A Son of his Own Chapter 37: Train Ride to the Burrows
Been a while huh? Well you can relax as this story ain't dead and neither am I.
Forgive me but things have been getting at me in life as of late, school and whatnot but somehow I'm passing through.
Not just that but I'm still getting back into my feet from a very hard choice I made, I would rather have all information of that disclosed for now.
Now, it is time to reply back to your reviews.
James Wolford- I'm glad you like the story so far.
James Plunkett- Maybe, you never know what could happen...
patrickharris98- You never know...
Sora Pendragon- I'm glad you liked the chapter!
USA Patriot- Congrats on your results and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Fox Teen- Yeah writing this story really helps me when I'm stressed, hope you like this!
Lycanrock X- Hey I won't be away, just it takes too long to make these chapters.
.2015- Nathan may play an important part, you never know.
Thou Craggy Knob- I'll try not to worry too much.
bajy- I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one!
Hey wanna know something cool you guys?
Some of you may know already and some of you may not but I'm sure you've had your little speculations, not really any other way to say this.
I'm a Furry.
Say what you want, either you like it or not, if you don't then there's nothing I can do to change that but don't brag on about how Furries are bad, they're not.
Enough ranting, you're here to see me respond to your reviews correct? Let's get to it!
With that out of the way, let's get one last thing out of the way.
Do you know what an artist and a sniper have in common? Answer the question if you think you know the answer.
Let the chapter of this story, begin!
Savannah Central, Nick's Apartment, 9:00AM
It's been a few weeks since Nick's first day on the force and so far he has gotten used to the whole system of how working in Precinct 1 works, his first week was spent on Parking Duty which was boring but he knew his way around the city so it wasn't an issue for him, he filled out plenty of tickets and avoided getting yelled at or even attacked by angry pedestrians who got tickets because of how quick he was, the best part of it all was clocking out and getting to see Nathan again.
The second week Nick spent his time patrolling with Judy, of course she demanded that Nick be her partner since she was the one who got him into the force in the first place and she was the only Mammal that Nick could trust ever since the whole Nighthowler incident, of course he wasn't allowed to drive because Judy demanded that she be driving since she knows how too, although she did make the few little mistakes, they pulled over a few speeders, including Flash the Sloth but he was let off with a warning.
The third week of being on the force was a mix of patrolling and some office work which wasn't too difficult for Nick since he was quick with his digits, even over the course of three weeks Nick organised a few playdates for Nathan and Adam to have them get to know each other better, along with getting to know John and his wife better and they all got along just fine, they didn't care that Nick and Nathan were Foxes in the first place.
The fourth week? As in the present? Well, Nick had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off and so did Judy because they needed a little holiday, and Judy brought up the idea of bringing Nick and Nathan to Bunnyburrow to meet her parents and all of her siblings, she knew that her family would love them because they seem quite content with them when she told her parents about them over the phone whenever she got the chance.
And what were our two Foxes up too right now? Well, since Nick had the day off and since the train to Bunnyburrow didn't leave until 13:00PM, the two Foxes decided to sleep in since, well why not? They were in bed and it was warm and cozy to leave at this time, Nick had Nathan cuddled closely against him, his soft fur acting as a large pillow for the little kit, Nick was glad to have the weekend off but another whole three days? Nick would take a day off anyday he could since he wanted the time to relax and be with his son more.
Thankfully they wouldn't have to be woken up from the sound of cars and pedestrians talking whatever nonsense they were on about, either chatting with friends or on the phone with someone, Nick was glad his apartment had soundproof padding in the walls because he hated being disrupted from his sleep, unless it was Nathan who had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night which has happened on a few occasions, Nick always remembered these little moments in the night and he would always try to stop himself from laughing because of how Nathan would wake him up, by squeezing his nose which often tickled, it did a good job of waking Nick up anyways.
Nick didn't have any dreams last night, or if he did he couldn't remember but he'd like to think he was having great fun with Nathan, either going to the beach and splashing each other with the water or playing hide and seek in the apartment, all kinds of fun things that a father and son would do with each other whenever they had the time.
Despite not wanting to wake up from his warm sleep, Nick groggily opened his eyes, he hated having to wake up at 4:00AM in the morning but he was glad that he finally had the day off, able to get a bit more extra sleep but back in his hustling days he had to wake up early sometimes but those few early wake up calls were very hard to come across, regardless, he just loved sleeping, the same could be said about Nathan since he was sometimes still sleeping even after when he and Nick arrived at Precinct 1.
The only noise that filled the air was the clock ticking in the kitchen, that and the breathing from Nick and the very soft breathing from Nathan, the soundproof padding that was in the walls done a very good job at stopping the consistent noise of cars and pedestrians chatting from entering the apartment, one of the main reasons why Nick stayed in this apartment because of the peace and quiet, that and the owner didn't discriminate Nick because he was a Fox, all she cared about was getting money from rent, it didn't matter to her what species were staying in her building as long as they payed and that was no issue for Nick.
