Alright, my wonderful readers, this is probably the last time I will be posting in some time. College has just started for me and it's impossible to sayhow much of my time it will be taking up. In any case, my attention will have to be shifted from FF to preparing for my future. However, I will continue writing whenever I can.
Wolford slowed down as he finally reached some semblance of civilization.
It was a small town, a village more like, but the streets finally stopped being dirt-filled, marble taking its place. None of the buildings were more than five or six stories high, and those were obviously hotels. Despite its quaint small town feel, Wolford had never seen so many bunnies per square foot in his life.
He had to take extra care not to step on the smaller species of rabbits that were wandering around. Even the tallest of jackrabbits barely came up to his stomach. Multiple mammals, mostly rabbits, were staring at him.
Wolford wasn't sure if it was because he was a wolf or because he had come here running desperately. Now that he thought about it, probably both.
Right… no way he was staying in the same house as that crazy bunny-broad. He quickly eyed a red brick establishment with the words "Carrot-Farmers' Bed and Breakfast". Not exactly what he was looking for, most likely he wouldn't taste anything but carrot paste all week at this place, but it was worth it.
If Jenna was just one of Judy's siblings, he sure as heck didn't want to deal with hundreds of them… His legs turned into jelly at the thought of running away from one hundred horny rabbit girls through a carrot field… This would be a male getting raped at its finest…
He entered the door, wiping his paws on the doormat, having to crouch down in order to fit. The sound of chatter and laughter were picked up by Wolford's keen ears. A waiter picking up empty plates.
A mother scolding her son for wandering out of the room.
He quickly filtered out all of these sounds.
He could smell each and every single one of the guests and staff within a hundred yard radius. Mostly bunnies, slight scent of dirt and fertilizer, here from neighbouring farm towns for the festival. The other scents were few and far between.
A sheep couple and a lone ferret on the upper floor. He was sure there were other guests, but he couldn't start sniffing the air around him: a wolf sniffing around an establishment full of rabbits was a sure way of making everyone flee the place, paws flailing.
The reception area was simple enough. Wooden floor with plain, but clean orange and green walls. The green sofa complete with two side armchairs and a coffee table fit the colour pallet. There were pictures of rabbit farmers together with giant carrot produce, the winners of the crop contest each year. A clock shaped like a carrot was above the reception desk. Wolford groaned.
What was it with bunnies and carrots!?
He slowly approached the desk. An elderly grey buck was sitting in the chair, wearing a red shirt in desperate need of ironing, huge grandfather spectacles on his muzzle and a newspaper in his wrinkled paws.
It was "The Bunnyburrow Beacon". Judging by the smell, today's newspaper.
It already smelled of tobacco, this guy was clearly a smoker. The headline was about the Carrot Days festival and the cooperation with the ZPD, the extensive work City Hall was putting into it and the many activities that would be available. The elderly rabbit looked up from the newspaper to the towering wolf with a bored expression.
Well, he wasn't scared, Wolford guessed this was a start…
"Sorry, son, we're all booked up." He said, flipping the paper to the next page.
Before Wolford could have time to register what this meant he had to get out of the daze that this rabbit had called him 'son', such a friendly and familiar appellative. Sure, old people called everyone 'son', but a bunny calling a wolf this… maybe this town wasn't as archaic as he thought…
"An average rabbit family occupies at least half a floor. We were filled by noon." The old rabbit continued to say.
Wolford cursed under his breath. Looks like he'd have to sneak over to the farmhouse and talk to Judy's parents quickly and then hit the sack before Jenna could find out he was sleeping in the same house as her...
"But… shouldn't City Hall have provided the accommodation?" asked the rabbit, setting aside the flimsy paper.
Wolford's head snapped suddenly in the direction of the buck, surprised at his observation. How could he have-
"You know, you ought to put that in your pocket if you want to keep a low profile." The elderly mammal said with a half-smile, gesturing to Wolford's badge that was strapped to his belt.
"Right…" he said, pocketing the badge.
"Sure is nice to have some extra security from the world's best police force. Inbetween us, the cops out here aren't very sharp." Said the buck with a brief flash of his surprisingly white buckteeth.
