Here's a chapter for the fans of the small fennec fox. You'll see, why I decided to not include him in the Ideas section previously.
Btw. I love it how my readers are able to predict my writings. Gives me the need to be more unpredictable in the future. (I am gonna be cruel with my Story now!)
Sorry for any inconveniences considering English being not my first language. Grammar and spelling might be difficult for me. I say sorry in advance.
Please review and criticize me, preferably via review button, but keep any insulting for yourself. If you have to be more extensive or want to establish contact with me, PM me and I surely will answer you.
Rated M for foul language and sexual innuendos, Rated HARD M for violence and gore
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Zootopia, they belong to Disney.
Zootopia Bureau of Investigation (ZBI)
Chapter 35: A little lesson in history
the morning on the next day, Nick and Judy, their apartment
Zootopia was a busy metropolis. It was normal in this city for many mammals to feel stressed because of their occupations and tight schedules. But they mostly decided it themselves, to be and act stressed. This time was nothing special, even it this was the time of the the day were this stress was automatically observable by watching the animals preparing for work or stressing out to wake up properly. Since this town was not only massive, but populated by nearly every species imaginable, you were not able to find a time of day, where not somebody was occupied and stressed out of their mind. Mostly because of oversleeping or simply delaying their actual responsibilities, hence creating artificial mental strain.
This would have been the case for two specific mammals, if they would have stayed with the ZPD. But instead, they were lucky enough to have flexible working hours, due to their occupation of being agents of a federal Bureau. Especially in a high enough rank, so that they were practically their own boss and were able to do their work whenever they pleased. The thirty two duty hours of work, they were bound to do by contract, needed this flexibility to come and go whenever they wanted, especially since their jobs were unpredictable most of the time. The obligatorily eight hours a day with free time at the weekends were simply not realistic in a job like agent of the ZBI. Although, being constantly on alert to be ordered to an investigation or job was not something, every mammal would do to themselves voluntarily. In a way, the ZBI was at work for twenty four seven. Compared to the job of being a police officer, where you submitted your working schedule with shift work and you actually had the chance to plan appropriately for your leisure time, if there weren't other circumstances hindering this. Agents needed much more flexibility. Judy and Nick were agents.
They had to only answer to their director. The only real things they had to do, were to do exactly what Gordon Foreman wanted them to do and occupy themselves with this orders. They had no other choice, since the last order of their superior was, to create reports and hand them over to the mink at 10 am, as to do exactly that. At other times, their actual job description as agents in the special forces was, to support any other investigators of the ZBI who requested their help, or voluntarily help the ZPD. And with their field office at precinct one, this was extended to especially work with chief Bogo to maintain law and order in this precinct. Mostly like police officers, with the freedom to choose their cases and the nice option, to simply do what ever they wanted. Of course, being lazy would never be an option. Judy Hopps would prevent that. And if not her, the reports and briefings they were obligated to have with a certain mink that was their superior officer, would surely manage to get them to work.
The fact, that the phone of Judy Hopps was loudly alerting the rabbit to wake up, was not really about this whole freedom of deciding their own work hours. She rather decided, with Nick's approval, to simply do the exact same schedule, they had while being police officers, so they could sync themselves with the ZPD in precinct one. It was alerting her with playing one of the pop songs on the device at random. It was waking said bunny up immediately.
She opened her eyes slowly. The bunny felt content to look at the ceiling of her room momentarily. The warmth of her blanket nearly lulling her into another sleep, if not for the blaring of the speakers on her phone. She did not have much sleep this night and with the generous estimation of needing two hours for their reports, she wanted to wake up at 5:30 am. She wanted to have more than enough time to do the things she planned to do, so she decided to not change her alert notification on her phone, and simply let her wake up like always. It was just like any other workday. Even if the exhaustiveness of going to bed way past midnight, if you wanted to wake up this early, was not very pleasant.
She exhaled loudly, her nose wrinkled with the smell of fresh bunny in the morning. The typical scent of herself, the odor of someone like her sleeping on a warm day, was something the bunny was used to. One of the main reason, she always tried to wake up before her partner. She knew, that this scent penetrated the noses of anyone around her. Especially someone with such a sensible sense of smell like Nick. She was remembering her roommate in the police academy, who made it her duty to tell the bunny every morning, how smelly she was. Judy developed quite the self consciousness about her own smell.
How glad she was, that Nick always woke up half an hour later, so she was able to air this out thoroughly, before she would embarrass herself with this in front of the most important mammal in her life. The animal she loved so much, that … wait a second? The groggy first moments of waking up always seemed to be the same for any mammal. A slow but steady try of the brain to realize the fact, that you are awake. The rebooting of the system and recognizing of the surroundings, the sudden memories flashing inside the mind. Judy was paralyzed.
The song was still penetrating her oversensitive ears, her nose wiggling, her eyes wide. Gulping, she managed to turn her head slightly to look at her left side. And just like she presumed, the body of none other than Nicholas P. Wilde was laying there, on her bed. His beautiful face with closed eyes facing her way, eliciting a blush from the bunnies cheeks and ears. It was not a dream. The memories and acts immediately being remembered, with her paw reaching towards her neck. A red cloth was bound onto it and with a satisfied and dreamy sigh, the rabbit let her hand caress the fabric.
