First, I don't own Zootopia, Disney does
Second, I know Halloween has already passed, but I came up with this concept idea on that day and I'm still in the same week as it, so there is that. I would have written a scarier story and I might still right the one I thought about three weeks ago, but I ended up writing something else and I wanted it finished first.
Third, remember this is a work of fiction, my take on certain things shouldn't be seen as proclamations
Spooky cutouts of monster are pasted against the windows of the ZPD precinct one building, with fake cobwebs and Jack o' lanterns adorning both the streets and the welcome hall, the spirit of Halloween can be seen in high amounts again this year, as multiple officers are already wearing their costumes for the upcoming evening, this is to guide youngsters from the nearby schools in their trick or treating, a precaution the city council have decided on with the revelation of Dawn Bellwether's plot not being one week old yet and with relationship between prey and predator still not entirely leveled.
The night howler case gave our duo the praise they deserved and the bunny could thank her feet, that her wound turned out to be much less bad than it appeared on that eventful day. The Doctor had cleared Judy for the guide job, her own group of students would be consisting out of a plethora of lagomorphs, which all want to meet the now famous bunny, that went far beyond anyone of their species had gone to before. Judy's waiting like the other officers dressed in a purple witch costume, some orange dried flowers tucked away on her hat and a taser concealed from view in a pocket. She would have been in the chief office together with her best friend Nick, if she hadn't to prepare for her group, Judy can only hope that her brush-tailed friend shares in the luck she has been on the past week. But not everyone is as lucky on this joyful evening of horrors and folklore, as the fox of the duo gets to hear about some trouble he will face getting into the police academy.
Bogo looks over to the fox seated on the opposing chair, not filling out half of it, showing only how much smaller he is compared to the chief's timber wolf officers, a displeased grunt leaves his throat as he shoves back both the filled in paper Judy had kept, with another paper holding the reason for refusal. "Mr. Wilde, I know that you will give your all to become a partner to officer Hopps, but I'm afraid that even with everyone's recommendation and the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, I can't get you enrolled for the time being," the water buffalo sounds rather disgruntled saying this, continuing in the same tone as he taps the other document with his right hoof, while holding his glasses with the other, "The problem is a specified rule set, better known as the Canidae Rules of Service that any of said family needs to clear before they can start their training for joining either the police or the military."
Judy's long ears would have jumped upright at hearing that any canine or her fox, in particular, needed to jump through an extra set of hoops, she would have spoken out already, that is what the auburn pelted tod believes with all his heart, except her thinking of him like that, if only.
Nick's ears point backwards, his gut telling him the inevitable problem of being born a fox, while he takes the paper, holding it in a focused gaze, yet his thoughts are straying to the bunny officer, Judy would thump his arm if he tried to obscure the text from her in a teasing manner, but he has to stay on subject. From the start of the document, Nick thinks, "I knew it, just another way to keep the foxes out," as he reads up on the basic height or strength requirement, any bigger canine species than a fox would clear the height most of the time, but since it isn't possible to gain the missing height, Nick now knows that he has to gain the required strength instead, which if the tod reads correctly would be some serious work and he would need much bigger paiwan shirts afterwards.
Besides the biggest or in Nick's case strongest requirement, there are a dozen different points that the vulpine in question has to get tested and though most of the list played into the talents of the Canidae family, Nick doubts that he would score well enough on some of them, be it he never had the need to use said talents as a pawpsicle hustler, or are things other species are just better at. Smelling has its uses, but he never did trail searching or has any experience with the recognition of certain drugs and explosives. Digging and extracting objects and mammals from different types of soils is something the tod just has no wide bases to fall back on, besides maybe finding things under a snow layer, Finnick lost a lot of his stuff more than once in Tundra Town, Nick is pretty sure the little con partner did it on purpose to take pictures of his butt. Other traits he mentally noted were howl signals, which to him sounded mostly like one wet pot of dumb dumb noises and alpha-beta dynamics, which Nick guesses is being able to lead and cooperate in a large group, he could work together with others and has a rather silver tongue at times, but leading large groups just gave him the chills like the cub scout incident.
