"The arrogance of man is thinking that nature is in our control, and not the other way around." - Ken Watanabe
4:29 P.M, The Next Day
Time and time again, adventure kept finding it's way into Nick's life, whether he wanted it or not.
Thinking back to years ago when he first met Judy, the fox reminisced on the way that she had taken him on an unforgettable adventure, even if said adventure nearly got him killed half a dozen times. Though of course, that event had been forced, for the most part: He needed that carrot pen from her, and he had no intention on going to jail because of it. He accompanied her on the mission solely for the prospect of staying out of jail, and at the time, he truly cared nothing for Mr. Otterton, or any of the other reasons that made Judy want to follow through with the case, as crazy as it was in the end.
His cynical and sardonic mindset considered the journey as nothing more than a wild goose chase for a pointless end goal.
It was only after the adventure was over did he truly begin to realize that it was so much more...
So much more than a wild goose chase, or some pointless police investigation that he wanted nothing part of: It was a voyage of self change, and self acceptance.
For Nick Wilde, it only took six months, a savage jaguar, and a 48 hour goose chase to make him finally let go of his previous mindset. Sure, he was still cynical, and sarcastic, and still considered himself an asshat at times, but in comparison to his previous philosophies, his new ones were completely extraordinary. His adventure with Judy had not only forced him to explore all sorts of new locations and regions, but it also forced him to rethink and rewrite his old ideals.
The change had been made, and for the first time in years upon years, something had finally gotten to the fox: Judith Laverne Hopps had succeeded where all others had failed.
Those were his thoughts surrounding his first adventure with her: It was an unquestionably life changing journey. But what of all the other endeavors?
Well, after having his old psyche gutted, he began to appreciate the world he lived in for more than just a place to eat and sleep. His many following excursions would lead him all around the world he knew, from Tundra-Town to Sahara-Square, to the Nocturnal-District and even the far away Outback-Island; All of these new and exciting places to experience with not only his new mindset, but with the love of his life.
In the end, that made every single one of his adventures all the more enjoyable.
"Alright, you ready to hit the road, slick?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, carrots."
"Good, because you're driving."
"We don't have a car here, whiskers."
"Oh right..."
"Dumb bunny!"
"Shut your trap, scruffy!"
The fox and bunny shared a good laugh, soon recomposing themselves as they made their way down to the hotel's parking lot, where they had originally planned to meet up with Dyvim and Natalia so that they could make way to the other side of the island. Personally, Nick wasn't sure what would be so interesting about a bunch of dried up lava, basically nothing more than rocks, but Dyvim had assured him the previous day that The Crags was a truly unique place, and that visiting it would be worth the trip.
Checking the current time with his trusty mobile device, Nick was pleased to note that all four of them; Natalia, Dyvim, Judy, and himself, had arrived at the rendezvous point right on time. Nick's good friend, Dyvim Whitetail, had generously offered to drive the four of them to the other side of the island in his rental car, so once they all had converged, they set out for the opposing side of the island, which Natalia claimed would roughly take a half hour to reach.
All clambering in the vehicle before it set out to the nearest road, they soon found themselves traveling down a long and winding asphalt road, which itself was surprisingly clean free from damage such as cracks and tarnish. Even though they didn't take the scenic route, their current one was undeniably entrancing, with the smooth road leading them through rocky gorges overgrown with thick, healthy vines, and alongside steep cliff-sides that dropped straight down into the crashing ocean, some three hundred feet below.
All the while, the pack of adventure-bound mammals occupied their time by delving into a variety of questions, especially in regards to Nick and Judy's undercover mission.
"Lemme get this straight..." Dyvim started at Nick, raising his paws as if he were about to swat a fly. "You two were investigating Jack Savage for fraudulence and theft?"
"That's pretty much the gist of it, yeah. We uncovered a whole lot more than just Jack's business scams though: He was also working alongside two of Zootopia's most wanted."
"Wait, you mean crime-lords?"
"Right on, Divvy." The fox confirmed. "The crime-lords of the Sahara-Square and the Nocturnal-District, respectively: One feisty pangolin, and one psychopathic bat."
"Bat?" Natalia asked with raised eyebrows. "What's a bat?"
"See Nick?! I told you I'm not the only one!" Judy suddenly cried out, causing the fox in question to bark a hearty laugh.
"Oh you bunnies... Always so naive..." Nick sighed lazily.
His comment effectively earned a sharp glare from every single passenger in the car. Tugging at his collar, the fox readjusted his weight in the car seat before correcting himself.
