"With enough time, you can get used to almost anything." - Katherine Applegate
10:00 A.M
The following morning was one that could be acutely described as hectic, in the very least.
The night had been spent in study and silent kisses until the bath water turned tepid, and while they had managed to get nearly all of the questions that they asked each other correct about the placements of various towns, cities, streets and hamlets, a sense of slight worry still followed them both as they arrived at the station the following morning.
Thankfully, Chief Urzo did not seem to have a quiz ready for them, but instead ordered them to the Bear's Den to receive their assignments for the corresponding day.
Which, of virtually no surprise whatsoever, was parking duty.
Ah, how the mighty have fallen. Nick himself never could have guessed that he'd ever have to deal with parking duty again, though the thought had crossed his mind a few times before in the past, admittedly. He figured that his frequent clashing with Chief Bogo would have eventually landed him in the job, but thankfully, that had never happened until now. The fox smirked, thanking his lucky stars (And personal rabbit's foot) that he'd managed to make it this far without such menial and degrading punishment served.
Meanwhile, Judy herself was about as excited as she could be: More ticket and parking duty was probably the last thing she wanted to do when it came to police work. Hell, at this point, she almost looked back at all that dangerous and crazy work she'd undergone these past few months as downright preferable. At the very least, perhaps, she'd prefer something a bit more action-packed and exciting than simple ticket work. But still, it was better than whatever nightmarish paperwork Bogo must've been dealing with now.
As they left the precinct, they double checked their new gear in the trunk of their cruiser, making sure they were at least somewhat used and familiar to the new equipment that they would be needing to use. All the while, Judy huffed and grumbled her way through putting on her brightly-colored meter maid vest. To his credit, Nick himself didn't complain at all whatsoever, though Judy could tell that the only thing he really liked about this assignment was that they were, at the very least, still partners through it all.
That thought made the female bunny smile even past her brooding feeling of disappointment.
Judy had taken his advice to heart before falling asleep the previous night; Realizing that even though they were being punished for what they had done in regards to dealing with the rat, that it could have been a whole lot worse. They'd been temporarily docked a rank, true, but they were still partners and were still on the force, both being blessings that she counted on grateful paws. If anything, that fact alone would serve as the driving force behind her sense of motivation and determination for the following few weeks.
"So, whose morning should we ruin today, Carrots?" Nick grinned as Judy pulled the cruiser out of the parking lot, driving onto the road and taking to the streets.
The question actually left the rabbit wondering herself.
"Nick, did any of the maps we studied last night actually show where the parking meters in town are located?"
A twitch of his bushy orange tail was the only answer that she needed.
"Oh, for the love of..." Judy trailed off before practically slamming the brakes on the vehicle. "Hand me the radio, dumb fox."
11:29 A.M
Only a hundred tickets between us by noon... Judy thought with sadness as she printed out her 101st ticket of the day.
With a slight sigh, the female bunny placed it onto the windshield of a decently sized family car, according to the tiny deer-shaped family decals on the back, what must have been some sort of Cervidae. It had taken them nearly half an hour to find, from what they learned from radioing the precinct, one of the only three areas where parking meters could be found in the entire district: Beaverdam, Maple-Heights, and The Underbrush, all three of which housed the forest district's tallest buildings and widest parking spaces.
To make matters worse, Nick and Judy's first slew of ticketing was located in The Underbrush, a section of the Deciduous-District that was heavily populated by deer, apparently.
Many species may have evolved past their primitive, savage ways, however, instincts were still catching up thousands of years later. Judy herself was well aware. As soon as their cruiser pulled up onto the side of the street, dozens of white-tailed deer made mad dashes towards their vehicles, each one over-filling the meters with coins before going back to whatever business they were attending to mere moments earlier, as if nothing had happened at all. Apparently, they were quite used to dealing with parking tickets.
After spending nearly an hour in that specific area, the two tiny officers had only managed to place two tickets a piece. They were quite eager to move on, least to say.