The fox imagines Judy's ears drooping halfway through the big list of tests Nick would have to pass, in her eyes, it would come down to him having to take an equivalent of multiple advance law enforcement classes before he was allowed to do the basics. And she would find that absurd primary requirement downright specist, or at the very least downright discouraging, she wouldn't just stand by and ask, "Why is this still a thing?" She would continue by pointing at the document with a glare, as if it had kicked her siblings and called her cute, thinking about her reaction makes Nick sigh, on one paw, he wants to chuckle at the mental projection on the other he wants to share the scowl at the absurdity of this thing.
"Shouldn't it have been taken down or adjusted with the implementation of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative?" the fox frowns, his voice sounds on the edge of furry but stops as Nick sees the buffalo's face give more a look of comprehension than of anger at half being yelled at. The fox knows it isn't Bogo's fault, but Nick can't help it get to him and in return wished the bunny was here to scoot closer to him, maybe placing her paw on his back.
The water buffalo pinches his nose brig, as he says with a grunt, "I understand your high strung emotions, Wilde. And there are two main reasons for it, one of them is simple, because Bellwether was the one who pushed the bill behind the M.I.I., for a mammal who doesn't like preds, she hates the Canidae family the most, the number of slurs she threw at officers Wolfard and Whitefang are living proof of that." Judy and him had heard from her two colleagues that they pretty much had ticked off every derogatory term in a span of thirty minutes, he should have known that only a sheep like Bellwether could have hidden this part from the populace, for someone like him who believes that he knows the ins and outs around laws, this was something he hadn't seen coming.
"The second problem, there have always been multiple parties keeping that ruling in action, not every one of them is well known, but one of them is a party of wolfs, the big kind," says Bogo, to which Nick's face and ears go with an expression that can be read only as, you got to be kidding me, his tail flagging out in anger. "Yes Mr. Wilde, that party likes to play dominant alpha, reason why you don't find a test in sneaking or paw dexterity on that list," says Chief Bogo, while looking back at Nick, noticing his unusual quiet demeanor, drawing a pensive mm out of him.
The chief's opinion about the smaller mammal in front of him has drastically changed compared to their first run in, Wilde has proven that he is compassionate and caring beyond the load of jokes and quips, sadly as the chief of precinct one the buffalo has to hold up an image of professionalism to strife towards and thus Bogo will have to chide him when it comes to them, however he is able to say what the tod can do, "Now, Wilde, you have two options to become a cadet at the academy." The fox's ears perk up.
"First, you can either wait till they revise either laws," states Bogo, not in the slightest scared as Nick gives him a dead stare, not liking the thought of just waiting, making the buffalo huff in a more positive voice at the confirmation that the slender vulpine won't let it be, as he continues with the second option, "Or you can take special Canidae training from a third party to satisfy the requirements and join the academy the earliest being three months from now."
Nick nodded stating, "I'll just do that then, thanks for the info, Chief Bogo." Not a quip or a joke to leave the office on a joyful note, but an indifferent mask that hides his heart, as he takes the folded paper back and skips down from the chair. Bogo's voice saying something along the lines of, "Take care Wilde," as the door closes behind the tod.
Walking back to the entrance of the precinct, Nick can see that Judy's hasn't left yet, he would have loved to tag along, the fox would hustle the kits into trading his lesser favored candies for some blueberry ones, all while being close to Judy. "Hey fluff, not gone yet?" tries Nick to say in a more upbeat tone than what he feels.
Judy's ears perk towards him as she hears his voice, her purple eyes get directed to him and he notices the smile get tainted with a worried nose twitch. "My group isn't ready yet, something about last minute change in roster, but what is going on Nick, did Bogo reject your application?" Nick flinches at this caring bunny, seeing through all his cracks ... well almost all. Noticing that she hit the nail on the head she adds in disbelief, "I thought he was onboard with it?"
"Buffalo butt said that I need to satisfy the Canidae Rules of Service and for that I will need to follow a special training program, so I will be searching up places that might be able to provide it and see if some of them can get me in shape in under ninety days," says Nick, trying to look at her, but failing since he doesn't have any better news. Not hearing a direct answer and missing her encouraging smile, he tags on trying to steer to a more enjoyable part of the evening, "So... still ready for some Halloween specials tonight at my place, fluff?"
