YAY! I have FINALLY been able to finish this chapter! I am just so excited for it, I certainly hope that you all enjoy it! And please, consider leaving a comment or review, as those really are just so wonderful to read!
Found (Chapter 33)
by
Elite Shade
Dawn walked up the porch steps, smiling at the happy squeals of her lambs as they played with several of the bunny children. She giggled as she watched a few of the braver ones ride around on Princess Callibrie's back, the large Kowmodo Dragon hissing contentedly as she scurried along following Alice, Trevor, and Lily. The ewe spotted her mate sitting on a guest porch swing, evidently built for species larger than bunnies. Vernon's tail was thumping against the boards as he swung.
"I take it the pups had fun explorin' the town?" Vernon asked, looking over to Dawn with a smile that warmed her heart. She rubbed her baby bump and nodded.
"Absolutely, and not once did Lily wander off, even when I let her off her leash," Dawn said. Vernon chuckled and his tail tumped faster. Dawn looked around. "Where's Marcus?"
"He asked iffin' it would be okay to go fer a walk along the trail there, and I told him it was fine after makin' sure he understood not ta go traipsin' on someone else's property. Why?"
"Qali texted me... a few times. She... really wants someone to give Marcus a big hug and tell him it's from her," Dawn explained.
"She say why?"
"It has something to do with a documentary about the human city state Marcus is from, Kartakka. Apparently she... well, she saw something that really disturbed her." As Dawn said this, she noticed how Vernon's tail thumped slower and slower, with his ears starting to lay flat on his head.
"Maybe like that video of Marcus... bein' whipped?" Vernon asked.
Dawn felt a pang in her heart and nodded. "She didn't specify how, she just said that it was worse than she imagined."
Vernon let out a small whine but cut it off, lest he interfere with the pups playing not too far away.
"A-anyway, I think I'll go find him and give him the hug. Maybe that'll help Qali to calm down."
"I half expect her to come all the way out here ta do it herself." Vernon shared a chuckle with his mate as she started to head down the trail, leaving him behind to watch their lambs. She didn't have to go far, the trail heading through a copse of trees, before she started to hear a voice singing. It took her a second to recognize it as Marcus', the ewe at that moment realizing that she had never heard him sing before. Her nephew's voice was pleasant and spoke of melodious training as it wafted on the gentle breeze to her ears.
When finally before my late shipmates I stand,
I cry a small tear for my forgotten land.
In their eyes I see deaths filled with conflict and strife
They grin and say I don't owe to them my knife.
Oh the souls of those gone live on in my mind,
Whilst all the years they had left to me to find.
I recall the fallen and they ruminate about me,
And our spirits in the wild seas together once more will be.
I recall the fallen and they ruminate about me,
And our spirits in the wild seas together once more will be.
As Dawn exited the trees, she found Marcus sitting on a stump, wearing his tiger coat, looking off at the late afternoon sun. He had a notebook out and was writing in it with a pen. Dawn coughed to let him know that he wasn't alone, and Marcus turned, smiling upon seeing his aunt.
"H-hey, Auntie Dawn," the boy said, looking a little sheepish.
"Hi, sweetie," Dawn said, approaching and then wrapping her hooves, as far as they could go, around his body, giving her nephew the biggest hug she could, despite the major size difference. Marcus, although confused, was quick to return the hug. After a minute Dawn ended it and adjusted her glasses. "That was from your Auntie Qali. She was very insistent that someone find you and give you a big hug as soon as possible."
"Oh... okay," Marcus said, still nonplussed but accepting the new information nonetheless. Dawn looked to the little notepad and saw that Marcus had been writing in it.
"Writing a new song for you and your friends?" Dawn asked, hoping to not sound too intrusive. Marcus blushed and averted his eyes.
"K-kinda," he said. "It's a song that's a Kartakkan sailor tradition," he said. Dawn was a little taken aback. In the time since he had been found, he hadn't spoken very much about Kartakka, not even with Zach and Vanna, not that they were trying to pry too hard. Hearing him mention a piece of his culture took the ewe by surprise and made her smile, hoping that this was a sign that Marcus was starting to open up more about his past. Walking a little bit over, she took a seat on the large tree stump right next to the human boy and looked up at him.