The second area had been much like the first, though they had managed at least an additional 30 tickets between them both thanks to stumbling across a community meeting, seemingly about correct hibernation practices for the local bear population, which allowed the bunny and fox to dish out plenty of fines for the various vehicles parked close by.
Soon enough, that part of the area was behind them, and now, Nick and Judy were concluding their first section of ticketing for the day, of which would be followed by some routine patrols of a nearby public park, before finally setting out towards Maple-Heights for some additional neighborhood patrolling. Both mammals were quite excited to be able to explore the colorful hills of the aforementioned township, as it was already one of their own personally planned tourist destinations that they intended on visiting sometime during their time there in the dense woods of the Deciduous-District.
Judy herself shook her head from side to side, bringing her attention back to the present: The bunny wanted to focus on the task directly in front of her, for starters. She heard the whirling of Nick's ticket machine a few cars ahead, watching as he gleefully placed the ticket on the window. It wasn't until she walked past that she saw the reason for it, as the car's back window was adorned with a large bumper sticker of a circled fox face with a line through it. The owner of the vehicle clearly wasn't a fan of the vulpine species.
"Nick, you missed one." Judy called out quickly, hoping to take his attention away from the car, if only to keep him from purposefully putting more tickets on it than necessary.
The fox turned slowly, one eyebrow rising in amusement as his mate pointed to a large car behind him all the while.
"Did I now?" He inquired curiously. "Looked fine to me."
"Take a closer look. They're parked over a foot away from the curb, and are also over the lines, as this is a large mammal car parked in a medium-sized parking spot. See?"
Bending down and analyzing the car's stature more closely, the fox then nodded to himself in seeming understanding as he spoke out loud;
"Ah, now I see it. Must not have noticed it early because I was too distracted by that stupid car sticker over there. How much would this one total to, huh, fluff-butt?"
"Two hundred dollar minimum fine, I believe."
Nick's smile widened as he walked back to the car, readying the ticket. "Ouch. Consider this guy's day officially ruined."
11:45 A.M
Through paper tickets and metal cars, the titled 'Safest job on the force' still had its exciting moments.
Although the two tiny officers could safely say that they both missed the more thrilling side of being a police officer, they were quite alright with getting some easy work every once and a while, even in the form of paperwork, at times. Sometimes being able to sit down and accomplish something without being shot at was a nice change in pace, and just so happened to be one that both Nick and Judy managed to find great appreciation for. They both easily recognized the magnitude of their past missions, and although in comparison, their current work was novice and trivial, neither of them could deny the fact that at any moment, even the most simple of things can take a turn for the worse.
Or at the very least, an unexpected turn.
After finishing their previous ticket section on the outskirts of The Underbrush, Nick and Judy then set out deeper into the forested depths of the Deciduous-District, soon finding themselves at a small wood and brick community near the base of one of the mountains that bordered the valley. This particular settlement wasn't quite as large as some of the others that the two tiny officers had seen thus far, this one consisting of just a single main street flanked by a few dilapidated brick buildings and wooden shacks strewn along the sidewalks.
It wasn't exactly the most savory sight on the eyes, least to say, and reminded Nick himself quite a lot of his old hometown, the rusty slums of the sub-district, Happy-Town, in Savannah-Central's poorest neighborhood. It was a pretty run-down and poverty-stricken area, much like The Docks, the most noticeable difference being the population of both respective areas; While The Docks housed various forms of marine mammals such as narwhals and seals, Happy-Town was home to nearly a 99% predator population. Now, the neighborhood stood as a sad reminder of Zootopia's bitter past, when predator and prey were still dealing with the worst of their differences and ideals, or lack thereof, in fact.
The fox shook his head from side to side: Despite growing up there with his family, he didn't like to think about it that much. There was some bad memories from that place. Even despite that factor, both his mom and his dad still lived there, although in separate homes, thanks to their divorce. Nick sighed, and instead took to focusing on the bright and beautiful trees around him rather than the grimy, disappointing buildings, as they were far more appealing to stare at than the rotten old shacks and crumbling parking lots.
