Chapter 2

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Spring, 1993.

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"LAND HO!"

My ears pricked as I heard the call, sending a rush of excitement through my body. Pulling myself up from my drawings and scribbles as I looked around, I waited to see if it was real. I wasn't sure if it was true or not, but I was so, so hopeful. Today was supposed to be the day…

"LAND HO!"

No, this time I was certain. It was real, this was it!

I leapt to my feet in an instant and raced out of my family's cramped cabin, all cluttered up with our possessions and furniture, and leapt out into the corridor, pivoting on my pads as I skidded to a halt before turning to race down it. The whole ship was moving about, rolling on the waves and shaking with the hum of the engine, but over the last days I'd got used to it. My Dad said that I'd 'got my sea legs', but all I knew was that running from the bow to stern of the ship in the middle of a big storm was FUN and I was good at it. Having survived that day, I was able to race up the cold stairs, missing a step with each stride, without the slightest loss of balance. Up the first flight, and then the second, and then out into the bracing wind of the open deck.

The smell of salt was everywhere, filling up my nose and racing through my sinuses and down to my lungs as I scurried along the slippery deck, passing friends and strangers alike as I went. There was a family of otters, a hulking grizzly bear and even a Honey badger who was sunning herself on a worn deckchair. I'd seen her many times before, even before we got on the ship back in Zootopia. Madge was the older sister of Honey, who was one of my best friends at school. However, she was a few years older than us so I didn't know her that well, although from what Honey told me she was very nice. I paused, thinking about talking to her, before I remembered the call and turned to the front again, racing up the stairs to the ships bridge. Without thinking I slammed open the door and raced in, past some of the smaller adult mammals and weaving and squeezing through the legs of larger ones before reaching the front. I leapt, scrabbling up the control panel before standing up and looking on the vista beyond, my eyes wide as they looked on.

At first I was confused, tilting my head to the side to see if I'd missed something. There was the sea, of course, spreading out to the horizon all dark blue and choppy. There was the light blue sky, filled with fluffy sheep like clouds. But there didn't seem to be any land, until my gaze wandered to the left and saw it. Far off in the distance, smaller than my smallest finger, lay a brown and grey smudge of rock, sticking out of the sea all by its own. It was a bit of a disappointment, given all the things I'd imagined, but I couldn't say that I'd been lied too.

"Do you like it?"

The question came out of nowhere, startling me slightly before I gathered my thoughts and turned around, a grin on my face big enough to match that on the Fox who I faced.

"It's a bit small Dad…"

He just chuckled, smiling some more like he always did, before latching his arm around me and hauling me over to a large table, covered in maps and surrounded by other Predators. Setting me down on the table, he stood tall and look around, before clearing his throat and speaking.

"Fellow Predators. We've been sailing due East for four days, keeping on the same path after leaving Zootopia."

He paused for effect, before extending a claw and tracing a line along one of the charts. At its start was the wide-open bay of Zootopia and, after cutting through a long path of blank paper, he paused just to the left of several small islands, scattered across the empty sea. His claw dug in slightly, swivelling around as it dug further into the paper, before lifting up and tapping the bottom of a long and thin island just to the north.

"I believe that our little bit of land there is the southern tip of this island here," he announced, hovering his finger above it. "It's the second largest island in the group, about 70 miles tall but at most 18 wide. That means we won't have any big rivers and, with the look of those cliffs, I don't think we'll find any good places to anchor up." There were general murmurs of agreement around, the adults in question agreeing with him, before he carried on. "The island to the east, however, is a different matter." My ears flicked up as he finished speaking, recognising that sly little tone that always meant he had some plan up his sleeve. It was never nasty or sneaky… unless it involved an incoming tickle attack, but it meant that he'd got some big idea that he was proud to show off. I smiled, excited for what was coming next, as Dad continued speaking.

