Author's Note:

I find so often that you save a lot more by saying nothing than you gain even by saying the right thing. Sharla has learned this too, perhaps.

If you are just joining this series for the first time this story is in the continuum AFTER Season 2, so you will definitely want to read Thanks for the Fox and Guardian Blue Season One and Season Two for important context, you may also want to read Winter Hearth for important causal background.

I do not work for Disney. I do not own any part of Zootopia or its characters. I write this for fun. And I always will.

Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing this series! It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. Thank you!

Sheepless in New Reynard

Chapter 4: Pineapples

It was all a murmur of sounds at first. The world was dark. Things were muffled, and it was hard to tell what was going on. Was she dreaming again? Had she always been dreaming? Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. The world had been dark because her eyes were closed. That made sense. Her forehead was uncomfortable. It was on something hard. Her eyes couldn't focus on anything. It was just grey. As her vision focused, Sharla found the grey to be a surface. What kind of surface? It was easy to get transfixed onto the what, and stop caring about the why. It was… a tabletop.

Slowly she sat up. One side of her face felt heavier than the other. Then it started throbbing. Why did her face hurt? Where was she?

It was a booth. She was in some kind of restaurant. Upbeat pop music of some sort was playing.

There were foxes all over the place. Oh yeah. She was in that weird fox town.

She gazed a little dizzily across from her in the booth.

There was a small fox there. He was smiling at her with a plastic bag and comically large strawberry milkshake in front of him. He was smartly dressed in a sweater and vest. It looked like maybe a school uniform. Blue eyes peered back at her.

"Nnnh… Hey there…" Sharla mumbled to the kit. She put a hoof up to her cheek. Okay, that was swollen a little. It wasn't… too bad. Where the hell was she? What happened? She remembered the train. Oh, and there was a house…

"I'm Sam." He sipped his shake. There was a second straw and he indicated it.

"I'm Sharwa," the sheep slightly slurred. She pretended to not notice the offer to sip the milkshake like she was on a date with a strange young vulpine. Finally, she reconnected with all of her memories as she remembered the house. She was drinking. She said something angrily to Motti. She saw the hyena move, but had no idea what happened. The image of her punching the sheep punching bag off its chain was clear in her mind though, so she assumed, given that her face was swollen and she woke up somewhere else, that she got punched out. She'd never actually been hit by another mammal before. Not like that.

"Here…" The little fox kit pushed the bag over to her. He seemed polite enough. He appeared to be about ten years old, but it was kind of hard to tell with foxes. Sharla picked up the little bag and found that it was full of ice.

"Where am I?" she asked, using it as intended and pushing it to the side of her face. It stung, but it was a 'probably helping' kind of sting.

"Musk Street Diner," replied Sam.

"Where's the badger… Honey?" the sheep inquired. It was odd that after everything they would just dump her somewhere public. She glanced out the window. It was dark. "Why are you here? It's like… the middle of the night."

"It ain't a school night," he answered casually. "I can stay out late. I have to keep you from going anywhere till Honey and Motti get back. They went to buy tickets."

"What kind of tickets?" She stared at the little vulpine before her. She was… what? His prisoner? They left a little fox kit to watch over her?

Wait.

Those two mammals dragged a dead-looking sheep into a local eating establishment, dumped her in a booth, and left a kit watching over her with a milkshake. And nobody here cared about that? What kind of town was this?!

"H-How long have I been here?" Sharla stammered.

"Not long. Like… five or six songs. I just got my shake." The little fox kit appeared so absolutely casual about everything, as if being left in charge of unconscious mammals was maybe his thing.

"Is there an adult I can talk to?" she asked.

"Annie's over there." He pointed at a black-furred vixen, a little on the heftier side. She was happily chatting with a lanky older male fox in jeans and t-shirt with a ball cap. They were pretty busy with a lively discussion. It only made it more apparent that literally no one was watching her except the kit who had apparently been paid in milk-shake to do just that.

