"Life is full of surprises. Not all of these surprises are pleasant, so you need to be ready for what life brings you." - Anonymous
*BONUS QUOTE*
"The moments of happiness that we enjoy almost always take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us." - Ashley Montagu
3:04 P.M
Time and time it again, Nick and Judy always seemed to defy all expectations and come out on top, surprising as it almost always was to them and those around them.
The other officers in the precinct were perplexed by how many times they had returned from that patrol, having yet another offender in cuffs each and every single time, always led by the paw straight to booking. From there, the two of them would head right back out and soon return once again a mere hour or two later with yet another mammal being brought in. The revolving door of suspects even brought some of the various officers of Precinct Seven to begin a betting pool to see which type of mammal they'd bring in next!
Despite catching the interests and earning the admiration of the other officers, Chief Urzo himself was far from cheerful in regards to their success out on the streets of the city.
Once the grizzled grizzly bear had sent the two tiny officers out on their first day of work, he was expecting them both to be nothing less than utterly humiliated, as per Chief Bogo's explicit orders, and judging by the solemn expressions and balled fists that accompanied the bunny and the fox as they left Precinct Seven, he considered his job well done. However, what he did not expect was for the two of them to be making multiple return trips back to the station throughout their ticket duty, each and every single time escorting a cuffed mammal all the while, ranging from tiny squirrels to putrid skunks and towering grizzly bears. They must've had quite the busy ticket job earlier, least to say.
All this, plus officers Nick and Judy's surprisingly high output of tickets to the residence of the Deciduous-District, effectively caused Chief Urzo to nearly drop his jaw in shock.
He'd heard from Chief Bogo himself that both Nick and Judy respectively were an amazing team, especially when working together under situations that required quick action and even quicker thinking, as the water-buffalo had oh-so officially claimed, with the two tiny officers having taken down full-fledged crime-lords and entire criminal syndicates.
Nevertheless, that supposed fact didn't quell his surprise as the two tiny officers pulled in offender after offender over the course of their assigned ticket work. By the end of their regional shift, both Nick and Judy had bagged a total of six different mammals, with the last two, a duo of timber wolves fighting for unknown reasons, being brought in just a mere twenty minutes after their fourth offender, a twelve year old beaver whom had apparently gnawed down a number of protected trees without permission in a nearby park.
Chief Urzo was nothing short of surprised at their success, if not a tad bit proud, or impressed, even: He hadn't expected them to find such amounts of success on their first day.
Yet despite that feeling, the grizzly bear chief of Precinct Seven still had a bone to pick with his newest recruits, especially the vulpine, whom had a rather annoying tendency for big words and fast phrases, both of which irritated Urzo to no end. Beside the fox's overall attitude and demeanor, neither of which the chief was very fond of, the grizzly bear was somewhat concerned that he hadn't gone hard enough on the two officers. This temporary displacement of theirs wasn't supposed to be a fun and games vacation: Chief Bogo himself ordered Urzo to be both stern and steadfast when dealing with the lapin and vulpine, especially the latter of the two, of which he soon reasoned just exactly why.
In the end, though, it was of no real matter nor concern to him or anyone else: Chief Tom Urzo still had plenty of time to beat down and break those two into submission yet!
Soon after their ticketing shift finally came to an end, along with their spree of apprehending various petty criminals and other minor offenders, the grizzly bear then promptly assigned the two tiny police officers to their next mundane task during their stay in the woods of the Deciduous-District: A simple, two hour patrol along the outskirts and into the depths of one of the forest district's more prominent locations, Maple-Heights, where hilly groves and hollows of various species of maple trees grew in near absurd numbers.
Eventually, Nick and Judy found themselves on the road once again, though thankfully, were not required by the precinct to wear those ridiculous meter-maid vests. Instead, the two tiny officers could finally brandish their new, and matching, uniforms of forest green and sandy beige, allowing them to blend in with the surrounding trees and earth surprisingly well, or at least, much better than any vivid shades of blue would, for that matter.
Having never exactly worn matching clothes before, the two tiny officers found it rather odd, at first, but soon adapted to the new change quite quickly, and discovered that they didn't look half bad in such dull colors, either, despite Nick himself preferring brighter hues and colors, such as orange, red, and yellow, all of which he often adorned himself with.
