Chapter 2, Find the Missing Jackal: I entered the chief's office. He didn't look mad, so I may not have made a mistake. I still felt nervous. The chief never called for me.
"I was not sure at first because you are new. But I have to put you on a case at some point. As a horse you carry potential." He began. So he had known how valuable a horse could be as a police officer. I was trying hard to keep my tail from swishing in excitement.
"I'm going to start you off with something simple." He gave me a case file. I opened it up and saw a picture of a female jackal.
"Deborah Blackstripe, nineteen-year-old female black-backed jackal. She was last seen by her employer." Chief said as I looked over the file.
I looked at her place of employment. "Vickie's Venuses" . It read. So she works at a carnivorous plant store. This couldn't be too hard. I just need to talk to her employer and hope she'll have an idea of where she might be.
"Thank you chief, I won't disappoint you."
"Show that you won't."
"Chief, is it okay if I had a partner?"
"Choose one." He said. I knew who to pick for the job. I thanked him again before rushing down to the records room.
"Hey buddy, you look excited today." Said Aiden. Aiden is a spotted hyena. We met at the police academy. Whenever I was ready to give up from being unable to complete Tundra Town and Rainforest District he always told me to keep pushing through it. I'm fairly certain he's the reason why I was finally able to graduate. Although he insists that it was because of me.
"You know it's quite a big day for mammal kind. First horse and first hyena to be cops." Aiden said to me at graduation.
"Promise we'll stick together?" I asked.
"Like glue!" Aiden raised his paw in the air in the form of a fist.
"...Don't ever say that again," I said.
"Oh…sorry…like tape?" He asked.
I smiled and raised my hoof. "Duct tape!"
"Of course!" Aiden said as we did a paw-hoof pound.
Aiden had a broken past as I did. He wasn't forced to be an internet celebrity. But it was still pretty awful. His parents didn't pay him much attention, unlike his brother. The only time they talked to him was about his grades, if he got in trouble, or if it was about his brother's achievements. When his brother died his mom fell apart and became permanently institutionalized in a mental hospital. He and his dad never got along. But after his brother died and his mother became institutionalized they stayed on neutral terms but their relationship never went further than that.
Like the rest of the mammals on the force; I too had told him Becky is my sister. Don't get me wrong. I'm close to Aiden. I would tell him anything. I just think the only mammal that needs to know the truth about Becky, would be someone whom I was dating. Even then I would probably wait until we were engaged. I never told my ex-fiance because of the abuse. Had I told him, he'd probably have me murdered.
I smiled as I showed him the case file. He made a high-pitched sound that sounded like a giggle.
"You were put on a case!? I knew you were going to get one someday! I'm happy for you!" He said.
"And I want you to help." I felt bad for Aiden. He had given his all during training. If you had seen him, you would see that he was driven to be a cop. It was his goal, his dream. But yet they haven't put him on a case because he's a hyena.
Hyenas have a stigma of liking to goof off and joke around all the time because of the funny way they sound. Aiden is hilarious, no doubt about it. But he rarely goofs off on duty. Besides, it's not a hyena's fault that their howl sounds like laughter. I wanted to help give Aiden a chance to prove a hyena can be serious on the job when needed. Aiden widened his green eyes and ran over to hug me. I could feel him wagging his tail frantically left and right.
"No need to make a big deal about it," I said. He lets go.
"Sorry about that. It's just that I'm happy you want me to help."
"You deserve to be on a case too you know."
"What is it about?" He asked. I showed him the file. "A missing female jackal. Deborah Blackstripe." I said.
"Deborah!?" Aiden asked, surprised. That reaction caught me off guard.
"You know Deborah?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Well not actually know her, know her, I…kinda go to the plant store she works at, so I can have a reason to…talk to her?" He rubbed the back of his head with his paw nervously. I did not know where to begin; so apparently, Aiden had seen her a few times before she went missing, and even though not important, he's got a blatant crush on her and never told me.
"Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" I asked.
"That…I don't know…I was afraid to ask." He pressed two of his claws together.
"What do you talk about when you go to the shop?"
"I usually ask her about college. She's studying carnivorous plants. She wants to be a carnivorous plant florist. You know like a florist but instead sells carnivorous plants? She says being an ordinary florist is overrated. She's so unique, she usually wears black and purple. She loves plants and reptiles, she has a pet Venus flytrap, and she likes to go birdwatching. The college she goes to is Zootopia University…wait a minute!"
"You remember something!?"
"When I was off duty I went on campus to go visit her, I saw a ewe use a taser on her."
"What in the world?" I asked.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I had her walk with me for a bit to talk to her alone. She said she's friends with the sheep."
"She said she's friends with someone who tased her?"
"It is a complicated friendship. Her words. Not mine. I told her to call me if she ever felt threatened. It wouldn't surprise me if that sheep had something to do with her going missing. I hope that's not the case, however."
For this jackal's and Aiden's sake, I'm hoping that's not the case either.
"We'll swing by her job first and take a trip to ZU. Do you know the sheep's name?" I asked.
"Deborah told me her name is Nessa Bellwether." Bellwether? I brushed it off as a coincidence. Maybe Bellwether is a common sheep's last name. I know Broncco is a common surname for horses.
"Alright." I went to get one of the police car keys.
"Can I drive?" Asked Aiden.
"I'm a horse. I doubt that you would want to trust me with a steering wheel." I joked as I tossed the keys to him. He grinned eagerly, making a chuckling sound as he caught them.
"Also when we find Deborah you're going to ask her out," I added. His smile and laugh went away as he went still for a minute.
"Come again? Buck! Wait!" He said running after me.
AN: Just a fun fact I wanted to share. Aiden was originally a Golden retriever and Labrador mix, and the reason why he hasn't been put on a case was going to be because he was a domestic dog, and Buck wanted to help him prove that a domestic canine can be a good cop like their wild counterparts. But I was told that domestic mammals aren't canon additions to Zootopia so with Nicholas Wilde's suggestion. I made him a hyena. :) Unfortunately you can't see the review because I did delete the original when I moved everything over to Ao3.