"What I meant, uh, was that you all are so darn curious! Always asking questions!" Nick snorted audibly "Life in the Burrows must be a real joy-ride, eh?" He asked sarcastically.
"Just answer her question, dumb fox." Judy stated with a coyish smirk.
"Right right, so anyway: What is a bat?" He started slowly. "Well, I'd say that a bat is a winged mammal with lots of sharp teeth, pyromaniacal tendencies, and a really ugly face."
"They typically stick to the Nocturnal-District... That's why you rarely see them above ground." Judy added.
"Exactly. Now, as I explained earlier, the highest-ranking criminal in the Nocturnal-District was a vampire bat named Vladzotz, and he's no stranger to brutality, I'll tell ya that much. Oh, and then there's the crime-lord of the Sahara-Square, a pangolin who went by Shahaz the Stinger. That was his street name, apparently."
"So they were both involved with Jack Savage's hedge-funds?" Dyvim inquired timidly with perked up ears. "D-did you stop them?"
"Vladzotz isn't in the crime business anymore, we think, and Shahaz got captured in his desert compound during a police raid."
"So, what ever happened to Shahaz?" Natalia asked curiously. "Did he go to jail?"
Truthfully, neither mammal officer was present during his trial or his imprisonment, but both had heard stories and seen pictures. Judy decided to answer Natalia's question;
"He sure did. The ZPD's never arrested an animal quite like him before. We can de-spine porcupines and hedgehogs for safety reasons because their quills are easy to pull out, like hair, almost. But Shahaz's scales were fused to his body: There was no way we could pull them all out without killing him, or at the very least, causing him a whole lotta pain."
"He deserved it for slicing up your paw, honestly." The fox added.
"Nick! It wasn't that bad, really."
"What? He almost turned you into shredded-bunny!"
"Well, yeah, but he doesn't deserve a horrible death like that." Judy retorted.
"Don't we all?" Nick replied jokingly, rolling his eyes and smiling.
Groaning irritably (with a smile) to herself, the bunny decided to continue with her story.
"So as I was saying, the ZPD still had to figure out a way to deal with Shahaz, so they offered him a choice: He could either let them dull all of his scales with a file so that he wouldn't be a threat to the other inmates, or he could keep his scales sharp, but have to stick-out his entire sentence in solitary confinement, all by himself."
"And what did he choose?" Dyvim inquired with raised eyebrows.
"He chose solitary confinement: He didn't want his scales to be ruined."
"Probably because he has them all engraved with that old story, remember?" Nick hypothesized with widened eyes.
"Oh yeah! I never considered that..." The bunny cleared her throat. "So they ended up throwing Shahaz all by himself into one of those padded rooms, but that didn't go well."
"Why not?" Natalia questioned.
"Because he tore up all the padding, completely destroying the room. They tried again by putting him in a concrete cell all by himself, but he used the walls to sharpen his scales, which is a big problem, not to mention the fact that the walls now look like they've been attacked by a tornado of knives... I've seen the pictures: It's a scary sight."
"Yup. So that's the story of the living, breathing knife-rack that almost killed us both, everyone. Any more questions?" Nick concluded sardonically.
"Yeah: Are we there yet?" Judy grumbled, shifting her weight.
"Almost Judy, almost." Dyvim reassured. "We still got a couple more miles left to go."
"Fine by me!" The fox claimed, flicking out his favorite pair of shades before resting them atop his muzzle. "Say, how about you two tell us a story, huh?"
"What do you want to know?" Dyvim inquired.
"Hmm... I dunno, anything, really. Maybe you can start off by telling us about what you two have been up to after all this time."
"That works! I guess I should start from where you and Judy here left us. After news got out of Jack's arrest, it was a pretty tense environment, believe it or not."
"How so?" Nick added, raising his shades off of his muzzle slightly.
"Think about it Nick: Jack left behind a multi-million dollar company, with no heir to his seat of power! He didn't have any children, and all of his rich business friends and associates wanted a piece of what he left behind him when he was carted off to jail. See the problem here? Everyone was fighting over who should control the company, and the issue was finally resolved when the Executive-Assistant was given full reign over Jack's old position: He's the new CEO now."
"Ah, I see... So now everything's back to normal, yes?"
