So before I start this off I want you all to know that DiaH20, has suffered through a lot, editing this story for me. Fixing the abundance of mistakes I made. So feel free to leave thanks to him for making this story more bearable to read. As of now though, he hasn't had enough time to fix the next couple chapters but those will be updated soon enough. With that said, enjoy the story.

Called Upon

Chapter 1

The shadows of the nearby buildings stretched across the frozen landscape of a Tundratown market. A red fox whose russet fur resembled a ruddy brown stood at the side of the Munchy Mart, waiting for it to open. Rocking side to side, shifting his weight from one paw to another, he would scratch at the surface of ice below him. Etching claw marks into it out of pure boredom.

The sun was coming up and he wanted to replace his lenses with ones more suited for direct sunlight. He dug into the pockets of his jacket, the leather creaking in protest as it was forced to move after staying stagnant in the freezing temperatures for so long. Pulling his sunglasses off his muzzle, exposing his hazel eyes, he started the process of switching his lenses, when an awaited voice called to him:

"Hey Stavanger!"

The fox looked up to see Samuel Manchas, a slender jaguar in a white and blue uniform to match the market he was currently opening. "Why don't you come inside before you become a foxicle." He gave the jaguar an unsure smile to play along with his sarcastic response: "You sure that's okay? You don't officially open for another three minutes, you could get in trouble."

The big cat finished unlocking the doors and looked back to the fox: "I think it would be worse if I had frozen fox statue scaring everyone away."

With the new lenses in, Stavanger placed his sunglasses on his forehead and began to walk to the shop entrance. "Oh come on Sam, I'm gorgeous."

Sam chuckled. "Please, you have no sense of fashion." The panthera continued as he offered entry through the door he was holding open. "You always wear that same jacket every time I see you. Makes me wonder if you own anything else." The vulpine walked into the warmer climate of the grocery store, a crooked smirk splayed across his muzzle. "I only ever see you in that awful outfit."

The cat was quick to shoot back: "Because you only ever see me when I'm here at work." Stavanger just as quickly retaliated: "Well, you only ever see me in the cold of Tundratown, hence the jacket, but we should really change that."

Samuel gestured towards his uniform and the inside of the store, which was similarly colored and decorated as the uniform of its employee. "I can't just up change everything about this place on a whim. Plus, what's so bad about it anyways?" Stavanger's face straightened, then released a bit of a chuckle himself. "No, not that: We should really hang out sometime."

The jaguar slowed his walk to stop near a cash register, his smile faded. "Not sure when I will have the time, I still have to devote all my time to work." Stavanger knew the reason behind it. Taking a more sincere approach, he asked: "Yeah, how is Renato anyways?" As he asked, Stavanger thought back to when he heard about Samuel's brother having a rough week. From being attacked by a savage mammal to being infected with the night howler toxin later that week as well.

A sigh started the jaguars next sentence: "Well, the hospital won't let him go before they know for sure that this experimental treatment is foolproof. With his medical bills and the fact that he has been out of work, I have been doing what I can to keep both our finances afloat."

The fox just stood in awe of what it must be like to be in a situation like that."At least he is getting better right?"
A remnant of a smile came back to the felines face. "Yeah, he is. Getting a little stir crazy in the hospital though. Anyway, enough about that, I am sure you have things to do and I still have to get this place ready for when an actual customer comes in."

Stavanger scoffed in a playful act of being appalled. "And here I thought I was a regular here, but no, I am not even a customer."

The jaguar rolled his eyes and watched as the smaller predator walked deeper into the store. Sam shouted after the still complaining fox: "You're so melodramatic!"

Browsing at the selection presented in the store, he passed by a display with plastic sunglasses for youngsters that reminded him of the ones that were perched on his head. His thoughts drifted to the mischief he got into to get his.

-

It was a sunny day at the beach of Sahara square, a light breeze to remind everyone how hot the sun would feel without its cool touch. Looking up at the buildings on the boardwalk, he could see his squirrel counterpart getting into position, wearing something that resembled a wrestlers outfit with the sides cut out. Stavanger could never hold back his smile when he would see the rodent in his ridiculous outfit, but he still knew of its importance, so he respected it. As this wasn't just a squirrel, the patagium going from his wrists to his ankles made him a 'flying' squirrel. The outfit made sure that no clothes would disrupt his flight.

