Stone Kole in Dark Paradise
Zooptopia's favorite small board surfer and his pals travel to an exotic tropical island to be in a movie, but the gang soon learns that everything is not as idyllic as it seems. On top of that, the fennec fox is in love with a sand cat and gets caught up in the WildeHopps mixed species controversy. This story contains voodoo, zombies, and there's also a pesky pirate ghost too!
Welcome to the next story in the Stone Kole Series. For those of you who read my first story, Stone Kole in Hang Ten, this will be a continuation of that story starting with a brief summary of our little friend and his background for any new readers.
I do not own the rights to Zooptopia or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious.
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Cannons! He remembered the sharp crack of the cannons, their flames lighting up the night followed by the thumping of iron balls against the splintering wood. He closed his eyes again and felt the peaceful darkness that entombed him. But then there was that awful pounding sound and it was noisy enough to wake the dead.
Kerpow...thump…the rhino in the brown overalls brought the huge sledge hammer down hard upon the wooden post. "A little deeper Paul!" a beaver yelled as he looked down at the blue prints. "Then the next one goes over here. This is going to be one sweet looking bungalow when it gets done."
Stone Kole stretched and yawned as he walked along the seashore, the fennec fox stood almost a foot and a half tall and was wearing his favorite multi colored stripped cotton Baja hoodie and a pair of dark blue boardshorts. It was still very early in the morning, so the beach crowd hadn't yet come out. Even during the winter months it was still somewhat warm along the northern shores of the city's district called Sahara Square and its mammal made dry heated air strained against the cool wet wind blowing in from the sea to create a fog offshore. The section of the district that Stone knew and loved was informally called The Strand because of its many motels and hotels, along with the assorted businesses that catered to the tourist crowd.
The small long eared tan furred fox looked inshore at the various buildings that lined the Strand's famous Boardwalk, a lovingly cared for wooden plank walkway that separated the touristy businesses from the sandy beach and the sea beyond. Bars, photo galleries, candy shops and junky souvenir shops were lined up along the walkway. Above these were condos, apartments, and hotels. In the center of it all was the carnival with its exciting rides, game booths, and food stands. Towering above everything was the huge Ferris wheel and the vintage roller coaster, all quiet in the early morning hours. It would be later in the day before the carnival would came to life again and by nightfall its music and bright light would be a beacon to those seeking adventure. Further up the coast he could see Sandy Cove, with its luxury condominiums and its harbor bristling with sailboats and fancy yachts and beyond the harbor were the icy waters of the Polar Straits.
Fumbling in the hoodie's large pocket, he found his sunglasses and put them on as the morning sun brightened. Most of the tourists this time of year were from Tundratown and consisted of normally cold loving mammals that had come south to enjoy an ice free coastline. The majority of the other tourist came during the warmer summer months, the peak season as they called it on The Strand, but by then it would be too hot for the polar bears, moose, and other mammals from the north. As he walked along, he watched as the small sandpipers pecked into the sand for a meal, the little birds running from the incoming wave and then running after it as it receded. A larger gull would periodically fly by or land on the beach sizing the small fox up as a potential meal, but flapping away after Stone whacked it with a well-aimed throw of a pebble or a seashell.
The small fox loved the early mornings, an oddity for a mammal who was biologically wired as a nocturnal animal, but Stone Kole was always a bit of an enigma. He was from a long line of dry desert loving foxes and yet he was a four time small board champion surfer who loved the water. In addition, he was every inch a very male canid who was in love with a feline, a sand cat named Karen to be specific.
Along with his littermate Storm, Stone had grown up on the Strand were his single mother worked long hours in the motels and hotels as a maid, receptionist, and doing whatever jobs she could find to put food on the table. The two young foxes were shuffled from one family member or friend almost daily, but they loved their mother deeply. It wasn't until he was an adult that his mother admitted that their father hadn't run off on them, but that he actually didn't even know they were alive. The young fox finally tracked down his father, who turned out to be a foul mouthed hustler named Finnick and ultimately reunited him with his mother. While Stone had turned to the sea to become a champion surfer, his brother Storm had turned to the streets to become a two bit criminal and was now upstate in the penitentiary serving a ten year sentence for a dozen assorted crimes.
