the view, but only after a few seconds Lloyd stood back up and said, "well, I'm done. Better things to do, need to get off this mountain." He jokingly started to leave, grabbing her hoof. She chuckled and pulled him back. "You are not going to walk away from this view without enjoying it," Elisabeth tried to say sternly, but her laugh betrayed her. Lloyd immediately turned around and kissed her. She gently pushed him away, "We don't want to get frozen together."

"I can think of worse ways to be stuck together," he quipped back, leaning in for another kiss.

"Quit it! I'm serious," she chirped back, pushing him away harder. He started to laugh and tug at her again, but this time Elisabeth wore a serious expression. Surprised, his laughter died quickly and Lloyd pointed his hands up in submission. Starting to back away a little, he said, "alright, you win, no making out until we are in temperatures above freezing." She laughed a bit as he took another step.

"You are such a goof…" she stopped short as her sentence was cut off by a quick yelp from Lloyd as he slipped.

"Lloyd!" She yelled as she started running after her boyfriend. He was yelling as he slid and tumbled through the snow. Elisabeth couldn't keep up with him. He came to a stop hundreds of feet below her, off the path they had taken up the mountain. She wanted to shout out to him, but knew better, so she carefully and quickly made her way down the to where he was. When she got close, she could hear him groaning in pain. His arm was tucked awkwardly underneath him with his feet pointing towards the peak, his head was resting on stone. Elisabeth moved quickly to his side, nervous but in control, her training as a paramedic took over. First checking his head, she discovered that the snow had cushioned the blow to the stone into nothing more than a bump but his arm was broken. It wasn't horrible, as best as she could tell through the jacket, the most she could do is brace it and hurry off the mountain. It was going to be painful for Lloyd, but he shouldn't be in any real danger.

Elisabeth gently maneuvered him into a more comfortable position and began finding a place to set up the tent. "Hang on, Lloyd, you're going to be fine," she assured him.

"This is your fault," he groaned. She flinched when he said that. Now getting scared that he might start to hate her for dragging him up this mountain. He continued, "You and those lips of yours." He chuckled and winced has his laughter shook his arm. A worried smile spread across Elizabeth's face and she chided him, "you really are an idiot."

"A cold idiot," he responded, "I think I have some snow down my jacket."

"I'll have the tent ready in a bit, then I will be able to take look at your arm."

"You just want to take my shirt off."

"Don't you know it," she said as she finished setting up the tent, "now be good and keep quiet" Lloyd smiled as she lead him into the tent and began to carefully take off his jacket to get a better look at the arm. "It looks like stable fracture, I am going to have to brace it the best I can. After that, we are going to take a rest and try to get off the mountain as quickly as possible," she told him. After a little under an hour, Lloyd felt like he would be up for continuing down the mountain, so they packed up. His arm was slung up and tucked inside of his jacket, with the sleeve tied into a knot. While she packed up the tent, Lloyd was looking at the rock he landed on.

"I know I might be a little out of it, but I swear this looks like some sort of control panel," he called over to Elisabeth before she could finish up with the tent. She walked over and saw him brushing snow off a rock. She looked at it for a moment before realizing it was part of a cockpit's control panel. They both looked at each other in confusion before looking down the mountain, seeing various mounds of snow with a sheen of white metal sticking up out of them. They gasped at each other and started towards the largest fragments of the plane.

As they got close to the mound, Elisabeth tripped over something buried in the snow. It was a pile of stones stacked into what the two could only guess was a grave. They continued towards what they thought was part of a plane's cabin. They dug a bit through the snow and found a grey curtain holding back the snow. They pulled at the frozen fabric and realized that something had been sewn onto the inside of it. The inside of the curtain was tan and brown, almost patterned like fur. Lloyd puzzled at it for a moment and looked inside the broken cabin, not noticing that Elisabeth had frozen where she stood with a shocked look on her face.

"It's someone's hide…" she whispered, eyes not budging from the curtain. Lloyd turned around looked at his girlfriend's shocked expression. He moved next to her and asked, "what did you say, I didn't catch that. You look like you have seen a… wait, what?"

