A/N: Heyo, everyone. I am back! So I know that I said this was only going to be a once in a while story around Fall, but I'm really enjoying writing this, so I'll write this until I get writer's block and then go back to my other story for a while until I get writer's block there and then I'll come back and write more of this. Sound fair? If not...welp, I can't help you. I am looking for cover art for both this story and Fall, but have also begun my own little art piece for this story. Whether or not I'll ever finish it or if it will be any good, I don't know, but that is a little project I've been working on during my down time at school. Anyways, with all that over with, leave a follow/favorite/review if you enjoy!

-Eragon

Disclaimer: Disney owns Zootopia and its characters, I own my story(s) and OCs and that is all.

ZOOTOPIA: SEAFARER'S TALES-THE CHOSEN SIX

CHAPTER 2

LOCATION: TUSK ISLAND

DATE: JULY 12th, 1800

"So what is Honey like, Captain Wilde?", the wolf pup, named George, asked innocently, skipping along on the right side of the calm fox.

The pirate captain took a moment to think before responding. How could he possibly explain the odd animal that was Honey? "Well, to start, she's a honey badger who-"

A bark of laughter came from Wilde's left. He looked over to see Robyn, the fox kit, giving a smirk almost too similar to his own. "A honey badger named Honey? That has to be a joke."

Smirking himself, the older fox snipped back at the kit, "This coming from the fox who happens to have the same name as an old fox folk hero?"

Robyn's smirk morphed to a scowl as she crossed her arms and looked away from Wilde. Seeing he had his victory, he continued talking about Honey, "Anyways, Honey is only ten or so years older than me. She-"

Now the leopard kitten, Abel, who was even farther to his right than George, interrupted him, "Wait, you said Honey was so old she couldn't be a pirate anymore and that's why she lives here. She can't be that old if she's only ten years older than you."

While he understood their curiosity, Wilde was quickly losing patience with the disruptions, "You're right, she could still be a pirate. That's why I give her enough gold and supplies to make sure she stays here and out of danger. Can I finish now?"

Staring at his footpaws, Abel responded quietly, "Yes, Captain Wilde."

"Thank you. Now where was I?" He paused for a moment, holding his paw to his chin in thought. Remembering what he had been saying, he snapped his digits before speaking once again, "Ah, I remember now! Honey is one of the sweetest and kindest animals you will ever meet. She was my caretaker, teacher, and guardian when I first stepped foot on a pirate ship. Don't think that she is a pushover, though. That badger will smack a spoon across your rump so fast you won't know what hit you until it's too late. She'll take great care of you, and teach you how to survive on your own one day. You three couldn't have a better animal as your guardian."

Abel, still staring at his footpaws mumbled in a voice that Wilde never would have heard had he not had superb hearing, "What about you? Won't you ever be around?"

The fox captain stopped dead in his tracks, ears perking up and tail shooting out. The three children continued right along for a couple steps until they realized their guide was behind them. Looking back at the captain, they could see a heavy dose of shock in his facial expression as well as a hint of...was that fear? As suddenly as Wilde had froze, he was back to normal self. Donning not his normal smirk, but a tender smile, he closed the gap between himself and the children and took a knee, placing his right paw on Abel and left paw on Robyn with George directly in the middle. A gleam was in his emerald eyes as a warm and affectionate voice flowed out of his muzzle, "I won't be around for you three very often. Because of what I do, I will be out at sea and traveling for months at a time. But I promise I will never forget about you three, and will do my damndest to always come back alive for all of you. And one day, you might be able to be out at sea with me, and won't that be quite the adventure? Now I want you all to look at me. I am a pirate; I'm not a hero or a father figure or even a decent role-model. When I am with you, though, I will always be there for you, no matter what. If you need anything, tell me, and I will try my best to help."

Seeing all three of the children had started to shed tears, he wrapped them into a huge group hug. Never would he be able to explain what made him care so much about these three random orphans, all he knew is that he had an incredible urge to help them and keep them safe. It would be a memory that would stick with him for as long as he lived and a story he would tell to any who would listen. Hearing the sobs turn to just sniffles, Wilde leaned back, still sporting that tender smile, "Now that that's over, let's not think about anything sad anymore. You have to meet Honey still and I'll be around for a few weeks before heading out to sea again, so we'll have some time together. That sound good to all of you?"

