The proud Temple of Destiny stood near the middle of Savannah Central. There it had stood for hundreds of years, built by some of the earliest residents of Zootopia. Still lit by candlelight from braziers in the evening, in the middle of the day beams of sunlight shone down and illuminated its passages, creating peaceful interplay between light and shadow.
In the main hall of the temple was the statue of Destiny herself. A skeletal, quadrupedal giraffe, a few feet taller than even a regular giraffe. Instead of vertebrae, her neck appeared as a dull blade, but her stone "bones" were also painted in various pastel colors. There was a natural flow to them, and it looked like disharmony itself had been cleaned up to make a magnificent image. As Destiny was supposed to carry souls to their destinations, her statue did not look down at anyone who venerated it, yet looked beyond, to the massive wooden doors, as if calling out for followers to flock to her as their destination.
The temple remained largely empty on most days. The Celestials were relics of the past, and had little influence in modern Zootopia beyond being invocations in conversation. The Temple of Destiny in particular remained barren, as she was one of the Celestials of death. Most recently, the temple had been defaced by seemingly random splashes and swathes of graffiti, sprayed all over the floors, walls, and columns that made up the temple.
One midday, the massive doors of the temple opened, and a skunk poked her head in. She blinked her teal eyes as they adjusted to the lower light in the temple, and she made her way into it, closing the doors softly. Cautiously, she looked around the temple, not finding another soul residing in it. She shrugged off her backpack and placed it gently on the floor, then walked up to the statue of Destiny.
The skunk looked at the statue only briefly before dropping to her knees and gently placing her hands together, faced slightly downwards. She took in a deep breath and began to speak.
"Great Destiny, it is your follower, Chloe," she said earnestly, her soft voice barely echoing through the chamber. "Please, I supplicate you. You well know my destination; show me the path that I must take to get there."
The skunk drew a shape on her chest, a U shape, symbolizing Destiny's horns, and a straight shape connected to the nadir of the U, symbolizing Destiny's blade.
Chloe rose to her feet and looked back at her backpack. She moved to it and after checking her surroundings again, carefully opened it. Inside were several cans of spray paint, two of which she took. She gave a venerating look to the structure around her.
Holding the spray cans to her chest, Chloe closed her eyes and waited to be inspired. She believed that the Temple of Destiny was incomplete, that the gray stones making up the temple failed to tell the story of the various paths and missteps souls took on their way to Destiny. So, she was there to rectify that.
Suddenly opening her eyes, Chloe walked around and began to spray paint, creating artful arcs that she felt mystically and inexorably led to the statue of Destiny herself. She added splashes and splatters to indicate the wayward souls that hadn't yet found peace with the death Celestial. Fussily, the skunk went through several colors of spray paint as she continued her work. She felt consumed by her passion and her spirituality, letting whimsy and chance move her, spray painting almost as if caught in a trance-like dance.
Her mind was suddenly snapped out of the space it had found itself in when she began to hear voices from outside. She drew in a breath sharply and looked for her backpack. Rushing back toward it, she grabbed it and hid behind a pillar.
The doors to the temple slowly opened again.
"Ah, I remember the last time we were here," Nick Wilde said reverently, stretching. "I must have you tell me... am I the moon?"
"Oh, hush," Judy Hopps said with an embarrassed smile.
"It was the most fun I've ever had in a Celestial Temple before, I'll tell you that," Nick said, then suddenly looked thoughtful, "...nah, definitely the most fun."
"Looks like she's been back," Judy folded her arms and looked around the temple. "There's definitely more graffiti than before."
"Mm," Nick nodded, stepping forward. "Kind of hard to believe this is a solo effort, though I guess the height limit of the marks is telling."
Judy walked to a column and held her arm high. "I think I could just about spray that high. She's probably about my height."
"Yeah," Nick agreed, "that makes sense. When we recovered white and black furs, I thought for sure there must have been multiple perpetrators, but it appears like it's just one skunk."
Chloe felt like the final words were being said in slow motion. Her breaths were coming quicker and her heart pattered in her chest. There was no way she wouldn't be caught. The cans would clink in her backpack if she tried to run. Her teeth showing and her eyes darting quickly, she didn't even dare to look at the police mammals on the other side of the room.
"For a first time offender, she must really hate Destiny," Judy sucked at her teeth and walked forward, regarding the graffiti. "Though, I dunno... what do you think, Nick?"
"What do I think about what?" Nick walked up next to Judy.
"The patterns of the graffiti, everything," Judy regarded it. "Is it art?"
"Maybe, but it's defacement of public property, either way," Nick shrugged. He sniffed at the air. "Oh wow, these markings smell new. As in brand new."
"She was just here?" Judy's ears became even straighter. "Or wait... she might still be here..."
Chloe put a paw over her mouth, trying not to gasp in terror. If she could just make it behind the short stone cylinder the Destiny statue was standing on, perhaps she could move around it and escape out the front door before they noticed her. It would take them getting much, much closer, though, and leaving the door unguarded. She still couldn't bear to look at them.