"It's the largest of the group, about one hundred and forty miles tall and about forty wide, with a big coast sheltered from the storms by the island we're just passing. The North, east and south, from the old records I picked up at the library, are mountainous while the west was 'thickly forested'. That's where we're going, we should see it in about an hour and a half and be there in the same time again. We can then turn north and carry along the coast, until we find the perfect place to land… All good?"

There was a pause, before everyone began speaking and yelling and calling out, but all their words were in agreement, all in on the plan just as they had been from the very start. Even back then, back in Zootopia when Dad had crouched down to face me and tell me that the plan was going ahead, no-one seemed to have any complaint or worry.

Over one weekend Mum and I had gone from shop to shop, to the library and the garden centre, always on our feet as we gathered each and every item on our long list. We often bumped into other Preds with a similar long list, and they all smiled back and carried on with their job at hand without a doubt or worry on their face. By Sunday evening we, and the other hundred or so mammals, had placed everything we bought and everything we could carry on the waiting boat, already filled with supplies. We stepped on and, in the dead of night, casted off. No one was sorry to leave the city, even though we were leaving our homes and many other friends behind. Instead they'd all looked forwards and, when the collar keys came around, screamed and cheered in joy.

I was still dizzy from that night, having spent the whole time dancing and screaming and shouting and whooping and all sorts of other things that were loud or fun. Me and my friends, finally out of our nasty horrible collars that zapped us whenever we wanted to do that, could finally be kids and each had three years of kid stuff to make up for! Mum and Dad had fun too, and all my friend's parents as well. They'd put on their loudest and most exciting music, and danced badly and kissed sloppily, playing just like us and almost looking like they were having as much fun as we were. They drunk quite a lot too, well except for Finnick's parents who never drank alcohol. They still had fun though, Finnick's older brother said that he saw them in their cabin wrestling, and the way they walked in the morning seemed to prove it!

All this had been Dad's idea. He'd been the brains, the one talking to other Preds and spending time hunched over maps or books or making up lists or doing maths… and by maths I mean the really hard maths with letters in it! They'd trusted him so far, and they weren't going to stop now. As for me, I'd love him and trust him till the ends of the earth, and follow him there too! And so, he and I stood up at the helm of the ship like we had four days ago, my paw on the wheel and his occasionally flicking in to help a bit, only this time we were sailing towards a new home rather than away from an old one.

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As we sailed on, the sun rising higher in the sky as we did, the bit of land to our left got larger and larger, until we could make it out as this big, sharp knife sticking in the ocean, with cliffs and hills hiding behind it. Soon it was behind us, and a dark green smudge could be seen looming on the horizon like a great bank of clouds. As it grew larger, we saw it split up into hundreds of other features. Mixes and mashes of greens, from all the different types of trees. Pale green mountaintops in the far-off distance, some with a dusting of white on top, while the white streak of sand on the coast could be spotted. But as we got closer my tail began to droop as I realised, for the first time since setting off, that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Where will be park the ship, Paps?"

The question was out of my mouth as soon as I thought of it and, looking up, I saw his ears raise and eyes look at me. But then he gave me that look, and I knew that everything was going to be fine. That everything was going to be OK, because my Dad had a plan! As we got closer, close enough to make out the individual trees and the foam of the waves breaking on the thin beach, the engine of the ship slowed down and, far off, I heard the rattle of the anchor chain as it was lowered down into the sea below. Silently, with just a wave of his paw, Dad beckoned those in the bridge to follow him as he stepped out and back onto the deck.

After pausing to let me scrabble up onto his shoulders, we were soon making our way backwards, towards the stern of the ship. Everyone was up now, out of the cabins and the holds and they were all talking, all excited, their words mixing into a great racket loader even than the waves hitting the ship or the thrum of the engine. All of them were looking at him, their heads turning to follow him and see what new trick he had, but as I saw all the eyes looking our way it felt that they were looking at me too.

