Summary:

Hugo searches Gateway Bay City after Judy has a fateful confrontation at Dee's. While he searches, she attempts to drown her sorrows at the bar. Looking for a way to make some quick cash as a solution to her housing problem, she decides to try her luck at the strip club. Hugo search for Judy is fruitless, but in a final stroke of irony, they come within shouting distance of each other only to be turned away at the last minute by powers beyond their keen. Their paths diverge for now, but all too soon will they be brought back into the conjunction of fate.

Notes:

I'm sorry that this one is two days late. I have spend a fair amount of time writing, editing, and massaging this to get it to this point, and ready or not, here it is. To Upplet - I tried to keep it short and sweet, and you will be able to see where I was able to condense it down, but eventually the story must be told in it's own fashion, all 8,427 words of it. To Dakzoo - thanks for letting me bounce ideas off of you, and for being my cheerleader behind the scenes in all of this. Sorry I made ya wait! :)

Flashback: 8 years earlier in Gateway Bay City

Mork sat on the edge of the circular fountain, sketching the Art Institute's students rushing back and forth. It was graduation day, and there was a rush by students to get dressed and down to the event center for the graduation ceremony. The fountain afforded the porcupine the best place to sit and mammal watch, as the wall was low enough for him to sit comfortably, his spines couldn't stick anyone as they were tucked into the fountain, and he could lay his tail in the water to help cool himself in the late spring heat.

He was sketching a couple of sheep who had dropped their art work on the ground and so he was facing the wrong direction when he heard her call out. His head snapped up, and he turned to the sound of her voice. Holy Shit! He thought, as he caught a glimpse of her gray fur running through the sea of blue robes. Long ears tipped in black, a carefree smile and those amethyst eyes. He would know that face anywhere. It's Judy Hopps! What the Hell!

He struggle to his feet, dumping his sketch book and pencils to the ground as he attempted to call out to her, "Judyyyyy," but she was gone through a side door without even a backwards glance. He was left standing there dumbfounded, the water from his tail soaking into his art-book.

The only thing he could think of in that moment was, The Doc is gonna shit himself sideways when I tell him this!

Mrs. Bonnie Hopps

I am writing you to let you know that I now have a credible lead on Judy's where abouts. One of my other Cliffside students, Mork, is now enrolled in the Gateway Bay City Art Institute. He has reported to me that he saw Judy at the Institute on Graduation day earlier this week, and he has positively identified her by her black ear tips, eye color, and voice. He is not certain if she is a student there or not, but the other students he has talked to there recognize her description. Apparently she is a regular on the Institute grounds, and is typically seen involved with the Sculpture classes.

As it is too soon for her to have graduated from the school, if indeed she is a student there, I feel confident that she will still be on the grounds, at least for the next few days. As I have little time to spare for a search before the school gets out for the summer, I have booked an immediate flight to Gateway Bay City. Boarding starts in just a few minutes, and I should be there on the ground by this evening.

I will keep you apprised of any new developments.

Sincerely

Doctor Hugo Wiedii

Mork walked along the sidewalk towards Dee's Kitchen. One of the sculpture students had mentioned in passing about going back to Dee's for a post exhibition party, so he was following up on that tidbit. There were several Dee's Kitchens in the city, but this was the closest one to the school, so he thought he would try here first.

He walked to the door at what looked to be the dinner rush, but as he turned to pull on the door, he saw her. She was standing at the computer on the counter, a pencil held in her mouth, as she busily tapped in orders. He quickly whipped out his phone, and took a picture of her working at the counter. As he contemplated going in and trying to approach her, another mammal exited the door, and as they did so Mork was struck by two things. It was indeed crowded and noisy inside, which was going to send his social anxiety through the roof. But worse than that was the smell of cooking meat, which immediately made his stomach want to flip-flop.

He staggered over to the lamp post, and struggled to calm the incipient nausea. Straightening up, he looked for a place to wait, and across the street he saw a coffee bar. Perfect!

He hurried across the street before the crosswalk light changed, and slipped into the bar. Ordering a black coffee, he settled down at an exterior table to wait for the rush at Dee's to die down, and also use the opportunity to sketch the mammals walking by his table.

He had only been there maybe 20 minutes, and had been considering ordering an apple danish, when he saw two strikingly similar canines enter into the restaurant. They were tall, regal looking mammals, with very light brown coats, almost a dun cream color. They wore identical khaki outfits, and he supposed that they might be sisters. They were quickly seated at a table by the window facing him, and he used that as an opportunity to quickly sketch them. He wasn't close enough to make out their exact facial features, so he went for capturing their body language in his drawings.

