"Hey, you ok there? Have the cops caught the bad guys yet?"
"They sure have. I was even credited at news too lmao."
"Lol, really? Damn, I wish I could be as popular as you are."
"I don't think popular is the right word tbh. Only my name was mentioned and not actually my face."
"Still, to be mentioned on a news channel. That's pretty impressive!"
"Maybe. It's only been a day but the news has spread like crazy!"
"Hehe, my friend's a little celebrity now. Oh, my mom's calling. Ttyl!"
"K, see ya." I put my phone away.
A day had passed since the imprisonment of the Night Howler's smuggling group yesterday. Me, Nick, and the officers that were in Tundratown capturing them got credited greatly. The arrestment was in no way easy. They were using force as a retaliation and many of the officers got injured. But thankfully nobody was killed during their attack. The leader of the group, Olivier Landrieu, was the one who planned all their smuggling, using a machine designed to extract the essence of midnicampum holichitias, a type of toxic flower that if consumed, it will turn them into a savage for at least a day. But if the flowers were processed into a concentrated mixture, it will strengthen the effects, making an animal become savage in an indeterminate amount of time. But the officers managed to secure them with the help of their air force. The people who got involved in the smuggling got thrown in jail, waiting for their fate at the court. I never thought I would uncover a smuggling ring, let alone finding their base of operations and successfully escaping from there! It was truly an unforgettable experience I had from this world. We went back to the precinct shortly after our triumph.
I was very tired at that point, but the adrenaline in my body kept me from sleeping. I just kept talking with Nick and Officer Wolford on the way back. We then went to see the Chief after arriving. I originally refused, though, saying that I wasn't prepared to meet him. But Nick heavily insisted, saying that it's okay, so I gave up went with him. I was very nervous and anxious when we got into the Chief's quarters, a mix of both actually. I've never been face-to-face with a high-leveled person before so standing there with the Chief of the ZPD made my heart tremble. He told us to take a seat in front of his desk, which we promptly did so. He was the one who spoke first, telling me that he was proud to have a brave Zootopian citizen like me. I was flattered, sure, but I technically wasn't a Zootopian. I mean, I came from another world and all, but that was beside the point.
The Chief was actually a fairly nice guy, albeit rough on the edges, but I think that's how he was supposed to be a Chief of a police force. We discussed the smugglers for a while before we bid him goodbye and left his office. My mind couldn't keep up at that point, but I just followed Nick from behind. We arrived at a block of offices of sorts, with Judy seated in one of them. We walked towards her, greetings ourselves with Nick doing his usual banters. Judy expressed her concern at me, but I told her that I was fine. My body was aching everywhere, so I told them I needed sleep. Judy said I could rest at her apartment for the day, so I accepted her offer. It's better than nothing. They finally drove me over to Judy's apartment, and I immediately went inside the apartment. I followed Judy from behind, occasionally seeing other mammals stroll by, but my mind was blank back then, I needed sleep, and that was the only thing I thought. We finally arrived at her room and went inside. Her room was a bit smaller than Nick's. She said to use the airbed on her closet while telling Nick to pump it for me. Did everybody have airbeds on their closets? Not that I was complaining, but still. Nick finished pumping the bed and I fell right onto it, embracing my slumber. The last thing I heard was the door closing.
I felt invigorated the next day. Judy took me and Nick to Misty's café. And so here I am, chatting with my distant friend over my phone.
"Hey, don't you go spacing out again!" Judy snapped me back to reality.
"Ah, sorry, I was thinking of something…something that I should talk about with you guys."
"And that something is…?" Nick's eyebrows raised.
"I think…I think I'm going to attend Brightwall Academy."
After our little breakfast at Misty's Cafe earlier, we went to the precinct again. You know, cops doing cop things. We chatted along the way to the precinct.
"Are you sure Ken? Shouldn't you wait for a few days to settle here before you make a major decision like that?" Judy asked while driving.
"I agree with Carrots here. It's not even a week yet! Worst case scenario is that you'll get bullied until you decide it's not worth going anymore." Nick added.
"I've made up my mind. If I'm going to live here forever, then I have to at least get proper education about this world."