"Well, where was your reservation? I can give directions if you like. There are even a couple of restaurants out here that provide protein meals and cricket-salads and whatever else you guys eat." He said casually. "And one more thing: if you see a rabbit mother threaten her kit that she'll feed him to you if he misbehaves, thinking that you can't hear her, don't stand for it. Show her your badge, give your life story, all that… I sure am tired of the bigots from this city…" the elderly buck said with a… sad, shameful gaze.
"You were once one of them." Said Wolford. It was a statement, not a question. The elderly rabbit's ears drooped.
"My niece opened my eyes. I used to influence my family with this cow-dung. Scared my nephews with stories of evil foxes and wolves, convinced my son-in-law to carry fox repellent… I even used to say that foxes are red because they were made by the devil! Think I actually believed it myself!" he said with a snort.
Wolford himself couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Who made the wolves then?" he asked with a wolfish grin. He was starting to like this old coot…
"Well… they were made by evil witches from coal dust and dragon-fangs! They hated bunnies so much they had to give us two evil canines to run away from!" the grandpa said with wild hand-gestures as if he was reciting this to his nephews.
Wolford barked out a laugh in tandem with the elderly bunny. The bunny's ears drooped once again as he said that.
"You know… it was a proud day in my life when I finally threw all those blasted story books away… when I finally saw that our past was past. When I began telling my grandkits about the adventures of the real heroes. Predator fighting alongside prey not against a certain species, no, but against evil in general. Had to spend days reading some of the newer story books to tell them to my kits properly, but it was worth it!
But the stories they like best are those of my niece and her partner… who is a fox believe it or not!" said the buck proudly.
Wolford's eyes widened and his chest froze up as he took in what this guy had said. Out of all the rabbits in this town… the first one he stumbled upon was Judy's grandfather.
"Yeah, Judy Hopps is something of a legend down at the ZPD!" smiled Wolford, accidentally showing all his teeth. However, the rabbit didn't seem fazed at all by the wolf's sharp fangs, despite the fact that he had changed his ways only months ago. The old are the wisest indeed…
"Crane Wolford, at your service. I accompanied your granddaughter all the here and will be staying with you!" he said, cheerfully. The old buck dropped his newspaper.
"Goodness… the one who… Judy talks about? You took a bullet for my granddaughter and her partner?" the old buck asked in astonishment, getting up.
"She's exaggerating. It was just a flesh wound and she and Nick would have done the same-" he couldn't say another word before the rabbit gave his legs a surprisingly powerful hug. "You saved her life…" he breathed out.
Wolford remembered that day as clear as water. A sudden anonymous tip about a drug trade going on in some seedy hood in the outskirts of the Rainforest District...
He and DelGato got the call and heard Nick and Judy responding to it through the radio. Both squad cars arrived at the same time. Wolford took extra precaution and put on the heaviest body armour that was his size. Two panthers and three leopards were chatting over a run-down car in the middle of the dirt road, vines hanging over them, the only semblance of Zootopian civilization being a few small, run-down tiki huts a few yards away, completely covered in foliage.
The feline criminals took cover behind the car and a few palm trees as they heard the sirens. He saw Judy running headfirst, trying to dive for cover closer to the panthers and leopards that were ten times her size.
Only that she missed the extra panther-thug that was using the advantage nature had granted him: hiding in the foliage, virtually invisible. He got out of it, his huge 45 calibre pistol aimed straight at the small rabbit.
The pistol itself was almost the size of Judy. A bullet could have litearally ripped her in half. Time slowed to a crawl.
His predatory senses, now activated from antiquity, but not to kill, but to save. He saw Nick's terrified face as he saw the huge feline with his gun pointed at Judy, helplessness written all over his face.
He saw the panther's expression of anger and morbid satisfaction, no different from an ancient predator about to maim his prey.
And… he saw Judy's face. Completely frozen. Not a wick of emotion, except awaiting for the bullet that she wasn't expecting.
He had always thought Judy to be fearless, or at least as close to fearless mammal could be, but… seeing her face then… made him realize just how vulnerable his bunny and fox friends really were.
