Zootopia

In Rage of Fire

Disclaimer

This is the third part of my story. I do not own any of the characters of Zootopia. Just the characters I created like Gurē and Ai. Enjoy the story.

Prologue – Regrets of the Past!

A samurai was supposed to be noble. A samurai was supposed to protect. Yet this one, a black fox with shining stars in his midnight fur, was forced to humbly drag himself back onto the shore when he jumped form the boat that the simple grey bunny had brought him to this island on. He grunted as he pulled himself up, his left arm cut up from debris and his green kimono singed and drenched. He pulled himself up again and tried to stand. Pain shot through his body, and when he looked down, he could see it, a laceration. Deep into his ankle, but from where he was standing, it could have been worse. So, through the pain, he stood and looked around. He remembered the dock, though now it was in broken pieces and remembered the boat. Then again, he remembered the bunny. He looked around, trying to see her, and then he saw her. She wore a different kimono, but there she was, or so he thought. His vision was blurry, and he quickly found himself feinting from the pain. When he awoke, he found his face covered on one side, bandages wrapped around his head and right eye. His left arm and leg both wrapped in bandages with what looked like a wet cloth placed on them to keep whatever swelling would happen down to a minimum. He glanced around, listening for anything that might give him a hint to where he was. On the far side of the room, he heard a door slide open, so he looked. It was hard, because it was on the same side that his bandaged eye was on, but he lifted himself up to get a better view. "Banni?" he asked when he saw the back of her head as she slid the door closed. When the bunny's ears shot up, she turned her head. Her face was similar, but younger. Much younger. She could only have been just barely of age. Her pink flowered kimono matched the flower she kept behind each of her ears, and the surprised look she had almost matched his own. "My apologies." he responded softly.

"You knew my sister?" the girl said. With a choke, the fox turned to her, and nodded. "My name is Usagi Senkō."

"SENKŌ?" another voice called out. Senkō panicked a bit, but before she could do much, the door slid open, and there, standing in a blue kimono with cherry blossom pedals, stood another bunny, but this one was taller by a little. She had a stern look on her face as she glared at Senkō, but that same face, it looked strikingly similar, not like Senkō's. He could see a great deal of Banni's features in this one, more so than the younger. "I thought I'd find you here. What have I told you about foxes?"

"But it's not fair to judge him just because he's a fox!" Senkō said with worry, her front claws pressing against each other in embarrassment of getting caught.

"A fox is a fox!" the taller bunny said, "They cannot be trusted! Besides, this is the fox that was lying there during the explosion."

"Yah, but how do you know he killed someone?" Senkō asked in defense, "Besides, he said he knows Banni!"

"Is this true?" the other bunny asked, "Did you kill our sister with that explosion?"

His eyes widened in shock as she asked those questions, was Banni dead? Had she not gotten away from the explosion in time? The girl was about to speak again when the young Senkō slapped her own sister, "How dare you!?" the girl asked in shock, "You have no proof Banni was even there, you have no real reason to suspect him at all. You only blame him for being something he has no control over. Banni will be ashamed of you when she gets back!" Senkō nearly shouted and ran past her sister and around the door. The two of them stood in surprise at the young bunny's boldness though the taller bunny kept her hand to her cheek as she watched her sister disappear into the house. The room fell silent, the taller bunny thinking deeply on her words, even the words of her sister.

It was the fox that spoke, "I didn't know Banni had any sisters." he said. The bunny turned to him as she listened, "She never spoke of you."

The other bunny lowered her eyes in shame, but quickly lifted them up, trying to hold onto her pride, "She probably didn't think about it. She was always like that." She said.

"I am Kitsune Gurē. May I ask what your name is?" the samurai said.

"Kitsune Gurē?" the bunny asked, "The dishonored Samurai from the imperial army?"

Gurē was just about to yell at her, but instead he took a deep breath, "The Emperor dishonored ME, not the other way around."

The two glared at each other, focus against distrust, until the bunny smiled, "I am Usagi Ai. And I'm actually glad you came here to fight the imperial army."

Gurē shot up with a start, his fur matted with sweat as he regained his breath. The futon he was laying on spread across the ground of Nick's apartment, and the thunder cracked through the air as the rain struck the widow with a wet splash for each drop, one right after the other like that of a waving piece of paper, or what he knew now as the joy of bubble wrap. His mind was reeling with the memory, the death of his friend, Usagi Banni, and the mistakes he made so long ago. He reached down to steady himself, and there she was, Ai, his bunny wife sleeping soundly next to him, their kimonos both spread across the blanket that covered the both of them. He placed a gentle paw onto her shoulder, careful not to wake her from her slumber. With his head full of thoughts, he rose from his bed, and moved to the kitchen.

He grabbed a packet of tea, and placed a cup of water into the microwave, one of the few devices he actually liked. It heated water quickly and didn't scream like a tea kettle did. It was also easy to use, not like Nick's phone/stereo/computer/GPS (whatever that was). Just as he placed the tea bag into the cup, he heard a familiar flushing noise, so he turned to the bathroom, cup of steeping tea in paw, and watched Nick exit the bathroom, a tired look on his face. Nick looked up and into the kitchen, Gurē could tell the other fox was thinking of a snack. "What's your excuse?" Nick asked as he neared the other fox.

"Dreams of-e de past." Gurē said as he watched the tea steep. With a gentle swirl of the cup, the color of the tea seeped in, overtaking the water quickly, it was almost tea, but Gurē liked it much stronger.

"Yah?" Nick asked as he pulled the fridge open, "Which one?"

"De time I met Ai and one of-e her many sisters." Gurē said solemnly.

Nick turned to the other fox, the samurai's expression full of sorrow. "Banni again?" he asked only to get a slow nod. Nick thought a bit, and then came up with a question as he fixed a tomato, lettuce, swiss cheese and smoked salmon sandwich. "Hey, I never asked, were you able to dream at all while you were in that giant piece of amber?"

Gurē looked at him, and shook his head, "I don't-e think so." the black furred fox said, "It-e was like I woke up seconds after I-e went to sleep. But I-e had never been-e more confused in-a my life."

"That's understandable." Nick said and reached again into the fridge. To Gurē's delight, the red fox pulled out a small carton of blueberries and offered some to his friend. Both foxes enjoyed a few berries as they waited, Gurē squashing one and dropping it into his tea. "Hadn't thought of that." Nick said with a smile, and then heard his phone ring. From inside his room. He stiffed his sandwich into his mouth, and quickly made his way to the bedroom. The black fox finally took a sip of his tea, and just then, Nick made his way out of his room, sandwich halfway in his mouth as he pulled his uniform shirt on, the pants already in place.

"What is wrong?" Gurē asked without lowering his tea cup.

"Got a call from the precinct." Nick told him, "Someone got assaulted, and they asked for Judy and me personally."