Sharla didn't know whether to be insulted or horrified.

"Where's your mom?" the sheep pressed.

"She's workin' in the kitchen!" chimed Sam.

"I see…" Sharla murmured. At least the kit wasn't just in some diner with a stranger in the middle of the night alone. Still, the entire experience after getting off the train felt so unreal. Was Judy's entire life like this? Was it just this place? Was it just these mammals?

"You wanna order some food?" offered the kit. Sharla put her attention back on him, snapping out of it.

"I uh… I'm not hungry," she lied.

"Judy Hopps likes the hot salad. It's a steamed veggie thing," the kit informed.

"You… You know Judy Hopps?" the sheep tried to verify.

"Uh, yeah!" the kit piped matter-of-factly. "She's family. I was kind of at her wedding. Off to the side. It was here, in the park."

Sharla just kind of sat there a moment, a numb realization creeping over her like water rising.

Judy was married to Nick. That meant there was a wedding. And there was family there. Maybe there were friends there. And it happened here in this town. It wasn't just this sudden choice that everybody thought was insane and ill informed and embarrassing. There were families involved. On both sides. By the sound of it, the kit at least didn't hate Judy.

"You… You're related to her… mate?" queried the ewe. "To Nick?"

"Yeah, his dad's sister is my Gran. He's my cousin." The energetic fox nodded at that. He was getting plenty of sugar, so that wasn't a surprise.

"So… you know his mom?" she asked.

"Nick's mom? Vivienne? Yeah, she used to work here in the diner. She's kind of a big deal here. She moved to Zootopia though. She makes the best pies." The kit bounced a bit at that, obviously kicking little feet that didn't touch the floor. Sharla furrowed her brow. That was two pie-baking foxes she knew of now. While she still didn't like Gideon, there was no doubt that his pies were the best, and he gave special pricing to the PTA so one could bet on seeing his baked goods at any fund-raising event.

"I guess… with the stuff that's happened recently sheep seem pretty scary, huh?" examined Sharla. She had wondered already if a lot of the younger generation were changed much by what was happening in the news. First Bellwether, then the 'cudspiracy'. It was a lot.

"Scary? I mean… the real big ones with weird eyes are… a little. But you don't really look like them."

"What do they look like to you?" prodded Sharla. An honest opinion. She could ask him. It was interesting to her.

"I dunno… You know how if you wash a pillow and put it in the dryer… it comes out super puffy and you can't jam it into a pillow case anymore? They look like that. Except someone jammed them in a shirt."

Sharla stared in complete disbelief at the kit. It was an agonizingly honest take on how he saw sheep. She got exactly the answer she wanted but never, ever expected him to give. It was not the wrong answer, and she certainly could not scold him for the comparison, but it was impressive to her that he didn't even try to placate an actual sheep with something that might be deemed more polite. She decided to change the subject.

"So… Where did Nick and Judy get married? You said… in the park, right? I was out there earlier this evening." She wanted to know more about the wedding. Was it a big wedding? Did they have a lot of friends and family?

Judy didn't even invite her. In retrospect, that seemed… a good choice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. In the park, right in front of the big statue!"

"Oh! Right, I saw that too." Sharla nodded, feeling more like she was talking with a student than a stranger at that point. "He's… a pretty important cultural figure. He's been a part of vulpine fiction for a very long time!"

"Fiction?" deadpanned the little fox.

Sharla nodded curtly. "Well, yeah! I mean, he might be based off of someone, but the story itself is… is…" As she spoke, the younger mammal's ears slowly fell, eventually splayed out to their sides as he stared hard at the sheep. Well… crap.

"He's real," Sam insisted. "I mean, he was. It's okay, you're a sheep. You don't know that stuff." His tone was anxious but dismissive.