Nick was looking powerlessly at the scene that was unfolding too far away for him to act in time, but close enough so that he could see very detail of his lover's murder.
No…
He winced as he tackled Judy into cover, not because of the huge bullet that his Kevlar just barely prevented from entering his body, but because he knew that his rabbit friend would be all bruised up from this…
It proved to be nothing but a surface wound. He was healthy enough to continue fighting the suspects until they were all dead, stunned from tranquilizer or surrendered. Still, the hospital nurses forced him to stay in their bed for at least a day…
He hated hospitals…
It was just when he was reflecting on what had happened when the hospital door opened, revealing the fox and bunny cop. Judy's ears were flattened against her back and Nick was holding her close, finally realizing how everyday there was a chance she might have been no more…
The wolf tried to smile at the melancholic bunny. She was the precinct's top cop, but she was still green in so many ways. Jumping ahead into cover without assessing your surroundings… she was also really bold… and dumb.
"Hey, look Judes, I-" he couldn't say another word before Judy jumped at him, sobbing into his chest, repeating over and over how sorry she was. Nick wordlessly went to her side, stroking his lover's ears in an effort to comfort her.
The expression of Precinct One's joker, the ever-grinning, infuriating Nick Wilde, was now nothing but a thin white line and green eyes visualizing what could have happened to the mammal he loved the most in this world had Wolford not nearly sacrificed himself.
Judy continued crying, repeating over and over how she nearly got him killed, her speech tripping over her constant sobs. He simply smiled, not feeling the least bit regret for what he had done, or even the slightest hint of anger toward the now-confirmed-dumb-bunny.
"You know, your boyfriend's right. Bunnies are so emotional… and flat-out dumb sometimes." He soothed, allowing Nick to take Judy away into his own arms, holding her like only he knew how, kissing her inbetween the ears to comfort her…
Wolford shrugged.
"It was nothing. She'd have done the same." He stated simply. The elderly rabbit let go of Wolford and straightened his glasses.
"Sorry about that. I'm just a crazy old buck." He said smiling.
"By the way, it's Gerald. Gerald Hopps." Said the buck. Before Wolford had time to shake his paw, Judy, Nick and *gulp* Jenna burst inside the hotel.
"Oh, hi there Judes! I was just meeting your grandfather!" said Wolford grinning. Judy was standing there, mouth half agape.
"What were the chances, huh?" said Wolford before she could.
"Well, I was just finishing my shift. You kids go on, I'll catch up." Said Gerald in his friendly, raspy tone.
"Hey, uh… big guy…" said Jenna, approaching Wolford. The wolf had to fight with all his mental strength not to run off again.
"I… uh… was just kidding back there…" she said. Wolford nearly sighed in relief, although his investigator skills he had picked over the years told him there was more to it than that…
"But… you know… you're still really cute, but also fierce, and you work out don't you?" she continued to say, swaying her hips at him.
Bingo.
"Jenna!" Judy growled, elbowing her tall sister.
"Alright, Judy, alright, but a doe can have her desires, right? And you have to admit, he's kinda hot. I bet even more so when he's wearing the uniform!" she purred.
Wolford sighed and facepawed. This would be a long week…
Nick went with Judy and Jenna in her pickup truck while Wolford had to go with Gerald.
He really admired the old buck, not just for how he changed his ways and views, but also how hard working he was. He had learned that his daughter and son-in-law persuaded him to stop working on the farm due to his old age and bad back, so he took a job as a hotel receptionist to continue supporting the family. The large wolf had no chance of fitting in the front seat, so he put himself and his bags in the truck bed.
As the old hare drove, Crane Wolford continued to marvel at the landscape. There definitely was a main town, the one he had come across when he ran away from the train station, with its narrow streets, traditional buildings and marble stonemasonry. But the vast carrot and wheat fields, bathed in the moonlight, the green fields in the distance with its empty forests and the occasional enormous farmhouse was… breathtaking.
The air was cleaner than any the city-slicker had ever breathed, especially the chilling night air. The moon was visible, larger and brighter than it was in the city due to the lack of air pollution.