As he watched them, Judy came up to wait on their table. Ooo... Perfect, he thought, I can get them all at the same time. But as he watched, something appeared odd in this situation to his artist trained eye. Judy was talking to only one of the canines, first gesturing to herself, and then to them. The other canine was getting progressively more agitated until suddenly, she exploded out of her seat and started screaming at Judy. The other canine stood up quickly, and tried to separate them, struggling to drag the other one out the door. As they reached the door and backed out through it, he could hear the angry one screaming about blood murder! That one quickly turned on the calmer one, screamed at her about not supporting her in her time of need, and took off running down the street. The calmer one looked anguished for a moment, before she took off after the other without a backwards glance.

Judy stood still and unmoving by the table they had just left, her ears flat against her skull and her eyes downcast as she shook. A small black bear in an apron quickly approached Judy, and asked her a series of rapid fire question, to which Judy only nodded. The bear pointed to the door, and Judy pulled out a black object from her apron and threw in on the table before running to the back of the restaurant.

Uh Oh, this can't be good, Mork thought. He quickly collected his book and pencils, and leaving the thoughts of apple danishes behind, he rushed to the street corner as fast as his short porcupine legs could take him. He tried to cross the road, but he was almost run down by a yellow taxi cab that flew past him, it's horn blaring in indignation. He stepped back on the curb, and punched the cross walk light several times.

When he looked back up, he could see Judy run out of the front door, dressed black shorts and a black jacket. He tried to yell out to her, but his voice was lost in the sound of four lanes of traffic. She turned the corner in front of him, and ran down the hill and quickly out of sight.

The light finally changed for him after a few more moments, and he waddled across as fast as he could, but by the time he got to the opposite corner, she was gone.

Oh, Shit! The Doc ain't gonna be happy about this, he thought.

H.W.M.D.:

F ennick, as I reported earlier, I have arrived in Gateway Bay City, but despite my previous optimistic assessment regarding my search for my stray , things have not been been going according to projections.

Zerda, Fennick:

You mean it's all gone to shit?

H.W.M.D.:

While that is a rather crass assessment, it is an accurate one. It is a big heaping pile of doo-doo.

Mork was able to find her work location, but apparently she had an altercation with customers and was fired on the spot. I tried to meet with the owners of the establishment, and even presented them with my credentials, but they offered to have me bodily removed if I didn't leave forthwith. It was after I left there that I was approached by one of the other waitresses who handed me Judy's last know address.

Z erda, Fennick:

Well, that's good news, at least!

H.W.M.D.:

I would have thought so as well, but she was also supposed to be evicted t o day due to the non-payment of rent, and had returned home after being fired to pack everything she owned into a truck. I just finished talking to the nice old landlady in her building who was clearly more sympathetic to Judy's plight, but she was unable to provide me with an accurate description of the truck, as she was rather nearsighted. She did manage to give me two additional phone numbers usable as possible contacts, so I am going to try them next.

Z erda, Fennick:

Well, Good Luck, Cat!

H.W.M.D.:

Thank you. I will needed it.

The first number he tried came back as disconnected, which wasn't good, so Hugo tried the next one. That one started to ring, but after a couple of tones, it went straight to voicemail. The message on the phone was simply the phone number spoken by a computer voice, so he had no way to establish if this message would reach Judy.

Beep! "Judith Laverne Hopps, this is Doctor Hugo Wiedii, from Cliffside. I don't know if you would remember me after all this time, but I would very much like to speak to you, if you would be willing. I am in the city, and visiting with Mork, who was also in your class. If you like, perhaps we could all get together over tea, and discuss living on the west coast?" Beep!

Hugo looked at the phone, and contemplate rerecording the message. But he left as it as he had no idea how to make it better than it was. Closing down the phone, he stood on the sidewalk in front of her old apartment, staring down the dark street at the night sky beyond.

Now, if I was a homeless, jobless conejita with all my belonging stuffed into the back of a truck, where would I go?

He had absolutely no idea where to start.

Judy sat at the Misty Visions bar, located just behind the airport, nursing her beer, and musing about her lack of planning in life. Like how she could have possible thought that coming here, to Skye's favorite dance club, was going to assuage her loneliness. Here she was, sitting along at a bar, surrounded by all these hot vixens, and all she wanted to do was go home and cry. Not that she had a home, since she packed all that up today. Great job, Judy! Pick a fight with coyotes who definitely hate you, get fired, end up homeless again, and now work on getting drunk and weepy. That's a great plan for a great day. And to top it off, now I have to pee.

She pushed away from the bar, and slid off the bar stool, stumbling just a little on her landing. Oops, maybe that was one beer too many, she thought, No wonder I need to pee. She pushed her way through the throng of legs to the back of the club, and pushed open the swinging door leading to the bathrooms. The DJ was in the middle of a set, so the line for the female's bathroom was non-existent. Maybe she would finally get lucky today, and find a stall that was somewhat clean. She opened the free stall and had to hold her nose. GAH! Can some mammals not flush? She thumbed the button, and flushed the fragrant floating flotsam out of existence. She jumped up on the rim, pulled down her shorts, and did her business.

