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The following is a work of fanfiction: there is no intent of this author to violate, transgress, profit from or infringe upon the Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP) rights of the parent Copyright or IP holders of characters, events or locations belonging to the same which may be contained within this work. To reiterate; this is a Derivative Work meant to be used under Fair Use as described in 17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 107.
All language is either through Google Translate, or the site 'Bits'n'Bob-stones'
The Sons of Efrafa
.
Well, it's taken the better part of two weeks but I'm finally out of the hospital. Ni-pfeffa* DuPrey has been good as his word too; there's been so much pressure on the SoE they haven't had time or opportunity to come after my family. In a happy coincidence, the Lapin Kings tried to take advantage of the chaos and only succeeded in bringing zorn on themselves when the community turned on them; tharn elil and good riddance.
Speaking of family, Marli-fa and grandpa Constantin-fa have been visiting almost every day, though that first day was a bit rough. I almost thought we'd lose Con-ni-fa to tharn inle as emotions swung from fear of losing me to my injuries, to anger and disappointment at my being arrested, and finally to elation at my severing ties with and helping to break the SoE. I… had genuinely thought they would not be able to forgive me. Damn embleer Timo to Inle-hlao!
Well today is the day I plant him in that hole: Me and the rest of the family are meeting with an Assistant District Attorney and Owsla DuPrey to hammer out the formal deal. I just have to figure out a way to convince Con-ni-fa NOT to bring the damned family sword!
Chapter Two
"Marli-fa, I get bringing Constantin-fa and Fu-embleer…" Jacob ignored his sister Amelia's snort at the childhood nickname, "…but did you have to bring the Hrair-roo too?" he petulantly asked while gesturing to the four youngest siblings scampering about the police interview room.
"Aww, what's the matter Inle-roo, worried the police won't deal if your street cred is too low?" Amelia taunted as only a sister can.
"That's enough from both of you." Jacob's mother responded tartly; her insistence in speaking only the mother tongue with family added gravitas to her words. "First don't think I won't box both your ears if you start fighting in here, and second you well know with school out I have to watch the little ones. Though I suppose I could just lock them in your room Emanuel; Frithrah knows you don't stay in there much."
The littermates lowered their ears in chagrin, suitably chastised. Trying to divert some of the attention from himself, Jacob turned to his grandfather and pointed at the linen wrapped object he reverently cradled.
"Constantin-fa, why did you bring the family sword? We're in a police station; it's not like anyone will attack us here, and if the cops figure out what it is we're all likely to be in a lot of trouble."
At this both Amelia and their mother Katarin glanced at the family relic with slight trepidation.
"Emanuel, if you had paid attention to me as a leveret you would understand why I bring this blade to ALL important events. You breaking away from those unruly and unworthy mongrels who falsely called themselves the 'Sons of Efrafa' and finally making something meaningful of yourself certainly qualifies. Phah, you were likely the only true Efrafan among them." The elderly jacks voice, while hoarse with age, still rang with power and dignity.
"Oh Con-ni-fa, we did listen…" soothed Amelia.
"Yeah, it just didn't always make sense. Seriously, we're in the space age; what good is an old bronze sickle sword covered with hash-marks in the modern era." While she shared his opinion, this comment earned Jacob a cross look from his sister.
"Ha!" the old jack barked in contempt. "The Bullgari thought the same thing in '68 when those Red Hlesil tried to invade Constantinople; they came in their army trucks by the hundreds, with guns and cannon, and we held them off for three days with nothing but our Yataghan and working tools! Why…"
"That's quite all right father, I'm sure there will be time for your history lesson later." Katarin gently but firmly interrupted her father before he could unwrap the ancient family relic. "Besides, I believe the Zootopian Owsla is here. M'saion!" After sharply saying this, the family gathered up and arrayed themselves for the formal meeting.
Officer Jean-Pierre DuPrey arrived moments later, bearing a small armload of manila folders.
"My apologies for the delay; someone from the DA's office should be joining us shortly. Hello again Mrs. Rautha, Mr. Rautha, how have you been since my last visit?" As officer DuPrey spoke, Amelia quietly translated for her grandfather.
"Nar-ni Owsla DuPrey, M'saion Frithrah narn." the elder jack opined. DuPrey looked at Jacob curiously.
"It's an old Efrafan saying, 'We meet them at God's pleasure'; basically, things happen when they happen."
At that moment, the interview room door opened admitting a statuesque, whitetail doe in a tailored charcoal pantsuit. As she turned to look at the assembled group she began saying, "Good morning, I'm ADA Jean…"
"Jeannette!" came a breathless whisper from DuPrey drawing everyone's attention.
The doe gave a startled gasp.
"Iss…"
"DuPrey!" the officer said while suddenly rising to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process. "Jean-Pierre DuPrey, Officer Jean-Pierre DuPrey at your service Ms. Deaux!" the normally calm and collected panthera all but rambled excitedly.
The family looked on as if watching a major sporting event.
"Do you think we should give them a moment?" Constantin quietly wondered.
"Are you kidding? There must be one hell of a story behind them. This is better than Pay-Per-View!" Jacob responded equally hushed; this caused his sister to giggle.
