Hey all, DLW here with a brand new chapter. I'd like to thank all the readers, follows, fav's and reviews and for your feedback (It keeps me going with this)! This arc... has to be my favorite thus far for this volume. Disclaimer: Zootopia and its characters are copyright Disney. (I own none of the characters in the story aside from the O/C's.).

The Dystopian Society

Chapter Four: Bite Sized

'On the Menu'

"When I sat next to you, you whispered and I asked 'What were you trying to say?'"

[February 4, 'Nocturnal District' 7:42 PM]

Judy had been in lost deep in thought as she followed cautiously behind Nick. They had been back on the streets of the district and therefore back to where she had felt safer in the company of the eyes of the prey mammals that she had seen casually strolling by.

There had been an increasing amount of species, both predator and prey, that she had seen idly chatting, setting up shop or other various activities that they hurriedly collected themselves to do. Around every corner and down every street there were dozens of mammals that had either greeted them in a small passing by or merely eyed them as they padded by about their way.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the under-city life, Judy could only focus ahead and keep to her thoughts. She mindlessly trailed the foxes tail, only ever averting her gaze when some mammal greeted her or crossed her path.

While she had been glad to be onto somewhere promising, her mind coursed with fresh details about what had just happened, or almost happened. The haunting and ever-menacing image of Nick, standing tall above her with weapon drawn, her nerves nearly shot as he could have easily done in with her in mere seconds.

She thought of how she stood there, frozen in both fear and horror, silently hoping that Jack's colleague would show to give her a fighting chance. In that moment, she knew that as the weapon was aimed at her, the fox was just as cruel and as wicked as she had always known their species to be above all other predators. She had no way of escape.

Then, just as quickly as the horror came to her heart, it vanished in an instant. She never expected the fox to give her weapon back, to her the act was unheard of. Since when did a predator, much more a fox, ever show a cowering prey mammal mercy? It made no sense in her eyes.

Without knowing, her ears flopped down and she placed her right paw on the tear in her ear. A shiver raced down her spine as she did so, vivid memories shot back at her for the umpteenth time.

From her point of view, as she walked ever carefully, watching the fox sway his tail as he continued forward, there was no way that Nick could have done that on his own. She idly let her paw fall to her taser as the memory came to an end, she had been completely averse to the very premise that Jack wasn't somehow involved in saving her life.

"Can you hand me my pills?" A voice called back to her, shaking her from her thought and forcing her head to tilt up.

Nick had slowed down to meet her pace, tilting his head towards her with a patient and somewhat pained expression.

Quickly remembering that she had them with her and the fox's past encounter, she reached into her pocket and pulled them out. She was a bit nervous in handing them over but complied nonetheless as the medication necessary for whatever ailed him at the time.

Happily, Nick reached for it and downed a few of the pills. While he would have been grateful to have had water to take his medicine, the simple fact that the pills would ease his pain even a little was more than enough for him to be thankful.

Sealing the bottle and handing it back to Judy, he trudged on. He had more on his mind than the dull ache that Honey's hugs provided him, several things that bothered him to nearly no end since they left the badgers house.

Yes, he was still upset about the whole break in, but inwardly he knew that Honey was one tough badger. Nick mulled over the words he would choose to confront the bunny about them, he couldn't just let it slide.

"I don't see why you were so scared of Honey," He chuckled, hearing a slight shift in pace and heavier steps being taken now. "She's good company."

Nick looked back only to see the rabbit furiously stepping to his side. He hadn't expected her to so boldly approach after her fiasco, but in her eyes wasn't the look of anger he was expecting, thought he could still annoyed.

"She's a crazy conspiracy theorist that attacked me," Judy voiced, motioning to her missing tuft of hair in frustration. "She's clearly unstable."

Nick found the statement amusing, he couldn't believe his ears, or could he? A coy smile crept its way across his muzzle.

"Says the trigger happy bunny who didn't close the door," His words seemed to cause a little tension with the rabbit as she fell behind a step or two, but he continued to grin. "Cute haircut by the way."

Judy, taken aback by his statement, felt her nose twitch a little. Not willing to admit it, Nick was right about what she had done, they had walked into Honey's home unannounced, she had possibly been caught off-guard. Despite Honey's initial attack and reclusive nature, she made the situation worse by endangering them both, twice.

