Wolfx1120: Yep, definitely aren't the most likable campers!
TheFireFox123: Let's hope so!
Guest: Glad you're looking forward to part 2! Hopefully this chapter will give you some satisfactory answers!
MapleHoneySyrup: Thank you so much! Let's see how the rest of the night ends up going!
Sir Khan: Thanks so much, and maybe you do…
Fanficteller: Hopefully they do! We'll just have to see as the night goes on!
Zootopian Fulf: I actually laughed out loud at your descriptions lol (of what should be done to Nat). I'm glad you're getting so into the story!
Guest: That's a good way to describe them haha.
Well, well, well, long time no talk! I'm finally on Thanksgiving Break and away from school, so I had time to work on this story for once! Yay!
This past semester at school has been the most busy time of my life so far, so all of my attention had to be directed toward it. I hope you all understand! I'll try to get one more chapter up before break is over; we'll have to see! Regardless, there will be plenty of updates from December-February, so worry not! Looking forward to keeping this thing going!
With all that said, don't let me keep you waiting any longer! Let's get right into Chapter 17 of The Thrill of it All!
The coyote entered his cabin again with a sigh, dropping his bag by the door before he stepped inside. He grumbled as he bent down to do so in a gruff tone, scratching his neck as he reverted to an upright position with a tired expression across his face. He rubbed his amber eyes with a paw, careful not to make contact with the still-healing scar over his eyebrow.
He was a brooding presence from the outside looking in — his arms thick and muscular, his claws were sizable and built like mini razor blades. His pupils were piercing, and his ears sharper than most coyotes. His stature was a fair amount larger than most coyotes as well, which made his aura all the more intimidating.
As he took a brief moment to think about what he wanted to do next, he noticed something rather concerning; his living room sofa, which had recently been turned into a makeshift hospital bed, was now completely empty. His eyes became wide as he studied the sofa in his living room area, and he lost his breath for a second. Where there once laid a rather small visitor, there was nothing but a disconnected IV and the distant scent of a wolf.
"Boy!" he shouted, causing his voice to echo all throughout the three room cabin. "Where'd you go!?"
His eyes darted around as he stepped around the room, moving the various boxes that covered the corners of the room in an attempt to find who he was searching for. He knew that that was where being rather messy in nature comes back to bite one on the rear end, but he didn't have time to criticize his habits; he had to find the boy.
"I'm not gonna hurt ya!" the coyote bellowed, his voice echoing through the cabin. "I promise! I saved your life, kid! I only wanna help!"
"Fine!" a voice spoke from over near the front door, and the coyote turned his attention immediately to the closed closet by the front door area. He hurried over to the door, tripping over a box along the way.
"Boy, what are you doing?!" the coyote demanded to know in an imposing tone, knocking on the closer door repeatedly. "Why'd you lock yourself in the damn closet?!"
"I thought I could walk, but I can't," the voice said back to him helplessly. "I was looking for water!"
"Well, why'd you disconnect the IV?" the coyote asked, now no longer knocking on the locked hardwood door. "And open the door!"
"Oh… that's what that was?" the voice responded weakly.
The voice from behind the closet door slowly, but finally opened it with detectable fear. As the door became more and more open, the coyote gazed down at the small wolf before him with a curious expression, taking a step back to appear less frightening. The young wolf staggered into the light of the cabin with uncertainty, holding his breath as he did so. The coyote relaxed once he realized the wolf did not manage to escape, as he knew he would have died to his wounds had he made it out the door and out of sight.
"So, who are you?!" the young wolf said, fighting his pain as forced out the rather urgent question.
"First of all, you need to lay down. Then we'll talk," the coyote replied, gesturing to the sofa from which he came.
"Whatever," the wolf responded, barely able to keep himself upright. He stumbled over to the sofa once again as the coyote thought about trying to help, but decided not to, as it would probably put the wolf in more pain than he was already in. Once he was finally in a relaxed position on the sofa, the coyote pulled up a chair beside him and sat down with a groan, leaning forward to begin the conversation with the wolf.
"Okay, now tell me who you are," the wolf spoke boldly, grimacing as he tried his best to maintain a good volume.
"Demanding, huh?" the coyote asked. "Well, I guess you did just wake up in a cabin in the middle of nowhere".
"Uh huh," the young wolf replied, his ice blue eyes squinted due to the discomfort of his very rough condition.
"You can call me Mr. P," the coyote said firmly, cupping his hands together across his lap. "I live out here in these parts mindin' my own business."
"What's your real name?" the wolf inquired.
"Mr. P," the coyote replied plainly.
"No, I mean what's your actual name," the wolf said. "Nobody is named 'P' in the entire world."
The coyote sat up a little bit straighter,
"My name is Mr. P," he said in a serious tone, although the young wolf could tell he wasn't being honest about it at all. "Always been, always will be. And may I ask yours?"
The wolf looked on with a pouty face, but decided it would be better to be honest if he wanted to make it back home.
"Uh… it's Ronnie," the wolf cub said tiredly. "Ronnie Moon. Can you tell me how I got here?"
"Oh, I was gonna ask you the same question," Mr. P stated in surprise. "You don't remember what got ya' down there in the river?"
"I was in the river?" Ronnie asked with a perplexed face. "You found me in the river?"
"I did," Mr. P spoke softly as he studied the confusion written on Ronnie's battered and bruised face. "And Ronnie, there's something else a little bigger."
"What-" Ronnie started, but tensed up as he began due to a sudden pain. After a moment to regather himself, he continued. "What's bigger than being found in a river?"
"When I found you, you were on the verge of dyin', but not only because you were drowning," Mr. P said plainly, leaning in a little bit closer. "Someone tried to kill you. Those wounds on your chest?"
Ronnie glanced down at his chest, which was still largely bandaged and wrapped up. It was clear that he was still severely injured, but in the haze of waking up in a foreign environment, he hadn't even taken a moment to consider why he was so badly battered.
