"You dumb, dumb bunny," round purple eyes fixed on the tiny mirror surrounded by cracks on the dirty wall. Judy Hopps was sitting on her tiny bed, a frown fixed on her muzzle. She should have known that for such a small price, in a busy city like this, renting a place could go horriblywrong. And it had.
The old tenants must have thought that no one would be desperate enough to move into such a tiny place because they had left it in a mess - and most possibly a hurry, too. There was dust piled on the floor, on the shelves, clothes on the floor, stains on the bed... It was like a room out of a horror game, ones in which the goal was to escape the room.
Judy ran a hand through the thicker fur on her head, ears flickering in absolute annoyance mingling with bits of disgust. She had not expected anything grand but this? This was worse than anything she had seen. Then again, she had not seen much yet.
She was a little bunny from the tiny town of Bunnyburrows, after all. She was used to the large house her family had, and the large farm, too. She did not miss them yet (a bit of privacy was still good after always being crowded by her too-many-to-count brothers and sisters, and well, not having to go out and pick berries first thing in the morning was probably going to be good, too), but she knew that she would at one point.
After all, even the crowd and the endless work her home had come with was better than...than this.
She scrunched up her nose as she collapsed on the floor, finding a spot that she deemed clean enough. The landlady had warned her on the phone that the room - it honestly could not be called an apartment - was a bit small and well, left messy, but... she would have never thought it would be like this. Almost as if those who had lived there previously did not even move. Just...left for a while. It was upsetting, in a way.
Judy would have never left her room like that. Not even if she just left for the weekend... Let alone forever! Just who what kind of people had the last tenants been?
She kept on grumbling under her nose as she cleaned, already used to the process. Having little siblings had at least taught her the efficient way of tidying up after others. It may not have been quick, and she may have felt dead by the time she finished but... After that at least she felt a bit more at home. The discarded clothes ended up in the garbage, along with the sheets and blanket that had been left there, too. She had gagged when she lifted the sheet: it was stained with one too many fluids on closer inspection.
That night, she went to sleep late, curled under the thin blanket she had taken with herself. She had to thank whoever was watching over her from the sky that she had been smart enough to take it with herself. Her mother had told her that she need not do such a thing: poor naive soul had expected her sweet little girl to be provided with such basic supplies.
Even blinded by the promise of fame and more, Judy had not been that dumb. She had travelled all the way to Zootopia on a hunch, yes, but that did not mean that she had done it unprepared. She had some money saved up, and had taken three large suitcases full of anything she could ever need. The following day, she was planning to go to an audition: it was for a minor singing role , but in the biggest theatre of the city. If she landed it, she knew that she would be good for at least a while. If anything, she would be able to start her carrier with a small successful step.
"One step for a little bunny, many for others?" she mumbled to herself in her sleepy daze, hugging the carrot-plush some of her little siblings had gotten her. It was clumsy and hand-made, but it was perfect. Still smelled of home and the many little bunnies that had hugged it, claiming that like that, Judy wouldn't miss them so much. Oh, how wrong they had been.
Once her fury had dwindled, the rabbit realized just how empty her new home was... And how lonely she would be there. Sharing it was no option, however: there was space only for one bed..Nothing else.
"It's gonna get better.." she told herself with a wry smile, snuggling closer to her toy with a soft sigh. She was exhausted, yes, but never once had she fallen asleep completely alone. After all, their house may have been big but it was not a mansion. Suddenly, she missed the little furry bundles of her baby siblings, or her sisters' soft chatting.
Oh, how badly she missed everyone already.
In what seemed like mere minutes, the hour of the audition arrived. Judy was dressed in her best attire, a simple white dress made from scratch by her mother: a parting gift. It was the most formal thing she had in her closet and thus, she wore it proudly. It may not have been anything too flashy, but it was still hers..
And thus, with big hopes and even bigger dreams, Judy Hopps took her very first step to stardom.
Or at least, that's what she thought at that time.
Everything was going according to plan: as always. Nick Wilde had been in this business long enough to know how to lure in innocent little things from towns so far from the big, big city of Zootopia. At first, he had been a little waryof such risky businesses, but life on the streets was hard. And only those who were cunning enough could figure out what to do.
It wasn't that he never felt guilty when seeing eyes once filled with gleeful hope fill with tears. He had a soft spot for pretty little ladies crying, anything. He did, actually, feel bad about what his job was quite often. But was there really anything he could do about it? Of course not. A fox like Nick could only live on money they gathered in sneaky manners.