Staring through the transparent cruiser window and up at the glittering forest canopy above his head, the fox smiled at the sight of the shining sun beams streaming through the holes in the blanket of leaves that separated the sky from the ground. Despite his cynical nature, he couldn't deny his appreciation for nature. The Deciduous-District just so happened to be full of it, even with the more run-down sections of the community having plenty of trees and other stunning natural sights to behold.
Eventually, their cruiser reached the end of the street, having dealt with all of the overdue ticket meters and offending parked cars, with one rodent-sized vehicle being parked in a spot sized for a fully grown adult grizzly bear! Who even does that? The fox shook his head around, chuckling lowly to himself all the while. With her length years twitching in detection, the nearby female bunny turned towards him with a quizzical look displayed upon her face, her expression that of confusion, and even a little bit of sympathy.
"What's so funny?" She asked curiously, to which the fox beside her lolled his head in seeming amusement.
"Oh, just thinkin' about today, really. Nothin' much." He mumbled before an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Say, carrots, when was the last time we went to my mom's?"
"You honestly don't remember the last time you went to you own mother's house?" The rabbit questioned with a slight smile of disbelief.
"Mind you, us foxes aren't as big on family ties as you rabbits are. We're kinda solitary creatures, ya know? Whatever, just answer the question, you."
Judy lightly tapped against her chin for a few seconds as she thought back. Eventually, she slowly stated out loud;
"Not too sure, honestly, but I do know that it's been well over a year, at least. Sound about right?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Once all this is over, and we can go back home, we should pay her a visit."
"Ah, good idea, slick! Might be pretty fun, actually!" Judy responded joyfully, as always.
"Could be. Been a while since we last saw her, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to do some catching up. Not very courteous of me to not keep up to date with her, huh?"
"True, but I still think that you could have-"
"Achoo!"
A loud sneeze pierced the air, interrupting them and effectively earning the attention of both the rabbit and her husband as they turned towards the source of the sudden noise.
Nick and Judy turned to see a skunk, probably in his late college years, leaning against a wall just outside a nearby restaurant hidden in the trees. Glancing briefly towards the brick building itself, the female bunny herself noticed a rather broad wooden sign nailed to the wall directly behind where the skunk was standing so casually to himself: No loitering, it requested in big, bold red words large enough for anyone to see. Clearly, the skunk reclining before it must not have had much appreciation for the simple request.
"Hey, looks like that guy's loitering, to me." Nick stated aloud, his mate nodding in agreement. "Should we go notify him?" He said as he promptly unbuckled his seat-belt.
"Of course we should!" The rabbit responded with haste, all the while opening her side of the vehicle and jumping out.
At the thought of the skunk himself, Judy took a moment to look him over from head to toe; Striped black fur coated his body, the lower half of which was wrapped in what looked like purposefully torn blue jeans. As for his upper body, the skunk brandished himself a baggy, sleeveless denim coat, of which was lined with dozens of tiny cuts and other gross looking stains. The skunk's dark green eyes looked almost impossibly bored and dull, so much so that he didn't even seem to notice the two officers until they were standing directly in front of him, having momentarily abandoned their vehicle so as to peacefully speak with the offender himself.
Up close, both Nick and Judy had a much better sense of not only what the skunk looked like, but of what he smelled like as well: As if looking and acting shady wasn't enough, it was clear that this guy had little to no consideration for the public nor those around him, as it was custom for most skunks to refrain from letting their stench become too noticeable, often brandishing themselves with heavy amounts of perfume and cologne, if only to mask the natural musk that emanated from their bodies.
"Afternoon, sir. Just wanted to take the time to point out the fact that you're currently loitering, so..." Nick began, trailing off in a hope that the skunk would get the message.
With a distasteful look gleaming in his eyes, the skunk eyed the two officers up and down rather slowly, a slight smirk tugging at the edge of his lips all the while. Clearing his throat, the striped mammal raised one of his paws and jabbed a finger towards the lapin and vulpine, voicing his thoughts out loud in a quick question that surprised them both.
"Hey, aren't you those two coppers down in Savannah that think they're all that and a bag o' chips?"
