AN: Sorry for the minor delay, I was posting up a long term project of mine (Fault in our stars: A comprehensive review of Take a stand, stars of Ceartais) over on the zootopia reddit. If you're interested in story analysis, of that fic, why not check it out?
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In addition, after being deleted by the mods without warning, the fan-fic version of 'A lead role in a cage' is back up, and ready to update tomorrow.
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Finally, if anyone doesn't like any of the lyrics that may come below, please refer to the authors note at the bottom of this page.
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Introductions.
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Nick's journey had been fantastic so far. While he'd been upset at saying goodbye to his mother, he'd soon shaken his head and told himself that he was a big brave todd on an adventure! The carriage he'd been in had been full of other children, including his friend Finnick, who were all carrying their own books and comics and even a few precious sweets. While many of them had been sad at leaving their parents, just like he had been, they'd soon been joking and laughing and even singing. It helped that several of the kids had been in a church choir and, once they'd been taught some fun songs, everyone had joined along.
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Knitler… has only got, one, ball!
Goatling… has got two, but they're ve-ry small…
Llamler… has something sim'lar!
But poor old Goatz has no balls at all.
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And when Nick said everyone, he meant everyone, or at least as close as you could get. The chaperone, the guard, the crew coming down the train to give everyone some food. The only person not singing was an annoying silver fox who had no friends as nobody liked him, and was angrily telling everyone that they couldn't sing because of a sign he's seen and that he'd tell on them.
Nick himself had only ever sung before in assembly at school and at church, and he'd always found it a chore. Here though, it lifted his spirits and made him smile. He thought to himself that this must be what the camp songs he'd read about in his scout's book must be like. He'd been looking forward to joining his local troop, though the war and evacuation had put a stop to all that. A smile on his mouth and laughing out loud, he'd been waiting on the edge of his seat for the next song to start.
Already one of the choir boys, a wolf who'd howled at the end of the last song, was saying that he knew a funny song and was laying out the tune.
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"Dum… de-dum, dee-dum, de-yum… de-yum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dummm … de-um, de-yum, de-yum, de-dum, de-doo-dah…"
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"Mammals will please refrain,
From flushing toilets while the train,
Is standing in the station…"
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Nick tried to sing, though he found it hard to as he giggled. Looking out of his compartment and into the corridor he spotted the chaperone, her eyes wide, jogging up to stop the song, probably after deciding it was just too rude. Still, there was time for the rest of the verse.
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"We encourage constipation,
While the train is in the station,
Moonlight always make me think of you…"
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The song stopped as the chaperone barged into the compartment in front of Nick's and pounded on the wall, ordering the wolf to stop singing the song at once.
"Spoilsport," came a mutter from Nick's side, and he looked over to see Finnick pouting. All the other mammals on the train died down though as the tune was lost, bar the one of the silver fox.
"Ha, I told you it was against the rules!" he said out loud in a horribly smug and self-righteous voice, only for the chaperone to turn and shout at him.
"Venny, if I hear one more nasty word out of your mouth I'll drag you down to the toilets and wash it out with soap!"
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There was a brief moment of quiet, the only sound being the rattle of the carriages, before a new voice spoke up. "I know a good song, which I sing a lot."
It was the wolf guard, who'd walked up the carriage and was right across from Nick. "I'll go first and you lot follow, Okay?"
Nick and the other kids in his compartment nodded their heads, as did those in other parts of the carriage. The only objection was from Venny, who began screaming out and kicking. "Not fair! Rulebreaker! I'll report you to…" He was cut off as the chaperone barged into his compartment and dragged him out by his paw. He was screaming and bawling, like a toddler having a temper tantrum, as he was taken away.
"I may not be allowed to grab your scruff young man, but at this rate I'll make your behind look like a red foxes'…" the chaperone muttered as she walked past Nick, the fox in her paws screaming about how he was the good guy and stopping rule breakers.
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"Okay then," the wolf guard muttered, before clearing his throat. "From the top!"