Once Stavanger contained himself, he moved under where Nathan had set up and waited for the tap of a hook device that Nathan would lower to him. He flinched when the wind slapped it against his muzzle unexpectedly. Grabbing the hook, he scratched at the itch caused by the hook, making it look like a natural movement. This also gave Nathan enough time to keep feeding more of the near invisible line down, so Stavanger could let his paw fall to his side again. Stavanger collected more and more of the strand, while he eyed his target.

A portable stand promoting a well-known brand of sunglasses ran by a lone javelina. The slack needed to walk that distance was in paw, so he started walking to the stand mumbling "Too easy" to himself. The boardwalk was relatively empty as it was too early on a weekday for mammals to be showing up in masses. The pig, having very little to keep himself occupied, noticed the fox walking to the desk and immediately began to greet the would-be customer.
"Hello, it's a beautiful day out." Stavanger approached the kiosk and simply replied with: "That, it is."

Clasping his hooves, the employee was quick to start his sales pitch: "Maybe I can hook you up with something to shade your vulpine eyes from this sun?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. Could I see a couple of these?" He pointed to a display case on the counter, full of a variety of the brands' new releases.

The suina pulled out a few pairs of sunglasses that would be the closest fit to a fox, splaying them out on the table. Stavanger tried a couple pairs on, looking at himself in the nearby mirror for dramatic effect. He then asked: "Do you have any others that might fit?"

Taking a moment to ponder over his inventory, the salesmammal shuffled through boxes that were under the counter. Coming back up empty-handed, he moved over to one of the larger sized stands. "So far, I don't see any, but if I don't have any in here, you can check our store at..." Stavanger wasn't really paying the pigs words any attention, rather focusing on affixing the hook to the bridge of the sunglasses he was wearing, placing them back on the table behind a cup to keep it from sliding off the table due to the low breeze pulling on the line.

"Well, that's fine, these are a bit out of my price range anyway," Stavanger said to get the javelina's attention and to put an end to the conversation. Or so he thought, as the peppy pig wasn't finished trying what he could to get his stock sold.

"Oh, we are out here to promote our special offer..." And again his words fell on deaf ears as Stavanger placed a paw against his back and leaned on the counter to convince the joyous javelina that he was still listening with interest. Holding this pose, waiting for what's to come next, he plotted his course of action for what was soon to happen.

Nathan saw Stavanger placing his paws behind his back and sprang into action. Getting a running start, the rodent leapt from the building, switching the line to his hind paws as he fell. Expanding his body to catch the wind, he began to glide away with the sunglasses in tow. Stavanger reacted naturally, when the cup was sent flying as the sunglasses took off. The kiosk owner stood dumbfounded at seeing his glasses skip across the boardwalk before finally giving chase. Once he felt sure of himself, Stavanger reacted with what speed he had, moving to the other side of the table. Snatching what he could, he swiftly moved to the still unlocked counters, grabbing box after box and stuffing them in any pocket he could. Feeling confident, his greed overwhelmed him, now holding what he could in his arms once his pockets wouldn't accept any more and he took off. Before he rounded a corner to disappear from sight, he looked to see how his partner had fared.

-

Stavanger's memory came to a crashing halt when a massive surge of pain shot through his tail. In a wild frenzy, he scrambled, knocking over items on the shelves with a yelp of pain. Resting his weight on a shelf, he hunched over and grabbed his tail, seething in pain. He hissed on the inhales and growled on his exhales.

He examined his tail, but the shouts and pleads of a caribou brought his attention to her. He figured out that it was her shopping cart that had caused the pain. Focusing on her, he just started to make out what she was saying. "It's a savage!"

There he was, hunched over, baring his teeth while the rangifer panicked about a savage animal. Switching to a more defensive, posture Stavanger was worried about being trampled by the long-legged mammal, putting his paws out in front of himself in an attempt to defuse the situation.