For a moment, I felt a spot of shyness, wanting all the eyes to move away from me. It reminded me far too much of the times when teachers asked me out loud if I'd cheated on a test, just because I'd studied hard for it and done well. It reminded me too much of the times when I tried to defend poor Honey from the bullies at school who picked on her, only to get so worked up that I got shocked and I was suddenly that bad guy. I'd look up at all the Prey mammals, other kids and teachers, and just curl up into a ball as they stared angrily down at me.

Then, for one horrible, horrible second, I was the scared Kit following his Dad through the city, shying away from the angry or suspicious glances of mammals all around me who could see that I'd got zapped, my first ever zap, earlier that day. Back on the boat my fur bristled up just like it had been on that day, and as the other Preds seemed to morph into angry Prey, my arms and legs were twitching just like they had been doing back then.

They didn't care that I got it because I was terrified!

They didn't know that a gigantic Rhino holding me tight and squeezing the life from me!

They didn't care that I'd only got my collar earlier that day, and having been super excited about being grown up, only just began to understood what being a predator meant…

Instead they'd just see me as the bad guy, no questions asked, with their eyes burning shame into me. As a splash of a wave brought my back from the past, I looked up at the eyes looking at me and my ears twitched, almost hearing the collar that wasn't there going back up to orange, ready to hurt.

I knew deep down that this was silly, that these were good mammals and friends, but I still felt a bit shy. Rather than look at them, I turned down to look at Dad's neck, the area where his collar used to be. Unlike the rest of his lovely red fur, it still looking a bit tired, worn and sad. So, reaching down with a paw, I began rubbing and massaging it, helping him to relax. He didn't say it, still busy with walking, but the way his brush wagged and flicked left and right told me that he was enjoying this! Smiling, I leant down to give the area a get well kiss only to be thrown forwards as he ground to a halt, flinging me onto his muzzle and pulling my eyes up to the level. My ears went back and eyes went as wide as they possibly could, as I set them on 'the plan'.

Our ship used to be a big fishing boat, that had sailed out into the sea to catch all the yummy-scrummy fish that we ate. But after the Prey mammals in charge of the city said that we Preds couldn't catch 'too many' fish, it had been sold to a scrapper to be cut up. Good thing that that fellow was a Pred! He was standing with us now, just a little way to our left. He'd let us use the ship and, as well as putting in new cabins and loading up the holds with our supplies, he'd welded on some big flat metal panels along the left side of the boat, running from bow to stern. I hadn't thought about it first but now, as a large remote controlled plane was being hauled into position, it suddenly made sense.

"Khalid? You ready for this?"

"Yeh!" came an unmistakably deep voice, as Finnick's father, a darkly tanned Fennec Fox about my size, wandered out. Instead of his usually clothing, or the 'tea towel' as my father called it to annoy him, he wore a simple shirt and pair of trousers, with a snorkel mask without the snorkel pinned tightly onto his face. I paused for a moment, shifting back onto Dad's shoulders as Mr Ibn-Zerdain (as we called him when we were being polite) jumped up into a seat fixed in the front of the plane, before he started fiddling with the instrument panel in front of him. Cocking my head to the side didn't give me a better look so, scooting off Dad's shoulders, I ran over to get a closer view. Up close, the fact that it was a remote-control plane became even more apparent. The controls that Finn's Dad in front of him happened to be a remote control that had been glued in place.

"I do hope you guys got this tuned up, right?" he called out, eyes scowling as they looked over at Dad.

My Paps just shrugged, that grin, growing on his face as he spoke. "Don't worry, just a bit of tweaking. Anyway, we still have the original remote."

Mr Zerdain just grinned and spoke back, "Yes… The wonders of Elephant-mart…"

"Almost big enough to match your Ego…"

The little Fox's ears dipped down in annoyance, and in one sharp motion he pulled his goggles up and scowled up fiercely at Dad. Breaking eye contact, he turned around and looked past him and towards me, seemingly waving me forwards. It was only when five other Fennec's wandered past that I realised that he was giving them instructions.

