AN: Shorter chapters then the main story of Distilled Dreams to help fill in the AU around the OCs that will be reoccurring. Much like some side quests while they add to the main story they are not necessary to the main plot so feel free to skip them if you wish. I hope you enjoy.

Distilled Dreams: Side Stories

The Black Sheep of the Family

Chapter One

"Ms. Blackwoole! Ms. Blackwoole!" Rosette Blackwoole's hoofs that had been tapping a quick pace over the polished marble floor of the law firms lobby came to a quick halt. She had made it halfway across the lobby before one of the receptionist spotted her. The small red panda sow quickly caught up to her clutching a folded piece of paper in her hand. "I am glad I saw you Ms. Blackwoole. Mr. Blackwoole...err...Mr. Augustus Blackwoole wanted to see you in his office when you returned from the client meeting."

Rosette opened the note the receptionist passed and recognized her Grandfather's neat handwriting. It took her a few moments longer then normal to read the note thanks her Grandfather's continued use of a fine tipped fountain pen and writing style with far too many loops for her taste. "Thank you Debbie. I'll head right up." Rosette said folding the note and tucking it into a pocket of her satchel briefcase. It said no more then when she got in to come see him.

Debbie returned to her desk in the middle of the lobby. Rosette's eyes followed her then past her to the free standing slab of black marble behind the reception desks. Carved into that stone and back filled with silver where the names of the law firms partners for all to see. Blackwoole, Blackwoole, Bellweather, & Goldfleece proudly gleamed silver in the polished black surface. She shook her head slightly and walked around the slab of stone. Her Father and Grandfather may be the two Blackwooles carved there but it was still her family name. A legacy to live up to if she ever wanted to add her name to that stone or to take up one of them when her grandfather finally retired.

Behind the stone and hidden from casual view was the private elevator that would take her to her to the top floor and Grandfathers corner office. In reality it would take her to any floor and wasn't really a private elevator but those working for the firm left it alone unless they had business taking them to the top floor so the partners never needed to wait long to get around between the floors. Stepping inside and pressing the button for the top she stared at the second carving on the stone as those doors closed in front of her. "Without law and without order all mammals are but savages in each others eyes," she whispered to herself. The Blackwoole family motto carved in stone and back filled in dull iron.

The elevator ride up gave her enough time to remember the first time she saw those word carved there. She had been five when her Father and Grandfather had brought her to the offices. To show her what they did for a living hoping they would spark her interest in continuing the family tradition.

"Well my little Rose," her Grandfather had said, "When you are grown even if your calling carries you away from these offices remember our motto. We have lived by it since before our ancestors first set hoof on these shores. Think of all the different species that call our society home now. They came from many different background and cultures. What may have been taboo for one may have been the norm for others. Predators felt justified eating prey to survive despite their pleas of mercy. Prey felt justified killing off any predators they could when they could. To themselves they both believe they are in the right. We as a society make laws that should apply for all to maintain order. They provide a common ground that we all share in. Without common ground we are but savages to each other."

"Who decides what the common ground is Grandpa?" her younger self had asked. She remembered the look that passed between her Father and Grandfather but neither of them answered her then.

The doors opened with a ding drawing her out of her memories. Four desks flanked four hallways and three heads lifted from whatever task they where doing to see who would be stepping out of the elevator. The young ewe in a too tight skirt by the hallway leading to the Bellweather corner office was too busy with a mirror and a wool brush to care who was coming up the elevator. Rosette spared her a glance not recognizing her. She didn't know her name but since she would likely be traded out in a few months once William Bellweather was bored of her she didn't much care. "Ah Ms. Blackwoole. If you would wait a moment I will see if Augustus Blackwoole is able to see you right away." The older sheepdog by the hallway to her Grandfathers office said as the others returned to their work. A brief intercom call was all it took for the sheepdog to gesture her down the hallway before he too returned to work.

"Ah my little Rose," Augustus said as she closed the door behind her. Augustus left his desk and gave his granddaughter a tight hug. Despite the gray slowing taking over his once deep black wool he was still in good health for his age. "How did the meeting with Mr. Big and the Wildes go? I was a little worried about sending you for it but you kept insisting," he asked as he went to the little sitting area with a view overlooking the city rather then back to his desk.

"The meeting went as well as it could have I suppose," Rosette said joining her grandfather at the more informal but far more comfortable sitting area. She took the file and notes she had made while at the Big Manor about the Wildes and what happen to Nicholas. Handing it to her grandfather so he could look over the details while she summarized.