Judy startles a bit at that, she isn't one to be afraid, but strangely enough she gets frightened quickly from that movie genre, if Nick finds this out, she won't hear the end of it and he will use it against her, but saying no would be a greater hint, hence she gives a fake laugh, "Y-yeah, I'm all up for tonight," giving his arm a slight punch.
Her phone makes a sound, glancing up at the notification she responds, "Looks like that is my queue, and I'll help with keeping an eye out for your golden ticket." Waving goodbye as she sprints outside, leaving the fox behind wondering if he will be able to find a gym with the needed tutor, as he steals a last glance at the cute witch bunny running down the street and maybe with her luck, she will find him just what he needs.
Streetlights are shining now as the sun has already set, mammals in costumes are roaming the sidewalks, casting shadows in the orange lantern light, while storytellers flood the nearby parks with tales containing rituals and trickery, on one of the park benches a group of thirteen dressed up youngster lagomorphs are supporting a petrified witch bunny.
Judy is quietly scolding herself, she has cuffed a savage panther to a lamppost without much trouble, but listening to those demon ritual stories and having a pig actor with prop horns, fake blood, and glowing paint perform a jump scare was apparently too much. The bunny officer had kicked the actor hard enough to knock him out for several minutes, while she herself had squeaked so loud that the other officers in the park had come over to check if everything was okay. Remembering the reactions of them is embarrassing enough and Nick would now find out for sure unless she could keep him away from the precinct and her colleagues for a few weeks.
That isn't the first accident of the day, the first one was, when Rollo a hare dressed as a battle monk ran into an arcade, Judy almost hit a screen of a game when its intro started flashing, something called splattermouse, which wouldn't have been bad enough, if it wasn't for her yelling when the costumed officer saw a bear dressed as Freddy from willow lane slowly approaching three small kits, namely the pikas of her group named, Hannah, Edward, and Irwin. Unlike her, the three just laughed as the rabbit ghoul Umeko took some pictures.
Truth be told, Judy is happy that she was assigned to these kits, they don't think any less of her because of her irrational fear, while the hugs they are giving help her calm down and no matter how real the costumes look they maintain their cuteness, that she would curse otherwise. The young bunnies and hares start to tell the witch bunny what they are afraid of, normal kit stuff like the dark and monsters in the closets. Judy, in turn, tells that she gets jumpy around supernatural stuff, she blames her grandpa for all the warnings and stories surrounding demons and monsters as a kit, oh how she finds it humiliating that she can see real danger straight in the eye, but made up stuff sends her screaming almost into a fully fledged panic attack.
The purple dressed bunny's mind is almost ready for another try at what she is supposed to do, but a part wonders how Nick's search is going, the walk around town has been void of anything useful on that subject, her mind gets pulled by a small dark brown paw of a jack named Abraham, his vampire costume showing stitch work of a caring mother, his young voice calling out, "Officer Hopps, everything alright? You are somewhat distracted again." All the kits eyes are on her.
"Now Abraham, you can call me Judy and yeah I was thinking about a fox friend of mine, you remember him, right?" Nodding heads report that they know Nick, the youngsters, meaning mostly Freya the monster huntress, who was as tomboyish as Judy was when so young, were asking details about some of their thrilling adventures, from falling down a ravine to crashing a runaway train. "Nick, the fox wants to join me on the force, but he needs to do some special training for Canidae before he can enter the academy," the witch rabbit lets out a sigh, staring further into the park. "I am wondering how his search is going," says Judy as she watches the lanterns sway in the breeze of the night, the bunny does hope that Nick can work with her.
An ash white bunny looking like a demon with some realistic horns starts jumping excitingly, "Oh, oh, I might have something useful to him than," the smaller bunny grabs what looks to be a flyer out of her candy bag, staring with her bright carnilia orange eyes at Judy, as she explains, "I found this near one of the bushes of the info boot we passed along the way here, it has a Halloween theme going on so I grabbed it."
"Thanks, Carnie," says Judy as she takes the flyer, examining it underneath the light of the park lantern. The background consists out of a wide array of oranges and browns, as a darker figure of a large muscular canine contrast with a sea of flames. The flyer states in big red letters, "Cerberus Training Program", within slightly smaller letters, "To become the best canine guardian, you need to follow only our special training, one of three highly qualified staff members will see to your personalized development plan, changes are guaranteed to scare others into submission", the rabbit officer's eyes light up, this could be exactly what Nick is searching for and by the way it is presented it would seem to be a Halloween special.