"Not exactly... Jack was running a horrible fraudulence on all of his biggest business partners, from Bugga-Berger to Snarlbucks! None of them were too happy to find out that large portions of their investments were going straight into Jack's pockets, and some of them threatened to break away from our company's finances and partner with one of our competitors, like J.P Maregon, or the Lemming Brother's Bank of Zootopia. Our bank's want all those big corporations to keep their ties with our company because it makes them money, so now we have this awful chain of threats and demands, circling between the corporations that want their money back, the banks that want the corporations to stay, and our company, which is caught right in the middle of it all."
"And that's not even counting the individual threats and demands from civilian families and investors that got swindled by Jack's conniving schemes." Natalia added.
"Yeah..." Dyvim grumbled. "And that."
"Sounds like you guys really deserve this vacation!" Nick stated with a crooked grin, causing Dyvim to let out a half-hearted chuckle.
"At least there's that, I suppose..."
"So, speaking of vacation, are you two going anywhere else, or are you just vacationing here in Pawaii?" Judy asked.
"Ooo, good question!" Natalia claimed. "We went to the Marshlands just a few days ago, actually. Right Div?"
"Eh, nice place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there." He replied, flexing his fingers as he continued to drive the car. "You two ever been there before?"
"Twice before; Once on a date, and once on a police chase. Interesting place, but I personally can't stand the smell..." Nick responded, scrunching up his nose all the while.
From what he remembered of the titular district, the fox recalled that the Marshlands was a swampy and watery place, much like the Rainforest-District, but with far less precipitation and lush, vibrant plant life: Most of the Marshland's flora consisted of ferns, root-choked mangrove trees, and slimy moss. There were lots of bogs and festering cesspools of lichen, but if there was one thing that truly made the Marshlands different from all the other districts, it was the swamp gas, which was collected in large quantities and used for powering various mechanisms, including some vehicles.
Nick remembered clearly how they collected the gas: Big and super stretchy balloons would be filled to the near point of bursting, then would be floated/driven off to wherever they were consumed. The mammals that gathered the gas would also use lots of metal cylinders and air compressors to suck the gas straight out from the ground beneath the Marshlands. In the end, all the gas siphoning left a muddy and sour-tasting aroma lingering in the air all around the district: You couldn't go anywhere there without smelling it!
"Yeah, it's definitely not the most enticing place, but it never hurts to do some exploring, huh?" Dyvim said with a smile, eyes still trained on the road ahead of him.
"You got that right." Natalia agreed. "And after we visited the Marshlands, we took a detour in the Meadowlands, too."
"Sheepville, you mean?" Nick added, his smirk only heightening the question's mockery. Dyvim laughed before responding.
"Uh-huh... That place is full of 'em! They're everywhere!"
"I doubt it's as bad as Bunny-Burrow, though."
"Oh god no." All three rabbits said at unison, effectively causing the entire car to burst into laughter seconds afterwords.
The four mammals continued down the winding and clean road through the jungle for some ten minutes longer before the landscape started to change, and quite drastically at that. The green mountains quickly disappeared, until the only feature in sight was the towering form of the massive volcano, which blocked nearly a quarter of of the blue sky. All of the lush and tropical vegetation had vanished, and was replaced by crumbling, jet-black rock, which was inlaid with wave-like designs as if the rock had been mushed like putty before it had hardened, which wasn't that far off from the truth, apparently.
"Welcome to the Crags, everybody." Dyvim announced.
Thin fog began to envelop the landscape, enclosing the mammal's line of sight until the only thing they could see was the desolate landscape that they were currently treading upon. Thick and towering spires of rock rose from the ground like broken ribs, jutting towards the sky as if to challenge it. In the distance, sparse amounts of craggy black trees grew through the cracks in between the hardened lava, their creeping forms visible through the hazy fog like ghosts.
"It's so... Barren..." Judy murmured, her gaze far-off as she stared out through the window, eyeing the desolate landscape as it rolled by.
"I don't exactly see any other tourists, Divvy... What's up with that?" Nick found himself asking the male rabbit, who sighed carefully upon hearing the fox's question.
"Most mammals don't like feeling as if nature is on top... They like telling themselves that they're the most powerful force on the face of this world, but we know better..."
"We do?" The fox added.
"We should." Dyvim corrected. "Nobody likes seeing this place because it's a reminder of who's really in charge, here."
"And who would that be?"
"Isn't it obvious? Look around you, Nick... This place used to be a lush and tropical paradise, but now it's been reduced to a smoldering wasteland... That right there-"
Dyvim continued, pointing his paw out towards the looming peak of the volcano, which belched smoke and ash at a seemingly constant rate.
"-Leveled the entire side of this island, and it's perfectly capable of finishing the job."
