In this chapter we see the aftermath of the Ranger Scouts meeting, and Judy gets answers as to why her family got a fox, and why they trained him in such a way. There's also going to be a longer author's note at the bottom addressing further what happens here.
The fox was never the same after that night, though his changes seemed very unusual to the little doe. His smiles, a rare sight before, seemed to happen more often now though every time he'd smile with her family it would be a sad or forced one, usually done alongside small head nods as he was receiving his instructions for the day. These continued over to the times in which they were alone, and even his behaviours changed, now he simply moved through all assigned tasks without complaint or care, not a shred of interest shown on his face regardless of what it was. It looked as if he'd given up, as if there wasn't a shred of the fox that had first arrived and to make matters worse, besides her nobody seemed to notice, or if they did they didn't seem to care.
The only times she could get him to act like how he did before was when they were alone and she had something interesting to comment on, but even in those conversations his emotions seemed to bleed away until all he seemed to do was nod. There was one major exception, Sundays when he had no tasks. On those days she could walk with him to town and they'd talk about whatever they felt like, though when they arrived he'd always split apart from her and go his own way, heading off somewhere after saying he wanted to be left alone for a little bit. Still, she tried to meet up with him any time she could if only because seeing him act like a robot in his usual chores was making her depressed on a level that was hard for her to explain.
What hit her hardest perhaps, was the next Christmas. Like all the times before it the fox would hand out presents, yet this time his face was almost entirely devoid of expression, and his collar light didn't stray from green once, not even when everyone opened and began to show off their gifts.
Perhaps if her parents hadn't said anything she might have eventually given up on him, but she the words out of her mother and father's mouths forever changing how she viewed the fox:
It started when he was seated in between them, just as he'd always seat near them during the past years, however this time there were proud looks on both her parents faces, "You've been very good this year." Her dad said with a little surprise, and her mother reached over to scratch behind his ears. Oddly enough, he tilted his head into her hand at that, and Judy made sure to remember it for later.
Aside from the tilt however, the fox remained silent. Her parents seemed happy enough with the result however, and soon her mother was discussing something that intrigued her little kit: "Looks like the manual was right after all Stu, I guess we won't need it any more." She spoke with relief, and Judy moved closer.
"I don't know Bon, maybe we should keep it just in case, even if he is acting like a proper fox." Her father commented back, as if the fox wasn't there or couldn't hear them.
'A proper fox.' The rest of their conversation was lost to her as something inside Judy's mind had snapped at that. This was what they had expected, what they had wanted from him? A servant who hid how sad they were for fear of a shocking if they didn't? Judy knew what proper training was by now, or at least she thought she knew. She at least knew that when she turned 10 her studies would include Botany along with her regular schoolwork, as well as training on how to help run the farm, and in her opinion there had been no reason to train and treat the fox as they had.
What became clearer after Christmas though, was that her parents (and her family at large) didn't see the fox as a mammal, they saw him as a tool, using him as she used her pencils at school. Any time he'd acted differently than they'd expected they would attempt to make sure that would never happen again in the most direct way possible, and always after reading out of that 'training manual' her parents carried around.
When the new year rolled around, another question occurred to her, how much longer was this going to go on for?
Sometime in January, Judy would go up to her father and ask him a very important question which would lead to one of the most life-changing conversations in her life, though at the time neither of them realized how important it would become.
"Dad?" She asked as he made his way through the halls.
"Yes Lizzie?" He asked back.
"Judy!" She corrected, a little annoyed at being forgotten again.
"Judy- Sorry Jude, that's what I meant." He quickly stated as he remembered the nickname she'd grown used to by now. "So what's my Jude need?" His mood seemed to pick up a little bit since remembering her name, or maybe that was because he was still feeling the 'new year cheer' as her family liked to say.
"I've got a question about the fox." She stated as she hopped up beside him, trying to keep pace with his longer strides.
"What about him?" Her father asked back, his tone of voice no longer as pleasant.