Aw man… such an idyllic view… the moon was so damn beautiful, he just wanted to howl… He covered his muzzle just in time as he was starting to build the howl in his throat. Visions of angry mobs of bunnies with pitchforks and torches flooded his mind once again… purge that monster that howls at the moon… Wolford gulped.
Note to self, don't look at the moon. Also, if Judy's parents put him in a room with a view to the moon… sleep in the bathtub.
Or anywhere where the moon wasn't visible.
The road was bumpy and the truck's dreary suspension and the metal truckbed didn't help. But the view and air more than made up for it.
"Here we are, boy!" announced Gerald as he pulled the truck in front of the Hopps family home. Wolford studied the… burrow? Farmhouse? He wasn't sure what to call it. It was a cheery bright yellow house that was as big as some mansions he had seen.
The windows and the bunny-ear shaped roof-edges were painted white to contrast from the yellow, as well as the roof itself that was reddish brown. Wolford instantly noticed that as large as this house was, it couldn't have accommodated hundreds of lives comfortably. His eyes quickly darted to the foundation… bingo. It wasn't called a burrow for nothing… Underground floors, obvious from the shape of the foundation. As well as the many ventilation shafts he saw. They were quite well hidden by the foliage and they were small, but still visible to his trained eye.
He got off the truck bed, Jenna pulling up as well, Judy getting out of the passenger seat and Nick out of the truck bed. Wolford looked around. There were a few lights on in the house, but other than that there were no signs of life. Huh. Maybe this would be quiet after-
"GUYS, GUYS! NICK AND JUDY ARE HERE!" Wolford's sensitive ears were almost shattered by the high-pitch squeals. A horde of multi-coloured young bunnies burst out of the house.
"Nick, did you get us any presents?"
"Nick, is it true Judy can beat you even though you're a fox?"
"Nick, come see the Lego town we built! It even has a police station, just like yours!" Was all Wolford could pick up among the thousands of chants. Nick and Judy were literally tackled to the ground by about ten kits each while others gathered around them or went through their luggage.
"Wow! Nick bought the Haredevil action figure!" shouted one of them.
"But who's gonna take it?" another one asked. Wolford winced as he figured out what was going to happen: a huge bunny brawl over an action figure.
"Hey, there's more!" one of them said, overturning Nick's bag, making about two dozen action figures, still in their pack, fall out.
"There's one for each of us!" they yelled, digging into the pile of toys. Judy stared at Nick with shock and sheer joy in her amethyst eyes.
"Nick… all that… that must have cost a fortune!" she said, a huge smile on her face. Nick shrugged.
"Well, had to use the cash I had left from my hustling days for something, didn't I, Carrots?" he asked, looking at her with his trademark smile.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH, NICK!" the bunny kits all yelled in unison, charging toward the fox. Nick looked at the massive horde with horror in his eyes. He looked worryingly at Wolford.
"Buddy, it was nice meeting you..." he gulped before he was buried beneath a gigantic sack of fluffiness.
Nick eventually got up, bunny kits hanging off all his limbs, especially his tail, each of them cuddling him as best they could.
"That's enough, kids, get off the poor fox!" yelled a male voice. It was a middle-aged, rather portly brown rabbit.
Judy's father, no doubt. The kits stepped away, still clutching their gifts in their paws. Wolford now noticed that they also had chocolates in their paws, from Nick's luggage and pockets. Man, whenever he came, the fox was full of surprises…
"Oh, you must be the officer Bonnie mentioned." Said Stu, approaching the wolf. Stu was about Judy's height, meaning that he barely came up to his waist. He looked nervously up at the wolf cop. Crane Wolford smiled his best reassuring smile, taking care not to show any teeth. Judy had said that her old man was paranoid in general, so he didn't take offence.
"Uhm… Stu Hopps…" said the rabbit, stretching out his paw. Wolford carefully used only two fingers to shake the much smaller farmer's paw. He took great care not to show any claws. His keen investigator eyes spotted the slightest twitch of the jaw at Stu, he was clearly quite nervous. But his eyes, an almost unreadable detail, showed how ashamed he was of how he was treating predators.
