Chapter 27: Snow Stuck
So love has come to our two raccoons and now all they just have to do is get off of that snowy mountain and back to the big city. This is the last chapter of this story and thanks for reading it. Our lovers' story continues in my original story Zootopia: A Raccoon's Redemption.
I have also begun a new series about a surfing fox and the first story, which is titled Zootopia: Stone Kole in Hang Ten! is almost complete. Stone Kole is Zooptopia's three-time small board champion surfer and all the fennec fox wants to do is surf the waves. He soon finds out that life is very complicated when he seeks his father who never knew he was born, comforts his best friend who has been rejected by his family because of his sexuality, and deals with the fact that he is in love with a cat. (Rated T)
The second story of that series will be Zootopia: Stone Kole in Dark Paradise in which Zootopia's favorite small board surfer and his pals travel to an exotic tropical island, but paradise hides a dark secret. Can his father Finnick, along with Nick & Judy save the little fennec fox from an evil voodoo priest before a hurricane hits the island? Also, why is the ghost of a long-dead infamous pirate named Jack haunting him? (Rated T)
Marie awoke in the predawn darkness, she was getting a little too warm in the confines of the sleeping bag. Although the wolf-sized bag was oversized for the two small mammals, she was afforded very little wiggle room with both of them inside of it. It wasn't that she was complaining about the male raccoon's naked body pressed against hers, but she and Jake were natural sprawlers. Raccoons were infamous for their habit of tossing and turning in their sleep, there was even an old joke that it was amazing that their species didn't go extinct because they kept falling out of trees.
So there she laid in the middle of the bitterly cold winter darkness, inside a flimsy thin canvas tent, and of all things she was hot. Her eyes widened as she felt him move slightly and she wanted to giggle when she felt something poking her back that was not his tail. She fought the urge to reach around with her paw and stroke it just to see what would happen. After battling with herself, she shifted enough to touch it and she was startled when she heard him whisper a warning into her ear, "If you play with mine, then I'm going to play with yours."
"Why Sugar, would y'all take advantage of me like that?" she coyly whispered. "Trapped like this, I can't fight back."
"Hell yes," he grunted before his muzzle dug into her neck's fur.
"What happens if I say no?" she asked.
It was almost like she had poured a bucket of cold water on the randy raccoon! He removed his paws from her body and tried to scoot away as much as the sleeping bag would allow him to do so. "Then no it is," he answered in a confused whisper.
She giggled before she scooted back against him, "I just asked you a question, Sugar, I didn't say no."
He rose over her and peered down into her eyes, "Marie, I lied earlier when I said I'd take advantage of you, I love you too much to really do that. It was just banter."
She smiled and hugged him. "I know, but it's nice to know that after last night you still respect me this morning," she huskily replied, and then she grasped him between his legs with her paw again. "So, Sugar, how's your night vision, do y'all think you can find a condom in the dark?"
"I know exactly where I left the box!" he enthusiastically replied. He struggled to get his arm out of the bag and she heard him rummaging around for the box and then his paw returned clutching its prize.
"The packet is kind of cold," he snickered. "I hope it doesn't…"
Hush, Sugar, and kiss me," she sighed. "Then I want you to make love to me really, really slow so I can savor every moment."
They made love in the darkness and she bit down on his shoulder to suppress her moan. If she had hurt him, he didn't seem to care while he grunted and shuddered before slowly withdrawing. Something warm and sticky touched her leg. "Sorry, he muttered. "I leaked a little bit while it took the condom off."
"Better on me than within me, Sugar," she giggled while he wiped up his mess with his undershorts.
"I think these have seen better days," he said dryly before he set the wet undershorts aside. "I don't think I should try to send it to my cleaners. I'm sure the stains will wash out, but I would be embarrassed."
"Sugar, have I already domesticated you?" she giggled. "Are you already thinking about your laundry instead of your naked girlfriend?"
"Ouch!" he snickered. "You're right, I've got my priorities all wrong." She giggled when he lustfully reached for her again.
"Well, Carrots, you really got the old Razorback stuck this time," Nick tutted out while he looked at the police cruiser which was sticking nose-first into the snowbank. Marie stood back with Jake and watched as the coyotes gathered next to the red fox and the rabbit. Despite her dark blue police winter jacket, dark blue snow pants, gloves, and stocking cap Judy still was shaking from the cold.
Marie pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and shuttered even though she was wearing her brand new blue down ski jacket and snow pants, compliments of Fru Fru who had managed to get her an ensemble delivered to the mansion yesterday before she left with Kevin. Instead of wearing one of her blouses, she put on the checkered flannel shirt that Jake had been wearing the night before. He had offered her other clean shirt that was in the duffle bag that Fru Fur had sent to him, but she preferred the one that smelled like her lover.