"How long do we get to keep him for?" She asked, and her father stopped in his tracks, a mystified expression on his face.
He let out a laugh before he continued walking, his confusion quickly vanishing as he tussled the fur on the top of her head. "Are you worried about him leaving us Jude?" He asked as she hopped up next to him again, but she didn't answer, choosing to look away instead. "Well you don't have to worry about a thing, we own him for his entire life!" Her father bragged.
"He's staying with us forever?" She asked in shock and her father nodded. "What about his parents?" She continued, only to see her father stop, turn around and get down on one knee to look her in the eye.
"Jude, normally we'd save this for when you're older but..." He trailed off as he looked around, but the normally busy hall was deserted, everyone being too busy with their gifts, or in keeping each other company. "Well, his parents were the ones who sold him to us."
She blinked at that, her brain still being a little too young to fully understand what he meant. "They sold their own kit? For money?" She asked in disbelief, and her father nodded.
Her father took in a deep breath before speaking: "You'll understand better when you get older Judy, but they weren't able to take care of themselves, and they definitely weren't in any condition to take care of a kit. Do you know what a shelter is?" She shook her head. "A shelter is a place where poor predators can live while paying very little. Think of it like our Warren, but above ground and full of predators." Her eyes widened at that. A burrow above ground? What would that be like?
Taking his daughters' silence for understanding, Stu continued: "It's not good to live in shelters Jude, the food's bad, they're dirty, and it's very easy for a kit to get sick and die in them. We adopted the fox because his own parents couldn't take care of him and were worried he'd get sick and die." Now Judy nodded, she could understand the reasoning for that, and it helped her ease some of the worries about her parents.
"So we adopted him then?" She asked back, wondering if this technically made him her brother.
"No, we bought him. He's still technically our property." Stu corrected, holding up a finger for emphasis. "In the deal we made with them, we'd buy and keep him, he'd work for us and in return we'd pay with money and crops." He confirmed.
"But... I haven't seen any foxes around, do we drive their food to them?" She wondered aloud.
"No bun, they lied to us." Her father stated with a very serious face, one which she was surprised at. "We were supposed to get the fox when he was five, but they lied and told us that he was sick when we came to visit, or they'd tell us he was still too young, or they'd make up anything they could to keep us giving them money and food. They broke the law, Jude." He was frowning at her now, and she understood exactly how serious that was.
"So then what?" She asked, very interested in where the story was going.
"We gave them a choice, either they gave us the kit and we stopped giving them everything, or we'd take them to the police, and put them both in prison." He spoke proudly about that last part, though Judy wasn't sure why. "They chose to give us their kit, and that's why we have him now."
"But why did we take him in then? If they broke the law, then wouldn't it be better for them to get arrested and for the fox to go to an orphanage?" She asked back, trying to figure out why her family would take the fox when it was clear from his arrival that nobody else wanted him there.
"No Jude, there were no predator orphanages where we got him. If we left him in the city there would be a good chance he'd still be living in the shelter, and then he could get sick and die, or other terrible things could happen to him. At least here he's fed, clothed and all he has to do are a few chores." Explained her father, and she could see a few of the merits from his points, even if she thought he was understating the downsides by a lot.
"Does he have a name?" She asked and her father shook his head.
Her father stood back on his feet and leaned back, apparently tired of being on his knees. "I don't know if he ever did Jude, whenever we were with them they never called him by a first name, and he never even got his official papers until we bought him." He stood up when he was finished.
"They must have called him something!" Judy insisted back.
"They only ever called him by his last name. Now, why are you so curious about our fox?" Answered her father, and the tone in which he said it told her he was about done with this. She resolved later to make sure and find out what his last name was before stating what was really on her mind:
"I don't think he's happy." She answered and her father shrugged, a saddened look creeping on his face.
"I'm sorry to hear that Jude." Her father stated with a tenderness that surprised her. "We feed him, clothe him, give him a warm place to stay and all we ask is that he help us around the house, I know for a fact he's doing a lot better here than many other predators in other homes, and like I said it's much better than being in that shelter." Her dad began to walk away when he finished talking, and Judy quickly caught up to him.