The sound of the resulting slaps to the backs of their heads reminded the two larger mammals that they were not alone.
"We'll discuss this at length later." Jannette said to the flustered officer. She turned to the assembled family and said, speaking directly to Katarin, "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters at hand."
What followed was 20 minutes of instruction on what the state expected from Jacob as far as conduct and testimony, as well as what he could expect in return; clemency and protection for his family until Timo was in prison.
"Make no mistake, Jacob…" the ADA warned, "…if you fail to appear at your arraignment or reverse your testimony at Timo's trial, not only will you not receive amnesty for your known crimes, you will be tried as an adult on RICO charges."
Marli-fa Katarin's stern glare was all the assurance Jannette needed to know Jacob would make his court dates.
…
Jacob's arraignment and plea deal were a mercifully short affair later that week and paved the way for the trial against Timo in two months; two months which the DA's office used to great effect in prepping Jacob for his day of testimony. No other event before this had come close to the emotionally grueling process which was ADA Deaux's training him for cross examination. Many were the nights that found Jacob and Amelia weeping apologetically to one another: Jacob in shame and remorse at how his actions had harmed his family, and Amelia for her part in helping Ms. Deaux break his defenses. Never once, however, did he waver from the course, until finally…
…
"This is Allison Hornsby of ZNN reporting live from the Superior Courthouse here in Savannah Central where we are in the fourth day of testimony in the trial of Timo Andraste. The 35-year-old brown hare is the assumed leader of the once feared gang known as the 'Sons of Efrafa' who, alongside the 'Lapin Kings', have until recently terrorized the impoverished district of Happytown…"
"Is it really that hard for them to call it Foxborough?" Jacob lamented as he awaited his time on the witness stand. "Why are you even watching the thing, Fu-embleer? We're right here!" he whispered while pointing to Amelia's smartphone.
"Because we're trending right now and…" she started to tartly respond.
"We're also rising right now; put that thing away!" their mother commanded; the electronic device disappeared.
An imposing grey wolf in a bailiff's uniform stepped forward to address the assembled mammals.
"All rise! Polis of Zootopia vs. Timo Andraste, the Right Honorable Josephine Bellataxus presiding; court is now in session, take due notice and govern yourselves accordingly."
With a rap of her gavel, the dowdy american badger began the proceedings. For three days ADA Deaux attacked Timo's defense; the state provided a preponderance of anecdotal and video evidence linking him to a variety of crimes spanning nearly a decade, which ranged from local protection rackets to extortion, and even a case of sabotage which claimed the life of a city worker. One of the most entertaining and damning moments was on the first day when Jeannette asked the court assigned psychologist if Timo's seeming empire building might be related to a Napomalin Complex due to his 'Runt-like physique'; the resulting verbal explosion very nearly got Timo ejected from the courtroom.
To Jacob, the absence of Timo's two Lieutenants, Andre Lagosian and Nikolai Zayatzov, either as co-conspirators or states witnesses, was quite telling. Jacob was certain they were well into one of the neighboring states and beyond Zootopia's jurisdiction, while leaving Timo to his fate. Now it was Jacob's turn on the witness stand. At Judge Bellataxus' prompting, Jeannette turned to the assembled court.
"The prosecution calls to the witness stand, Jacob Emanuel Raibert."
Words enough did not exist in the tongues of mammals to express the hatred in Timo's eyes at that moment, though they were met with Jacob's confident indifference born of months of training and the righteous desire to end Timo's hold over him.
After the bailiff swore Jacob in, Jeannette began Jacob's testimony.
"Mr. Raibert, would you please tell the court what your relationship to Timo Andraste was?"
"I was one of Timo-rah's Owsla in the Sons of Efrafa."
"I'm sorry, Timo-rah? Owsla? Could you explain those terms to the court?"
"Sure; rah is an old Efrafan honorific, it means Prince. Timo insisted everyone call him that. Owsla were the old warrior caste and the defenders of the ancient city-state. Timo wanted us to think of ourselves as the warrior princes of old, and Foxborough as our kingdom."
"How did you end up in such a position?"
"It was five years after my father abandoned my family; I was always big for my age, but I was also bitter and angry. My grandfather used to tell us stories about the history of Efrafa and teaching us the old ways and songs of our people; so, when Timo came to me after I skipped school one day spinning stories about becoming like the Owsla of old; I couldn't join up with him fast enough."
"How old were you then?" Jeannette inquired.
"Just shy of 13."
"So young! Why did Timo need a child like you?"
The jury's concerned look at the rehearsed exchange spoke volumes of their already low opinion of Timo.
"He's a grown jack, and I was easily as tall as him at that time. By a year later I was a full head taller. Being Inle-roo didn't hurt, or help depending on your view."
With another rehearsed and magnificently executed puzzled look she asked, "What is Inle-roo, and why would it matter?"
"Objection your Honor; relevancy…" the defense barked.
As elegant and unflappable as ever Miss Deaux replied, "Your Honor, amongst the charges against Mr. Andraste are multiple counts of Corruption of a Minor; the state is simply trying to ascertain the reasoning behind such actions."