"Ho little brother!" a coyote called over to Nick. "I think we can winch it out of there with no problems."
"Why do they keep calling Nick that name?" she whispered to Jake.
"The coyotes believe that it was the son of Mohegan, the First Wolf, and the daughter of Tokala, the First Fox, who mated and their son was Apesi, the First Coyote," he explained. "That makes Nick part of their family by tradition, plus there are several coyotes her who have fox blood in them."
"Just like Annie does," she replied. "I still think it's funny that they call you The Thief!"
"A thief will come, steal the enemy's thunder, and usher in a new era of change for the children of Apesi, the First Coyote." Annie quoted the old prophecy before she walked up and took Jake's paw. "So how are Azeban's children today?"
"Azeban is the First Raccoon, right?" Marie asked.
"Yes, he is," Annie giggled and nodded. "You're catching on."
"So what does Adageyudi mean?" Marie asked, she remembered that name from her dream.
"Adageyudi means Beloved," the young coyfox replied while she gave the female raccoon a strange look with her odd pale yellow eyes. "Where did you hear that name?"
Marie glanced over at Jake, who had walked away from them and was standing next to Nick watching while the tow truck driver was hooking up the police cruiser. "I had a weird dream, that's all. When I heard everyone calling him The Thief, it reminded me of that dream."
"Sometimes the Firsts speak to us in dreams," Annie solemnly replied. "That is a good thing, you are blessed."
"What do you mean?" Marie asked.
"That you and Jake are meant to be together," the little coyote answered with a smile.
There were cheers after the police cruiser was hauled back onto the road, but Judy grimaced when she saw the scratches on the paintwork. "Priscilla is not going to be happy," she groaned. "Maybe I'll tell her you were driving?"
"Just throw the fox under the bus, Fluff," Nick dramatically sighed. "After all that self-appointed Queen of Cars already blames me for everything else."
"She is the Motor Pool Supervisor," Judy laughed.
"Well, I guess we need to pack the gear and get back to work?" Nick sighed. "Get the handcuffs on coon."
"Hey wait a minute!" Jake growled. "Can we at least leave them off until we get the city limits?"
Marie came over to them and looked at Jake with concern. "Why is Nick going to handcuff you?" she asked.
"Breaking probation by leaving the city," Judy replied while she joined the fox and the raccoons. "Jake was supposed to receive a pardon, but the paperwork was never filed. We'll get it straightened out at the station,"
"You better," the female raccoon snarled after she grabbed Jake's arm and pulled herself into his embrace.
"You know we're also going to have to arrest you too?" Nick added with a grin. "For aiding and bedding a felon."
"It's aiding and abetting in a felony," Jake groaned. "Besides no one puts cuffs on Marie unless it's me."
"Jake!" Marie protested as she hip-checked the raccoon.
"It's too late for that," Nick snickered. "They already took your tent down."
"If we run from the coppers, we can hide in the woods," Jake suggested to Marie. "I know a hidden cave where we can hide."
"Yeah, so does everyone else because that is where you found the missing kits," Judy scoffed. "Now we need to load our gear and head back into town."
The fox and raccoon watched while the rabbit climbed into the police cruiser and carefully drove it up onto the field.
"So this is the game plan," Nick said as he threw his arm over the male raccoon's shoulder and escorted him and Marie up the hillside. "First we have to wait until everyone packs up and leaves, that should take at least several more hours and then we'll drive into town to meet with the Sheriff, he's got to officially release you into our custody. After that, I'm afraid you'll have to go back to the station for booking."
"My attorney Manny Moleinger said that there is no bail because I'm considered a fugitive who fled," Jake grumbled. "I going to have to spend tonight in the holding cells and then I have to go to court in the morning. This really sucks."
"Yeah, I know pal. I've racked my brains and I can't scam you out of this one, maybe the mayor will get the paperwork done by the time we get back?"
"Why do I have the feeling she doesn't like me?"
While they helped the coyotes load the last of their tents and other camping gear back into their truck and vans, Marie was approached by one of her father's farmhands, it was Sammy's mother.
"Little one," she said as she approached her and put her paws on Marie's. "We have missed you at the farm."
"I miss everyone and the farm too!" Marie replied before she hugged the portly coyote. "I should come back for the Harvest Moon this year."
"You should my dear," the coyote replied. "I have a gift for you, last night Sammy came to me in a dream and told me to go down to the frozen stream along the roadside where I found this stone. I polished it and for some reason, I knew that I needed to make you this." She handed the raccoon a small pouch.