The urge for her to reach towards this face of her best friend, towards the animal she secretly loved, was nearly overwhelming, if not for the unsatisfied frown forming on his face. With not much thought what he was saying, the fox decided to turn and groggily ask the bunny on his side, who he recognized immediately, mostly because of the scent in the room and on his side, "Could you please stop this excuse of music from preventing me to sleep. I need my beauty sleep and I have one half hour more than you, so stop it already!"
He was saying that with closed eyes. Not registering himself, what implications this had, that he was talking to Judy right after waking up. The bunny though, embarrassed to be addressed like it was nothing special for the fox to talk to the mammal that was lying just inches away on the same bed, jumped up with a flustering feeling inside her. One time during the night, the fox Nicholas decided to get rid of the blanket on top of him. His disheveled fur around his pajama was more than visible for Judy. He practically was on top of all sheets and looked quite adorable, with his two paws on top of his chest in a way, that looked as if he was a kangaroo. His hind legs spread out wide, while his tail was emerging between them. An adorable sight, Judy would have liked to observe much more closely and thoroughly.
But not with this question, that Judy took serious the moment it came out of his maw. Catapulting herself to the side table on her side of the bed, a small tap on the touch screen was enough to stop the music from playing. Nick was right. He would have half an hour longer than Judy. This was a work day, and since they both needed only ten minutes to reach the police Station, they were not needed to go to the burned remains of the ZBI Headquarters anymore that were much farther away, their workday would start at seven and they had plenty of time to prepare.
She was already standing and adrenaline was pumped into her veins, indicated by the shock of Nick taking this so casually and her being the dumb bunny she was, with this awkward but very cherished moments. The bunny rushed towards her window with haste. The scent in the room really needed to get out, before her fox would feel uncomfortable. Opening the window widely, feeling the small breeze caressing the whiskers on her face, she opened her wardrobe to get out the outfit she would wear this day. A simple copy of the clothes with the ZBI insignias she wore the day before, combined with the normal black guards she was wearing all the time on duty.
But she was interrupted by the sudden grumpy response of a fox on the bed, that decided to loudly protest Judy's actions. "Close the window. It's cold and I can't sleep if it is not cozy like it was just a second ago.". He was complaining, but the more high pitched voice seemed cute to Judy. He sounded like a cub. And the Idea of Nick as a cub warmed her heart slightly.
Thinking about his request, though, she sighed and did exactly what Nick wanted. To hell with her scent. Nick wanting to stay warm was much more important than her own pride. The thought was already hurting her, though. Her natural odor would surely compel the fox to berate her about this. Which was something, the bunny did not want to happen. Looking back at the fox was enough to be defeated and realistic about this prospect to happen. A slightly open mouth, an adorable twitch of one ear. She deflated slightly with her clothes in her paws, her phone on top of them, when she opened her door to go out.
Another silent voice caught her of guard. Nick decided, sleepily, to berate the bunny. But in a way, she did not expect, "Close the door when you go out! Don't let this wonderful scent go away!"
And suddenly, she was blushing furiously. The bunny was in shock for only a moment before she was closing the door behind her with a rapid beat in her chest. Did she heard him right? Did Nick just said, that he thought of her scent, the one she hated herself for, because most animals perceived it as smelly, as wonderful?
Inhaling and exhaling rapidly, Judy sprinted into the bathroom. She placed down her outfit for the day and slowly went to the living room, her phone between her paws. Her thoughts were revolving around the fox and only the fox inside her room. Was she really this naive to belief, that only because a female wildebeest always told her, that she reeks in the morning, that she thought to hide this so vehemently? With getting up earlier, even with the intention to do some morning activities, like proper stretching and morning sports, consisting of push ups, sit ups and other mandatory practices, her main reason to always be up before the fox, was, so she could air the place thoroughly.
And now it seemed so silly. Especially if the animal she loved referred to it as, wonderful. She blushed furiously again when she started her workout. But only after she opened a window in the living room. She knew, there was a difference between natural scent and this odor, you got when you exercise. Although, she was not so sure anymore.
Nick on the other paw, had the intention to sleep for the half hour he still had. But he could not do it. Why? Because the fox just recognized, a moment after the bunny left her room, where he actually was in. Yesterday, or rather, before going to bed, the fox remembered that he decided to lay down in Judy's bed. It should have been a practical joke, because of her claim that she would only close the door, if Nick would be with her. So he did this. It was the hope of a laugh or something else, but to actually staying the night was not his intention at first. He argued with himself, that it was a nice bonus, if she would let him, but that it actually happened baffled him in this moment.
Evident by the wide eyes staring at the ceiling. Registering his own words, the fox felt heated and put both his paws to his temples. "You are such an Idiot, you dumb fox!" he was whispering to himself with embarrassment. But he had to admit, he liked where he was. And he was not lying.
