Summary:

Detective Judy Hopps is escorted through the dense forest by Ranger Nick Wilde, but in her tired and addled state, she is distracted by the visage of scarlet masculine fur. Embarrassed by her lack of focus, she takes a detour from the beaten path, where she will find quiet contemplation and numbing terror.

A stillness hung over the woods as wisps of chill fog wandered through the branches. It was too cold for insects to yet be buzzing about, and the occasional bird song was quickly swallowed up by the ubiquitous moss that coated log and stone. Judy tucked her ears into her fedora, trying to keep them warm, while still keeping her eyes and her camera glued to the tire tracks below her feet.

Actually, following the tracks wasn't all that hard, since the tires that had generated them had made a fair mess of the muddy ground. It was obvious that this was a well used track, as the weeds had been beaten back along the wheel ruts, meaning who ever had dumped the body back at the ravine had used that same skid-steer to bring in the other bodies. They had counted on the remoteness of the location to prevent discovery of their heinous criminal actions, only to be undone by the rapacious hunger of lumbering lizards.

No, Judy's problem wasn't so much keeping her eyes on the track as it was just keeping them open. In the rush to get out here, she had forgone her morning coffee, and now the lack of stimulant was catching up to her. Her feet dragged and tripped on the ruts as she tried to look for clues as to the operator, some indication of what kind of mammal was driving this machine.

And that fox, oh that irritating fox. She could just feel his eyes on her, laughing at her as she fought for footing in the damp earth. He hung back behind her, his even and measure breath quiet as he paced her shorter stride easily. He just had to be ogling my ass, she bet herself, the pervert.

Judy brought herself to a halt with a scowl. My mind just had to go there, didn't it? She quickly looked back at the slowly moseying fox, who grinned affably back at her. "Yes?" He drawled at length.

"What are you doing?" She interrogated him crossly.

"Following you, it looks like." He easily replied.

She squinted at him in the forest gloom, certain that he had a smirk on his muzzle.

"I thought you were supposed to be protected me? What if one of those dragons jumps out and gets me? What good are you going to be back there?" She demanded to know.

He cocked his head and thoughtfully replied, "I thought you said you didn't need protection? Besides, it's too cold down here for the dragons. Like I said, they're up on the heights, sunning themselves."

Well, if he wasn't protecting me from them, what was he doing? She was pretty sure she didn't want him doing that, what ever it was. She wanted him up in front, where she could keep an eye the smarmy and mischievous fox. She stood to the side of the trail, and pointed at him and then pointed in front of her.

He chuffed a short laugh and stepped forward, "You're the boss." As he passed her, the tip of his long tail brushed past her legs, and then it was gone. Judy resisted the urge to itch the contacted fur, to even acknowledge that he had touched her in passing.

He took position a few paces in front of her, and started walking with a loose limbed easy gait, his lever action rifle held loosely in his brawny arms. She followed behind him, her phone on the trail before her but her wandering eye, lacking focus in her caffeine deprived state, caught the movement of his robust legs, the muscular thighs sliding in and out of his khaki shorts as he stepped nimbly along the tire ruts. She could imaging those same legs striding through impenetrable blackberry thickets or climbing up steep cliffs with equal easy.

Her gaze crept up his legs to settle on his downy tail, held out lightly in counter balance to his forward stride, and framing that luxurious mass of fur were two exquisite ass checks. Her eyes locked on their rhythmic movement as her mind wandered back her early morning reverie. Her feet, stepping automatically but without guidance, caught a clump of dirt, and she stumbled toward him.

He stopped and reached out with a paw, "Easy there, Carrots."

She caught herself with a jerk, shrinking back instinctively from the outstretched claws he offered. She ripped her eyes up to his, a thousand expressions playing across her facial features as she struggled with conflicting emotions; embarrassment, anger, shame, loneliness and need.

He stood looking down at her for a moment, as if he was puzzling out what the cast in her face actually meant, before turning his muzzle up to the air and sniffing. He inhaled deeply, "You smell that?"