"Sergeant Crane Wolford." He responded gingerly.
"Mr. Wolford, where is your sheep costume?" asked a small bun. Wolford's ears burned up at the memory of how Nick left him in his underwear in front of half the Hopps family.
"Mr. Wolf Officer, what colour of underwear are you wearing today?" asked another one. Goddammit… the memory of being left in nothing but boxers in front of hundreds of eyes would stick with him for a long time.
"Mr. Wolf, why is your tail even fluffier than Nick's?" asked a six year old girl with only one bucktooth as she buried her head in the wolf's tail. Wolford began backing off ever so slightly as the kits shifted their attention from Nick and Judy to Wolford.
"Aww! His tail is really cute!" said another small girl, motioning to her sisters.
In the next moment, Wolford's tail felt like that one time McHorn accidentally stepped on it. About twenty or so five to ten year old girls swarmed Wolford's tail, making him feel the worst kind of pain a canine could feel: being tugged by the tail.
"Kids, that's enough, get off him!" said Stu. Wolford was already on the ground.
"Sorry about that. They tend to be… excited around guests." Said Stu apologetically.
"Don't worry, Mr. Hopps, just meeting the kids! What a cheerful bunch!" said Wolford chuckling, getting up.
"Uhm… buddy?" said Judy nervously.
"What is it, Judes? As you can see, I'm getting along just perfectly with your siblings." He said smiling.
"Your tail…" she said with an apologetic smile. Wolford felt the same kind of horror he felt when a suspect pulled a gun on him.
He slowly grabbed his tail into view.
The little bunny girls were giggling uncontrollably, even as Stu and Bonnie scolded them.
His tail was covered in pink bowties, braids and Hero Princess stickers. He could barely see his own fur beneath everything the Hopps girls had put on it.
The wolf didn't know what his tasks in the Bunnyburrow PD would be, but they couldn't be any harder than dealing with Judy's crazy siblings. First Jenna and now this…
The Hopps Farmhouse was… spacious to say the least. The entry hall had a few dozen rows of shoe shelves and coat hangers.
Alongside them, about fifty different family pictures, filling up the huge walls to the brim. The next room was the main living room, the walls painted orange and green (of course). Here was the biggest couch Wolford had ever seen, stretching for about fifty feet, not to mention the many armchairs. Now, with most of the Hopps' children grown up and moved out, there were "only" about a hundred bunnies in the Hopps household.
Nick was already on the couch, all the little kits drawing as close as they could to him, mesmerized by his story-telling. A few smaller kits were clutching to his tail in fear, covering themselves up with it like a blanket. Bonnie and Stu were looking fondly at the fox that was telling tales to their children. Wolford smiled at them. Looks like animals really were progressive…
A few ten year old bunnies were punching the air and hopping, too pumped by Nick's tales to stay in one place.
"Then… a coyote comes out of the building! Biggest one I've ever seen! My blood froze.
Instead of using his own claws, he pulled out a huge combat knife and rushed to me! I could see his murderous intent in his eyes!" Nick said in an overly dramatic fashion.
"I was still cuffing the wolf, so he took me by surprise! What to do? What to do? In just a second, I would be dead!
But then I realized that I only half-cuffed the wolf, one of the cuffs wasn't closed around his wrist. So what did I do?" asked Nick, leaving the bunny kits breathless and unblinking.
"I let the coyote get close to me and then I was like WATAAA!" yelled Nick, making some pretty decent Kung Fu moves in the air.
"One in the stomach, then I dodged his knife just in the nick (pun intended) of time! He managed to slash my shirt! I got a new one of course, but I still have it!" said the storyteller fox, pulling his former police shirt out of his luggage.
The kits gasped and wowed as he showed quite a large cut in the midsection. It hung like a rag.
"Then, I closed the cuff around his wrist and the wolf and the coyote were stuck together! A little extra pepper spray to discourage them from fleeing and then backup came in! They're both in jail as we speak!" said Nick, finishing his story.