"Well, it's justifiable to say he lived, but… I mean… those things he did? That stuff wasn't…. I mean, there's just no record to support it… The other mammals in the story, the archery contest… You don't think someone can actually intentionally split another arrow in two…? the odds of that…"

The little fox glared at her. "He's real. I feel like he's real."

"Feeling and being are very different." Sharla felt terrible to be put in this position, but she was an educator. She couldn't just… placate him with an untruth. It went against everything she stood for. There was a long pause from the narrow-eyed fox. For a moment, it was very easy to forget that this mammal was a child. Those were keen, clever, dangerous eyes.

Slowly, he extracted the second straw from the shake. He ran it through his teeth to take off all the extra good stuff and sucked the straw clean before flicking it over his shoulder.

The message was loud and clear to Sharla. She was no longer a friend of Sam the fox kit.

"Oh, it's not as bad as all that!" the sheep pled. "It's just… not verifiable history. I'm not saying there's a problem with wanting to believe it. It's a good story with lost of good lessons about… about caring… and…" His eyes remained narrow and locked on her. Did they teach them in the school here that it was real? Was this a cultural thing? Had she stomped on something inherently cherished to this kit? Was there any way out of this?

"Okay, that's done!" interrupted a familiar voice. A welcome badger diversion had arrived at the table.

"No line, just slow lady at desk," explained Motti.

"Thanks for tending to our guest, Sammy!" praised Honey as she handed the sheep a ticket. It went to Deerbrook, pretty far south of Bunnyburrow.

"Oh… It's for… an hour from now," the ewe observed. They would be on the train late into the night. "There's three of them."

"Yep. We're going with you. We are gonna meet Big Bad… Then, after that, we are over quota for helping, understand?" pressed the badger.

"Am I done here?" inquired the youngest fox casually.

"Yeah!" chimed Honey.

"Did you like meeting with sheep?" Motti inquired of the kit.

"It was… pleasant!" complimented Sharla, wanting to at least imply that the kit earned his big milk shake. She's the one who made it awkward. He did a good job in what he'd been left to do.

Sam took a slow, even breath, then proclaimed clearly, "Get sucked into a loom, sheep." He hopped out of the booth and wandered to the back.

Sharla cringed at the vicious remark from a kit so young. Okay, she definitely did not endear herself there. She would remember for the rest of ever to leave this particular subject alone where foxes were involved. She had no idea it was even a big deal.

After Sam stalked off to the back, Honey stared back at the ewe, eyes huge and round.

"What the Hell, Sharla?!" she cried.

"I said the wrong thing," the sheep stated glumly.

"Sam's like… the unofficial greeter for the whole town!" cried the badger. "He's the sweetest, friendliest fox I've ever met!"

"Can we get out of here?" the sheep sighed.

Honey didn't let it go. "You can't have been with him more than ten minutes! How can you screw up hanging out with 'Sweet Sam' in ten minutes?!"

"We were talking about that statue in the park," explained Sharla.

"Yeah?" asked the badger.

"I was trying to explain how that was a character from a story, not someone who actually existed," the ewe elaborated.

"Oh…" murmured Motti in a dark tone.

"What?" Honey whined softly paws cupping her small ears back.

"He's texting someone," informed Motti, referring to the kit sitting in the booth way at the back of the diner.

"We gotta go," growled the badger darkly.

"Oh please!" scoffed Sharla. "I'm not scared of a little kit, and no one's gonna attack me over my not believing a story." She did get up however. They had a train to catch.

"Attacking you would be unlawful. This ain't a lawless town," Honey explained. "That said, kits here get away with a certain helping of mischief, and if you think fox mischief is cute and funny, then it's obviously never happened to you. We gotta go."

Sharla gave a meaningless shrug and followed Motti out the door. It had started to drizzle, so that made the world feel only more dark and foreboding. Her eyes weren't great for night time excursions, and in less than a quarter mile of walking she was reminded that foxes could see very well in the dark by the absence of street lights on the only road into town. She could basically only move along listening to the soft ticky tack of Motti's longer toe claws on the pavement.