"I think we might have been training him wrong." She finally spoke her mind as she moved beside her dad.
"Oh really?" Asked her father, an eyebrow raising before a smile came onto his face. "Tell you what Jude, sometime later I'll give you the training manual we use, you can read through it and then we can talk about it later, how's that sound?"
That gave her pause, and soon she was nodding, dropping her previous point in favour of this new development, though once the two parted ways she thought back on the conversation.
It certainly sounded as if he sympathized with her, however it also sounded is if he wouldn't do anything to help. It just seemed wrong to hear one of her family members care so little about the happiness of another mammal, as if somebody else had replaced her dad, and Judy remembered the previous times any one of her siblings was sad.
If somebody had a bad day it was their first priority to cheer them up again. If somebody got badly hurt, they would immediately be taken care of by everyone around them, and this would last until they made a full recovery. If somebody had something truly terrible happen to them, then her family would go to any and every length possible to help them recover if possible, or assist with their life in any way they could if they were scarred for life from the incident.
Nothing was worse than a depressed or hurt rabbit, not to her family, and not to any other rabbit family she'd talked to at school. However it had never occurred to her that this attitude would only apply to rabbits.
Later on her father would keep his word, and he would give her the training manual to read briefly. It wouldn't take too long before she decided it was one of the worst books she'd ever read, though that was only because it became very clear why the adults in her family treated the fox the way they did.
"A predator must be... 'broken in' before they can be fully domesticated?" She read aloud from the book when she'd tucked herself away in a small closet. This was something she wanted to do privately, and she didn't need any more siblings teasing her about 'foxy stuff'. It was just as well, if anybody saw her face as she turned the pages they'd definitely have come over to see what she was reading.
'Predators are territorial, and given to aggressive displays to prove that what is theirs remains as theirs, and these displays can manifest as anything from growling, to physical acts. A territorial predator is a dangerous and rebellious predator, so to combat this do not give your predator anything that can be considered theirs. Everything you give them must be made clear that it is actually yours, and they happen to be using it. The only exception is their den, as all predators need at least one space they can call their own. Failure to provide a den could cause major psychological damage to a predator and interfere with domestication.' That certainly explained a lot. It explained why he was only given one small room, and why he wasn't allowed any toys of any kind.
Her ears twitched and she lowered the book briefly as she considered another point: Had she broken this when she paid him money to help her? He'd used it to buy the ranger scout uniform, that was something that would definitely be his, and look where he was now after it was destroyed. 'I shouldn't have done that.' She thought to herself briefly, but the thought of giving the book any kind of credit was ruined as soon as she came to its next point:
'To assist with domestication, it is recommended that your predator be collared as soon as possible. The earlier they begin living with their collar, the better, as not only will it help them adjust, but it will also help them understand that aggressive physical acts, such as those protecting what they consider their territory, should not be tolerated. It would also be a good idea to invest in a muzzle and claw-guards, so that your predator understands they should not use their claws or teeth against any other. Both implements will help in adjusting them to this mindset.' That didn't sound true at all. The fox was utterly miserable with with guards and muzzle on, and what did they teach that couldn't be taught with words and maybe having him wear them as a punishment? It wasn't as if the fox had any desire to use them against anyone else before right?
Judy turned a few more pages, but stopped when the next interesting bit of info came to light: 'Occasionally you'll need to punish unwanted behaviour, in order for it to cease. In such cases, a light swat should be all that is needed, or in more severe cases, a jolt from their collar would do. Do not be worried about inflicting lasting harm on your predator, as studies have shown that a lighter punishment earlier in their life, helps fix bad habits that might be developing.' That was food for thought, though not because she believed it. At least it helped explain why the fox always seemed to get the worst punishments, and turning a page Judy was surprised to find a very detailed set of pictured defining where and how to hit a younger predator without causing real damage, all in the name of 'fixing' them.
