Well, hope all of your Christmas' were good! (I published a Christmas-themed short story on the website, so if you've got a few minutes go and check that out!)
Well all chitter-chatter aside, here's the next chapter! After this we only have four more, so the end is approaching quicker than you could ever expect!
Enjoy!
Nick was smiling, and he wasn't quite sure why. He couldn't figure out any reason for him to be happy in his current situation. Yet at the same time he didn't feel like that was a problem. Maybe it was just the overpowering feeling of heartache and pain swelling up inside of his bony chest that was altering his mind to make it feel like it was in a false state of euphoria.
Wouldn't that be something. He glumly thought to himself as his toothy smile fell to form a crude grin and as his weary eyes slowly flicked open.
The vision in front of his legs that were extended out in front of him was as black as coal, eerily reflecting the surrounding darkness in such a way that even with his keen eyes he could barely make out its shape in the blackness. He knew that his Primal Self wasn't sleeping or sedated; he had been at full alert when it had waken up, and even now as he tilted his ears around the heavenly white room just beyond the closed vision he could hear the gentle hum of a generator and the strained breaths of his Primal Self.
The past few hours had been an absolute joy ride. When he had been sedated at his cell in the headquarters he had been given no warning that when he'd wake up he'd be chained down to the inside of a truck. His Primal Self hadn't been the fondest of the idea either, because as soon as the vision in front of him flicked to life and the cold touch of the steel floor of the truck spread throughout his body his Primal Self had burst into a violent rage. Thankfully he had been immobilized fairly quickly by a second tranquilizer dart from some unseen mammal behind him, yet that may have done more harm than good when his already difficult breathing became even more strenuous as his Primal Self's head fell to the floor with a thud and as the metallic collar around his neck became wedged in a very uncomfortable position pressing against his windpipe. He wasn't complaining, but maybe next time he was transported somewhere someone could properly sedate him and inform him beforehand.
The next time the vision in front of him flicked to life it only revealed a small, white, high-walled room with white fluorescent lights overhead and a white tiled-floor. Not that he saw the setting for very long, because almost as soon as his Primal Self had opened his eyes and sat up the vision had snapped shut. The warmth radiating from the tiles remained, though, and the heat only spreading throughout his paws and legs made made him amused as he lay on the otherwise cold darkness below him.
Maybe that's why I'm smiling. He almost sullenly thought with a small snicker, but he quickly grimaced in pain as a sharp blade pierced his chest. He wished that he could call that a rare occurrence, but ever since his partner had united with him that fateful day just under a week ago it had become a daily problem he had no way of dealing with. It was a shame, really. He remembered from earlier in the week when she had given him an Aardvil that the pain reliever did no help in combating his pain.
So just give in, Nick. A small, devious voice nagged from the back of his head. You're dying; save yourself from as much pain as you can.
"Shut it," Nick sternly growled back, the small smile carved into his face falling as he moved up a paw from the darkness to gently rub his eyes. Much to his thanks the voice fell quiet with a final growl, but the stressful and foreshadowing ideas that it had alerted him to didn't disappear as easily.
Nick raised himself to sit upright without opening his eyes, his elbows supporting his body weight as he brought his legs in towards him. He groaned in weariness, pain, and a twinge of self-loathing. These past few days he had tried to regain more and more control of his body. Yet all of it had been in vain. The only thing he had managed to do was improve his speaking, but he had made little progress in the way of physical movement. He took a deep breath and focused, pushing his muscles downward as he flexed his back and shoulders and rested his paws in his lap. He could regain control; he knew it! He was entirely positive! After so long apart from his partner all he needed was that last little push over the edge and he'd be finally united with her. He was the one who needed to make that push, because once he pushed himself over the edge Judy would be there to catch him.
Nick stopped breathing, a solemn and calm expression plastered on his face as he threw open his eyes and stared at the vision. He repeated the otherwise motionless move several times, but gave up with a gruff and quiet growl. Maybe trying to regain his most important sense in one attempt was more foolhardy than he had originally thought.