Her phone started to buzz, so she had to try to fish it out of her shorts while not slipping off the rim at the same time. Holding it up, she read off the number. What the Hell area code is that? Great, a spam call. Let me guess, my car's extended warranty is about to expire? She sent the call to voicemail.

Finished with her needs and the phone call, she stretched for the toilet paper roll mounted on the stall wall, just out of reach. These damn toilet stalls aren't made for small mammals! As she reached, her foot slipped on the rim, and she flailed for balance, falling off the toilet to land on the floor on all four paws, her shorts still down around her ankles.

SPLASH!

What? What just went splash? She looked down at her paw, and in horror she realized that her phone was no longer there. She shoot upright, and peered over the edge of the bowl. There it was, sitting at the bottom of the toilet bowl. GAAAAAAAAHHHHH! This day cannot get any better, can it? She screamed inside. She yanked her pants back up, and leaning over the rim, she fished out her phone. She tried to power it on, but to no avail. It was dead.

She left the stall in a fog of drunken depression, and not really thinking about, she pulled up a stool to the sink, and proceeded to wash her phone. She stopped for a moment, staring at her paws, struck by the inanity of what she was doing before slowly turning the water off, and setting the phone aside.

She stood on the stool, staring at her reflection, a single tear of frustration sliding down her cheek. What was she doing here, torturing herself like this, she had to wonder to herself. She should probably just go back to the truck and sleep this off, except for the fact that she was still terribly lonely. Wait, a minute! Her head popped up. What about Frank? He should be here, working tonight. I could go visit with him, and that should take the edge off! He's always been a great listener for the gals. She grabbed her dead phone, hopped down off the stool, and head out of the bathroom, taking a hard left down the hall, away from the bump and bustle of the dance floor, toward the other end of the club.

Misty Visions was a chain of clubs on the west coast, part dance club and part strip club. Using a loophole in the zoning laws, they keep the alcohol on one side of the building, and the nudity on the other, joined together by a smaller building with 'shared' bathrooms. It was a nod and a wink, for sure, but it work with the law, and gave the patrons who went clubbing their choice of distractions. Frank, a large Amazonian Jaguar, was the bouncer for the strip club side, and part of his duties was to sit by the door and make sure club goers didn't try to sneak drinks in anywhere except in their stomachs. So he was used to dealing with drunk females like her.

She pushed the door open to the strip club side, and walked into a quieter side of town. There were music sets playing for the various females working the poles, and on the far side there was a raucous gaggle of females throwing money at a pair of male snow leopards – that must be a bachelorette party. But for the most part, it was quieter here, to add to the allure and sexiness of it all.

Skye had liked to come over on this side, in between the dance sets, so that she could ogle the other vixens, and to show off her girlfriend as well. It was amusing to Judy to consider just how monogamous Skye had been with her. Judy had never demanded it of her, but the vixen rarely if ever strayed. She had had her rabbit, and there weren't many of those around that would play with her, so she stayed devoted to Judy. For Judy's part, she kept her extra-curricular activities strictly limited to her work with Jack and her modeling with the school. That kept it professional, and kept it from intruding in on their mutual relationship.

Not that Judy's eye didn't wander as well. She liked the males too, especially the smaller predators, and this was a great place for her to indulge in those fantasies as well. Skye had little use for males, but she liked to indulge her rabbit, knowing what bed that a certain horny rabbit of hers would end up in, and getting Judy worked up about predators always promised a night of fun.

Judy paused for a moment, scanning about for Frank. She spotted him at one of his usual haunts, a pair of stools up against the far wall where he could fade into the darkness while still keeping watch over the club with those great big yellow eyes of his. She hopped over to him, and gestured to the stool next to him. He tilted his head, and gestured to the stool as well, inviting her up. She climbed up, and sat down next to him.

"Hello there, little bunny," he greeted her, "You and your gal working the dance floor tonight? I haven't seen you two in a while." He nodded his muzzle at the door leading back to the dance side.

Judy just shook her head slowly, "No, Skye moved back up north."

"What? You two broke up? Shit, that's too bad. You two were always sweet with each other."

"No, no… We didn't break up, sort of." Judy tried to explain, "Her mom has ovarian cancer, and Skye moved back in with her to help about six weeks ago. I couldn't go with her, so I had to stay here. Her dick of a dad doesn't approve of the whole female on female thing."

"Aw, Fuck, little rabbit, I am so sorry to hear that!" Frank turned most of his attention to her, keeping only one ear on the rest of the club.

"Yeah, it was fucking great. And today was even better, since I got into an screaming match with customers, got fired, got evicted, and I just dropped my phone in the crapper. It's turned into a shit-tacular day, I tell you." She was morose as she bit out the words.