"Um, pardon?" The vulpine asked with a quizzically raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you two. What, ya too dumb to think I wouldn't recognize ya from the news and all that stink you created?"
"Stink? Look who's talkin'." Nick spat back bitterly before turning to his wife. "So, Carrots, should I deal with him, or do you want to have some fun on your own, huh?"
"Ooo, I'm trembling in my denim!" The skunk crooned sarcastically. "Still, at least it's better than a meter-maid vest."
"That's just cold." The fox grumbled.
"What's your problem, anyways?" Judy found herself asking with an undertone of frustration.
"Don't look at me, you're the ones who came over here." The skunk retorted.
Judy's ears twitched at the sudden reminder of why they were even talking with the rude mammal in the first place. Rapidly tapping her left foot in irritation, she spoke aloud;
"Oh right, that reminds me: You're still loitering, so one way or another, you're gonna have to vacate the premises, for the moment. Think you can do that, sir?"
"I'd rather not, see, this wall is just so comfortable... You don't got a problem with that, do you?" The skunk growled with narrowed green eyes.
"It's only a problem if you make it one, buddy." Nick tried reasoning. "Just please step aside."
The skunk lowered his vision, seemingly thinking over the idea of simply moving away from the building. A few seconds later, he snarled lowly;
"Make me, then."
The female bunny sighed audibly, her paws placed firmly on the sides of her hips all the while.
"Fine."
Pursing her lips in discontent, Judy reached to her utility belt and pulled out her single pair of paw-cuffs.
"If you're not gonna be compliant, then we'll have to move you by force." She muttered, taking a step forward.
"Don't you touch me, bunny, or I'll spray you!"
That did it.
In the past, Judy and her partner, Nick, had arrested plenty of different people, loiterers included. It was standard that they had no right to touch the offender unless any sort of threat was applied, or if they were creating a bad scene, for the most part. Upon sensing the skunk's threat of spraying them, Judy's fighting instincts instantly kicked in: She then sprung forward rather quickly, ducking swiftly to the side of the skunk and positioning herself behind him before he himself even had a chance to blink a single time.
From there, she pushed against him, causing him to topple to the ground, despite not pushing against him very hard, even.
Once he was safely on the ground, the bunny lightly placed one of her feet on the stalk of the skunk's tail, holding it down so that if he were to spray, he would end up spraying himself in the process as well, ultimately discouraging the act in its entirety. She had learned that move during past police training when dealing with smaller-sized mammals.
"You're under arrest now, sir. You have the right to remain silent." She calmly told the offender.
"Atta' girl, whiskers!" Nick called out from a few feet away. "Nice work."
"Just another day on the job, huh?" Judy replied back with a proud grin.
"Hurry up, will ya?" The skunk requested as the bunny hauled him to his feet. "I got places to be!" He stated, slightly squirming against Judy's grip on his wrists from behind.
"Indeed you do: Jail."
"Well, that was a stinky situation, wasn't it?" Nick quipped with a coyish smile.
"Oh shut up." Both the rabbit and skunk said in unison.
12:06 P.M
Taking that rebellious skunk back to the nearby station was the most exciting thing to happen to the two tiny officers all day, thus far.
After dealing with the vile offender, both Nick and Judy quickly dropped a brief report in to their temporary boss, the grizzly bear, Chief Urzo, whom they intended on notifying of their recent arrest, alongside all of the other acts that they had accomplished earlier that day, including their ticket work, parking duty, and minor patrolling near the public park.
As it turned out, the skunk himself was a rather frequent visitor to the Precinct, though almost always in cuffs. It wasn't even his first time being brought in for loitering, in fact!
But now, it was in the past, where it belonged. Upon dropping off the skunk at the nearby Precinct, Nick and Judy promptly set out for their cruiser so as to continue with the remainder of their work, which consisted of a routine patrol at a local park just a few blocks away from the aforementioned building. It took them only a few mere moments to arrive, but apparently, the job wouldn't be as easy as they thought.
