Nick caught up with Jack and Judy by the time they reached the door to the large garage-like structure. Without a second thought, Jack turned the handle to and disappeared inside, Judy following close behind. He saw that Jack was holding the door open through its dusty window, motioning him over with his free paw. Nick did not hesitate any longer and stepped through the doorway, Jack closing it behind him.
It had immediately dawned on Nick as to why it looked kind of like a garage on the outside: it was because it was a garage on the inside as well. There were two vehicles to Nick's right, both appropriately sized for a bunny to use. To his left was a sort of storage area for all kinds of tools, similar to that of his old school's tool room in the auto shop. To the uninitiated, it was your standard garage.
Nick began to look around for things out of place, and things out of place he did find. A straight shot through the garage from the front door was another, more traditional looking door. It was of wood construction, paying homage to classic farmsteads. Jack and Judy chatted idly as they both walked toward it. Judy placed a paw on the brass knob, ready to turn it. She stopped when she noticed that their trio was missing its third member. She looked back to see that Nick was still standing stupidly in the middle of the garage.
"You coming with us, or?" she asked slowly. The sound of a voice echoing off the walls brought Nick out of whatever daze he was in. He quickly crossed the room to meet up with the other two. Both Jack and Judy stared at him harshly as he caught up with them for the second time.
"Yeah, I've just never been in a rabbit den before," Nick admitted. Being excited was no exemption to being anxious. Jack chuckled before placing a comforting paw on Nick's shoulder.
"It's a bit different to what you're used to, I suppose. It's not that bad. There's no exposed earth and you'll forget you're underground in no time," Jack said softly. With that, Judy opened the door to the den. Beyond the door was a set of stairs, illuminated by a warm, comforting light. The two rabbits walked through the doorway for what was probably the millionth time, Nick following not too far behind. After about ten steps, the stairs hung a sharp left before descending another twenty steps. The light began to harshen as the stairs took a right.
As they neared the bottom, the stairs widened and the first room of the den was revealed: the main hall. In the center of the hall was a large table that stretched from one end of the hall to the other, topped with a pristine cloth. Nick scanned the table end to end. If he were to estimate how many chairs there were, he would have to guess around sixty to seventy. At the far end of the room was a old style wood fireplace, however it looked like it hadn't been used for years.
Jack and Judy stepped off the staircase and walked along the left side of the table. As Nick stepped off the staircase, he noticed that the main hall had smaller hallways branching off from it. Jack gazed across the main hall as Judy turned the corner into one of the smaller halls. Nick and Jack both lifted their ears as they heard thumping coming from down the hall.
"Woah!" Judy exclaimed as two smaller rabbits ran past her. The two rabbits quickly ran past Jack and Nick as well, both watched as they ran past. Nick could hear them giggling as they ran around the end of the table and into the hall adjacent. "Seth, Sam, what did I tell you about running in the halls?" Judy shouted. The young rabbits did not respond. Judy rolled her eyes.
"Were those more of your siblings?" Nick asked.
"A couple of them," Jack replied. "Those two specifically are always so hyperactive, always running around and being loud." Nick nodded.
"How do you deal with it? Doesn't it get annoying if they're always like that?" Nick asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess we just got used to it. You must have experienced something similar, no?" Nick shook his head.
"No, I'm an only child," he replied. Jack paused for a moment before nodding his head once. Jack and Nick joined Judy as she continued down the hall. The hallway contained many doors. Some were open, while others were closed. Each time they passed an open door, Nick quickly peeked into each one. He deduced that this was most likely the bedroom area of the den. After another few steps, Jack and Judy stopped at one of the closed doors.
"I wish we didn't have to shut ourselves in a room, but once the younger ones get home the noise levels will be unbearable. At least with these rooms they're soundproofed," Jack said as he pushed open the door.
The room was a typical setup, with a bed, desk, and wardrobe. However it felt, to Nick at least, that something was off. Despite them being however many feet underground, the room looked as if it were being flooded with natural light. Nick spun himself around looking for the source, garnering a short chuckle from Judy as she closed the door behind her. As Nick continued to stare at the ceiling, Jack sighed and took a seat at his desk, which contained nothing but a few pencils, some paper, and an older desktop computer.
We could all huddle around the desk if you don't mind standing. If not, we can all just sit on the rug," Jack said. He turned around to see Nick marvelling at the ceiling, as well as Judy staring at Nick trying to keep a straight face. Jack stared at them with a tired expression before letting out a lengthy sigh. "The way the lighting works is that it's hooked up to a timer that is synced to the outdoor light. The light comes from the small gap in between the trim and the ceiling," Jack explained. Nick finally lowered his head.