"The course registration runs until midnight of thirty first of October, so come by while you have the change, the course will take sixty-seven days and will start from the day after sign up, as a bonus you will receive a personal illustrious silver fountain pen," Judy doesn't look much further than that, this might be just the golden ticket for both of them, for Nick to acquire his training and for Judy to avoid having to watch any monster movies. "Boom, evening saved," she thinks in her head.
Heated banter reaches Judy's ears, purple eyes drawn to two zombie rabbit brothers being at it again, "Owen, Omari, no arguing," looking stern at both of them, before hopping from the bench to address her kerfuffle ready to move onward, "Let's go earn us some treats, Yvette, Xia, Veola..." Counting the students by name as Judy leads them on into this night of devil rituals.
Midnight is steadily approaching as the battered fox walks the almost abandoned yet festive streets toward the address mentioned on the flyer. Nick has had no luck in his search on his end, both canine officers at the precinct had said the same thing, that the places they had gone to didn't have the appropriate tools for mammals his size, the fox knows that they aren't the condescending types, but it made him only worry more about calling up the training centers.
Turns out Nick's concern had been grounded, as each instance informed him that they weren't equipped for a fox, or downright refused him based on the fear of Nick running off with all the weights, which was absurd enough. One had laughed at him, stating that a fox wanting to meet the requirements in three months time, could only be seen as a foolish dare, that Nick supposedly was sent on, in the end, the tod had been close to throwing his phone at the wall.
The fox's favorite bunny had arrived all excited, you could say she had been jumping from joy, asking him if he had found someplace yet, giving him the flyer that now was resting in his pocket when she had seen Nick's despondent look. Nick takes out the advert and looks at it again, it is a really nice and attractive offer, the best bonus point is them covering all his living expenses for the duration of the training. Searching for adders in the tall grass had revealed to the tod that the others contained fine print stating the inability for a fox to follow said courses, but this one just stated, "Payment is six hundred and sixty-six years of interim work, while undergoing the training", "This has to be a Halloween joke," thought the tod, since the training is only sixty-seven days long. The fox had thought it too good to be true at first, but the logo in the corner belongs to a company well known for holding their end of the deal.
Nick sighs deeply, instead of sitting cozy with Judy, watching some movies together and maybe making a move to finally let the best mammal know his feelings for her, the universe had said, no! All because the offer on the flyer has an end date, which is quickly closing in with only thirty minutes remaining. "It better be real," mutters Nick, as for the moment the fox already lost one amazing night and earned several bruises and a black eye.
On his way over a pack of wolfs roaming the Sahara district, better known under the gang name the Sand Bites, had expressed their disdain at a pelt minding his own business. The tod had tried to get away and at a moment thought he had lost them, but for some reason, that one corner led the unlucky auburn mammal back to where he came from, something that shouldn't have happened to a fox that knows the city like the back of his paws. Apparently, they didn't appreciate Nick trying a thing called talking it out, ending it with the tod earning a firm beating. The only noticeable mark on the attacker was a V like symbol containing a smaller c on its side, tattooed on the paw of the canine that called him, "Pelted Pup," as the aggressor punched Nick in his right eye.
The beaten fox arrives at his destination, Mirage Oasis number six, the building looks quite expansive and the entrance does give off the feel of a gym made just for Canidae, but Nick swears that he could bet a twenty on it, that something else stood here before. The tod walks inside and gets hit by a wall of heat as the door closes firmly shut behind him, surprising him that the inside of this building was more packing than being outside in the rainforest of Zootopia.
Nick would assign it to all the panting mammals and a faulty broken air conditioning system, but it is eerily quiet here, no sign of any mammal slaving away over weights and benches, no sand flying in the digging zone, nor any grunting at the climbing sections at the far side of the large halls, no music to trance away on in the background, not even the noises of jars being opened and closed for sniff training, nor muffled howls from tapes in the sound room, only a soft scent of used matchsticks and the enthralling sound of fire raging.