"Smell what?" She demanded indignantly, secretly glad that her hot ears, flushed with embarrassment, were tucked up underneath her hat.

Nick turned his nose back and forth seeking and eventually finding, "Something… Something… Oh… Fowl." He grinned, and licked his lips, his tongue meandering down his muzzle, a flash of ivory peeking through the edges.

Judy stood frozen for a moment, the sight of sharp canines causing a rush of blood to her loins, while her addled mind sorted through the words that had slipped off that tongue. Her eyes narrowed as she fought for control, realizing that she had slipped up by watching his pacing form, Can he smell me right now? He thinks it's foul? What!? Why would he say that to me?!

She turned away, looking for some distraction, some other object to fixate her attention, as she once again warred with anger and desire. Her gaze slid to the side, and she spotted a pool hidden in the undergrowth. She stepped off the track and pushed thought the reeds by the water's edge. Maybe she just needed to splash some water on her muzzle, help her regain her focus?

She knelt at the shore between a clump of weeds, and dipped a paw to the water. She marveled at the warmth of the water, and as she brought the wet paw up her nose, she could smell that faint scent of sulfur. A hot springs pool , she realized, Oh I'd love to soak my tired feet in there .

She looked back at the pond, her paw momentarily forgotten, as she spied a drifting log in the still water. It sat low in the water, it's bark moist and green with algae, it's mass mostly submerged save for two knots in the middle. As the log drifted in the reeds, ever closer to her, she could swear that one of those knots was an eye, and that it was looking right at her.

Two things happened very rapidly at that point. First, a set of wide spaced claws hooked tightly on to the back of her trench coat, piercing through the rain proof material and into her blouse, and yanked backwards. Secondly, there was an eruption of mud and water as the log suddenly exploded into the air, splitting along it's length into a serrated maw that snapped closed an inch from her nose.

She was jerked back through the weeds to land in a heap on the other side of the path, the canine's claws releasing her as Nick turned his attention to the thwarted reptile's presence. He stood staring down at the smaller reptile in challenge, but apparently the scaly beast thought better of taking on a larger predator and slunk back into the marshy waters. Nick snorted in response, and turned back to the terrified bunny laying on the ground. He tilted his head down, and advised her in a light and mocking tone, "Watch out for the caiman, they bite!"

Judy dragged her eyes off the receding tail, and up to his face. But the look of concern in his eyes belied his tone. He was worried about her. He was probably thinking she was suicidal as well as bitter and argumentative. "C-c-c-caiman?" She stammered.

Nick nodded as he stepped back to the edge of the reeds and retrieved her hat. He held it up, and brushed off the mud that clung to the edges, "Yeah. Caiman. You not have those back in Podunk?" He held out his other paw to help her up.

She shook her head as she stood up on unsteady legs, "No… I'm from Bunny Burrow, and we don't have any caiman in our waters." He handed her the hat and she asked him a question as she slipped it back on, "I don't suppose it's native to these forests?"

He shook his head, and turned his eyes back to the pool, "No, it's too cool for them normally, unless they can find a thermal pool like that one. No, they're not native. They were introduced back in the 20's to eat some invasive toads, but they're not picky. They'll eat anything they can shove in their mouths, and when you had knelt down by the pool, you made yourself small enough that it was willing to try taking you on." He turned back look down to her, "Try to be more careful, okay? The Warden was serious when she said we had a predation problem here."

Judy, still recovering from fright, only nodded dumbly. Nick nodded in response, and turned to leave. She walked along the opposite side the path, crushing up against the trees and brambles along the trail, but a sound issuing forth from the vegetation brought her up short. She froze in momentary terror, thinking that the caiman had circled around to the other side and was about to spring out on her. Her eye shot wildly to the bushes at her side, straining to see in the darkness, and it was met with the icy gaze of a small beady eye surrounded in a wash of crimson.

A great gray mass rushed out of the bushes toward her and Judy ducked in terror, convinced that her end had finally found her.

Nick yelled, "NO!" and rushed back to her.

"GOOOBBBBLLEEE! GOOOBBBBLLEEE!"