The children, still sniffling, nodded their heads, and the group resumed to surprisingly pleasant walk to the east side of town. A couple seconds into the continuation of the walk, Robyn reached up and grabbed Wilde's paw. While surprised, the older fox didn't pull his paw away, knowing that the young kit needed the small comfort. And he couldn't lie, he enjoyed holding the little one's paw and seeing the smile it put on her muzzle. With another ten minutes or so of walking, Wilde led the small group up to the largest house on the road. Wilde had seen it countless times before, but to the children it was a like walking up to the front of a mansion.

The home was two stories tall and built for medium to small sized animals, wooden, and painted white with black accents and a plain black roof. It was fairly narrow, with only two windows with wooden shutters on either side of the centered door and only three windows, also with wooden shutters, stretching across the second story. Seemingly quite basic, but compared to the other houses on the street, it was absolutely marvelous. Wilde grinned at the children's awestruck expressions as he walked up and knocked on the door. There was some shuffling and muttering that got a bit louder as the animal inside approached the door. With little warning, the door swung out and open to reveal a honey badger in about her forties. She had much grey hair for her age, but still had a spark of fire in her eyes.

Honey was scowling when she first opened the door, but as soon as she saw the grinning red fox, the scowl vanished and was replaced with a grin of her own. She lunged forward and gave Wilde a bone-crushing hug before holding him back by his shoulders to scan him up and down. "Well, well, well, where have you been, captain? It's been almost eight months!"

"You know how it is, Honey. Sometimes, you just get on a good streak and end up on the boat for a while."

As she examined him, her eyes were drawn to a small scar on the underside of his chin. It ran horizontally just above his neck, almost as if someone had tried to slit his throat. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. So how'd you get a new scar under your chin", she smiled slyly at him, "Did you cause another vixen to get all upset and do that to you?"

Wilde rolled his eyes, "You and I both know I don't have time for anything like that while I'm out at sea. I got that from a little tussle with a guard who jumped me from behind while we were searching a ship. Needless to say, he's no worry to anyone anymore."

"Good. I'm glad you're safe. Now are you just going to stand out there or come in, Ni-"

Her sentence was interrupted as the fox cleared his throat and gestured with his chin to behind him. All through the conversation, Honey had failed to notice the three children eyeing her with various degrees of curiosity, anticipation, and suspicion. Actually, it was more like each one of the kits embodied one of the three. The leopard kitten definitely was the curious one of the bunch. Not that she was surprised as an old saying her parents used to tell her made its way into her mind. 'Remember, Honey, curiosity killed the cat.' The wolf pup seemed to be waiting for something. And the fox kit watched her every move with extreme caution as if she was a vicious criminal. The badger glared at Wilde, "What have you brought me today, captain?"

A nervous chuckle escaped the older fox. Throwing her paws up in exasperation, Honey trudged back in to the home and dropped into her lounging chair. Wilde beckoned the three children inside and closed the door behind them. After pointing for them to sit on the sofa, he began speaking to the badger who had her face dropped into her paws. "Okay, so I know what this seems like, but I can explain."

"Please tell me these aren't some poor mammals children that you've kitnapped. Or, God forbid, some children who's parents you killed."

"No, Honey! Not even close! I found these poor kits stranded and maybe, kinda, sorta, said I and the sweetest, kindest, best honey badger I've ever met would take care of them..."

Honey's head shot up, distress quickly turning to anger, "You WHAT?!"

Wilde held his paws up innocently, "Listen, I get it, it's a lot to take in and a lot of work, but I saw them and I something in me was drawn to them. I couldn't just leave them all alone, I had to help. And I've only known them a short while", he looked at the three kits and smiled, "But I care very deeply about them. They show me there's more to this life than just being a pirate. I know I can't take care of them on my own, not yet at least. Not until I have enough money for my plan, Honey, but I thought that if you could help me take care of them when I am on my trips until then, then I can take them with me and away from this life so that-"

"So they can what, Nick?! Go join that rebellion of yours on the mainland! What kind of life will that be for them? To grow up in a pirate town only to move to a rebel camp? That's no way for a child to be raised."

Wilde glowered at the badger, "Let me finish, Honey. I won't force them into that life. That will be their choice when they grow up. And I figured that would be a better fate than what they have now. Look at them, Honey. What will this world turn them into if we leave them on the streets to be molded by this town for the rest of their lives. They'll end up dead or among the worst of animals. I can't let that happen. I won't."