Not, that he deliberately forced himself to sleep next to the rabbit he considered his best friend, no. But it was a joke going awry, that became a sleeping session inside a new bed, inside a room he thought he would never sleep in. His biggest concern of somehow being awkward with Judy and that something like this resulting in being straining for their relationship, became stupid, the moment he thought about it. Because, if she would have been appealed she would have shown it. Yes, it was awkward, but it was this good kind of awkward, right? This one, that gave you this fuzzy feeling inside. He was sure that nothing would change the way of the bond he had with the rabbit of his.
Nick calmed down slightly. He took his own phone from his side of the bed, he deliberately placed there with hope previously to sliding under the sheets. The fox wanted to start his day with sulking and thinking a little bit while laying in bed. Especially since this bed seemed so much better than his, although there was not a big difference in comfort to his own. But there was a significant difference, he cherished. Evident by the pretty deep inhalation he did with every breath of air around him. He did not lie, when he said that the scent was wonderful. And the reason was obvious, in a way. It was Judy's. Everything Judy did was wonderful, in a way.
Sighing loudly again, the fox looked at his phone and opened it easily with his password. He was glad that he changed nearly everything considering his online profiles. It was of utter importance for Nick to ignore most of his new friend invites on Furbook or any other social media site. His personal information was leaked deliberately, mostly because of his old acquaintances. But Nick had an Idea, why this things were leaked in the first place. Annoyingly the Lord of Sherwood Forest would not only have been able to do this things, but he was actually the responsible one for any leakage of footage or pictures regarding the Sturm. It was logical to assume this.
Nick would have been irritated, if not for the fact, that only his real acquaintances knew about his E-Mail address and phone number. Getting rid of any notifications was enough, to avoid this problem of stalking media or fans easily. He opened his news app out of habit. The fox regretted immediately that he did this and not just spend some more time slumbering.
He saw the first headline and it was enough for him to roll his eyes in annoyance. He did not like to see his face and an ancient depiction of Robin Hood on the side with the title, Robin Hood reincarnated!. It seemed ridiculous for him, that the media made this connection so easily, but he was sure, that he was not able to stop it anymore. He was a mammal of the public now, not someone who could hide as a con-mammal and avoid this kind of things from happening. He actually was prepared mentally for this to happen for quite some time. He knew, it would only be a matter of time, after he got himself a public job for the media to recognize his connections.
His plan once was, to simply get away and hide if this would happen. But now, since Judy was in his life, he would not even remotely think about such a thing. He would handle this in the best way he could: with ridicule. He was not obliged to acknowledge any new rumors spreading around his person. He would simply ignore and do the occasional joke. There was nothing more he could do. Besides accepting it, becoming depressed, probably ruining his current life because of the implications and probably losing the only thing he would consider worth living for in the process. Ridicule was the answer, because with it, he was able to not outspokenly deny, but actually joke about this.
Closing the app without reading about different things, like the fire in the Hood Tower, Nick decided to see why he had over fifty messages on his phone. Only very close acquaintances of his past and the occasional former colleagues of the police-academy and precinct one had his real number and the ability to text him.
It was no surprise to see a dozen texts from Benjamin Clawhauser. He could figure himself what they were all about. The very open cheetah loved gossip the most and being in contact with this mammal was quite a good way to get information about anything considering the police station. Nick looked through more messages and found something odd. Something, he did not expect.
It was surprising for Nick. So Surprising, that he sat up the immediate moment when he found a personal message, that was not either one of his acquaintances with his number, or his old colleagues of the precinct. Seeing the face of his old friend, he had no other choice, as to immediately click on the image to reveal the text.
"You crazy bastard! I just go to the old land for three months and when I come back you are on a trip to rescue the world? ZBI? Seriously? What fucking drugs did you take? Or are you just retarded? Wait till I get my paws on you! I will fucking bust your nuts and punch you into you crotch so hard your father will feel it. And I know, how much you would dislike that. I've told you to be cautious and careful, only to come back to Zootopia and see you all over the TV, doing crazy shit! At least you kept that bunny safe, but I am quite sure, she is probably the reason for this whole shit. Just. FUCK!"
Nick was not surprised to read something like this, if he was honest. He knew his old friend good enough. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, the fox sat there, his paws still on the message. He chuckled lightly, when he opened the one next to it.
"Sorry, Nick. But sometimes I don't know, why I even bother about you and your antics anymore. Especially since everything went crazy after you decided to follow Judy. We really should meet in the short future, though. Message me. We really should talk about all of this. I organized a meeting with the boys already and will talk with them about the situation. But I really would feel better, if I could get to talk to you as well. See you soon, hopefully."
