Life outside of Zootopia

by Wildebunny the Eternal

In the movie Zootopia we see how idealistic it can be, but what about other countries, are they the same ? This is a story that begins in the country of Savagero, where prey are kept as pets, predators are able to eat prey at will. Our story follows a tiger who has so far refused to claim a pet, until it becomes a way to save a bunny from being eaten. Rated M for collars and shocks

6. Learning from the Master

A/N: Well, this turned out to be a lot more twisted than I planned.

Chapter 6: Learning from the Master

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Avery POV:

It's morning, the day of the pet talent show. I will play my part and we will finally have money! Maybe, a way to return home. Come on, get up! I decide to jump up and down on his back to see if he would wake. Elunatee stirs and wakes up. His first act is always to get dressed, how strange. We walk downstairs and see what's for breakfast. His parents have more live prey on the table. Prey are eaten while alive. I am given more carrots like usual. I guess I'd have to request a change in menu or buy my own food if I want something else. Tentative plan:

1) Obtain money from talent show

2) Eat a free meal, get paid twenty dollars.

3) Use money to buy whatever needed

4) Left over money saved towards returning home whenever possible

We go towards where the pet talent show will be held. Surprisingly, it was only a thirty-minute walk. We arrive at a large building. There seems to be a lot more spectators than competitors. Why is it all these predators usually wear clothing depicting some form of abuse towards prey? Even Elunatee does it! This is infuriating! I see tons of predators discussing with their pets while holding pieces of paper. We wait in line to register for the pet talent show. I notice the people in line are of similar age. The pets tend to have shock collars worn, some of them have clothing. We arrive at the front of the line. We are given papers to fill in and information about the show. The rules are as follows:

1) All events are optional

2) Shock collars are required

3) Pets cannot harm anyone or they will be disqualified.

4) Predators cannot harm other predators or they will be disqualified

I look over the rules, they seem rather reasonable. Can't believe Elunatee was so worried about this show. I look to the next section detailing prizes:

1) $50 to the owner of the pet that wins an event. A gold medal is awarded to the owner as well

2) $20 to the owner of the pets that eat lunch here

3) $1000 bonus to owner of any pet that wins all four events

The final section of the paper says that the Pet Talent Show is not responsible for the deaths of any pet that may occur during the event. This seems reasonable.

We fill out the forms to register me in the talent show. It wanted my species, age, name. I am registered as Avery Hopps.

We are led into a large room of other competitors. We sit and wait for the event to start. I look into the faces of the prey I see, none of them want to be here. I guess this will make it easy! Elunatee was worried all for nothing. I ask the animals in this room if they know events the talent show has. They don't know either. Well, per the information given, all events are optional. I guess I don't need to worry too much.

More and more animals arrive into the room. There's seventy of us. I guess that means thirty-five pets are competing. The event is starting. We hear from the announcer: The first event will be an agility test. There's also a rule of NO activating shock collars if your pet is in the water. Anyone that does that has their lives forfeit. Whoever designed this event wasn't being fair at all. It doesn't bother me though; my chances of winning have just increased dramatically. We step out on to a gigantic grass field. I look at my surroundings. There's tons of animals watching this. Tons of predators with their pets. The middle of the grass field is suddenly replaced by a large pool of water. A series of thin bars connected by metal poles reach higher and higher. The goal of the competition is to jump and reach the top bar as many times as possible.

We are told to begin. All the pets try to jump to reach the top. I've missed my jump and just fall into the cold water below. I get back to the starting point and try again. I see other pets getting shocked after leaving the water. Unfortunately, water and electricity do not mix. They are left barely able to move.

Fortunately, it's not possible for many species to even attempt the jump, deer for example simply cannot land on a thin bar to keep going. Some of the owners are furious, they end up shocking their pets to death. Over the course of the event, I have successfully landed on the top bar four times. That's higher than anyone else. I have won the first event! That's an easy fifty dollars right there! I return to where Elunatee is and wait for further instructions.

The pool vanishes, the grass is back. Several wolves are seen dragging the dead pets off the field. They raise a stage on top of the open field now. Elunatee is told to step forward. A lion gives him a golden medal. He puts it around his neck. I can hear the crowd shouting his name. Elunatee comes back from the stage and back to me. He says "Good job, now we have fifty dollars after all this I can finally buy you some clothing."

"I told you this would be easy.", I said. We wait for the start of the next event, off to a good start so far. The next event is a marathon. We are tracked on how many laps we can do around the field over the course of thirty minutes. We take our place at the starting line, there's only twenty-nine of us now.

The announcer yells, "Begin!". I decide to start slow, there's no need to rush. I believe I'm faster than anyone anyway. Better conserve my energy for the other events of today. I walk around the track uncaring. I see collars being used on some pets if they are too slow. Merrily walking around the track without a care. Elunatee still hasn't shocked me yet. I am now the slowest animal in the marathon.

The announcer yells, "Five minutes remaining." I hear this and I sprint into action. I end up passing some of the faster runners. Their collars are activated. I end up running more than anyone in the race. I return to where Elunatee is.

He says "Good job, winning the second event, maybe we can win all four!"

I tell him, "We can probably use some of this money, to get me home." He agrees. The stage appears again. The wolves are seen again dragging dead pets off the field. Elunatee is told to step forward. He walks on to the stage to receive another gold medal. His name is chanted again.

The announcer informs us it's lunch time. The predators are given food first. A stream of live prey is seen walking into the room. Predators are told to pick what they want most, and eat it. Elunatee chooses a small deer and slowly eats it while it's alive. The deer does not run, only cries out in pain as more and more of its flesh is bitten off.