After that section came a large one about the dietary needs of predators, and it included a lot of information that Judy hadn't considered before. Like everyone else she knew they used to eat meat, but she never thought that they couldn't survive on the same diet she did. Still, she resolved to double-check this information at the earliest opportunity as this book was questionable at best.
The final straw came a few pages later, when she came to one of the mid-way steps in domesticating a predator: 'Chapter 3: Set a Routine.' The book explained that most predators flourished when they were given a set of tasks to accomplish across any given day, and that regardless of species, it was always best to set a wakeup time and a curfew. It had sounded normal enough, after all she had the same thing, right up until she came across a section of the book stating how to set a predator's sleep schedule:
'You must not enter a predator's den to wake them. Doing so goes against the idea that this space is theirs and theirs alone. Additionally they must not have an alarm clock or radio, as this could be eventually misconstrued as something that is theirs. In some cases it is possible to wake a predator by knocking on the door, but in most cases, a light shock on a remote collar's lowest setting would do well in waking up and motivating your predator.' Judy shut the book right then and there. She didn't care how much of a charge the collars were supposed to be, she didn't care if this was only supposed to be a temporary measure until the fox could wake up on his own, this was going too far, even for her young mind.
She would return the book that evening, thanking her father for lending it to her while choosing not to pursue the discussion of the book. In her mind it was vile yet for years her parents had been treating it as if it held the answers, and right now she didn't want to think about it further. After handing it over she almost missed her father smile and nod, only noticing when he thanked her by confusing her name with somebody else's again.
Something Judy learned quickly from observing the fox after that point, was that most of the negatives of the book seemed to have faded away. Whichever parent gave him his daily tasks clearly no longer used the remote to wake him and he hadn't been disciplined in any way over a year, but the other negatives remained. She did attempt to do things about them, pestering her parents if she could give something to the fox, asking why she couldn't, but for once her father seemed to remember that she'd read the book, so he'd always respond with a frown and say "You know why we can't."
When Judy turned 9, she was told to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. Nearly everyone in her class wanted to be farmers, and it made sense, not only were their parents and siblings likely all farmers, but being a farmer was likely what they'd been told they were going to be, and farmers also had the advantage of never going hungry.
Judy however didn't agree with the rest of her class. After finding him in that alley and after reading the training manual she'd been occasionally wondering on how to help the fox, and many others either like him, or worse off. She'd since looked up the existence of shelters too, using some books on 'predator culture' as it was called over at the library, and each new tale or insight further led her to wanting to help others. This desire didn't just extend to her fox or predators she hadn't met yet, occasionally somebody would require help in town, or she'd see somebody being bullied at school, and she would immediately step forward to assist the unfortunate mammal in any way she could.
This all cumulated during one day when she found herself pondering over her homework, the fox's tail tucked under an arm as he worked on his own studies, while she looked at her book without interest. Pondering various thoughts, she found herself thinking about the what little he'd told her on the ranger scouts meeting, and exactly how those children had reacted to him for simply being what he was. She would never be like that, no matter what, and she'd do anything she could to make sure nobody else would either. Suddenly it hit her and she knew exactly what she wanted to be.
What she'd occasionally see on T.V. were cop shows, and though she found them interesting and had told the fox all about them she hadn't considered what it would be like to be in their shoes. The mammals in those cop shows did not work for the money, or for food, or for anything beyond helping others and making the world a better place.
'I want to make the world a better place!' She thought proudly to herself, nodding as she determined she should become a police officer. She'd be able to help any mammal in need, and with the resources the cops had... maybe she'd even be able to find and help the fox's parents! Her eyes had gone wide at the thought. If she could find them then maybe they'd come to see their son, and maybe then the fox wouldn't be so sad.
The downside however was that it would take years for her to become a police officer, she knew she'd have to grow twice as old, and become much stronger, much faster, and she'd have to learn how to fight!