Looking down at Nathan, Nick gently nuzzled his nose against Nathan's head to wake him up and eventually the little kit did wake up with a little yawn, Nathan looked up to his father and gently began poking at his nose with his little digits, he always liked to poke at his dad's nose and Nick didn't mind having his nose poked, it tickled him.
"Heheh, did you have a nice sleep you little scamp?" Nick said as he leaned up and gently tucked Nathan into his arms, gently rubbing him behind his ears to put a happy little smile on his face.
"I did, so we're visiting Bunnyburrow today with Judy?" Nathan asked as Nick climbed out of the bed with the little kit still tucked in his arms, although Nathan was excited to visit somewhere outside of Zootopia, he was kinda nervous since it was his first time to leave the city and go somewhere he has never been before.
"Yeah, I've our bags packed and we'll be staying for a few days, ignore any mean remarks that the other bunnies might throw at us now, it'll be their first time meeting a Fox and bunnies are always told Foxes are not nice animals" Nick said as he walked into the bathroom, the two would have a quick bath before eating breakfast since they didn't wanna be smelly when they were in someone else's home.
"But we're not bad Foxes, why would they think Foxes are bad?" Nathan asked with confusion, Nick knew he'd have to tell Nathan but he was worried Nathan wouldn't understand, but he'd have to tell him sooner or later.
"You see, whenever mammals see a Fox, they always think of them as sneaky and mean creatures, kinda like you'd think wolves howl all the time or that elephants never forget, it's stupid and mammals shouldn't believe what others tell them about other species" Nick said as he turned on the hot water tap and put in some soap to make plenty of bubbles as the tub slowly filled up, Nick climbed out of his boxers and Nathan done the same.
"Yeah, they should always get to know someone better to understand if they are nice or not, not judging them because of what animal they are" Nathan said in a rather triumphant manner, it always amused Nick as to how smart Nathan had become since he adopted him, it was clear to say that he had raised him well with how well behaved and smart he is now.
"Heheh, not wrong there, some mammals are just grumpy and don't wanna believe that Foxes can be nice, but if that's the way they wanna think so be it, no point trying to change their mind if they won't listen" Nick said as he turned off the hot water tap, making sure the water was at the right height for Nathan and set Nathan in first and he climbed in after him.
After making bubble beards on each other and soaking their fur, the two Foxes got and dried themselves, letting the fur on their heads dry off naturally since it was a nuisance to dry the fur on their heads anyways, Nick got into his casual clothing consisting of a blue shirt and black pants while Nathan wore a pea green t-shirt with light grey shorts, it was sunny outside so they wouldn't have to worry about rain or being cold, they had spare clothes packed up anyways in the suitcase that was left in the living with everything they needed, some foods, some of Nathan's toys, a phone charger, one of Nathan's colouring books with crayons and pairs of sunglasses just to be safe.
Walking into the kitchen, Nick decided that for breakfast they'd have eggs, bacon (not real meat now) and some toast with tea, Nick turned on the cooker, broke the eggs in two to let out the yolk onto a pan and let bacon sizzle on the other, turned on the toaster and placed in two slices of bread and turned on the kettle which still had some water in it while setting out two plates, cups and forks and knives, back then Nick noticed how bored he got cooking for himself, when he adopted for Nathan, that all changed since he had to feed him and he knew Nathan loved the food that he was given.
Nathan sat in the living room after opening the blinds which wasn't difficult since all he had to do was pull a string and tuned in just in time for the latest episode of Pokémammals, which he had grown attached to because of how cool the Pokémammals were and all the amazing moves that they could do, whether it be shooting electricity, fire, water, ice or more like lifting objects with their minds, Nathan absolutely loved the show and how each episode (most of them) ended on a good note.
Nick was able to hear the show from the kitchen, he always loved watching the old episodes when the show had started back in the old days, he was Nathan's age at the time so some flashbacks flowed into his mind, now the show was currently set on some tropical islands that Nick assumed where based off of Pawaii in the real world, the new episodes did look fun though so he'd watch a few episodes and he enjoyed them with Nathan.
After waiting for some time for the eggs and bacon to sizzle, the tea to be stirred in the cups and the toast toasted and buttered, Nick carefully walked into the living room and set the plates onto the coffee table and took his seat beside Nathan on the couch, they began to dig into their breakfast as they watched the show together, where the main character (I couldn't thinking of an alternative name for Ash!) is in his first day of Pokémammal school in which they hold a surprise party for him and have a Pokémammal battle against each other, it was a good episode as the two Foxes are their breakfast together.
After washing their food down with their tea, the two Foxes walked back into the bathroom to brush their teeth, wash their faces, brush their fur, all of that wumbo jumbo, after making sure that all chuncks of food were gone from their fur and little pieces of food that stuck to their teeth were gone, the two Foxes walked back into the living room and finished watching the episode of Pokémammals together.
