Night Wolf here!
I just want to say one thing. There 'may' have been an issue with the last chapter I uploaded. I don't know if it sent a notification to all of you when I updated this story.
So, that means that a few of you could be confused if you read this chapter and not check the previous one. If you would, check the chapter before this one and see if you've seen that chapter or not?
I know, it is a bit of an inconvenience, and I apologize for that. I just don't want for some of you to be confused after reading this chapter. The one before this contains some vital events.
Once again, I apologize.
Well, that's all I have to say.
Here's chapter eleven!
….
"Why the hell would he be texting me this late?!" a small fennec fox grumbled with a voice lower than that of a grizzly bear. He threw his cheap phone in annoyance after re-reading the text message his former partner sent him.
Time to pick up his lazy ass from Lenox's Resort.
The fennec crawled out of his makeshift bed in the back of his van, stretching and wheezing for a moment. He looked out the back window to see that no one was around, no one he could see at least.
It's not like anyone would dare to mess with him anyway. He had a… certain reputation.
Unless you are a certain red fox, of course, who was lucky enough to be in the fennec's good graces. It still made him angry whenever he messed with him, nontheless. "He better have a good freakin' excuse for waking me!" he screeched as he scrambled into the driver's seat of his van and switched it on, the old engine making various pops as it struggled to life.
Thankfully, it hadn't died on him yet. It finally, after a couple attempts, whirled to life. With a satisfied grin, the small mammal drove out onto the road amd headed towards Sahara Square.
It would take him quite some time to arrive to the casino. Traffic may have been much lighter since it was night, but it still hindered him. And, of course, the particular district Lenox's Casino resided at just so happened to be quite a distance from where he was.
He also hated going there. His partner - former partner - knew that.
A sudden sadness enveloped him, but only briefly. It had been while since they had spoken last, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he missed that dumb fox. But said fox was a cop now. Too busy to hang out, to busy to speak.
And the smaller of the two foxes didn't want to spend anytime in jail. Could he trust his old friend to not do that to him?
After all, he knew of his past crimes, his cons.
After a long stretch of time, he turned onto the street where the casino was and drove up to it. "What the fuck?" His low voice boomed. There was a huge crowd of curious pedestrians being pushed back by the police. Something had happened. He immediately turned off the engine and darted towards the crowd. "Shit, Nick, shit!"
He climbed onto the back of a scantily dressed horse and jumped from her to the heads of other mammals, efficiently bypassing the crowd and making several new enemies all at the same time.
"Hey!" An officer, a wolf with fur the color of the moon's craters, shouted for the fennec fox to stop. Of course, he didn't listen and just rushed past him.
He had to get to Nick. Even after everything, he was still like a brother to him.
It didn't take him too long to make it through the crowd thanks to the creative use of his small size and the heads of various animals. Not even a minute passed by when he touched the ground again, far ahead of everyone.
He looked up at the building before him. A casino Nick and him would frequently visit. It was an easy cash-grab. They knew the game, and how to mainpulate it, better than most of the people there. It wasn't down to luck or skill; All you had to do was figure out how to rig the game for yourself without your opponents even knowing.
For example: If you had a partner, which they always did, then you can easily turn the tides in your favor. There were even times where only one of them had to play the game while the other stood idly nearby as an extra set of eyes in background. They would give their partner, the one playing the games, subtle cues - such as an ear twitch here or a disgusted smile there - telling them vital information about what was going on in the game. Vital information they were not supposed to know, like their opponent's hands.
And no one caught on.
The tiny fox started to walk further ahead, trying to calm hinself down and make it to his friend, but then noticed the water fountain. He had never seen it before. Must've been a new addition.
Why was it turned off?
He let his he curiousity get the better of him and got closer to it.
He didn't expect to be greeted with one of the most gruesome sights in his life.
A bull was impaled by the middle, obsidian elephant of the water fountain. Blood ran down the statue and colored the waters below a dark crimson.
What had Nick gotten himself into? And where was he?
He got his answer immediately after he thought the questions. Through the front doors of Lenox's Casino came a red fox and a grey bunny.
They were okay.
"Nick?!" He yelled and tackled the unsespecting fox to the ground. "What the fuck happened here and why are you in the middle of it?!"