"Cherifa my love," he began to say, holding the hand of his wife as her ears slipped back in worry, almost tipping her headscarf onto the deck. "If I do not make it, just remember how much I care for you. Look after the kits, keep them warm and well fed. Make sure you tell enough about me to little Tariq so that it's almost like he remembers me." He paused slightly, fussing the ears of the tiny little Kit in his wife's arms, his fur still as white as snow. Planting a kiss on his forehead, he looked up at the oldest of his children and spoke sternly. "Fenrick. I fully intend to come back, but if I don't you'll be the man of the house. I think you know what that means. Look after the family, lead them through the bad times and the good. You'll have to be brave, you understand that?"

"Yes, Father" The older Kit, only just ten, said as he stiffened up and raised his ears in attention before giving a nod in agreement as his father carried on, now turning to his one and only daughter, Finnick's big sister. He paused, almost unsure of what to say, before giving up entirely and just hugging her tight. After planting a kiss on her forehead, he finally turned his attention to Finnick himself, my best friend for life.

"Finnick, you have the most important job of all."

"Yes father…" he replied, already stretching his spine and ears up as tall as he could.

"See Nick's Dad over there?" he continued, pointing over at my Dad and letting a mischievous grin grow on his muzzle.

"Yes…" Finnick began, suddenly unsure of himself.

"This plane thing is his idea. If I crash, it's his fault… so that means, if I die, you're on…"

"Face biting duty!" Finnick practically squealed, as his father let out an evil chuckle.

"That's my Boy!"

And with that he pulled his goggles on and shooed his family away, practicing with the controls as a Tiger who I didn't know grabbed and spun the propeller at the back. The little engine on the plane sputtered and then roared to life, the propeller spinning around furiously and buzzing like a mosquito as the runway began to clear. The Fennec Todd tweaked around with his controls a bit, before ramming the throttle on full. There was a blast of wind as he took off down the boat, before the little plane took to the sky. It soared up like a bat, before tilting to the left and circling around us, wings twitching as it went. Finally, after a close pass where the pilot gave us a big salute, it turned and began flying off to the north. Everyone watching the spectacle, myself included, was cheering as the little vehicle begin tracking the beaches and vanished into the distance. Our ship itself began following it too, turning around and facing north before gunning the throttle and sailing forward, the whole thing shaking and thrumming while the engines threw black smoke from the chimney. The clapping and roaring slowly faded however, just like the drone of the little plane's engine, until the only sound was the lapping of waves on the boat and the odd sudden, painful squeal of static. I'd long since got bored and had been wandering around for a bit, before I heard my Dad shout.

"Khalid?" he suddenly called, drawing my gaze. He was hunched over a desk filled with radio equipment, a microphone in his paws and one of his ears filled up with a speaker that he'd rammed into it.

"Khalid, can you hear me?"

There was another pause, a silent hush falling over the boat.

"Mr Zerdain, this isn't funny."

I looked down to my right where Finnick was standing, his ears drooping back and his neck rippling as he gulped. I was about to speak when I realized that he was holding my hand, tight, before he turned up to face me and spoke.

"I don't want to bite your Dad's face off…" he said, his voice just a quiet hush with worry.

"Maybe you could just de-tail him?" I suggested, attempting to joke but my voice hitching with concern. I knew that if Finnick loved his Dad just a millionth as much as I loved my Pap's, he must be terrified.

"Listen…" my Dad continued, sounding strangely annoyed. "I can hear the engine…"

Finnick raced forward, closely followed by myself, and our ears picked out the tell-tale sound of the engine coming from the speakers.

"Is your side working?" called someone from the background, although my Father remained focussed on his task at hand. However, it was answered almost immediately by a deep chuckling from the other side and a massive sigh of relief from the other crowd.