For starters, the park itself was massive, at a whopping five miles in total length from front to back. The two tiny officers were required to do one quick roundabout along the edge of the park in their cruiser before getting out and doing a quick little walk around the park, just to make sure if everything was up to standards, and to keep an eye out for any offenders, of course. The two of them both secretly hoped to come across more trouble, if only to stave off the encroaching boredom of their rather simple, but lengthy task.
Thankfully for them, they got exactly what they wanted.
Once they had driven around the perimeter of the park itself, the two tiny officers promptly disembarked from their vehicle so as to start their first patrol of the area. Not even some half a mile inward did they come across their second offender for the day. Judy herself was the first to notice, her sensitive ears being the very first of the two mammals to detect a loud snoring sound emanating from the behind of a nearby oak tree.
Curious, the female bunny, closely tailed by the fox, approached the base of the towering tree and reared the circumference of its base to come to sight with a dozing grizzly bear even larger than Chief Urzo, though this particular bear's body seemed to consist mostly of flab and fat, as he appeared far less physically fit than the rabbit and fox's temporary superior. The grizzly bear before them was dressed quite simply, with a plain red shirt that was a bit too small for him, and a big pair of cargo shorts wrapped around his waist.
"Looks like he's asleep." Nick said flatly, the sight before him clearly suggesting exactly that. "Pretty loud though, with all that snoring. Should we wake him up, fluff?"
The female bunny leaned a bit closer to the bear, her purple-colored eyes narrowing in suspicion as a sudden realization dawned on her. Nodding in confirmation, she stated;
"He's not asleep, slick. He's hibernating!"
"What?" The fox cried in surprise. "How do you know that?"
"Well, it's practically winter, and we saw that meeting about proper hibernation habits earlier, remember?" Judy retorted.
"Yeah, I recall. Hm. Now that you say it, he does look pretty into it... Maybe he really is hibernating."
"Perhaps. If he is, then we need to wake him up."
"And why is that?" The fox questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Hibernating in a public place is against the law, remember? Same laws in the primary district apply way out here. Universal law."
"Okay, I see now. So what, you want to wake up a sleeping grizzly bear from the middle of his season-long nap?! I'm cranky enough waking up from a quick snooze. I wouldn't exactly bet that he'd be pretty happy if he wakes up, you know... Probably best if we just leave him be, wouldn't you say? I'd rather not be his first breakfast since dozing out."
"Just help me out here, ya wuss." The bunny mumbled teasingly as she took a few steps closer towards the slumbering grizzly bear.
"Come on, up and at 'em!" Judy stated as she tapped on the bear's shoulder, though the sleeping mammal held no apparent reaction to her sudden advances.
"Gees, all you bunnies really do have death wishes, don't you?" Nick grumbled as he approached his wife from behind. "Just your dumb bunny nature, I guess."
"Can it, scruffy." Judy grumbled, though not without a slight smile egging at the very edge of her lips.
After a few brief seconds of tapping (More like punching) rather aggressively on the dozing grizzly bear's shoulder, the female rabbit promptly noticed one of his eyes twitch a little bit before opening ever so slightly, the dark yellow-ish iris around his pupil just barely visible behind his thick eyelid. Pursing her lips in distaste, Judy then yelled into his ear;
"SIR! WAKE UP, PLEASE!"
The fox winced at the sheer volume of her voice, though at last, the grizzly bear himself finally held a visible response to their presence, with one of his dark yellow eyes opening nearly all the way, displaying his black pupil and the white of his upper eyeball. Smiling in satisfaction at her efforts, the bunny then took a step back and placed her paws on the side of her hips, eyeing the larger bear as he lazily slumped a bit forward, his tongue smacking against the roof of his mouth, all the while staring down at the officer before him.
"Yes?" He asked simply, his deep voice laced with a sleepy, dull undertone.
"Rise and shine, sir! I'm officer Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Nick Wilde. We just so happened to notice you sleeping - Hibernating, in fact - right here in a public place."
"So? I was tired." The bear rumbled lowly, his eyelids already beginning to droop once again.