The announcer yells, "It's time for pets to eat. You have two hours." Finally, about time, what's better than being paid and given food at the same time? It turns out, not eating anything at all would be better. There's fifty bowls on the floor for pets to eat, two for each pet. Owners walk with their pets and escort them to the bowls. I look closely at the bowls contents.

One bowl contains live insects, worms, beetles, bugs. Another bowl contains murky brown water. I ask Elunatee, "Is it okay, if I don't eat this?"

He replies, "Remember, our deal earlier? The one you agreed to? Are you backing out of it now?"

"Yes, you WILL let me."

He responds with, "No, you don't get to back out on this deal so easily. You've already made me a hundred dollars. I'm sure my parents won't worry too much if you die. You, will eat, or get shocked to death. It's your choice. Besides, I've heard from you that predators eat insects in Zootopia anyway. So, it obviously wouldn't kill you."

I bargain with, "I'll do pretty much anything else you want me to, just don't make me eat this." My offer is rejected. My choices are either eating the food offered, or being shocked to death. I decide to eat the food. I sniff the food first the water smells like sewage. The bugs stink. The taste of the bugs is vile. The water I need to lap up is even worse. I've eaten one bug. I've lapped the water once. I beg Elunatee, "Please, can I stop now?" He motions towards the remote, I continue consuming this vile meal.

I am about half way done. I feel like I will throw up. I tell him, "This is beyond disgusting, I don't care what you do. I am not eating it anymore." I feel my collar activating. I feel more pain the further I move away. He's serious, I crawl back to my meal in defeat.

I am nearly almost done. My stomach is rebelling against me. I am down to two bugs; the water bowl is nearly empty. I hurl into the bowl. I begin to cry realizing what this meant. I plead with Elunatee I beg, "I will act as a pet from now on. Please, don't make me finish this, I can't."

He responds with, "I said, this was a bad idea from the start remember? YOU were the one who agreed to it. The one who talked me into it. No, you are going to finish this."

I swallow my pride and say, "YOU WERE RIGHT, HAPPY?"

He responds with, "You are still going to finish your meal. I'm glad, you can admit you are wrong. Now, act like the pet you are and obey!" His responses are entirely cold and uncomforting. Where was the tiger that I could call a friend? The one that I slept with in bed.

I decide to just sit here and not eat anything. He shocks me with the remote. I still do nothing. He picks up the remaining two bugs in the bowl. He punches me in the stomach. I scream. He holds my mouth open and puts the two bugs into my mouth. One of his paws hold my nose shut, another holds my mouth shut. I chew the bugs and swallow in order to breathe.

He pushes my face down into the bowl containing vomit and remaining water. He says, "Clean". He lets my head up a bit. Tears flow down my face as I begin to lap up the vomit and the remaining water in the bowl. He lets me up after the bowl is clean to his satisfaction.

I walk with Elunatee back to the edge of the field with unsteady steps. My face covered in vomit and water. Tears stain the fur of my cheeks. I wait for the next event to start. I notice that one pet has been shocked to death. That could have been me. That could have been me. The announcer yells, "Time's up." Some of the pets did not finish their food. They are all told to leave the field.

The announcer yells, "Any owner, who's pet finished the meal step forward." A stage appears in the middle of the field again, Elunatee goes towards it. A lion hands him twenty dollars along with everyone else.

He returns to my side. I glare at him hatefully. He tells me to stop and motions to the remote. I cry while waiting for the next event to start. A tiger walks down towards the field. He's carrying a large stack of paper. The announcer yells, "Go, pick up the rules and information of the next event". All the predators and their pets go to pick up a sheet for rules. We return to the edge of the field. I read the paper, it says: Live archery competition. The pets will stand behind this white line. The owners are given a bow and ten arrows. Here's the scoring system: The player with the most points will win. Points are obtained when an arrow hits your pet. You are given ten points if you shoot your pet in the eyes. The pet is supposed to run where the arrows are, so that it hits them, between the eyes preferably. The owner must stay in the rectangle to shoot. If a pet is seen running past the line, they will be tortured and killed on the spot.

The announcer yells, "It's time for the next event to begin." The stage lowered again and vanishes. A grass field with a single white line in the middle and a rectangle on the edge is all that remains. The announcer calls two names which I don't know. A wolf and A sheep step on to the field. The sheep takes its place behind the white line. The wolf stands in the rectangle and takes aim. The first shot misses. At the end, the left eye of the sheep is pierced by two arrows, the wool of the sheep contains four. The sheep walks back to the wolf while blood drips on to the field as it moves.

The announcer calls another pair. This process repeats. One of the prey called to the field is surprisingly uncooperative. He is tortured then killed on the spot. A tiger from class is apparently here in this competition. He and his doe are called on to the field. His aim is good. All ten shots hit the doe, both eyes are hit by three arrows. His doe is now blind and tries to walk back to him.

The announcer calls Elunatee and I to the field.

I tell Elunatee, "I don't want to participate in this event. It's too dangerous. You told me, I would only do safe ones."

He says, "But this is safe. You are going to go out there and not move. There will be serious consequences if you move at all. You've seen what will happen, as you tried to disobey earlier. It's rather hard to hit a moving target. Now, that I have money, I don't need you anymore. Oh, keep your eyes open wide."

I say, "What's gotten into you? I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND."

He reaches for the remote and shocks me for five seconds on the second setting. He replies "You are a pet and nothing more. Now, go on the field. If you don't I guarantee, you will suffer a fate worse than death."

Elunatee walks to the rectangle of the field. I slowly walk over the blood-stained grass to the white line. I cry as I realize, I am going to die. I am going to die in a talent show I signed up for. I am going to die and my family won't even find out.

I am past the white line. I stand here and wait for my fate.