Was it theft? Yes, it was.
Did Nick really care?
Yes, he probably did. But what mattered more? The pouty faces of some rich-little ladies who had more than enough money to travel to the wonderful city, or the hunger that crawled into his stomach each and every time he did not have enough to pay for his food?
The fox chuckled to himself lowly as he checked the files of the girls he had managed to lure into his trap this time. There was a horse, somewhat pretty, that had sent him a file of her singing some hip song. Well, it was more like screeching. The industry wasn't going to lose much with her if she ended up going home heartbroken with her sweet little dream having shattered right in front of her eyes. Another was an otter that lived in a nearby village. She was more talented judging by the files she had sent, but she also was not too pretty. If anything, she looked like she tried too hard. Poor thing, was she going to realize that it all had been in vain!
The last victim of that ever so sunny day was a rabbit. Nick had to snicker at that without much humour to his voice.. A dumb little bunny had fallen into his trap. She wasn't much, fur grey from the tips of her ears to her toes - well, probably. She had sent a picture of herself clad in loose clothes and a pair of worn, dark shoes. She was grinning to the camera like crazy, her lilac eyes filled with hope and.. was that worry, too?
What unsettled Nick a little was the fact that she, unlike the other too, was actually both somewhat pretty and talented. Granted her voice was rough and faltering and her looks could have used some help but... she actually had potential. Cases like hers made him feel bad. But then again, it wasn't like she would have made it far anyway. She was just a smalltown bunny with a big dream. And a possible carrot-obsession, he had to realize when he stepped out into the building he was borrowing renting out for his little trick audition. It was by no means rundown: a pretty little place he had found a night few years back when he didn't have a place to crash at. It had probably been abandoned for a while and that was just perfect for him.
The fox glanced into the mirror he had hastily hang on the wall and waited.
The horse-girl arrived first, clearly as anxious as one could be. She knocked on the door first, standing there for at least three minutes when Nick went to open it. He was holding a camera in his right hand, charming grin gracing his muzzle. He could have sworn that the girl swooned. She seemed young and reckless, probably a teen who had gone there without her parents' permission. It served her just right, in a way. Or at least that was what the fox told himself: in a way, he calmed himself with such harsh words.
"We will wait for the other applicants and after that, my dear, you all will compete for the role." She seemed a little taken aback, looking around. Almost as if she was searching for a crew. How silly.
"Oh, I see, sir.." she said."Um, my name is.."
"Kamilla, I know, sweetheart. I would remember such a pretty name from anywhere!" the fox said, sending a wink to the girl who almost immediately crumbled - albeit only on the inside. Poor thing was trying to keep strong, letting out an odd little laugh that was close to whining. Nick had to wince inwardly at that. She was...out of this world. But, he had to make do with what he had!
Unsurprisingly, the otter girl was the next to get there, yelling apologies even before she had set her foot inside. She was wearing high-heels (Nick had to wonder how her dainty little paws fared in them) and a flimsy dress made from something too pink and too sparkly. But she had a pleasant voice and a shy personality. Had she been dressed by someone else? Nick had seen parents do that to their kits before. Dress them up and sell them, in a way. He may not have been the most honest and trustworthy of people, but that was something he would have never done. Not to his flesh and blood, even if his own skin depended on it. If a young little thing wanted something like this, he was almost joyful to show them a glimpse of the real, cold world out there. But if they had been forced to do it...
He wasn't always sure if he was doing the right thing.
The bunny was an hour late, which made the other girls quite iffy about her. They had talked on and on, ratting her out even without actually knowing her. Nick had left them in the makeshift little waiting room, claiming that he had something else to do. He just wasn't in the mood to listen to all those stupid names. After all, the horse girl had even assumed that the last auditionee would be a fox or something like that. Oh, just how wrong she was.
Nick was ready to go outside and tell them to just stop waiting and come in one by one when he heard the large door creak open and the soft pitter-patter of tiny feet."Sorry for the wait..didn't know..which bus..got lost." it was a wheeze, but strong and filled with an odd sense of..hope? Nick wasn't sure what it could be but he sort of liked it. Out of the three, he already liked the little rabbit the most.
Well, at least she spotted him and started screaming at the top of her tiny lungs, that is.