"Thrice damned specist bastards!" Augustus bit out when he finished reading the medical report. He closed the files with a sigh and handed them back. Standing he went to a cabinet and after the sound of clinking glass returned with two tulip glasses with a swallows worth of amber liquid inside. "Here. Fifteen year single barrel. It will helps wash the taste of savages out of your mouth."

"Is there anything more we can do?" Rosette asked taking a careful sip. She didn't particularly care for whiskey but didn't want to refuse.

"The Wildes made their wishes clear and Mr. Big has already withdrawn his support from the Ranger Scouts until after they investigate the incident." Augustus said watching the amber liquid as he swirled his glass. "Until the investigation is over or either of them change their minds as to what they want to do we shouldn't take matters into our own hoofs." He looked up locking eyes with Rosette. "That being said it is unlikely this was an isolated incident. If one was to look around on their own they would likely find other who would be more willing to press matters without the same backlash as the Wildes would receive."

They talked about personal matters for a while after that before the intercom buzzed reminding Augustus of a rapidly approaching appointment. With one last hug Rosette left the office to return to her own. Her office was far from the top of the building but neither was it close to the bottom floors. After a short walk from the elevator bank everyone used her office door stood in front of her with its small bronze name plaque attached to it. Fishing a key out of her satchel she unlocked her office door and turned on the lights. Her office was small for someone with their family name on the side of the building. No windows and one wall was completely taken up with locking file cabinets to keep the files on her ongoing cases and clients safe in. The Blackwoole family didn't believe in nepotism despite what some whispered about and the office she was in is what she had earned. No real need for nepotism when nearly every waking moment at home growing up had been filled with debates and lawyer jargon. She had to learn quickly just to keep up and have a chance at winning the greatest ongoing debate in her family...what to have for dinner that night. It had taken her years to make a case to convene everyone to add meadow burgers and fries to the dinner rotation.

Settling in her desk chair she looked around the frames on the wall in front of her. A picture from her high school graduation when she was only fifteen with honor cords standing behind a lectern giving the valedictorian speech. The Juris Doctor from Zootopia University Law Department hung next to it that she had earned when she turned nineteen having to wait a year after graduating high school before the University was willing to accept her as a student. A handful of other photos and article clipping showed her by her Father's and Grandfather's side working as an aid for experience until she was allowed to take the Bar Exam. Nearby the photo of her holding up her results from the Bar Exam with a smile stretching from one ear to the other. She had been twenty-one then and had passed the first time was was able to take it. That was two years ago now.

Two years of working within the law to protect those who had that law turned against them or who the law failed them due to prejudices. She looked over a set of photos and articles about the cases she had worked on alone. A falsely accused weasel who she had proved was in an entirely different district when a convince store was robbed. A fennec fox family forced out of their apartment by a landlord contently raising their rent and charging false fines. This was the work she was most proud of and was largely pro bono.

Then there where the cases she worked on for the Family. Using loopholes and creating reasonable doubt to protect those who broke the letter of the law to preserve the spirit of them or those who kept the normally lawless underworld in check. Mostly it was the Enforcers charged with assault she worked with. Those that went after those that got too rough with hired companionship. Those that robbed shop owners that had overcharged or refused service to a certain species too many times. Those who where nearby when a slumlord 'accidentally' broke both of his legs when they 'fell' down a flight of stairs after shutting off the hot water in winter. While these cased did not fill her with the same pride as her others did they where necessary in maintaining order.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She had lied to the Wildes when she told them she couldn't imagine what they where going though. Opening her eyes she turned to the small picture frame on her desk. A simple instant film photo showed the fifteen year old version of herself and a seventeen year old snow white arctic fox todd hugging in cap and gowns at their high school graduation. A tear slowly dripped from her eye. Two days after they had graduated he had been found beaten to death in a back alley with his tail cut off. She remembered going into the police station to talk with the detective assigned to the case about mammals who may have wanted to harm him. The detective had laughed and told her he had better things to do then finding those who had removed a filthy pelt from the streets who probably deserved it before kicking her out of the station. She had gotten her first true look into how her family was connected to the underworld when two weeks after crying to her father about what happened and telling him what she was going to tell the police the detective was found shot along with a group of street punks with a snow white fox tail in their possession in the same alleyway.

"We work within the law to protect those who are forced to work outside of it to keep the savages at bay," she said to herself repeating what her Father and Grandfather told her after that introduction to the darker side of her families work. Her eyes hardened as she wiped the tear away and took out the files from her satchel. She had work to do if she wanted to make sure what happened to Nicholas Wilde and the others like him didn't have a chance to happen to anyone else.