Nathan strolled through the streets, hands in his pockets he J-Walked across Poinsettia Street in the heart of Zootopia in the Rainforest District. Walking by a trio of cows admiring the wall of skirts in front of them. As he turned his back to them he heard one of them mutter "typical."

Nathan shrugged, he got that a lot, but he was getting used to it. Looking around he noticed some Elephant cop staring him down because of it. Slipping into an alley way to avoid any confrontation. As he casually tossed a candy wrapper into the trash can he smelled alcohol and tobacco. Around him were some cardboard boxes. An ancient Weasel stuck his head out and yelled some unintelligible at Nathan. Ducking from the can that narrowly missed his head. As Nathan hurried past the deranged animal he stepped out of the alley. Behind him, his ears picked up on some crying. All the anger he had for a minute there, inside of him for being scoffed and yelled at, all the times he felt alone thanks to another mammal, went away as he felt pity for that homeless weasel. He especially knows what it's like being alone, not to mention homeless. Shaking off bad memories he soon tried to distract himself with his surroundings. The asphalt streets glistened in the night, the sprinklers just shut off and the humidity slowly melted away as the streets became chilly. Being that it was the middle of June he was kind of surprised, but noticing the giant wall separating Tundra Town from Rainforest District, (shitty name right?) he realized that the cool wind from the gelid part of the city. Turning down on Orange Grove Avenue he cocked his head to the side as a poor pig in a white wife beater shirt and some cargo shorts was shaking in the cold night. Looking down at himself he hoped his fur would keep him warm, judging by his Gazelle T-shirt and some basketball shorts. Nathan never really liked Gazelle, just didn't want to seem rude to Abraham when he had bought him the shirt by a nearby thrift store.

As he hopped a fence and carefully made his way over to his favorite tree, tiptoeing over large puddles that would get his paws wet and making sure not to trip on any rocks that lay in his path. Reaching the large randomly placed Baobab tree he slowly stuck his hand out and placed it in the center. Moments passed by and he finally started to climb the tree. He wasn't that bad of a climber, had to practice when he ran away from bullies as a young pup. Nathan lived in a mini city called Strawberry Crest where growing up he wasn't much appreciated. His mother died giving birth to him and his father left him at some pig house when he was barely three days old. The pigs didn't want him and they left him at the BigHorn's, who reluctantly took him in. Growing up with three bigger brothers was pretty challenging, especially since they didn't like the runt of the litter, him. They always used intimidation, Nathan go get us this or do this for us or else. Nathan spent his summers at Abraham's Cafe so he could have some free time and not getting pounded on by big sheep.

Because of them he already became an outcast, alone most of the day, but he liked it, made him feel at peace. Not having to deal with everyone's bull-shit all the time. Whenever he was drawn into drama it was because someone wanted to take time in seeing him in discomfort or pain, he wouldn't give them that satisfaction. Not from any 'brothers' of his or a bitch-of-a cow wanting to make herself feel better by putting him down.

"Ahh" Nathan said as he stretched out and looked out on the road, thinking back to the days in elementary school. A large cow by the name Betsie ran the school yard. She in basic terms, made everyone who wasn't in her posse a "prison bitch". Some other kids followed her around and picked on the little ones. Stealing lunch boxes, crayons, and the occasional school project. Like the fellow younglings not big enough to stand up for himself he was scared. Ronnie, the older ram he was always forced to room with had been in Betsie's gang three years and counting. Honestly Nathan isn't sure Ronnie could count to three back then, or now either. Ronnie was the real reason he learned how to climb trees. Why have Ronnie charge the bushes you were hiding in and get pummeled by Betsie and her gang when you could scale a tree and flip them the bird while they have to watch you. It was pretty effective till they realized throwing rocks was an option. So climbing higher and higher was Nathan's only solution.

Nathan couldn't guess why the teacher's didn't step in. 'Assuming makes an ass out of you and me' was what he had heard over the years. But not having any predator teacher in his school made him feel like the teachers were out to get him. Nathan tuned back to reality when he heard a squeal. An excited Porcupine kid was excitedly chatting about the new Giraffic World movie poster on the side of comic store building. The poor mother looked tired as she dragged him away from the advertisement.

Nathan left a smirk stretched on his muzzle, chuckling. He checked his watch, only 9:17. He would have to leave around 10 if he wanted to make curfew. Knowing his grandfather Abraham would be worrying about him. Especially because of the savage cases, he knew he should be careful. But he wasn't afraid. He didn't believe the rabbit cop on TV, that predators would go savage because of their DNA. If that was the case it would have happened a long, long time ago when Zootopia was first created. Then they would all be wearing shock collars to keep predators at bay from murdering every little goat, squirrel and sheep that lived in the city. And there were pretty large prey animals in Zootopia, Elephants, Rhinos and Hippos. To be honest Nathan thought to himself, he wouldn't even count any pachyderm as a Prey animal. Nathan watched as a distant car drove past a red light and was captured by a bright light which blinded Nathan. He always forgot that the ZPD left a traffic monitor in the Baobab tree for and it was about 10 feet above him perched on a skinny branch. The whole back of the tree had wires running down it and Nathan hated it, took the beauty away. As he rubbed his eyes he adjusted himself, feeling his legs dangle and time slowly passed by.

