Hallo everyone. If you're a following reader, this isn't a new chapter, just 8 in the right place. Continue on to the next one for the real next chapter.
The morning yielded nothing. The two beavers they had decided to talk to were both deceased, and as neither of them had their death made public, the detectives could only find out through a brief, but quite painful, discussion with their families, making the morning all the worse. They stopped by a local diner for lunch and to plan their next move, as well as shake the terrible feeling of opening old wounds for a grieving widow and mother.
"Okay, so that didn't go over so well. At least we know the next guy is alive." Their next contact, Dr. Zander Orshack, was the curator and head of the Natural History Museum, and foremost in his field on ancient mammalian history. Pawtorias had written extensively on their correspondence, taking notes on nearly every paper Orshack had sent him, and had made sure as to take the scientist's advice on many of the relics and sites the agent had recovered from Savage over the years, with many of them being preserved and stored under the best possible conditions money could buy on the ZSIS's dime, and then handed over to the museum for in depth analysis. What Savage was doing with so many priceless artifacts was a point beyond their understanding, as their wolf superior hadn't explained why in his notes, nor even hinted to what he could possibly be doing with them.
The detectives found themselves at the front doors of the recently reopened Natural History Museum. While it was a decently popular location for grade school field trips, on weekdays like today, it was rather lacking in visitors, making it rather easy for Nick and Judy to find the renowned doctor, after Judy insisted on asking an actual attendant.
"Well, if it isn't Zootopia's finest. Here to trespass through my museum again? If so, pleases, don't stop on my account." The curator said to the detectives, confusing Nick. It was always impossible for him to read the old zebra. He couldn't tell if the mammal was either trying to be familial or hostile, and he never cleared it up.
"Actually, Dr. Orshack, Agent Sif Pawtorias sent us. He wanted you to give us a run down of any new developments you might have had on the relics he's sent back." Judy spoke up. Being the more sincere and serious of the two, her keeping hold of the conversation was the safest bet.
"Really? Well, that certainly is a surprise, although I must say, he never sends someone else for this. He had an odd fascination with written correspondence. It boggles me that anyone in this day and age would bother writing letters, but I guess when you're as careful as that one, your step out of the norm…" Orshack responded, picking up some of the pieces of papers he was looking at and throwing them out. He started up again, motioning for them to follow him as he walked out of the office.
"Now, for the most part, the relics he's sent us back were pretty mundane. Small tablets with vague carvings of temples, inscriptions of tales well recorded, just in a long dead language; but some of it has been intriguing to say the least, and other pieces so captivating more than once I've refused to leave until I finished the day's work, often lasting for well over that day." He explained, the little details finding themselves onto Judy's notepad, while Nick simply seemed to remember it all. They walked to a service elevator, and after stepping in, Dr. Zander continued.
"As Pawtorias has made it quite clear that nothing to go on display without his expressed permission, I've had to keep everything hidden away in the basement. Although, that did give me a reason to go down there and deal with the growing spider population. Ghastly little buggers… made webs bigger than you, Miss Hopps. Took me days to clear them out." Dr. Orshack elaborated, supplementing the important information with small talk. Just as they stepped into the basement's main storage area, Nick visibly shivered, the cold surface fear of the web slinging arachnids running down his spine and through his tail, prompting a giggle from his partner.
"Hey, I'm just scared for you, Carrots. You better watch out fluff. I've seen spiders make meals out of mammals your size." He said, getting an eyeroll in response from the rabbit officer.
"Actually, some of the spiders down here were quite large, I really have no idea what they could've possibly been eating." Zander added, getting a bemused eyebrow raise from the bunny. But he ignored her and walked past several of the pieces waiting by the elevator door, hurrying to the back, where a work station had been set up.
"The runes on the tablets from his last recovery effort haven't been deciphered yet; the language is unlike anything we've seen. It's nowhere near as repetitive as common languages, and far more complex than other languages from the time. The linguists on the project requested access to the city central processor several times, to no avail. There's simply too much information to handle on our own, so after their last request, they started fundraising to get the local university a processor like that. I think they actually got final approval for the purchase yesterday. So with all likelihood they won't have results for a week." The information clicked with Nick and Judy, who immediately jotted down the fact. The resonance was missed on Orshack though, who simply continued talking.
"However, we have been able to make strides in other areas. It seems as though his last recovery site, as far as our analysts have been able to uncover, was some sort of training ground. The buildings date back a little over 3000 years ago. Most researchers in the field date the oldest civilizations to less than a third of that. The discovery made quite the rounds at the university." Orshack's nondescript explanation left them in the dark on the topic, but they hid their confusion. Before he could continue, the russet fox chimed in, trying to keep the zebra from going off on another tangent.