"Finnick!" cried out the speaker, causing the Fox in question to leap up to meet it. Hooking his arms around the rim of the table, he scrabbled furiously for a few seconds before my Dad gave him a quick boost up. After giving him a quick angry glare, probably annoyed about being helped when he was this close to doing it himself, Finnick turned to the radio and spoke.

"Dad?"

"Terrible news son…"

"What!?"

"… It's looking very unlikely that there'll be any teeth based face removal today." As Finnick's ears and tail drooped down in disappointment, the Todd on the other side gave a hearty laugh as my Dad moved himself back into position.

"Any good sites yet?"

"…No. It's all straight beach with small round cliffs and no shelter. I'll carry on though."

"Anything else to report?"

"Well, it's like the timberlands down there… Lots of big steep hills though. And I can just make out the islands northern mountains up ahead… looks like some big buggers to me. Top quarter still white, any idea how tall they might be?"

"From the old charts I think the tallest is just over two thousand metres."

"Well, if I find a damn place for us to settle, I'm sure Honey or someone will find time to work out a way to measure it."

Both he and my father gave a short chuckle, before his voice faded, instead replaced by the hum of the plane's engine. Once more, everything became eerily quiet, the largest sounds being the murmur of Preds talking to each other in hushed voices and the thrumming of the engines, until a sudden load rumble startled me up straight. Both Finnick and I turned to face it, and our eyes set themselves on its source, our Cheetah friend Ben (or rather his stomach).

Breaking from the crowd, we ran towards him to meet with him, only getting faster when he saw that Honey was with him too. The two made quite the pair, the short stocky honey badger with a scraggy denim shirt and white top standing next to the tall, thin cheetah in a worn football T-shirt and shorts. A smile forming on his face, he turned and ran faster than any of us could dream of, although we had no second thoughts about chasing after him. He'd turn around here and there, blowing raspberries and taunting us, while our lungs burned and our pads began to ache as we raced after him. It didn't matter though, because just like the night of dancing and partying after we first got our collars off, any tiredness was gone. It was almost like we had pure excitement and fun running through our body, although Honey and her sister Madge called it 'Adrenaline', and it fueled us on and on. Weaving through the legs of other mammals, jumping over wires and ducking under pipes, we must have lapped several times around the ship before Ben went below deck, closely followed by the rest of us. It was dark and gloomy, but if anything, my eyes felt even less tired as they adjusted to the nicer light level, while my nose began working overtime to track him. Left here, right there, my ears always listening for any sound.

"Where are we?"

I flinched at the sound of Honey's question, turning around to shush her before pausing. Looking around I didn't know where we were, just that we were in a narrow metal corridor filled up with loads of cans and bags of food, their scents filling the air, with our cheetah nowhere in sight. Pausing, however, I looked for one of the weird little smudges that I could always see in my vision, knowing that it would help me work out where we were. Honey and the others always said I was crazy when I told them about the little shadows I saw there, as well as around magnets and electricity wires. I just called them crazy in return, wondering just how they couldn't see something that was always there. In the end, my Paps explained that Red and Arctic Foxes were the only mammals who could see magnets, and apparently it used to help us hunt in the snow in savage ages. I'd never used it for that… apart from when I played pounce with my toys, but it did mean that I practically had a compass on me at all times. Which meant that, as I spotted the smudges down on the floor and, knowing that we were heading north, I was able to work out what way we were going in seconds.

"Follow me…" I urged the others, waving them along as I led the way, carefully sneaking along on all four of my pads as I followed the trace of Ben's scent. It was full of sweat and warm fur, but also a little bit of danger and a whole lot of sugar. Turning a corner, I suddenly got a much more powerful whiff of my friend and, coming up to a railing, I heard his panting from below. The smudge was still in front of me and, after silently shushing the others, I planned to use it for some fun. Grabbing the railings, I climbed up and peered over, teetering as I fixed my eyes and ears on the cheetah standing out in the open, his back to me. The smudge was lined up right over him, just right, and, coiling my legs up, I pounced! It felt so right and awesome, sailing through the air and then diving fast. Ben only managed a soft 'huh' as he turned around to face me before I was on him. The impact winded him, sending him down onto his tail, as my arms began their work. Scrabbling faster that they'd ever scrabbled before, even on my trips to Tundratown before I got my collar, I worked at him with a vengeful merciless fury!