"They're gunshot wounds. Someone shot you twice and you ended up in the river. I don't know if they pushed you in, or if you fell in, but someone attempted murder. If I hadn't found you when I did, you would have died for certain."
"Someone shot me?" Ronnie asked in a baffled tone, continuing to study the bandages across his chest. "Are you sure about that?"
The coyote grunted as he rose from his chair and retrieved a small, clear box from the cabinet to his left, lowering it down to Ronnie's eye-level so that he could see inside. As he looked, he saw two small metallic objects inside, and he knew exactly what they were without Mr. P needing to explain.
"How… did you get them out?" Ronnie asked the first of many questions to come.
"Well, you see boy… I used to be what they call a doctor. A surgeon. Worked at a place just outside of Zootopia for fifteen-so years. You're lucky that I found ya' and not a bunch of vultures."
Ronnie cringed at the thought.
"So why do you live out here now?" Ronnie asked with bewilderment, tilting his head.
"Kid, we were talking about something a little more important," Mr. P said as he placed the box of bullets on the small table beside him and reverted to his former sitting position in the chair. "I found ya' half dead in the rapids, for Pete's sake."
"I don't know what to say," Ronnie responded as he took a moment to think hard. "I don't… I don't remember how I got here, I don't remember anything about it…"
"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard on the rocks in the river," Mr. P said. "I thought your brains was comin' out your nose when I found you. Maybe it shook your memory loose. Probably a concussion or somethin' like that."
"Oh," Ronnie replied. "So that's why my head feels like it was kicked by an elephant."
"Yep. So, what do you remember?" Mr. P asked Ronnie in a tone like he was conducting an interview.
"I mean, I know who I am. I'm Ronnie. I remember my family, I remember my friends. But… I don't know what's happened lately. I remember school, I remember eating Luke's grandma's biscuits the other morning and feeling like I was in heaven… at least I think that was the other day."
"So, just the past few days?" Mr. P asked. "That's what you forgot?"
"I… guess. Maybe weeks? I don't know. What's the date today?
"Today is June 20th," Mr. P said swiftly in response.
"Surprised you still keep count," Ronnie responded. "June 20th, huh? Summer's already started. I don't remember any of summer."
"Surprised I keep track?" Mr. P asked, going back to Ronnie's first remark. "Just 'cause I live in the woods doesn't mean I've lost touch with the world."
"Yeah…" Ronnie started before his mind shifted back to himself. "This sucks! I can't remember anything! And I got shot too…"
Ronnie sudden coughing fit, prevented him from going on a rant about how dumb it was that he couldn't remember anything. As he coughed, Mr. P looked a little concerned.
"Careful with all the talking," the coyote said as Ronnie's cough settled down. "Your lungs still ain't in the best condition after all the water you had in 'em."
"Right," Ronnie said softly, wiping his mouth with his forearm. "So, 113 Bronson Lane, can you bring me there?"
Mr. P chuckled as if the question were silly in some way, causing Ronnie to put on a bit more of a sour expression.
"Boy, I ain't had a car in lord knows how long. No phone either. You're outta luck there, but I can help show you out of these woods once you're healthy enough."
Ronnie sighed, but decided that stressing further over his bizarre situation would only take more of a toll on him. He breathed in as deep a breath as he could and breathed it out once he felt a cough coming on, laying his head back against the armrest of the couch.
"How long ago did you find me?"
"I dunno, little over a week, maybe a week and a half. You've been asleep the whole time," Mr. P said to the wolf as his mind scanned back though recent times.
"My parents are probably so worried," Ronnie grumbled, which was odd for him to say considering he usually didn't care about what his parents thought at all. He was in the stage that a lot of kids go through where he wanted little to do with his parents and family; still, imagining them in such a panic deeply saddened him.
"Oh, I'm sure, but what matters is that you lived through… whatever happened to you… and you're gonna make it back to them. We can figure that out once you can walk more than the distance of the couch to the refrigerator," Mr. P said calmly, leaning back into the chair as he let out a breath. After Ronnie didn't speak for a few seconds, Mr. P spoke again, knowing that Ronnie was becoming increasingly troubled with the idea of being separated from his former world.
"So, you wanted water?" Mr. P asked Ronnie as he rose to his feet, still confused about how their entire predicament truly came to be. Nonetheless, he was going to help the wolf as best as he could.
"That would be nice," Ronnie muttered, trying to readjust himself into a more comfortable position on the couch.
Ronnie may had just woken up in a completely foreign situation with no memory of how it came to be, but he was determined that he was going to make it back to his family, and soon. He was going to figure out how he came to be in this situation too. Maybe his memory would come back to him, maybe not. Either way, he was going to find out exactly what happened; he was going to find out who tried to put him in an early grave.
"I thought that I realized it all by the first snow. So why do I feel like the older I get, the less I know?"
Carmen's song was absolutely brilliant despite a brief malfunction with the guitar pick. Nick, Judy, Ray, Ven and Naiya had a great time listening to their friend conveying their passion in a way that only music could. Despite the scene earlier, it was looking more and more like the friends' night would turn out well after all. Finally past his rampage of negative emotion, Nick was finally starting to remember why he had been so ready for that night.
As the friends stood in the mix of the bonfire's glow and the stage lights, facing Carmen as she sang beautifully behind her acoustic guitar, Judy and Nick were falling for each other more and more. There was a powerful tether between the two of them that was becoming increasingly obvious to all around them, and even the two of them were starting to suspect that there was something unspoken between them. Though they could not confirm this until it was all out in the open, the two of them had more than enough courage to finally know once and for all by the end of the night.
Carmen's song came to an end after a few minutes, and a roar of applause filled the air. It had truly been one of the best acts of the night; many of the kids and staff alike even believed she may have a magical future in music ahead of her. She not only had the talent and songwriting ability to succeed, but she had a discernible, distinguished charisma that would only assist her on the road to success.