Nick and Judy both looked at each other briefly before nodding and turning back.
"If that's what you want, then alright. Just know that I support you one hundred percent, so if you need help with anything, just come to me. Or Nick here." I could see her smiling with a warmth of kindness.
"...thanks." I muttered out the words I so badly wanted to let out. I can't thank them enough for what they had done for me.
"That's grand and all, but you're still technically not a citizen of Zootopia."
"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it." Judy smirked.
"Oh dear..." Nick mumbled. I could only giggle at them.
We arrived at the station shortly after. I stayed in the waiting room while Judy and Nick went somewhere inside the building. I greeted Clawhauser who was still looking extravagant on the front desk as well.
"Is this really okay for me? Am I doing the right choice?" I thought. "No, I'm sure. I've made up my mind, didn't I?" My gaze trailed upwards. "I need to cut all my ties with my old world. This is my life now, and thinking about the past won't help me whatsoever. I need to change. And that change starts now." I clenched my fists, accepting my new life. My Perseverance was getting bigger by the second. All I know is that I'm going to do fine in this world. I had 3 friends already, and that will certainly help me in the long run.
My daydreaming was cut off by a sudden rumble in my pocket. It was my phone, signaling an incoming message. I figured it was from Hope, so I took my phone and read it. Yep, it was from him.
"Hey, Ken! You wanna hang out today?"
"Sorry, I'm a little busy right now. Maybe tomorrow?"
"I see. Sure, let's do it tomorrow!"
"Okay. See you then."
"Laters!"
I put my phone away. "Good ol' Hope. Always the optimistic type. Reminds me a lot of...no, don't go there. Pull it together, Ken!" I shook my head.
After a bunch of self-encouragement, I decided to take a breather. So I went outside the place to get some fresh air. Unbeknownst to me I was already wandering around the city, getting fascinated by the various city structures. I went to the nearest library and began reading some history books there. So apparently the city is divided into multiple sections. Where I currently am was Savanna Central. The snowing town from yesterday was Tundratown. There were also other sections that I've never visited, like the Rainforest District and Sahara Square.
I also learned that some predators eat fish here. I didn't know that. I should've, though, as I've probably eaten a lot of blueberries here. And 'a lot' is an understatement. Ah, the things I could've learn. I closed the book and put it back on the shelf. The library was surprisingly crowded too. But I never saw another fox among them. Are foxes that rare? Or…
No use thinking about it. I left the library and went on my way. I checked the time on my phone; it was currently 2 PM. Why did time fly so fast anyway? I shrugged and strolled back into the precinct. I was staring at my phone on the way back when I accidentally ran into with someone, which resulted in me tumbling back. I picked up my phone and went to apologize to the person who I ran into, but my lips immediately sealed and I stepped back. It was a wolf. I knew it was stupid to label all wolves as the same, but my first introductory to a wolf in here wasn't that grand either. Before I knew what was happening, my feet were already running opposite from the wolf. Thank God I held my urge to scream, it would create a useless scene if I did. My legs took me to the nearest alley and I hid there in frenzy. I panted like there's no tomorrow but I tried to calm myself down. I was almost hyperventilating but thankfully I calmed myself down before that happened.
After my sudden outburst faded, I peeked through the corner of the alley to see if there were still people there. There were none, and the wolf was nowhere in sight either. I sighed and walked like normal. After what it seemed like years I finally arrived at the precinct. I could see Judy and Nick from the windows, and…yeah, they didn't look happy. I went inside, catching their attentions.
"Ken! Where have you been!? I thought you were kidnapped or something!" Judy ran towards me.
"You're over exaggerating. Anyways, I was thinking that I could use some fresh air, so I went outside. But I ended up walking to the library for no reason. Sorry if I made you worry." I explained.
"Did you cause a scene or something? You look pretty exhausted there!" Nick asked jokingly. Well…
"…maybe?" I smiled sheepishly.
"Okay, come clean now." Nick interrogated me further, still smirking.
"I…may have caused a wolf to remember me as a crazy person."
"…what?" Both of them exchanged glances at each other before turning to me with a confused expression.
"Well…when I was on my back here, I accidentally stumbled into a wolf at the street."
"And…?"