By the time the others had got over it was too late…

Ben was a laughing, giggling mass on the floor, defeated by a fearsome savage tickling monster…

ME!

The others joined in and pounced on him too, tickling as fast as they could while he tried to fight back, his paws lunging into our stomachs and doing their best to tickle us into submission…

By the time we wore each other out and got back on deck, we were laughing and teasing each other, only stopped by a sudden call from up front. It was my Mum, up from the kitchens and calling as many mammals as she could to the radio.

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By the time we reached it, weaving through the legs of larger mammals, we could tell that something good had happened. Everyone was excited and had huge smiles on their faces, talking to each other in happy voices.

It was something very good…

Dad was still fiddling with the radio, ramping up the speaker, before inviting Finnick's Dad to give everyone the lowdown. The flying Fox's voice was scratchy and fuzzy over the radio, with little tics here and there interrupting it. But we could make out what he was saying just clear enough.

"I'm right at the base of the northern mountains, where this nice little river meets the sea."

My Dad's ears twitched a bit and he moved in closer to the radio to speak back. "Is it big enough to anchor our boat in?"

"Let me finish John!" came the grumbling voice from the other end of the line, sending my Dad's ears folding back as he heard it. "It hits the coast at a right angle, with steep cliffs to the north made out of whatever the mountains are and waterfalls going off of them for hydropower… There's a big flat rocky bare patch overlooking the river and all, which seems to be the thing you wanted to build our homes on."

"Al said we needed flat, well drained land, so that sounds like it fits to bill," Dad eagerly replied, mentioning the builder Wolf who he said was in charge of building our new town.

"As for a place to anchor our ship, here's the best part," Mr Khalid continued, "You know those annoying cliffs on the islands west coast? Well it seems that the rock behind them is much softer. We've got this huge bay eaten into the land, surrounded on the east and south by nice shallow beaches, those mountain cliffs on the north and the sea cliffs on the west. We get our boat in through the opening, and it's safe from whatever storm can be thrown at it… We've found it boys. Our new home… It's perfect!"

A soft hush grew over crowd of mammals, before we all erupted in cheers.

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It was dusk by the time we reached the spot the Mr Zerdain had found. Sailing up the coast, we'd finally found the opening in the cliffs he'd described. It was small, but still easily wide enough to get our boat in.

Close to our left stood the steep grey cliffs that eventually rose up to the mountains, the odd tree planted on top and one or two small waterfalls pounding down it. Up a mile ahead or so was the mouth of the river, and sweeping from it the south and west was a shallow beach with forests and rolling hills behind it.

There was even a flashing light on the shore, and soon a pair of otters were rowing out to pick up Finn's Dad. Even before he got back, the celebrations were beginning. Oil drums were being hauled out into the open and filled with bits of cardboard and packing crates before being set aflame. The whole ship soon glowed orange from the light while the heat filtered down through my fur and onto my skin, while the sweet smell of smoke flowed into my nose and through the roof of my muzzle.

It was just like the night when we'd left Zootopia, only even better! The music was playing louder and louder and louder! Everyone was jumping and leaping and shouting and dancing! Meanwhile, I'd grabbed a huge plate of food along with my friends, all planning to feast and then play some more later! With a load of the stuff piled onto my fork, I took a great big bite and began chewing the yummy goodness, only to pause as I spotted my parents out of the corner of my eye, dancing together. They were good… very good. Spinning and turning in tune with each other, taking one and other in their arms or my father holding mum up, her arms held out wide like she was flying. Their tails often twisted together, and their cheeks muzzled each other.