Shaking her head, she had to ask. "How does she go by unnoticed?"

Nick walked in silence for a moment, casually watching for any passerby's that he may have known. He knew he couldn't avoid such a question, but sighed as he tried to form an answer.

"She's not unnoticed carrots, she helped me build the theme park," He began, hearing Judy huff once more from the mention of her nickname. "When I got the idea for the park and found the clinic, she decided to help in any way she could, so she dug it all out herself."

Judy raised her brow at what Nick said. She remembered going to the clinic and how the park was hidden. Only now did she realize how well the establishment was paced.

At that moment, she gasped. "You mean that whole thing was just dirt?"

As she asked her question, a thought occurred to her. Was she really trusting the story of the fox? While there had been enough evidence for her to not believe so, simply meeting Honey for herself and having seen the bunker made her push away her doubt if only for a moment.

"Yeah, pretty surprising isn't it," Nick chuckled, looking skyward and drawing a deep breath. "Took a while to get support beams in and cover it with plants."

Still surprised that the entire place was at once a mound of dirt merely years ago, Judy's thoughts raced from one possibility to another. For one mammal to have accomplished such a feat, and by themselves for that matter, was simply unheard of. What could have driven a lonely badger to want to do something like that? Who in their right minds would-.

Judy's thoughts stopped themselves at that point, she chuckled inwardly at the possibility of the badger being in her right mind at all. Though that wasn't the only thing that had halted her train of thought.

Eyeing Nick intently, a burning question arose that she didn't quite understand. "How exactly is Honey your godmother?"

She watched as Nick scratched his collars, whether nervous or recalling a memory, she didn't know. He also slowed his pace, inadvertently causing Judy to slow herself.

"My folks told me that they knew her after she came back from the war. At first, she was reclusive to most mammals, but after a while, she warmed up to them."

As he began to tell the tale, Nick didn't even try to look back. Had he done so, he would have seen a much different and intrigued look on the rabbit's muzzle than before.

"I don't know the whole story behind her, but she was the only badger left in her platoon and didn't really like to be out in the open. But when I was born, she was around us all the time in Happy Town."

Judy remembered the town well, it was in the area of the theme park. Though here they were far away in another district, either the badger had moved or traveled the distance often to see them.

"Eventually, my parents decided that she would be the best bet for a guardian," Finally taking the time, Nick looked back at Judy, catching a glimpse of her lavender eyes and curious visage. "You know, in case something happened to them."

Judy nodded in response as she could only understand the concept on the surface. She had never heard of completely different species as a part of a family in any way. Even back at home her godmother, godfather, and other relatives were all at least lagomorphs. She did recall her old neighbors that were stepbrothers, but they were still at least in the same general family of species.

"I stayed with her a lot when..." Nick paused, his voice became softer and more melancholy as he spoke. "When my dad went away to prison, and my mom was sick."

She had remembered what Jack said about his parents. One apparently escaped from prison and the other was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't fathom how either event went by without some kind of notification in records, but would follow through in case it was important to the investigation.

"Honey and I played 'war' all the time, and she even taught me the basics of being a medic," As Nick said this, he put up his paws and made air quotes and snickered as he did so. "Still, she doesn't get a lot of company, But I used to visit her every week to check on her until I was locked away."

His voice trailed off, slowly at first, but sounding more strained over time. The more he thought about his situation and subsequent separation from his old life, the more Nick yearned for his hopeful freedom.

"Honestly, I think she was just... happy to be around other mammals for a while." He concluded.

Having taken into consideration the fox's situation, she could somewhat see why Honey was on edge. Even if Nick did this to himself, the badger's lack of company could easily have triggered withdrawal and relapses. It's no wonder that she was so excited when they were there.

Contemplating the nature of the badger and keeping up her pace, Judy tried to think of another question to gain more insight to the mad mammals mindset. However, as she did so, a sudden and familiar grumble filled her ears.

Feeling the pain of hunger settle in, as if to add insult to injury, she caught a whiff of some of the restaurants in the air. The tantalizing and fresh aroma of food wafting by her was far more noticeable now than when she had first arrived. It alone drove her to question their next stop.

"Sooo," Judy began, drawing out the statement in an effort to hide yet another alert from her stomach. "Who's this Gazelle that we're meeting at a cafe?"