A jaguar came barreling around the corner into the aisle, where all the commotion about a savage animal in his store was coming from. This didn't help at all, because in her fit, the doe now saw a second predator bounding her way. Doing the only thing that she could think of, she pushed off her cart and bolted.

"What's going on here!?" Sam half yelled when he slowed to not overshoot his friend, whilst keeping forward momentum to be able to continue after the caribou. Stavanger spat back: "She thinks I'm savage, because I yelped when she ran over my tail." The panthera shook his head as he could see this was going to be one of those kind of days. "Okay, could you just go check out and let me deal with this?" Feeling guilty for the trouble he caused his friend, he did as instructed. "Sorry about that. Let me know when you get some free time and I'll make it up to you." "Sure thing," Sam replied while backpedaling, smiling at the fox to reassure him that there were no hard feelings.

After paying at one of the registers that had a clerk ready, he stepped back out into the world. Examining Munchy Mart's new design on the plastic bag, he caught a glimpse of something under the snowdrift of a pillar. It was a poster that drifted in the wind, only to be encased in its now icy tomb.

A simple swipe of the paw revealed its image. Judy Hopps, proud as ever in a blue uniform, was all he needed to see on it before he lost interest. It was the bunny's fault as to why mammals are in a state of mass hysteria and would jump to conclusions like the caribou did inside. Even after the famed 'Nighthowler' case was closed and the truth came out, mammals still held on to the fear, as well as the anger. Using it all as a catalyst to feed the rage, blaming predators with whatever they could, claiming savagery or something else that would victimize themselves to earn an advantage.

Continuing from that disappointing find, he found something else that sullied his mood in the parking lot. A formidable limousine with an all too familiar polar bear standing in wait next to it. Knowing what that combination normally entailed, Stavanger made a beeline to the left, avoiding any confrontation.

That hadn't gone as smooth as he thought it would, when another bear stood in his way, gesturing to the car. Slumping in defeat, Stavanger sighed while trudging in the direction of the vehicle. It was a rare thing to see this particular vehicle on the road and it was never particularly good for the mammal it would be on the prowl for.

The rear door was opened by the solemn looking polar bear, allowing Stavanger to hesitantly clamber in. He was followed by the overwhelming mass of the ursus known as Kevin. The door on the side opened and the car shook once again as the second polar bear known by the name of Raymond slid into the seat, pushing the much smaller predator back to the middle of the bench seat.

With precision timing, the car drove off as the last door was shut. An uncomfortable silence fell in the limo that put Stavanger on edge. Looking across him made him feel more troubled. A massive grizzled Koslov with none other than Mr. Big in his chair atop his bodyguards extensive paws. Unable to cope with the anxiety anymore, Stavanger finally spoke up.

"Well, it looks like everything's going smoothly still, right?" Adding the hint of a question to probe at the reason for this very unexpected visit from the top mammal. A crack developed in the stone face of the arctic shrew, when just an eyebrow was raised. Nothing followed and again the stagnant sound of nothing was in the air.

Clearing his throat, he attempted to clear the eerie silence again. "So, to what do I owe this luxurious ride in your presence?" Bumps and creaks of the limo were the only responses.

Until finally, something was said: "Why haven't you been returning my calls?" The shrews words were cold and to the point. Stavanger replied with a half-truth to stretch out what sympathy he could possibly get. "Sorry if I inconvenienced you in any way. My phone's been having issues and because the money for it..." He was cut off with a sigh, accompanied by a simple wave of a paw. "I don't care about your excuses. What I care about, is your purpose to me." Unbeknownst to where this broad subject would lead, Stavanger had to ask: "So what is it you want me to do now?"

Mr. Big's steely eyed glance showed he had struck a nerve. "First of all, this is about your failure of the last task I gave you."

Stavanger's stomach churned, his mind raced with anything he could have done wrong. This deep fearful thinking reflected itself on his facial features. The rodent filled in the blanks for him. "I told Nick to never come around here again and I told you to ensure this happened. It was a simple task."

Anxiety spiked, when he heard the mention of his failure from the mob boss that sought him out personally. Adding that he had his go-to bears accompanying him made it clear that nothing good was going to come out of this situation. Stavanger only hoped he would get out of the car unscathed.