Once Carmen had disappeared into the backstage area, Nick looked over at Judy inquisitively, noticing her rather glum expression. Her amethyst eyes, usually filled to the brim with life, appeared slightly downcast. He bumped her shoulder with his gently to attract her attention.
"What's up?" Judy asked him as she turned to him, wiping her previously vacant expression away like an eraser on a white board.
"Why do you look so sad?" Nick asked her as he studied her vacant face, and the bunny looked over at him with a small shrug.
"I look sad?" Judy asked him. "Oh, Carmen's song was pretty sad, that's why, duh."
Nick looked over at her with a hint of doubt, crossing his arms at the knowledge that Judy was hiding something.
"Judy, come on," the fox told her as he took a step closer to her. "I'm not stupid, I know there's something wrong."
Judy gazed at him as he finished speaking and visibly relaxed a bit, knowing that Nick was a safe space for her and her thoughts. She had no reason to be afraid of voicing anything and everything to him, and she needed to remember that in such moments.
"Okay, okay," Judy started with a breath, readjusting herself.
"See, I know you too well," Nick said triumphantly, smirking at her. "What's the matter?"
The bunny scratched her forearm and looked back at him, her somewhat somber expression returning once again.
"Remember that day at the picnic table," Judy started. "I told you I'd never let anything happen to you again."
"Pssh, Judy," Nick said to her in a reassuring voice. "I shouldn't be your responsibility. I'm okay, see?" he finished, gesturing to himself with a big grin.
Judy didn't say anything in response, but instead took a moment to think before she glanced down at the ground in apparent shame.
"I want to make a change in this world, but I can't even keep you safe," Judy finally said with her ears now flat on her head. "I feel useless sometimes, like I told you before. I know I'm not, but… I don't know."
"Hey, Judy?" Nick asked Judy warmly, and her eyes locked back on his again with a quickness. It was the kind of start to a sentence that called for one's attention.
"Yeah?" Judy asked him.
"You're gonna be the best officer in the world. I'd bet a million dollars on that. No, a billion. A trillion, a zillion."
"Zillion isn't even a real number," Judy chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully. "But thank you, I hope you're right."
"No, I am, a zillion percent," Nick made sure she knew. Judy found herself believing Nick's words completely, which made her feel so much better already.
"Well then," Judy replied clearly with a smile. "A zillion percent. That's a lot."
"It's everything I got," Nick told her with a shrug. "Life as a zillionaire is hard."
"I'm sure it is," Judy said to him, beginning to feel a little less down about the events from earlier. "Say, could I get a small loan? I was looking to buy the entire earth."
"Judy Hopps planning world domination," Nick said to himself as he pretended to ponder the idea. "Who would've known? But no, sorry. No loan for world domination."
"Did someone say world domination?" Ray asked loudly, joining in on the conversation uninvited. "I'm the man for the job!"
"Sure," Nick said cynically to his friend, trying not to giggle at the idea of Ray being in any position of power. "That's a timeline I don't want to imagine."
"And why not?" Ray asked in a cocky tone. "I'd make popcorn free at the movies, how does that sound?"
"Free popcorn at movies," Nick started. "Side effects include total economic collapse and Ray's face plastered on every coffee mug in the country."
"Slander!" Ray accused, pointing at his fox friend. "Just wait, you'll see. My face being on everything is not such a bad thing once you get used to it."
With that, Ray turned back to his discussion with Ven and Naiya, leaving Nick and Judy alone once again. Well, as alone as they could be in rows upon rows of the campers watching the various musical acts on stage. The next performer was currently setting up on the stage as Nick and Judy turned back to each other, both with a face of amusement. Their young ocelot friend certainly was a comedic one, and they certainly embraced that aspect of him.
In that moment, there was still one fact greatly concerning Judy; Romero and Nat were still nowhere to be seen. She had no idea what they could potentially be up to, and she wanted to withdraw any investment in their affairs at all. Still, there was something about it that greatly worried her.
Judy's worries were quickly put on hold when the next performer took the stage, announced by Director Mato in his usual tone that projects rather efficiently through the microphone.
"And the next act will be… let's see here, give me a second… oh! William Rosenheim!" Director Mato spoke gleefully as a young elephant took the stage, and many members in the audience applauded him. Judy thought the young elephant looked rather drained, but attributed it to potentially being a part of his musical image. After all, a lot of kids enjoyed sad music, including Carmen. She wrote some pretty depressing songs but was still rather friendly… well, to most. Maybe this "William Rosenheim" was the same.
Judy then noticed Nick's startled expression as he stared at the young elephant blankly, his mouth slightly open. It was as though the fox's mind had slipped out of one of his ears and into the atmosphere; he was no longer in his own head.
After a second of silence, Judy decided to see what about this "William Rosenheim" had Nick so startled.
"Nick, is everything alright?" Judy asked him in a curious tone, and Nick immediately turned to face her.
"Oh-uh… sorry, that name. It sounds familiar, but I don't know why," Nick responded,
"Are you sure you don't know why?" Judy questioned him, not entirely buying Nick's answer.
"Well, I guess I do," Nick said in response, scratching his neck. "It was on a piece of paper. 'William Rosenheim'; that's all it said. Just those two words in Ronnie's handwriting and nothing else, and now…"
"Mato said his name?" Judy helped him finish, realizing why her friend must be taken aback.
"Yep, that's him," Nick said, watching as the elephant sat down at a keyboard, which was still being set up on the stage.
"And you said it was in Ronnie's handwriting?" Judy asked Nick, becoming increasingly invested.
"Yeah, it was," Nick told her with a nod. "He must be important to solving… well, we said we were gonna stop doing that."
"First of all, you should've told me about the paper," Judy said to Nick in a stern tone. "This could be big. Forget what we said before, if this solves what happened to Luke and Ronnie it would be worth it, right?"
"That's making a pretty big leap, but I think you're right. It's worth a try, at least," Nick replied, trying to match Judy's outlook.