Though she tried to make herself seem a little more focused at the task at hand, Nick couldn't help but smirk. He too was becoming impatient and practically salivating at the prospect of food.

"Oh her? Remember that singer that I said my friend Clawhouser was crazy about?" He replied nonchalantly.

Vaguely remembering his statement, Judy nodded.

Nick shrugged, beaming with a smile. "Well, that would be her, the current owner of the Cuerñorayas. Our eccentric Ms. La'Gñeb."

The name certainly sounded foreign to her, and difficult to pronounce. Both her name and that of the restaurant sounded undoubtedly eccentric, but still, she found herself drawn to Nick's previous answer.

"A cheetah," She spoke, raising her brow in the process. "Crazy about a singing gazelle?"

The idea that a cheetah, being a predator, even had a prey mammal as a friend was something that she rarely heard of. Not to mention that they were supposed to be natural enemies from long ago.

Looking back at Judy, Nick nodded. "What can I say, she's captivating, has an amazing voice, and is very friendly."

Saying this, he stared into Judy's eyes and flashed a quick smile.

"Well, that, and the fact that she's..." He paused, ensuring that he had her full attention. "Predatory."

Drawing out the last word, Judy cautiously eyed him. There was something more than what he was saying, but she couldn't figure out what.

"Predatory? What do you mean by predatory?" She asked, her voice more of an accusation than a question.

After checking his surroundings to see exactly where they were, Nick looked down to the smaller mammal and grinned.

"You know, a Vicious Native," He stated, getting a disgusted look from the rabbit. "No? How about a High-risk Resident?"

Neither of his descriptions seemed to sink in as the rabbit looked even more confused than before.

He scratched the back of his neck and tried again.

"Okay, how about Local Liability?" He continued, getting even more of a puzzled and questioning eye. "Huh, ever heard of a Threatening Tenant?" Still nothing. "Uh, an Unsafe Urbanite?"

With each passing term came a look of more twisted perplexity and disgust. Seeing that he would get nowhere, form his terminology, Nick sighed in defeat.

"She's dangerous prey, carrots..." He resigned himself to say.

At that moment, Judy's ears stood on end. Surely Nick couldn't have said that a prey mammal could posibly be as harmful as he had just mentioned. Her eye twitched from the sheer audacity of his crude joke.

"Antlers can be dangerous," She said in a condescending tone. "But I don't get where you come off by saying that she's predatory."

Nick could hear the seething anger in her tone. He didn't exactly know how to respond to her state.

He stopped in his tracks, looking her dead in the eye with a troubled stare of his own. "You're kidding, right?"

Judy clutched her paw in response. How could he say such things, and about a prey mammal at that? That they were unsafe, that they were threatening, yet it was preds that wore collars? Where did he-

"Cinnamon!" She heard Nick call out.

Though Judy could see him looking towards her, his eyes had trailed to part of the street opposite them. Before she could crane her neck that way, she watched as the fox raced across the empty roadway.

Not wanting him to get too far ahead but still furious at his accusation, Judy ran after him. She had been quietly thankful that the street was empty save for a few mammals looking to cross every now and again.

Making her way across, she saw the fox standing over a smaller mammal, barely even Judy's size, ears and all. While she still wasn't done chewing out the fox for his less than appropriate words about the gazelle, she noticed the look of concern he had while looking down towards the lone figure.

From what Judy could see, it was a small possum girl. She wore a pinkish purple dress and matching coat with a floral pattern. Her collar had turned yellow as she looked up towards Nick with tears forming in her eyes.

She stopped just in front of the two unsure of what Nick was trying to do, but she soon witnessed the fox kneel down, allowing the possum to cling to his sides.

"M-Mister Nick?" The tiny mammal wept.

Judy didn't know what to think as Nick patted the possum on her head, smiling as he tried to get her to look up.

"Hey there sweetie, you can calm down now," He reassured her, finally gaining her attention and hearing her breath slowly find an even pace. "You know Salt was worried sick looking for you?"

He continued to let the possum cling to him as she spoke.

"I-"

She tried to say, but nervously stopped as she tried. She looked up to see the fox smiling at her warmly, urging her to continue.

"I-i just wanted to see M-miss Gazelle again." Her tiny voice squeaked.