"Is that what you were singing just now?"
Marcus blushed and looked away again. "No... that was a shanty that Captain Blackthorne taught me."
"Oh?"
"Yeah... way before I was... evacuated... Rose and I had spent some time on his ship," Marcus said, looking off in the distance. "I had actually... dreamed of becoming a member of his crew when I was old enough. Then, during storms, we could escort cargo ships and immigrants and other travelers ta the different hidden ports and... I could see more of the world. And while we were aboard, Captain Blackthorne, as well as different crew members, taught me n' Rose different thangs. I remember how excited Rose was ta learn swordfightin' and how ta use a rifle. After a little practice, she was hittin' these orange buoy targets one after another. And I got ta help with maintenance on the ship, like shoveling coal." Dawn saw the smile on Marcus' face and felt her heart melt. "And then, one night, during dinner, the Captain taught me the shanty you heard me singing," Marcus said, his smile fading a little. "It's called Souls of the Sea, and it's... sung by sailors who've... had ta say goodbye ta crewmates..."
Dawn sensed the deep sadness in her nephew and reached over, taking his hand in her hooves, giving it a gentle squeeze. "The day we were attacked... the crew... I saw them..." Marcus struggled as Dawn waited patiently. "I-I don't know how many of them survived and made it ta Cavernicia... but I... I saw several of them... good mammals... I watched them die..." Marcus choked back a sob, feeling Dawn wrap her hooves around his side again, leaning into him. She barely registered the name Marcus used for what the human settlement that was now known as the Lower Nocturnal District had been called. Marcus opened his mouth to speak again, when another set of arms, much larger and stronger, encircled both him and Dawn. He looked up from his aunt to see Vernon sitting next to them. A fragment of Marcus' earlier smile returned as he closed his eyes, enjoying the hug.
"I got someone ta watch the pups and decided ta come and see how y'all two were doin'," Vernon said quietly to Dawn, who nodded in understanding.
"The song I was writin'," Marcus continued once the hug ended, after he tried to discreetly wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his coat, "i-it's a different shanty, more of an honored tradition."
"A tradition?" Vernon asked, his ears perked in curiosity, much like Dawn was.
"Y-yeah." Marcus blushed, feeling nervous and rubbing the back of his head as a reflex. "It's considered a song ta sing fer the honored dead," Marcus said, looking down at his notepad. Vernon's ears drooped a little. "Basically, when a famous ship goes down, it and the lost members of its crew are added ta it. It's meant ta be an honor, and I f-figured that by addin' the Aurora Hammer and Captain Blackthorne... I c-could maybe..." His voice trailed off a bit.
"Thought ya could what, son?" Vernon gently asked, trying not to push the boy.
"... Maybe... in some small way, start making it up ta them... and their families..." Marcus' voice was barely above a whisper.
"Make it up ta them?"
"Marcus, you can't blame yourself for what happened," Dawn said, her heart hurting as she realized the burden that this young mammal was carrying.
"But it was my fault," Marcus said, matter-of-factly. "If I hadn't... if it hadn't been fer me, their ship woulda never been attacked."
"Marcus," Vernon said, before a sudden white blur shot past his field of vision, knocking Marcus back on the stump with a surprised grunt. Looking down, the large wolf saw a very familiar arctic vixen laying on Marcus' chest, looking like she was attempting to squeeze the life out of him.
"A-Auntie Qali?" Marcus asked once he was able to recover from having the wind knocked out of him.
"I just couldn't hold it in anymore! You needed a hug, and you needed it noooooooooow!" the vixen whined, hugging him tighter, her arms not even making it around his shoulders.
Marcus was at first confused before he smiled and hugged her back.
"Qali? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked, thoroughly confused.
"Hugging my nephew," she stated simply. "I just can't get that documentary out of my head!"