A meeting with the boys? Nick thought about that for a moment. Standing up finally, because there was no reason to stay in bed anymore, he decided to get into the shower earlier this day. Walking out, his mind was occupied thinking about the little fennec fox and the implications what he meant with meeting the boys. When his paw collided with his forehead, he remembered what his old friend was getting at. Hopefully, they would not decide to do something drastic. He would not like, to worry about this particular group.
the same day, a Japanese household in the meadows of Zootopia
The use of the Bokutō (木刀) emitted the sound of wood being clashed together, while the beautiful miniature waterfall pattered calmly but steadily in the background. Able to create the very comfortable and calm environment, most found in the encased gardens of the authentic Japanese variety. A modern house created to look like old traditional housing found in the far east, with statues and memorabilia of said culture being accurately placed and displayed, to not only tell the story of the two brothers deciding to live in this place, but to actually give anyone the chance, to experience the ancient oriental lifestyle first hand.
A white hare named Kioshi, a chef and restaurant owner of a local sushi bar, clothed in the traditional Japanese Hakama (袴) was accurately preparing some tea, while his brother was enjoying a nice spar, wearing a Bōgu (防具), the traditional form of armor for this kind of activities. Even if the Bokutō was not the real deal, the wooden swords in the paws of a master of Kenjutsu (剣術), the school of Japanese swordsmanship, the method, or technique, of the sword, was a very dangerous and probably deadly weapon, if used properly. The caution to wear armor in a spar was decided by the older brother, to avoid any kind of serious injuries and create a sporting event like atmosphere, like in the competitions. Especially since the two sparring were not eagerly holding anything back.
Holding his Bokutō firmly, the polar hare named Tadao swung viciously down towards his enemy. The wood clashed against the wooden sword of the little taller white hare, that decided to spar with him. Both were eagerly trying to breach through the other defensive line and hit one of the important targets. Traditionally, it was the goal, to get points in this fighting game. Hitting vital targets, like the head or the neck granted those. No one had any points yet, although they were fighting for over twenty minutes already.
At that moment, where they clashed again, the much older Tadao should have had the upper hand, if not for the incredible talent of the younger white hare, who decided to step back cautiously and redirect the stroke easily. Tadao was proud that he trained this hare for decades already. The relationship between the two would be considered teacher and trainee, but Tadao and the other one knew, that there was no one superior to the other anymore. They were a serious match and used their meetings mostly for this kind of activities. They were both masters of their craft.
Kioshi, who finished preparing the tea, was calmly watching the two, while kneeling on the floor inside the dinning room. He was preparing because of his brother. Tadao told him, that they would have guests shortly. The arriving of the white hare an hour earlier was not surprising, but the seriousness of Tadao's voice made it clear for the chef, that he should not question and simply accept his older brothers wishes.
The ringing of the bell indicated the arrival of said guests. Since the older hare and the young master were busy smashing wooden swords against each other, Kioshi was the one to calmly walk towards the front door to greet them.
Only moments later, and three mammals were sitting casually on their knees, respecting the Japanese traditions and greeted with the occasional bow and konnichiwa. The biggest one of this guests was a very intimidating brown bear of immense proportions. This one gestured for his comrades to silently watch the spectacle that was called Kendō (剣道), a modernized version of the Kenjutsu, mostly used as a sport, rather than in actual situations that required fighting. Occasional shouting was heard by the two practicing.
They sipped quietly on the served tea. The big brown bear looked at his old friend on his side. A very old looking badger was watching the two hares with interest, when he commented, "It seems the way of the sword remains the main kind of defense and force for our people." The badger chuckled at that, petting the little sgian-dubhs hidden under his kilt.
The big brown bear scowled down at his friend, "I, for myself, don't use swords, Tuck", the badgers name was Tuck, "I prefer to have a gun with me at all times, even if it does not seem honorable. Being able to effectively protect our Lord is more important than any nostalgia for the old days."
Tuck looked at the bear with a raised eye-brow, "You would not say that, if your gun would jam and your only means of defending the Lord would be to use your paws, Little John.", the wise old badger scolded the younger, but still middle-aged brown bear.
"My name is John T. Little.", the bear talked back to the badger, although seemingly in a silent, polite and calm way.
The third one in the round talked, while the hare named Kioshi decided to separate himself from this mammals. He knew, he had no business with this animals, and their discussion about how to protect their Lord the best way. A sigh escaped him when he thought about the job of this animals. He knew that they willingly would sacrifice themselves for their Lord, who they swore oath to. It was respected immensely by him, but he rather experienced the silence of his kitchen, while preparing a proper meal for the esteemed guests of the Secret Service, as to involuntarily listening to their whereabouts.
"I always have my rapier and my gun with me.", the dark voice of a great Dane said. The dog named O' Broin was the third Secret Service agent in the room. All of them vowed to protect their Lord, who was none other than Lord Patrick Hood, with their own lives, if necessary. The fourth one of this group was occupied with fighting a white hare. Tadao and the white hare were still not showing any weakness, having not scored any points at all.
John Little, the director of the secret service devoted to be the guardians of Lord Patrick Hood, sighed loudly. He more than once had this talk with his colleagues and did not want to talk about this again. So, deliberately changing the subject, John asked a question, "Didn't the little devil invited us here? We should ask Tadao where he is."