Nick's ears stood up when she said this, he was now more concerned about the possum than ever.

"You mean you walked all the way out here all by yourself?" He asked calmly, gently looking down upon the nodding mammal "You know you should have asked him?"

As he asked her, he felt her grip tighten around his sides. He was truly grateful to have taken his pain medication earlier.

"U-uncle Salt doesn't like going." The possum sniffled.

Nick looked at her, puzzled as to why she would even say such a thing.

"Why not?" He asked.

The possum let her tail rest and breathed deeply. She tried to wipe her tears away as she spoke.

"E-everyone that eats there makes fun of us," She stuttered, wiping her eye with the back of her paw. "A-and F-f-fennel doesn't like us."

Mentioning the name, Nick quickly deciphered who it was she was trying to say.

"Finnick?" He corrected, watching the possum nod while she continued to sob. "Why do you think that about him?"

The young possum, tearing her head away in shame, looked down and twiddled her thumbs.

"B-because... Gazelle gives us food," She admitted, now on the verge of tears again. "And he... he thinks we scare everyone away."

Nick, now fully understanding the child, meekly smiled and wiped away a tear forming in her eye.

"He doesn't think that Cinnamon." He assured her, wrapping his tail around her and hugging her to calm her down.

The possum, in turn, looked up. Her eyes wishful and yet fearful. Though through this, Nick continued to smile.

"Tell ya' what," He said, slowly rising to his feet and holding out his paw to her. "You come with us and I'll show you that Finnick is your best friend in the whole city."

Feeling better and now swishing her tail, she eagerly reached out for his paw.

"R-really?" She asked excitedly.

Nick chuckled at her quick response.

"You bet," He grinned, smiling at her exuberant form. "Besides, Salt's probably gonna come by looking for you there."

After giving his word to the smiling child, Nick turned to see a very curious rabbit standing just across from them. She had been silent the whole way but didn't seem as upset as before.

Without even thinking, Nick waved his paw towards her. "Carrots, I'd like you to meet Cinnamon. Salt's niece."

Judy looked towards the possum who immediately slipped behind Nick in an attempt to hide herself. Even still, while hiding, she poked her head out curiously. Judy couldn't help but smile.

"Hi there." Judy waved.

While the possum still cowered behind Nick, she meekly waved back.

Nick shook his head, grinning the whole way. "It's alright Cinnamon, you don't have to hide from her."

The possum looked up to him nervously only to be met with a warm smile. Seeing his demeanor, she cautiously walked from behind him and clutched something from her coat in her free paw.

"Look what I found." She said, holding the object in front of her and the rabbit.

Judy curiously walked forward to inspect whatever the child held.

"What's that you got there?" She asked.

Clutched in the possum's paw was a small black feather. It had been bent and was missing several of its barbs, but was still easily identifiable.

Cinnamon shrugged. "It's pretty."

Judy continued to smile at the child, not knowing why she had feared her earlier. Though as she did so, she felt her stomach demand her attention once more.

Sighing out of hunger, she turned to Nick and asked. "How far away are we from Gazelles place?"

At the mention of the name, she watched the little possum gleefully hop in place and stare longingly at Nick. He returned the gesture with a swish of his tail to tickle her.

He turned to face the end of the street. "It's just up the block and around the corne-"

'AAAHHHH!'

Never being able to finish his instruction, the three heard a deafening shrill cry. So loud it was that Cinnamon cowered behind Nick in fear and Judy readied herself for what may be.

"That sounded close by." Nick announced, flickering his ears and holding tightly to the possum.

While there hadn't been many other mammals in the street, Judy could only assume it was someone in potential danger. Having this knowledge, she dashed down the street where she last heard it.

As she ran, she could hear the click of feet behind her and she could see Nick now carrying the fearful possum in his arms as they raced to the source of the sound.

Generally, Judy wouldn't want to let anyone come near a threatening site, but she had to keep Nick under close watch. She couldn't have him leave as it wouldn't be easy to recapture him if necessary, her paws were tied on this one.

Nearly there from where Judy believed she heard the sound, she stopped as she came to an alleyway between two buildings. Not wanting to take chances, she held her paw up in order to tell Nick to stop and give her a chance to scout the area.