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"Whistle while you work…"
'Whistle while you work…'
"Knitler is a twerp!"
"Knitler is a twerp!"
"He's half barmy, so's his army!"
'He's half barmy, so's his army!'
"Whistle while you work!"
'Whistle while you work!'
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All the children burst into fits of laughter, before the choir boys and everyone else restarted the song.
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'Whistle while you work,
Knitler is a twerp,
He's half barmy, so's his army!
Whistle while you work!'
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As the song ended, the guard turned around and headed back towards his compartment at the back of the train. Finnick was still half-singing the song and giggling as he did it, but Nick's curiosity had suddenly piqued.
"I'm gonna see what the guards doing," he said to his friends, before looking around and slipping off his seat. Leaving his compartment, Nick went out into the corridor, following the guard through carriage after carriage, door and door. Soon they were at the rear of the train and passing the doors into the rear toilets. Peeking in, Nick spotted the llama guard tightly holding Venny between her legs and pulling his long tongue far out, scrubbing up and down it with a soap covered brush. Leaving them behind, Nick skulked onwards, finally entering the luggage compartment at the very back of the train. Sneaking forward on his toe pads, careful to make no noise that could have been heard even if it weren't for the rattle of the carriage, the curious kit slipped in and held his breath as he stared up at the large wolf's back.
"You know I can smell you?"
Nick jolted out of his sly posture and stiffened up as the guard turned to face him. The little Kit's ears drooping back and his tail lowering itself against the floor, he gulped as the huge guard looked over at him. "I'm… I'm… sorry sir, I," Nick tried to say, only stuttering, before the wolf interrupted him.
"Don't really see anything for you to be sorry about."
Nick immediately relaxed and smiled, knowing he wasn't in much trouble, before looking around.
"So, this is where you work?"
The rear cabin was relatively empty, though there were several piles of luggage stored here and there. Like Nick, most children were carrying all their luggage with them, although unlike him with his suitcases they wrapped everything up in parcel paper or old newspapers. In one corner of the cabin, by a window, was a large lever, some cupboards and a seat which the wolf was settling down into.
"'Bout right," he chuckled, as he patted his lap. Nick hopped up onto him and watched as his paws opened the window. After a quick peak out, he smiled and waved to it, and Nick peered out as well. The roar of the wind was flowing past and, as Nick's head peered out, his ears and fur were flattened as the gale hit them. His eyes flinching closed, he managed to open them slightly and look forward. The train was racing along a corner, the sight of the locomotive clear in the distance. Nick kept on looking at it, and the great plume of smoke and steam streaming from it, up until a sudden pain stabbed him in the eye.
"YIP!" Nick cried as he ducked back in and rubbed his eyes furiously. Blinking a few times, he cussed under his breath until the pain stopped, before glaring up at the chuckling guard.
"Bit of soot," the wolf said with a shrug. "Get it all the time working on the trains."
"Oh," Nick muttered back.
"Why, Oh?" the guard asked, and Nick looked up at him and smiled.
"I want to be an engine driver when I grow up!" Nick proudly said.
The wolf smiled, chuckling as he rubbed Nick's head. "So, did I! I know plenty of nocturnal mammals like you who work on the night trains, or on the track crews or in signalling. The railways can't get enough of them!"
"Are you going to be one soon?"
The wolf paused slightly, before sighing and pointing at his unfocussed eye. "Cricket ball put paid to that dream. If you want to play a sport with your new people up wherever you're staying, try and avoid that one."
"Oh," Nick replied, before putting one of his paws on his shoulders. "I'm sorry."
The guard shrugged, before smiling. "It's really not that bad. I enjoy my job, and here, I'll show you how all this works and all my tools."
"REALLY!?" Nick asked, as the Wolf nodded back.
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The truck shook and rumbled as it drove down the road towards the station. Behind it, a great cloud of both dust and oily smoke was being kicked up, the latter a given considering that fuel rationing had led to a shortage of diesel. Still, being on both a farm and in a family of several hundred had its advantages, including enough used cooking oil to permit a few pleasure runs here and there. However they were a lot rarer than before, which only increased the novelty.