When you talk about the devil, it only is coincidence that he would appear. Without ringing a bell or even acknowledging or rather, greeting the three Secret Service agents, a small creature was walking into the open room. The three immediately rolled their eyes when they saw the incredible big ears moving around their room.
A rucksack on his back, nearly as big as the little guy himself, was placed carefully down in a corner. A grunting sound as a greeting and without much hesitation, the little guy decided to take his trusty baseball bat that he always kept close to himself, now bound to said rucksack, into his tiny paws. He grinned from ear to ear when he went out into the garden. And suddenly, the curiosity of the secret agents was sparked immensely.
The two hares in the garden, not much bigger than the intruder, were immediately aware of this animal. Tadao bowed slightly towards his partner and stopped fighting altogether. He would have loosen his armor, but knowing the little mammal that was quickly coming towards them, he decided to not do that. And since Tadao was not doing it, the other Hare was not either.
The grumpy and rather amused voice of the little guy was booming for everyone to hear, "Hey, you excuses of rabbits, how many points to win this battle?", he was swinging his baseball bat as if in the middle of a game. Both paws on it, watching the two hares closely with a smirk on his lips.
Tadao bowed once, gesturing to his partner to do the same, "Konnichiwa, Sir Finnick-San." The fennec fox acknowledged the formality with a small bow of his own, "Normally three points win, as usual."
"Good. This won't take too long.", he stretched his neck to the left and right and wiggled his paws, his baseball bat leaning against him. The sport equipment seemed longer than the fox was big. "Me," he pointed at himself, "Against you two.", pointing at them with a grin.
The other hare protested immediately, "You can't fight two masters at the same time. You don't even have the proper armor. And a baseball bat is not an adequate weapon. We can not … " he was interrupted by Tadao.
Tadao held a paw on top of the other hares shoulder, "Sir Skippy-San, the need for protection and adequacy of Sir Finnick-San's choice of weapon should not be of concern. We both need to be on our top game, if we want to have a chance against a true master."
Skippy Jumper was irritated. He knew the fox slightly and had one or the other scuffle with him in the past, Finnick was his direct superior agent after all, but he never thought that his old master was this intimidated by the small fox, just like he himself was always in Tadao's presence.
"So, we start at go?", Finnick was already holding his bat with only one paw, while looking at the two hares in their armor. His left paw close to the handle and his feet positioned in a way, so he would be able to sprint easily.
Tadao looked at his sparring partner and calmly said, "Skippy-San, concentrate. We need to be cautious and work together." He was getting into position. He looked into the eyes of the fox who chuckled back, "Don't restrain yourself, use your whole expertise. Understood?"
Skippy gulped when he got in position himself, "Yes, Sensei."
He did not call Tadao Sensei for quite a while. But it was obvious, that the older hare had more experience against this enemy than him.
With the Japanese rabbit saying the word go, all three engaged in battle immediately. The war cry was used by the sword-mammals, while Finnick waited a moment to swing his bat deliberately against one of the Bokutō, redirecting it.
The three Secret Service agents who were kneeing in the tea room, watched with interest, how this would end. And to their surprise, it did end quite quickly.
The goal of Kendō in a sporting event is to hit the enemy in one of the following places with a slash motion to get a point: the head, the forearms or rather, wrists or the side of the torso area. Another way was to stab the throat area. But in this kind of fight, there really were no rules. There was no difference if you were on defense or how you obtained your goal. It was simply, fight. Positioning or grace was not an issue.
And Finnick showed that immediately. The deflection of one wooden sword gave him an opening immediately after it happened. Furthermore, his small frame and ability to deliberately irritate the two hares with his incredibly big ears gave him an advantage. His baseball bat, his normal choice of weapon in any confrontation would have been able to brake multiple rips easily, if he would not have restrained himself in the last moment. Skippy was hit hard, while Tadao tried to use this for his advantage.
But he forgot, that a baseball bat was not sharp or implied to be sharp. It was a blunt weapon. So, using the rear end forcefully backwards to hit the throat of the hare was quite an easy task. Fortunately, the armor protected this part of the rabbit. If not, the damage made, could have been fatal, if not treated properly. Within seconds, Finnick managed to have one point against both of them.
Another point was delivered easily after, since Finnick was a dirty player, he did not hesitate to attack Skippy furiously again. Since Tadao was temporarily immobilized, the fennec fox concentrated on the other hare. The force of his bat being swung was enough to throw Skippy off balance. The fall of him was interrupted by a downswing shortly after his Bokutō was hit. Finnick let the hare fall onto his bat, hitting him sideways on the torso. One point.
The sudden appearance of Tadao on his side though, forced the small fox to jump backwards. Not able to be fast enough, since he had to get his bat back from under the hare, he would have been hit hard in the torso area, if not for deliberately loosing his own footing. Catapulting his baseball bat upwards while falling down was enough to misdirect the strike. Not only that, but the falling bat was striking Tadao's weapon arm in a slashing manner. If Finnick would have had a sword, it truly would have cut through his appendage. It was a point against Tadao.