It was 10:00AM now, they still had plenty of time to do stuff together, so Nick decided to get out the arrowword from yesterday's newspaper to pass the time, he sometimes done this with Nathan and the two of them often enjoyed figuring out the answer for the question, that or failing miserably but it was great fun none the less.
Nick grabbed his pen and opened the crossword section of the newspaper, looking at the questions that had to be answered, some of them he knew immediately while others he did not, but maybe Nathan knew them, you never know since he's a smart little fox, he sat back down on the couch and Nathan looked in at the arrowword.
"Nathan, what's the name of the biggest planet in the Solar System again?" Nick asked humourously, he knew the answer himself but he wanted to be sure that Nathan knew some stuff as well, it might be needed in the future so better to be safe than sorry.
"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Juniper? No! Jupiter! It's Jupiter!" Nathan said as he counted the planets with his little digits and immediately realised his mistake, jumping up and down on the couch, Nick could only smile as Nathan just made him laugh inside him.
"Alright that's one, what other ones would we know? Uh, a riddle one? What gets wetter when it dries? Any suggestions Nathan?" Nick asked, he knew the answer himself as he had heard this riddle before and the first time he heard the answer really surprised him, but it did make sense after all.
"Well, it's a five letter word and it starts with a t, gets wetter as it dries, definitely not tree, I doubt it would be a truck, it's a tricky one so let me think. Gets wetter as it dries, is it, a towel?" Nathan said as he thought hard for this one, it certainly did get the gears in his brain spinning but he eventually came up with what he thought was the right answer, and he was since Nick smiled at him.
"Aren't you a smart little fox? It's a hard one but it is true. Next one, a fruit that is not the colour it is named to be, I think we all know the answer to this one" Nick said as he chuckled, it was his favourite fruit and it eventually became Nathan's favourite fruit eventually overtime as they tasted delicious to him.
"Blueberries!" Nathan said happily as the thought of blueberries filled his head, it had been a while since he had eaten any and just thinking of them really made him want to have some blueberries, he was a fox after all so most fruits to him he would absolutely love to eat anytime that he could.
"The colour of water, five letters, it's certainly not blue, any thoughts Nathan?" Nick asked, this question would probably be too confusing to Nathan since he probably wouldn't know that the water reflects the colour of the sky and all that stuff.
"But isn't water blue? Sometimes it doesn't have a colour but I don't know what I'd call that, I don't know this one dad" Nathan said as he tried to think but he always thinked that the water was blue, so he was going to learn something new today.
"With five letters, it would be clear, water doesn't have a colour so it's clear" Nick said as he rubbed Nathan's head to cheer him up, it would've been a tricky one to think off, in all fairness, the rest of these questions were pretty tricky, so Nick decided to skip onto another one that would be easier for Nathan to come up with an answer for.
"Here's an easier one, it wants a number that has only five letters, the second letter is e so what five letter number would have e as its second letter?" Nick asked as Nathan put on his thinking cap, maybe now he would have a chance at answering this one.
"Three, no, uh, seven? It has to be seven, no way it could be anything else" Nathan said as Nick gladly writ down the word seven into the required word boxes and smiled at Nathan, it was definitely the right number since another question the name of a diagram used in mathematics, which was the Venn diagram.
"That was an easy one now wasn't it? Here's one you just might know, a portable shelter with four letters, I'll give you a hint, it has two of the same letters" Nick said as he wrapped his arm around Nathan, gently rubbing his shoulder as Nathan began thinking of something he deemed a reasonable answer.
"I know! It's a tent!" Nathan said as the answer finally came into his head, Nick assured his answer by smiling at him and writing down his answer, it always made Nick happy when Nathan knew general knowledge since it could become valuable in the future, you never know.
"Right answer son, hm, a vegetable that has six- letters" Nick said as he suddenly paused as he immediately knew the answer to it himself and it made him think of a special someone.
A special bunny.
"Oh no, we're having those thoughts again Nicky, now what are you going to do?" Nick thought to himself sarcastically as the thoughts of him being more than a friend to Judy filled his head, he's been trying to deny it for the past bunch of weeks but every time he sees Judy, he just can't stop thinking about seeing what's underneath-
"Nick! That's enough! Ugh, what do we do? I don't believe, I'm saying it, I'm in love with a bunny, a bunny I made fun of when I first met her" Nick thought to himself as he did those other thoughts out of his head immediately and realised that Nathan was poking at his side to get his attention.
"Dad? Are you daydreaming again?" Nathan asked as he realised how frozen Nick became, Nick immediately shook out of his little awkward silence and nervously chuckled, trying to hide what just came into his head.
"Yeah, whoops! Silly daddy, anyways, where were we? Ah yes, a vegetable with six letters, think of anything?" Nick asked as he managed to prevent himself from making a silly face, he was almost blushing with embarrassment, he didn't want Nathan to know that he was actually secretly in love with a rabbit, well, not yet anyways, he was going to figure it out sooner or later.