Judy loved sitting in the truck as it drove along. Beside her, Henry Hopps was grunting and straining, his paws rapidly pulling one way or the other on the steering wheel as he kept the truck going forward in a straight line. Everything shook with the vibration of the engine and the skitter of the wheels as they passed over the bare ground.
"What kind of mammal is he going to be?" Judy asked, as she looked up and smiled at her bigger brother.
"A fine, young, clever one!" he said back, keeping his eyes pinned to the road. Judy glared slightly in response, not that he could see it.
"Do you know what type?" Judy asked again. "As in what species?" She'd read about and seen pictures of all sorts of different mammals in the big city of Zootopia, many of which she'd never seen before. Giant elephants and tall giraffes and gazelles and moose and hippos and rhinos and all sorts. There were also the predators, which she really didn't know much about.
Back when she was younger, her Pop-Pop had always warned her about them. How they were evil, how they used to eat mammals like her and how they still wanted to. He talked at great lengths about the worst of the worst. Foxes. The red devils as he called them, who were sneaky and cruel. Who would ruin the lives of everyone they could sweettalk, and who were vain and untrustworthy.
In school though, her teachers had been teaching her something very different. She'd learnt there that predators had long ago stopped eating other mammals and were no more likely to 'chomp' than a sheep or bunny; while also hearing warnings and sad tales of poor predators rounded up and attacked for no good reason in the Cud Reich. Of how, in such places, mobs of savage prey went from town to town to kill and maim, tearing up families, and treating them more like bugs than mammals.
Always conflicted before his death, Judy had chosen to find out the truth herself after her grandfather's passing. There were at least a few predators in the area, and a large number would come in to help with the harvest every year. She'd been able to talk to a few, and learn some things, but still wasn't quite sure on what exactly they were like. All she really knew was that they could be mean, but no more worse than other prey mammals. One Fox, Gideon Grey, had certainly lived up to the 'red devil' moniker and had bullied many of the smaller children including her, despite her many attempts to stand up to him. But if anything, she'd been even more scared of Doug, a ram who was equally as mean as Gideon, and who enjoyed throwing water or flour all over others and just laughing at them. In any case, while Gideon had at least calmed down a lot a year or so ago, Doug had carried on and got worse and worse. Thus Judy came to the conclusion that there must be 'good' predators and 'bad' predators and 'bad' prey and 'good' predators, and that it was up to her to find out whether a mammal was one or the other.
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"I said, I don't know yet," Henry eventually replied, breaking Judy out of her train of thought. Judy sighed, looking out of the window instead. They'd finally left the dirt track and were on the hard road now, moving along as they approached the station. Along her side ran two whitewashed fences, a single set of rails snaking through in between. Soon, they were passing the tall mast of a set of signals, as the streak of a much larger set of tracks began to appear in the distance. There were other mammals too, walking or driving along the road, all coming to pick up the city children. Finally, the soft rumble of tarmac under the wheels turned into the crunch of gravel as the truck slowly stopped in front of the worn wooden station. The engine turned off and there was the click of the door as Henry got out. Judy followed him, jumping out of her side of the truck before quickly feeling the tap of paws on her shoulder. Her brother was making her way over to the station building and Judy followed. Glancing to the side she noticed the Grey family off in the distance, Gideon among them. She kept her eyes on him, wondering whether or not he was up to any mischief. Many of her friends and siblings had agreed that once a bully, always a bully. Still, he did seem like he was trying to be sorry.
Her thoughts trailed off as she was walked into the station. Past the end of a small platform that attached to the little branch line, a small tank engine steaming in place with two bored looking donkeys in the cab, and then up the steps and through the doors. She was led past the ticket office and through the waiting room, all the old travel posters replaced with ones that warned her not to talk about army secrets or to save fuel and food, before they exited onto the platform.