"Oh, bunny, when it rains, it pours, don't it?" He chuckled, his black humor matching her black mood.

"Oh… Yeah..." She stared at the floor for a bit, before turning her attention the the screaming females at the far end. She watched the two snow leopards pump their hips, and cocked her head. She turned to Frank and asked, "How much are those two gonna pull down tonight, do you think?"

"The twins?" Frank mimed air quotes as he said that, "Tonight, with their crowd, say $500 each, easy."

Judy turned her head to the she-wolf entertaining the bikers in the middle and asked about her, "What about her?"

He turned to watch the silver wolf go about her act, "Maybe $200-300, on a night like this." He folded his arms before continuing, "Of course, when the DJ finishes his set on the other side, this place will flood and then the money will really start to fly. But the gal had better be something special, have some gimmick like the twins do, if she wants to pull in more." He turned to look at her, "Why, little rabbit, you thinking about getting up there and strutting your stuff?

Judy shrugged, "Thinking about it, yeah."

Frank frowned, "Careful, there, Jessica. The stage ain't no place for a little innocent bunny like yourself. They will eat you alive."

Judy smirked up at him, "I may be little, but I ain't innocent, Frank. Here, look at this..." She pulled out her phone, "Shit, I forgot it's busted." She turned back to him, "You got your phone, look up my photographer's website." He pulled out his phone, as she gave him the address. He tapped in the URL, and waited as it came up. He started scrolling through the site, his brow furrowing, before he turned the phone towards her, "That's a lot of rope for a little bunny."

"Yeah, well, I'm a little bunny, so the rope goes farther. But that's not what I want you to look at. Pull up his motorcycle tab." She pointed on the screen.

He opened that tab, and started scrolling through those photos. He quirked his brow, and looked back at her.

She grinned back at him, "I got my start with motorcycles, and if there is one audience I know, it's bikers. Plus, a bunch of them were Skye's customers, so I know what they're like when I'm not modeling." She assured him.

He cocked his head as he put away his phone, "If your sure, little rabbit?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm unemployed right now, and I need enough to afford an apartment before I can get another job. Rents around this town are ridiculous, yah know?"

He agreed, "Yeah, no shit. Well, it's your funeral." He stood up and pointed across the club, "But first you have to convince Manny to let you up on the stage. Think you can handle him?"

"Please, he's just a weasel. I can handle a weasel. And if I can't, I don't belong on that stage, do I?" She reminded him. He nodded, and started across the club. She climbed down off the stool and followed him.

"Yo, boss." Frank called out to him as they arrive at the booth Manny was sitting at. Frank nodded at Judy, "The rabbit here wants to give the stage a shot."

Manny leaned back in his white leisure suit, and pulled the toothpick out of his mouth, "Well shit… You got an ID, sunshine?" Judy pulled out her wallet, plucked out her ID, and slid it across the table to him.

He picked it up, and looked at the birth date, and then tossed it back on the table, "Floor fee is $50. You got that on you, or are we going to have work out something... special, sweetheart?" He leered across the table at her.

She stared across the table at him as she picked up her ID, and turned her head to Frank before laughing out loud. She turned back to the weasel, crossed her arms and leaned on the table, "Tell you what, Manny. How I go put on something sexy, you get the MC to announce me, I pay the $50, and you don't do anything stupid that I would have to break your jaw for?" She smiled sunnily at the weasel, "How does that sound, sweetheart?"

Manny sat back with a shocked expression as Frank started to laugh. He looked up a the big jaguar and demanded, "What are you laughing about! She just threatened me! What are you going to do about that!?"

Frank, still chortling, just shook his head, "Manny, boss, I ain't gonna do shit. Ya see, the owners of the club, which you ain't one, hired me to do just three things." He counted them off on his fingers, "First, I have to make sure nobody sneaks alcohol into this side. Second, I make sure nobody robs the place. And third I make sure that nobody harasses the performers. Protecting your jaw isn't on my job description. And since what you just implied cuts pretty close to my third responsibility, I ain't gonna protect your ass if you decide to piss off the rabbit. I'm gonna just sit here on the sidelines and eat popcorn while I watch." He shrugged at the weasel.

Manny sat there, grinding his teeth. "Fine!" he bit out, "You're on in 15, rabbit. I'll go grab the paperwork and Frank can tell the MC to announce you. Happy?" He slid out of the booth and stalked off to his office.

"He folded pretty easy there, rabbit." Frank observed.

"Please." Judy responded, "Remember the rope photos?" Frank nodded. She continued, "I do kink, and I can recognize a submissive bitch when I see one." Frank just snorted over that observation.