"Yeah she's still here," Nick moved closer, "I can smell skunk. Not like... skunk-butt skunk, but definitely skunk."
Chloe panicked and started to move briskly for the statue. The eyes of the officers did not fall on her, but one of Judy's bunny ears twitched. She heard something that sounded like a soft clanging sound. Judy made a motion to Nick, and Nick nodded. The two started to go around either side of the statue.
"Aaaaiee!" Chloe screamed as she found herself staring right at a fox.
"Guh!" Nick quickly shielded himself, but only managed to close his eyes in time before the skunk sprayed him.
"Whoa, careful there, Missy," Judy rushed up behind her and wrestled her hands behind her back. "You're under arrest for defacing public property."
Panting in fear, Chloe squinted her eyes shut in shame.
Nick looked at his hands and wrists and found them a bright violet color.
"Tsk," Nick shook his head. "You know, I think violet's more your color, Judy."
Judy winced in mild amusement as Chloe's attack had gotten some of Nick's fox face too. "Not going to argue there."
Chloe reluctantly walked out the door to the temple, led by the two officers, her countenance falling.
The skunk had her arms folded in the interrogation room. She hadn't said a word in quite awhile. Nick regarded her curiously, but got blank looks in return for his efforts.
"Well Chloe, your mother is on the way," Judy said, coming into the room. "She doesn't sound happy." Chloe made no sort of reaction at all.
"You know that since you're only sixteen, you don't have to say anything, right?" Nick asked. The fox got a piercing glare in return. "Not that it seems like you were going to say anything anyway..."
Before long, a skunk woman was admitted to the room. She appeared quite similar to Chloe, but very slightly taller and with an even sterner face; she was quite well-dressed in a muted purple outfit.
"Where is she?" The skunk darted her eyes around the room and locked onto Chloe's. The younger skunk's defiance waned, though only momentarily, when she received a sharp, angry gaze from her mother.
"Valerie Plouffe?" Judy asked.
"Indeed," Valerie affirmed, going to sit down next to Chloe, her eyes fixed on her daughter. "Skipped school again today, mm?" Chloe continued to say nothing.
"We have reason to believe Chloe here was behind the vandalism at The Temple of Destiny," Judy said. Chloe's brow slightly furrowed, her head angling down a few degrees.
"So is that what you've been up to, then?" Valerie huffed in annoyance. "Looks like your delinquency has finally caught up to you, then."
"Ah..." Nick looked through his papers. "We have no record of any crimes committed by Chloe. This is her first offense."
"What she's been caught doing, anyway," Valerie stared daggers at Chloe. "Will this be moving to court?"
"There does seem to be sufficient evidence to try her..." Judy noted. Chloe's eyes grew larger and her brow raised.
"However, we also have the ability to give her a warning and release her," Nick frowned. "It being her first offense and all."
"Are you joking?" Valerie scoffed loudly. "After vandalizing a 'venerable' monument like that?" Valerie looked Chloe over. "I say you should teach her a lesson, because I certainly haven't been able to get through to her." Chloe flinched, just a little, and tried to hold a firm gaze, though the desire to cower was strong within her.
"It likely wouldn't go to court," Judy insisted. "It'd probably end up being handled informally before a probation officer or judge."
"By all means," Valerie looked at her claws. "Will she be doing community service?"
"Perhaps," Nick's mouth showed the barest discomfort. "But they might also suggest counseling."
"Counseling?" Valerie's upper lip curled. "You think that will get through to this skunk? No no, I think you'll find her head is too thick to let any words of reason sink in." Chloe finally turned her head, her teeth barely bared. Nick and Judy both saw her reaction and felt varying degrees of anxiety. "Now, thank you for doing your duty, civil servants, but I'll be doing the parenting."
"If I may-" Nick held up a perfunctory finger.
"If you're going to suggest something about how to raise my children, I'll thank you not to," Valerie said curtly. "Now, are we done here?"
Nick and Judy exchanged a glance, communicating a feeling of powerlessness to each other.
The doors to The Temple of Destiny opened, and Nick walked in. He adjusted his tie, wearing it loosely on his Pawaiian shirt, and walked in.
"That you, Wilde?" A lion officer asked.
"Sure is," Nick nodded.
"Well, the girl's here," the lion gestured. Chloe was hunched over, cleaning up the graffiti, scrubbing at it vigorously with a hateful expression and clenched teeth. Her expression barely changed as she noticed Nick, but she turned her head up to look at him.
"What do you want?" The skunk spat the words violently.
"Just wanted to see how you were doing," Nick said distantly, looking around. "Clean-up's coming along nicely."
"What do you care how I'm doing?" Chloe grunted the words out as she cleaned. "You don't understand anything."
"Oh now, try me," Nick challenged in a cool voice. "The first thing I'd like to understand is what your relationship with Destiny is."
