Chapter 44: Legosi's Training Regimen, Day Two! Mondays With Grandpa Gosha And Judy Hopps!
Legosi yawned as he woke up in room 701 and saw Jack reading a book at his desk. The gray wolf rubbed his eyes sleepily and made his way out of bed. "Good morning Jack." Legosi greeted his friend.
Jack smiled at his companion and his tail wagged happily. "Good to see you up and early! Remember your new routine?" Jack asked.
Legosi was still waking up, so he didn't fully know what Jack was talking about. "New routine? I trained with Tao, Kibi, and Alex yesterday… what was on the table for today?" Legosi groggily wondered.
"You're going to your grandfather's house? Remember? He used to be a cop, just like Alex, and he wanted to catch up with you and teach you some of the stuff that he learned on the squad!" Jack gently reminded his friend.
Legosi's eyes widened and he grinned. Now that he and his grandfather were back on good terms with each other, Legosi loved spending time with him. In fact, just last week, he had been living with Gosha while he was resting up and recovering from the attack. Legosi hurriedly grabbed some clothes and popped in the shower. "Thanks for reminding me Jack!" Legosi called out before shutting the door and starting to wash himself off.
Legosi quickly finished cleaning up himself and came out of the bathroom naked for all to see. Alex came in. "Hey, Legosi- WOAH!" The wolf squealed, covering his eyes at the sight of the nude gray wolf.
"Oh! Hey Alex." Legosi nonchalantly said.
"Dude, put on some underwear at least! Jack, how can you not be weirded out about this?!" Alex murmured.
"Oh, heh! It's nothing, realy. Us 701 canines are kind of like a pack, we've all seen each other naked before. It's kind of a pack thing." Jack explained.
"Weird… so you guys are okay with seeing each other naked?! I man, I know our fur hides our genitals, but still…" Alex questioned. The wolf shifted around, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
"Yeah? Haven't you ever been in a pack before?" Jack asked Alex. The wolf pointedly stared at Jack, causing the labrador to blush as he remembered that Alex had grown up on the streets and therefore didn't have much experience with pack culture.
"Hey, Jack? Maybe you can help Alex get into being a member of the pack while I go visit Grandpa." Legosi suggested as he got his clothes on and ran out of the 701 dorm excitedly. Alex gulped, a little nervous about what it might entail.
Gosha's house wasn't too far away from Cherryton Academy, to both him and his grandfather's surprise. Though taking a car or train could take anywhere from forty minutes to an hour and a half, Legosi had analyzed a map of the city and discovered an easy route that took only twenty minutes of walking to get from Cherryton to Gosha's, as long as he took a shortcut through the Dokugumi-controlled area of the Black Market.
The wolf kept on guard as he sprinted through the dark alleyways, passing by several reptiles that were wearing gas masks. He believed that they were komodo dragons, but with the gas masks covering their heads it was impossible for Legosi to discern any facial features that were hidden underneath them.
After Legosi made it through the black market, he quickly saw his grandfather's house come into view. It was exactly as he had remembered it, except for one key noticeable difference: there was a car parked in the driveway that he had never seen before. The curiosity in him decided to take a closer look and try to figure out whose car this was.
First, Legosi paced around the car, peering into the windows and taking a look at the size of the car itself. The gray wolf knew that the size of the car itself would be helpful in figuring out what size of animal the owner was. From the looks of it, the driver's seat, break pedals, and gas pedal were the perfect height for a rabbit driver. Then he looked at the ornaments that were hanging from the rearview mirror inside the car. There was a carrot scent air freshener and a dangling ZPD badge trinket. The license plate of the car also indicated that it was registered in Zootopia.
Legosi didn't have to think long before reaching a conclusion. The unfamiliar car in his grandpa's driveway belonged to no one other than Judy Hopps! But what was she doing at Gosha's house? Legosi opened the front door and went inside. As he walked through the hallways of his childhood home, he could hear Gosha talking to someone.
He heard Judy laughing, and Gosha chuckling. He poked his head into the living room, and saw Gosha and Judy sitting at a small little table. A pitcher of lemonade was on the table, and Gosha and Judy were drinking from small plastic little tea cups. It was one of Legosi's childhood toys; a birthday gift from an acquaintance who didn't have any idea what to give him. Gosha had gotten more use out of the toy set than Legosi ever had; the Komodo dragon's acidic drool was problematic for glass and metal cups, but it didn't corrode plastic. Judy's ears perked up as she heard Legosi enter the room and she waved him hello. "Oh! Hi Legosi!" Judy greeted the gray wolf.
Gosha smiled happily at his grandson. "Legosi! Come on, sit down. I was just telling young Mrs. Hopps about you growing up." Gosha told Legosi. Legosi nodded and sat down on the floor, pouring himself a cup of lemonade and drinking from it.
"Judy, uh… what are you doing here?" Legosi asked. He quickly held up his hands in a similar fashion to how one would signify that they were surrendering. "N-not that there's anything wrong with you being here! I'm just curious." Legosi hastily added.
Judy giggled at the semi-socially awkward gray wolf. He reminded her so much of Alex. "Oh, don't worry Legosi! I came to talk with your grandfather. I've always wanted to meet him, and thank him for what he did for me fifteen years ago." Judy answered.
This made Legosi pause for a second. "Why would you want to talk to Grandpa? Do you know each other?" Legosi wondered.
Judy shook her head no, but Gosha nodded his head yes. "Sort of… I knew about him when I was young, he was really famous and I kind of looked up to him as my hero. He was a big inspiration for me joining the ZPD." Judy explained.