I just need to start off with something small. He determinedly thought as he straightened his slumped back again and shut his eyes. This time, however, instead of flashing his eyes open and closed he stiffly raised one of his paws off of his lap. He could feel his paw shaking the further he raised it upward and outward, and he felt his Primal Self shift on its paws and heard it growl in what sounded like a mix of rage and annoyance. Nick couldn't help but crack open his eyes at the violent sound, his curiosity getting the best of him.
The ovular vision a few feet in front of him was alive with the color white, but it was what was hanging in the middle of it that stood out from its surroundings. Nick could feel his eyes widening in shock and surprise at the sight of his Primal Self's paw raised outwards just like his was. A wave of excitement washed over him as he lifted his paw up further and began to move it in circles and as his Primal Self's paw did the same, much to his delight.
Incredible! He ecstatically thought, feeling the blood pumping through every vessel in his limb that he hadn't moved on his own in what had been years. I'm never not moving this thing again! I'll end up like one of those mammals that can never keep their paws still!
"Enjoying yourself, Nick?" A humorous and warm voice rhetorically asked, and Nick sat up and perked his ears as his eyes fixated on the vision. His Primal Self looked away from his raised paw and towards the single, one-way windowed white door that was the only entrance in and out of his new room and where the voice had originated from.
Leaning in the doorway was a familiar rabbit in a green, plaid blouse and a pair of blue jeans and who was staring at him with an affectionate gaze and a small but unworried smile.
Nick's heart leaped miles at the sight of his partner, and he opened his mouth to tell her about his raised paw that she had inevitably already seen, but before he could his Primal Self let loose a startled and angry growl and a massive pain filled every inch of his chest. He bent his back back and began to whither in pain, his raised paw falling to the floor as he arched his back and squeezed his eyes shut. It wasn't the worst pain he had experienced in recent days, but it was still enough to make him grind his teeth and wish that he was dead: to a very limited degree, of course.
Yet as soon as the pain began it was gone, and Nick heaved a series of deep breaths as he blinked open his eyes and raised up to stare out the vision, his body weight supported by his elbows and forearms. His Primal Self had moved away from the center of the room to cower in the corner furthest from Judy, who was still standing in the doorway. One of her paws was limply extended out towards him, as if she had tried to stop him from backing away, while fear and worry plagued her face. But that expression quickly faded and a smile crawled back onto her as she slowly and daintily walked away from the white, metal sliding door that closed shut on its own volition behind her.
His Primal Self growled as she approached and its head bent further towards the ground as if it would strike her. Nick straightened himself, his breathing still heavy, and stared at the vision as stern determination filled his mind. Even with his recent improvements, he wasn't sure that Judy walking up to him was a wise choice.
"Hold up, Carrots," Nick jovially but deathly seriously said aloud, his voice scratchy and inconsistent as it came out of his Primal Self's snarling mouth. "I don't think approaching a wild animal getting settled into a new place is a smart idea."
Judy stopped in the middle of the room to hear him speak, her expression interested, but once he was finished the smile on her face only grew and she continued to march towards the cowering fox in the room's corner.
"You know I'm not going to do that," She warmly replied, stopping a few feet away from him and kneeling down onto both her knees as she shook her head back and forth. "I'm sorry if you didn't have any idea you were moving. I heard that Bogo had to put you under on the truck ride here."
"That wouldn't have happened if Chief Horny had properly knocked me out in the first place!" He wryly responded, a sarcastic grin on his face, and Judy chuckled with laughter at his use of their superior's crude nickname.
"Well maybe I'll come with you on the ride out of here," She hopefully said, and Nick could feel her positivity bolting into him and filling his chest with power and affection, but her eyes widened in embarrassed shock and she straightened herself before he could respond to her with a comical statement.
"I guess you'll probably want to know where 'here' is?" She quickly and awkwardly asked, almost as if she had expected him to know beforehand, and Nick brusquely nodded. In reality he didn't care too much where he was; as long as he had her to help him recover.