Although the two of them wanted ever-so-badly to look past the events of the night so far, as well as the potential encounter with William Rosenheim, they could not at that moment. They wanted to forget all about the capsule, the coordinates and the disappearances and simply take that night to focus on their relationship. Still, there was a wall for both of them that prohibited the two from simply ignoring the potentially crucial development in front of them.
Judy noticed Nick looking off into space with a distant expression, as anxious as ever. The very thought of diving headfirst back into the uncertainty of Luke and Ronnie had him a little flustered, but he managed to keep himself together.
"Nick?" Judy asked her friend as he took a moment to ponder to himself.
"Yeah?" Nick responded as he returned to reality, his ears now upright.
"If we get back into the whole mystery, there's no coming back out," Judy informed him quietly so that no one around would overhear her. "I never stopped wanting to solve this, and if Ronnie gave you that name, he gave it to you for a reason. So, we should… we should try."
"We could just… we could just give the paper to the police," Nick suggested. "They could solve all this, and probably quicker than we could."
"Nick," Judy said to him, looking him in the eye. "They've been working on this for almost two weeks now and I have a feeling they haven't figured out too much. Maybe the paper will change that, but probably not. Let's just see what we can get out of talking with him. William, I mean. I think Ronnie gave you that name for a reason."
"Okay, I'll trust you on this," Nick said after a second of hesitation, rubbing his paw on the top of his head. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head lightly. "And here I was thinking tonight was gonna be smooth sailing."
Judy took a moment to consider what Nick was saying, and she felt a pinch of guilt. She was always so impulsive and headstrong, she'd often get herself in way over her head.
"I… I know what you mean," Judy said, looking down at the grassy ground. "Maybe we should, I don't know… I just feel like we were meant to crack this, as stupid as that sounds."
"Maybe," Nick replied, studying her as her eyes wandered. "I just want to make sure you're absolutely sure, because no offense Carrots, you hop on stuff pretty fast. You know?"
Judy giggled, nodding her head knowingly.
"Yeah, yeah," she answered. "I hear it enough from my parents. They always tell me it's a blessing and a curse, and they're right."
"I like that part of you," Nick told her with a faint smile, rubbing her shoulder softly. "It's way more a blessing than a curse."
Judy blushed slightly and grinned back at him, feeling her emotions going haywire once again. It was something only Nick could do to her, and it never failed to make her feel a little dizzy in the best of ways. Judy couldn't wait to tell him exactly how she felt about him, but she also knew that now wasn't the time. She would know for sure when it felt right.
"Thanks," Judy replied to him, feeling like she was glowing. "I'm really glad you do."
After a few minutes, William Rosenheim finished his performance and departed the stage area after the audience gifted him with waves of cheers and applause. His performance was rather captivating for most present at the bonfire; aside from Judy and Nick, who were busy in conversation. Ray was on the verge of tears, as he believed William's lyricism was some of the most beautiful he had ever heard. Once Rosenheim was behind the stage area, Nick and Judy crept over towards the backstage area, trying their best not to rouse any suspicion. Most of the crowd was enticed by what was happening on the stage, so completing their mission of making it to William wasn't too difficult.
The two of them finally made it to William, who was packing the various cords to his keyboard in a small duffle bag, humming to himself as he did so. He looked as carefree and down-to-earth as any other camper; he wore a blue shirt with a star-like object on it — Nick and Judy assumed it was a logo for something. His black basketball shorts complimented the shirt nicely; he appeared to be a friendly presence, boasting nothing that would normally beg for attention.
Nick felt the awkwardness of standing before the elephant in silence coming on, so he decided to cut to the chase.
"William?" Nick spoke audibly to the young elephant, who stopped in his tracks to stare over at the fox and bunny before him. It was only the three of them in relative silence behind the stage, but he decided to see just what the two of them wanted.
"That's me," he spoke to Nick and Judy in a kind tone, gesturing to himself. "Did you have a question about the performance? Or the song? I'm definitely proud of that one; it's one of my proudest works."
"The performance was great, but no, actually," Judy explained in a bit more of a quiet voice. "We were wondering about something else though. Do you think you could come with us to talk for a few minutes?"
Although William felt rather uneasy about being confronted behind the stage by a fox and his friend, he decided to oblige and have a discussion with them.
"We can talk right here," William told them, leaning against the back of the enormous stage behind him. "What's so secretive that we'd have to go somewhere else?"
Nick took a deep breath and stepped toward the elephant, trying his best not to appear intimidating. It was hard to exist as a fox in the world and not cause others to become uncomfortable, but he still tried his best to defy that at most times.
"William, this is really serious business," Nick said softly to him, trying to convey the urgency of the matter.
"What, do I owe the mafia money or something?" William responded in a goofy voice. "If you want to talk about something, why not here?"
"Fine," Nick spoke plainly. "We wanted to talk about your relationship with Luke Myers and Ronnie Moon."
"Oh," William replied rather swiftly, now standing up straight instead of leaning on the wall behind him. "We should go somewhere a little quieter, in that case."
Nick made a face that said: "I told you so," and the three of them made their way over past the treeline. The glow of the campfire was becoming more and more dim as they did so, and Nick found himself flashing back to his encounter with Nat and Romero earlier that night.
Until that point, Nick had let go of his inability to trust others in his life. For so many years, Nick seriously doubted the intentions of anyone who spoke to him. When he met Judy on the bus on the way to Camp Odayaka, what was considered typical took a wild spin from that point on. Nick had started to learn to trust those around him, or at least give them a chance before jumping to conclusions. It had made Odayaka feel like the home he had been looking for — it made him feel safe. Now, the raw power of trauma had caught up to him once again, and he could only see potential danger whenever he spoke to another kid, no matter how small.
There were still his friends, though, that Nick decided he was comfortable with investing his trust in. Despite the irreversible harm of negative encounters, he still held his friends so close to his heart.