"And I may have run from him like I was running for my life."
"Sweet cheese and crackers." Judy facepalmed.
"You sure know how to greet a person!" Nick burst out laughing.
Needless to say, it was an embarrassing experience. So apparently they got another patrol duty and I volunteered to go along with them since Nick's room was trashed yesterday and I couldn't stay it his room anymore. Wait, where DID Nick sleep last night?
"Hey, where did you sleep last night, Nick?"
"That's a good question. A question that Carrots can answer." He smirked at Judy.
"Always tease the bunny." Judy rolled her eyes, "So we went to ask a compensation from Nick's landlady. Thankfully she was pretty friendly, so we had ourselves a deal. Nick could stay next to his old room." Judy explained.
"Nice. Did you bring them cookies afterward?" I asked with a smirk.
"Ken, stop. You're not Nick." Judy sighed. Me and Nick just laughed subsequently.
"Anyways." Judy interrupted our little laugh, "On a more serious note, though, I don't think five hundred dollars isn't gonna cut it. This is Brightwall we're talking about. Not to mention we need to spend extra for a place of your own. Not to discourage you or anything, but it seems we need more money on our paws."
"Is that so…?" I said quietly, "Can we go to the nearest ATM? I want to see if mine works here or not…"
"Don't tell me there's more money in your account." Nick gasped.
"Maybe. I honestly haven't checked since last month. That's not the main problem, though."
"Let's just hope for the best." Judy said, driving us to a bank. "It's that way." She pointed to a direction.
"Okay, I'll be right back." I said and left the car. I strolled to the ATM and went inside the small room.
Ignoring the facedown picture, I took out my pocket and picked the only ATM card there. I inserted it into the slot and picked a bunch of choices to see my account balance. I had…five hundred bucks. Another five hundred bucks. Admittedly, it's not as high as I predicted it to be because I assumed my parents had been topping up my account before…my death.
No use thinking about this.
I quickly withdrew only a hundred just to test if it actually works or not.
…
I was taken by surprise at the amount of money chugging out from the money. It had somehow worked! I don't know if it's just by pure chance or luck but I'm not complaining. I proceeded to withdraw the rest of the money from my account and put them all inside my wallet happily. I left the room and headed back inside the car.
"Welcome back. How did it go?" Judy asked casually.
"I don't know about you Carrots, but I already know the answer just by seeing his expression." Nick smirked at us. I only giggled.
"You know it! And guess how much money I had back there!" I said gleefully.
"A thousand? I dunno, humor me." The teasing continued.
"It's just another five hundred bucks."
Their faces lit up.
"Goodness gracious, that's a lot!" Judy exclaimed in amazement. "There'd even be some left for you!"
"You sounded unhappy for some reason…"
"But…I still don't have any identifications of myself here."
"And that's where we are going now!" Judy floored the pedal, launching the car forward.
"Wait, now!?" Nick asked her in a panic while clinging to his seat at the sudden force.
"Of course! We don't have anything to do either at the moment, so why not help Ken?" Judy smirked.
"Fine, whatever." Nick shrugged.
So finally we arrived at a huge building, which I assume was the City Hall. I mean, what other building could it be other than that?
"C'mon! Let's go!" Judy said, leaving the car. I left the car, as well as Nick.
I stood at the majestic building that was in front of me in awe, before following them inside. The interior was…spacious. And by spacious I mean there are lots of spaces that were left unused. Not sure if it was an artistic sense or they just didn't have enough objects to place. I saw a lot of people queuing into a counter at the far side. Oh no, not queues! Unfortunately, there was no other way even for policemen, and for this case, policewomen than to queue as well. Thankfully the customers had little things to attend so they were fast on queuing. Or maybe the person in the counter was fast on their paws. Who cares, we're moving! After about ten people or so leaving, we're finally at the front line.
"Hello. What can I do for you today?" A female antelope greeted us warmly.
"Good day, Jane!" Judy greeted her. So they knew each other? Huh.
"Oh, hey Judy! What brings you here?" She asked as she looked looking below to see Judy.
"Well my friend here wants to make an identification card!" Judy tugged me closer, "His name's Ken. Can you make one for him?"