"Well look at you, junior vulcanologist." Nick joked, causing Judy to snort a snickering laugh.
"Nah, I'm just a guy who actually appreciates the stuff that puts us in our place." Dyvim replied as he stopped the car on the side of the road and opened his door, stepping out.
"Well, are ya coming?" He asked the others. "Let's go and check this stuff out, shall we?"
"Indeed we shall!" The fox agreed, unbuckling his seat-belt and joining Dyvim outside the car as he did.
Joining her husband along with Dyvim and Natalia respectively, Judy stepped outside and immediately felt a blast of hot, arid wind that caused her ears to flop around haphazardly in the aforementioned gust. Stepping off of the gravel road and onto the dried lava, she heard the material hiss and crack beneath her toes, and quickly jumped to another slab of rock just before the previous one crumbled into bits.
"Watch your footing everyone!" She heard Nick call out in warning. "This stuff doesn't seem to be the most stable type of material."
"Right you are, Nick. But as a point of fact, this dried, ropy looking lava is called pahoehoe."
"Pahoehoe? Interesting term... Are you sure you're not a vulcanologist disguised as an office grunt?"
"Nick! Be nice!" Judy exclaimed, but faltered when she noticed that Dyvim was actually laughing.
"No no, it's alright. And like I said before, I'm just a guy who knows about this stuff. Besides, it isn't my first time coming here, actually: I came when I was fifteen years old."
"So that makes you our tour guide!" The fox coughed and rubbed at his neck. "Well, I guess you've already been doin' a pretty good job at that, so..."
The mammals continued their expedition across the landscape for some ten minutes longer before they came to a halt at Dyvim's call.
"Everyone, come this way, over here!" He called out. "Just above this ridge!"
Eyeing his location of choice, Judy could see smoke rising from the spot just behind the ridge, and decided to follow Nick and Natalia, eventually reaching the peak of the ridge.
Her jaw dropped so hard that she was surprised she didn't dislocate it.
Looking from the top of the black-rock hill, Judy stared down at a small-sized valley that stretched for what must've been a few miles, at least. Right in the center of the valley, a massive hole opened up, dropping for a good hundred feet into the depths of the gorge. Being able to clearly see inside the ravine, Judy found herself staring down at a boiling, fiery lake of magma; Red hot lava sloshed around violently within the confines of the pit, harshly spewing waves of magma back and fourth, releasing smoke and other volcanic gas into the air.
Plates of melting rock floated on the surface, consistently breaking apart and reforming like a puzzle, almost. Judy wasn't quite sure what she was seeing at that moment of time, but she knew without a doubt that that pit was no place for: She had zero intentions on being roasted alive now, or ever.
"We're not going down there, are we?" She asked timidly.
"Of course we are! We're gonna sacrifice you to the volcano gods, right Dyvim?" Nick teased with a grin, patting the male rabbit atop the shoulder.
"Nah, too far away and too dangerous... I say we head back to the car and head back to the hotel. We've had our fun, wouldn't you agree?"
"I know I would." Judy muttered as she backed away from the edge of the ridge and began making her way back the way that they came.
"So, Mister vulcanologist..." Nick started in regards to Dyvim. "Would you mind explaining to us what exactly that was back there?"
"That was a look inside the center of the world." Dyvim began slowly. "Real vulcanologists and scientists think that that's what happens beneath the crust of our world."
"Interesting stuff, I say. Do go on."
"They think that billions of years ago, the world was just like that in the beginning: Fiery, with lava pooling on the surface in ocean-sized amounts. Well, that's one theory..."
"You know... I think you'd make a pretty good vulcanologist." The fox added.
"Thanks, but no thanks: I'll stick to office work, mind you."
"Bor-ing!"
"It's not that bad, Nick." Dyvim retorted.
"Whatever you say, rabbit. Whatever you say." Nick said with a coyish smirk plastered across his muzzle. "Let's get back to the hotel now, shall we?"
7:38 P.M
Upon arriving back at their hotel, the only thing on Nick's mind was sleep, slumber, and more sleep.
After they bid their goodbyes to Natalia and Dyvim, the fox and bunny set foot inside the likes of their own room before closing the door shut for the night, separating them from the undulating blankets of shadows that grew only larger with each passing second. Wanting more privacy to themselves, Nick took the time to lower the blinds and reposition the curtains on the windows so that no amount of light peeked in, and no one could see inside whatsoever.
Turning around and facing his mate once again, he raised an eyebrow before bidding out his coming question.