"That is someone's hide," she repeated with a quiver. Lloyd stared at the curtain and his eyes bugged out. He spun around and looked back into the cabin. Now that his vision had adjusted to the darkness of the cabin, he saw that there was hide everywhere. He tried to hold his hoof to his mouth, forgetting about his broken arm. He winced in pain as he staggered from the cabin and started retching into the snow. "Ugh, wha… What the hell is this?" he yelled between coughs, spitting out the taste of bile. He couldn't turn around and look back at the cabin, he couldn't muster the courage.

He heard a shift of snow and a creak of the icy curtains, forcing himself to glance back at what he could only think of as a new layer of hell. Elisabeth was gone. He started to panic, had something taken her? Was it what did that to whoever they used to be? "Elisabeth?" he called out, but he didn't hear a response. His mind was in a panic. He staggered back towards the cabin, flinching as he reached to push the curtains aside. Inside, he saw her standing over a shadowy mound, still with shock.

She slowly turned towards him, eyes still wide with something other than shock, "it's alive, I don't know how, but it's alive."

"What is?" he asked as he moved towards her, hesitating as he felt something soft underneath his boot. Fleece. He was standing on someone. He shuddered and pushed himself to continue. Elisabeth had bent over the mound and was reaching towards it. "Elisabeth, don't…" Lloyd started, but stopped as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw what the mound was. It was a corpse. It was the corpse of lioness wrapped in makeshift clothing fashioned from fleece and hide curled up into the tightest ball her large size could manage. Elisabeth reached into the arms of the lioness and pulled out a bundle. She started to panic and move towards the curtains of the cabin. He heard her say something about freezing as she went past him.

Lloyd staggered for a moment and followed after her. As he exited the cabin, the world seemed to spin with nausea. He managed to gather enough bearings just in time to see Elisabeth duck into the tent. When he got to the tent he heard her murmuring, "shush, shush, it'll be alright, everything is alright." Inside, Elisabeth had unzipped her jacket and held the nearly frozen cub to her body to warm it. Despite the innocent scene before him, Lloyd couldn't shake a sense of disgust and horror for the infant. It had survived because of other's fur and flesh and that made it a twisted creature, no matter how pure its nearly white fur made it seem. He sealed the tent behind him but kept as far away from the creature as he could. It disturbed him that he couldn't think of it as mammal, even in the Elisabeth's caring arms.

The entire time Elisabeth warmed up the child, Lloyd sat at a distance with his expression set hard into a stern look. She never looked up, the only time she spoke was encouraging words for the cub to feel better. Lloyd looked at her expression, a loving one, and couldn't help but feel betrayed. How could someone care so much for something that lived because of so much death? How was she not repulsed by its survival? What in the world allowed for it to… Lloyd's spiralling thoughts were cut off by a soft squeal of glee from Elisabeth. The cub had started to grunt and stir from the cold induced stupor and she rushed to Lloyd to show him, almost thrusting the cub into his face. Her energy started to sweep him along with her, Lloyd reached out a finger to touch the cub and it turned its head at the contact. He started to smile, the thoughts of monsters drifted into the back of his mind.

He noticed a string around the cub's neck and started to pull it out of the infants swadling. "What is this?" Lloyd asked as the string snagged for a moment then slipped free of the blanket. He jumped back from the cub when the necklace was fully in view. "What's wrong?" Elisabeth gasped as Lloyd held his hoof clenched as far away from him as he could. His hoof was clenched into a fist, refusing to let go of the necklace no matter how much wished he could fling it away from him. "It-it's a bone," he said as he sucked in air, finally managing to breath. She cautiously pried the necklace from his hoof and looked at it, minding the cub as it started to settle down. It was a small bone, as best as she could tell it was the proximal or middle phalanx of a large mammal. A hole had been dug through the side of near the knuckle for the string and between the knuckles the words For Family were carved on one size and For Crocotta on the other.

"Is this your name?" Elisabeth asked as she placed the necklace around the cub's head and tucked the bone back into its swadling. "Well, Crocotta, let's get you off this mountain."