Sometime after she'd found her new passion Judy would ask her parents to put her in a martial-arts class, and they would agree. Many of their kits had already taken such courses so it was a simple matter of signing her up. She would attend most times that she could, leaving after every second school-day, going three times a week, and slowly her muscles and endurance began to be developed in a way that was entirely separate from a farmer's.
This was one of the few things that she chose to do where she had everyone's approval, most of them thinking that it was a good thing for a kit to learn how to fight, that way they'd be able to deal with any predator that might attack them. For her part Judy found that train of thought insulting, after all she was friends with her family's fox, Bunnyburrow consisted of more than 99% prey, and thinking that she'd need it to fight off another predator in a town where it was rare to see a even a single predator passing through was absurd.
Unfortunately in the summer of her 9th birthday, they were proven right.
Judy participated in a school play, reflecting on how mammals had come as a whole, starting off as savages who walked on all fours, back when they had paws instead of hands and feet, back when the predators would eat prey, and she put everything she had into it. First she convinced the project manager to do the play on Sunday, specifically during the county fair so that a certain fox could be in the crowd (though she couldn't guarantee if he'd come watch or not). Secondly she'd convinced a land-owner to lend them his barn to host the play in, and thirdly she'd been allowed to say what she really wanted to be in front of everyone.
It hadn't gone over as well as it could have, but the reaction she'd gotten was one she'd been expecting. Shock and horror from her family, stunned surprise from every other rabbit, and derision from some of the bullies who'd shown up to watch.
Sadly, one of those bullies happened to be a fox.
Bunnyburrow's laws in regards to when predators needed to wear their collars gave a lot of leeway to predator families as to when their kits had to be collared. At the time she had thought that was because there wasn't much of a need for stricter laws, considering there were only three predator families living in the area. There were some tigers who ran an orchard, there were stoats who worked in the back of a bank, and there was a fox family, the Greys who ran a bakery. The only common thread between all of the families was that as of yet, none of their kits wore collars as kits were allowed to be without them until the age of 10, unless their family decided to make their children wear them earlier. It was for this reason that the fox was allowed to have his early, as her family had decided to train him with it. There were still restrictions on uncollared predators however, as none of them could attend certain events (although they could attend fairs), or enter certain areas, or even attend public schools.
This other fox though was far more fortunate than the one she knew. Unlike her family's fox Gideon Grey was big, much bigger than her, and almost at the height of an adult rabbit, even though he was only 9. Judy had heard him brag that he was hitting his 'growth spurt' early, and it gave him a lot of advantages, such as being able to pin down a white-belt when she came to stop him from stealing her friend's tickets.
It was shortly after the play when it had happened, Judy had seen Gideon follow after some lambs that she knew, so she had followed. When she saw him steal their tickets she grew mad, and immediately threw herself in to try stopping the theft in question.
She learned a very important lesson in humility that day, of not overestimating herself or underestimating her opponent, and it was one that she would carry with her for the rest of her life. When she'd demanded the tickets back the fox had mocked her. She warned him that she'd been taking martial-arts classes and in response he pushed her, and when she kicked him back he wasn't knocked through the air like how she'd envisioned, in fact he barely seemed hurt.
That was when she learned that doing the right thing could have permanent consequences, as Gideon tackled her, exposed his claws, and slashed across her left cheek.
The cuts were deep enough that they would scar, and the imprint they had on her face would always be felt, being three lines that anyone could feel when they touched her face, though eventually the fur would cover them most of the time. It was a small consolation that he'd been too distracted at scarring her face to notice when she stole the tickets back from him while he was busy mocking her further, and that was the last time she ever saw Gideon Grey. She'd later hear how his family was forced to move after they lost nearly all traffic from the community for their bakery, and at a point she wondered if she'd ever have to face a similar situation again.
The thought of being caught by a much stronger mammal, pinned down and at their mercy was a terrifying one, and a good motivator. It made her more determined to train harder, become stronger, run faster, to make herself tougher, and it also had the side effect of making her unintentionally wary around her fox friend.
