Chapter 2: Fixing Things
Judy walked into the Capitan's quarters, and immediately frowned. Not only was the desk cluttered with randomly placed documents, tools and folders, but also had several plates and unwashed glasses of wine sitting on them.
"Ugh, and Capitan Doug has been gone nearly two weeks," Judy muttered, holding her nose as she picked up the dirty dishes and silverware and carried them outside to drop at the door to her office.
"Is this not to your liking, Capitan Hopps?" Sergeant Benjamin Garcia Clawhauser stated. The plump cheetah who had greeted her, as well as was giving Judy a tour of the fort looked timid, holding his hat flat against his chest. "I could see if we could clean up a different room for you to use that might be more to your liking. There's a nice little burrow sized room down the corridor tha-"
Judy sighed, her shoulders sagging. "How could you even think this is up to standards for officers?" she muttered to nobody in particular. Clawhauser stopped speaking, an eyebrow arching.
"I take that as a yes to moving?"
"No," Judy interrupted harshly, though at the look of sadness in the Sergeant's face, she calmed herself and replied in a much softer voice. "No, this isn't the best conditions I've seen, nor is it the worst, but, I won't be taking anyone else's room just because mine needs a good cleaning." She glared around the room again.
Corporal Flash probably had the worst chambers she'd seen at any of her posts, not just because he was a sloth and couldn't clean anything up quickly but...well, mainly because he was lazy. This is nothing on that...
Judy circled the room, noticing the room was in just as bad a state as the desk, and she didn't even want to begin on the bed. She shuddered, deciding that this was something she could put off for at least a few hours.
"Sergeant Clawhauser?"
"Si, Capitan Hopps?" he replied, saluting crisply. Judy couldn't help but smile, as the cheetah had been the first soldier in a long time to seem to actually respect her.
"Round up the troops, I'd like to do a full inspection to see where we're at if we are to capture The Fox."
Clawhauser visibly gulped.
"But Commandante, the soldiers, they are, how do you put it. They are afraid of The Fox after what has happened to all the other Capitan's to serve here. Especially with that whole deal with the cactus and..." Clawhauser caught Capitan Hopps staring at him. "I'll just be quiet now, Capitan."
Judy narrowed her eyes, causing the cheetah to become even more nervous. The only reason why Bogo had given her position was because he wanted rid of her, and sending her to capture the vigilante that had broken five previous Capitan's was something she was sure made Bogo glad. Now she could see why the other's had failed as well. Without good soldiers following you, you had nothing.
Maybe that attitude was instilled by their leaders? Judy wondered, placing her paw against her chin as she surveyed the room. It certainly was a subject to consider. A messy room probably meant messiness all the way down the chain of command afterall. Another reason why the water buffalo had allowed her to take this command.
He wanted her to fail, and fail miserably.
She wasn't about to give Bogo the pleasure of seeing her broken, after all she had done to get to where she was, the first rabbit in the entire army to make the rank of Capitan.
"Sergeant Clawhauser, do you know what the previous Capitan's have lacked, which had caused them to not be able to capture The Fox?" she said abruptly.
"Um, they didn't brush their teeth correctly?" the Sergeant offered, smiling broadly.
"No."
His smile fell.
"No," Judy continued, pacing up to the cheetah. "They have not been me."
"I see Capitan," Clawhauser replied, nodding his head up, only for him to slow and eventually start shaking his head back and forth. "Actually, I don't see."
Judy put her paw to her head. "Nevermind, just...gather the troops for inspection."
"Si Capitan!" Clawhauser gave a crisp salute, before turning and marching out of the room. Judy turned, facing the mess that greeted her head on.
"I have a few minutes, so might as well start cleaning."
"Attention!"
The troops on the parade ground snapped to attention, saluting as Judy began walking down the line of soldiers, noticing each and every little detail about their uniforms.
A smear here, a wrinkled shirt there, and a copious amount of missing pieces and parts such as sashes, hats, and even a sword here and there.
No wonder why they couldn't catch The Fox...Judy thought, mentally shaking her head as she finished walking past the assembled troops. Marching back to the center of the line, she faced her soldiers. If they are this sloppy after being given an hour to prepare for inspection, what would happen if The Fox were to suddenly appear in town causing havoc?