"You hungry, carrots? I dunno about you, but I could use some grub... Literally... "
"I'm starving! Let's get something to eat!" Judy agreed, picking up the nearby hotel phone. "Room service?"
"Gladly!" Nick stated in agreement. "I'll take anything that isn't rabbit food."
"Says here they have fresh caught fish from the ocean... Sounds exotic!" Judy responded, looking at a nearby menu.
"I'll take it! You can get whatever you want, of course: We're on vacation!"
Smiling to herself, Judy dialed the room service number before ordering their food, which consisted of Nick's fresh-caught fish, and a vegetable soup for herself.
Joining Nick at the tiny dining table, Judy couldn't help but feel a slight sense of deja-vu.
"Doesn't this remind of our first night undercover? Remember?" She asked the fox, who looked up from his phone and shot her with an imaginary finger gun.
"How could I forget? It was our anniversary! Besides, we had unforgettable sex that night, didn't we?"
"Ugh, you're such a jerk."
"Hey now, you're the one who encourages it!" The fox retorted.
"Case in point." The bunny replied quickly, a sly smile spreading across her face.
"You know you love me!"
Judy responded with a light-hearted hmm sort of sound at the notion of the fox's comment.
"So, what'd ya think of all that lava back in the Crags?" Nick casually asked.
"Oh, well I thought it was pretty neat: Definitely not something you'd see anywhere in the Burrows, or in Zootopia as a whole!"
"You could say that again... I was really blown away by it, and it's a pretty scary thought, actually..." Nick trailed off, eyeing the carpet floor of their room.
"What is?" The bunny questioned curiously.
"Well, just what Dyvim said about the volcano and how powerful it is, and the fact that it could literally blow this island sky-high any second..."
"Well, I highly doubt that we'll have to be worrying about that, slick."
"Right, I know... But it still makes you realize just how insignificant we really are..."
"What're you, a philosopher?" Judy asked jokingly, causing the fox to bark a laugh.
"Far from it, carrots. I was just thinking, really. Nothin' wrong with that, is there?"
"Not at all!" She replied with a smile. She then looked to her left towards the door, where a knocking sound had emanated. "That's probably our food!"
She stood up from her chair and made her way towards the door, which she promptly opened before being greeted by the delivery-boar, who required her to sign a few things before the food was on the table and the door was closed once more. Seating herself beside Nick, the bunny immediately began to eat; Taking slow and careful sips of her vegetable soup, which itself was quite hot on it's own, not counting the spiciness that was topped off with the added green chili.
They didn't talk very much while they ate, as they were both quite invested in their respective dishes.
Eventually, all the food was gone and the two mammals then cleaned their plates before Nick excused himself to take a shower.
It was a nice night.
Hey Everyone!
I certainly hope that you enjoyed this latest chapter of mine! be sure to drop a review telling me whatcha think, especially on the more... Intimate, scenes...
Anyhow, I'm pleased to see how all of this vacation 'mini-arc' stuff turned out, and I personally cannot wait until Nick and Judy get back to the city! From there, they'll have quite a lot of new and interesting stuff to deal with!
Along the way, they'll see the reemergence of old faces, the coming of new places and new characters, and old questions will finally be answered and resolved!
I'm so excited about this coming arc, and I certainly hope that you all are too, of course! I have big plans with lots of moving parts, but fear not, for the solutions are just around the corner!
Speaking of just around the corner, we're nearly at 1000 followers! Almost! Aside from the lemon that I threw in during the final moments of this chapter, I also have another gift for you lot to celebrate the coming of such an outstanding achievement. I truly couldn't have reached this far without you guys, and I'm greatly appreciative of everything we've accomplished as a team! Thank you!
Sometime here soon enough, I'll be writing a complete bonus chapter for your prying eyes to enjoy! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but never got around to, obviously. The bonus chapter, titled Inferno, will follow in the footsteps of Vladzotz as he escapes the fires of his crumbling mansion, flees the Nocturnal-District, and finds refuge in Shahaz the Stinger's compound in the Sahara-Square, where he makes the painful recovery from his injuries.
I think it'll be really interesting to see what it would be like to follow things from the perspective of Vladzotz and his shattered mind. Can't wait to finish it! :)
Of course, the sooner we get to 1000 followers, the sooner I can reveal the bonus chapter to you! Do feel free to favorite/follow if you haven't already: Each and every one is greatly appreciated, one hundred percent!
That's all I really have for you lot as of now, so stay tuned for chapter 52 and the bonus chapter, both coming your way soon! :D
'Till next time...
Peace!
:)