It was cold, the sheep didn't know where she was going, and she was willingly following into the darkness the mammal responsible for her needing to hold a bag of ice to her own numbly aching jaw. Had her life gone so completely off the rails when Gareth went missing, or was it the moment she met Vivienne Wilde? Could she have ever resolved this unhappy chapter of her life without these mammals? Was this so awful because it was already dark and unpleasant, or would her meeting these two have gone this badly under any other circumstance?

She plodded along considering these troubles when Motti began to speak, sounding as if she just wanted to break the rain-muffled silence. "You are living in Zootopia city, sheep?"

"No, I live in Bunnyburrow. That's where I grew up." It was an innocuous conversation. That wasn't bad. She'd try not to let her emotions go unchecked and screw it up. Her ignorance in her interactions had been, so far, an insurmountable wall for her here. The less she said without thinking, the better.

"This is where Shetani grows up too, yes?" inquired the hyena.

"Yeah. We grew up together," the sheep replied, tensing up a bit. The conversation automatically went to a subject that she could really mess up.

"What is Shetani like as a kit?" Motti pried.

"Energetic and intense. She liked to be involved and noticed." Sharla hoped none of that sounded unfriendly. It wasn't meant that way.

"Ha! She still like that!" Sharla exhaled a breath she had been tensely holding. Good. It wasn't insulting.

"You call her Shetani… is that a nickname… or is it like… and official title?"

"It's a cultural figure," explained Honey hastily. "Someone who existed in the Interior long, long ago. Someone who existed," stressed the badger to imply that it was not acceptable to spout off otherwise. The sheep nodded to show she understood. No more debating cultural icons. She had a sharp enough learning curve.

"Shetani ya Sungura comes during the dark times to protect the innocent mammals from the wicked ones. She is… first guardian of the world." The sheep nodded at that, feeling a prickle of a chill under her short and tended wool. Judy had made a serious impression on this mammal.

"So, you feel she is this same Shetani mammal? Born again?" The sheep wanted to understand just how deep that sentiment went here.

"Yes? No? Maybe?" answered the hyena nebulously. "She represent Shetani. She is like Shetani. To give name to friend is making them important to Motti. It is custom where I lived."

"Does her mate have a name too?" asked the ewe carefully. It was so dark. They were all just… voices in the dark. Somehow, this made conversation feel a lot more powerful. Everything said was focused because their words were about all the sheep knew as she shuffled along behind her companions.

"Her mate is Janga," explained Motti.

"Is that another figure from the past?" Sharla queried, careful to make it clear she wasn't dismissing the legends from the hyena's homeland.

"No, it is word meaning 'disaster'." The explanation from her hyena companion made the sheep stumble slightly. Was there no reverence for the fox part of the duo?

"Was he the cause of some disaster?" Sharla hoped again that she wasn't being insulting, but the previous answer only left bigger questions.

"No. He is suffering frequent unhappy things and complain that this happen too much. It is not bad name. It is just impression that Motti gets from him early." The sheep nodded, thinking she understood.

"Do… I mean… Would I have a name then? What would my name be... based on your time with me?" She immediately felt stupid for asking. This was a thing Motti did for her friends. Nick and Judy earned their names.

Surprisingly, the hyena quickly responded, "You are having name of Kuanguka Kondoo."

"Wow… Koo-an.. goo-ka? Kon… kon-dah?" the ewe carefully pronounced it. She would have to try to remember that. "Is that a name or does it mean something specific?"

"It mean 'Falling Sheep'."

The near silence of the drizzly darkness was obliterated as Honey exploded with laughter. Sharla winced, but it was certainly earned. Besides, it was something Motti gave to mammals who mattered to her. That wasn't a bad thing right? Even Nick, who the hyena clearly respected, had a kind of insulting-sounding name. It's just the impression that Sharla had initially provided.