Once the three kids were away from the roar of the campers, William looked at Nick and Judy with a face that created an entirely different energy than the one they had first seen earlier. He looked as though he was teetering towards depression, in a way. It was as though the words he was about to speak were going to pain him to speak out loud.
"Listen, Nick and Judy… I know who you are. I know what you're trying to do, and I respect you, but listen to me when I say this."
William dropped his duffel bag to the ground softly and took a deep breath, clearly having to gather some courage to explain this to them.
"Stop. Stop now while you can. I'm sure you feel like you can solve everything, but you can't. The police can't, and if they can't, that should tell you something," William continued, speaking in a genuinely concerned tone. "I got myself into this, but I… I didn't choose to. So get out of this while you're able to."
William seemed to be on the verge of breaking down about it, but he recomposed himself with a shake of the head and a hard breath out through his trunk.
"William, are you okay?" Judy asked him, taking a small step forward. "Do you need help?"
"You can't help me," William said to them a little louder and quicker than he meant to. "Both of you, just listen to me. You're kids at camp. Focus on having fun, focus on having a summer to remember. Luke and Ronnie, they…"
"They what?" Nick asked, becoming more and more interested, despite the elephant's warnings.
"They… they poked too much in places they shouldn't have, and… their deaths? They were no accident, okay?"
"Ronnie's dead too?" Nick asked in a slightly shaky voice, a little stunned by what he was hearing. He shuffled a little bit in discomfort, but Judy was right there beside him to calm him, placing her paw on his back to make him feel more steady.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," William said to Nick and Judy in a powerfully anguished tone. "You two need to stay away from this. And don't tell anyone that I'm involved, because I'll tell them I'm not, and I'm pretty good at being convincing. I'm stuck in this, and there's nothing any of us can do, so take a step back, take a breath, realize that this… all this mess is already done, and point your eyes anywhere else. Do you hear me?"
Nick and Judy were taken aback by William's passion about the entire situation, but nodded quickly, not wanting to press any more than they already had. Judy's interest has now piqued since the conversation with William had started, but Nick couldn't feel more encouraged to leave the whole mystery alone. He was, at that point, perfectly content with forgetting about Luke and Ronnie and returning to the bonfire. Maybe he'd even get to tell Judy how he had been feeling, but he knew for sure about one thing…
Judy was definitely feeling the polar opposite.
Nick knew the nature of Judy Hopps, and he knew that the conversation that had just transpired convinced the bunny that the case wasn't only worth continuing to prod at, but is their personal responsibility. As much as he hated this, he knew mindsets like these were what made great police officers.
"Okay then," William said to them in a tone that implied the discussion was coming to a close. "Please don't mention any of this to me or anyone else again. None of this ever happened."
With that, William trotted off, faking a nonchalant demeanor as he did so, which immediately created a new layer of suspicion for Judy. As she watched him move away joyfully, the bunny came to the conclusion that someone involved with the entire mystery must have been watching them at that moment. Otherwise, William wouldn't have changed his entire body language to avoid wariness from a third party.
Judy scanned the area for a few seconds but saw no one, which puzzled her. She had a difficult time seeing through the trees and foliage, but the fox at her side wasn't struggling nearly as much.
"I swear, there's someone watching us," Judy said in a whisper to her friend without moving her head, standing as stiff as board.
"That's because there is," Nick told her just as quietly, gesturing that the two of them should walk back toward the bonfire area with wide eyes. "We need to get out of here."
The two of them crept through the leaves and grass with caution, now understanding the potential danger of their predicament. Nick only hoped to himself that the two of them hadn't already fallen too deep into the waters of whatever lurked underneath the surface of Camp Odayaka. There was no way of knowing yet, but he had a very bad feeling…
Back at the bonfire, the musical performances had finally come to an end. Now, a DJ had taken the stage and began to play music through the amplifiers on the stage, creating much more of a big party atmosphere. Kids now talked loudly amongst each other while this happened; some danced, others took their shot at karaoke. Many simply stood back from the crowd and took advantage of the nearly unlimited concessions, while some spoke with those who had performed that night, requesting songs for them to play.
Ray, Ven, Naiya and Carmen stood together right outside of the crowd, conversing about anything and everything as they embraced the rather loose atmosphere of the bonfire. They all had their assumptions about where Nick and Judy had run off to, and they were about to make it known.
"Man, they couldn't even wait until the song was over to start kissing," Naiya spoke gleefully with a loud laugh.
"They're gonna be married this time next year, I swear," Ray joked with a cackle. "I've never seen two bigger lovebirds in my life."
"Tell me about it," Ven replied with a similar sounding laugh.
Carmen still wasn't sure how to feel about Nick being completely and utterly smitten. She knew that his happiness was what she should value above her desire for a relationship between the two of them; after all, they really didn't know each other that well anyway. She felt awful that she even boasted the emotions she did about him, and she knew he wasn't meant to be hers in that way.
The young vixen looked around for Nick but didn't see him anywhere, and she crossed her arms. She thought back to her performance on stage just a bit earlier, and felt guilty about the fact that while she sang, it was him that she felt she was singing to. Carmen didn't want to move down any path that ended up hurting things between Nick and Judy, but she felt so utterly helpless. She had been suppressing the way she felt, but to her, Nick was the life in the middle of the room; he was the gold she had always been searching for. The way that he moved his own way, in whatever direction he pleased, without a thought about her…
It stung.
Through the denial, through the attempts at being happy for Judy, through her armor and her walls… she had still fallen for him. She had originally only found him physically attractive, but the more she knew him on a daily basis, the more he amazed her.
"I gotta be happy for the guy," Ray spoke to his friends, and Carmen's mind was finally back on earth. "He deserves someone as awesome as him, and I think he's found that."
"Yeah," Ven said in response. "It's really rare you see anyone more meant for each other than those two."