She smiled, as she stood next to the table, thinking. She still needed a gimmick, though, for her opening act. A light went off in her head, and she turned back to Frank, "Is the bartender still riding in on his cruiser? Could you ask him if I could borrow it for my act?"

Frank turned his head and looked at her with one eye, "I dunno know… He's pretty protective of it. He's probably think you would break it up on the stage." He shook his head.

Judy just grinned up at him, "You tell him that I said he needs to get his carbs rejetted, and that's why it's running rough at idle, okay?"

Frank blinked at that, but shrugged as he walked over to talk to the bartender. The fox looked at him, and then at her. She just shrugged and held out her paws as she grinned back him. He turned back to the panther, and nodded. Frank walked back to her, "He said okay. He'll go get it wheeled up on stage for you."

"Thank you, Frank!" as she turned to run out to her truck.

He called after her, "What do you want to be announced as?"

She called back, "Just tell him to call me 'J.J.'!"

Frank gave her a thumbs up as she used her butt to open the outside door.

"Okay, mammals! We got ourselves a new gal here, so let's give it up for J.J.!" the bobcat MC announced over the speakers.

Judy walked out onto the stage and into the bright lights, surrounded by the hooting and hollering. She had put on something simple, just a half-halter top, cargo pants, her best thong, and her riding jacket. It was what she usually wore while riding with Skye, and she sometimes took it to shoots with Jack. She knew how it moved, and she was comfortable in it. That comfort would be something her audience would immediately pick up on.

True to form, Frank and the bartender had wheeled up the cruiser onto the middle of the stage. Judy stalked slowly along the bike, running her paw along the leather and chrome, foreplay in one of her favorite pastimes; making love to a motorcycle. This was her meat and butter.

A wolf sitting in the audience, decked out in black lizard leather, blurted out in a shocked voice, "Holy Shit! It's a RABBIT!" Judy froze as she immediately locked eyes with the poor wolf. She held up her hand and snapped her fingers, pointing over to the MC to cue her music. As the music started, and she began her act, her eyes never leaving the wolf's, her smile became feral. She cocked her head down as she opened her mouth slightly to expose her large incisors which she used to bite down her lower lip, hard. The wolf visibly shuddered.

She had them now. Now, she was the predator, and they were the prey!

At the end of the night, just before the club closed, Frank walked her out the club's side exit to escort her back to her truck. She was grateful for his vigilance, since she could barely see in the muted darkness. As they turned the corner toward the front of the club to cross to her truck, she caught a whiff of something. Something that seemed out of place here, and she certainly hadn't smelled it before when she was inside. Passion Flowers.

That scent triggered an old memory, the kind of memory that was more a feeling than a vision, a memory of kindness. Why was that important? What was she associating that scent with with? Her mind racing, she tripped down a cascade of sensory memories; the sound of pencils scratching on paper, the smell of chalk dust in the air, and the echos of laughter inside a cardboard box. She looked up, and peering over the edge of the box was a kind, feline face. Oh, she thought, Doctor Wiedii. He used to smell like that.

She took a quick step in front of Frank, her ears flick up and out as she scanned her senses about. She saw nothing but the gray fog, lit in muted pastels by the neon signs of the club. She could no longer smell that tantalizing scent, as all other scents were drowned out by the falling drizzle. Her ears heard the bass thud of the club music first, followed by muted conversations coming from by the bikes, and lastly the sound of crackling, coming towards them.

Hugo was lost in the fog. The GPS on his rental had to be glitching out, as it told him that he had arrived at his destination, but he couldn't see anything in this damnable fog. He drove forward slowly, looking for the rental agency sign, street lights appearing out of the fog in front of him only to sweep over his car and fade back out into the gloom. Wait, there, lights? He saw neon light, and what looked like cars parked under them, so he pulled into the lot.

But as he got out, he quickly realized that he wasn't at the rental agency. Music could be heard coming from the long building that stretched of before him, and the sign on side that said 'Misty Visions Dance & Strip Club' certainly wasn't 'Speedy Rentals'. He looked around for somebody to ask how he could get there, and behind him he spotted what looked like food truck tucked up against the fence lining the parking lot. As he walked over to the truck, he was assaulted by familiar smells from home. Empanadas!

His stomach grumbling, he crossed over to the open window on the side of the truck. He fished out his wallet as he ordered, "Two Chicken Empanadas, please." The aproned puma behind the counter nodded as he took out two from the cooler and tossed them into the fryer. As Hugo was paying he asked, "How do I get to Speedy Rentals from here?"

The puma just laughed as he replied, "You're close, cat. Just go back up the road three streets and turn right. They're tucked up around the corner." He pointed back down the road, the way that Hugo had come from.

Hugo nodded, "Thank you. I had gotten turned around in the fog, and I didn't know where I was."