"It doesn't matter," Mr. Big continued. "That is not the issue that I am here for."

That sent chills down his spine. What could be bad enough that Mr. Big would brush off failure like it's nothing? His heart rate sped up, thinking of scenarios of what his demise would be. Searching for any possible way to escape, but each direction he would go, would be right to one of Mr. Big's formidable escorts.

He was brought back into the conversation, when the small predator explained the situation. "What I am here for is, because I have gotten word that a group of mammals have targeted the godmother of my granddaughter. You may know her as 'Officer Judy Hopps'." Mentioning the name gave Stavanger emotions of annoyance and dread of what may follow the shrew's next words. "The reason she is in danger is due to her relation to my family, but also because of your old pal Wilde. Knowledge of Wilde becoming her partner in the ZPD is spreading. Unfortunately, it is believed that Nick is still an associate of mine. It's believed that they are both inside mammals for me, which is why they are being targeted. Nick knows too much about everyone and Judy is family, making the hit a bonus if they get her as well."

Hearing the mention of Nick overwhelmed his anger for the bunny officer. Excited and hopeful of seeing Nick again, he pushed the conversation to the point. "So what do I have to do?" Mr. Big rested his head on a clenched paw. "Because everyone thinks Nick is still with us, let's make these accusations true. Convince him to once again work for us, tell him I will forgive his past transgression. All the while you will be serving as their personal bodyguard to ensure no one makes a move on them."

This was the first time Stavanger was given a task like this, so he wanted to clarify what was said. "So you want me to guard them? I don't really have experience with this. Sure, I was an enforcer for the small buildings that these guys couldn't get into," he said while gesturing to the polar bears, "but I am a mammal who acquires things for you."

The boss nodded his head, agreeing with what was said, but explained to the fox why this had to happen. "Because of these Luminous Crown guys taking our docks, we have our paws full. That's why you will go. You really just need to make your presence known, so they know not to mess with Nick or Judy. However, since you've brought up your true purpose to me, then I have something else for you. When this misguided group of mammals decided to take control of my docks, they interrupted one of my shipments of lethal weapons. I need you to get replacements as soon as you can. We need to have a more aggressive presence, now that we have competition."

Stavanger quickly replied with "On it", then leaned forward to ask more about his first task. "So who am I guarding them from?"

Mr. Big's scowl grew deeper when he said: "Those Luminous Crown fucks! The only mammals stupid enough to cross me."

Sinking in his seat, Stavanger didn't want to hear that. He hasn't directly faced anyone from L.C., but he heard rumors of how they were a very vengeful group of mammals, who enjoyed collateral damage. That must be the reason why both Nick and Judy were targeted. Knowing he wouldn't last long against them, he pressed his luck to ask: "Okay, so, because you gave me two jobs could I get..."

Stavanger was cut off: "Before you ask, I can't give you any backing for this. I told you that we are stretched thin." He looked between the bears in the vehicle, asking them: "I said that right? I told him?" The tension in the limo increased, baring down on the fox. "I said we have our paws full on our end. You are resourceful: figure it out!"

Reaching for anything, Stavanger asked one last question. "Well, could you at least drop me off at the Crevasse Street Station?"

Mr. Big released a raspy hum, followed by: "No, here will do fine."

Koslov raised a paw and pressed a button on a console next to him, telling the driver to stop. Sliding to a stop on the icy road, the rear door opened and a fox was pulled out by his scruff. Plopping down on the ground, some of the contents of his shopping bag fell in the slush along the side of the road. Again, once the door was shut, the limo would take off, leaving a fox to retrieve his belongings from the muck behind. All eyes watched him when he started off, all making opinions of his situation to one another.

He was pissed, but Mr. Big needed to be firm to maintain his control and Stavanger understood that. He just wished it wouldn't end with him being embarrassed like this. Or with such a long walk ahead of him. At least the walk would give him time to think about his future endeavours.

Getting in touch with Nick again was an exciting concept for him. Memories of the elder fox flashed through his mind. All the things he wanted to tell Nick about gave him an actual feeling of excitement.