Carmen's heart broke when she heard those words, and she wasn't even sure why. Her friends had been talking about Nick and Judy's unspoken romance for weeks now; why is it that it had only now gotten to her?
The vixen's fists clenched together, as did her jaw, and she looked around slowly, trying to find any sort of distraction; anything. She didn't want to start crying; she hated tears, and she hated looking weak. She didn't want her friends asking questions, and she didn't want them finding out the truth.
"I'm gonna go get some dessert," Carmen said quickly to the others as she turned to head toward the food tables, making sure to hide her face so that they couldn't see the tears welling up.
"Alright," Ven said to her, noticing her distraught state rather quickly.
"We'll be here when you get back" Naiya called to her as Carmen walked in the opposite direction before returning to her conversation with the others.
"Pssh!" Ven whispered sharply to Naiya, drawing her attention. "She's not happy about something."
"Carmen?" Naiya asked him quietly. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know, but I think she was about to cry," Ven said in response, sounding a little worried.
After a few moments, Nick and Judy finally rejoined the others, and only then did they let their breath out. The two of them walked up to their friends on the edge of the crowd and made their presence known; Ray, not surprisingly, began teasing the two of them.
"So, you two decide this date was better to-go?" Ray asked them with a laugh, nudging Nick playfully.
"It wasn't a date!" Nick said with a serious face. "We were just talking with someone, that's all!"
"We all have something we need to talk about later tonight!" Judy added, and Nick cringed as she said this. Despite the fact that deep down, Nick felt that he was responsible for the deaths of Luke and Ronnie, he was hoping she wouldn't bring up what had just happened. Still, he knew better. She was going to be on this case, and Nick knew she wasn't going to let it go until she had some sort of closure.
"We do?" Naiya asked her curiously. "Did something happen?"
"We can talk about it later tonight or tomorrow, but all of you need to know this," Judy said to her in a voice that conveyed mixed emotions, which made Naiya feel a little conflicted.
"Where's Carmen?" Nick asked the others, noting the lack of his fox friend's presence.
"I think she went over toward the food somewhere," Ray told him, gesturing over to the line of food tables in the distance.
"Oh, well, I was gonna go get some dessert anyway, so I'll see what she's up to," Nick said casually as he began to move in the direction of the food tables. "Be right back."
As Nick began to walk towards the food, Ven stopped him quickly, leaning to his ear to whisper something.
"She's a little upset about something," Ven informed him. "I'd be careful."
"It'll be fine," Nick persuaded the young raccoon, not quite picking up on the severity of the matter. Ven let loose a helpless breath as Nick moved away from him and in the direction of the food.
Once Nick had piled his plate rather high with desserts, he caught sight of Carmen, sitting alone on a log underneath one of the large oak trees. She did appear rather downcast, but Nick figured he'd be able to cheer her up like he seemed to be able to for the rest of his friends. As he walked up to Carmen, he began to notice that she not only appeared sad, but had also been crying by the looks of it.
"Carmen!" Nick said in a happy tone. "I thought you were getting dessert or something. They have really good cheesecake!"
"Oh, Nick?" Carmen said, looking rather surprised to see him. "I, um… I'm not hungry."
"Have you been crying?" Nick impulsively spoke as Carmen continued looking up at him from the log, prompting her to look down quickly in an attempt to hide her eyes.
"Who asks that?!" Carmen asked gruffly, rubbing her eyes vigorously in an attempt to rid herself of the evidence. "And no, I haven't. Some of the smoke from the fire got in my eye, that's all."
"Oh… never mind that. Carmen, you gotta help me," Nick told the vixen as he rubbed his face, clearly distressed about something.
"What's up?" Carmen asked him as she finished rubbing her eyes, hiding her current emotional turmoil with a cross of her leg, tilting her head in an effort to appear interested.
"Well, you know how Judy can be about stuff… once she's decided something is her mission, she won't let it go, which normally I respect but… this time, I'm kind of scared," Nick told her. "I think she's taking on too much."
"This have to do with the disappearances?" Carmen asked him.
"Yep," Nick said with a sigh, scratching his neck. "Once that bunny's convinced she can do something, nothing can stop her."
"So why are you asking me?" Carmen questioned Nick with slight aggression, before noticing how hostile she had come off. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so…"
"No, it's fine," Nick replied with a small reassuring smile. "I don't know, you're pretty good at coming up with solutions to problems."
"Oh, you think so?" Carmen asked him, beginning to feel her emotions slipping again. She cursed herself in her head for allowing Nick to make her feel so weak again. "I mean, yeah, that's fair, but I can't help you with this one."
Why did he have to come up now? Why?! Of all times for him to show up and talk with me alone, why does it have to be right now? Can't he just leave me alone? Can't he take a hint?
After a moment of silence, Nick decided it was time to speak again, not understanding why Carmen was acting so strange. All he could tell is that she was very sad, and he wanted to help in any way he could.
"Do you want to walk back to the others with me?" Nick asked her kindly, looking back over in the direction of the others.
"No," Carmen responded calmly. "I know you're concerned but I'll be fine, just let me be, okay Nick?"
"Are you sure?" Nick questioned further, not picking up on the fact that Carmen really wanted to be left alone. "The bonfire will be over pretty soon, you know."
"No, I'm okay," Carmen repeated in a monotone voice, beginning to feel aggravated.
"I just want to make sure everything's oka-"
"Nick, please! Leave me alone!" Carmen suddenly said rather loudly, standing up in front of him with a face filled with hurt. "I know you and Judy think you can just fix everything and everyone's problems, but you can't! Just stop talking to me and let me be alone!"
Nick took a step back with eyes widened in shock, nearly tripping over a large tree limb behind him and almost dropping his food. He had never seen Carmen so distraught before, and was ashamed that he didn't notice just how emotional she was. He wanted to say something as he scampered away, but couldn't get even a word to escape his mouth.