For no ones surprise, Finnick won shortly after. Letting himself be hit by Skippy, who jumped up shortly afterwards to attack the fox, surprised the hare, especially since he used quite some force. The reason Finnick did it though, was simple. He jumped when it happened, so the momentum of the weapon forced him closer towards Tadao. Kicking Tadao's weapon with gusto, the Japanese hare was out of the battle. Being hit by his own weapon on the head. And a short, unfortunate second of panic inside Skippy was enough for Finnick to throw his baseball bat at him and hit. He got a point, while Skippy got a headache.
The fight was over. Everyone of the Secret Service knew, how good the fox actually was with wielding a blunt weapon. It was one of this reasons, besides his very grumpy and cocky attitude all the time, why he was the one to follow Nicholas into the wild world of Zootopia and secretly protect him in the process. Yes, Finnick was a member of the Secret Service. Skippy was one as well. But there was a significant difference between this two and the rest of the Secret Service present.
While John T. Little was the leader of the Secret Service devoted for Lord Patrick Hood, the two others actually vowed to protect someone else. The sheer existence of Finnick and Skippy was enough to know the implications considering this fact. Finnick was a leader of the Secret Service as well. But he was devoted towards another animal, confirming for anyone who knew about their existence, what actual status this animal really had. Mostly, because only the aristocracy and nobility had their own secret service. Nick Wilde having his own two agents was all the proof the red fox himself had, about serious suspicions considering his real heritage. Because having those, meant only one thing. At least, Skippy and Finnick decided to keep this as secret as possible.
While the fennec fox was busy being a friend for Nick, the hare was more like a surrogate spy for Lord Patrick Hood, concerning anything about Nicholas P. Wilde. No wonder, that Finnick was angry about the development of Nick's life and career without him being there.
Some minutes after the fox laughed loudly and joined the three older agents, who congratulated him on his victory, the two hares got rid of their armor. Being clothed in traditional Japanese attire, the Secret Service of the Hood clan kneed and enjoyed some tea.
There was not much silence, some small talk happening before the entire room finally gave all their attention to the fennec Fox. John Little asked curiously, "So, we all are here now and you know how much I hate to leave the Lord alone in the palace. Would you please tell us, why you wanted to meet us here personally?"
The fennec fox took hold of his gigantic, within his proportions, rucksack and placed it in front of himself. Chuckling darkly, his gruff voice really was something you needed to get used to, he started to explain his first reason, "Actually, I am just curious how you all managed to not help the little bastard at any time during my little leave into the old land. I saw the news, the footage, the pictures. I heard everything and not once did I saw someone of you coming to aid him."
A sigh came out of John Little, "We were not obliged to do anything, besides serving our Lord. The prince … ".
He was interrupted by a grunt of Finnick, "Either call him Nick or Bastard, he would berate and attack you verbally if you use his title."
The brown bear continued, "Nicholas was more than capable to manage everything on his own. He is a ZBI agent now, and considering that they are the highest elite group out there, real Knights of Animalia, while we are vowed to our Lord, being Knights of the Sherwood Forest, we have to all be reasonable here. Nicholas did not need our help."
Finnick snorted, "You are a lucky motherfucker that I believe you are right. But it is no excuse to abandon him completely. I actually want to get back to my friend and reveal that we are there to help as well. Nick needs help and the Lord is just sulking in his palace feeling miserable, stalking everyone and manipulating the media. And this is one of the reasons, I am here."
Tuck chuckled, "You are worried, aren't you?"
"Shut up, old badger. For the record, of course I am! We are here to protect him, not to watch if he makes it or not. We should be with him at all times. So, I decided to tell him exactly what I want us to be now."
"And what might this be?" John Little asked.
Finnick: "His backbone. His helpers. His guardians. I want him to use us, as we were supposed to. Especially since Lord Patrick is imprisoned in his own palace, our full concentration should be with Nick."
A small silence engulfed the group. Finnick was looking everyone individually into the eyes, seeing no disapproval of his decision. Chuckling, the fennec fox opened the rucksack in front of him. After revealing something wrapped in cloth, the little fox grinned from ear to ear.
Remembering the reason for Finnick to be on a pseudo vacation to the old land, the badgers eyes glinted with enthusiasm. Everyone else hoped to look at something, they were eager to glance upon.
"And now, the main reason for this meeting.", Finnick said while taking a grip of the cloth to get the thing hidden inside it carefully out of the wrappings.
It was shocking and incredibly satisfying to glance at the shine of precious metal, even before it was revealed completely. It was clear, that this object was made out of Gold. The sudden inhale of all animals and the question of John Little were heard with attention, "Is this, what I think this is?"
Finnick grinned when he revealed it, "I am pretty sure this is the real thing. Grace your eyes upon this magnificent piece of history. I present you, Richard Lionheart's crown."
To understand the significance of this crown, you would need to have historical knowledge of Zootopia that actually was more like common knowledge around the world. Not only that, but you would have to know about the meaning of obtaining such an Item. To get to that, it would be easiest to explain, why Finnick was in possession of it.