"I was thinking about it while you daydreamed, I think it's carrots" Nathan said as those thoughts filled Nick's head again, he now began blushing with embarrassment as he tried not to sweat with nervousness, he was already thinking of everything he was going to do when the time came and it felt so strange to him.
"Yeah, sure is carrots alright" Nick said as he tried not to sound nervous, his paws were even shaking as he was writing down the word carrots onto the page, Nathan just assumed that Nick was cold and huddled against his side to make him feel better.
Having Nathan huddling against him, Nick started to feel less strange as the weird thoughts in his head started to go away, he pulled Nathan in closer into a warm embrace and lowered his head to gently nuzzle in-between Nathan's ears which made him giggle slightly when he felt a dry nose rubbing against his head.
"Who's a good little fox? Who's the best little fox in the world?" Nick said in a funny voice as he continued to tickle Nathan by nuzzling in-between his ears, the little giggling further ridding him of those weird thoughts.
"Me!" Nathan said happily as he huddled closer against Nathan, enjoying the little head message that he was getting from Nick, he always loved it when Nick did this as it always tickled at a tolerable rate and he felt so loved and save, knowing his dad would keep him safe.
"That's right!" Nick said as he began tickling Nathan's stomach which immediately caused him to bust out in laughter as Nick tickled him with his digits, Nathan's tail really began wagging quickly which was a sign that he was happy, even Nick noticed that his tail was wagging.
"I'm going to wet myself hahaha!" Nathan said as he laughed uncontrollably, as much as he loved being tickled it was getting to the point where laughing was starting to hurt his stomach, Nick was quick to react and immediately stopped tickling Nathan, but just gave him the few gentle pokes to play with him.
Nick began playing with Nathan's little feet, gently tickling them which made Nathan kick them around as he laughed in response, he always did like getting his feet tickled as it always felt and looked so funny when he was kicking his little feet around.
Even Nick was having fun, Nathan was pushing his paws back with his feet as he tickled in between his little toes with his digits, both their tails still wagging with happiness, that was another thing that Nick loved now that he had company in his apartment, just playing around and being silly.
"If only mammals would just see Foxes acting like this, maybe they wouldn't think we were criminals as much but with me being a cop, that'll soon not be the case" Nick thought to himself as he continued to tickle in between Nathan's little clawed toes.
It was always this side of Foxes that everyone refused to see, you can say that Foxes are cynical creatures all that you want, you have to admit that they make very good parents, those who care about their kits anyways, speaking of which, Nick remembered asking Judy about where Nathan's old parents were and she convinced Nathan to tell her where his old home was, unfortunately, she discovered that the house was sold to an auctioneer and it was currently for sale, and she also learned that his old parents had moved out of Zootopia and had gone to Foxwood, a small city very far away from Zootopia.
She also learned that Nathan missed his old home, but he couldn't live with such abusive parents that treated him like dirt, he always said that whenever his parents were asleep or were away, he'd always run around the house for hours on end because he had so much running space, but he made the right choice to run away.
It did anger Judy that now Nathan's parents would probably never get justice served to them, there was no way that she could contact the Foxwood PD to search for two Foxes with the given descriptions because they'd probably just ignore her and not do anything, despite all of that, it determined Nick to be an even better parent to Nathan because if his parents could just walk away from everything, Nick was now even more determined to be the best dad in the world.
Nick failed to realise that he had stopped tickling Nathan's toes and Nathan decided to comfort himself by pushing himself against the soft cushions, although he did show a confused look at Nick and started talking.
"Are you daydreaming again?" Nathan asked as he continued preening his back against the cushions to find a comfortable spot, Nick only chuckled to himself and picked up the pen again, despite everything that has happened, the only thing that could be done now was to move on from it all, all of the abuse, the nightmares, all of those bad memories, put them all somewhere where they will be left to be buried and try to live a happy life.
"Yeah, sorry, let's get back to the arrowword shall we?" Nick said as he brought Nathan close him and continued writing in the answers to the arrowword questions, there were some that did catch the two off guard but they were able to get around those after some thinking.
After going through just 3 pages of the arrowword, Nick now realised that it was heading for 12:00PM, he was surprised by how much time had passed by but then again, those questions really did keep him and Nathan occupied so it was no wonder how an hour had passed since then.
What was to be done now? The arrowword had already fried their brains out and there wasn't really anything to watch on TV, but eventually something did pop into Nick's head.
He remembered an old book that he had stored in his bedroom, a book that his mother would read him as a bed time story, talking about a Fox who meets a mythical creature in the forest and becomes best friends with him, it was one of few books that didn't paint Foxes as evil creatures, since it was written by a Fox, a very well known Fox author that nearly had his books censored since, well, the message on Foxes wasn't based on the stereotype, the book was written almost 75 years ago so free speech laws weren't exactly perfected in Zootopia at the time.
"I'm just going to get something we can occupy ourselves with, I'm certain you'll enjoy it as much as I did" Nick said as he stood up from the couch and made his way into his bedroom, he had remembered where he had stored this book and he had it hidden away, he swore that if he ever adopted or had kids, this was a book that he would certainly read to them.