Marie tilted her head with one of those questioning canine looks, a habit she had picked up while growing up with the coyotes on the farm, as she opened the pouch, and inside of it was a traditional long earring like many of the coyotes wear. The red stone had been polished and pierced with several strands of beads strung below it in a wave pattern and small blue feathers at the very tip.
"Your species also used to wear these long ago in the Great Northern Woodlands," Sammy's mother said while she watched the raccoon remove her left earring and replace it with the other. "Remember us when you wear it, Adageyudi."
"Thank you!" Marie cried and she hugged the coyote again. "Thank you for reminding me."
Marie hugged several of the other coyotes she knew from her childhood and quite a few she had just met.
"It looks good on you," Annie commented when she saw the earring. Marie hugged the coyfox and then approached the elder Mister Walker.
He was sitting on a camp chair near a beaten old pickup truck and sniffed the air before standing to face her. "So Azeban's child, we part ways for now," he said towards her with a smile. "But I have a feeling that we will meet again."
"I hope so sir," she answered while she stepped into his embrace. "I hope so."
"Keep The Thief happy," the older coyote chuckled. "As I am happy for the two of you."
Jake approached the elder and bowed. "You know I can't see you," the coyote laughed. "But you're the Thief and I know our paths will cross again many times." He held his paws out and Jake stepped into his embrace as they hugged.
After the final truck full of coyotes rumbled down the snowy road out of the park, Nick secured the last of their gear into the police cruiser and after they loaded into the police vehicle, Nick drove them down the snowy road towards the freshly plowed highway. It was then that Jake got a phone call from Manny. "So the pardon came through?" he asked. "I'm a free mammal…how did you…stonewalled…ZNN picked up on it and confronted the commissioner…it just came over this afternoon…yes thank you!"
"So you got your pardon?" Nick called back.
"Yeah, they got caught on national television and had to come through this morning," Jake beamed.
The police cruiser stopped in the middle of the icy road and Nick looked back at him, it was clear the fox was suppressing a grin. "I guess you'll have to get out of the car now," he dramatically sighed. "This vehicle is only for official police use, no rides for civilians."
"Hey Judy, if I punch him will that get a ride back to the station?" Jake snickered.
"Eeeup!' the rabbit laughed back. "But if you slipped and your paw hit him…well that was just an accident."
"My own wife is consorting with my best friend against me!" the fox laughed. "Are you sure you know what you're doing Marie? He is a bit…shifty!"
"Oh yeah, he can sift me any time he wants to!" she blurted out and then blushed when she realized what she had just said.
"Ah, love!" Nick chuckled while he pulled the cruiser back onto the highway.
"Yeah love!" Jake replied before he bent over and kissed her. "She's my true love."
Jake and Marie's love story continues in Zootopia: A Raccoon's Redemption, Chapter 17: Raccoon's Enjoy Dessert. Excerpts from that story:
The raccoon was finishing her second daiquiri by the time the rabbit was starting hers, both females had a buzz going from the alcohol and the drinks had lowered their inhibitions. The bar was noisy with patron's chatter, music, and the sounds of the many various games being played. All around the tables were vintage pinball machines, along with video arcade game machines from the '70's and '80's.
"You let him win," Judy accused the raccoon. "You were winning and then let him win."
"I want him in a good mood tonight. You know how competitive Jake can become," Marie replied with a smile. Her eyes moved from Judy to the slim young raccoon standing next to a fox at an old-fashioned pinball machine. "I want this date to be a very long fulfilling one."
The rabbit was fiddling with her drink's straw and said, "That's nice…wait! What did you say?" Her ears blushed slightly.
"It's Saturday night Judy and I have plans to keep Mr. Runnel busy tonight and all of tomorrow," she answered with a giggle. "I've heard the Regency Hotel has really good room service."
"That night at Howler's Mountain, was that your first time with Jake?" Judy asked her.
"Yes, Jake was caught up trying to romance me," the raccoon giggled. "I can't believe he made me wait all those months! He was so unsure about what he was doing, and then it finally dawned on me that he never had really dated before. It was kind of cute the way he fumbled through our first few dates. He even hesitated that night at Howlers Mountain, offered to sleep curled in his poncho and blankets. I wasn't going to go through another night unsatisfied. Thank the Lamb that he had more than one package of condoms, although in the morning we found six canid-sized packs left for us in the tent by the coyotes. He also confessed that Fru Fru included a full box of his favorite brand when she sent him a change of clothes, bless her little heart."