And now, after a long day of rather menial work, the two were finally able to sit down and enjoy themselves, if only for a moment, as their cruiser glided down the smooth, dark black asphalt streets of the Deciduous-District, occasionally passing somewhat slower cars and other vehicles, or even taking a brief pit stop on the side of the road to stretch their legs and to even admire the beautiful scenery around them.
Nick himself, having grown beneath an artistic father, found great appreciation from the varying colors that speckled across and around his vision. Deep down, he loved it there.
Meanwhile, his lapin counterpart, although still coming to terms with the overall weight and impact of their punishment, still managed to enjoy herself nearly as much as he did.
As Judy manned the steering wheel of the police cruiser, the rabbit and the fox both chatted idly about a multitude of subjects, exchanged various forms of teasing banter, and even took to verbally quizzing one another over the various sections and other areas of the Deciduous-District. In fact, for the first time since arriving, they decided not to use their GPS locator to help them navigate their way to Maple-Heights, as they had both studied their little map so much so that they didn't even recognize the need to use it at all.
After a few miles of this, the two soon decided to sit back and listen to the radio, burning through a few songs before tuning in to one of the ZNN's main broadcasting channels.
"-With this latest bout of protests and public unrest centered around the controversial death of infamous media mogul, Grygorri Ratsputin, whom the ZPD have yet to release an official report on. The details surrounding the rat's passing have been cloaked in conspiracy as ZPD officers were spotted storming his private estate on the outskirts of Tundra-Town just the other night, yet still have yet to respond to public news outlets searching for answers, with the latest official confirmation being in a sudden spike of public arrests, of which are believed to be linked to the death of Grygorri Ratsputin himself. In other related news, known rabbit businessmammal Jack Savage is soon to be taking part in his trial, having been accused of financial fraudulence. Join us as Chief Thelonious Bogo of the ZPD gives us a preliminary public disclose after the break..."
With a shake of the head and a discontented sigh of irritation, the female bunny then promptly reached forward, and with a flick of her wrist, turned off the nearby radio and disconnected from the channel, effectively filling the inside of the police cruiser in utter silence. Said silence reigned superior for a few brief moments, that is, until Nick asked;
"Hey, you alright?"
Judy pursed her lips and lightly blew some air out from her two quivering pink nostrils.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit... Irritated, that's all. But hey, at least the ZPD is managing some exciting work without us... While we're stuck here..."
The fox nodded his head in seeming understanding, recognizing his wife's sudden symptoms, and promptly choosing to aid her in soldiering through them with his fast talking;
"I mean, sure, it's great that they're actually bringing in some of the littler guys, it really is, but I reckon that we'll be seeing some of the bigger fishes gettin' reeled in here soon enough. Maybe they'll bring us back into the fray a bit earlier if they need help dealing with the bigger baddies, eh? If not, then this little holiday-" He emphasized with finger quotations. "- Of ours still gives us plenty of time to relax and refresh anyways, so when Chief Buffalo-Butt comes callin', we'll be ready to take on whatever he throws our way."
The female bunny seemed to think over the fox's previous statement, for a moment. Her rather brooding expression trickled away gradually, and she soon stated out loud;
"I guess you have a good point. Besides, we have to let the rest of the ZPD do something now and again. Not very fair if we're the ones doing all of the heavy lifting, now is it?"
Nick himself smiled at her renewed enthusiasm and rekindled sense of optimism.
"You got that right, Carrots. I don't want my tax dollars funding a bunch of slackers, you know, now that a certain bunny is making sure I actually pay them, of course." He said.
"I still can't believe that you actually thought I'd let you get away with that, at the time. Dumb fox." The rabbit mused, all the while a coyish grin playing at the edges of her lips.
"What can I say, whiskers? What can I say?" Nick responded with a slight shrug. "I personally see myself as quite persuasive, mind you."
"Persuasive, huh? You mean like that one time you tried to talk Manchas, a fully grown jaguar, into submission while he was savage?" Judy teased, to which her mate chuckled.
"Or perhaps how I attempted to woo our way out of Castle Fangpyre, down in the Nocturnal-District?" He added. "That went about as well as I first expected it to."
"Good thing that potted plant was there to save us. You remember that?" The bunny questioned as she promptly halted their police cruiser by orders of a nearby stop-sign.
"Yeah, I remember. Who knew that ceramic and dirt could be so effective? Not me, that's for sure." Nick claimed, thumbing his chest.
"That reminds me... Why did Vladzotz have a plant, anyways? He lived in the Nocturnal-District, so why would-" Judy began, but ultimately trailed off when the fox interjected.