He walked up to his dark brown wooden wardrobe and slowly opened the doors, all his different shirts, pants and ties hung from clothes hangers in the wardrobe on a rack, but underneath all the shirts, pants and ties a small secret compartment was hidden on the base of the wardrobe.
He slowly reached his paws down to a small batch in the corner of the wardrobe base, unlocking the secret compartment, opening the compartment, he was met with the sight of an old shoebox, with the words "Wilde's and Sons" printed onto it in yellow elegant writing, the memories of his father started to come back to Nick, his father was always a happy Fox, he was always optimistic and always wore a smile in the darkest of times, he was lucky enough to run a tailor's shop in Zootopia after finally managing to get the money to do so and repaying it to the bank.
Nick always remembered the happiness he felt when his dad came home from work, his dad in his fancy black suit with a blue tie, those same green eyes and freshly combed fur in the light, the arms spreader out to receive a hug, everything was great for Nick as a kid, his dad was there for him after the Ranger Scouts incident and because of that, his dad took him out camping for a few days and showed him what he would've been taught in the Ranger Scouts, such as different types of flowers, insects, trees, how to determine North and South, how to start a fire with flint and how to fish.
But then, he was taken away.
He was accused of a murder that he did not commit, he had pleaded not guilty but the justice system would not listen to him and he was sent off to serve life in prison, when Nick graduated from College, his father was released from his sentence after the real killer was caught, but his dad wasn't the same anymore.
That happy and cheery side of his father had completely died off because of how he was treated in prison, he was harassed by other inmates and the guards beat since they would believe any story that he was stealing belongings from other inmates, even though he did not do such a thing, as a result of his mental health being drastically ruined he had to be put into rehabilitation after he was released after he was found innocent of his crime, but the damage had already been done.
Nick often did visit his father whenever he got the time, but his father barely recognised him, he could not even properly remember his own son that he raised and cherished, it shattered Nick's heart because his father was always the one person he would look up too in a crisis, but now his father was completely ruined.
However, his health has started to improve and he started to remember memories of himself and Nick, being together like father and son and as a result, he no longer has any nightmares, hallucinations or anything else of the sort, but he must be kept under rehabilitation care until his memories come back to him.
The shop was still run by his mother and she got a steady income during the week, although she was slightly devastated that Nick turned to street hustling, she understood why he done and hoped that if he did do it, it would make him realise that the life of a hustler isn't for him and look at Nick now, he's a police officer, the first fox officer of the Zootopia Police Department, he's come a long way hasn't he?
Nick slowly opened the box, unveling the book whose cover has long been worn off but Nick always remembered what the cover looked like, it was bright and colourful showing a forest and a young Fox happily wandering the path as nature herself blooms in the sunlight around him.
The book itself was called "The One from the Stars", with a title like that, you can bet that the story itself may be very interesting if you were patient enough to read and have a creative mind, as there were no pictures even though the main character is a 12 year old Red Fox so you'd expect this to be a kids book, it's more of a family book but Nick always enjoyed listening to it, all of the different sentences and twists always enchanted his mind with imagination and wonder.
Blowing some dust and cobwebs off of the cover of the book, he opened it and looked through all of the pages quickly, all of the words were still on the pages and every page of every chapter was still there so he wasn't going to miss any pages when he would eventually start reading it to Nathan, and get him into creative thinking as the story itself is based upon mystery and wonder.
Nick walked back into the living with the old book in his right paw, which Nathan looked at with curiosity when he saw the old worn out brown cover of it, Nick took his place beside Nathan and began to show him the book.
"This is an old book that my parents would read to me sometimes as a bedtime story, I figured that since I liked it so much that maybe you'll like it just as much, it's called The One from the Stars and it was written by a Fox, I don't really recall his name since it wasn't Zootopian, this is a story that doesn't paint Foxes in a rude manner, would you like me to read it for you?" Nick asked with a smile as Nathan appeared to perk up in expression, a sign that Nick took to assume that Nathan wanted him to read the story.
He opened the old tattered and light brown pages but the words were still readable, Nick cleared his throat and started reading.