Apparently, her soldiers needed an example to be made. Looking down the line, she spotted the perfect mammal for the task.
"Private Delgato!" she yelled. Quickly, a lion stepped forward.
"Si Capitan!"
Judy glared at the large predator, folding her arms across her chest. "Attack me."
The lion's salute faltered as he looked visibly stunned. "What did you say, Capitan?"
"Attack me," Judy repeated.
The lion gulped.
"Alright, if you insist." The lion reached for his sword, eyes widening as his paw connected with nothing but his blue jacket and red sash.
"Why aren't you attacking me, Private?" Judy asked again, letting a smirk grace her lips as the lion fumbled around his belt, turning to look behind him.
"I uh, seem to have misplaced my sword, Capitan..." the lion sheepishly replied.
"And what would you have done if The Fox was here?" Judy questioned, taking a step forward.
"You mean, Zorro?" Private Delgato replied, then quickly began to laugh. "No, no, no, no. I would not challenge him in a thousand years Capitan. His blade is like flaming steel. No bueno. He'd carve an F into the seat of my trousers before I could even draw my sword."
Judy glared at the lion, her foot thumping in aggravation, causing the larger mammal to take step backwards, rejoining the line of soldiers.
"Who else here feels like Private Delgato?" she boomed, letting her words hang over her soldiers.
Hopps glanced around, noticing several soldiers scratching their necks, or becoming extremely interested in their boots. An impala in the back began biting his hoof.
Disgraceful...Judy thought. It's going to take weeks to get these mammals into fighting shape. No wonder why this, Zorro, The Fox, whatever name he goes by, can get away with what he does to terrorize this town.
Feeling her frustration mounting, and realizing that she doubted she'd accomplish much with the soldiers today, she waved to Sergeant Clawhauser, who called them to attention again.
"Dismissed!" Judy yelled, feeling annoyed at herself as the soldiers scurried of the parade ground. Making her way back under a nearby overhang, she plopped down onto her chair, rubbing her head.
"Was the inspection to your liking?"
Judy looked up to see Clawhauser approaching her.
Of course he's smiling...she thought, shaking her head.
"No, Sergeant. It was very much not to my enjoyment."
"Oh," the Sergeant's smile fell, before rising again. "Then I will gather the troops and we can do it again, better this time!" He went to do just that when Judy called him back.
"No, that won't be necessary Sergeant," she replied, "We'll start tomorrow morning. I want all the men up at at 5:30am sharp to begin a new training program, understood?"
"Why, that is so very early," Clawhauser replied. "The men might need a quick siesta before lunch if they have to get up that..." Clawhauser trailed off before simply nodding. "Si, Commandante, I will wake the mammals at 5:30am." The cheetah marched away.
At least he knows how to march...she inwardly laughed. Looking across the parade grounds in the middle of the fort, Judy sighed for what seemed like the 50th time that day. This is going to take a lot more work than I thought.
Muttering to herself, she pushed herself off the bench and began to walk down the main promenade of the fort, thinking to herself on how to improve the situation. She'd never be able to capture The Fox, or, Zorro, as Delgato had called him, with the current level of training her troops had. With all the thoughts and ideas on how to improve the fort to better protect the citizens of Zootopia, she barely noticed her pacing had led her directly to the front entrance of the fort.
Looking up, she paused, looking pensive as she watched the villagers of Zootopia meandering down the street. Hearing laughter nearby, she turned to see the same group of children from earlier running through the main square, the only difference being this time, the otter in the group had a much more forlorn expression, and was no longer wearing his mask and hat.
Judy frowned, feeling terrible about her earlier behavior. The kit's comments had caught her unaware, and been the last straw that had caused her to snap in a laundry list of insults to her abilities. The poor kit probably had some reason to want to dress up like a known criminal. A deluded one in her opinion as no outlaw could be looked up to, but a reason none the less. She shouldn't have reacted in the way she did as now, she felt no better than The Fox at her immature display. Looking at her paws, she sighed heavily, realizing that the first impression she had given the townsfolk had been one of arrogance, ignorance, and small mindedness. She'd been irresponsible in her actions, and as she gazed around the town square, she noticed the few looks that mammals gave her were filled with either fear, distrust, or a healthy mixing of both.