"I'm pretty sure it was plastic, if I remember correctly, but hey, I don't judge! If I lived down in that stinking pit like Flappy-Bat, I'd want a little bit of green in my house too."
Nick and Judy both laughed aloud, their consistent chortles filling the inside of the car, ringing about in their ears and igniting a pleasant sense of nostalgia. Thinking back on old cases and missions long since passed, neither of the two tiny officers could safely say that they escaped such a thought without even the slightest bit of it. Nostalgia weighed heavy on their twin conscious, one part of it effectively causing them to think back on past memories with a mnemonic smile, and another with a feeling of saudade melancholy.
Both the lapin and the vulpine respectively were subject to it, though the former especially was the most vulnerable to such thoughts and feelings, as she herself was easily the most deterred and intimidated by the weight of their punishment and exile. Here she was, Judy Hopps, hero bunny cop of the ZPD and the city of Zootopia, albeit temporarily, banished in dishonor from her beloved home, and doomed to spend the next three-ish weeks or so of her life performing menial and degrading assignments under a new boss.
Through the thick of the storm, however, she had her partner, Nick, by her side. That, if anything was perhaps the only thing keeping her afloat in such sickening times.
Meanwhile, the fox himself was more than content with being given such an assignment, fresh as it was: Not only did it allow him plenty of bonding time with Judy herself, which was something that he always cherished, of course, but it also allowed the two of them to explore the beautiful woods of the Deciduous-District, meet new mammals, try new and exotic things, and get off and away from all the chaos of the big city, and whatever else came along with their jobs as enforcers of the law and order itself, for that fact.
In a way, Nick saw their little temporary exile as a sort of pseudo-vacation, for lack of better terms. He may have been a rather prolific cynic, but it was quite clear that his more carefree side and overall state of mind saw the lighter side of their whole situation, as small as it seemed to be in his mate's eyes. The fox truly hoped that she would see that soon, too, as the last thing he wanted was for Judy to be so put down about their current predicament, especially if she was like that for the entirety of their little banishment.
That was something he would sure as hell wouldn't let happen, no matter the cause.
As their vehicle continued down the winding asphalt roads that meandered through the thick of the forest, the two tiny police officers gradually began to notice that the leaves around them were changing in overall coloration; The healthy greens and light browns slowly faded away, eventually replaced with varying hues of red, orange, and even bright yellow. The shining rays of daylight that beamed through the openings in the forest canopy above their heads dappled amongst the forest floor, creating bright and vivid patterns of sunshine and shadow, all pairing surprisingly well with the warm colors of the fluttering leaves and the dull brown hues of the craggy tree trunks and skeletal tree branches.
Despite being the one behind the wheel, the female rabbit herself used up nearly every ounce of her own willpower not to get distracted by all of the pretty colors and beauteous sights around her. She only saw what was ahead of her, far and near, down the road and in front of the car; The asphalt road was smooth and well-proportioned, each corresponding side flanked by towering rows of autumn-gold trees and flurries of dead leaves whirling by their vehicle as they drove down the meandering road, some leaves even getting stuck on and the windshield of the cruiser itself, sticking to the sizable pane of glass, unable to escape due to the momentum of the car and the girth of the wind.
Farther down the road and off into the deeper depths of the rosy forest, Judy could see small gusts of multi-colored leaves whirling around on the flat of the road, crisp autumn air carrying the dead and dying foliage in elegant dances around the open space, pirouetting in swirls of warm and blurring colors of red, yellow, brown, orange, and even green.
Much like the minuscule whirlwinds of dead and dying foliage around the thick asphalt road, the trees still coated in living leaves were adorned with varying hues of scarlet and gold, and the swaying animation of their skeletal branches as the wind whirled by was accompanied by the slight swishing sound of the air itself, and the rustling of the leaves in the cool breeze.
Even though she only saw what was ahead of her, Judy herself was still quite blown away by the sheer beauty of the land that they were currently exploring.
"Oh wow, this place is beautiful!" She exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"Yeah, quite a pretty sight. Makes me wonder if we'll come across any street-stands selling maple syrup... Now that would be really beautiful!" Nick himself stated cheerfully.
"If we find one, I'll be sure to stop so that we can get some, but don't forget that we have a job to do, Slick."