I just stood there looking, smiling at how much they loved each other. Then they began giving each other a great big sloppy kiss and I turned away. All that love and they had to ruin it with a horrible, slimy, disgusting snog…

"THE TODD OF THE DAY! MR ZERDAIN!"

I turned on the spot, my ears pricking at the cry from an unknown mammal, but within seconds I was cheering with everyone else as Finnick's Dad returned, a massive grin on his face as he paraded around in front of each other. Everyone, myself loudest of them all, cheered and clapped for him, only pausing when he held his hand up to speak.

"While it's nice to finally have the praise that I've deserved my entire life… I must say though that there is another Todd who really deserves the praise. The hero who gave us a future! MR WILDE!"

And then it was my Dad's turn to receive all the praise. All around me were mammals clapping their pads to the bone and cheering their lungs empty for him! My Pap's… a hero! Clapping and cheering furiously as I went, I ducked and weaved through the crowd till I reached him, before hugging him tight around the waist.

"I love you Pap's…" I said, as I burrowed my face under his shirt and further into his soft, warm chest fur. As I pulled in his scent, my favourite smell in all the world, I knew that I'd never been more proud or happy in my life to have him as my Dad.

It seemed like a glorious forever, but like the summer holidays it finally came to an end as the clapping slowly stopped. Untucking myself from him, I stood up by his side and gave him a quick glance, looking at how flustered he looked. But, after a quick pause to clear his throat, he stepped forward to speak.

"Ladies and Gentle-mammals… I'm… Ah what the hell… thanks guys. I mean it. I've never received a toast like that before. It truly is second most amazing expressing of thanks I've ever had, after, of course, Khalid Ibn-Zerdain giving me an actual, non-ironic complement!"

"Don't get used to it!" Came a deep call from the Fox in question, sending ripples of laughter through the crowd. Pap's just took it his stride, grabbing a glass of some nasty smelling spirit and holding it high, ready to give out a great toast.

"Now, you may reconsider this toast when we get to work tomorrow, given how much we have to do, but… FOR FREEDOM!"

"FOR FREEDOM!" the crowd roared back.

"FOR PASSION!"

"FOR PASSION!"

"FOR LOVE!"

"FOR LOVE!"

"FOR OUR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN!"

"FOR OUR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN!"

"FOR PREDATORS!"

"FOR PREDATORS!"

"TO THE FUTURE!"

"TO THE FUTURE!"

With that he downed his glass, took mum in his arms, and we all partied and danced fiercely into the darkest depths of the night. We were finally free from the collars, and ready to start over again.

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AN: This whole Fic came about from one simple thought I had after finishing ZTOP. What if John Wildes plan had succeeded? What if he had fled with his family from the old Zootopia, to settle far out in the wilderness and build up a new nation from scratch. The idea of this, and the idea of having Nick experience the growth and development through his own eyes, was incredibly interesting to me.

I really enjoyed writing these sorts of things, but at the same time I found some limitations. The big one for early chapters like this is the simple fact that Nick is eight going on nine and thus his internal thoughts have to reflect that. As Nick gets older, the first person sections will become more 'normal' and it'll be interesting to see which version people prefer.

For now, at least, its enjoyable to write sections where Nick just goes off and plays with his friends. The bit with Foxes being able to see magnetism is based off of real life observations of Foxes, and how the success of their snow-dives increases dramatically when they orientate themselves to be inline with earths magnetic field. I had the bit with the tickle pounce on clawhauser to push home that point.

The Geography of the area they're settling in is based off of to areas I've been too. It's primarily based off of the Mawdaach estuary in Wales (in an aesthetic sense), but also Lulworth cove in dorset (on a more geographical/geological sense).

I'd like to thank CombatEngineer for being my first reviewer. I don't know whether or not this Fic will ultimately scratch your special itch, but I hope you'll enjoy it through to the close. As for anyone else reading, feel free to ask questions or drop reviews. They're always very much appreciated.