**UPDATED CHAPTER**
OPERATION: CADENCE
AUTHOR'S NOTE
So many of you encouraged me to continue writing, which I thank you all for the kind words. As for my one-shot Blueberry Soap, I was toying around with the ways of looking at and editing the story and (accidentally) deleted it. I apologize for the inconvenience and I have re-uploaded it, so please go check it out (again)!
And again, I do not own any of these characters. All rights reserved to Disney.
Anyways, here is my full story that you all nudged me to do. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it, and happy reading!
Deepest thanks in advance,
AleahLondon1987
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sunshine peeked its way through the small crevices in between the leaves, casting a spotted-like appearance upon the dirt path that wove its way through the forest. A small breeze was whistling through as well, coupled with the melodious sound of laughter.
Below the green canopy sat a young fox couple, dressed in neat, classy outfits. They were holding paws and watching as their young kits played on the small playground nearby.
It was very obviously a boy and girl, seeing as one adorned a nicely knit pale-green sweater vest and khaki shorts, whereas the other wore a pink short-sleeved sweater and a white pleated skirt. A sparkling pink bow was pinned to the little girl's enormous ears, which took up the majority of the top of her head, as they did on the boy as well. As the siblings started rough-housing, the boy took a step forward and shoved his sister to the ground, causing her to skid across the dirt a few inches.
"Not funny, Nicky!" whined the girl to her brother, who stood hunched over in exaggerated laughter. The male fox caught sight of this, and cocked a brow in agitation.
"Nicholas Preston Wilde! You apologize to your sister this moment!" The twenty five year old vulpes-vulpes snapped at his son. The young kit's ears dropped instantly, looking back at his parents in embarrassment.
"Oh come now, Fred, I'm sure Nick did not mean it!" argued the female fox, taking a hold of her husband's paw again. He jerked his paw away slightly.
"No, Jane. I will not have our children being rough with each other like this." Fred snapped, and Jane retracted her extended arm, neatly folding it back into her lap, her expression looking over with a furrowed brow. Looking back to his kin, Fred realized that his son had not moved an inch.
"NOW." He emphasized, and Nick yelped, running the short distance over to his sister and bashfully putting his hands behind his back. After an awkward pause, the young kit began to draw circles in the dirt with his foot, trying to keep his gaze away from the little sniffling kit.
"Sorry I pushed you, Lu….and made you fall….." Nick mumbled sarcastically through his teeth. Even as a kit, Nick had been a troublemaker. Though deep down he loved his sister, he always felt she was a pain. Those two minutes between their births had not been enough time for Nick to prepare for the bright, bubbly, and quite annoying kit that was Lucille Daphne Wilde. Meanwhile, Lucy had since gotten up and brushed herself off, huffed and crossed her short little arms.
"You should be!" She said matter-of-factly.
Nick took note of this and added on, "…..but that doesn't mean you're not a stinkbrain." He said, a mischievous glint to his eye.
"DA-" The little girl started to cry, but Nick quickly covered her muzzle.
"Okay fine! Tell you what. You don't yell for Dad, and I'll show you my secret spot." Nick said, hoping his sibling would take the bait. The little kit gasped, squealing. Nick again tried to calm her down as to not attract the attention of their parents.
"Shhhhh!" He took a hold of her paw, glancing over at his parents. Luckily for him, a passerby who recognized them was chatting away, causing both his mom and pop to have their backs turned to them. He looked back at his sister.
"Okay, let's go." He whispered, pulling her along as they slinked into the forest nearby, wanting to get there as fast as possible before their parents noticed they were away.
Nick wove through and under every branch that came across their path, all the while his identical twin behind him giggling and singing away, happy to finally be seeing her brother's forbidden "secret spot". She had begged and begged him since the moment they started going to the particular park to show her the spot he had found but he had refused, wanting to keep it a secret for himself. A few minutes later, they reached a clearing, and Nick stopped.
"Here we are." He said, and he heard Lucy gasp behind him. He felt her let go of his paw, and watched her step forward to admire the view a bit better.
The clearing ended abruptly at a small buff that cascaded down into a river about ten feet below, the bubbling clear waters rushing past at breakneck speed. The water was particularly high for that day, since it had been the first sunny day in a week of down-pouring rain. To celebrate the nice day, the Wilde parents had decided to take the kits outside, since they had been extremely bored being cooped up in the house all of the time.
"It's so pretty, Nicky!" Lucy exclaimed, skipping a few steps and throwing her arms out wide. Then, crouching over, she looked down below to the river, watching it bubble and swirl about as it ran past her.
Nick watched his sister intently, not wanting to say anything just yet about the fact that they were technically trespassing on private ground. Off in the woods, he heard a rustling. His ears perking up and tilting behind him, he swung about, scared that his parents had followed him. Or worse, the owner of the land had seen them gallivanting through the trees and was after them.