Many more mammals were there, including the leaders of all the big farms in the region. Many had one or two of their elder kids with them and were just waiting around and talking. Several other bunnies wandered up to Henry, joining him as they met with some kind of official with a clipboard, and they quickly starting conversations about boring adult stuff. Things about how many evacuees each was taking and when, crop harvests, trouble with the land girls who'd come in from the city to help in the fields, issues with supply shortages and all manner of other things she couldn't understand. There were many other words about how sorry they were that her father had been captured by the enemy.
Her ears drooped at that one.
She had been beyond happy to know that he was still alive, but she still missed him. She hoped this dreadful war would be over soon, and she'd be able to run up to him and hug him, and him hug her back.
A paw came around her side and pulled her in tight, before a soft kiss was placed on her temple. She looked up to see Henry looking down, a sad expression on his face, before he looked up at the other bunnies in attendance.
"…And that's why we agreed that you can get first pick, given the sacrifice your family has made," one of them said.
"Thank you," Henry replied. "Though I'll likely just ask the children's chaperone which one is the nicest."
Henry and the other mammals carried on talking about boring adult stuff and Judy lost interest. Slipping out of his paw, she squatted down on her feet and looked out across the train tracks. Four sets of two metal rails separated her from the other main platform, which was empty of mammals. Attached to it was another little platform, facing the other way, and as she peered over she just about saw a small track leading from it and disappearing off into the fields beyond. The adults were still talking about boring stuff so Judy, waiting for the right moment, gently tapped Henry's leg before saying she was going to sit up on the bridge. He rolled her eyes and waved her off, though not before ordering her to come down the moment she saw the train coming. Judy nodded, before hopping off. Up the stairs and onto the little bridge that spanned the tracks. She walked until she was halfway across before she sat down, dangling her legs through some gaps in the metal and letting them swing in the wind. In front of her, the two outer tracks merged into the two inner ones, as did those behind her, and the twin tracks then sailed off, together, into the distance as they gleamed in the sun.
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Nick had spent at least an hour talking to the guard. He'd told Nick about all the jobs he had to do and showed him all his equipment. Flags, whistles, the detonators and sand buckets. As they stopped at some of the stations, he let Nick signal to the engine driver with the flags, before talking more about all the things he'd seen and stories he'd heard. Nick had listened to every bit of it, half the time interrupting to tell the guard about what he knew, which was almost always correct. The minutes whittled along, as stories were told from both sides and jokes spun.
"PREGNANT!" the guard shouted out, laughing at the punchline to one of the fox kit's many jokes. Snorting, he wiped the end of his nose with a finger before standing up. "We'll be approaching Bunnyburrow before too long," he said. "So, I think you'll want to get back up to the front."
"Yes sir," Nick replied, as the guard stood up and led the way. Walking back up to Nicks carriage near the front of the train, they bumped into the chaperone in the corridor. The Llama looked down at Nick, before the guard interrupted.
"It's a shame that he's being evacuated out here. He's a real sport, you know that!"
"I trust that he hasn't been an issue then?" she asked, to which the Wolf nodded. "Probably the nicest kid you've got," he replied as he handed Nick back over to her.
"Well, thanks for keeping him out of trouble then."
The two mammals nodded and turned away, Nick carrying on back to his compartment. Opening the door, he leapt onto his still empty seat and began gathering up his luggage.
"How much trouble you in?"
Nick's eyes went wide, and he turned to face Finnick. "Trouble?"
"Yeah," Finnick shot back. "What else were you gone for?"
"I wasn't in trouble," Nick said back. "The guard showed me around and even let me blow the whistle and wave the flags!"
Finnick blinked a few times, before just shaking his head, shrugging and looking away. Nick, meanwhile, checked both of his suitcases. The locks were still on and, since he had the keys in his suit, he knew all his things were safe. The other children were getting louder and, looking out of the window, Nick saw rolling fields going past along with the flash of a large bunny shaped sign.