"Well doc, if that's what you've got news about, fill us in."
"Hmm… very well. Well, much like the previous two complexes Pawtorias opened to us, we believe that the building in its original glory was much larger than the remnants we find. However, while the other two seemed to have been destroyed in some sort of revolt or rebellion, the most recent find seems to have been abandoned in a more… controlled manner. According to my people on sight, it seems as though the building was purposefully sealed off to the public, in an attempt to bury something. We don't know what they hiding, as most of the chambers still lie underneath the excavated structure. However, despite that, they were able to piece together the different pieces of what was left of the building above ground. Most of it wasn't anything special, despite the importance of the find. One area though lead to the discovery of a large repository of tomes, scrolls, and pieces of art, all of it predating the antiquity site. A few of my personal favourites were sent back for further analysis." He explained, not really filling them in like Nick had requested, but still sharing some important information. The two didn't really see the importance though; Judy's eyes betrayed her boredom, and while Nick's were still filled with interest, he couldn't really see how all of this was connected to the investigation.
The zebra grabbed a box filled with glass display cases, each one containing a rather old, worn looking piece of paper. He set it on the desk, and pulled out a rather large one, and held it up to the two detectives. The painting depicted four mammals in a very fantasy-esque way; the artist had them on a black background , with much of the foreground covered in inky, purple shadows. The largest, a male buffalo, stood furthest to the back and to the left, resting a massive battle axe on his shoulder and a shield on his back, and he was heavily armoured. On the opposite side was a dark grey wolf wearing a brown cloak with the hood low over his face, obscuring most of it, and a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder. In between them and seemingly closer to the front sat the smallest two mammals; a red fox and a white rabbit. The fox's ease and cool guy pose spoke volumes, even through a painting; his paw was on the hilt of a black longsword, almost as if he was spinning it. Unlike the other three mammals, he had much more detail on him and his weapon, which bore two raw red gemstones; one in the crossguard and one in the pommel. He wore a black cloak with red trimmings and matching pants, and his eyes shone a brilliant blue. The bunny next to him sat far more conservatively, but still seemed more relaxed. Her simple black garbs contrasted her fair fur almost too well, and like the wolf's, her face was obscured, and unlike her companions, no weapon was shown on her.
"Well doc, this is one hell of a painting. Kind of unusual for the era, I'll admit, but what's so important about it?" Nick commented, slightly enthralled by the painting. Judy looked over it once, interested in the bunny and fox figure, but nowhere near as curious as Nick.
"Well, first thing first; do you know the Tale of the Old Knights?" He asked the two, getting lost looks. Chortling to himself, he continued.
"It's an old, old children's tale that's been around since forever. I forget how it goes, but it's the basic heroic tale about the good honourable knights overcoming a great evil and saving the world. If I'm correct, this is the oldest depiction of the heroes of that tale." Dr. Orshack elaborated, still getting confused looks though.
"Hm. I guess that doesn't actually clear up anything. Let me explain. In most historical field, there's a thing the experts like to call the kernel. Basically nearly all stories and myths we have bouncing around society have a kernel of truth somewhere in them, whether it be the flood myths coming out of the ancient river valley civilizations, or the night spirits from the north and far south, or the tales of massive sea creatures from another world. Each of these have their origins in something real; the flood myths from the large, seasonal flooding the river valleys experienced, to the aurora borealis and aurora australis for the basis of the sky spirits and of course the findings of skeletal remains of bottom feeding fish for the basis of the sea monster tales. And it seems as though you're looking at the original figures for this one. I have come to the conclusion that Savage is looking for things to do with the ancient knights, and he must be getting close to them." The explanation answered the questions the two detectives had, but Judy quickly came up with more.
"So what's the tale? What do you know about it? Do you know how much is true? What it is that he might be going after?" She queried, her voice showing more intrigue on the last question than on the first three. His response disappointed her.
"Well, the tale starts in a kingdom of old…"
They sat there for over an hour, listening to the old curator go on and on about different versions of the story, citing accounts from across the world. The entire time Judy took notes, but her head was definitely not into it. She always did well in school, but literature and history were her weak points, and it became obvious to the other two adults why. Her look of boredom was enough to detail how she felt about the subject to anyone who so much as glanced at her, which Nick made a point to do so frequently, if just to make sure she was still awake. He, on the other hand, was having quite the time. He listened intently and asked questions, gave a few points of insight, and absorbed the information like a dry sponge given a cup of water. However, after recounting the various tales, most of Judy's original questions remained.
"So let me get this straight; all you know is that the lord they overthrew was a real person, they were real people, and he's looking for something connected to them? That's next to nothing to go on." The vulpine detective summarized the situation. His bunny partner was less than pleased.