"But I couldn't have done it if your sister hadn't kept the other assailants from reaching me!" he said, finally giving some credit to his partner.
"That was so awesome! Totally wicked!" yelled a brown bunny with a red baseball hat and black hoodie.
"Come on, another story!" they yelled in unison. Nick's ears flattened. He had already read them two story books and said five of his recent endeavours. It was already nearly ten o'clock.
"Kids, it's way past your bedtime. Leave the fox alone." Said Stu. Wolford plugged his sensitive ears in anticipation for what was to come.
"BUT PAPA! HE WAS JUST GETTING STARTED!" the sound was still enough to make Wolford's ears ring. Bonnie grabbed the wolf's paw and led him into the massive kitchen and handed him a pint-sized (for him) glass of water, which he downed quickly in order to stop the cracking sound coming from his ears.
"Thanks." He breathed out.
"No problem. We have sensitive ears too, but we got used to them." Bonnie chuckled.
"Do you want something else for your tail? Maybe a cleaning solution? I bet you've still got some glue from the stickers my daughters put on you!" she said.
"No thanks!" Wolford laughed heartedly, but he quickly closed his mouth as to not show any teeth. Rule no. 1 in not scaring prey: don't show teeth. Only that Bonnie also laughed at this herself and at Wolford's care to cover his sharp teeth.
"Don't worry, darling, we at the Hopps household are used to them teeth! Some neighbours gave us flak for having a fox as a business partner and accepting Nick as our guest, but to hell with them, right?" she said very matter-of-factly. Wolford let his shoulders slump and his lungs empty. He thought to further break the ice.
"Dinner was great! I really liked cheese and carrot casserole!" he said. While the meal was different than his usual protein meal and energy bar routine, it was quite delicious, and surprisingly filling for a nearly protein-free meal (he suspected she added cheese in the meal to make it better for him and Nick).
"Why thank you!" Bonnie said, looking up kindly at the tall wolf.
"We've prepared the living room for you! We thought about giving you one of the empty rooms from downstairs, but you wouldn't fit and we thought you might be more comfortable on the large couch." Said Stu, coming in.
"It's alright, Mr. Hopps. I'm sure your sofa is comfy enough." He said. He was surprised at just how casual he had become with the same rabbits that he was so nervous to meet.
They had done a fairly good job of arranging the sofa. A bedsheet spread across a part of the orange plush sofa. Bonnie seemed to have cleverly placed two pillows in order to accommodate the wolf's larger head.
There were two carrot-patterned blankets knitted together to completely cover Wolford's long, muscular body.
"Well, goodnight!" Said Wolford to the bunnies who were now going for the elevators. "Goodnight mister wolf officer!" said a few of the kits. Wolford smiled and waved them off.
"Goodnight…" whispered Jenna. Wolford nearly jumped when he saw how close she was to him. She looked up at him with half-lidded eyes, almost as if in a trance. Before he could do anything, she gave him a quick, but tight and uncomfortable hug as much as her height would allow.
"See you tomorrow, big guy!" she said winking as she disappeared in the elevator.
Note to self: get out of the house ASAP tomorrow and find as many cop jobs as possible to keep himself busy to stay away from that crazy bunny broad.
Though he had to admit, she was attractive, for a bunny. The way the splash of white contrasted from her black fur and fitted with her forest green eyes was... nice. He quickly shook his head. What the hell was he thinking?
The massive mob of bunnies lessened until he was left alone in the massive living room. Instead of changing in his pyjamas, he simply stripped himself in his tank top and boxers, he felt the need to be more comfortable after all of the day's craziness.
He got into the makeshift bed groaning from all of his thoughts. Tomorrow would be his first day on the Bunnyburrow beat… At eight he'd have to be at the main Bunnyburrow precinct.
Therefore, he'd have to be awake at seven at the latest. He needed to get some sleep. But… he couldn't. He had so many thoughts and little inner musings that he couldn't shut his eyes even for a second.
He pondered over the huge culture shock he had in this place, the contrast between acceptance and fear Judy's folks had shown him. Would the general public accept a wolf as a cop? Now that he thought about it, he was pretty worried about his fellow pred cops from other precincts that got sent here. Heck, some of them were four times his size, so they'd have even a harder time than he did.