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Meanwhile, up on the bridge, more and more children were setting up with Judy. Talking, joking, looking out into the distance. There was a soft huff at one stage as a little tank engine steamed towards the other side of the station on the branch line. It was only carrying a few wagons of goods, and it quickly crossed over the four tracks in the station and onto the other side, where it joined the other branch and carried on, on its way. After that, there was a quiet for a short while before, all of a sudden, all the children got up and raced down, screaming that the real train was coming. Everyone went silent and peered over the platform, as the heavy huffing of an express approached.
Judy stood on the edge of the platform, bouncing up and down on her two feet. Looking to her right, her ears tilting so that they could focus on the sound of the engine, she spotted the cloud of smoke off in the distance. It grew as the train got closer and closer, the sight of a dirty steam engine now clear in view. Two sharp whistles cut through the air, the sound of not only the pistons but also the rattle of the wheels on the track now clearly ringing out. Judy had a huge grin on her face as the train rumbled past, steam hissing and spitting out as the wheels slowly ground to a halt. The driver gave the crowd a long whistle as it went, before the rattle of the carriages followed. Dresses fluttered and even a few hats were carried off heads in its wake. Still, more lines of carriages went by. All covered in coal dust and grime, but from the sight of it packed with screaming and hollering children. Kits, kids, cubs, lambs, calves, pups and all sorts, all pulling their windows down to wave and shout.
"Hi there!" Judy shouted, jumping up and waving back at them. There was a soft squeal as the whole thing shuddered and, with a last metallic shriek coming out as the breaks were closed, the whole thing ground to a halt. For the first time, Judy got a good look through the windows and realised just how many different types of mammal there were. She saw different types of canines, many that she'd never even seen a picture of before. Some had golden fur, which she guessed meant they were jackals. Others had fur that was painted in lots of beautiful shades of brown, orange, white, black and red. Then there were some big cats. She couldn't help but feel nervous as she saw both some lions and some tigers, the first time she'd even seen those species in the fur. Further along, and already getting out, there was a huge hippo. He looked younger than she did, but he was still larger than pretty much all the mammals around bar the horses. As he got out, the guard who'd unlocked their doors jogged along with his keys and the clicking of door locks rang out as the other compartments emptied. She and Henry shuffled back, letting them have plenty of space to get out and stretch their legs. She looked up to him and smiled.
"Which one are we taking?"
"I don't know yet," he replied back, as he scanned around for the childminder. "Though that hippo would be very useful on the farm, albeit a bit worrying given the state of some of the floor joists. Let's just find whoever was looking after them." After a moment he spotted her, a llama, at the back, talking to the guard who'd brought the train in and had just got back from unlocking the doors. "Hello! Hello there!"
Her ears picked up and she turned to face him. "Yes?"
"I am Henry Hopps," he said introducing himself. "I'm here to represent the Hopps family farm and, as per an agreement given my father's current state as a POW, I've been allowed to pick the smartest, most adept mammal that you brought with us. Do you understand?"
"Uh, yes," she said after a bit. "Do you understand that I've only known these children for the last few hours or so? I may not be…"
"Even if it's just a hunch," Henry replied.
"What about Nicholas?"
Both the Llama, Henry and Judy turned to face the new voice, as the guard turned to face him. Judy stared at his strange left eye. It didn't focus on anything, instead it just drifted in its socket, and straight away she could guess that he was blind in it.
"I don't see why not," the Llama announced, snapping Judy's attention away from the wolf. "I mean, he seemed very nice and curious. Better than any other hunch to go on I guess."
"Great!" Henry shouted. "Got any paperwork or…"
"Right here," she replied, fetching out a clipboard with all sorts of forms on it. "It makes sense. We're either going to do this slowly and take hours, or we could make a headway in sorting these poor kids out."
Presenting Henry with the right form and a pen, he signed immediately, before handing the documents back and smiling. "So, where is he?"
"Here sir!"