On the second look around the place, Nick notices the orange haze sticking to the ceiling, that makes the tod think that the building might as well be used as kindling, urging him to reach for his phone to call the fire department, only to be met with an unchanging black screen. "Ugh, wolfsbane just my bleeding luck," growls Nick impatiently, before he yells to check if there is a mammal here, to begin with, "Anyone here, hello?"
"Ah, you must be here for our Halloween special," says a deep voice with a rhetoric edge, Nick's eyes fall on the very tall wolf filling out his red piece suite like a glove, hugging the gray neatly layered fur underneath. Eyes closed to just lines giving the well build wolf a look of total relaxed disposition, still, the fox feels being watched at as rock undergoing a jeweler's judgment for impurities, a tinge of sharpness jolts the tod at the sudden flare of scorn reaching the gray mammal's lips, as the canine realizes something.
Nick can already guess at the big business wolf's disappointment, as he looks at a fox who can never become what they promised but a disgrace to be considered family to a canine like him. The wolf tilts its head in apparent amusement as a lip pulls back into a slight tooted smile. "Maybe he is thinking about demeaning me," the fox mind goes from experience. "Let us get it over with," thinks Nick, ready to hear that all his efforts to start making it better go to waste, as the fox speaks, "Is there a problem mister…?
"Oh, you may call me C like my friends do, or Mr. C if you want to be more formal," states the large gray wolf with a slight flourish of the paw. "I have no problem with you being a fox, if need be we would train something as small as a fennec," says Mr. C, before dropping his smile, "No it is more the bruises that you are sporting, Mr. Wilde." The wolf sees Nick jolting softly, thus he lets out a deep chuckle, "Nicholas, may I call you that?" Not waiting for a response the suited canine explains, "I am a business mammal, following the news is something any proper contractor does, as for that pack of degenerates that call themselves wolfs, they have caused trouble before and will get their punished in due time," the pronunciation left no doubt on Mr. C hating the Sand Bites immensely, one as Nick might say that frustration is a big part of it, but not out of inability to act.
Nick is pleasantly surprised that the wolf is on his side, feeling excited about the fact that he is actually not denied access to the program and taking into consideration the friendly manner the wolf treats him, the fox decides that he likes this mammal, Nick is wondering about this place though, "You can call me Nick, I got a question though, why is no-one else here, Big C?"
The wolfs smile turns up a notch as he responds, "Well Nicholas, it is Halloween, a day that I myself greatly enjoy, so the training grounds aren't open for usage, I on the other paw am still here since days like these just make contracts extra special." Looking at his watch reading fourteen minutes till midnight, making Big C add, "One that will swiftly come to an end, let us get to the office so that we can get you signed up today, else I will feel guilty about changing times."
"There is that again," think Nick, drawn to the way Big C said that phrase, there was no difference to the others and that was the problem, the fox is sure that the larger mammal can only be joking and yet every phrase coming from the gray wolf's mouth had felt truthful. Nick nods to follow the wolf towards the back office.
The office in question is spacious considering that something twice as big as the already tall wolf can stand in here without touching the ceiling with its head, with a big space clear of anything in front of a sturdy looking ashen colored hickory desk, one chair at each side, inlayed with velvet red padding. Big C motions Nick to take a seat, before addressing, "Nicholas, you have the flyer with you, right? The contract is on the backside of it."
Nick doesn't remember there being anything on the back side, nevertheless, he takes out the flyer and stares perplexed at it, now showing clear written words and text in brown baked letters. Maybe the packing heat in this place revealed it, maybe it was whatever caused the orange haze inside the building, whatever the tod wants to believe the be the cause of the sudden appearance, Nick reads the now visible text. The brown words state that by signing this, one will be agreeing to the terms of the flyer and will be aided and supported to reach the stated goal.
There are some questions Nick has about all this, one being why it is such a one-sided deal in favor of the trainee, but the fox writes it down to being a Halloween special, looking up at the relaxed face of the red clothed wolf, Nick can agree with that reason. The other is there not being any clear stipulation of the goal, yes it might be him able to ace all the C.R.S. tests, or just finishing the training period, in the end, it wouldn't matter, since the contract looked to be more a way to guarantee good service to Nick, so why worry about the duration?