"Of course! That's what I do, anyways!" She said proudly. "Follow me, Ken!" she closed her office's blind and left it, going deeper into the building. Me and Judy followed her from behind. We ended up being in another office, but with people in it. The antelope sat behind a desk and she told us to sit in front of her. We did so and then she started asking me a flurry of questions, one after another. Well, that's normal I guess. I WAS making an identification card, so that made sense.
After a bunch of truth and lies, she finally finished asking. We stood up and went back to the front office. We were then told to wait until they finished making the card. After an hour or so, they finally informed us that my card was finished. We went to the office again and took my card and a bunch of other papers regarding my identity. This will surely help me attend Brightwall Academy! We said our goodbyes and left the building, going back into the car again.
"Wow, that was fast." Nick remarked sarcastically.
"Yeah…sorry for the wait, hehe." Was Judy blushing? No way.
"It went pretty well!" I added.
"Great. Now can we please go somewhere? I'm starving here." Nick groaned.
"Don't worry, I was planning to take us to eat anyways." Judy smiled and took off.
"I'm sorry for asking this out of the blue, but do you guys eat fish?" I spoke up a while after.
"Well we prey don't, but I don't know about Nick." Judy answered, looking at Nick.
"I honestly don't like fishes that much. I'd eat grasshoppers instead."
"I'll take that as a yes." I ended the topic quickly, "Do you know any place that serves fish?"
"I don't, but Nick might."
"Well, I know this one place. Are you sure you wanna eat fish though?"
"Yeah. I need them proteins, man." I answered confidently.
"Suit yourself." He smirked, "Okay, I'll show you the way Carrots."
I swear Nick was messing with us somehow. No way that took an hour drive. Not that it mattered since we've finally arrived at the place.
I ate some grilled salmon with Nick ordering a fried snapper and Judy eating a house salad. And holy crap that was good. The juiciness of the salmon melted in my mouth, combined with an excellent jus to complement it.
After that overly divine experience, we went back into the car.
"So where are we going next?" I asked.
"Let's look for an apartment for you." Judy replied.
"Why don't he stay at my apartment?" Nick proposed. We turned to him, our eyebrows raised.
"I mean, he could stay like next to my room. That'll be safe, right?" Nick added.
"Hmm…that's not bad at all." Judy thought. "Okay, let's go to the apartment then!" Judy started driving to our destination.
After half an hour we finally arrived at Nick's apartment. We went to see the landlady to check if there was an available room for me. Fortunately, there was only one room left but it was on the 6th floor. I saw no problem with it so I took the room. Finally, I have a place of my own to stay! The landlady handed me the keys and we all went to my new room. It was the same as Nick's previous room; I loved it already.
"Getting comfy?" Nick asked smugly.
"Definitely!" I replied in glee.
"Good. You're stuck here for the rest of your life, you know." Nick smirked.
"So as you." I smirked back.
"Clever." He replied.
"As much as I want to see you guys bicker, we have to do patrol again. So let's go, Nick." Judy cut our conversation, "I'll see you later tonight Ken." She smiled and left my room.
"You heard the boss. I'll better get going." Nick said, preparing to leave the room.
"Wait, Nick." I intercepted him. He turned back to me.
"What is it?"
"When we were at inn…did you...did you really care for me that much?"
Nick's face went blank and then he walked up to me.
"Ken…I know we just met, but I found something in you that I'll never find anywhere. Let's just say…it's a brotherly instinct, you know? So I've decided I'd protect you the best I could."
"But…why?"
"It's complicated, okay?"
"I...see…"
"Well…I better get going or else Carrots is gonna punch me in the gut. See you later."
Nick went out of the room, leaving me alone in silence. I was taken aback at his answer, I never thought he would feel that way towards me. But…it somehow makes me happy. I went to the door and closed it. Come to think of it, I never had a shower since yesterday, did I? I needed to take one right away.
After one relaxing shower and reusing the clothes since I didn't have any spares, I went to see my phone. The first thing I noticed was a message from Hope. I unlocked my phone straight away and saw the rest of the message's contents.
"Hey, have you decided yet?"
"About what?"
"You know! Enrolling in Brightwall Academy!"