Honey did look at the kits. They were trying to act brave, but she could see the obvious fear in their eyes. They needed help, and someone to love them. And she had never seen Nick so set on something other than his plan. This meant so much to him; she couldn't just push him away. She let out a large sigh, "Fine, I can see I can't change your mind and I hate to admit it, but you're right. They can stay in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs until you gather your funds. But we are splitting the costs to take care of them, you hear me, Nicky?"

Triumphant grins plastered all over Wilde and the kits' faces. The older fox gathered the three in a massive hug as he spoke to Honey, tears threatening to drip down his muzzle, "You've got it, Honey. I'll do whatever I need to help take care of them, I promise. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah, no problem", the honey badger stated over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen, realizing she would need to prepare dinner for the four guests...no, not guests, the four new members of her home. Luckily, she had stores of food for Wilde's occasional random visits. She always had her wood stove burning, but she threw a couple more logs over it to get the heat up a bit before pulling a large stew pot from the cupboards, filled it with well water she had brought in earlier that day, and put on the stove to get the water to boil. She then began to chop up bits of fish from that days market and put those on the side before going into her spice cabinet and picking out what she knew to be Nick's favorites, rosemary and thyme, as well as the basic salts for flavor. The water began to boil and she put the hefty pile of chopped fish into the water, letting the flavor of the fish soak in before adding the spices and salts and stirring the whole delectable broth to evenly mix the each and every flavor.

While the badger worked away at dinner, Wilde showed the kits to their new room. It was fairly simple, with two beds sized for medium-sized animals in the room, two dressers with mirrors attached to each, a large desk, two windows facing the street and one facing the house to the left, and plenty of floor space. He let the children explore and jump on the bed for a time, then the incredible smell of fish stew consumed his senses. By the looks on the kits faces, he could tell the scent had done the same to them. At once, they slowly were drawn to the source of the delicious smell like moths to flame. They reached the first floor and saw the dining table had an orange tablecloth over it with the pot of stew at the center of the table. A grinning Honey was just behind the large stew pot, holding back laughter at the nearly drooling four animals transfixed on her cooking.

The four scattered to find seats at the oblong oval table for six, trying their best to remain patient for the stew to be served. Nick had gone to the head of the table, with Robyn and Axel on his right side and George directly across from him. Honey reached over and grabbed Nick's left paw before doing the same with George's right. The hungry group followed suit, all linking hands together and bowing their heads as Honey spoke. "Hello, old friend. You certainly never get tired of throwing surprises at us, but we can't thank you enough for it. You've brought Nicky back to this home safe and sound and given us the blessing of three new additions to our little family. Thank you for George, Robyn, and Axel. You have kept us safe and in good health. Protect Nick on his journeys and help us to raise these three kits to be animals who fight for what they believe in and do what they love, no matter the judgement of others. Thank you."

All five animals simultaneously looked up, smiling warmly at one another. Without another word, Honey began pouring bowls of stew for her misfit family. She grinned in amusement at the tentative first sips of the children followed by them scarfing down their entire bowls in mere moments. She happily poured each one a second before turning and laughing outright. Wilde had chosen to forgo the spoon and just put the bowl up to his muzzle to pour into his mouth. He then tried to dip his bowl into the pot to get a third serving, for which he received a stinging smack on his paw from Honey's ladle. The fox yelped and dropped his bowl into the pot of stew. He stared sadly at the lost bowl while holding his paw close to his chest. "Why would you do that, Honey? What have you done?"

"What have I done?! You're the one trying to get more stew without a spoon! And I am not letting you get your filthy paws in my perfect stew."

Wilde looked away after that and continued to mutter while Honey ate her stew and gave each of the kits a third bowl. She finally gave in and got a new bowl and poured some stew for the sulking fox and slid the bowl over to him. At that, he brightened back up and ate his fill. With the stew gone and everyone full, the kits settled in on the couch to wait for Wilde while he helped Honey clean up the bowls and so she could focus on the large stew pot. They quickly ran out of water since most of it had been used for the stew itself and the fox was sent to go get more water from one of the community wells across the street.

He strolled out the door, two buckets in paw, and across the street and over to the well. The job went quickly and he was halfway across the street when he saw a large animal out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see the large ox from the docks standing about ten yards away, but something was off about him. His arms hung seemingly limp at his sides and he was hunched, not quite standing up straight. He placed the two buckets down and cautiously took a few steps towards the large animal. He called out to the ox, "Hello there! Can I help you, friend?"