Carmen sat back down on the log and stared at Nick as he quickly made his way back to the life of the party and away from her, her breathing beginning to slow as he did so. She was tired of pretending she was okay with how everything had turned out; she was really and truly sad over the fact that Nick would never be hers. She would never do anything to come in between Nick and Judy, but it frustrated her endlessly to know and acknowledge that there was nothing she could do to change her reality.
Maybe he was right.
No, he wasn't.
She blinked through new tears, which made Nick's retreating form appear more and more blurry as he created distance between them. Carmen felt a pathetic smile creep across her lips as she felt increasingly numb, and knew that that would have to be the norm from that point on if she wanted to keep her friends.
"What do you mean she's upset with you?" Judy asked Nick incredulously as she looked across the bonfire at Carmen, who she could see sitting on a log in the far distance, barely lit by the glow of the bonfire.
"Well… I may have asked a really stupid question," Nick said with a guilty demeanor, scratching the back of his neck.
"You didn't ask her if she had been crying, did you?" Judy asked Nick with a disappointed look.
"Oh, uh…. well, that's a lucky guess," Nick replied stupidly, looking anywhere at Judy with a face filled with shame. "And then I just kept pressing like an idiot."
"Nick, come on dude," Naiya said to him as she slapped her paw on her face in frustration. "What was the thought process there?"
"I guess I thought I could help her, you know, fox-to-fox… sometimes it makes it more comfortable to address problems, but this time must not have been one of those times," Nick concluded.
"You don't say," Judy replied, shaking her head. "Should me, you or Ven go make sure she's alright?" Judy added in Naiya's direction.
"I can," Ray volunteered confidently.
"Absolutely not," Naiya told him with a serious look, warning him not to make any stupid moves. "I'll do it."
"Actually, I think Judy should," Ven suggested meekly.
"Why's that?" Naiya asked him, not understanding why he wanted Judy in particular to go talk with Carmen.
"I'll tell you and Judy, come over here for a second," Ven said, pulling Naiya and Judy aside. Once the two were a few meters away from Nick and Ray, Ven explained why he thought it would be more productive for Judy to speak to her.
"So, Judy… I hope this goes without saying, but Carmen is very much still not over Nick," Ven informed her, which only surprised her a little bit. She knew that she still probably had feelings for Nick, but she didn't know to what extent.
"While you two were gone, the others were making jokes about you two going off and kissing and stuff and I think it got under her skin a little bit," Ven continued, and Judy felt a little embarrassed at the accusations. She brushed her own feelings aside quickly, although she was hoping such events would transpire that night.
"Nick going over to talk to her wasn't a brilliant idea," Judy stated obviously.
"I kind of tried to stop him… I guess I could have tried harder, but Nick's a pretty stubborn guy, you know him," Ven said. "But anyways, I feel like you two talking it out would fix the tension… if there is any, I mean."
"I guess that's true," Judy said in response to Ven's idea.
"I would give her some space first," Naiya suggested. "Maybe talk with her tomorrow."
"Good idea," Judy responded, thinking about how Carmen must feel towards her. She didn't know the magnitude of Carmen's feelings for Nick, but regardless, she knew that the vixen certainty wasn't glad the two of them were headed seemingly in the direction of a more intimate relationship. Whether it be that night or the next day, Judy decided it would solve multiple problems if she were the one to speak to Carmen; she would just have to be gentle about it and learn from Nick's mistakes.
As he stood alone with Ray, Nick felt awful about how he had unintentionally caused Carmen's issues to escalate. He had remained quiet throughout the duration of the rest of the conversation before the three of them separated to talk about how to handle the situation with Carmen.
"Ray, how can I be so dumb?" Nick asked his friend with a glum face, staring over at Judy, Naiya and Ven as they talked.
"You're not dumb, Wilde," Ray assured him with a pat on the back. "You're just shortsighted sometimes, you know?"
"I just wanted tonight to be fun. I just wanted to be with my friends and maybe even tell the love of my life how I feel about her, is that too much to ask? Instead, I made Carmen's night so much worse, haven't gotten to tell Judy how I feel about anything, and got verbally berated by the biggest jerk at camp."
"Love of your life, huh? Saucy. Oh, and yeah, that's a sucky combination," Ray said in agreement, nodding his head. "But Nick, I know you overcome any amount of suckiness. I know you overcome stuff like this. You'll be okay," Ray told him, patting him on his back affectionately. "I've known you long enough to know that."
"Thanks, Ray," Nick exclaimed, trying his best at attempting a smile. "I wonder what Carmen's been upset about. Her performance went great!"
"Don't overthink it," Ray advised Nick. "Girls are a mystery sometimes, but that's okay, because you know what? So are boys. And so are foxes."
"You should be a poet, Ray," Nick told his friend with a blank expression.
"No thanks, I hate poetry. Unless it's a rap battle, and I'm not sure if that qualifies or not."
"Have you ever even been in a rap battle?" Nick asked his friend with a raised eyebrow.
"A guy can dream!" Ray stated with a shrug and a cheery smile. "One day, I'm gonna be the best MC in all of Zootopia."
"In Zootopia, anyone can be anything," Nick said aloud with a chuckle. "Except you being an MC."
The group of friends, minus Carmen, banded back together for the remaining half hour of the bonfire and sat down at a picnic table over near the fire. Carmen headed back to the cabin early, which all of the other friends took notice of. They decided to give her space for the time being, as she made it clear that was what she desired. Nick was still confused about what Carmen had been upset about to begin with, but he decided not to question it. After some time, the DJ began playing more retro songs to wind down the night; many of them Judy recognized due to her love for 80's music.
As the five of them sat together at the table, Nick and Judy drifted off into their own conversation at one point as the 80's music played, creating a path to a rather interesting subject.
"You showed me this song, didn't you?" Nick asked Judy as an 80's song played loudly over the speakers on the stage. "When we were listening to music together."