"Oh, that. Yeah, I'm going to register there tomorrow. :)"
"Sweet! I'll see you when school starts, then!"
"Yeah, I can't wait! Let's just hope I'll fit in there xD"
"It'll be fine, trust me! I'll show you around once we meet up, okay?"
"Heh, okay. I'm counting on you!"
"Leave it to me! I'll be your prince in shining armor!"
"Please don't use that analogy."
"Hehe, sorry. Well I'll talk to you tomorrow again. Bye!"
"*sigh* bye."
We ended our conversation. Well, so much for energetic. I threw myself into my bed and started thinking about my future life. What job will I take after I graduated? A chef? An accountant? A cop? Either way, I was so excited. Excited for the future.
After I contemplated about myself, I went to turn the TV on. The first channel I thought was the news channel. As I thought, they were still showing the recent events. Something about Olivier Landrieu denying any claims on the Night Howlers smuggling. Honestly, I had enough of these people so I changed it to another channel. Then my usual nighttime ensued.
After an hour or so I turned the volume down checked the time on my phone. 8 PM. They should be returning by now. At least that's what I thought. I opened the door to my balcony to sniff some of that fresh air. I then observed the nightlife of the city. Lots of lights were strewn about at almost every building, making the city like a big Christmas tree if seen from afar. There were still a lot of traffic as well for this hour, as well as pedestrians on the streets. The city was still bustling overall. I went back to my room and closed the door behind me, walking back to the bed.
"They sure are taking their time. Heh, who am I to complain, I'm not a frickin' cop." I thought to myself, shrugging.
Just after I finished saying that, someone knocked on the door.
"Well speak of the devil."
I strolled to the door and opened it, revealing a pair of familiar faces.
"Hey! Sorry we took so long, Nick had to take care of things back at the station." Judy said, walking into my room. She was carrying a bag as well. Blueberries again?
"Carrots…wait up…I'm…gonna die…"
I turned to see the voice and it was Nick, panting his ass off.
"Whoa, Nick! What happened!?"
"I…just need a breather…one sec…" Nick kept puffing at my door. Don't tell me he ran all the way here from the station…
"Judy, explain." I demanded.
"We just made a simple bet. And I won fair and square."
"And that bet would be?"
"Nothing unusual. He betted it first, actually."
"Okay, whatever." I sighed.
"Anyways, I brought you more blueberries. And some clothes for you to change!"
"Oh, thanks!" I took the bag from Judy.
"Now that's done, I think I'll better go. See you tomorrow Ken, Nick!" Judy ran out of my room, leaving me and Nick.
"So…I guess I'll go back to my room now. Good night." Nick said, leaving me as well.
"Night." I replied back, closing the door.
I grabbed the clothes out of the bag along with the blueberries which was inside another bag. I put the clothes in my closet and the blueberries on the kitchen counter. I was still full from that meal earlier anyways.
I removed my scarf and hung it on a nearby chair, ready for sleep. I closed the curtains to the balcony and turned the lights off before climbing into my bed, reaching my slumber.
A distant knock from the door woke me up from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes and checked the time on my phone. 9 AM. Damn, I was asleep for a while. I got up from my bed and went to the door to see who was knocking. It was Nick.
"Morning sleepyhead." Nick teased.
"Morning…" I yawned.
"Judy said to hurry up and get ready."
"Where are we going…?" I said with my eyes still half closed.
"Where else than Brightwall Academy?" My face lit up as soon as I heard his last word and I immediately went to the bathroom.
"Okay, wait outside! And close the door!" I yelled from inside my bathroom and I could hear the door close outside.
I showered as fast as I could and then dried myself off. I went to the closet to check the clothes Judy had brought yesterday. It was a simple white t-shirt and brown trousers. I wore them immediately and wore my scarf as well. I took my phone and went to open the door.
"Okay, I'm ready!"
"Great. Let's go." Nick walked off. I followed him from behind until we arrived at Judy's cruiser.
"Morning! Are you ready Ken?" Judy greeted me from inside the car.
"Yep! Pretty much born ready." I said and went into the car's trunk, only to see Nick stopped moving.
"Nick? What's wrong?"
