It was but an hour before the sun was to set, in what little light was left the face and sign of a restaurant recent in arrival yet well endeared to both to those who ate and to those who worked within its walls. For now the sign was dark and dim, for a few minutes more this was how it'd remain. Like the sign above the windows bellow were empty and near devoid of life as the time had not yet come for lovers to come and dine beneath the glow of unnatural light. But while such light could not take hold for strength of the light beyond the walls the view and sights from within the place were undoubtedly beyond words to describe even with the lack of ones to use the space. But while none was there to dine those within that bore the clothes of chiefs and servers were still at work and could not leave before their shift was through, not that any of them really wished to leave. For many of those present, those at the front being mainly Bunnies and other small prey, those in the back being much the same save for one or two small feline hunters, the pay they earned was far greater than anything they could ever otherwise hope to earn.
Among those that served there stood only one that knew the name of he who owned the place. To many she would have seemed just like the rest, the only thing separating her being through the speed and skill in which all her tasks were complete, to all but one who knew her she seemed one with dreams far greater than herself. Never in the long history of this world had a Bunny ever taken the role of a cop, a fact that she wished to overturn. In her searching for that dream she had sought work, work that would give her pay enough to let her join the academy of the ZPD, a task that in of itself would prove a near impossible feat. But thanks to luck a job was found, a job that promised more money than any other within reach. But while the job had come to her the dream she sought did not, within a year it was proven clear that no matter what she did she had little hope of her application reaching anyone of rank and all she did would only add to the list of times she was denied. So often had this come that returning there had become an act of which she thought with a tinge of fear. But while she would feel fear for her sure denial, there was nothing that could stop her from trying.
But until she had time to try once more she had a job to do even while there seemed none within the walls of the place, none who didn't work there anyway. At that point in time there seemed none who wished or hoped for a diner delivered in the most elegant of scenes, none who wished for the view the owner had once fought so hard to gain. But even while empty and without the addition of voice or song there was a unique beauty to the place, a beauty that only the owner's thrifty eye had managed to create. But while she was surrounded in the beauty there was something that kept her from eyeing it, something that had never come to haunt her before.
To one beyond the room her feeling was easily explained, some bizarre chill being but a fan or vent, to one who had seen the room it was clear that was not the case. At first she dismissed the feeling as something born from the unusually empty place, but as time went on and she saw the faces of those who worked beside showing signs that the feeling would haunt them too she became convinced that it was not a case of nerves. But just as this conclusion was made the feeling ceased to come, that which had caused it seemingly ceasing to exist.
000
While this feeling was one few had ever known, one whose presence seemed very much like the awakening of a new terrifying beast of darkness, its cause was of a very different nature. To most he seemed but a Bunny robed in black, one whose form lived the view of his kind, a view that while once one he sought to refute was now one he let hide that which he was. That which he was, a wielder of fear and shadow, one whose name had through years past become all but lost, all that was shoved aside. For nearly eight years he had been nothing but a shadow in the darkest night ever known, now he stood without support bathed in light, light he was forced to endure as his gaze stood transfixed on where Judy worked.
To most such attention would seem unneeded, true Judies was a venue of the most refined taste, but still there seemed no reason for such a gaze to be held. But as we know, this was not one of the most normal of mammals, within that venue stood two mammals he had been sent to seek, two mammals that while he knew nothing of what they could do he knew would be of great use. But as he no longer had need for his power he sought an ally dark to let it leave his frame.
Once covered in the shadows of the building near he pulled off the cloak that had kept his power safe, a cloak that from necessity had left no limb uncovered. With his face now free from the shade of hood and mask there seemed a strange smoke like blackness that rose from his coal like fur. For a second he stood silent, his eyes shut tight, his power being slowly drained by the light above. When his lids rose there seemed a demonic spirit that rose from his throat, a spirit that formed into a cloud of darkness before vanishing into the shadows on the wall. As soon as the cloud had left him he fell to his knees without strength to rise, his weakness from the temporary loss of his power. For a second he left himself to kneel in the ally as his natural strength slowly returned to his body. Then when ready he rose before putting on a more common attire and leaving his robes behind until he had need for them again, a need that he knew would not be long in coming.
000
Night had long since fallen, the restaurant now returned to that near empty state it had been in before. Once again there was neither light nor patron, the entire place shrouded in the darkness of night. While this darkness had once filled her with anxiety it now had no effect. While she may have seemed alone she knew there was someone near, while she was blind there was nothing she wouldn't hear. So sensitive was she to sound that not even the faint fwoof of the kitchen stove escaped her notice or from making a her lips curl into a smile.
For several minutes she could only smell and hear that which the kitchen made until the stove was once again silent. For a few seconds there was silence, silence broken only by her heart beating wildly in anticipation. Then, in the thick of the gloom, she saw his form with the little light of green walking through the room bearing one of the silver serving trays. As she continued to watch she saw him reach his paws up into the air before awkwardly sliding his tray on the table. For several moments she could see nothing of what he did, his form all but gone beneath the shroud of night, so far gone that only the green bulb of his collar told her he was still there. Then, sure that everything was where he wanted, he struck a match and lit the candle in the center.
With the room now lit in the gentle glow of a candle's flame she could see the whole of her Fox's face and frame, two features that while once used to a smile sly and slick would now often give one of greater feeling, feeling so great that the light his collar bore would always seem to shine with yellow when his gaze was fixed on her. While she had once looked at his collar as the thing that kept her safe she now would only view it with disdain and the want to tear it off. But as much as she hated the fact they had no way of doing such a thing, the collar's chips and locks being well hardened against attack. So, without means to remove his curse, the pair would date and dine with the fear of his collar's shock ever present in their minds.
So great was her fear of the collar's shock that it had aroused the attention of one unnamed but not unknown. As was his duty, he had returned to the venue to once again seek the two he'd been sent to find. There, his cloak and powers restored, he hid in the shadows above. While he had arrived when the room was still dark he was still aware of all within, his power over shadow giving him vision greater than even the Fox before him. But while ha had seen the room he dared not show himself, while he had a duty to preform he had seen in her eyes and form that something great was soon to come, something he dared not disturb.
As it had turned out, it much to his benefit that he hadn't spoke or rose as the secret behind her fear of the collar and of the Fox falling and writhing on the ground shown itself to him. As he saw the two rest and dine he felt the urge to search the Fox to see if he had such a fear for her but then quickly tossed that thought aside. While he had been sent to find them with the greatest haste he could not bare the thought of ruining a moment so full of love, nor could he bear have either feel a fear once unknown as they had beaten one so few had broken.
For a few seconds more he watched in silence, then with cautious haste he turned and left. Once safely beyond the building's walls he took from his pocket a pair of gems. Then, with only the memory of where they sat he pointed their sharpest points as close as he could to points at which they sat and watched them both for the sign he needed before continuing his work. As expected the two gems glowed with brilliant light, light that for each was the color of its gem. Now sure that he had found those he sought he placed both gems back where he had pulled them out before turning and running down the street to begin his work.
OK, so now I really hate myself. I already have two fanfics, have a very limited schedule in which to update any of them, and now I have a third one to deal with, arg! Well anyway please let me know if you like this story and what you think of the idea and how I'm writing it, it's very encouraging and super helpful if you do. Now I don't plan on doing regular updates (this was really something to get out of writer's block) but I do have ideas for future chapters so we'll see what goes on.