Looking back at the Ferris wheel, he smiled as he thought about his best friend Cooper, who currently worked with the carnival. The fox and the wallaby had been constant companions since they first met, sharing a camper across the strait in Seaside during the off season and a tent in the local campground during the surf season. Cooper was from Outback Island and although he was a good surfer, he was never top championship quality. Unlike Stone, the wallaby came from a fairly wealthy family, but Cooper was a disappointment to his traditional minded father who rejected his son when he found out that his boy was gay. The wallaby turned to the surfer life to escape his overbearing family situation and soon met Stone and the two became inseparable until the fox fell in love with a cat and the wallaby with another hopper named Billy.
The last member of the surfing trio was a younger meerkat named Reggie, he was a brash and carefree soul who lived by that old meerkat motto, Hukuna Matata or no worries. Reggie was very talented on the board and was almost the little fox's equal, but his only problem was that his mouth sometimes got him in trouble. Stone and Cooper would often have to come to his rescue. Unlike his two friends, Reggie wasn't a refugee from his family problems and had come from a solid loving middle class upbringing. Instead, the meerkat just loved to surf and with his parent's support took up the sport.
Stopping, the fox looked towards the surf with a longing to join it and ride the incoming waves. His paw reached up and gently touched a shell that hung on a cord around his neck; it was a gift from his lover. Karen was a sand cat who lived in her family's condo on The Strand and she worked as an assistant manager at one of the local hotels. She stood almost as tall as the fox and had a sexy curvy tan body with her species black furred stripes on her arms and tail, along with her tantalizing green eyes. Despite her being a feline, Stone knew she was his soul mate and their bodies fit together like a lock and a key. Stone hurried along the shoreline until he found the sand dune that he was looking for and reached into his pocket for a tiny bottle that was attached to a cord. Knelling, he ran his paw along the sand and picked up enough grains to fill the small glass container. This was a special place for him, because it was here behind the dune in the darkness of a soft summer night that they once made mad passionate love.
Satisfied, he wiped the sand from his legs and stuck the bottle into his pocket as he made his way back towards the condo. He wanted to have as much time with Karen before she left on her new job, a temporary transfer to her company's resort on Saint Sylvester Island. When he had told her that he would miss her, the cat just roll her eyes and reminded him that he would be joining her in a few weeks for the filming of the sequel to the failed beach spy movie that he and his friends had a few bit parts in. The very bad movie had been repackaged before its release and became a hit comedy called Beach SpyJinks. The cat's transfer was at the request of the movie's lead actor, Rip Rock. The big bull had befriended Stone after his actions during a charity ball when the little fox refused to leave his sick date, a young cancer stricken fox kit, at the hospital instead of attending the glamorous star studded event. Impressed with the surfing fox, Rip invited him and his pals to cruise to the island on his private yacht.
With his gift tucked away, he hurried into her family's condo. Everyone but Karen and her sister were gone and the cat and her fox had the run of the place to themselves. Since she was working the night shift, Karen had chosen to sleep in late allowing Stone to do his errand without her knowing it. Creeping up the stairwell and silently opening the front door, he stealthily stalked his way into her room while leaving a trail of clothing behind him. She was still in bed and had tucked her head between two pillows, seemingly peacefully sleeping. Trying not to make a sound he slipped under the covers and reached for her. "You're paws better not be cold!" she hissed in an amused voice.
"Aw, I wanted to surprise you!"
"The sound of your swishing tail was a giveaway fox."
"Hey stop that!" she giggled. "Your nose is cold!"