A maniacal laugh answered followed by a voice that didn't come from the ox. "I mussst sssay, clever move with the lookout. Too bad thisss brute was all mussscle and no brainsss. He wasssn't even hard to kill."

The ox fell forward and hit the ground with a loud thump, revealing one of the few animals that invoked some fear into the fox captain. Standing before him was a komodo dragon, and a large one at that. The newcomer had many scars on his face and was wearing sailing gear, as if his ship had just arrived at the docks. The reptile had two cutlasses, one sheathed on each side of his waste, as well as a flintlock that was drawn and pointed at the Wilde's head. The canine had to think quick to get out of this, or at least stall. "So Drago, how have you been lately?"

The komodo's tongue flicked out of the grinning lizard's mouth before he responded, "Well, I managed to sssurvive you sssinking my ssship, killing my animalsss, and ssstealing my cargo. I now have a new crew and a new ssship after three yearsss of work and have the fox I hate most ssstanding in front of me with my gun pointed at hisss head. Ssso you could sssay my luck changed for the better."

He had his plan, he just needed to draw the reptile in close, "I can tell your hissss hasn't changed for the better, though."

There was a flash of anger in Drago's eyes, now he had him. "Why you mangy pelt, I'll sssplit that ssstupid muzzle of yoursss in half!"

With Drago taking a few steps forward in his rage, he was now close enough for Wilde to act. The fox closed the distance faster than the reptile thought possible and ripped the flintlock to the side and to the ground. Simultaneously, Wilde drew Drago's right cutlass and held it in both his paws. The lizard hissed at the canine and drew his other cutlass. Without a moment's hesitation, the two pirates collided with a crash of metal. Swing after swing was exchanged. Even with the blade being a bit awkward for Wilde, he held his own without much trouble as Drago's rage grew more and more. The lizard faked a thrust and kicked Wilde to the ground. The fox rolled out of the way as Drago's blade drove into the ground. Popping back up to his feet, Wilde took advantage of the situation and slashed across the back of Drago's knee.

The lizard grunted in pain as he was brought to one knee. He went to swing his blade in retaliation only to experience the worst pain he had ever felt when that claw was severed from his arm by the fox. Screaming in pain, Drago fell to both knees and held the clawless arm to his chest, trying to staunch the bleeding. Metal warm with his own blood was pressed to his throat. Wilde panted and caught his breath before growling at the komodo dragon. "Listen here, Drago. If you ever come after me again, you will experience more pain than you are feeling from your stump at the moment. I never want to see your pitiful scales again, got it. Now get the hell out of my sight! GO!"

Drago at once obliged, running off into the night with his arm still held to his chest. Wilde still held his cutlass. With a deep breath and a large sigh, he took the cutlass and put it next to the door of Honey's home before going back to collect the buckets of water and bringing them into the home for dishes to be finished. Honey only needed one look at him to know something had happened, but this was a normal occurrence. She took the buckets from him and gestured with her head to the kits on the couch. They had all fallen fast asleep huddled together. The canine was glad they hadn't heard, or worse, witnessed the scuffle. One by one and extremely carefully, he carried the kits up to their room. He decided the boys would share a bed so he started with Axel, who was no problem to carry, and then George, who wouldn't let go of him when he tried to put him in bed and he had to carefully pry off. Robyn got her own bed, but she was also not an issue to carry. He then collapsed into his bed, which was the guest bed made for large animals, glad for the day to be over.

Not five minutes later, his door creaked open. Then George's voice emanated into the room. "Um... Mr. Wilde... Can I sleep with you? I had a nightmare."

The fox sat up and lit a candle, gesturing for the wolf to join him. George curled up in his arms and he wrapped his tail around the kit as they began to sink into pleasant sleep... "Mr. Wilde..."

Both Wilde and George sat up at the same time. This time it was Robyn. "Yes, Robyn?"

"Can I sleep with you too? My bed is cold."

"Sure, you little rascal. Jump in."

Robyn had just gotten onto the bed when Axel appeared at the doorway. "You want to sleep in here too, buddy?" Wilde said.

With just a nod, Axel also climbed in. The kits squished together on his right side and he wrapped his tail around all of them before pulling the blanket over. Slowly, each one fell asleep to the soothing sounds of silence and Axel's purrs.