"On the hammock?" Judy asked, prompting Nick to smile at the thought of the two of them basically cuddling on a hammock earlier that day. "Yep, I did! It's called "I Want To Know What Love Is" by Fureigner, remember?"
"I do remember!" Nick responded with a smirk. "I remember how cheesy it is too."
"Cheesy can be good," Judy pointed out. "And this is one of those times, you know?"
"I guess so," Nick said, trying his best to forget about all of the unfortunate events of that night as he enjoyed Judy's company. "Judy, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, of course! You can tell me anything, you know that at this point," Judy made sure he knew, sliding a little bit closer to him which made his heart skip a beat.
"Well, I was wondering… Judy, I have to ask. Are you still wanting to… you know, pursue the whole mystery thing?" Nick asked, switching to a whisper towards the end of it.
The question wasn't exactly what Judy was expecting… or was she? She had been wishfully hoping, one could say, that Nick would profess his undying love to her right then and there, but she also knew that wasn't realistic. She was still questioning how Nick felt about her exactly; she always found new ways of doubting that aspect of her life. Maybe Nick was just a very affectionate fox, and maybe he tolerated her emotions toward him; he probably knew how she felt, after all.
He definitely knew, right?
Meanwhile, Nick felt much of the same about Judy. Part of him wanted to believe she had fallen for him in the same way he had for her, but he couldn't be sure. He has no idea if she actually liked him that way, and he knew that the only way he would find out was by professing how he felt. It was a lot of pressure, and he was ready for it…
"Nick, let's talk about it tomorrow, okay?" Judy asked him, leaning her head on his shoulder. This caught Nick off-guard again, but he didn't know what to think of it in terms of it being romantic in nature. To him, it could have just as likely been a sweet friendly gesture, so there was no way of knowing. What Nick did know, however, was that he wanted to show Judy that he didn't only not mind her gestures, but liked them quite a lot.
As Judy held her head on his shoulder, Nick put his right arm around her and pulled her close to him, rubbing his cheek against the top of her head. Both of their emotions were, like always, running rampant in that moment; the two were simply enamored. Still, the two of them decided at that moment that the bonfire of June 20th wasn't the right time for either of them to let each other know how they felt deep down.
After all the planning, imagining, hoping and hyping themselves up, the night of the bonfire just didn't feel like the right time for Nick to tell Judy (and vice versa). It had been a night full of ups and downs, and Nick was still recovering emotionally from the hurt of being told he would never be good enough for Judy by Romero; the way which it was conveyed felt like it would leave a mark for some time to come. It just didn't feel like the right night for it all to go down, and deep down, Judy felt the same way.
The good news is that there was plenty of time left; more than enough. There were far more adventures left; far more new developments to come. The only problem is that there were also far more new problems lurking beneath the surface that had yet to rear their ugly heads as well.
And soon enough, they would reach the friends in full force.
"You know the spot in the woods you two were tipped off about?" a gazelle asked two police officers, Officer Mays and Officer Brown, as they sat in the police station. "The spot with the fur?"
"Yeah," Officer Mays responded with a cough, rubbing his fist over his mouth to wipe it clean. "Yeah, the fur they were insisting had blood on it."
It had been a slow day at the station; new information on the Luke Myers and Ronnie Moon case had become scarce, but today looked to change that.
"We have the lab reports back. It was blood. And guess who the fur matches?" the deer spoke with a voice that conveyed surprise, dropping the case file in front of the lion and wildebeest.
Officer Mays could not believe his eyes when he saw the photo in front of him. He shook his head and blinked heavily in bewilderment, even wiping his eyes as if there were some sort of distortion to them.
"You… he… Wilde, the fox?" Officer Mays asked in a tone of disbelief, rising from his chair quickly. He looked over at Officer Brown with a face of shock, before looking back at the young fox's face in the case file. "They… they think he's behind this?"
"All we know is that his fur was located in a rather bloody area… the only bloody area we could find," the gazelle elaborated.
"Yeah, I know, I was there. Let me tell you something, though. That may have been this fox's fur, but there ain't no way this was him who did this. I met him before, and I can tell a killer when I see one," Officer Mays said insistently.
"If your judgment was flawless, I think a lot of these cases would be solved a lot faster, wouldn't you say?" the gazelle asked him with a slight chuckle.
"That's only because of due process," Mays said. "If the legal process was my judgment, everything would work a lot differently. But I want to ask both of you something," Mays continued, looking at Officer Brown and the gazelle.
"What is it, Mays?" Officer Brown asked him.
"This case… we still haven't been able to understand what happened that night. We still have no idea where Ronnie Moon or Ronnie Moon's body is. Do you really think a kid could pull off a double homicide and leave Zootopia's police force grasping at straws? I don't see it," Officer Mays said in a conclusive tone, tapping his claws on the desk. "This is something bigger than a little deranged fox."
"That may be true, Mays," the gazelle said to him with a blank stare. "But until we're able to confirm otherwise, Nicholas Wilde is required to be placed under arrest. We're gonna send back-up with you two to go out there and bring him back to the station."
Officer Mays sighed and looked down at his paws, which were clasped together on the desk in front of him.
"Fine then," Mays said hesitantly, rising to his feet. "Brown, I'll meet you in the car."
Well, we definitely got some answers about some things! Ronnie is still alive, huh? But only barely. How will his dynamic with Mr. P play out, and who really is Mr. P anyway? And the night of the bonfire didn't feel like the right time for Nick and Judy, huh? What will feel like the right time? Will it be soon? And Nick is under arrest? How will that play out? Guess we'll have to find out.
I appreciate everyone who reads this! The story means a lot to me, and while I may have to take some breaks to focus elsewhere, I'm not abandoning this story — I'm going to see it through. Currently this story is set to have ~30 chapters, so I'm making good headway for sure! Next update will be out hopefully this weekend! If not, it will be out at the start of Christmas break — exams are a pain!
Anyways, thanks for reading! Leave any thoughts you may have in the reviews. Until next time!