"Well, I'll have you know that hibernating in a public place is against the law, actually." Judy stated officially. "It not only poses a danger to yourself, but a disturbance to others."
"But t-the... The grass just looked so soft..."
"I'm sorry sir, but it's just not appropriate. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the area."
"Urgh..." The grizzly grumbled. "Help me up."
Briefly looking towards and locking eyes with Judy, Nick nodded before stepping forward and gripping one of the bear's flabby arms, trying to help pull him to his feet. Despite his efforts, the bear barely seemed to move at all. Indeed, the fox might as well have been trying to lift a boulder, and at the rate he was going, he wasn't getting anywhere soon.
"Say, what's your name, pal?" The fox found himself asking as he tried again at lifting the bear's thick arm.
"Winnie..." The bear claimed before trailing off with a deep yawn. "Puverton." He concluded.
"Winnie Puverton, huh? Alright big guy, stand up, come on."
Nick's request didn't hold much traction on the bear's ears, apparently. Just mere seconds after the words left his mouth, the bear slumped over once again, and began snoring.
"Unbelievable. He fell asleep! Just right in front of me!" The fox grumbled. "Talk about rude."
The female bunny sighed audibly.
"Okay, how're we gonna deal with this guy?" She asked to no one in particular, though the fox beside her stroked his chin in seeming thought.
"Well, if we have a forklift, maybe we could-" Nick started, but was ultimately cut off when Judy's ears shot up towards the sky and she jumped up in excitement.
"I know!" The bunny claimed. "You wouldn't happen to have any honey, would you?" She asked with a sheepish smile across her muzzle.
"Course not. What exactly begs the question, might I ask?"
"Well, I remember a long time ago, back when I lived in Bunny-Burrow with my family, the largest resident mammal, who was a predator, I might add, in the area was this black bear that everyone called Robert 'Nodding Off' Norbeart, because he was almost always asleep in someone's backyard around these months. We used to always have trouble getting him to wake up and leave, that is, until one of my sisters actually came up with the idea of hovering a jar of honey under his nose, leading him off and away."
"Ah, I think I'm following you with this one... Good idea! Now, let's go get some honey, shall we?
12:31 P.M
Honey, as it turns out, works miracles.
Soon after purchasing a single jar of pure honey from the nearest convenience store, the fox and the bunny promptly returned to where they had first found Winnie, and sure enough, he was still sound asleep against the base of the big oak tree, his loud snores and deep, rumbling grumbles filling their ears and causing them to wince in apprehension.
Positioning the open jar just beneath the dozing grizzly bear's nose, it only took a few seconds before he began sniffing hungrily, his nose twitching in stimulation. In a moment, his eyes opened drowsily, and his black pupils locked onto the jar in front of him. With a dreamy expression on his face the whole way.
"Wow, that was honestly pretty impressive." The fox claimed, staring at the jar of honey in his hand with seeming awe. "Think something like that would work on Chief Urzo?"
"I'd rather not try to find out." The bunny replied back. "Still, I'm glad it worked on Winnie, though." She stated, thumbing off in the direction of the cruiser's occupied backseat.
"Sly bunny, as always." Nick said with a smile, all the while closing the door to the cruiser shut behind him after the bear had crawled inside and was safely secure.
"You know it." Judy agreed. "Now, let's get this guy back to the station."
The fox nodded in agreement, and was just about to start walking over towards the passenger seat when a sudden, timid voice pierced the air and caught his attention;
"Lost my nuts, lost my nuts, lost my nuts. All gone, none left... Gotta find 'em..."
Frowning in confusion, Nick looked over his shoulder and back towards the entrance of the park. Rummaging around through the healthy green grass right next to the gated entrance of the nearby park, a small, messy-looking male squirrel was frantically digging about in the soil, tossing up clumps of dirt behind him and grumbling about lost acorns.
"I don't think those are the only nuts he's lost, wouldn't you say, carrots?" The fox mused with a sly smile.
Rolling her violet colored eyes, the bunny then proceeded to walk over to the agitated squirrel, whom had his head buried in the ground, paws frantically clawing at the earth.