"Nice to see you too, Finnick," Nick wheezed. He chest was hurting enough as it was. "Talk later… get off, please."
He got off with slightly drooping ears. He didn't know he was injured. "Ugh… follow me."
"Judy is coming too."
"If that's okay…" she added.
Finnick shot a look at Nick and at the bunny whom's eyes were wide with sadness. "Sure."
Nick and Judy were already questioned inside the casino, thus, they were able to leave without complications. The three of them made it back to Finick's van relatively quickly.
The fennec fox scrambled back into the driver's seat and switched his van back on. "Hey, idiot, what happened?"
"Another time, bud." He didn't want to talk about it.
"Oh, not this again. You're telling me what happened or I'm making you walk."
"Have you always been this understanding?" Nick's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Guys, quit," Judy groaned. "Look, we were attacked by the owner of Lenox's Casino, a bull named Mark Johnson."
"Mark Johnson? Then who's Lenox?"
Nick sighed. "His cousin. Passed away a year ago."
Judy looked at Nick, but then remembered that he held a vast knowledge of the people of Zootopia. Perhaps he knew Lenox from somewhere.
"Anyway…" Judy continued, "He attempted to kill us. Mark hated inter-species relationships hated predators. They killed his brother recently." She gradually looked more and more distant. Nick took her paw. The van drove onto the highway. "Nick calmed him down by telling him of how he lost his father." Finnick remembered that same story. Nick had shared it with him a couple years ago. "He asked for forgiveness… and jumped out a window."
"Shit.. I'm sorry."
"No big deal. Just take me by my mother's. We're staying there for a bit." Nick's voice was akin to a whimper.
"What? Can't stay at your place?"
"We were evicted." Judy leaned into Nick's side and closed her eyes.
"Wh-How? Why?" The fennec fox looked at Nick, his eyes telling him why. No need for words. He nodded at his friend and turned back towards the road.
"You know… If you need anything, I'm here."
Nick raised an eyebrow at him. This was something he never heard from him before. "Thanks, Fin. We appreciate it."
"Just don't go soft." He shut his mouth for the rest of the drive. Thoughts invaded his mind. Memories of years ago, of when he first met Nick.
Of their partnership.
It brought them very close throughout the years, though neither would say it. But they were now brothers until the end.
It did begin, like a lot of things, out of necessity. Both needed money. Jobs. No one would supply them those things, though. Not to a dastardly fox, nor the smaller one. No one cared.
Then they met.
It was a blistering hot afternoon in the middle of July. Finnick was trying to get a job. Trying, being the key word. Location after location declined him almost immediately.
He was a predator. Who would want his kind as a fellow employee? Imagine the dangers they would impose.
All excuses. All born from prejudice. A negative preconception.
All the young fennec fox wanted was a job. It didn't matter what. He needed it. It was the second day that he had to eat of the trash.
And he was giving up hope.
Still, he trudged on. Soon enough, he found himself at a seventh location he would attempt to apply at; a grocery store.
And, like all the others, he was declined a position there as well. Except, this time, he was chewed out, verbally harrassed without mercy, in front of the entire store.
Fortunately for him, a certain someone, a young red fox, was there too, buying himself a pack of sardines.
That would've been his only meal for the day.
He was at the checkout lane, clutching a small pawful of change; what he had earned after several pitiful hours of scavenging the streets. And then he heard yelling to his right. He turned out of curiosity and saw the entire thing unfold. All the rascist comments, all the untrue words, being spit from an ignorant manager to a poor fox like himself.
This wasn't the first time he had seen this. In fact, he had been treated very similarly. He knew how it felt.
And he was growing sick and tired of it. This was the last fucking straw.
Without a moment of hesitation, he stormed over there and told off the manager, sputtering insults, cuss words, and slick remarks until he walked out with a happy grin on his muzzle and a permanent ban from that grocery store.
Nick Wilde couldn't have been happier with himself. He stood up for someone. He helped.
But he knew better to stick around, and of course, that fennec fox was better off now. He deed was done. He skipped out of the store with butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies born from making a difference.
Finnick followed him out there. Not out of appreciation, but out of understanding. And it was impressive to hear, to see, one of his kind, for once, standing up for him.
It was, one could say, a very rare sight. This kit had some spunk in him.
So, he caught up with him. They spoke. They laughed. They became acquaintances.