"Right, right, I haven't forgotten, don't you worry, fluff-butt. I'm lookin' forward to the next few hours of aimless driving as much anyone." The fox replied with a bark of a laugh.
"Only someone as boring as yourself could come up with such an accurate statement." Judy teased, to which Nick snorted through his nostrils before speaking out loud;
"I'm only as boring as you make me out to be, Carrots. Alrighty then, let's just finish up with this patrol so that we can go home soon, shall we?"
6:18 P.M
As it turns out, two hours of aimless driving isn't always the most boring thing, after all.
Soon after entering the golden and forested depths of Maple-Heights, the two tiny officers set out for a whole two hours worth of driving, roughly half of which was spent simply hiding themselves and their comparatively large behind a big bill-board advertising Snarlbucks, and calmly waiting for oncoming speeders to whirl by recklessly. During this time period, the actually managed to intercept one such offender, whom happened to be a sloth, of which was no surprise to Nick himself, who was quite honestly expecting it, even.
Throughout their journey in and around Maple-Heights, both Nick and Judy respectively took note of the ever sinking sun, each passing second seemingly causing the nearby star to drop even lower and lower to the horizon. This wasn't very surprising to them, of course, as it was roughly the start of the winter season, and the light of the day seemed to slip by much faster than normal, thanks to the annual winter solstice that marked the season's sudden and humble beginnings.
Though the season of winter was a time that many mammals despised, due to having to deal with excessive fur and hair outgrowths, sudden hibernation, and other seasonal evolutionary traits carried down and practiced from the days of old, when mammal walked on four legs and predatory donned a taste for the flesh of their prey counterparts, Nick Wilde himself, as a sentient being, loved the feeling of the cold season. He was a mammal, whom despite growing up and residing in the Savannah-Central and Sahara-Square areas for the majority of his adolescent and adult life, found great refuge and appreciation from even the simplest of crisp, cold and cool breezes. In short, he simply loved winter.
Meanwhile, as the sun crept closer and closer to the edge of the earth that was the horizon, the sweet colors of dusk soon emerged for all to see. The clear and shining blue sky from the afternoon and midday was gone at last, instead replaced by a gradually dulling atmosphere filled with a sweet mixture of both warm and cool colors, respectively; Berry red patches of sky beamed brightly through the thick, violet clouds above their heads, creating a swirling miasma of yellow, orange, red, and dark purple, all of which seemed to shift and to change as the sun sank ever deeper toward the other side of the planet, where it would soon disappear, enveloping the world in black pool of darkness and shadow.
Nick, above all else, found appreciation in the more violaceous colors, as they reminded him of his partner's amethyst-colored eyes. She leaned against his shoulder the whole time.
Savoring the entrancing sight while it lasted, the two tiny officers both watched the sun as it finally vanished beyond the peaks of the nearby mountains, the polished black hood of their comparatively large cruiser serving as a stable, if not a tad bit uncomfortable resting place as they both stared down dusk's final moments, and the sky darkened slightly.
Although the sun had since vanished, their world was still lit by the dullest of light emanating from the behind of the mountainous peaks where the sun was last seen, providing an ample amount of visage for both Nick and Judy respectively to see well enough, even despite the former having his very own evolutionary visual adaptation to see in shadow.
Soon enough, though, the two mammals were back on the road once again, the dulling remnants of dusk filling their world with a multitude of ever darkening colors.
However, after a decent amount of time driving through the shadowy maple woods, Nick himself suddenly perked up in attention, pointing towards the side of the road as he eyed down what looked to be some sort of nearby road-side stand, or something, like the kind that Judy herself used to work at for some time back when she had first resigned from the force after the climax of the Night-Howler case and conspiracy. Standing behind the stand, where he seemed to be packing up for the day in preparation for a return back home, a lanky, fox sized male animal was hunched over a few boxes positioned near the back of the stand. Judy couldn't tell what type of mammal he was from there.
After a quick debate, the two tiny officers promptly decided to pull over so as to take a look at what the mammal was selling, which to Nick's great delight, turned out to be bottles of maple syrup and other sweet and salty items such as trail mix and even some honey. Upon approaching the stand, Judy herself got a better look at the merchant, and quickly deduced him to be an aardvark, a rare species of pig-like mammals that were usually found in the Sahara-Square area. This one happened to be dressed in a stained red plaid shirt, and sported a pair of denim overalls, complete with a slightly battered trucker hat placed atop his hairy head.