The battered fox starts to look around the desk for something to write with, to which Mr. C pulls out a pure silver fountain pen, saying, "Here you go, Nicholas. As part of the sign up you get to keep it, so consider it yours." The wolf holds the pen in his open palm stretching his arm out towards Nick, as the tod grabs hold with his left paw, a jolt of pain strikes his index finger, as if something had bitten it, making the fox drop the pen back into the wolf's paw, a hint of blood filling the room's air.
Before Nick can pull back his paw, however, a larger gray one grabs hold as Big C states with care, "Let me see, Nicholas." The still startled fox looks at the large gray wolf lowering his head to closely examine the finger, before quickly putting his lips around it. Nick is flabbergasted at the sudden action but feels a slight sense of warmth spread from the finger easing the pain. It disappears in a heartbeat and as quick as the fox had dropped the pen, the action was over, making Nick stare back between his finger and the grinning wolf, wanting to quip about there being better ways to ask for an indirect kiss, but dropping it to make only notice now how the room feels less packing.
"Sorry about that, Nicholas, these pens can be quite sharp-tipped, but it should be safe for use now," chuckles Mr. C as he again holds the pen in front of the tod, who hesitates to grab the harmful tool. Thinking about the fact that doing this makes him able to stay close to Judy and making her proud, pushes Nick to grab the offending object, not feeling any pain, no, on contrary it now feels like a part of his paw.
As Nick writes down his name on the paper he notices that the letters are bloody red, but the fox appoints it to the wolf's love for today or tonight in this case, like all the other strange occurrences since the tod walked into the building. Once Nick pockets the silver pen he stares at the document, the penned letters are glowing like cinders, making the fox want to take a closer look.
Without warning the flyer rolls up and with a bounce from the table throws itself at the neck of the yet again startled vulpine. "What in the wolfsbane?!" yells Nick, as he tries to pull the rolled up seemingly possessed paper from his scruffy throat, only feeling it molding and forming around the base into what the tod can guess is a collar. The fox's paws grow only more frantic at the realization, struggling harder to pull the still changing thing off.
Nick being adamant, searches for a part that can give his paws more grip, his furred digits end up brushing against something made out of metal, making them jump and pull at it. The fox's paws go down over a short chain, a flat rectangular shape stops the paws from sliding off, Nick's head twists downwards at the tug. Green eyes focus in on a sizeable slab of metal inscribed with signs, not from the tod's tongue. "What is the meaning of ...?" the fox's growl dies as he stares at the now wide open-eyed wolf still sitting relax in his chair, with eyes of burning coal piercing the tod in place.
"Relax Nicholas, the black collar made out of your contract is there to protect you, where you are going and the passport at the end will give you access to your privileges," says the red clothed wolf as if it is an everyday development, Mr. C checks his watch to continue, "But I can see that you have questions and we still have some time until midnight, so go ahead and ask."
The now collared fox is baffled at the in hindsight obvious unearthly wolf, who has trapped him into whatever plan C has, but Nick isn't dragged away the moment it occurs, no, no he is not. So questions the fox will ask, "So what are you really? Because just a wolf, will not do it for me anymore."
Big C chuckles at the quip, "You may still call me C as my friends do, but my other known titles are the contractor and to the badly informed the devil." Seeing Nick's eyes widen at the last part, C ads with a grin, "Yeah Nicholas, you probably heard that the devil is red because he is a fox, but as you can see mammals always mess up the details with the passing of time and you know how they say it, the devil is in the details."
The reveal doesn't help to calm down the fox, Nick regrets doing the skunk butt rug stunt, but this is quickly becoming the most nerve wrecking experience in his rather short and labeled life, Big C's relax and friendly demeanor is the only thing, besides fleeting thoughts of Judy, that keeps the contracted tod from having a nervous breakdown, Nick quips in a tone that borders on hopeful begging, "You, don't want my soul, do you, Mr. C? So what do I owe you?"
The wolf rolls his eyes, as far as Nick can tell with there being only glowing cracks to follow. "No, your soul is pretty safe, Nicholas," states Mr. C as he rubs his forehead with a paw to continue, "That is one of the things I wish mammals would stop spreading, you can't imagine how much spare change would come into play if I dealt in souls of the living." Wolf paws come together as he says, "As for what your payment is, it was stated on the flyer in fine print, six hundred sixty-six years of internship while doing training under Cerberus themselves, you will reside mostly in the town next to the gate they guard, as I can't keep dragging them back and forth in a good manner."