"Ah! Oh, nothing! Let's go!" Nick replied in a hurry and immediately went inside the car. What was that? Shrugging that off, I went into the car as well.
"So where exactly is Brightwall Academy?" I asked.
"You've been talking about it but you don't know where it is?"
"…pretty much."
I could see Judy facepalming. Well, I don't blame her.
"The academy is on the other side of town. You need to take a bus to get there from your apartment." Judy started driving.
"I see."
We chatted along the way but Nick kept being silent most of the time. Thinking he might just have something in his mind, I brushed it off. After thirty minutes or so we finally arrived at said academy.
The structure…was insane. It was almost double the size of the Town Hall I just saw yesterday, and that was big enough to be called huge. But this…this was enormous. Of course, they said don't judge a book by it covers. What it really matters was the inside; the system.
So we left the car and started walking towards the building. Only a few students could be seen, mostly because it was school break. We came across a large fountain in the middle of the school grounds. People were sitting beside it, reading books or were simply enjoying the scenery. We finally went inside the building.
The interior was similar to those high ranking school in my old world. Very similar. We wandered around the inside of the school, trying to find the faculty office. It was on the right wing, apparently, besides the library. We went inside the office and was met by approximately 5 teachers there. We walked towards the person who handled registrations and greeted him. He was a panda who seemed to be kind enough. His name was Mr. Garry Crawford. We exchanged questions for a while and he finally registered me as a student of Brightwall Academy! Hurray!
We thanked the kind bear before leaving the room.
"Okay, now that you're officially a student of the academy, let's buy you some new clothes and school supplies!" Judy proposed.
"Yeah!" I agreed
We went back inside the vehicle and drove towards the nearest supermarket. Nick was still quiet, though. Did something happen?
We walked inside the supermarket except for Nick who had chosen to stay at the car and bought everything I needed; ranging from clothes, food, stationeries, and a bunch of other stuff. I was really happy that my money was enough to buy these things. We went back to the car again.
"Did you get everything you need?" Nick spoke up, surprising me.
"Yep! And I still have a three hundred bucks!" I smiled at him.
"That's good. Don't forget to buy me some pawpsicles with those." Nick smirked. I still don't know what pawpsicles were. Eh, I'll know it sooner or later.
"…right. Thanks for accompanying me in the supermarket Judy. I was almost gotten lost there."
"Don't mention it! Alright, I'm gonna drive you back to your apartment now. We still have some tasks that we need to do at the station." Judy started driving.
"Ah, okay." I replied.
"Bye!" I waved at Judy and Nick.
"Goodbye! Call us if you need anything!" They waved back, driving off into the distance
I strolled inside the apartment carrying the stuff I bought and went straight into the elevator and into my room. I settled all the things in their respective places and I fell into my bed, exhausted. I took out my phone to see if Hope had messaged me. Surprising he hadn't since this morning, and it's already 1 PM. I brought up the messaging app and started texting him.
"Hope! Guess who got into the academy!"
"Omg, really!? Nice!"
"Yep! I'll see you in two weeks, I guess."
"We could even meet up earlier than that! Look, I'm trying to find an apartment in Savanna Central, but almost all of them are full. There are a few places I haven't checked, so I'll do that tomorrow!"
"Ah, you're moving here? That's cool!"
"Yeah, I figured it'd be more of a hassle to take the train from Tundratown to there, so I decided to move in Savanna Central instead!"
"I see. Well I hope you find your apartment soon!"
"Thanks. Well, I'll see you then. Laters!"
"Kay."
I closed the messaging app, slumping down onto the bed. I only needed to wait two more weeks until school started. I could practically hear my heartbeats beating, I was in so much pressure. But it was countered with my overwhelming perseverance, so everything's gonna be okay, right? And so I waited. Waiting for the promised day.
Okay! This is the end of the first arc! And oh my God, over 5000 words! I've never written so many words before, not even on any of my school assignments! Expect Many typos, as I have just finished this at midnight. I'll proofread this chapter tomorrow. So the next chapter will be featuring Leina, don't worry. And a lot of other things that I'll come up with. Hopefully. Anyways, as always, I will see you on the next chapter. Good night!