As they reached the forested area, Judy pulled over and stopped the car. "On foot from here."
Windrise creek was a part of a known hiking tour route. During the Spring and Summer, it was a famous and sort of crowded part of Zootopia. However, at the end of autumn, it was mostly empty. Now it was just as abandoned as Nick and Judy thought. As they got closer and closer to their destination, more and more crows were seen on the trees, with their eyes fixated on them.
"I think we are closing in…" Nick whispered as they kept on walking. "No wonder nobody approached that point. These crows would probably scare away most of the hikers."
Judy felt a shiver going through her spine. This could be a scene of a Z category horror movie, where you can laugh off every character's stupid decision making. She could see herself, sitting next to Nick, discussing how stupid these two characters are for going deeper into the woods with the scary crows watching them. They walked a few more meters and then…
"She is there!" Judy pointed at the small bench, where the cheetah kit was sitting, with her head buried in her paws. "Lucy!"
The kit flinched and hopped off the bench with frightened eyes. "Go… Go away!" Just as she said that one of the crows flew in front of her, spreading its wings and making a few flaps. Just as Judy described, like a protective big brother
Considering that the bird's size was half Judy's and knowing what they already attacked someone once, Judy took a step back. She knew if they attacked, she would have no chance. 4 Rhinos, sure all at once! 100's of crows? Heck no! Before she could make the step again back forward, Nick seemed to pick up on her concern and took the lead.
"It's alright. We aren't here to hurt you." He claimed in a calm voice and pointed at the protecting bird, considering how important gaining thrust was "Is he Terrence?"
"Y-Yes." Lucy blinked. She was surprised that someone else knew how she named the bird.
"He seems like a smart crow. And he really likes you."
"Yes, he is smart." The short answer was heard. She was unsure what to do
They weren't getting anywhere with this. Nick knew he had to get to Lucy somehow but he had no idea how to approach the conversation "Look. Everyone is worried sick about you. Your mom… your dad… I bet even your siblings."
With tears filling her eyes, she just raised her paw, to stop the fox from taking another step "Please just stay back. I-I don't want to hurt you." Terrence gave an even louder 'Claw' as a warning sign, letting Nick know that it's his last chance to leave in peace.
Nick stopped and took a big breath before starting walking again "I know you don't want to hurt anyone. As long as you stay calm, they won't attack."
"I can't control them! Last time they just..."
"Yes, you can control them." Nick interrupted calmly while keeping the one step at a time tactic "If they feel like you are in danger or give them a sign you don't consider it to be one, but they do! They only attack then. Just take a few deep breaths, alright? I know you are scared, but we can help."
"You can't help. I killed Bill!" She collapsed on the ground after saying these words like they were huge rocks she just let go. She curled up while hugging her legs.
"No you didn't" Nick shook his head
"Yes, I did! You weren't there. I could have helped… I...I just stood there… I..."
"Lucy! Bill is injured but isn't dead. I promise!"
"R-really?" She reached out with her eyes, eager for an answer.
"Yes." Nick stepped past by the bird, who was still keeping an eye out on the fox, just like the fox on the bird "It's okay. Deep breaths. Everything will be fine." Suddenly Lucy got up and ran to Nick, wrapping her arms around him in a hug
"I didn't want anyone to get hurt, I just… I just..." The words were barely understandable as she said them through Nick's police uniform, while still hugging the fox
"It's okay." Nick gave a relieved sigh and nodded towards Judy. 'Terrence' finally just flew away, probably marking them as 'friendly' and joined the others. "Can you tell us the whole story?"
She was powerless. She knew the class would shortly start but didn't want to get up. What would be the point? She felt a caring peck on her head.
"Hey, Terrence..." She chuckled between two sobs. "At least you are here for me, huh?. And yes… I might be a weirdo just by talking to a bird that can't even answer."
"Oh, you ARE crying!" A malevolent laugh was heard.
"What are you doing here?" It was still a powerless question. Who cares about the answer? Bill is just here to get a few laughs.
"Are you serious? I wouldn't miss this sight for anything."
Anger was brewing inside the girl. She felt like she could punch that face no matter the consequences. That powerless feeling disappeared from one second to another
"Leave me alone." She said but deep down she wanted Bill to stay, just to have a reason to wipe down that stupid grin from his face. What would be the consequence of that? Maybe a visit to the headmaster's office. That's a sacrifice worth taking…
"Or what? What will you do, huh? Run to Mommy? Maybe Daddy?"
Yep, a visit to the headmaster is definitely worth a punch into that face. "I said… Leave me… ALONE!" She shouted, and moved her paw back for a punch. She wanted to do this for a long time now, but she was scared to do so. Not anymore. However, she froze at the sight of what was happening. The crows flew up from their previous place, now targeting the gazelle in front of them, who got completely off guard and lost his balance after the first two claw strikes. He fell onto the ground and was a weak target for the birds.