I have to fix this...she thought, staring at the children playing in the street. Walking back into the fort, she noticed Sergeant Clawhauser ambling towards the well at the center of the compound.
"Sergeant Clawhauser?"
Clawhauser looked up, smiling as he saw the small rabbit walking towards him, then gave a crisp salute as she neared. "Yes, Capitan Hopps?"
"Do we have any spare wood lying around the fort?" she asked.
The cheetah nodded. "Si Commandante. We have plenty of wood around here, with how often The Fox tends to sneak in and something breaks in the following fight. So we like to keep spare boards around."
Judy noted how Clawhauser didn't seem at all addled by the fact that the most well known vigilante in Califurnia broke into a government fort often enough to where they kept extra building materials on paw.
"What type of board do you need, Capitan?" he asked.
"Just something small and somewhat thin," Judy replied, placing her paws behind her back.
"Si Capitan, one short and thin board, coming your way."
Judy nodded as Clawhauser bounded away, slowing to a walk after crossing only half of the parade grounds.
It was a few short minutes later that he returned, board in hand, as well as a small saw.
"I know that you are rather of a short stature, Capitan, so I brought you this children's sized saw along with the board you requested."
With how large the cheetah's smile was, Judy couldn't help but grin as she took the tool and wood gratefully. "Thank you Sergeant, that will be all."
"Si Capitan."
Judy watched the cheetah leave, then found a bench nearby and sat down. Eyeing the wood carefully, she expertly scratched a line into the wood with a small dagger she pulled from a pouch on her waist. Smiling at the finished outline, she placed one edge of the board across the bench, grabbed the saw with her other paw, and began to cut.
"Kids, time for dinner!"
a collected chorus of groans arose from the kits playing in the street as they spied several of their mothers walking towards them.
"Do we have to?" an antelope asked her mother weakly.
"Yes, dear, you have to."
"Alright..."
Several of the other kits began leaving the group as well, until a long black shape overshadowed them. They turned, their smiles turning to frown as they saw the rabbit soldier from earlier walking towards them. The young kits stood fearfully in place as she approached, her paws behind her back as she stopped before them.
Her gaze rested upon the otter pup from earlier. "I believe you and I met earlier?"
The otter pup nodded timidly. "Uh huh."
"And it wasn't under the best of circumstances, either, was it."
The otter pup shook his head side to side before lowering it.
Judy sighed, kneeling in front of him while bringing her paws out from behind her back.
"I believe I owe you a new sword," she stated timidly, a grin slowly growing as she saw a bright smile appear on the otter pup's face at the sight of a freshly carved wooden sword in her paws. "Take it," Judy offered, "it's yours."
The pup's paws reached out tentatively, his friends watching as he grabbed the wooden toy from the rabbit's paw. Judy was proud of the work she did on the sword, especially as she felt that nothing less than her best would make up for the horrible deed she had done earlier in the day. It had taken several hours, but it was time well spent in her opinion.
"I'm...I'm sorry for what I did earlier," Judy stated, smiling softly at the pup as he experimentally swung his sword a few times. "I hope this makes up for it, in a little way though."
The otter pup stopped swinging the sword. Grinning at the rabbit, he did the most unexpected thing, he ran up to Judy and gave her a quick hug. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all." he said, startling the Capitan as the pup grinned. "Though you still won't beat The Fox since you're a rabbit."
Chuckling at how naive the pup must be to think that The Fox would defeat her just because she was a rabbit, Judy returned his hug. The pup soon ducked away, Judy placing a paw over her heart as the pup ran off to his awaiting mother, his new sword swinging above his head. His mother chuckled at her son, then gave Judy a quick smile before placing her paw onto her son's back, leading him home.
Judy stood, watching as the other families gave her similar smiles, before she turned and headed back to the fort.
She groaned, slapping a paw over her eyes, realizing that with how much time she had spent on crafting the sword, she hadn't even started on cleaning the mess that Capitan Doug had left behind.
"Tonight is going to be a long night," she muttered, marching towards the fort with her ears bowed. Her body was exhausted as she walked through the gates and signaled for them to close for the day, but her spirits were much brighter than before.
AN: So, what do you all think of Capitan Hopps now? :) I hope a few things have been cleared up for everyone about her motivations. And for those wishing to see The Fox, don't worry, I think we'll be seeing a bit of him, very soon...