"Yeah, she and Trent showed up just after ya left ta go and find Marcus. So I asked them ta watch the pups while I went after ya," Vernon explained. He had been hoping to warn Marcus about getting hug-mauled by his hyper aunt. Whatever had been in the documentary seemed to have really struck a powerful chord with her as she had made Trent drive the two of them all the way out to Bunnyburrow just to hug Marcus herself.
"So is Trent watchin' the pups then?" Vernon asked. At that, Qali froze, and her ears drooped while her tail started to tuck itself. She looked up at Vernon with sad eyes.
"I was watching them, and then I turned to talk to Trenny for just one second, literally one second, and when I turned back... Lily was gone," Qali said. Vernon sighed and rubbed his temple.
"Uhm... 'scuse me, Auntie Qali." The three adults looked down at Marcus who was still looking very confused. "What documentary?" Dawn, Vernon, and Qali all shared a quick worried look.
"Nothing y-you need to worry about right now, honey," Qali said.
Half an hour later...
"Ooooh, I hate keeping Lily on the leash, but she keeps wandering off like this when she isn't on it," Dawn said from where she sat on Vernon's shoulder, looking around frantically for her lost lamb. Trent and Qali were back at the Hopps' farm house, watching the remaining pups and Marcus, while Vernon and Dawn along with Nick and Judy headed down the road in the direction some of the Hopps kits said they saw Lily walking with some of their brothers and sisters, saying something about exploring a haunted house. Presently, the group were being led by Judy who knew very well which house the kits had been talking about.
"The old Swinton place is just around this bend. It's a bit run-down but shouldn't be too dangerous for a group of kits," Judy explained, looking back and giving Dawn what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"And she does this every time she isn't on the leash?" Nick asked quizzically, his ears perked up.
Vernon sighed. "Not every time, but enough times ta make it a serious problem."
"Have you considered having her chipped?"
Judy elbowed her fox in the ribs. "Nick!"
Vernon growled a little at that. "Lily is my little girl, not a pet like Princess Callibrie."
"What if they got lost? Or went somewhere else instead," Dawn asked, having not been listening but instead looking around and letting her imagination run wild.
Judy's ears twitched just before they started to round then bend in the road. Up ahead, she started to see some blue and red flashing lights. "Uhm... I don't think that will be an issue, Dawn."
With the run-down old farm house with the partially collapsed roof now in sight, so were the three Bunnyburrow Sheriff's Department squad cars parked out front. Getting closer, Vernon inwardly groaned as Lily stood next to four other children. Two bunny girls, one wearing a purple t-shirt and skirt, the other wearing the same kind of outfit but in bright orange and wearing a pair of glasses; a bobcat boy in blue shorts with a white t-shirt and an orange kerchief tied around his neck, and a lanky weasel boy in a lime green t-shirt and brown shorts. Next to him was a large brown turkey. Lily stood next to them in her white shorts and pink butterfly t-shirt, smiling proudly.
"Lily?!" Dawn called, being helped down by Vernon so she could rush over and hug her lamb tight. "What happened? Are you alright, sweetheart?"
"I'm fine, Mommy," Lily said, puffing up her chest proudly.
"Thanks to her, we were able to finally solve a local mystery," the bobcat boy said, approaching with a smile on his face. He looked around Lily's age to Dawn.
"Wait... you mean the old Swiner Forty-Niner legend?" Judy asked.
"Like, that's the one," the weasel boy said The turkey, which had a collar on, gobbled a bit, as if in emphasis.
"Wait... this seems really familiar from somewhere..." Nick said, trailing off.
"Will someone please explain what's goin' on?" Vernon asked.
"Gladly," the bunny girl in orange said, adjusting her glasses. "For several years now, there's been sightings of the so-called Swiner Forty-Niner ghost around the area, especially here at the old Swinton residence. However, that wasn't actually the case."
It was then that a pair of deputies, a deer buck and a brown wolf, came walking out of the house, escorting a large boar dressed in a miner's gear, his skin and fur glowing a bright green. The purple-dressed bunny jogged over and jumped up, pulling the face off and revealing an older billy goat underneath the rubber mask.