Nick becomes painfully aware that everything on the flyer was to be taken completely serious, no Halloween dressing up of the lines, but a contract only set up by the big guy down low himself, but there is a big contradiction in times stated, so the fox yips out, "But the training only last sixty-seven days and I would die before I end an internship that long."
"There is a time disunity between there and here, so when you finish your training there, I can make it so that here only a bit more than sixty-six days will have passed, as for not living long enough, remember me stating your contract protecting you, fear of old age isn't a concern for you, Nicholas," answers Mr. C calmly, giving the impression that the wolf in question is just having a nice talk with the collared fox in his office.
"Of course the devil contractor can do something like that," deadpans Nick in his thoughts. "So, I'm going to hell, Mr. C? Never expected go there under the tutelage of the legendary three-headed hellhound," the fox mutters trying to accept the absurdity of it all, after hearing everything so far though, the tod is sure that most of all the details he thinks he knows about where ever he is going would be wrong in one shape or form, which the unearthly wolf confirms with pleasure.
"Hell is the name of the prison for the truly deserving, not the name of the town where you are taking up residence, Nicholas, that would be Nasibu and living there will be that little unique chapter of your life, but not as abnormally strange and hostile as you assume it to be," the wording of Mr. C, portrays it like a mammal who lives in Tundra Town visiting Sahara Square for the first time in their lives, different yet similar.
The wolf chuckles at something before saying with a grin, "Cerberus aren't conjoined at their necks, I believe the three-headed part came from them being so likeminded and sharing the same job and responsibilities, still they are brothers and your host family, given time I'm sure they will see you as their little brother, you just need to warm up a bit." Nick feels somewhat relieved, that his trainer isn't some towering three-headed fire-spewing beast, however, the fox tilts his head at that last part, why would he need to warm up?
But that isn't the question Nick has, as his thoughts go towards Judy, wondering how he will break the news to her, looking back at his still unresponsive screen and asking, "How will I contact others and what am I allowed to say?" A question that the vulpine needs answered as he wants to tell her everything from what has happened to how the fox is and feels.
The large wolf stands up from his seat as he starts saying, "You can write about anything you want in a letter using your fountain pen." Mr. C walks around the desk towards Nick, who is relieved that he doesn't need to hide anything from Judy. The wolf continues as he stands in front of Nick, a paw stretched out in a gesture to jump from the chair, "But I may pass on only one letter every ten years, to a mammal of your choosing, I'm sorry for that, Nicholas," the heartfelt regret in the apology, makes the tod almost stumble to the floor, a larger gray paw catches his shoulder, making sure Nick does not fall, before letting go with the words, "It is time."
As on command of some magic word, Nick's hind paws start to make indents on the floor, almost like the floor is melting and stretching underneath him. The tod tries to lift them from the ground but fails as he keeps on sinking lower and lower into the floor. Knowing that he cannot escape, Nick reflects on today, his regret at not having told her how he feels when he had the chance, even more so that the fox needs to wait ten years now before he can tell Judy that he loves her, but the worst thought of all, that the tod has before the floor swallows him whole, is that he won't be able to stand by her side for six hundred sixty-six years.
Alone now in the room, Mr. C stares at the spot Nick has vanished from, his voice still carrying regret as he speaks, "So we begin, brother."
Names of the thirteen youngsters Judy guides "Enjoy":
Abraham/Carnie/Edward/Freya/Hannah/Irwin/Omari/Owen/Rollo/Umeko/Veola/Xia and Yvette.
Nasibu is Swahili's for change/destiny/share besides also being a place in Kenya (the place has no significance to the story). Rearrange it a tiny bit and you get Anubis, an Egyptian deity mostly known for being the protector of graves and being involved in weighing of the hearts of the deceased. Was also the ruler of the underworld before he got replaced early on by Osiris.
+The continuation will be titled "Sixty Six Letters to Pull You Through Your Fear"
Where you as the reader will see Nick's side through his letters for Judy and on Judy's side, we will see her actions, she will need to battle her fears (in my own adapted steps of fear) with the aid of the letters and others, figuring out how she feels about Nick and what happens with him, while she is put on a string of cases were strange things occur.