"That's… that's fair enough," she chuckled as Honey's laughter got under control. "I like it, thank you."

"Hey, there's some graciousness in there!" Honey laughed, swatting the ewe's back jovially and nearly making her fall over. There was a short pause, and the badger spoke again. "Hey wait! I never hear you call me anything other than Honey!"

"You are Motti's boss," the hyena explained. "It is rude to be calling you name other than one you are calling yourself. This is very informal thing."

"Okay, so you don't call me a name, but do I have one?" Honey pressed, making it clear in her tone that she might be unhappy if she was left out.

"Yes," answered Motti without immediately elaborating.

"Well?" badgered Honey. "What is it?"

"You are Mananasi." The hyena nodded at that.

"Mah-nah-nah-see!" repeated the badger triumphantly. "I love it. What's it mean?"

"It is pineapple."

"What?" Honey dropped blankly.

"Is what it is meaning."

"How is that an early impression? Can I have a new one?" she asked.

"You maybe like Kelele na Mbwa Mwitu better," offered the hyena.

"What's that one mean?" queried the badger.

"Noisy with wolf," answered Motti with a tone in her voice that made it obvious she was grinning. Sharla blanched in the darkness. That could not have meant what it sounded like.

"Hey!" snapped Honey indignantly. "I said I was sorry about that! I completely forgot I roomed you beside the bath!" The sheep inwardly groaned. Oh no, it was exactly what it sounded like. Motti laughed. The badger spoke again after a few more moments of walking. "Okay, so… Pineapple… Mananasi… It's a cool-sounding name, but why pineapple? I didn't give you pineapples when we first met." Sharla, quietly listening, had to admit that she was very curious about this as well.

"It is not the fruit," Motti responded, "In place where Motti is from, to call mammal a Mananasi is about who they are, not what they are. Being… pineapple… it is like…" She had to think a moment. It might have been hard in that context to try to put her thoughts into words. "It is mammal being very hard to handle first. Sharp and hard and maybe they don't want to be friends. But inside, they maybe is sweet and better. Roughness outside is to protect. They protect those close to them just as hard. Mananasi is good friend to have."

"I… Oh…" The choked tone of Honey's voice captured will the feeling Sharla had about it too. She was almost immediately near tears. That was so intensely sentimental. After a few more moments of walking, the badger spoke in barely more than a whisper. "Thank you, Motti. It… means a lot to me…"

After a moment, Sharla spoke up to answer her own curiosity. "So… Does Motti have a name too, then? I mean, did your friends give you one?"

"Motti is name friends gave to me," she answered.

"What's that mean?" pressed Honey.

"Is pattern of Motti's fur," she responded frankly.

"That seems a pretty… generic name?" offered Sharla, hoping it wasn't an insulting observation.

The hyena answered in the same casual-sounding tone. "Motti friends were Lycaon… painted dogs. Motti is only one in group with this fur."

"What was your name before that?" came the next question from Honey. Sharla would have asked if the badger had not.

"Parents has name for Motti of Zakiah. It is older word meaning pure. No one call Motti that now though. Even parents use name their daughter want."

A single light was visible in the distance. The sheep recognized it. It was the train platform. The misty rain had mostly abated so some of the chill in the air was gone. Sharla sat down on the bench under the light, feeling a little safer. Not being able to see at all was pretty alarming, even if she was travelling with a couple of mammals who could probably take down a rhino if they had to.

"We're a bit early, so we just wait I guess?" the ewe suggested.

"Yes," Motti replied, sitting beside the sheep. Honey sat on the other side of the hyena.

Another lingering silence passed, and Sharla spoke again. "Motti?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Why didn't you return to The Interior?"

"Motti's home is here," she answered confidently. "When Shetani come, Motti's family is missing… maybe dead. Village Motti is from, they give up and do not try to help because it is dangerous. Before… Ukweli, he try to help and he is missing too, and still, Motti village is doing nothing to help. It is too dangerous."