"Overruled; you may proceed councilor."
"Thank you, your Honor. Jacob?"
"It's my coloration; in nearly every lapine culture in the world, the angel of death is depicted as a black hare or rabbit. Efrafan's called this spirit Inle-rah, the Prince of the Night. All black hares such as myself are seen as something of an ill omen and are often called Inle-roo, Little death. Timo wanted that imagery at his disposal to cow any opposition; if he could be seen as having tamed death by having me at his beck and call, then his status as a hrairoo was diminished."
"You shut your silflayvair mouth, punk, or I'll show you what this runt can do!" Timo's outburst could not have been more perfectly timed or executed if he had been directed to do so. The judge's response was as immediate as it was calculated by Miss Deaux.
"Order in the court; one more outburst like that Mr. Andraste and I will hold you in contempt of the court and have you summarily expelled from these proceedings!"
The defense team only barely managed to get Timo to calm down and not lose them the case on the spot.
Now Jacobs' testimony started in earnest; no detail was spared in his recounting of his rise through the ranks of the SoE.
"You said you chose to be Timo's Owsla; you implied earlier that he recruited you for that purpose, was this a lie?"
"No ma'am, but there was no guaranty that I would secure the position. There were three of us initially; we had to… earn the title." Though they had rehearsed the question, Jacobs' hesitance and discomfort were genuine.
"How were the three of you supposed to 'earn' the title?"
"Not all three of us; there would only be one Owsla. We were competing for the title; it was that or peddle drugs on the street. Timo made us duel each other; Timo has a mock coliseum set up at the gang's headquarters in the old Tannerman Papermill warehouse on West River Road. He and his two Lieutenants, Andre Lagosian and Nikolai Zayatzov, watched the whole thing from a raised platform like it was a sporting event."
"You obviously succeeded."
"Not without a cost. Jasper lost an eye, and William will need a cane and brace to walk for the rest of his life, and…"
"And?" prompted Jeannette.
"Timo required, trophies."
"Need I remind you that full disclosure is a condition of your acting as states evidence." Though seeming cold, the ADA's statement was meant to deny the defense the opportunity to twist Jacobs' testimony in cross examination, and the two had worked on this part of the interrogation for a full week.
With a not entirely rehearsed shuddering breath, Jacob continued.
"I had to remove the right ear from both of the other combatants; he demanded it from anyone I beat as Owsla. Timo kept them in his 'throne-room' in the old manager's office."
"Let the record show that states evidence items J-122 thru J-137 found at the afore-mentioned address corroborate this statement." At this, a computer monitor displayed dozens of police photographs, including seven dismembered mammal ears.
"I find it hard to believe that your family was okay with this, savagery."
"I didn't tell them, not until the last couple of months."
"Why is that?"
"I was ashamed, and terrified; Timo made us believe that no one would be able to forgive us for what we did in the gang, so we could only rely on each other for support."
The testimony continued in this vein. Jacob openly discussed his duties as the SoE's chief enforcer: fighting other gangs, such as the Lapin Kings, or the all-whitetail deer K Street Hooligans; or 'leaning' on business owners in the surrounding communities, whatever the species. When the time came for cross-examination, the defense could only muster anemic arguments to try and discredit Jacob as a witness. The final nail in Timo's coffin, however, Timo drove in himself during the first few moments of ADA Deaux's closing arguments.
"Ladies and Gentlemammals of the jury, you have heard and seen the evidence provided by both sides of this case. Despite everything presented, the defense would have you believe that Mr. Timo Andraste is nothing more than a poor, misunderstood bunny…"
"What did you say?! I'll bend you over this table and show you which one of us is the whore!" Timo screamed as he tried to come across the bench at Jeannette, accompanied by the continuous hammering of the judge's gavel and the gasps of both the jury and gallery.
"I will have Order! Bailiff remove him from my courtroom!"
The Jury only deliberated for one evening, and the next day, Timo Andraste was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole.
As Jacob and his family gathered on the courthouse steps, Jeannette and Jean-Pierre came up to them, and DuPrey extended his paw to Jacob.
"Jacob, I wanted to thank you. What you did was harder than most mammals can take; believe me, I know a thing or two about confronting hard truths about one's past, but you have really made a difference in the lives of your community today. So, have you given any thought to what I asked?"
"You're going to have to tell me your story one of these days," Jacob said with a chuckle, "...but yeah, I have. I think the League of Nations Forces are more my speed than the Aragonese Foreign Legion though."
The startled gasps from Amelia and Katarin were nothing compared to the bone crushing hug Constantin gave his grandson.
"Jacob, Jacob m'layth Owsla!" (Jacob, Jacob you are becoming Owsla!) There was pride writ clear on the old hares' tear stained face.
"I think that will do just fine Jacob. You take care now!" Jean said as the oddly matched pair began walking towards a nearby carpark.
"Well, after all that now what?" asked Amelia, looking around at the family.
"Pawpscicles, get yer Pawpscicles!"
As the younger leverette's bounced around their mother in excitement, she relented.
"I suppose that's a start."