Chapter 4
I must have looked a right fool to Finnick as a lay against the wall pondering his question whilst my muzzle and ears twitched in thought. Finnick started to growl quietly as he began to tap his paw repeatedly on the concreate ground as his patience began to run out. 'Damn.' I thought to myself as I gazed upon the gradually increasing anger that was making its way onto Finnick's muzzle. 'I can't just tell him everything that's happened to me, besides who would believe me anyway. I'm guessing theirs no humans here'. I gulped slightly as I thought and pondered about what I was going to say. "Well?" Finnick said in obvious frustration as he stopped tapping his foot before glaring daggers at me with his eyes. 'Well I might as well wing it.' I thought to myself before I gradually stood up using the wall for support rising slowly to my full height which was a lot smaller than it originally was as a human. "If you must know why I'm here it's because I'm visiting a relative of mine." I said in a confident tone whilst Finnick only gave me an unamused look as he crossed his arms in an unamused fashion. "Oh really?" Finnick once again questioned in his gravelly voice as he looked at me with his unchanging expression. "And what is this relative's name. You never know, I might know him?" I quickly began to think of a random name from John all the way to Eric as Finnick kept his gaze locked on me. "Well he doesn't really like to share his name too often as his business is a bit shady." I said which seemed to change Finnick's expression to one of curiosity rather than anger and impatience. "Just tell me his name Ben." Finnick sighed in annoyance as he uncrossed his arms and waited once again for my answer. I also sighed as I was really running out of ideas and thoughts and by the look of it Finnick was almost out of patience and interest. I gulped once more in worry before collecting myself and speaking. "His name is Nick."
Finnick's face had taken a complete turn and was now one of shock opposed to the previous look of annoyance that had previously plastered his muzzle. After a minute of Finnick's staring I began to get a little concerned and flicked one of his big ears that sat atop his head. This seemed to pull Finnick out of his trance as he shook his head from side to side in an attempt to clear his mind. "Are you OK Finnick?" I asked as I stepped back from the small light brown fox as he began to move his mouth in attempt to form words. "You know Nick?" Finnick asked in surprise as he looked at me in shock, surprise evident on his face. "Um are we talking about the same Nick here?" I questioned not knowing how far my lie was now going. "Nick Wild. Is that your relative?" Finnick asked quickly as he waited impatiently for my answer. By now I was just going along with anything that was popping up in my mind to get me out of this now confusing situation. "Yeah that's him. It's been a while since I've seen him but me and he used to be inseparable when we were younger. When my mom got ill and had to go to hospital I had to stay with Nick and his mom for over a year. We became like brothers." 'What the hell is wrong with you brain?" I yelled from inside my head as Finnick looked visibly shocked. "Wow. I didn't know you were that close to Nick." Finnick said as he held one of his paws behind the back of his head. "I'm guessing the shady business you said he was with was being a con artist right?" I looked blankly at Finnick for a few seconds before I nodded in confirmation to his question. But inside my head I was screaming at myself for spinning a giant web of lies to the very first animal I had met since I got here. "Well I do remember Nick talking about a relative a number of times, but he never seemed to talk about it too much. It seemed a bit of a touchy subject for him you know." I nodded once again before Finnick walked up to me and punched me on the arm before laughing to himself….I think.
"So" Finnick said in a sly tone of voice which in my opinion honestly sounded quite menacing with the way his voice sounded. "Does that mean you're in the same kind of business Nicks in?" Now I was interested. Before I was just relying on my lies just to get by Finnick's questioning but now. We were in my type of field. "If you mean conning as much money out of mammals as I can then you most certainly are correct." I was so focused on the topic of conning that I didn't even realise that I was saying mammals instead of people. Finnick let out another deep chuckle before a sly grin began to spread across his face as he looked at me slyly. "So how good are you then Ben." Finnick asked to which I gave one of my classic sly smiles to the small fox as he gestured me to follow him. "Oh I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging but I'm pretty good." Finnick let out a chuckle as he turned down a corner which seemed to lead to a main road. "Well how would you like to do a bit of con work Ben?" Finnick questioned me to which I smiled. "How could I say no to a con." I replied as Finnick and I walked out of the ally and on to a pavement which had cars of allsorts lined up along it. Finnick led me along the pavement for a couple of minutes before stopping in front of a rusty red and dark brown van. The van itself looked like a 1999 VW transport or this world's version of a VW. The van seemed to be in a good condition with the exception of a door which seemed to have been replaced presumably due to a crash of some kind. But it was the vans decals on the side that caught my attention. The decal depicted a fox of sorts clad in armour whilst carrying a fainted white female fox in his arms. In all it was a dramatic pose and a cool decal to look at. "This yours then?" I asked Finnick as he put his paws on the side of his body, smiling at the van in pride. "Yep this old van here is mine. I've had it for two years straight and it hasn't died on me since I bought it. I even did the decals myself." Finnick smiled at the van before taking out a key from one of his shorts pockets and placing said key into the key hole on the side of the vans door. Finnick then proceeded to hop into the driver's seat before gesturing me to sit in the passenger seat opposite. I quickly hoped in the van and strapped on my seat belt, Finnick doing the same whilst my tail twitched in excitement. I took a glance at Finnick and soar how far he had to reach for the vans pedals and accelerator which worried me a bit. "Are you OK to drive Finnick?" I questioned the small fox as he took of the vans hand break and began to pull out. "OK. I've been driving this van for years Ben. Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Finnick said before he slammed down on the vans accelerator and sped of down the busy main road, narrowly missing two oncoming cars in the process.