Nathan spent most of his time watching the citizens of Zootopia walk by, those cows he encountered earlier to name a few. He did see a cute vixen cross by with a couple of other canines, a Coyote and two Timberwolves. He didn't feel like approaching. First it would be creepy to have a fox drop out of a tree and try to randomly talk to you while you were walking home, second he wasn't that much of a lady charmer in his mind. He could list about a thousand more reasons;

He wasn't exactly a pretty picture, nor did he believe that much in love, he knew it was real but he never expected to get much from it. He learned the hard way with some Bobcat in 8th grade that took a turn for the worst when he got dumped. Nathan grinned at the thought of how unfunny it ended.

"Poor bastard"

He murmured to himself before laughing. He always loved remembering how horrible life can be. Cruel and unforgiving, but he knew his life was a lot better than others. He knew thousands of others had it worse than him in this city alone. Those poor families with savage loved ones that couldn't be cured at the moment. The homeless population in Zootopia. The mayor was rotting in jail for trying to hide them, and Nathan couldn't blame him. Because of all the found savage predators are dividing the city from predator to prey. Worse than it already was. Growing tensions as riots and protests were going on throughout the city. Best friends turned enemies all because one was a Lion and the other was a Zebra. Who, days ago would have been drinking buddies.

Sighing, Nathan scooted his way down the tree, landing with a soft thud at the bottom he stretched his back and began to head home again, dodging the puddles and stopping to stare at the starry sky through the canopy. He had to leave early, some protesters were blocking the streets he usually took so he had to take a detour.

"Fast as a cheetah" he whispered to himself as he strolled past Feline Fantastic Hair Salon, with a giant photo of a cheetah girl tossing her extensions back. With his hands in his pockets he ambled his way up the hill, taking his time. Abraham's Cafe wasn't that far away, a half a mile at that. Nathan could take his time and enjoy the city life around him.

Nathan checked his watch, 10:21, Perfect. He sauntered by a gas station and took a sharp left on Water Buffalo Lane. He watched a Kudu yell at an Oryx across the street as they carried what looked like groceries into some apartment complex. Smirking he darted around a giant Hippo that had just come from some Movie Rental. Nathan continued to watch the citizens of Zootopia, for it was the best reality TV show that didn't run on air. Not that Nathan was into Reality TV shows. In fact, grandpa didn't even have a TV, just books and a radio. Repetitive Gazelle songs start to get annoying after a while, since that's the only thing to listen to on the radio. He had found some old Beagles albums under his bed when Nathan's step-uncle lived here before he moved out to become a rodeo clown.

Nathan heard police sirens in the distance, looking over his shoulder he saw crowds gathered in the Central part of Rain Forest District. He called to a Panther that was crossing the street on his phone.

"Are they having another protest?"

The panther looked up at him, then back to his phone and said lazily "Yea, some Wolf turned wild and now some Goats are dramatizing over it" he said dully. "Saying they need to lock away predators like us" The Panther reached the curb stepping off the black asphalt to the ashen cement. He looked down at Nathan, Turned his phone off and knelt down to look at him eye level.

"If I were you, I'd head home real fast, before a gang of thug prey try to beat on you like that poor Weasel in Sahara Square an hour ago" The Panther quickly stood up, surveyed the streets and once the Pig that was walking by went out of sites he slipped into an alleyway.

"Thanks" Nathan said as the mysterious panther disappeared in the shadows.

Nathan placed his paw onto his face and rubbed his forehead. He knew Zootopia wasn't doing so hot. Cursing silently under his breath he quickly ran up the streets to get to his grandfather's Café.

Gazelle's protest was already happening, and that other one in Tundra Town made traffic back up. No one in Rainforest District! Nathan walked into a café as his Grandfather Abraham ushered everyone out of it, Nathan looked at his watch. 10:57, closing time. Nathan held the door for the few customers left. An old Billy Goat who was a regular hobbled out, a tiger ducked under the door frame and waved at Grandpa before strolling down the street. A white tailed deer couple left holding hooves and leaning against each other whispering sweet-nothings. What surprised Nathan the most was two rabbits walking out of the Café with some bags in hand. Nathan gave Grandpa a quizzical look and he just shrugged. When the last Capybara strolled out Nathan shut and locked the door.

"That's the first rabbit I've seen in here since summer started" Nathan said.

"Maybe they finally realized that I get most of my produce from a farm on the burrows." The old Ram wheezed. Chuckling he sat down at the counter and begun to wipe it down, Nathan came up and took the job from his and used his own elbow grease to get a stain off the wooden counter top for him. Abraham blew out the scented candles and checked the bathroom for any remaining customers. None were to be found. Slowly he unlocked the closet door and up the stairs to their hallway, up stairs. Nathan turned off the remaining lights and jogged up after the old geezer and shut the closet door behind him.

Abraham wished Nathan goodnight as he opened up his door and hobbled into his room. Shutting the door behind him Nathan wished him a goodnight and he slouched over to the bathroom. Using a claw to pick some cricket out of his teeth Nathan sighed looking at the bags that slowly were forming under his eyes. Washing his face, he knew he'd have to wake up early to snatch the morning paper before Abraham could cuff him on the head with it and read before opening time.