Finnick volunteered three months ago, after rumors and tips about the location of the crown, to go to the desert, where the old land was. His own motivation was clearly not only this crown, but the fact that his family lived there. Finnick was the only one in Zootopia from his family, sending the nomads of the desert money, utensils and anything important for their journeys. Meeting back up with them was a nice bonus, to actually search for clues about the crown and see, how everything was going. Telling Nick that he went to visit his family was not even a lie, so this was a nice vacation he had.
But he was not prepared to actually not only find clues, but the actual crown itself. Taking his utter care of it, he managed to bargain, steal and obtain anything related to it to finally be able to get to this thing. The reason, why it was believed that this piece of history was somewhere in the old land, was pretty simple. Because Richard Lionheart died in a crusade over nine hundred years ago, exactly in this region, while they tried to recapture the old land from their occupiers.
The significance of the crown was, that it was a legitimate token of history that could potentially be important for today's society as well. Everyone assumed that it actually was lost due to battle and war.
It was important, because after Richard's death, he did not have any cubs. And the legends said, that with his last breath, the lion decided to give his heritage, his kingdom, to his best friend and most loyal guardian. This was done, by giving him the crown. This mammal was none other than Robin from Locksley, known as Robin Hood. But the fox did not feel able to lead a kingdom as big as Animalia.
So, when the fox came back to Animalia, he simply claimed that the crown was lost in the old world. Creating a Triarchy in the process. His vision was, that more animals were able to get a better view of the world and having more than one leader would be good for the mammals. So, the Lionheart's, siblings of the former king, the Wolfenstein and the Hood shared the throne, as equal kings. It actually worked for a century, but the grandchildren of Robin Hood lived in the unfortunate time of greed.
In this time, they were banished, together with the Wolfenstein packs, after hard fights between all nobles for the throne of Animalia. The Lionheart Revolution was very bloody and in the end, all Lionheart lost their fortunes, land and most even their lives in the process. It truly was a revolution that destroyed this clan. And in the course of time, the banished Hood family and Wolfenstein packs were able to get control back but not without many battles, resulting in war, disturbances and game of thrones in the process.
At least, the Hood family was not only respected immensely, but seemed to create saviors every other decade. Besides the tension of the dark ages with the Wolfenstein packs and incredibly many movements that tried to create prejudices for all species, especially foxes, only ordinary foxes were affected. The Hood's always seemed the most noble and fought the corrupted systems, only to stay back and let the greed come back after they reinstalled order. A vicious circle.
The last century though connected the current first family of Animalia, the Wolfenstein, deeply with the Hood clan. Having literally connection by blood within each other. The Lord of Sherwood Forest was the twelfth animal in line of the throne, after all. Lord Patrick Hood actually was the nephew of the current queen. The father of Patrick Hood was the brother of the current queen. How this was possible? Since his grandfather was a wolf of the Wolfenstein, the King at that time and his grandmother was the vixen that was heir to the Hood clan, it was easy to explain. Two cubs, the wolf becoming the leader of the Wolfenstein, the fox the leader of the Hood. So, in the event, if eleven specific animals would die, the next in Line for the throne would have been a Hood. Everyone who was a little bit interested in royalty knew that.
The main thing worth mentioning with this little history lesson was, that all this would not have been necessary, if Robin Hood would have stood up and taken the crown with him. The crown was not only a symbol, but an actual testament of the legitimacy of the Hood's being the true first family of Animalia.
The implications were huge. The Secret Service agents knew that. They were now in the possession of something, that was able to change the power structure in Animalia immediately. Not only that, but such an old claim would actually not only effect Animalia, but other continents as well. The Hood clan was seen as the rightful owners of anything, the Kingdom of Animalia was capable of. Old colonies, allies, friends and even some former enemies of the country would immediately follow someone like the Hoods, whose clan was celebrated all over the world. This was a possibility to show the world, that they were the legitimate leaders for over a millennium.
John Little looked at the crown, not knowing how to react and how this little fox was able to obtain that. Skeptically, he asked the fox, "Are you one hundred percent sure?"
Finnick grinned, "Yeah. The insignias are were they should be. The gold is real. The gemstones are all real. Even the tissue on one side of the crown can be dated back to the exact moment, Lionheart kicked the bucket. Even in the off chance of it being fake, it still is worth a fortune!"
Stunned, everyone observed the little thing.
"So, what now?" was the question of Skippy. He did not know, what to do with something like this. Finnick though had enough time to think about this thoroughly.
So he explained his plan, "I want you, little John, to take it and get it somewhere safe. It is of utmost importance to not reveal this to Lord Patrick, Nick or anyone outside the Secret Service." He saw some raised eyebrows, "This is potentially dangerous to reveal. The media would immediately get head over heels over this story and it could create chaos inside Animalia. So, only in the utmost emergency, should we even consider to take this crown to use. It is a symbol of unity and millions of animals would follow the Hood clan blindly, but we cannot risk this. We need to be cautious. So, hide it, maybe for generations if needed to and use it, if something like the Lionheart Revolutions happen again."