"Sir, I'll need you to cease and desist in the destruction of..."
She wasn't even able to get the rest of the sentence out before the squirrel turned on her, a surprising amount of anger flashing deep within his dark brown eyes.
"Everyone's always after my nuts! You can't have my nuts!" He hissed incredibly fast in a squeaky voice. "They're my nuts! Mine! Mine, I tell you!"
She took a step back, eyes widening as the smaller mammal lunged at her unexpectedly. She dove to the ground, avoiding his attack as he sailed over her. She heard an angry chattering and was up on her feet, her paw already withdrawing her taser, setting it to low voltage, when she heard a soft 'thuft', and a groan.
The squirrel was wavering on his feet, one paw raised as he stumbled towards Judy, and a colorful tranquilizer dart sticking prominently out of his back.
"You'll... Never get my nuts. Only I... Can eat them... Guh..."
He then fell to the ground, a gurgling snore escaping from his bucktoothed maw as his body relaxed upon the grass.
Nick chuckled to himself. "Well, I can't say I've seen that before. I'd give him a C-plus for drama, and a D-minus on that lunge, sound about right, Fluff?"
"Eh, I'd say an F-minus for that lunge of his. It surprised me a bit, sure, but I saw it coming from a mile away!"
"Sure ya did. That's why I needed to save you with my tranquilizer." The fox teased as he blew a stream of air on the hole at the end of his gun. "You're welcome."
1:03 P.M
That last offender of theirs was certainly one of the more unique arrests that the fox and bunny had undertaken.
After detaining the nutty squirrel, they had learned from the ZPD's records that he was a diagnosed mental patient whom often made frequent escapes from the metal institute up in the mountains that bordered the Deciduous-District. Apparently, the squirrel, whom went by Runfield Scratton, almost always fled to that specific park upon escaping from his hospital, so it was just a fat chance of luck that Nick and Judy happened to come across him during one of his escapes, the latest one marking the 18th such successful attempt, and the 48th attempt in total.
Least to say, Runfield was quite the escape artist. Nick himself could respect that.
Once the squirrel, along with a still sleeping Winnie, had been safely and effectively dropped off at the Precinct Seven head-quarters, the two tiny officers immediately made their way back to the park where they were expected to continue with their simple routine patrol. After hauling in three different offenders throughout their shift, two of which were residing in that very park, neither of the two mammals were that surprised to come across yet another citizen of the vast Deciduous-District having some trouble with the law.
Some two miles into the woods of the park, where the trees grew so tall and so thick that you could barely see past them, a small field of open grass and shrubs suddenly was present, right smack in the middle of the forest. Out in the small meadow, which was probably no more than a few acres across in both length and width, various small-sized trees grew, mostly spruce, for that matter, but that wasn't what caught the attention of Judy, always so alert and ready to spot crime, big or small.
Gnawing heavily on the side of one of the nearby spruce trees, a small young beaver, probably no more than twelve years old or so, was completely oblivious to the twin officer's presence. Grinning in amusement, Nick playfully nudged his wife with his wrist before stepping forward and approaching the water mammal quietly, so as to catch him off guard.
"Sir, what are you doing?" The bunny inquired sternly, effectively earning the attention of the mammal in question.
The young beaver looked up from the tree for a moment, blinking several times as he stared at the female rabbit officer with a rather sheepish smile across his muzzle.
"Uhh... What now?" He stifled timidly.
"This is a public park," Judy began, pointing towards a nearby sign with a sigh. "You can't be gnawing on trees in a public area. It's against city regulations."
"It was just a little nibble though!" The mammal whimpered. "I barely even bit it!"
The beaver pointed towards the trunk of the tree, of which was peppered with large bite marks that completely contradicted his previous statement.
"Leaf it to a beaver to say that eating wood is tasty." Nick quipped, earning a confused look from the water mammal and a roll of the eyes from his partner, whom spoke aloud;
"I'm sorry, sir, but gnawing on a tree in a public area is destruction of public property."
The beaver's face dropped in disappointment.