Five minutes later an angry Finnick was storming out of his supposed super reliable van as fumes arose from the vans entrance. I couldn't help but follow behind the enraged Finnick laughing my head of as Finnick moved to the back of his van and took out a plain white stool which he placed on the pavement next to the broken down van. "Change of plan Ben." Finnick said as he sat down on the stool and looked at me dead in the eyes, golden brown eyes meeting leaf green. "Our first con today will involve you getting the van repaired free of charge." I looked at Finnick quizzically before nodding my head and smiling slyly at him. "OK Finnick. I know what to do. Just wait here and I'll be back in no time with a mechanic by my side that will be eager to help." Finnick gave me a small salute before I began to make my way down the sidewalk in search of a mechanic. As I walked along the busy streets of the city I began to notice the looks a lot of the animals were giving me. They were giving me looks of mistrust and spite. It unnerved me a bit as my ears folded down on the back of my head. To clear my mind of the other passers-by I began to think off a plan to gain the help of someone who could get me a mechanic to the van. As I continued on walking down the side walk for another few minutes before an idea popped into my head as I clapped my paws in anticipation for what I was about to do. 'Well.' I thought in my head as I stretched my arms out preparing for my plan. 'I guess now is the time to test out my acting skills.' I waited until there were a dozen or so animals near me before I collapsed to my knees and began to sob just loud enough so that the animals passing by could hear me. As more and more animals began to notice my sobbing and saddening whimpers of remorse I gradually raised my head and looked up to them with my tear filled eyes. "Pl…please…..is…..is anyone here a mechanic…my…my vans broken down and…..I need to…to get to my brother….my brother….my brother has…been missing for years…and…and I just found out where he is…." Instead of the hateful and mistrusting looks I was getting beforehand I was instead now getting looks of sadness and understanding from every animal that could see me.
I continued to sob on my knees for a few more minutes before I heard a voice in the small crowd that had now gathered around me. The voice itself was deep sounding and loud, almost like Finnick's but not as deep as the small foxes. The voice also seemed to carry a friendly tone to it as I looked up to see the crowd moving slightly each one of the crowds heads moving to see who the voice belonged to. Before long the animal in question came barging through the small crowd of animals that had gathered around my sobbing form. The animal who had barged through the crowds was a white furred wolf with piercing blue eyes which showed a look of pure determination and helpfulness which was directed at me. The wolf was also carrying a kit bag of some kind as well as wearing a black t shirt which showed his toned muscles, and a pair of navy blue jeans. Before I could let out another perfectly acted sob the white furred wolf came up to me and knelt down so that my leaf green eyes met with his sea blue ones. "Are you the animal who requires a mechanic?" He asked me sympathetically as I let out another small whimper. "Y…yes….I need…..a mechanic to fix my van…it's my brother…I haven't seen him….in over twelve years….and I finally know where he is." I said sadly letting out another whimper and a sob for effect. I heard a few sobs from the crowd as I jumped for joy in my head, proud of my acting skills.
I was snapped out of my celebrations as I felt a gentle pressure on my shoulder. I looked up to see the wolf patting my shoulder with a white paw as he showed me a genuine sad look. "Well there's no need to worry about a mechanic anymore." He said as he stopped patting my shoulder and stood up. "Wh…why..?" I said keeping up my sad façade as the white wolf smiled down at me. "Because I'm the best damn mechanic there is in zootopia." He said coyly in his deep friendly voice as he stuck out his white paw to help me up. "Than….thank you so much…..you…d…don't know how much this means to me." I said as the wolf pulled me up to my paws with one strong tug. "But…I don't.…h…have... any money on me…." I said lowering my ears in fake defeat before hearing a chuckle coming from the wolf. "You don't need to worry about that." The wolf said smiling as he patted my shoulder once again. "You don't need to pay me. Consider this a helping hand." He said as I smiled at his offer to help me. "Thank you so much…this really means a lot to me…..what's your name if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned him as he smiled once more. "I'm Ryan. Ryan Sharpclaw." He said as I began to lead the way to the broken down van. "Thanks so much for the help Ryan. I can't tell you how much this means to me." I said as Ryan followed close behind me. "So what's your name then?" Ryan asked in his deep friendly voice. "I'm Benjamin. Benjamin Wild." I replied as we began to make our way to the broken down van.