It was late afternoon by the time Stone made his way to the apartments west of the Strand and as he walked past the Big K Market, he saw a familiar van parked in front of his mother's apartment. The old van was not only his father Finnick's pride and joy, but also his home. He grinned as he heard the older fennec fox's deep voice trying not to curse as he was busy digging under the hood. A much taller red fox dressed in jeans and a dark blue long sleeved shirt with a police logo on the chest pocket stepped from around the other side of the van and was reaching under the hood too.
"Let go Wilde!" the deep voice snarled and then the reddish orange furred fox stepped back with his paws in the air in mock surrender.
"Your funeral grumpy!" the larger fox laughed.
Stone could now see the sand colored tail and hindpaws sticking out of the hood. The younger fox's ears flicked as his father gave up any attempt to be civil and let loose a creative string of obscenities that would make a sailor blush.
"Do you kiss your son's mother with that mouth?" Nick sarcastically asked as he winked at Stone.
"As much as possible," Finn muttered from inside of the hood, unaware of his son's presence.
"You know that children can pick up on their parent's bad habits like your cussing?" the red fox snickered back. "You don't want any young impressionable ears to hear you using that kind of language do we?"
The reply was not only very creative, but very obscenely disgusting.
"I don't think Mister Nick could physically do that no matter how hard he tried!" Stone spoke, causing his father to jump with a start and then add a few more creative words aimed at his son.
"Is cursing something you can inherent or is it just something one learns?" the younger fox mused. "For a moment there you sounded just like Storm."
A paw appeared over the hood's rim and displayed his father's middle digit.
"Love you too!" Stone laughed, causing Nick to grin and laugh.
"It's a good thing you take after your mom," the red fox observed. "Two cussing pint sized foxes is more than I could handle today."
"Wilde, stick your paw over here!" a command came from under the van's hood. "No to your left, right there!" There was a thump and Nick gave out a surprised yip and quickly pulled his paw away. "Next time I'll bite it off!"
Stone watched as the feet wiggled and the tail swished as his father finally climbed out of the hood and turned to step down the ladder. The older fox was wearing tan pants and oily tee shirt, his father turned around and looked him over. "As for you my young pup, you're never too old to spank," he said with a grin. "Now give your dad a hug."
As Stone stepped into his father's embrace, Nick snorted and rolled his eyes before dramatically remarking, "Aw, you're going to make me cry!"
"Shut up Wilde," both of the smaller foxes said together.
"Geeze, it's like stereo!" the red fox chuckled.
"So you're off in a week or so to the islands?" Finn asked as he pulled off the dirty shirt and tossed it into the van before pulling on another of his many bowling shirts, this one dark red with a yellow stripe. "My son the movie star!"
"Do you even bowl?" Stone blurted out, it was a question that he had pondered for a while since his father seemed to own an impressive wardrobe of the shirts.
"Huh?" his dad grunted as he reached for a package of cigarettes. "Oh, the shirts! Naw, I got them from a sports store that was going bankrupt and bought them super cheap. Anyways, when are you leaving?"
"In a couple weeks from now on Rip Rock's big yacht," the younger fox answered as he reached over and snatched the cigarette from his father's muzzle before he could light it. "You promised mom that you'd give these up."
"Females!" Finn huffed. "Always trying to change you, right Wilde?"
"Hey don't drag me in on this!" Nick replied.
"That rabbit has you running at the crack of dawn," the smaller fox chuckled.
"I happen to like running…early in the morning…before even the birds are awake…and everyone one else who is sane," the larger fox answered, but his ears drooped at the grins the two smaller foxes were giving him. "Just shut up Finn!"
Finn just gave a deep laugh and threw his paw over the younger fox's shoulder. "Son, all three of us are just whipped and we wouldn't have it any other way."
Stone just hung his head and nodded.
Nick on the other paw grinned at them and shrugged. "So there's a bar down the street, let's go there for refreshments and do some macho trash talking," he chuckled. "The first round is on me!"