Once she'd been treated for the cuts and was alone in her room, he'd knocked on her door and asked to see her. It had been late and he was no doubt here after finishing all of his tasks, but she sent him away. The following week she tried to avoid him, and even meeting him briefly on the weekends had her glancing at his claws more often than before, wondering what he might do to her or her family had he not been wearing the collar. It was a silly thought, one in which she felt shame for even thinking about her friend, but it did make her uncomfortable enough that in the few times she did meet, she made no attempt to get close to him or the sharp points on the ends of his fingertips and even meeting his gaze was a challenge.
Perhaps if she hadn't let it get to her so much, she would have noticed the pain in his eyes when he saw her come or leave, and she might have noticed the bruises and asked about them, for her family had taken something else away from the incident. While Judy had learned being in the right would sometimes hurt, that she couldn't win every battle, and that she shouldn't overestimate her own abilities, her family would learn that a fox had scarred one of their own, and very few among them cared which fox it was.
I've started writing a lot of stories, the vast majority of which have never been put online because I do not like posting anything before I finish it. I might make adjustments to it later, but I want a story that has a decently satisfying start, middle, and end.
That being said I do sometimes wonder about the direction my stories could have taken had some things gone a bit differently. Had Judy never talked to Stu, or had Stu responded differently, the upcoming chapters might be entirely different. Unfortunately I haven't explored that avenue and I likely never will, so we'll probably never know.
Other ways this story could have been different is if the parents did give up their kit like they'd promised. To put it simply, the Hopps clan was on fairly decent speaking terms with them before the lie, and in those cases maybe, just maybe, the parents might have been able to save up and then use the money to move out into the country, preferably to work near a farm where their son was staying.
In any case, I debated waiting this long before explaining the motivation behind them buying the fox, and to be honest I'm glad I did for a few reasons. A younger Judy wouldn't have understood such behaviour, and even her current self has trouble grasping it. Explaining it all away too early would feel like a cheat since the story is told primarily through her eyes, and so certain aspects are going to have to wait until she can understand them. I'm toeing the line explaining it this early but I felt waiting longer would be bad in the long run.
Finally, the treatment of Nick earlier sparked outrage in the comments/reviews, and I'm glad it did for a couple of reasons. The main one is for those emotions to get confused when people read this chapter, as I don't think Bonnie and Stu are terrible people, just misguided and confused. They entered into a situation without thinking it through all the way, and then looked for a way out that they could easily understand, hence the training manual. This is something that I've unfortunately witnessed in real life, not just with pets being trained in certain ways (with similar training manuals), but also with people. When certain people have a responsibility to look after another living thing, be it a person or animal, sometimes their brain seems like it turns off and they do what other people suggest, even if they've never before seemed that cold-hearted or if they'd normally think the suggestions go too far. In those cases they write it off with such statements like "they know what they're talking about and I don't" or "other people have tried this and it worked for them" and I cannot understand why they'd choose to do that. Perhaps it's the fear of screwing things up clouding their ability to think properly, or maybe they've just convinced themselves that this is the only way that it can be done. In either case, it's something I find very sad, and I wanted to bring across that feeling in this work.
Now with that in mind, if you want to hold it against them that they took an easy way out and didn't question the training manual, then by all means, feel free to do so. I'm not trying to 'redeem' them, just explain them and ultimately using it was still their choice, just as it was their choice on whether or not to take in a predator that had a very high chance of dying without their help (the chance of death in shelters for a fox kit in this story is the same for actual fox kits in the wild, aka 60-70%). To be honest, I'm not sure which would be preferable at the start if his parents chosen to give him up. If they had then they could have remained on good speaking terms and given the Hopps guidance, however that wouldn't mean he'd grow up free of everything that happens in this story (as a lot of it would remain the same), and if the Hopps chose not to take him at all, there's a very high chance he'd never even have reached his seventh birthday, let alone become ten or more.