"Our story begins in a big wild wood, trees appear to stand taller than a giraffe, birds are happily singing what they want to sing and the flowers are opening themselves out to the sun. A young Fox who was named Tod always loved to explore the outer reaches of this forest, the sounds that would fill his ears, the smells that filled his nose, the sights he sees, the feeling of touching the bark of trees and the simple feeling of relaxing. Usually he would be accompanied by either his loving mother or father, but the parents decided that since it has been his twelfth birthday, he can go out into the forest by himself, but he was not allowed to wander too far away and not to stray far from the dirt path. Tod was a very happy Fox, he lived a comfortable life with very loving parents and lived in peace out in the peaceful countryside. Everyday whenever he had the time, he would wander out into the forest in search of anything that catches him curious, dragonflies, butterflies, colourful flowers and if he was lucky, maybe some apples from the apple tree. The sun was out and shining and Tod decided that he would go out and continue his searching again, his parents would always call him the Little Detective Fox which always made him giggle. After saying goodbye to his parents and promising to stay on the dirt path, Tod stepped out of the grey brick house and made his way out through the front garden and eventually into the forest. Sticking to the dirt path as he had promised, Tod looked around at his surroundings to see if anything had changed since he was there last and everything seemed to appear the same, until Tod suddenly felt his paw sink into the ground. Tod looked down with surprise and noticed he stepped into a strange looking hole, which he immediately assumed was a pawprint but not the kind he had ever seen before. This pawprint was very weirdly shaped, it was founded off the top like most prey animals but it was too large to be any prey animal that Tod knew about. Excited about thinking that he had discovered a new species, Tod decided to follow the strange pawprints and see if he would be able to discover who or what made these strange pawprints, hoping that he was going to make a great discovery" Nick began to read as he completely read the first few pages aloud, the mystery and wonder in the words would always get anyone's gear spinning, if they weren't close minded.
"Wow, that is actually very well written, does Tod ever find whatever made those pawprints?" Nathan asked as he looked up at Nick with wondrous eyes, he always loved it when Nick read stories to him in bed and in the morning but he had never heard a story that was as in-depth as this one that Nick was reading him.
"Well, we will find out as we delve deeper into the pages and maybe we'll found ourselves an answer. Tod walked off of the path and he began to follow the strange prints deep into the forest, ignoring the fact that he did not follow his parents advice but he knew he would be able to find his way back by retracing his steps, or the strange creature's steps since they dig deeper into the ground. As Tod continued to follow the strange prints, he was quick to realise that it was quiet, too quiet, the birds weren't tweeting, the leaves weren't moving, the wind wasn't blowing and there were no insects chittering, Tod found this very unusual as the forest was never silent, it was as if time itself had come to a sudden and abrupt stop. The only thing that Tod could hear was his own breathing because it was so silent, it was rather frightening for him but he stayed brave and kept his mind clear. Continuing to follow the prints, the young fox found a strange object lying by one of the pawprints, the object in question was a black piece of what looked like curved metal, it was very black, blacker than the night sky, Tod reached down to pick up the curved piece of metal and began to carefully look around the metal, he couldn't even see his own reflection in the pure darkness of the metal. "Maybe I should take this back to dad, he's pretty smart with thingamajigs like this so maybe he can tell me what it is" Tod said to himself as he looked ahead and continued to follow the pawprints through the forest, but then, they simply stopped. Tod looked around to see if there were pawprints elsewhere but there wasn't any sign of them, there was only one conclusion that he could come up with and that was whatever creature made these strange pawprints, it's capable of climbing up into trees as a tree branch hung high off the ground over Tod's head. Knowing he could not climb that high and not risk hurting himself, he decided to turn around and head back home, besides, he had been out walking for long enough as it took him a while to get back to the path" Nick read out as the mysteriousness of the story really began to show itself, all the while making Nathan even more interested in listening to the story.
"So, Tod couldn't climb the tree? I wish I could climb a tree" Nathan said as he looked out the window and saw the trees gently swaying in the wind in a nearby green park, it was on his bucket list to climb a tree but it was never something that he got to do, all the while that just gave Nick a new idea about going to Bunnyburrow, perhaps there were some good trees that the little bunnies climbed every now and then.
"I'm certain you'll get the chance sometime in the future, I've climbed trees myself and I find it quite fun to be honest with you" Nick said as he placed his paw on Nathan's shoulder to reassure that he'll get to climb a tree soon, although not every tree Nick climbed was for fun, but to escape from street muggers and other criminals.
"So, can you continue reading the story? Please?" Nathan asked as he showed Nick his little cute puppy eyes, Nick just let out a little chuckle as he rubbed Nathan's in response to his little secret weapon.
"Aww, how could I ever say no to those cute little eyes of yours? Tod followed the strange pawprints back to the forest path, giving one last good look back at where he had gone too in the trees and made his way back home. Many questions were filling his head but yet he had no answers for any of them, "What creature made those pawprints?", "What does he look like?", "Is this black object a piece of his skin?", "Is he nice?" were some of many of the questions Tod kept asking himself, he would have to wait for things to become more clear for him in the future to come, he really hoped that his Dad would be able to tell him more about the strange black object he found but there was no way he could tell his parents about the strange pawprints, he didn't want to risk embarrassing himself after his own birthday. The sounds began to return, the wind, the insects, the tree branches swaying side to side and the birds, all of the soothing and natural sounds bath returning after a sudden silence, hearing everything go silent was not something that Tod thought was even possible since Nature herself seemed to be always awake even when he was asleep. Tod kept thinking back to that silence, it was if time itself had completely stopped all of a sudden, how that could even be possible was too much for Tod to even start thinking about how that could even work. As he made it back home, little did he know somewhere within every tree, leaf and branch, somewhere within everything, there was something hiding, hiding. And watching" Nick said as he looked at the time which now read 12:30PM, he closed the book and decided to bring it along with him for the trip, although Nathan looked disappointed that they had to stop reading, he knew they had to go since it was almost time for when their train would leave and it would only take them around ten or fifteen minutes to arrive at the Central Station near the watering hole, the trains would arrive and stay in the station for around five minutes which was enough time to let the passengers arrive and take their seats.