"That's so cool! I didn't know this kind of stuff existed," Nick replied.
"Yeah, well, it's the current year after all. Anyway, you can disable it like this." Jack walked over to the set of switches next to the door and flipped the first one. As soon as he did, the room was plunged into pitch darkness. As quickly as he shut it off, he turned it back on. "It's useful for when you want to sleep in on the weekends. Of course, there's also an artificial light, since the other light doesn't provide enough light once the sun goes down." Jack demonstrated his example by flipping the second switch, followed by the first one. The room was then lit by the single light fixture in the middle of the ceiling.
"Why can't you just have the daylight simulation light on whenever you want?" Nick asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, it has the capacity to mess with your sleep schedule if you lose track of time. At least with the artificial light all you have to do is shut it off and turn the simulation light back on to check how much daylight you have left." Jack returned from the switches and sat down on his bed facing Nick and Judy.
"That's a pretty good system," Nick added. Jack nodded.
"Yeah, our parents use it as their alarm clock, especially during the harvest season. They need to use as much of that daylight as they can to get the harvest done before the winter." Nick thought for a moment.
"Oh yeah! It snows here, doesn't it?" Nick asked. Jack and Judy raised a curious eyebrow toward Nick.
"It doesn't snow in Zootopia?" Judy asked?" Nick shook his head.
"Only in Tundratown, and there's snow year-round there." Jack smiled.
"Those Climate Walls truly are a marvel in technology. Without them, that many different mammals couldn't live in the same area. It's amazing what we can come up with when there's a demand," Jack commented, smiling. Judy rolled her eyes.
"Yeah? Well currently, there's a demand for some assistance with our schoolwork, right Nick?" Judy stated, turning toward the fox. Nick stared back at Judy, surprised. Perhaps he and Jack had spent a little too much time talking about light fixtures and innovative technologies and not enough about what they were actually in Jack's room for.
"Er, I guess so. Besides, I need to be home before dark," Nick added, gaining approval from Judy. Jack stared back at them, perhaps a little disappointed. Regardless, Jack sat himself down on the rug in the middle of the room. He removed a notebook and a pen from his backpack and motioned for Nick and Judy to sit down as well.
"Right. Better get on it, then. We can even use the daylight simulation light as a gauge for when Nick has to leave," added Jack to spite Judy. The doe rolled her eyes as she sat down opposite to her brother.
They all fetched their schoolwork from their backpacks and set it down in the space in front of them. Jack oversaw the other two as they worked and did not hesitate to answer any questions. After Jack reminded them of the foundations, Nick and Judy caught on and work began to progress faster. The practice worksheets ended up getting finished quicker than they had anticipated. According to the lights on the ceiling, there was still plenty of daylight left. After a few minutes of silence between them, Nick recalled the brief spat they had on the walk to the burrow.
"You guys gonna tell me now?" Nick said. Jack looked up from his phone with a puzzled expression.
"What is there to tell?" Jack replied quickly before returning to his device. Nick glanced over at Judy, who had a pained expression as she stared at her brother.
"Well, if I recall correctly, Judy said 'If he doesn't hear it from us, he'll hear it from them.'" Nick replied. The quote caused Jack to peek over the top of his device and stare. Slowly, Jack lowered the device and shifted his gaze to Judy, who was growing irate. Jack crossed his arms.
"What of it?" he spat, returning to Nick once more. Nick's eyes narrowed.
"I want to know what it is and who them are. I was even promised an explanation once we got inside. Since we're done with our work and there's plenty of time left, what better time than now?" Nick stated, crossing his arms as well. Jack's eyes widened. He turned his attention to his sister, who shared Nick's expression. He sighed.
"Judy...why did you have to give him your word..." he asked dryly.
"Because we need to tell someone, Jack. Someone who hasn't listened to Joyce and Jace's lies. Wouldn't that be nice, Jack?" Judy replied angrily. Judy's sudden outburst startled Nick, causing him to jump.
"I-" Jack began. He attempted to find words to retaliate, but the prospect of someone being on their side was just too tempting. "Yeah, I guess it would be nice...but Nick already met them." Both Jack and Judy turned to Nick. He was shocked to have the spotlight shifted onto him so suddenly. Nick corrected his posture and gave each bunny a quick glance.
"Uh, well, I did meet them already, but while we got to know each other, they didn't mention either of you at all..." Nick pondered for a moment. "Except for when Jace compared Joyce to Judy after she was trying to get everyone to listen to her," Nick concluded. Judy rolled her eyes.