And then Finnick made an offer.
If they formed a partnership, then maybe, just maybe, they could make some real money for once. They both were sick of being treated like trash. There was no use in trying to be anything. They were never given the chance.
So, why don't they make their own future? Take matters in their own paws?
And Nick accepted.
It was slow at first. Neither knew what to do, really. They were both equally new to whatever this was.
Would they make their own business? No. No one would take them seriously, and no one would even want to take part in a busines run by preds anyway. That was a bad idea.
Would they steal? No, of course not. They still had some morals. That was a line neither wanted to cross. And they would likely be caught anyway. Jail-time didn't seem all too appealing.
Would they make a living out in the woods? Live off the land? Yeah, fat chance. Stupid idea. They would die from starvation.
Would they live on the streets instead? Beg? Continue dumpster diving? Hopefully not. It wasn't exactly appealing.
Would they turn to cons? Trick people, but not necessarily steal from them? Manipulate the system?
That seemed like the best idea. Not what they wanted, really. But they had no other choice. They were preds, after all.
Thus came their first job, their first con. Then their second. Then their third. Soon enough, they were actually doing quite well for themselves.
And they never had to raid trash cans for food again.
But it was troubling. It was dishonest. Nick knew it.
But, until he met Judy, society never gave him a chance.
The rumbling of his van driving over a cracked road shook Finnick out of his thoughts. They had finally arrived.
"Fin?" He turned to Nick who had one of his arms wrapped around that same bunny that hustled him oh so long ago. She was nearly asleep, but not quite there yet. "Thank you."
He wasn't one for sentimentals. He simply turned back around and shut the engine off. "Out of my van."
They obeyed, exiting through the back doors of the van. Nick walked up to his friend's window. "I'm sorry for not speaking to you in so long. I'll keep in touch from here on out."
"Don't involve me with the poh-poh," he came up with that one. He never liked the police. His many disgraceful nicknames for them showed that. "And maybe I'll come hang out with you. Sometime."
"Thanks, smalls." Nick joked lightheartedly.
"Do you want me to bite you tail off?"
Nick simply waved at Fin, and turned to walk towards his mother's place with his girlfriend beside him.
"That lousy fox…" he turned the engine back on, but before he took off, he saw Nick's mother open the door, wearing a smile so wide and warm that it was shining, and then proceeded to lung at the fox and rabbit, gripping them in a deadly hug.
It was a show of love, affecting, and care.
Amber Wilde was one of the most loving and caring individuals Finnick ever had the unfortunate oppertunity to meet.
Laughter ensued after they parted.
The entire thing left Finnick feeling a bit unusual. Sad, even, considering the fact that this remimded him of what he had done. How he had harbored her son for years as his partner, keeping her in a constant state of depression, worry, and distress.
She never saw her son during that time.
Nick never talked about his mother during the time they worked and lived together those first few years. Even today, he still didn't quite know why he had ran away from home.
He suspected that it had something to do with the loss of his father. He was able to find out that Nick had left his home a month after that had happened.
They both benefited greatly from the partnership, at least. But, Nick's mother was driven to a state of constant depression. And he couldn't help but feel guilty.
He should've taken the kit back to his mother.
He still remembers the day they those two finally saw each other again. The dam broke for Amber Wilde, a torrent of tears streaming down her fur, as she sprinted towards her sun and wrapped him up in the strongest hug he had ever experienced. He soon cried as hard as his mother.
Finnick even teared up, a few of his own making small black dots on the pavement below him.
He had to leave after that. He couldn't stand it. Finnick had practically tortured Amber, keeping her son out of her reach for so long. Never in his life had he ever felt so bad over something.
And now at present day, the guilt still devoured him on the inside every now and then.
He never got any sleep that night.
….…
Night Wolf again!
Just want to say one last thing. I may elaborate on why Nick ran away from his home.
Or, perhaps, I'll leave that for your guys to debate. After all, this is only a fanfiction. You guys can imagine your own things, maybe even make your own fanfiction.
If you do, be sure to link it to me!
And I will get into Judy's past as well. They are both the main characters. I can't just forget about her.
Alright, that's all I have. Thanks for reading!
And if you want to, by all means, message me and review my story! I love the feedback and I honestly don't mind any criticism.