The puma continued talking as he pulled out Hugo's empanadas with tongs, "Yeah, it's really thick tonight, for some reason. It's like another world out there, or something. You be careful out there, okay? No telling what you might run into!" He folded the two pastries into a paper plate and passed them down to Hugo, "Careful, they're still hot." He cautioned the smaller cat.

"Thank you," Hugo said as he took them in paw. He opened up the plate, and blew on them to help cool them down. While he waited for them to cool enough to be edible, he walked back along the building. Parked under the sign were rows of motorcycles, and Hugo rapidly felt out of place here. A breeze puffed up behind him, sending cold moist air up under his coat, and causing a shiver to run down his spine. Another world indeed, he thought, this is certainly not a place for me to be at.

But before he turned to leave, the breeze thinned the fog for just a moment, and in that moment he thought he saw the flicker of long gray ears at the end of the building. That's odd, he thought as the fog rolled back in, what would a rabbit be doing at a place like this? It's wall-to-wall predators here, to be sure. Curious, he took a bite of his first empanda as he walked forward.

* * Somewhere Else * *

Lord Jaguar stood to the side, unseen by the mortal mammals before him, cloaked in blackest night. His midnight fur danced with the twinkle of a billion stars flaring to life and winking back out, some slowly dying, others exploding in titanic novas. He stood nude, save for the golden breechclout of woven hyperstrings hanging from his waist, and a headdress of cascading shards of slivered space-time, rifts leading to other places, other realities, and other times. He watched as the two mammals grew ever closer together.

"What are you doing?" another voice called out of the mist, a quiet raspy voice, like the swish of wind through lakeside reeds in the morning light.

He turned toward their call, and with a growling voice that echoed through the deepest caverns, he responded, "Considering… Possibilities..."

"Really?" The other voice responded mockingly,"It looks to me like you're poking Possibilities with a stick!" The mist resolved into the form of an upright male Coyote, his old eyes laughing. He was clad in old dusty blue jeans, a tattered plaid shirt, and adorning his head was a battered old straw hat with an eagle feather in the band, while a grass stalk hung limp from his lips. As he stepped up next to the Jaguar, he reached out and tapped Reality twice. Time slowed to a stop, the mammals before them froze like insects caught in crystal glass.

"Old Man..." rumbled the Jaguar, "This should not be..." He pointed at the rabbit, "She was to be mine..."

"Really? What makes you say that, o' Brother Death." Old Man snickered, "Are you still stuck on her?"

"She was a special soul…" He turned to face the grinning canine, "She was needed… elsewhere..." He pointed again at the rabbit, "What happened to her was not… natural..."

"No, it wasn't, I'll agree with you on that, but it solved a very specific problem at the time. The rabbit did ask if there was anyway she could change fate, and the Lady offered her a solution. She took it, and that's that. And now she has to suffer the consequences of her decision. But we're not talking about her. We're talking about you! What are you doing here? For that matter, what is your acolyte doing here?" The Coyote pointed over at Hugo.

"Saving her… From what is to come…" The Cat of Night replied, "Please consider, Brother… Had she not run away at the dinner, Mork would have been able to catch up with her... He would have told her that Hugo was coming to find her, and that she did not need to run anymore… She could have been saved from the suffering that is to come..."

"Nah-Uh! That doesn't fly, Brother, and you know it! She may have gotten rid of the previous threat that Carl Latrans held over her world, but she still has to face down the menace that is Dawn Bellwether, and to do that she needs to fall down the rabbit-hole just a little farther. We can't have you snatching her out just yet!" Old Man chided him.

"Is that why you sent your granddaughter?… To drive Judith away?… To keep Hugo from finding her?..." Death scowled at the Trickster. "You can send your acolyte to damn her, but I can not send mine to save her?..."

"Guilty as charged!" He laughed, "Oui, put the sour puss face away. It had to be done, and you know it. And as for what I can do, and what you can do, well, we both know that you're a stickler for the rules, and I like to break them!"

"She still does not need to suffer… With just a single word spoken, here and now… She could save herself… She could still battle Bellwether, and win, with help..." He pleaded with the Coyote.

"Oh, Sweet Cheese and Crackers!" Coyote threw his head back and groaned, "You keep going on and on! Yes, she could, but she would be an outsider trying to battle her way in, and the blood of the innocent would run fathoms deep as a result! But with the path that the Lady has laid out before her, she'll be an insider who can sidle up right next to Bellwether. She'll be able to mitigate the damages and lower the body count, which I know you'd like. And when the time comes, she will be uniquely placed to solve that problem." The Coyote nodded to the Jaguar.

"So let it go already! Your compassion is commendable, and it's one of the best things about you, Brother, but her path has been fixed, her fate sealed, and her destiny decreed, which she had agreed to from the start! And even after all that goes down, she'll still be yours, so I really don't know what you're complaining about." He pointed at the approaching cat, "So send your acolyte home already, and let Judy get busy with the next stage of her journey as decreed by the Lady!"