"This is the Minas Girrais Recovery Institute," She loudly explained, raising her arms out to her sides and motioning towards the room's bland white walls as if they were great statues. "Doctor Zdanskyi recommended that we transfer you to here since he'd be able to see you more here compared with at headquarters. You know, so it'd look a little less suspicious. Anyways, you're going to love it here once you get out of this 'containment room' as the staff called it. The Institute's huge outside of the hospital! And the rooms are so nice! It'll feel like our honeymoon!"
Honeymoon? Nick silently exclaimed in mock suspicion and very real shock, one of his eyebrows raising as he continued to stare at his partner's joyous face. If they'd be on honeymoon, that'd mean they'd have to be...
Is she really planning that? He thought to himself, not listening to what Judy had to say as his cheeks heated up in embarrassment and as his mind plunged into an almost psychotic rage. I mean, I wouldn't mind marrying her. But it's such a big commitment! We'd have to find a place that could marry us without any questions, find a preacher who could keep quiet, go to the court and have our marriage made offi- Wait, are a predator and a prey even allowed to marry? I don't think there are any laws against it, but I also haven't heard about any laws for it. Not that I've had the time to look into the subject, but that's not the point! I'm not going through that bureaucratic nonsense just so I could marry Judy! But if we really got serious, would that mean I just wouldn't marry her?
Nick silently growled, panic overtaking his mind as he idly watched Judy continue talking and motioning in the vision.
This isn't the time or place for these kinds of thoughts. He decided, clearing his mind of all doubt and worry as he shifted his attention towards Judy and jumped into the conversation.
"...a field or two," She said, her raised paws falling back to her lap as she laughed. "Not that you can see them, but they're huge! But that's enough of the institute."
Judy leaned in towards him, her paws rubbing together as they fell in-between her thighs and as her warm smile transformed into a forced, toothy, and worried one.
"How are you feeling, Nick?" She asked him, her voice casting out the worry otherwise present on her face and instead inviting solid determination onto it. Nick focused on his body for several seconds, his attention moving away from her and onto his chest. His heart fell to his feet as he listened to his Primal Self's strained breaths, and he could feel the heavy beating of his heart that seemed to pulse with pain with every beat. He gulped as he turned up towards the vision. He'd be lying if he said he was feeling better, but he knew if he did that then Judy would find out the truth sooner or later. Plus right now, when he could feel he was so close to-
Nick gulped as the single, dreadful word he never liked to hear appeared in his thoughts.
-death, was not the time for lies.
"It hurts," He truthfully answered, moving a paw up to rest on his chest as he forced himself to smile. Judy's eyes widened by his answer but she didn't look at all surprised, as if she had prepared herself for it over the past few minutes.
"Where?" She flatly asked as she scooted towards him, her paws lifting her rear end off the floor before she periodically set it back down. Nick stared wide-eyed at her through the vision, and he almost called out to her to stop as his Primal Self lowered itself closer towards the floor so that it was on eye-level with her when she suddenly sprang off the floor so quickly that his Primal Self couldn't react. When she silently landed on her knees she was still on eye-level with him, her ears perked behind her head and a solemn but sure expression on her face. One of her paws raised up to rest on his shoulder while the other moved to rest on his chest, right above his heart.
Nick was suddenly blinded by a bright flash of light and all the air was knocked out of his lungs. He didn't know what was happening to him, but the only thing he was sure about was the soft touch of a paw on his chest, although he couldn't pinpoint whether it was his or his partner's. His limbs suddenly became tired and sore, as if he had just run a marathon, and the pain within his chest grew exponentially until he felt like his body was nothing but it.
When the brightness plaguing his vision finally faded the sight that replaced it shocked him completely. It was Judy's face, just like it had been in the vision, but the catch was that there was no vision. It was only her stunning purple eyes and the white wall behind her, the darkness surrounding him before completely gone. He was looking at her through his own, two eyes.
Yet it wasn't just that. He could feel the room's cool air flowing into and out of his lungs, and beneath his paws he could feel the warm, ceramic white tiles. He was back. But judging by the weakness and numbness already beginning to consume his extremities he wouldn't be back for long.
He could feel his legs beginning to shake and his eyes tearing up as he leaned in towards Judy with a scared expression, and in the moment before his limbs gave out he saw raw and utter shock emerge onto her face.