"I'm… so sorry to hear that…" Sharla half whispered.

"Then, Shetani arrives in Siri Shamba, Motti village. She has Ukweli with her, but he is only ashes. Mammals behind "Cudspiracy' kill him and burn him like evidence."

"Who was… Ukweli?" inquired the sheep in a very withered tone. She already suspected.

It was Honey who answered softly. "Motti's adopted brother." Sharla gritted her teeth, clutching the mostly melted bag of ice. It felt appropriate that her jaw hurt as she considered that. Of course she got punched out. She was so awful to Motti. Sure she had been hurting at the time, angry and anguished, but she couldn't allow herself to be so inconsiderate, as if no one else had ever been in pain before. Sharla really had been selfish.

"I had no idea… I'm so sorry, Motti," whimpered the ewe.

"Motti know you do not mean it. Is why you only get hit one time."

"Thanks," responded the sheep. "The rest of your family though… Judy helped them?" asked Sharla, trying to remember.

"Yes," answered Motti, appearing to snap out of a bit of a daze. It was probably pretty painful for her to talk about. It hadn't been terribly long ago. The hurt was still fresh. It suddenly made so much sense why the hyena decided that Sharla needed help.

"I.. I'm so sorry that happened. I… Did they… did they catch the one responsible?" the ewe half-whispered. She dreaded finding this out… but had the one who killed Ukweli been a sheep?

"He will hurt no others. Mlinzi make sure of that." There was a stern nod from the hyena.

"Mlinzi?" the sheep repeated.

"Vivienne," Honey replied.

"What? Wait, Vivienne Wilde stopped Ukweli's… killer?"

"You saw the video," Honey reminded her.

"That… That was the one who…" Sharla felt a little sick. Of course it had been a sheep.

"With the same weapon you saw in the video. Yeah," murmured the badger.

"I… I am so… so sorry…" croaked Sharla.

"Do not mourn Ukweli," instructed the hyena.

"What?" Sharla returned. Was it… because she was a sheep? She hadn't the right?

"We do not mourn heroes in Siri Shamba," Motti insisted, "They live forever in story. However…" She leaned against the sheep a little. It was actually pleasant. The larger mammal was throwing off plenty of warmth. "I bring this up because… In Siri Shamba, when Motti's family is hurting everyone turn away. But… in in New Reynard… Mammals who do not even know Motti do more. Honey stay with us in hidden room in the Bed and Breakfast to protect us when sheep came to burn the house down. Badger friend would die for Motti that day. Janga's mother, she uses arrow to stop Ukweli's killer, who means to kill Motti too. Mlinzi mean to kill this mammal. In New Reynard, mammals will die for Motti. Mammals will kill for Motti. Home is here. New Reynard is Motti's village. Always."

Sharla took a moment in silence to really digest that. Judy's mate had helped her free this mammal's family. They nearly died in the process. Vivienne Wilde, who the ewe had been so cruel and unfriendly to, had stopped the one who killed Motti's brother. The sheep lowered her head, cupping her muzzle, unable to stop the tears from forming.

"You didn't know," Honey reminded her.

"Do not mourn," Motti insisted.

"No, it's not… it's not that…" sniffled the sheep. "I've… made a terrible mistake… I was so awful to them. I know I lost a friend… I didn't know how many others I cost myself… the chance of ever even knowing. I regret all of it so much. I was so wrong." She wiped her eyes.

"Is okay to be wrong. Motti try to kill Janga when we meet. He forgave." The hyena nodded.

"Attempted murder might have been more forgivable than the awful things I said, Motti."

In the distance, Sharla could hear the rumble of an approaching late night train. The hyena put a strong arm around the shaking sheep. "Is okay, Kuanguka. Hard day is ahead, but you still have friends at the end of it. Motti promise to you."