Claws and beaks continuously hit the 'attacker's' face and body, who shouted in pain. Lucy could have helped… Maybe help Bill get up or fight off the birds… But she was just watching. It was some relief that finally, HE was the one who felt the pain he caused for months. Just a bit of justice… But suddenly the shouts died out. The gazelle was just lying there motionless.
"Bill?" Lucy asked carefully, but as she received no answer she quickly kneeled next to her motionless classmate. "Come on, get up!" She shushed away the birds that were still flying around and saw what happened. "Nononono. Get up!" The body of the gazelle was just laying there. Realizing what happened, she took two steps back and covered her mouth. "OH no. What did I do?"
She heard as various doors opened. Probably everyone heard the shouts even inside and now they will think… They will think I attacked him… She panicked. All that she could think of was to run as far as she could. She didn't know where. Just run.
As she prepared her pass card to leave the school, only one thought managed to squeeze next to the fleeing one. "I'm a murderer."
"I didn't know I would hurt him that much… I-I just wanted him to feel how I felt. I didn't mean to… I didn't."
"It's okay… We believe you." Nick said empathically. "But now we will have to take you home."
"I can't…" Lucy shook her head as a new wave of tears flooded her eyes "Everyone will look at me like I was a heartless killer…"
"I can assure you, they won't." Nick gently hugged the crying kid. "So please. Just return home. As I said, your mother is worried sick."
After a bit of hesitating, Lucy nodded "Okay… But do I have to tell them everything?"
"Not today." He shook his head with a bit of a smile. "I'll talk with your mother to give you a bit of time, but... Yes. You will have to tell her the whole story eventually."
She took a deep breath "Alright. I'll try."
"Very well. just follow me."
As they walked down the dirt road, the crows still followed them around. Even after getting to the police cruiser, a few of them stayed close to the cheetah cub. And one specific one was circling above them, watching each step of both officers and the kid
Lucy glanced at the back of the police car, and Nick seemed to understand what her concern was.
"You can sit in the front." He offered "I'll take the back seat."
"Would you really do that?"
"Of course." He chuckled. "You are not a criminal."
Lucy gave a small smile and whispered a 'Thank you' as she opened the front door. It was already dark as the sun had already disappeared, giving time for the moon to shine through the night. Judy frequently glanced at the cub, who was still in her own world, staring outside of the window with her eyes fixed on the white orb in the sky. As they reached the house Lucy gave one more heavy sigh and looked at Judy, who gave a warming smile and nodded. As they got out of the car, Mrs. Spotts already appeared at the door.
"Ohmygodohmygod! Where were you? What happened? Are you okay?"
"Hey… mom… I'm fine..." Lucy said in a hug
"Come inside! You must be hungry! Were you crying? You have to tell me what happened!"
Nick intervened before the motherly care would surpass every expectation. "I can assure you she will explain everything but give her a bit of time. She is tired."
"Yes. Yes, absolutely! Thank you, officers! I don't know how to repay you!" Now it was Nick's turn to be stuck in a strangling hug he couldn't escape from.
"You're welcome ma'am," He said and looked at Judy who tried to hide her grin as much as possible. It wouldn't have been appropriate to burst out laughing in this situation.
"I'm so grateful! Thank you, thank you!"
Judy stepped in to save her partner from a mother's bone-cracking hug. "We will be back tomorrow to check if everything is alright. Good night ma'am."
"Good night, officers. Bless you! You are angels from heaven. Come on, darling let's go inside!"
The two heroes of the day headed back to their car, While Judy still had a huge smile on her face. "What was that again? A course for mammals to get out of hugs? I guess we have a second student to that course"
"Don't you dare say one more word!" Nick growled and sat back to the police cruiser.
Their shift was long over but they still had to drive the cruiser back to the station, so they both had time to think about today's happenings.
"Will this case go to court?" Judy asked, a bit worried.
"I don't think so. They weren't her own birds and there definitely isn't evidence to prove she trained specifically to attack someone. I don't think it will get to court, and even if it does, I doubt she will be found guilty. On the other aspects though… I hope she will be able to recover from the shock."
"We will check on her tomorrow."
"She has a long week ahead of her." Nick nodded as they kept on driving to the station
An: Well, that's it for the main story. I still want to add one closing chapter but I have no idea what to put in it for now. I have ideas swirling left and right I just can't connect them, or figure out which one is more important.
So about the story: The main idea was about crows. I've read an article about a girl befriending them and everything went alright until a neighbor approached the girl's house, the birds attacked the lady, even though she had no negative intentions. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, but this little story got me thinking. What if someone actually showed aggression towards their favorite human (or mammal in this case). Of course, I doubt anything major would happen. I don't think the crows could hurt someone aside from a few scratches. But who knows?
So storyline: At first I thought about burglars. At least that seemed a situation where your feathered friends could help but I threw that idea away fairly quickly, mainly because I didn't see any plot potential in that. So that directs us to this idea. Crows can make strong bonds with you after you feed them. They will even bring you gifts on a few occasions. They can remember the kindness or if you are aggressive towards them.
Well, for now, I'll mark this work as complete. Thank you for your support, and see you next time in my other stories. Bye for now.