"Next to? THAT IS LITERALLY NOTHING TO GO ON! We don't know what he's looking for, or why; we don't know where it might be, or even when it was put there. We have no leads; just a FREAKING GOOSE CHASE AFTER A CHILDREN'S BEDTIME STORY!" She shouted, her tance broken by Nick's last comment. Her explosive outburst caused both of the larger mammals to jump, not expecting something so loud so suddenly.
"Well, don't we have a temper. Not exactly, Carrots. Remember earlier?" his allusion got her to cock her head to the side, forgetting what he meant. "Doc, you said that some of the other professors were fundraising for one of the large processor units from Carkitty Enterprises, correct?" His question finally brought it back to the forefront of her mind.
"Ooooooh! But how does that help?" She interrupted. As she did she realized she was speaking out of turn, and clasped her paws over her mouth, allowing Zander to answer Nick's question.
"Why yes. In fact, they raised enough money to purchase two. They were just starting the process of ordering them from the company this week. Why?"
"A couple weeks ago anonymous buyers purchased 12 of those processor units. Detective Hopps and I have reason to believe that the mammals who made the purchase were working on Savages orders. Why do you need that sort of processing power?" Nick connected the two strings together seamlessly, with a grin and cocky stare coming on as he relished the cool formality of his last statement. This reaction cause Judy to roll her eyes playfully at the almost obnoxious sight.
"Well, the current computer systems have been going over all the data for weeks, and haven't gotten anywhere with it all. Agent Sif has made it clear that speed is the utmost importance, and with all of this history just waiting to be deciphered, we were more than willing to put in the extra hours for the equipment." He elucidated, confirming what they suspected.
"How long do you think it would take decode the language from the excavation sites?" The two asked simultaneously, comically shocking the middle aged PhD. He shook his head for a second, and then pondered the actual question. He eyes glazed over, and he stood there, unmoving, for several seconds, trying to come up with an answer to their a few seconds of introspection, he gave one.
"My best guess is that we could get all of it decoded and translated with those processors in at least 5 days. But depending on how long it takes to actually get them, we could be looking at a 2 week wait."
"Well, Judy and I can do something about that wait time. You just make sure everything is ready by the time we get them to you, okay?" Nick's take charge attitude sparked a level of curiosity in Judy, who had never seen him that enthusiastic before. He continued, his avidity for the case shining through his normally indecipherable facade.
"We'll get you in touch with one of the higher ups at Carkitty and they should be more than willing to extradite the process. We'll head over there now to get her ready. Thanks for the info Doc. Come on Carrots." He moved back to the elevator, his positive energy making his movements seem even more fluid and nonchalant than usual. Judy dashed over, making it to the elevator before it closed, and turned just in time to see Dr. Orshack wave to them. Or, well, shoo them, suddenly distracted by something.
Pawtorias sat in the back of a large military style truck, his face covered by a mask. The other mammals that sat with him were a combination of hardened criminals and skilled cooks, one of the oddest combinations he had ever had to deal with. The truck trudged through the mud and muck of the rain soaked forest, unable to pick up any sort of speed. But for the most part that was irrelevant, and from the scents in the air, he knew they were at their destination. The sudden jerk accompanied by the squeal of the vehicle's brakes signaled they arrived. Silently, everyone unloaded from the car, each mammal with their own job and responsibilities; socializing was nowhere on the list. When the wolf hopped down from the truck bed, he saw the camp for what it was; a bunkhouse, a com tower, and a helipad. He walked down to the base of the com tower, trying to look busy. Truthfully, he had nothing to do until the helicopter got there to lift the new chefs and labour back to the city, but one thing he knew from experience was that criminals like these didn't like to see idle paws, and he wasn't about to draw attention to himself. As he crossed the courtyard, he looked around and counted the people, and noticed the weapons they were packing.
Judy, Nick, I hope you're ready, because there's a storm coming your way… the thought found itself in good company, as a thunder and lightning flash from looming rainclouds added a beautiful irony to the situation. Not missing the humour in what had just happened, he let out a bellowing laugh, only half exaggerated. This is going to be an interesting couple of days.
Hey guys, sorry for the long walk for such a short drink of water, but here's the next chapter. I've been having... personal issues, and recently have been having trouble finding any motivation to write. Which to me seems dumb, because writing has always helped my mood...
Anywho, big thanks to Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps and Libious for reading my story. The advice was well taken. Soon I'll be reuploading some of my previous chapters with the spelling and grammar mistakes fixed,, and a little change to the intro. If you haven't checked out their stories, you definitely need to read One Hundred Kisses by the former and Wilde Heart by the latter. Amazing stories.
Like always, please post a review and if anyone cares to know, those allusion challenges are still up for grabs.