"We'll continue reading once we're in Bunnyburrow, let's get moving shall we? Say goodbye to the apartment Nathan, it'll miss us for a bit" Nick said as he double checked to make sure that they had everything they needed for the trip and once he was sure, they both made their way to the door and with Nathan saying a quick "Goodbye apartment!" as he waved, the two foxes exited theur home and Nick locked the door, they then made their way to the elevator and went down to the first floor. Nick handed in his key to Lauren, she knew that they were heading out on a small holiday so she'd take care of his keys, no way he'd be bringing his keys with him to Bunnyburrow where it was very likely that he would end up losing them and Lauren wasn't the one to get a new key just because you lost it, you lose it, you lose it, end of story.
Being met with hot sunshine the moment they stepped out of the building, the two Foxes walked out onto the sidewalk and began making their way to the Central Station, the streets were busy with activity, a lot of mammals getting lunch at local Cafés or restaurants since it was coming up to lunchtime and the streets were busy with cars, buses, bikes and trucks alike driving around on the streets, making their way to their destinations. The two Foxes stuck close to each other and stayed away from bigger crowds to avoid getting stepped on and to avoid getting separated from each other. One thing Nick noticed was that mammals seemed to stare less at him when he had Nathan with him, most would assume that he was just a father taking his son outside while others thought other things and just left them to their business, it was one less thing off of their backs since Nick would get a lot of stares whenever he was by himself, and even with Finnick most assumed that he was just a little kid even though he really wasn't.
Nathan as always stayed close to his Dad, he'd even hang onto his dad's leg if he had too and he has done it before, Nick of course didn't mind and he had strong enough legs to walk quickly even with Nathan hanging on, although an awful lot of mammals were starting to walking around the plaza that they were walking too so Nick stopped walking in a clearer area because he did not want Nathan to get separated from him.
"How do you feel about a piggyback ride?" Nick said as he lowered himself down for Nathan to climb onto his back, the little fox would never refuse a piggyback ride and happily hopped onto Nick's back, hanging his legs over Nick's shoulders and hanging onto Nick's pointy ears. With Nathan firmly hanging on, Nick grabbed his suitcase and marched back into the crowd, the fear of losing Nathan immediately vanishing from his head.
Nathan of course was a little frightened by the amount of mammals there were in the plaza, either talking on their phones or just walking around, he would often close his eyes and pretend that he was invisible so that no one could see him, but he always knew that he could rely on his Dad to keep him safe from anyone that might try to harm them.
Waiting and waiting, they both arrived at the Central Station, walking through the front arched entrances of the station past all of the advertisement booths, Nick looked up at the station clock and they were fifteen minutes early, it wouldn't be too long until the train arrived.
"Alright let me get our tickets" Nick said as Nathan stayed on his back and they both arrived at the ticket machine, Nick had already done their tickets online, so he put in his passcode that he was emailed and got his train ticket, Nathan was already accounted for since he was already paid for so they didn't need to worry about getting set back.
"Arrivals, Tundratown to Central Station, 12:45PM, platform three. Bunnyburrow to Central Station, 13:00PM, platform 2. All waiting passengers please arrive to your selected platforms as soon as possible, if you do miss your scheduled train please contact our customer service booth to reschedule a second train for no extra cost. Thank you for your cooperation" a male announcement said out over the loudspeakers, Nick obliged and made his way to the escalators, looking around at the green archways as he and Nathan made their way down to platform 2 where their train would be arriving very soon.
Central Station at this time of day would be absolutely packed with mammals of all kinds, either arriving by train as returning mammals or new arrivals or leaving by train to go elsewhere in the city or beyond such as Bunnyburrow and other twins and cities beyond Bunnyburrow. Nick managed to find a seat on a bench on the platform that his train would be arriving on very soon and kept an eye out for Judy, standing up on the bench to look around with the assistance of the high ground, even using Nathan on his shoulders to extend their sight together.
Eventually the two Foxes spotted a running rabbit wearing a pink flannel shirt and blue denim jeans, rushing to get to Platform 2 on time but was relieved to see that the train had not arrived yet, although she did spot the two Foxes eventually and looked to have shown a face of slight disappointment since she didn't arrive first, yep, it was safe to say that same Bunny was Judy herself, Nick could only smirk as he looked at Judy's slight grumpy face.
"Well well sly Fox, not only do you arrive earlier than I do at work nearly every single day but you arrive early when we are going out for a holiday, are Foxes meant to be faster than Rabbits now?" Judy said as she walked up to the two Foxes, talking in a sarcastic manner as she took her seat beside them.