"Are you serious? But... I-I just needed a quick chew. Honest! You know what I'm going through, don't you, rabbit?"
Nick looked quickly at Judy, whom was surprised for a moment, before she caught Nick's gaze.
"See, she knows what I mean!" The beaver stated, pointing towards Judy. "You have to keep these teeth under control, lest they grow too large, right?"
"Yeah, you're right... I remember back when I was your age, I had to always use some chew-stick at night to keep my teeth from growing too large... Hmm."
A groan came from the fox, who placed a paw over his eyes before turning to head back to the cruiser. "This one is all yours Fluff." He grumbled, knowing this could take time.
Judy scowled at him, though quickly turned back to the young beaver and voiced her thoughts;
"Look, I know what you're going through, I really do, but you just can't do it here in a public park, so I'm gonna have to cite you for it. I'm so sorry, but this is something that needs to be worked on and fixed. We both know that, don't we? You caused permanent damage to the tree, so you're lucky that you're only getting off with a single citation."
The beaver's head sunk even lower.
"Mom is going to slap me with her tail for doing this again, I bet." He mumbled.
Judy's long ears shot up. "What do you mean, again?" She asked cautiously.
The young mammal's paw raised as he pointed towards a small grove of new spruce trees on the far corner of the park, each and every single individual tree covered in large bite marks and tiny little claw scratches near the trunks. The female bunny nearly gasped in surprise, but quickly composed herself before turning back towards the young offender.
"It was only a few bites." The beaver mumbled timidly, head lowered while he eyed his webbed feet with seeming disinterest and guilt.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers." Judy grumbled, before reaching for her pawcuffs. "Sorry kid, but you're coming with us."
Hey Everyone!
I certainly hope that you enjoyed this latest chapter of ours, as always. As you've likely long since been able to tell, this particular chapter focused a whole lot on the two of them getting used to their new gear, environment, and temporary jobs, alongside meeting a number of other people and learning the ropes of the Deciduous-District. The coming chapter, however, will have a whole lot more exploring and scene description, as I intend on having it focus a whole lot on their patrol throughout the forest district. Should be a rather neat experience, and I truly hope that you all will join me for it when the time comes!
Okay, now for some brief announcements! For starters, I would like to mention real quick that there is some more fan-art on my Tumblr account, so if you'd like to, do feel free to check it out and perhaps let me know whatcha think! Special thanks to the artists, of course. A splendid job on every level, for certain.
Secondly, some of you have been asking about the likes of the next bonus chapter, and when it's going to arrive. I assure you, I haven't forgotten about it! In fact, I've already started development on it, and should be released here sometime soon enough. Though of course, with that concept about to be put behind us, we'll be in need of some more soon enough: Expect another poll to be put up on my account here soon enough, of which will list varying options for the next bonus chapter, whenever that one may be. Regardless, things are in the works, so be ready for all kinds of new content comin' soon enough!
Alongside that, I'd also quickly like to point out the fact that in some time, I plan on going back and revising/editing the first few chapters of the story, giving them a completely new overall so as to give them a higher form of quality, at least up to par with what I've wrought in the recent months. As I'm sure some of you have been able to tell, this story has gone on for a long time, and although all things must come to an end, I still have plenty of more content for you guys in the future, near and far. However, that certainly doesn't mean that improvements can't be made to already released chapters, amiright?
So yeah, don't be surprised if a few chapters disappear, others combine, and the rest get some serious editorial overhaul. It's on its way, I assure you! :)
That being said, I would like to say once again that I really do appreciate all forms of follows and/or favorites, alongside some nice reviews, of course. Each and every single individual one truly does helps me strive through the thick of things, so please, do feel free to add to the masses if you haven't yet already. I truly cannot put to words just how thankful I am for and towards all of you for your help and support over the months. You lot are all real troopers, alright.
Anyhow, that's pretty much all that I got for you lot, at the moment. As always, do stay tuned for the next chapter, comin' your way soon! :)
'Till next time...
Peace!
PS: Once again, a special thanks to my friend Cimar for helping me develop this particular chapter.