"That's good. They haven't infected your mind with untruths yet," Jack said. Nick held back a chuckle.
"What are these untruths anyway?" What would they have told me?" Nick finally asked. Jack glanced at the door, confirming that it was closed. He leaned in closer, followed by Judy.
"To answer those questions, you're gonna need some context, so we'll start there," Jack began. Nick made himself as comfortable as he could on the rug; he was prepared for whatever Jack was gonna tell him.
"So, you know that Joyce, Jace, and the others all have a band. The thing about that is, here's a shocker, it wasn't always like that. See, we, as in Judy and I, used to be in that band with them. I used to do all their vocals; they'd tell me what to sing and I'd do it. Judy here used to work on the post-production with Jayden. You follow?" Jack asked. Nick had been listening intensely. He nodded his head.
"Good. Everything had been going fine, we were even working on original music at this point. To reiterate, everything was going fine. That is, until the others decided that it was time to add a new member. For the record, Judy and I would have been fine with adding another band member. The only thing that we weren't fine with is how they called a meeting to discuss who was being added without our knowledge," Jack continued. After a few seconds of silence, Jack cleared his throat. "Mind taking over, Judy? I think you tell this part better." Judy nodded.
"If you hadn't guessed already, that new addition was Aaron. We arrived for rehearsal one night and there he was. Jack and I were confused, rightfully so because again, we didn't know he had been added. We asked who this wolf was and why he was here, and when they told us that he was our new vocalist, we were just blown away. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, Jack was livid, having thought he had been replaced. The whole thing devolved into a shouting match between everyone. Honestly, I feel bad for Aaron, as that was our first impression on him. After a few insults were thrown and authority was questioned, a vote was called by Joyce to have us kicked from the band. It was five against three in favour, and just like that, we were out," Judy concluded. Nick sat in silence for a few moments.
"Who else voted against? There were three votes against," Nick pointed out.
"The third vote was Aaron. Poor kid had no idea what was going on," Jack added. His attempt at humour had no effect on Nick's dampened mood.
"That's fucked. They kicked you out just for disagreeing." Nick said. Both Jack and Judy nodded their heads. "One more thing though. What would their version of the story sound like?" Nick asked.
"Oh, you're gonna love this one. They've been spreading this rumour that the reason we got kicked from the band was not because we didn't accept their decisions made without us, but that we were kicked for hating Aaron because he's a predator." Nick's jaw dropped slightly. He took a moment to process the words he had just heard.
"Unbelievable. What possible reason do the have to lie?" Nick asked.
"To make themselves the good guys. The worst part about it is: their lie is working. Everyone at school believes them. To be honest, it's a god damn miracle that Judy still became student president," Jack added. Nick shook his head. He was irritated because he had thought that his new friends were better than that. He growled.
"You know what? I'm gonna talk to them about this tomorrow. This cannot go without attention," Nick stated. Both Jack and Judy's eyes widened.
"No!" Judy shouted.
"That is quite unnecessary," Jack added. Nick scoffed.
"It is necessary. They treated you like dirt and you're just gonna leave it at that? Not happening!" Nick shouted back. Nick rose from his spot and made his way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow as well. I'm gonna go home and think this over," Nick said. With that, Nick rose from his spot and made his way to the door. He left the room swiftly, making sure to close the door behind him. Where they were situated, it was not difficult to navigate the halls and find the exit. Nick stepped out of the garage, deep in thought. His thoughts stayed with him throughout his nearly hour-long walk all the way back home.
As his house came into view, he noticed that his parents still hadn't returned. He used the key his mother gave him and unlocked the door. He marched through the house and up the stairs toward his room. He powered on his computer and sat down in his chair, running his paws over his face. As soon as the desktop loaded he saw that he had several unread messages; all from Gideon's group. Nick cleared the notifications, all of which came from the group chat he had been added to, but one still remained. It was a direct message from Aaron.
Hey, Nick! It was fun hanging out with Jace and them today. I'll see you tomorrow!
At that moment, Nick had an idea. Immediately, he began typing out a message to Aaron.
Hey, no problem. There's something I want to talk to you about...promise not to tell the others though.
Nick pressed the enter key and the message was sent. For a few moments, Aaron remained offline, but soon enough he had seen the message and was typing out a response. Nick waited anxiously as he stared at the three dots as Aaron typed.
Here's the update, as promised. This will most likely by my last update of 2018, but don't quote me on that. -Prince