Nick heard a minute squeak as his legs finally lost all their stability and his body fell on top of her, his head landing right next to hers. He squeezed his eyes shut as another wave of pain shook his body, making his muscles spasm even more than they already were. He moved his paws to grab onto Judy's shoulders, and within a moment hers were wrapped around his trunk and he felt her chin burrow into his shoulder.
"Nick?" She shakily asked, her voice little more than an exhale and no louder than a breath. "Is it really you?"
"Not for long," He responded, fear consuming his mind as he clenched his teeth and pulled back his lips in a pained snarl. He didn't realize how lucky he had been locked away in his mind, because if this was the full extent of the pain his Primal Self was feeling he wasn't sure how he was still breathing.
"It's regaining control," He noted, his voice strained as the numbness that had begun in his paws spread up his legs and into his core and hips and up the entire length of his tail.
"Nick, tell me what you need me to-" Judy began, her voice stern, but before she could finish her statement Nick began to wheeze with sadness. He could feel tears forcing their way out of the corners of his tightly shut eyes, and before he knew it he was burying the side of his face into hers, letting her soft, grey fur absorb his teardrops.
"I don't want to die, Judy," He begged, his pained snarl turning into a sad, toothy grin as the numbness spread up his stomach and spine. He had only just realized how close he was to death, and the thought of him leaving the world for a second time filled every inch of him with fear. He still had so much he had left unfinished; he had a life to live! A job to return to. A rabbit to love. He didn't want to leave just yet...
"Don't put me back in my mind," He sorrowfully begged, pressing his forehead further into Judy's. "I want to stay here, with you. Please don't let me go..."
Nick didn't expect Judy to abide by his command. It was just a feeble attempt to stay out of his mind for just a little longer. To be united with her for just a little longer...
But surprise shook him when he felt both her paws uncurl from around his back and move to press in the sides of his head. He opened his eyes in curiosity to see what she was doing, but her controlled and powerful expression supported by a warm smile quickly erased any doubts that were hiding in the crevices of his mind.
"How'd you break free, Nick?" She asked, her voice filled with understanding as her perked ears tilted towards him. Nick shook his head in answer, tears dripping from his eyes and onto her face.
"I don't know," He hurriedly breathed, his mind still panicked as the numbness spread over his chest so that he could no longer feel the beating of his heart. In the deepest recesses of his mind he heard something give off a low growl. All Judy did was smile further at his answer, and as the numbness crawled up his neck he couldn't help but feel calmed by her affectionate expression.
"We'll figure it out," She decided, picking her head up off the floor and leaning in towards his muzzle. "As soon as you get back in your mind try to get out again. If we can figure out a way to give you more time out here then we might be able to make you permanently stuck in the real world."
Nick nodded just as the numbness finished consuming his neck, and he felt his Primal Self raise his body off of Judy as the numbness spread up his cheeks. He felt a cold breeze fly past him as the numbness took over his entire face, but he was certain that he was the only mammal who could sense the piercing wind. His vision faded as the numbness spread over his eyes, leaving nothing but his muzzle and ears under his control.
"Judy," He longingly began, unsure of where he was going to take the conversation, but before he could speak anymore he felt a paw clench his muzzle shut and heard the sounds of someone sliding and moving on the tiled floor.
"Save your energy, Nick," Judy strongly and determinedly said, taking her paw off his muzzle. "We can overcome this if we try. Just trust me!"
"Of course I trust you," He softly and sadly replied as the numbness took over the last of his senses. He could feel the cold touch of the blackness surrounding him again, but he didn't focus on it. Instead he followed Judy's command with solemn determination. He could beat this; they were so close to the end! All he had to do was try as hard as he could, and he was more than willing to do that.
"Just hold on, Carrots," He resolutely reassured himself. "I'm coming back."
"Officer Wilde's sleeping," Doctor Zdanskyi nonchalantly commented to his counterpart as he walked through out the containment room's single sliding door, swiping his access card down the panel beside it with his free paw. Chief Bogo peered behind the tiger with a raised eyebrow, his eyes focusing in on the fox laying down on the floor on the other side of the door's window.