"In actuality, old Mr. Hornsly had started up the rumors and legend in order to scare away anyone who might try to buy the property and fix up or even demolish the old house. This was because years ago, he and his brother Eustus had stolen over five million in casino chips from the now demolished Tropicatna and hidden it in a secret room in the basement. Unfortunately, Eustus died in prison without telling his brother where exactly he had hidden the suitcase of chips. The statute of limitations is close to running our and so Mr. Hornsly had been searching the house and the surrounding areas for where his brother could have hidden it."
"And I woulda gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!" Mr. Hornsly said with an irritated huff.
"Well, now that we've recovered the chips and can check your identity down at the station, I'm sure we'll have this all sorted out soon," the deer buck said, leading him to the back of a squad car while the wolf deputy started to read him his rights.
Just then the turkey started to gobble again. Nick's ears twitched as it sounded something like "Gobbly-Dobbly Doo!"
"Okay, did no one else hear that?" he asked, looking to the others, but frowning as Dawn and Vern were instead busy making sure Lily was alright and lecturing her about wandering off like that. Judy was talking with the kits and the deputies. He then huffed and rolled his eyes, that feeling of familiarity prickling the back of his mind.
Elsewhere...
"Are we really gunna do this?" Zach asked, looking over at Vanna who was sitting next to him on their couch. On the TV was the Nutflix documentary Kartakka: City of Smoke and Mirrors. It was a five part mini-series, and presently they were about to start episode one.
Vanna nodded, rubbing her belly. "Yes. I-it might be bad, but we've already seen... the flogging. Besides, this might give us some insight into Marcus' culture, not just the bad but the good as well. And then we can share not just our species cultures but some of his as well." Zach nodded in understanding and, after making an audible gulp, pressed play. Unbeknownst to the mates, over at the ranch Audrey and Dorian were doing the same. All throughout Zootopia many mammals were giving the series a watch, like Wade with Giselle staunchly refusing, or Ulric and Honey on the latter's laptop while they were in the woods, and even humans down in the Lower Nocturnal District. Even in San Francsisgoat Malcolm and Xavier were getting settled down to watch it, steeling themselves knowing what happened to their nephew. And all the way over in Seaotter, Yuri and Ada were doing the same.
After a few seconds of buffering and the Nutflix logo doing its little animatic, the episode started. Episode One: The Rise of a Tyrant. The black screen faded into color as an establishing shot from an aerial view over an ocean rapidly headed towards a rocky coast with a cave.
"What you have to understand about humans is that we have lived in fear of our own extinction for as long as every other mammalian civilization developed and evolved," a male voice said with a Kittish accent as the camera continued into the cave, slowing down to reveal a section of rock wall was actually false and instead the outer section of a pair of giant metal blast doors that slowly swung closed, the waters in the cave becoming choppy as a result. The camera turned back around and continued onward, a light at the end of the darkness. "And that mentality and fear took the deepest hold in Kartakka."
The light grew steadily before finally out came the camera into a massively vast cavern, brightly lit by gigantic pale yellow lights far up on the ceiling. Out in front were docks attached to a large city, old-fashioned-looking boats and ships moored. There were skyscrapers off in the distance, paved streets, houses and apartments, and humans, many many humans seen from above, going about their lives. As the camera closed in on the city, it became apparent that there had recently been some conflict. Some buildings were pockmarked with bullet holes, others were missing large chunks of their structures, and some had been burned down entirely. Moving through the streets, where there were some craters with crews working on repairing them, off in the distance more palatial buildings could be seen. The camera stopped just above a park, with trees and flowerbeds adding some color to the heavily urbanized area. In the center were a group of humans around a large statue. It was of a very stern-looking human man, with a beard, holding up a sword. There were ropes around the statue and, with the humans tugging in groups on the ropes, it slowly started to topple over. Loud cheers rang out from the assembled humans, some hugging and crying.
"How did it come to this? How did a mammal like The Duke turn what was supposed to be our sanctuary into a bloody nightmare? To understand that, you need to understand how Luke Wulfram first came to power..."
YAY! It looks like the family is gunna be learning a bit more about what Marcus, and indeed other Kartakkan humans, had to go through!