Death hung his head and with a sigh he nodded, "It will be done, Brother…."

Old Man Coyote shook his claw at the defeated Jaguar, "And no more of this poking reality with a stick, okay? Let it go! Judy has her path, and Hugo has his, and while they crossed once, that's it. He did what he needed to do for her, and now she's on her own. Let her go, and in the future, please leave the rule breaking to those that are good at it." Coyote winked as he laid a paw over his heart, stepped back into the mists, and vanished.

Lord Jaguar, Arbiter of the Infinite, turned to do as he was bidden. His paw raised, he prepared to restart Time and froze as his mind raced, Why had my Brother mentioned Carl Latrans to me?... He is dead in this time-scale, no longer a part of this equation... Isn't he?... He did not pass through me to become one with the Infinite… Therefore, he has been returned to life on this mortal plane, has he not?… Lord Jaguar reached out with all his senses, feeling out upon the world before him for a very particular soul, and what he found shocked even him.

Brother, what have you done?… That path will lead only to ruin!… Unless?… Unless... Does Coyote expect me to cheat?… How?... I am bound to my duties, bound to receive the souls of the dead, and pass them on to the Infinite if they so warrant it... And Judy's soul most certainly warrants it, so I am bound to accept it when she passes on… Wait, no, I am not bound!… I can choose!… I could reject her soul, but instead of sending her back to be reborn, could I choose for her another path?... But how?… Maybe… Yes, maybe, that would work... But it will take careful planning…

Lord Jaguar stood still for a moment, his head cocked, as he considered the problem before him. A grin began to form upon his face, a terrible grin of rent space-time, resplendent with hyper-matter teeth of infinite sharpness. He chortled low and long, the very fabric of space-time shaking as he did, and as he reached forward to restart Time he spoke, his voice rumbling like an earthquake, "Thank you, Brother Trickster!... I accept your wager..."

Hugo quickly came to a stop when he realized that a few paces before him, staring aggressively down upon him from the gloom, were two great glowing yellow eyes. He could barely make out the dark body, but the height, size, and spacing of the eyes told him it had to be a jaguar or a perhaps panther. A relation of sorts, but still not one he was particular keen to tangle with at this late hour, as the message contained in those eyes was plainly 'Go away!' He raised his paper plate by way of greeting, and backed away. He turned around slowly, and returned to his car, leaving the mystery of the long gray ears that he might have seen to the large black cat behind him.

Judy froze as Frank put his paw in front of her, his head turned to the side. Her eyes darted up to his dark face, and he growled in a low voice, "Somebody's coming..." She shrunk back, hiding behind his bulk. But after a few moments he relaxed, and started walking again, "It was just some dude wandering around eating an empanada from the food truck. It's safe now; he went back the way he came." He assured her.

She quickly peeked around behind Frank's tail, but all she could see was blackness moving in the gray before it too disappeared. Nothing there, she thought, nothing she needed to worry about now, anyway. She sniffed at the air, but the only thing she could smell was the dank, wet air itself. What ever was the source of that tantalizing scent, it was gone now.

A few hours later, Hugo stood at the windows next to the terminal gate, looking out over the concrete apron bathed in mist while he waited to board his early morning flight. He pulled out his phone to frame an email to the Hopps family, to which he attached Mork's clandestine photo.

He wrote:

Mrs. Bonnie Hopps,

Success! Of a sort, I must confess. My former pupil, Mork, did indeed spot Judy at his art school in Gateway Bay City, where it appears that she was attending a friend's graduation. He also learned that she models for figure studies there quite regularly, but as the school is out of session for the summer, she probably won't be back till fall.

He also managed to track down her last known employer, and took the photo that is attached to this email. But her luck, or perhaps best to say her temper, was running to true to form, and she had an altercation with two customers, who Mork described as beige or cream colored canines just after this photo was taken. Her employment was terminated as a result, and she ran out of the restaurant before he was able to contact her.

After I arrived at Mission Bay City, I met with Mork, and assessed his information. I went to the restaurant where Judy had worked. I meet with the staff there, and after explaining my credentials and my relationship to Judy, I was able to extract from them her last know address. I investigated that address, and after talking to the landlord I found out that Judy had indeed been living there for about two years with a capybara roommate, but that I had just missed her. She had finished packing up her things and had left just a few short hours before I arrived.

'Just missed' seems to be the theme for this day's endeavors.

But while I may have had a run of bad luck in this, I still feel this is good news. She is alive, well, and for the most part stable, her famous temper none withstanding. She had been employed with the restaurant for well over a year, and she wasn't fired for the altercation with the customers, but because she had lied about her name on her employment form to the management. It seems she was employed under the alias of 'Jessica Jumps' from Podunk. Relatives of yours, perhaps?