"How is he?" He asked, his voice full of cautious curiosity.
"From what I can tell he's improved," Doctor Zdanskyi answered, briefly glancing down at the clipboard in his paw. "Officer Hopps told me that he's been able to regain partial control of his body over the course of the day. To what extent I'm not sure, but I'll come back once Officer Hopps has turned in for the night so I can finish my checkup."
Chief Bogo grumbled at his response and turned to walk down the hallway, his hooves falling behind his back as he ventured further away from Zdanskyi and the dying fox's room.
"We need to talk, Doctor," He called out over his shoulder, and through his short, unattentive ears he heard the sounds of heavy pawsteps begin to trail behind him. His eyes didn't move from the tacky painting at the end of the long hallway, but he stopped walking and turned to stare out a wide, glass window that overlooked the forested, bottom-half of the valley when he decided he was far enough away from the containment room. His eyes idly scoured the gently swaying trees illuminated by the moon almost at its summit until Doctor Zdanskyi came to a stop next to him, his body also turned to face the window.
"I can tell something is troubling you, Bogo," The tiger neutrally commented, his paws falling to grip his clipboard behind his back. "Doubt?"
"You know I trust you as much as a mammal can, Zdanskyi," The Chief wearily replied, shifting on his feet as his jaw clenched. "But maybe Wilde does have a chance. If what Hopps told us is true-"
"-then he still won't make it past tomorrow," Doctor Zdanskyi interrupted, his gaze flicking to watch the Chief with wariness. "We discussed this yesterday evening. The clock has nearly struck midnight for Officer Wilde. There's no way to stall the inevitable."
"But he's so close!" The Chief exclaimed, his hard and almost pleading gaze turning towards the tiger next to him. "Isn't there any way to hold it off for just a few more days."
Doctor Zdanskyi's eyes moved away from the Chief to stare at the moon for several silent seconds. His expression was as blank as always, but the gears spinning in his mind were visible through his clenched jaw and stiff cheeks.
"Not much research has been done in the field of repressing the effects of prolonged savagery, which is the closest equivalent to what's affecting Mr. Wilde," He warily explained with a small gulp, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to answer the Chief. "Since the Night Howler Incident there have been several studies that have looked into savagery, most of them primarily focused on how to cure it, but a select few have researched not only how to cure it but how to prevent it. There's a certain one that springs into my mind from those scattered few; a group of doctors out of Drussels claim to have developed a serum that 'entirely ensures' that a mammal injected with it will never become savage. While I cannot independently verify their claim, if we wanted to at least slow Officer Wilde's death then I believe that that'd be the optimal route to take."
"Then do it," Chief Bogo commanded, turning away from Zdanskyi to stare out the window again, but the tiger erupted into a brief fit of genuinely amused yet also forced laughter.
"As a doctor I'm not allowing that," Doctor Zdanskyi said with a smile, but Chief Bogo turned to stare emotionlessly at him for several silent moments.
"That's not a recommendation, Doctor," He forcefully said as he casually turned back to stare at the white-walled residences a little ways down the valley's hill. "Don't forget that we're both paid by the city and that I technically outrank you."
Doctor Zdanskyi stared at the Chief with a dumbfounded expression, secretly surprised by his use of political standing to force him to act. He grumbled in discontent as he turned to walk down the hallway in the direction of both the elevators and the containment room.
"Will do, Sir," He spat out, his voice still filled with near-silent respect for the Chief who only smiled at his almost subordinative demeanor.
"And tell Hopps to hurry up and get to her residence," Chief Bogo hopefully called out, his contented face still not moving away from the window as his almost devious eyes scoured the night sky. "She's been in there since morning, and if she's going to have any energy left for tomorrow then she needs more than a good night's sleep tonight!"
I can't be fudged writing a funny line. Just come back in two weeks.
Primal: A Zootopia Fanfiction Chapter 16 - January 16
A Fox in Shining Armor: A Zootopia Fanfiction Chapter 5 - January 31
This chapter was last edited December 31, 2016