"Hey we haven't been here for like five minutes dumb bunny, I dunno, maybe Foxes are faster than bunnies now" Nick replied back as he kept that smirk on his muzzle, although now that Judy was sitting right next to him, those strange feelings he was getting this morning were starting to come back to him and it certainly came back with a vengeance.
"Oh Nick, what is wrong with you? Just tell her that you are in love with her and get it over with, there is no avoiding this..." Nick's thoughts forced him to think, which just made him groan inside with grief because now he knew that there was no way to avoid these thoughts in his head and the strange feelings that he got around Judy, he didn't know what to do now with these thoughts, should he tell her now or tell her another time?
"Ugh fine, how about this? We'll tell her later when the time is right, maybe when we are alone in Bunnyburrow perhaps we'll tell her then, ah jeez, I hope she doesn't see me as some sort of freak" Nick thought himself to relieve himself of the emotional chains that seemed to wrap around him time and time again.
Little did he know however, someone else had feelings for one another too.
"There we go again Judy with these funny thoughts, oh my god what's not to love about Nick? He's strong, kind and well experienced! How can I tell him that I love him? Should I tell him when we are alone together back home? I hope he shares the same feelings as I do" Judy thought nervously to herself as she remained awkwardly silent sitting so close to Nick, she couldn't describe how strange she felt whenever she was around Nick, she had a feeling of, being seduced by merely being in Nick's presence.
"Hehe, maybe you're right, maybe Foxes are starting to catch up with Rabbits now, good job I guess" Judy said in a rather nervous tone which she scolded herself for in her head because she sounded so silly when she said that, she didn't know what to say or how to respond to the emotions that she was facing in a situation like this.
"Yeah, maybe we finally are. There were lots of mammals out and about today wasn't there? I had to give Nathan a piggyback ride to prevent us from getting separated, not that I mind of course" Nick said as he lightly tickled Nathan's little feet that hung over his shoulders, getting a response in the form of cute laughing from Nathan himself.
The two mammals conversed with each other, letting Nathan in on a few things and it was not long until the train that they were waiting for arrived, the doors opened and mammals of all kinds exited the train while others began entering it, it was a train that wouldn't be making any stops in the city, it was straight to Bunnyburrow and beyond, of course Nick, Judy and Nathan would be getting off at Bunnyburrow.
Nick grabbed his suitcase and Judy grabbed hers and the trio made their way onto the train, the medium sized mammal section of course since they were medium sized mammals and the seats in the medium sized section were just their size, minding the gap on their way into the train and taking their seats, Nick let Nathan have the window seat because he wanted to let Nathan see the districts of Zootopia for himself.
Nick and Judy placed their suitcases into the cabinets above their seats and took their seats, making themselves comfortable and the only noise that could be heard was the humming of the train engine, that and a few other mammals who were having conversations of their own.
"Alright everyone this is your driver speaking, this train will not be making any stops at any of the districts in Zootopia and our first destination will be Bunnyburrow which will take around one hour for us to arrive at the station in Bunnyburrow, we have a restaurant in the second carriage if you are looking for something to eat or drink and we also have WiFi but do consider chatting with friends or family if you are with any at the moment" an announcement said out in a happy and humourous manner, the train operators of Zootopia were known for their humour and Judy was surprised by this the first time she boarded the train to Zootopia from Bunnyburrow.
"It's funny how the engineers of certain trains in Zootopia talk like that sometimes, I guess they wanna make sure that the passengers aren't grouchy when onboard" Judy said as she and the Foxes sat down into their seats and waited for the train to eventually start moving.
"Yeah, they have a reputation for talking like that, it's something different I suppose to have something unexpected in every mammals day" Nick said as he sat on the seat next to Nathan and crossed his legs, getting comfortable and eventually finding that sweet spot.
"It's pretty funny I must say. So, anything interesting happen on your shift yesterday? All I did was sit in the office all day doing paperwork" Judy asked since she didn't get the opportunity to talk to Nick yesterday since she wanted to get this batch of paperwork out of the way and she finally did, even if she got writers cramp.
"Eh, just the usual stuff you'd see on patrol, mammals walking about, drivers following the law of the road, I did see some street performers, a bunch of Wolves squat kicking, looked like a very difficult dance to practice for but they looked great when doing it" Nick said as he remembered seeing that little performance yesterday, he wouldn't be able to stay around since he had to continue patrolling on.
"Huh, that sounds interesting" Judy said as she and Nick continued conversing on with each other while Nathan looked out the window at the many mammals walking back and forth around the platforms.
It was not long until the doors closed and the train began to slowly depart from the station, it would be Nathan's first time leaving Zootopia and exploring what was beyond the city.
And we certainly know it may not be his last.
Finally this chapter is done.
I won't go on any further, Welcome to Zootopia will be the next story to be updated and after that I have Returned will be next.
So yeah leave your reviews and follow and favourite yadayadayada.
Sincerely,
S47.