They'd have to watch out not to stomp on someone in the first place! He knew a few cops from other precincts due to the many times he had been to MacNelly's, his favourite "cop bar". How would it be like for them?
Have their own prejudices they had against bunnies been forgotten t?
No way. He needed to stop his thought process. Wolford flipped his pillow over, groaning in satisfaction as the softer, colder other side bit his fur. He glanced at the grandfather clock with the pendulum shaped like a carrot. (seriously was there anything here that wasn't somehow carrot shaped?!).
Already 11 o'clock!? It sure as heck hadn't felt like that long had passed. Alright, maybe a brief nocturnal walk would help. He got up from the couch, his night vision allowing him to easily navigate the massive, moonlit living room.
He glanced outside through the large window. Once again, he found himself staring in awe at how many stars there were.
In Zootopia, he'd spend a few minutes every night admiring the city lights, even his older, mature self being silently awed by the miracle of urban life.
The city that never slept. The many lights from all the different districts distinguishable. He was able to see everything from the jungle of the Rainforest District lit by tiki lamps to the snow-capped onion-shaped domes of Tundra Town. Even Little Rodentia was (somewhat) visible from his apartment with its tiny, yet surprisingly powerful electric lights.
This however… was a whole different plate of fish.
He could now actually distinguish different shades of blue and purple among the stars. He rarely ever looked at the sky when in Zootopia. He had to admit, he was starting to like this place.
Everything from the clean air to the mammals here to the stars themselves was turning something on in him that he didn't even know he had. As he glanced at the stars, taking in their beauty like he never had before, his eyes inevitably fell on the large full moon...
He had to clamp a paw over his snout in order not to howl. He rarely ever howled now, and it was only after a particularly stressful day that he truly felt the need to howl.
Well, this was a stressful day…
The Hopps didn't lock their door, hardly needed to in this part of town with three cops in the house. Inbetween the Hopps family house and other neighbouring farmhouses there were quite a lot of naked grassy hills.
Nick and Judy had told him of the many picnics and getaways they had while here to get away from her parents' watchful gaze. Alright, screw it, he needed to sleep, he had to blow off some steam somehow. After all, who was he to oppose the customs nature had set for him? He thought mischievously.
He quickly put on his dark jeans and navy blue polo shirt, throwing a brown leather jacket over himself to fight the little cold there was. He opened the door as silently as he could. The Hopps were all sleeping underground beneath layers of concrete, but he didn't want to take any chances. Bunny hearing was famous.
He walked along the carrot fields until he was onto the hills. He decided going where the trees were thickest was the safest bet. The grass felt almost foreign under his paws.
He felt something primal, yet wonderful swimming in his chest as he walked across the fields, grass and trees being the only sight, moon overlooking him.
He… was a wolf.
For just a few minutes, he would be living the same way his great ancestors had. He exhaled and shut his eyes at that thought. A smile crept at the sides of his muzzle. Time to go to the top of the hill…
Suddenly, his nostrils flared up. Someone was here. Why would anyone be here at this hour?
Except maybe to… steal carrots and farming tools left on the field.
He jumped behind the cover of a thick tree, cursing his stupidity at not having taken his stun gun for the short nocturnal trip.
"Someone's here!" he heard Nick whispering haphazardly. Bingo.
"GOTCHA!" yelled Wolford, jumping in the clearing. Nick almost jumped in Judy's arms, holding his bunny like a teddy bear.
"Can't keep your paws off each other, huh?" he laughed out.
"I have to admit, this is kinda romantic. Just the two of you, in each other's arms, the moon lighting your make out session, admiring the stars together… How'd you two get out? The emergency elevator behind the house, right?" he laughed out. Judy groaned and flattened her ears against her back in annoyance and seemed to be pondering on whether or not it was worth crippling Wolford for this…
"Wait… what are you doing here? We came here to enjoy the stars and each other's company, but what are you doing here?" inquired Judy accusingly. Wolford gulped as he recalled the reason he had come here.