In her stupor at watching the river, the little girl saw a small flower growing on a ledge just a few feet below, its bright pink color catching her eye. She ogled, laying down on her stomach and starting to reach for the flower, but the plant proved to be just out of her reach. In a grunt of frustration, she stretched as far as she could, an inch shy away from being able to grab it. Shifting her weight down to her hips, she reached for it once more, but the softened ground had had enough.
In a split second, Lucy tumbled over the edge, falling straight into the river before Nick even realized she had fallen. At the sound of her scream, he whirled around again. His eyes grew wide, and he scrambled to the edge, shooting his gaze downward. His sister splashed in the water, her head barely bobbing above the surface as the river began to sweep her away.
"LUCY!" He screamed, his ears pinned against his head and his paw outstretched as if he could reach her.
"NICKY!" She screamed every chance she got, her small paws flailing about to keep her small body above water. Nick sprinted after her, dodging every branch and leaping every root of a tree to keep up with her.
"I'M COMING FOR YOU LUCY!" He screamed at her, going as fast as his little legs could carry him. Being only five years of age, both of their voices were very shrill and could be heard over the semi-loud rush of the river.
"NICKYYYYYY!" Lucy continued to scream, her voice becoming more and more distant as the powerful river took her further and further away.
Nick was so engrossed in keeping his sister in sight that he failed to jump a particular high-protruding root, and with a smack to his foot he bit the dirt, giving a pained grunt. He quickly whipped his head up from the ground, looking around wildly down the entire stretch of river in front of him, but his sister's tiny silhouette was no longer in sight.
"LUCY!" He screamed louder than ever, his voice carrying through the entire forest and into the air in heavy desperation and sadness.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Look miss, I told ya once and I'll tell you again. We don't serve sherry here. You're gonna have to go to Louie's Pub across the block."
The bartender, a tall and lanky antelope, wearily explained to an agitated young puma, who's sparkling ebony evening dress shook ever so much as she tapped her foot in agitation. Her gold hoop earrings swished side to side in rhythm. She was shaking her head at the apparent ill-service she was receiving, and thought about threatening to do just what the bartender had suggested. The place was Margeaux's Grill and Bar, a popular hangout in the very heart of Zootopia, the gleaming city for anthropomorphic mammals.
"Well mister, I'll-" Her retort was cut off by the bellowing applause, whistles, and whoops from within the dining room.
Inside, a young ocelot appeared, glancing nervously about the room filled to brim with mammals of all kinds, predator and prey. The weekly Open-Mic night was a hot event for most mammals who couldn't afford to go to the theater or a concert, and almost every week it was a packed house. The particularly busy night had become even more popular due to the truthful rumors that the food was good and reasonably priced. Dinner and a show, in retrospect.
The ocelot tugged at the collar of her frilled, sea-foam green top, smoothing out the rump of her black slacks as she took a seat at the grand piano set at the edge of the small wooden stage. Gulping down the lump in her throat, she took one last look backstage, where two otters in matching uniforms gave her a thumbs up and a smile. She took a breath.
Her tiny paws pounded out the first notes of her musical selection, the sound filling the packed room with a melodious and beautiful rendition of pop-star Gazelle's famous ballad "Tonight We Live."
By night I have been dreaming
Of a day worth living for
Then that day became real
The moment you walked through the door
The ocelot's beautiful vibrato made a few wolf whistles belt her way, and she soon eased into the song, even giving an ear-splitting grin as she closed her eyes to sing the second part.
As Darcy once proclaimed
In vain, I have struggled
It will never do
You must allow me to tell you
How much I love you
A tiger whooped at her from the back, causing her to blush.
Her paws glided a few keys across, changing the pitch of the song ever so slightly. Her heart racing, she took in a breath to prepare for the chorus, a time at which she had been preparing for for hours on end in her studio.
I-
The room went pitch black. A series of screams followed, the panicked stomps and scrapes of chairs flying back and mammals running around aimlessly became deafening. Smoke began to puff through the air from the machines on stage eerily, as if it was part of the performance. The bartender ran from the front bar to the doorway into the dining room, pausing to look around, although his mere prey sight did not give him much advantage in the darkened room.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE! CALL THE POLICE!" An elder sheep screeched before being run into by a particularly frantic elephant.
The bartender shot back over to the desk, picking up the small landline phone on the desk, his hoof punching the three numbers in rapidly.
Just then, the lights came back on. The smoke dissipated. Everyone instantly calmed down and looked back on stage, where a singular spotlight was alit and casting a beam on grand piano just as before. Nothing had changed.
But the ocelot was nowhere in sight.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
How's about a good cliffhanger to start us off? Haha!
Again, thank you all so much for reading, and please tell me what you thought and your anticipation for the coming chapters. Oh and before anyone says anything, I know fully well what the full quote in Pride and Prejudice is, just chose not to use the entirety of it. ;)
I genuinely love to hear your thoughts! I hope to update soon, so stay tuned!
With regards,
AleahLondon1987