"Hey there, buddy!" Nick began with an enthusiastic snap of his fingers. "I see your selling some maple syrup, there... Is it too much to ask for an officer's discou-Ow!"
The fox promptly trailed off as his lapin partner elbowed him just below the sternum, cutting off his rather rude and sudden statement before turning back to the aardvark.
"Don't mind him, he's just being dumb." She claimed, jabbing her thumb back while smiling sheepishly.
"You know you love it." Nick muttered from the behind of her.
The aardvark chuckled lowly, and fully turned to face them as he stepped forward and closer to the counter.
"So, I take it you'd like somethin' then? Anything suit your fancy, there?" He asked simply, his accent tinged with the sort of tone you found in rural places like this.
"Yeah, think we can get some of that syrup, huh?" The fox stated, to which the aardvark nodded his head before bagging a few bottles of the stuff.
"Say, how do you make maple syrup like that, exactly?" Judy found herself asking the aardvark, whom simply chuckled before rather proudly stating aloud;
"Good question, Miss! Ya see, if ya drill a hole in the trunk of certain maple species, some clear, sticky sap will leak out, and you can collect it in a bucket. From there, you jus' gotta heat that darlin' up so that the water boils, and in due time, you get maple syrup! Pretty sweet an' sugary stuff, 'specially 'round Springtime here in the woods, I'll tell ya."
"Ooo, that's pretty neat! I actually didn't know that." The rabbit claimed with perked ears. "Do you do this all year round?"
"Ayup, and whenever the maple trees aren't makin' good syrup, I do pumpkins, squash, and other crops just on the outskirts of Maple-Heights. Tough work, but still fun."
The aardvark's calm reply settled upon Judy's long ears with a fervid sense of understanding and appreciation: Having grown up in a farming community herself, she was quite knowledgeable and surprisingly well-invested in such topics, even despite never wanting to be a farmer herself. Even she couldn't deny that she missed her family and old friends, and longed to be able to see them more, though the great distance between urban sprawl of the city of Zootopia and the rural farmlands of Bunny-Burrow was simply too great.
"So, what's you name, pal?" Nick questioned politely and with seemingly curious intentions.
"Terry! Terry Aferman." The aardvark replied cheerfully. "Sa' pleasure to meet ya both!"
For the next few minutes, the trio of mammals simply chatted about a variety of different topics, that was, until the female bunny finally realized that they were supposed to have reported back to the station nearly twenty minutes ago, and without any further hesitation dragged her partner back to the cruiser after bidding a prompt farewell to their new friend, but not without buying a few vials of maple syrup as well, for that matter. Soon enough, they were back to where they first started, on the road with high hopes.
Yet despite all that they had been through, and all that they could expect, they could still only wonder what tomorrow would bring.
Hey Everyone!
First chapter of the new year! I certainly hope that you all had a wonderful final few hours of 2016, and I also hope that the next 8760-ish are just as great! Looking back upon the past year as a whole, some of us might see nothing but the more unsavory stuff. A lot of stuff has happened within the last twelve months or so, and unfortunately, not all of it was very good, least to say. However, that doesn't mean that the last year was without its higher points: The community here is fantastic, and getting to know new people and things has vastly expanded my own outlook on all manner of subjects. I've learned a lot.
That's got to count for at least something, right?
Regardless, ever since I released this story of ours, it has only grown and grown; Risen to a height I've never even imagined. It's been roughly ten months since I released the very first chapter of this story, and look where we are now: 2017. Rest assured, there's plenty of more content to come throughout the following few months, and I certainly hope that you all will be here with me to experience it as it arrives. Farewell 2016, and cheers to the brand new year!
A special thanks to everyone that has supported this cause of mine. Thank you all so very much for giving me such a wonderful experience this year! :)
There isn't very much left to say on my part, really. I know that this latest chapter of ours was a bit shorter than usual, but I really wanted the entirety of it to be its own stand-alone chapter, really. I apologize if it's shorter than your tastes, but fear not, for the coming chapters will all more than make up for it!
As always, I hope that you all enjoyed this latest chapter, of course, and that you all will stick around with me for the coming chapters too, as a point of fact. Do feel free to favorite and/or follow this story if you haven't already (I would very much appreciate it), and to leave a nice review detailing your thoughts on all that has happened in this latest chapter of ours. I got tons of stuff planned for the future, so be sure to stay tuned for the next of When Instinct Falls!
'Till next time...
Peace!