I believe she will resurface again, after she has found new employment, and when she returns to the school in the fall to model, Mork will try to make contact.

In the mean time, keep the faith, and know that I will bring Judy home some day soon.

Sincerely

Dr Hugo Wiedii, MD

He looked up from his phone after he sent the email to see that it was time to board his flight. He walked on to the jet with the other early morning passengers, and stowed his bag over his assigned seat on the left side of the plane, and sat down in the window seat. After buckling in, he settled down for what appeared to him be a very foggy takeoff.

The rest of the passengers finished loading in and seated themselves just in time for the commuter jet to be pushed out onto the apron. They were quickly taxing down alongside the runway while the flight attendants ran through the emergency drills. As it was still early morning, their flight was one of the first to take off.

As they climbed up through the fog, Hugo was a little disappointed in the view; nothing but gray blankness. Gateway Bay City was such a pretty city, Mork had told him, and he had been looking forward to seeing more of it. Obviously the weather had thought otherwise. But before he could turn away, the jet burst out of the fog and began to rise above it. He stared out at the magic landscape, the lights of the city looking like holiday string lights buried in blowing snow. The fog rippled over the city in rolling waves, like fields of cotton on a blustery day.

As he looked down and to the left, he saw a long narrow mountain top rising like an iceberg from the roiling sea of fog. It was about 3 miles long, and on the western end there were three radio station towers standing straight and tall, like monuments to long lost kings. Looking down, he squinted as he spotted what looked like a small camper parked along the road in between two of the stations. Huh? He couldn't imagine what some mammal would be doing up there, this early in the dark gray morning, sandwiched between the cold rain and the dense fog. But they were the last citizens of Gateway Bay city that he could see as the jet rose into the clouds above, so he raised his paw and waved goodbye to them.

Someday, I will return, he vowed. I have a lost stray to find and bring back home. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it!

Judy sat on the hood of the Hasenwagen, sipping a beer as the early morning drizzle settled around her. The city lay quiet before her, blanketed in alabaster fog, while the rain clouds lay low in the sky, bracketing the mountain top of San Bruno between two sheets of cotton candy fluff. The muted lights of the city belied the coming dawn that was still hidden behind the nimbo-stratus clouds that hung over her head.

She sat quietly, her feet perched on the front bumper, staring at Skye's favorite park bench. This was it, Skye's favorite place in the city, and it was the place where they had shared their first kiss. She had promised Skye that she would come up here often, but in truth, this was the first time she had been up here since the snow vixen had left. Oh, she had excuses for not coming, she supposed, but the reality of it was that it hurt too much to be reminded of how much she missed that fox. So much so that she couldn't even bring herself to sit on the bench that sat forlorn before her.

But after the emotional whipsaw that had been the past 24 hours had finally settled, Judy had felt the need to be reminded of her vixen, even in passing. Skye hadn't written back to her for a couple of weeks, but Judy supposed that she was coping as best she could with her dad, or caring for her mom. It wasn't like she could call up there, not since since she had dropped her phone in the toilet at the bar. Not that it mattered, since Skye's dad eschewed modern communication devices. They didn't even have a phone in their home, just a marine radio. Perhaps it was just one more thing he had to pay for, and he just couldn't be bothered.

But oh, so I need to talk to her, so much more now. I don't have anybody to talk to here, she lamented to herself. She had burned her bridges with her family, and even Moni had flown home earlier to be with her family while she prepared for marriage to her kithood sweetheart. Judy was so lonely now.

Is that why I thought Doctor Wiedii would been out in front of the club? She pondered sadly, Am I so desperately cut off that I could even think that a mammal I haven't seen in 5 years could could have possibly even been at a place like that? He's probably back in Amazonia, with a position of authority at some local hospital, and even married with kits by now. Certainly not out looking for my sorry ass in a two-bit strip club on the wrong side of town. Her mind had to have been playing tricks on her; it couldn't have been him. She must have smelled some other mammal that used that same floral scented fur shampoo.

She sighed, and sipped her beer. Reaching her paw into her jacket pocket, she rolled the wad of cash around with her fingers. It was easily three times what she would have brought home waitressing on a good shift, and on her very first night even. If she kept this pace up, she could afford to get a new ID from the old anteater very quickly. After that, well, it was a big country – she could go literally anywhere, and leave the bitter memories of Jessica Jumps behind.

She watched as a jet broke through the fog laying over the bay to her right, it's light blinking as it soared quickly to the cloud ceiling above it. But before it disappeared entirely, she raised her bottle to toast the mammals inside, as they escaped this city, returning to their jobs and loved ones. Watching it fade away, she finished her beer, and slipped back into her truck to seek slumber's embrace.