Stavanger rounded a corner and walked in the direction of the city center. He liked this area, because it was an older part of town, which was maintained in a way to keep that appearance. Thoughts of Nick were replaced with how he was going to deal with the bunny and quickly got worse, when his thoughts grew to the more troubling issue. How was he going to get actual guns? Plus, what is it that Mr. Big wanted specifically? The crime lord was not one to leave such decisions to mammals like Stavanger.

Did he want such tools that were discrete or intimidating? Did he want point or area effects, what about sizes? Surely, the shrew knew Stavanger couldn't carry weapons sized for the bears he likes to surround himself with.

Walking into the open area exposed him to the warmth of the sun. Feeling its relief, Stavanger decided to soak up its rays on a bench in the city center of Tundratown. He picked a bench that was cleared of snow near a stand, where he could stay and ponder over his new troubles.

Taking a seat on the large bench, he rummaged through his grocery bag for something to quell his peckish feeling. Although, there was something in the bag that he hadn't placed in there. Pulling out the envelope, he flipped it over to see Mr. Big's signature 'B' stamped on the center.

Puzzled how that could have made it in his bag, he opened the envelope. Peeking inside, all that could be seen was cash and a folded paper. In a rush to get somewhere secluded to further inspect this, he bounded off the bench. Placing the mysterious letter back in his bag as he trotted past the small tourist stand, he was halted by a shout. "Hey! You going to pay for that!?"

Curious as to who was involved with this, he looked back at the shop to a Dall sheep looking right back at him. Stavanger inquisitively turned and pointed at his own chest. Glancing over the stand, he saw that at the end, near where he was sitting, was a postcard carousel. Instantly, he knew that the sheep was confusing Stavanger's mysterious letter for one of the postcards. "Yes, you! You think I am blind!?" The ram then stood up. "You better give that back if you know what's good for you."

Stavanger tried to think of a way to explain the situation, but couldn't, without exposing it being full of money from a well-known crime boss. Not taking any risks of that getting out, he gripped his bag a little tighter and shifted it somewhat behind himself. "I can assure you that you don't sell any cards like this one."

Anger welled up inside the shopkeep when the fox refused to comply. "So you think you predators can just bully us in the open now, huh?! You think I won't stand up for what's mine?!"

Stavanger began to take a defensive posture, when his accuser started to show aggression. "Okay for one, you're already standing up and two, you really think that, of all things, I would want to take a postcard? Your shitty cards are not that special."

The sheep's breaths got deeper and faster, matching Stavanger's pose with one of his own. "Oh ha ha, you're real clever. Only proving the fact that you preds think you can be reckless and wild! Running around, doing whatever you want, unchecked and unchallenged. That's okay though, I will teach you that the rest of us are not going to take your shit anymore!"

Holding his ground and watching the ram approach, Stavanger widened his stance and lowered his center of gravity, ready to react. Stavanger spoke softly to himself: "Here we go again." His opponent widened his stride, increasing his pace towards the fox. Stavanger thought of a way to escape, by causing the ram to lose its balance on the ice and fall. The delay allowed one of his ears to catch the sound of shouts behind him.

Flicking his ear back, he heard the pitter patter of paws rushing up. Sensing an ambush, Stavanger crouched down lower and tucked the shopping bag into his side. A fight couldn't be avoided, but maybe he could get a couple hits in to ensure an escape. All he knew was that he didn't want to risk losing his bag. Taking the opportunity to pounce, Stavanger lunged forward on the attack, but it was too late.

What little momentum he had was halted by a firm grip on his arm and the opposing shoulder. He took a quick glance at what gripped his arm, but not fast enough to miss the blur of blue and grey zipping past him.

The paw on his arm belonged to a fellow canid, he knew that. Spinning around quickly, to engage the ambusher before the ram's impact, he could make out that a red fox was holding him. In awe of an almost betrayal like feeling, he paused, paw balled up ready to strike. The clothing resembled a uniform, in fact the uniform represented the ZPD. Scanning the features of this familiar figure, he didn't have to read the nameplate to know who it was, but the odds of this actually happening with this perfect timing were so slim, he still had to ask. "Nick?"