"Well, uhhhh… You see… the stars and the moon was really nice, I couldn't sleep and I thought-" he began, stammering, eyes darting to and fro Judy, Nick and nothing in particular as he nervously scratched the back of his head.
Nick's eyes widened in realization and he smirked devilishly. Crap, this couldn't be good.
"Ohhh… the moon you say…?" asked Nick slyly.
"Gee, why would a wolf be attracted by the moon? Such a mystery!" said Nick in an overly dramatic fashion. Even Judy herself looked at Wolford in a slightly amused way.
"You know… who am I to not let you answer nature's calling?" he said in his same over-infuriating way. He then narrowed his eyes the same way he did when he decided to prank Chief Bogo by placing a chocolate-filled whoopee cushion on his chair. The buffalo had to convince everyone that day that the huge brown stain "wasn't bullshit but chocolate."
"In fact… I'll help you…" he said, nearly laughing like a bald villain from a Jack Savage spy movie. Wolford felt his chest turn into ice.
"Don't you effing dare, Wilde!" he shouted. Before he could say anything else, Nick began howling at the moon.
Wolford felt his vocal chords begging to be released and howl.
"YOU SON OF A-" Wolford began to say.
Nick howled again, incredibly genuinely for a fox. Wolford couldn't control himself as he pointed his snout at the yellow moon and began emptying his lungs. Nick didn't stop either.
The wolf was sure that even Judy joined them at one point. He was sure he'd make a rug out of Nick later, but right now, it just felt too damn good to act like the most primitive parts of his brain demanded to…
That damn fox…
Wolford woke up as soon as his smartphone rang the alarm, something rare for him, as he usually slept in ten extra minutes after his supposed wake up hour. He hadn't had such a good night's sleep in years, despite going to bed near midnight and waking up only seven hours later.
He quickly put on some pants and went into one of the many bathrooms to brush his teeth. He had some trouble with the size of the bunny sink and taking a shower had been replaced with a quick sponge bath as he could only put one limb at a time in the tiny bathtub.
After this, he got out, fresh. His keen nose picked up activity in the house as well as sizzling pancakes with a slight tint of carrots.
He got inside the kitchen, seeing his suspicions confirmed. Nearly a hundred bunnies of differing ages were seated at several enormous long tables, much like they had been last night.
"Good morning, Mr. and Missus Hopps!" he greeted cheerfully. Stu and Bonnie looked over with slight fear in their eyes at the wolf. Heck, he could even smell their fear. What was wrong? Was he in nothing but his underwear again? Nope, pants check.
"Oh… morning darling!" greeted Bonnie with what she attempted to be a cheerful voice, but came out stuttering and nervous. What had happened? He noticed that Nick and Judy were nowhere to be seen. He came into the main hall, searching for his comrades.
Just then, an extremely irate Judy came into view, dragging Nick behind her and a newspaper in her paws.
"You just HAD to make him howl, didn't you!?" she yelled, throwing him into the wall, saved by Wolford's powerful paws.
"Come on, Carrots, he'd have done it anyway, with or without us! And you also joined us, remember?" pleaded Nick.
"Alright, will everyone please calm down and tell me what the heck is going on!?" asked Wolford. Judy stared daggers at the wolf. She showed him the paper.
"WEREWOLF IN BUNNYBURROW!?" read the title.
The press equivalent of clickbait.
Right below was an obviously photoshopped picture of… a giant lupine creature in the woods. Surrounded by two smaller similar creatures. They were all pointing their muzzles at the moon.
Just a few basic computer tools and his seemingly innocent escapade turned into the Bunnyburrow Beacon's fearmongering front page.
This was very, very bad.
And just when he thought the residents of Bunnyburrow would begin to trust a wolf… How dumb could he have been?
Howling and then photoshopped into looking like a folk legend all country bunnies feared…
Only one thing can be said in a time like this…
"Sweet cheese and crackers…" whispered Wolford, Judy's improvised swearing having rubbed off on him…
Alright, did anyone get the reference to "The Fox and The Rabbit"? Anyone? Best Zootopia FF so far IMHO.