"You wouldn't-," Chloe jerked her head to the side and scoffed. "I was trying to improve the place, give it more of a feeling of Destiny's flowing might."
"Mm," Nick nodded. "You do know you can't just do that to a centuries-old building, right?"
Chloe sucked at her teeth.
"Having trouble with school?" Nick paced around with his hands behind his back.
"Go away," Chloe choked out, her voice weakening into a waver.
"Youngest? Oldest?" Nick looked over her.
"Middle child," Chloe said, then her voice heated up. "Stop trying to figure me out!"
"Ooh, middle child," Nick shook his head. "Rough."
Chloe growled, staring at Nick.
"Okay, let's play a little game," Nick said gently. "You give me one guess to figure out what's up with you, and if I'm wrong, I leave you alone."
"What if you're right?" Chloe asked.
Nick chuckled. "Oh, did that possibility actually cross you, then? If I'm right, you have to listen to some advice from this nasty old policefox."
"...Fine, deal," Chloe said in a disinterested voice. She bowed her head and continued scrubbing at the floor.
"You're frustrated," Nick said, looking off at the statue of Destiny. "School is going rough for you; that just happens to some kids. You have a hard time studying and focusing on most classes. All except art."
Chloe felt a breath come in slightly quicker.
"You excel at art; have an artist's soul," Nick went on, giving Chloe a once-over. "But your struggles with school just pool your frustrations. Worse, your siblings are great at school, successful. You feel inadequate because you can't do what they do, and lack the focus your mother tells you that you need."
Chloe's brow furrowed and she felt like throwing her sponge, but she looked up at Nick, her teeth grit.
"You venerate Destiny," Nick looked up at the statue again, gesturing at it. "Because Destiny knows where you belong and where you need to end up. But you don't know what path you need to take." Nick scratched his chin. "By doing her will, you hope to curry her favor, hope to be religiously inspired to be what you desperately want to be. ...I'm guessing some sort of artist."
Chloe's lip trembled, though she held her angry face. Her eyes misted up, just a little. "How did you do that...?"
"Hustler," Nick poked his thumb at his chest. "For twenty years, even."
"That's a lie..." Chloe heavily blinked her eyes to stave off her tears. "You're a police officer. One of the 'good guys'."
"Wasn't always the case," Nick said distantly. "Those misspent decades of my youth... I used them to learn how to read people. Comes in handy when figuring out the motivations of petty perps."
"Decades?" Chloe blinked. "You don't look a day over forty."
"Ouch," Nick smirked. Chloe let out a long sigh.
"...What's your advice?" The skunk bowed her head in defeat. "What should I do?"
"Well, what do you want to do?" Nick shrugged. "Following the spirit of your passion-"
"I've always- I've always kind of wanted to do fur dye, you know?" Chloe, interrupted looking up at Nick with sudden enthusiasm. "Even on myself; I've thought about what it'd be like to have electric blue and pink stripes instead of white stripes."
"Huh, okay," Nick chuckled at the abrupt outburst.
"But Mom... she thinks all that body-mod stuff is extreme counter-culture garbage," Chloe mumbled. "Mom doesn't like anything I do."
"That makes it hard," Nick nodded. "But the prettiest flowers grow in the midst of a dreary field."
Chloe made a skeptical face.
"Yeah, I just made that up," Nick smiled. "Listen Chloe, I don't want to see you back down at the ZPD again, okay? I want you to shoot for your dream, and if I happen to poke into a fur-dye place one day and you're there, that'd make me very happy indeed."
"Pff..." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"I mean it. Electric blue-slash-pink stripes and all," Nick said, hands on his hips.
"It'll never happ- I mean, I don't know how to get there..." Chloe mumbled, rubbing her eyes on her arm. "Sometimes I feel like Mom's gonna kick me out the day I turn eighteen."
"Just don't give up," Nick crouched down next to her. "Okay? I did, and it's only by the grace of Serendipity that I was pulled out of the hole of muck that was my life." Nick smiled, just a little. "If you don't fall as far, it won't be as hard to pull yourself back up."
"...Serendipity's a dumb Celestial," Chloe smirked, her eyes not quite meeting Nick's.
"Well, she is a bunny, after all," Nick grinned, straightening up. He turned around, about to leave. "For what it's worth, I did think this place was starting to look nicer with a bit of color, but you have to go through the proper channels to just change an old structure like this, you know?"
"...Yeah, okay," Chloe's smirk slowly turned genuine.
Nick started to make his way off.
"Officer Wilde?" Chloe called out after him.
"Mmm...?" Nick turned his head halfway to look at her.
"If you do see me in a fur dye place in the future... you gotta- you gotta let me mess with your fur, okay?" Chloe had an adventurous grin.
"...Uh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Nick grinned and saluted.
Chloe's grin grew wider and she continued to scrub away at her graffiti as the fox walked out of the temple.