"Actually, Judy, we do know each other. You might not remember it." Gosha replied. Legosi put his paws up, motioning for them to stop. "Wait. Gramps was your idol? Why?" Legosi blurted out. He didn't really know much about his grandfather's youth and early days, he had never gotten around to asking.
Gosha chuckled. "Heh, I was quite active in my early days! I was one of Cherryton's two Beastars alongside my best friend Yahya. We both moved to Zootopia and joined the police force there. The city was quite surprised to have its first equine and reptilian police officers!" Gosha told them.
The Komodo dragon sighed as he reminisced about his time on the squad. "Ah, those were the days. Yahya and I worked side by side together, saving lives and taking down criminals. We were making the world a better place! Setting examples for other animals to follow." Gosha thoughtfully said.
"Then why did you leave and come back to Cherryton?" Judy questioned. She had always wanted to know what made Gosha leave his position at the ZPD.
"Love, of course. I met Legosi's grandmother, a beautiful wolf named Toki. We fell in love, and I didn't want to keep her worrying every single day of her life. That's why I resigned as an officer, so I could provide a stable future for my wife. We traveled around the country, trying to decide where we should settle down and have children. One day, after we had Leano, we left her with a babysitter and went to Bunnyburrow." Gosha began. Both Legosi and Judy could tell the lizard was starting to tell a story, and they stayed silent so he could continue uninterrupted.
"That time of year was Bunnyburrow's annual Carrot Festival. Ah, there were so many young bunnies there who were surprised to see me and Toki there. They had never met a reptile before, or even seen one! Oh, how their faces lit up to see me. They asked me so many questions, and it filled me with joy to answer them. Then, I heard a terrified mewl. A young bobcat cub had gotten himself stuck up in a tree!" Gosha said. He could remember the pure look of fear on the young bobcat's face, and how no one was able to coax him down with their words.
"It looked like that branch might break any second, it wouldn't have supported his weight for much longer. And a falling cub is somewhat difficult to rescue. They scream very loudly, kicking and flailing their arms around wildly in an attempt to grab onto anything, but all that kicking and flailing around makes it more likely that they'll punch or kick their would-be rescuers in the face. But thankfully, that didn't happen." Gosha continued, then taking a breath and pausing his story. He drank from his cup of lemonade.
"And then what happened?" Legosi asked, desperate to know how the story ended. He loved hearing stories from his grandfather.
Gosha nodded his head, and cleared his throat before resuming the tale. "Then I saw a laser pointer dot appear on the tree. You know, the stuff they use at the feline corner at B-Strike. Anyways, I looked at where the dot was coming from, and I was astounded. A young Miss Hopps-" Gosha pointed a claw at Judy to show he was talking about her. "-Was using the laser pointer and making the dot go down the tree. A young kitten's mind easily was distracted from the fear of being so high up, and he chased the little dot down to the ground and made it back to earth safely. I was highly impressed…"
Gosha walked up to the young bunny cub and crouched down to look at her in the eyes. He smiled at her, and the young bunny could tell she had nothing to fear from the Komodo dragon. "That was some quick thinking, little lady! May I ask what your name might be?" Gosha inquired.
"Judy Hopps, sir." The cub blushed as she introduced herself.
"Well, miss Hopps, you're a hero." Gosha chuckled, pulling his old police hat out of his pocket and placing it on her head.
She giggled as the hat was a little big for her. "You know, you should consider being a police officer." Gosha told Judy.
A cub that was standing near Judy snickered. "She can't be a cop! She's a bunny!" The cub jeered.
In response, Gosha grinned and threw back his head, letting out a hearty laugh. "Heh heh heh! They said the exact same thing about me and Yahya joining the police as well! They thought that reptiles and equines couldn't fit in with the other animals there. And look at the two of us now! We were the finest cops of our generation!" Gosha exclaimed.
Judy's eyes sparkled with hope and joy as she looked at the scaly sage standing before her. "You really think I can be a full-fledged cop?" The young rabbit asked excitedly. Gosha nodded.
"Can I pick you up for a few seconds? Or you can climb on my head. There's something I want to show you." Gosha replied. Judy nodded, jumping up on Gosha's smooth green head. He then stood up and then pointed towards the great sprawling metropolis visible in the distance.
"See that right there? About two hundred and eleven miles away lies the great city of Zootopia. It's a place of great ideals and hope. Animals of all species live and work together in harmony. It's not as perfect as everyone makes it out to be, but it's still quite beautiful. In that city, anyone can be anything. And if you want to be a cop, young Judy? You can definitely achieve that dream there. The future is filled with limitless possibilities. Reach out, and grab the infinite future! And most importantly of all, try to make the world a better place." Gosha told her.
Legosi smiled as Gosha finished his story. He was very impressed with his grandfather. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that Gosha could have been a cop! He had always believed that his grandpa's only job was working as a construction worker. Hearing the story of how he and Judy met filled Legosi with a renewed sense of determination. He stood up. "Grandpa, would you show me how you used to fight?" Legosi asked eagerly. Gosha's eyes lit up and the two of them went outside to tussle just like they used to.
Legosi heads to the Shishigumi manor to see Louis! The two of them catch up with each other, and the lions impart some wisdom to Legosi! Come back for another unique chapter of Converging Destinies!
Chapter 45: Legosi's Training Regimen, Day Three! Tuesdays With Louis And The Shishigumi!