Henry's ears rose, and he looked down the platform. He smiled as he waited for the kid to emerge from the sea of moving mammals, only for that smile to soften somewhat as he laid eyes on the smiling kit that stepped forward. Dressed in a hardy fabric suit, and with two little suitcases in each paw, he had green eyes, pointed black ears and russet red fur.
"Oh, uh…" Henry said, "I was looking for Nicholas, perhaps you misheard?"
The kit looked around, before shrugging. "My name is Nicholas sir. Friends call me Nick. Nick Wilde…"
"And the other Nicholas?"
The child's eyes widened. "I think I'm the only one sir, or at least…"
"Is this the child you were referring to?" he asked the Llama, who nodded as she reached down to her documents and opened up the one he'd just sign. Henry peeked in, poking his claw out to reveal Red Fox as the species under Nicholas' name. "Yes," she slowly said. "But…" She trailed off, unsure about what to say.
Henry was quiet for a bit too, looking around, before shrugging. "Well, I guess I'm the fool for not reading all the documents. It's a bit… unorthodox… But if you're right, I see no problem."
"Very good," the chaperone said, stepping forward as the wolf started jogging behind her, closing the doors as he went. "I need to sort out everyone else now, so I hope you three will get on just fine. I'll be checking up in a week or so, so see you then!"
She trotted past, making her way to the station building. Already, inside, some other mammals had brought out a set of forms and children were being allocated to new families. Henry, taking one of the fox's suitcases, stood up and led the way forward. Judy skipped along next to him, with the fox trotting along behind her.
"Hi," he said.
"Hello," Judy replied, looking back at him. "My name's Judy. And you're a fox."
Nick looked at her, his head tilting sharply to the side. "I know I am," he replied. "And you're a bunny."
Judy looked forward again, wondering what exactly the future would hold for them.
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AN: The first song the children sing is based after the real life one about Hitler, who most records do show as lacking a testicle (due to an injury in the battle of the Somme). It's sung to the music of the colonel Bogie march theme, which was written in 1914 but is most widely know for its use in 'The Bridge over the river Kwai'. The origin of the lyrics is unknown, but believed to be from lyricist Toby O'Brian, though this is unsubstantiated. No one has ever attempted to claim copywrite on the lyrics, thus no copywrite issues exist. This is before they're animalised, thus removing them further from any issue. Interestingly, there is a little known and seldom used introduction verse, arranged to the tune of 'Land of hope and glory'.
In a similar vein, the next song (sung to the tune of Dvorak's Humoresque 7) also has no ascribed author or copywrite, being a joke song. It's a reference to the common rule of not flushing a train's toilets while in a station, due to them emptying straight onto the track at that point in time. Modern trains now use tanks, removing this issue.
The third song, whistle while you work, was originally in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, released in 1937. The WWII version(s) were children's parodies, though this particular set of lyrics was made most famous by 'Dad's Army'. This is thus both uncopywrited, and in fact a fair use quote from Private Pike (even before it's Zootopiafied). At this point in time, typing 'Whistle while you work Dad's Army' into youtube and watching the resulting video is mandatory.
Being an engine driver was seen as the premier career at the time, for boy's at least, and it's still popular today. A recent advertisement by Virgin East Coast for 78 new drivers received 15,000 applicants. Back then, though, there would be many more driver jobs along with a vastly wider selection of other roles. Signalling, firemen, guards, labourers etc. It makes sense that those with good night vision would be valued on the railways.
The posters Judy saw in the station are standard propaganda posters, which were distributed across the UK (with the USA having its own versions when it entered the war). While many examples exist, the most famous has to be 'Keep calm and carry on'. Ironically, it was little used in the war, being kept in reserve for serious disasters and only being rediscovered and popularised in the year 2000.
Even today, trains may carry automatic sand dispensers that can deploy to give the wheels extra grip. Detonators are small explosive charges that are to be placed on rails if there's a blockage on the track (or in some cases deployed via a lever on a signal box). The aim is to warn drivers of trains of the blockage ahead by creating a loud noise when run over.