Reaching the rabbit and understanding how things could go, Nick halted and complied. He waited with the possum cradled in his arms around the corner of the alleyway as Judy carefully padded her way inward.

Judy, having left the two just behind her, trekked forward ever cautious as to who it was that screamed. Peering down the alleyway, she could see a large trash bin and several figures standing around the other end of the alley.

Thankful for the lighting just beyond, she took the opportunity to gain a better vantage point. The rabbit nimbly slunk towards the dumpster without making a sound, peeking around its siding to see four large mammals standing over a much smaller one that had fallen to the ground.

The four large figures she could see were all tigers, each wearing a different colored shirt but matching pants. She watched as one of them bent down and picked up the figure that they had loomed over. She stifled a gasp as she could see that the smaller mammal was a gazelle and had for the most part been unresponsive in the arms of the tiger.

'Not good, she's bleeding.' She heard one of them say in a hushed tone.

'That was too close' One called out to the others

'What do we do now?' Another voice whispered.

'Let's just get her inside.' The last commanded, causing them all to hurriedly walk away.

With the commotion dying down, and now seeing all four huddle together and dash across the street into the building that lit the alleyway, Judy walked from around the corner. She paced her way to where the tigers had been and looked around to find out exactly what happened.

She needn't look far as when she stepped forward she found small spatters of blood on the hard stone beneath her. She figured that it must be from the gazelle after the tigers had cornered her. She gasped in realization that she must have been the one to scream as well.

Feeling her heart race, she reached for her radio and hit the button as quickly as her reflexes allowed.

Hearing the hiss of the feedback, she immediately called to action.

"This is Lieutenant Hopps to dispatch, we have a potential hostage situation in the Nocturnal District, requesting backup."

Clicking off from her end, she padded around, edging closer to the restaurant to get a closer look.

In a moment, her radio hissed back. 'This is Precinct Six Dispatch, Lieutenant, what's your location'

Hearing the dispatcher call her, she looked up for any mention of the restaurant's sign. She eyed it carefully, though the wording was a little hard for her to read.

"I'm across the street from..." As she tried to read it, she broke it down into something that would hopefully suffice. "Cu...no...reas?"

She again beeped off her radio, watching intently as she could see movement from within the restaurant.

After a pause, her radio came to life again. "The restaurant Cuerñorayas?"

The question hit her hard. It was the same restaurant that Nick had told her about earlier. If she was here, then that gazelle could possibly be-

She hit her radio without a moments notice. "Affirmative, hostage is inside."

Even as she released the button, the dispatch called her once more.

"10-4, Nocturnal District Police are on their way, eta five minutes."

"Understood." She sighed in relief as the dispatch call went away.

If that gazelle was the one in charge and Nick's two friends worked for her, then what could a streak of tigers want with them?

She shook her head. "Nick, you can come out now."

Judy put away her radio and eyed the restaurant once more. The tigers now stood around the gazelle they had placed on a table, seemingly shouting at one another in clear view.

Behind her, she could hear the slow and steady shuffle of feet. She didn't know exactly how to break the news to Nick, but no matter what happened she would gladly do all that she could to help the gazelle that he so inclined to jokingly call dangerous.

She narrowed her eyes and clutched her taser. She had only one round in the gun and one spare that she could use if need be. Even then, given five minutes, four tigers, two rounds, and a wounded gazelle, Judy couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. With limited resources, she'd have to stall for as much time as possible.

"I sat still, looking away from you only to whisper to the air. 'I never thought you'd be different.'"

Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! So much to go over and so little time. And I wonder who will find the little hidden hints I've placed in here. Anywho, welcome to chpter 4 of 5 for volume 1! Every word is getting me more and more excited to write this to the end.

Before I forget, a new Nick n' Finnick should be out this coming weekend, so stay tuned

And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other at your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:

fanfiction:
~dancinglunarwolves

deviantart:
dancinglunarwolves

archiveofourown:
users/DancingLunarWolves/works

If you liked this story and have time please post a review, and if you would like to keep up with the story please fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to message me about anything... More to come soon.

If you'd like updates, please check the profile page and or message me.

Also, I'm placing my other stories (non zootopia) on hold (just on hold) until I'm done with a good chunk of these. More info on my profile page.

I hope you all enjoy.

Till Next Time
-DLW