The Secret Service agents understood. Wrapping the crown back into the cloth, Finnick shoved the relic into the paws of John T. Little.
"So, now that this is over, I want you all to remember again, that it is our duty to obey Nicholas P. Wilde as much, as it is to obey Lord Patrick. And in this regard, we need to protect Nick. Even if only secretly. I mean, we are the Secret Service after all." The fox chuckled. Skippy joined in the amusement of the fennec fox.
Exhaling loudly and petting his belly, Finnick decided to reveal his final reason, why he was in Tadao's home. He was yelling loudly, "Hey, Kioshi! Where is the meal? I am hungry!"
Of course. Kioshi, the brother of Tadao, was a chef after all. And he was preparing food for his guests. Finnick smiled to himself, knowing that his next meal would be great. He smiled at his colleagues with gusto.
Chapter 35 End
Tadao - polar rabbit - Secret Service of Lord Patrick Hood / Samurai
Kioshi - polar rabbit - Brother of Tadao, Chef with own Restaurant
John T. Little - Brown Bear - Director of the Secret Service of Lord Patrick Hood
Tuck - Badger - Secret Service of Lord Hood
(sgian-dubhs, small, single-edged knife worn by the Gaelic / Scottish)
O' Broin - great Dane - Secret Service of Lord Patrick Hood
Skippy Jumper - white hare - Secret Service of Nick Wilde
Finnick - fennec fox - Director of the Secret Service of Nick Wilde / old and sometimes only friend of Nick
Interrogation time
Finnick is an essential part of my Story. (Eragon05)
Thanks, for your compliments. Now, my typical apology for my bad grammar: sorry -.-. Development of characters is very important for me. The believable manner of Judy and Nick is OCC for others, but I appreciate your opinion on that. Hope you liked chapter 34. Ridiculous plot-twist might happen: Two very big revelations have to be made, that might seem ridiculous (not including this chapter, which might be a little bit much and ridiculous, please tell me your honest opinion about this.), but I kinda was hinting on those till the beginning of my Story. I try to create more joy for my readers in the future. (winerp)
It goes fast^^. If someone is random, than you. I only can talk about the musicals that we have in Germany, so I would have to say Lion King in Hamburg was my favorite, but I liked Tarzan in Oberhausen as well. (queenlmno)
Good combination skills ^^ Misunderstandings and miscommunication is the most common problem with females, human and anthropomorphic. (side-fish)
This was a huge leap in Judy's and Nick's relationship to share a bed. Rant-reviews, like you called it, are incredibly important, since they are the most honest critique you can get. And critique is beneficial for any story^^. The tea will be brought up in a future chapter.
Judy, in a way, still stays a bunny. Bunnies are very good with fleeing from predators. So, her instincts revolve around this primitive behavior, meaning she is, like you said, programmed to always be aware how to escape a situation. But she is a prime animal, too. Primes are better alpha animals with intelligence, meaning, since alphas are normally those, who defend their pack, herd, pride or however you want to call it, and primes are like super alphas with conscience, you could say that her intelligence and mind dictates her behavior that revolves around defending or distracting. As a prime, she does not act on her instincts alone. So if she wants to fight, she will. Other prey animal would only behave this way, if a prime would give them the order to. But Judy has more control over that. She will act, however she wants. (Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps)
I would not consider this Story "genius", but thanks for the compliment. (zenith88)
It is a Crime / "Romance" fic ^^. What did you expect? I could have tagged it mystery or drama and it would apply to my story, but I deliberately decided for the romance tag, because it is a main aspect and very important for myself. (DragoonSensei)
I won't stop! (Froggypie)
Super healing? What super healing? ^^ Please don't compare my dedication to detail to those great people of Disney who gifted us this incredible beautiful movie. I am nothing compared. The immersion is something different. The written word will always be more intellectually stimulant than a movie, since you have to create your own pictures with your own mind.
Mate? … erm … already awkward enough for male anthropomorphic animals ... I am female *adverting eyes slightly* … don't do that …
By the way, you are not Sándor. (HeyitsTwinDrake)
I don't know how many, but I'll try to create 2 or more chapters now, before I continue my main plot.
The crown will be not important in this Story … but probably in another one, in the far future. ^^
Hey, Readers! You got a chance to submit one of your own OC!
For my main plot (the one I mentioned countless times with the prince birthday concert), I need 2 new OC … This can be more random ones (can be predator, but I would prefer prey). I have my personal Ideas about those and already know, what will happen to them, but I would like to engage my readers with this. I want you to review / pm me with your idea about a good OC I could use. This OC might only be used temporarily in one or two chapters (Plot is already developed with my plans), but I would like you to decide on them. I don't need exaggerated bios, though. I just need: Name, Species (No fox and/or rabbit), Age, Occupation (Job, but don't be ridiculous, no 007 agent, lost ZBI agent or anything exaggerated), Gender, and Sexual Orientation (important, since this OC need to be members of the LGBTI: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Interspecies) … I hope some will submit their OC. If not, I will use my own Ideas.