Chapter 4: Skepticism, Romanticism, and Giants

Nick and Judy stared in silence at the sleeping ocelot named Lynn. Judy quietly ate a piece of roasted coconut, her gaze never once breaking from the cat. Nick shifted uncomfortably where he sat while tapping on his knee. Suffice to say they were absolutely caught off guard by the forward feline. Yet they continued to sit, watching over her as she did for them during the night. It had been a full thirty minutes since Lynn had fallen asleep and the two wished desperately that they could wake her. They only refrained at the thought of having to be bombarded by more of the incessant rambling that she presented herself with.

Nick rubbed at his face, sighing impatiently. He leaned over to whisper at his partner. "It's not just me, right? This cat. She seems a little…screw-loose?"

Judy didn't want to admit it, but she definitely thought it. She nodded in agreement, continuing her watch on their slumbering visitor and eating in silence.

"You don't think that maybe…she's some kind of…y'know, mammal eating freak out here, do you?" Nick asked while looking to Judy.

She finally broke her gaze, looking to Nick with concern. She didn't think about it before, but now that it was brought up she couldn't help but ponder on the idea. "I…I don't think so…I hope it's not the case," she replied in whisper as she chucked her piece of coconut shell. "I mean, I've heard of primitive predator tribes that do that still, but she doesn't seem tribal, not to mention she said she got here by plane so she had to have come from some modern civiliza-"

"What're y'all talkin' 'bout?" came the cheerful and lightning fast voice of Lynn, her face mere inches from the pair.

They screamed while reeling back from the unpleasant surprise. Nick got up angrily, grumbling as he stood up. "Could you NOT do that?!" he scolded as Judy got to her feet as well, the rabbit rubbing her face in annoyance.

"I'm sorry there foxy, but y'all were having a convermasation and it sounded like somethin' fun!" Lynn replied as she got up on a handstand. Leaping backwards from her position, she flips in the air and lands on her feet. How the cat had so much energy after a thirty minute nap was beyond anyone's comprehension. She stretched while walking forward, joints all across her body giving a small yet satisfying pop. "Boy howdy, lemme tell ya, I love love loooooove naps! I can't get enough of 'em, 'specially durin' rainy days, or sunny ones, or cold ones, or-"

"Ok! Enough!" interjected Nick. "Look, we really appreciate what you did for us, really we do, but we have a whole day to try and work out a rescue plan, and the day is not getting any younger." said Nick harshly, earning himself another punch from Judy.

"Still too rude, Nick!" Judy hissed through clenched teeth. She turned to the fidgety and smiling ocelot with a sigh. "But really, yea, thank you Lynn," she added calmly while rubbing the back of her head. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?" she asked, catching nick rolling his eyes and punching him for the third time that morning.

Lynn tapped at her chin in thought, humming to herself. "Well I don't reckon there's anything I would want besides y'all's companionship!" she proclaimed as she walked around the pair in circles. The pair hadn't dismissed the idea of Lynn being a possible mammal eater. She might not have been tribal but the strange cat certainly seemed crazy enough and her constant wide eyed gaze was rather unsettling. "But I do reckon y'all are mighty fit, I take it y'all had some pretty active lives before comin' 'ere?" she asked while inspecting Judy's shoulder. "If'n y'all want to, y'all can come with me to my lil' abode in the trees!"

The rabbit nodded with a nervous smile. She didn't want to jump to conclusions about their protector, but the way she looked at her shoulder made it seem like she was scoping out weaknesses. "Uh, y-yeah, w-we're police officers so we have to stay in shape," she managed to stutter out, laughing nervously as Lynn drew her face closer to the shoulder. Nick kept watch of the ocelot's actions, his body ready to spring on her if she tried anything. Judy looked back at her partner as she continued. "Y-you see, we're the first rabbit and fox police officers from Zootopia and- AH!" the rabbit screamed as Lynn grabbed her arm along with her bad shoulder and jerked it upwards, causing the joint to make a series of loud pops. The scream was a mix of pain and fear that the cat was attacking her.

Nick lunged forward, tackling the cat to the ground. "What was that for!?" he questioned with a growl, pinning the cat while baring his teeth.

Lynn laughed as she was brought to the ground, looking up at the fox with a smile. "Oh don't worry sugah, I was just helpin' her!" she proclaimed with a wide grin.

Judy stared at the cat in confusion, swiveling her shoulder. 'Wait a minute…' she thought to herself. The pain in her shoulder hadn't gone away necessarily, but it was now a dull throbbing sensation. A step up from the constant stinging that it had been during her time spent awake. She shook her head and inspected her shoulder herself. "What…did you do?" she asked as she rubbed the sore spot.

"What is it Carrots?" Nick looked to his partner while keeping Lynn firmly pinned to the ground.

"Well, it looked a lil' outta place, so I just popped it back in!" Lynn giggled out.

Both Nick and Judy stared at the cat. "You did what?" they asked incredulously in unison.

At this point Nick had already gotten off of the cat and was backing away to stand by Judy. Lynn leapt up from her lying position, again standing within arm's reach of the pair. "Y'all heard me, I put her shoulder back, I done seen plenty o' dislocated joints and what have you to know how to put 'em back where they belong," the cat proclaimed. "Done it to mahself a few times too!"

The pair stood slack jawed, blinking with blank stares. Their visitor was getting stranger by the second. Judy snapped out of her bewilderment first. "Thanks…" her response was simple as she couldn't even figure out if there were any other appropriate reactions. She couldn't tell if the cat was just being genuinely friendly or trying to lure the two of them into a trap. She found it difficult to think the latter with all that she had done up to this point. Judy hoped she wouldn't regret her next decision. "You…said you had a shelter in the jungle?" she asked slowly.

Nick snapped from his trance, looking to Judy when he realized what it was she is implying to ask. His protest was stopped before it began by the elated Lynn.

"Yea! I gots me a place in the jungle! Nice and cozy all up in the trees, oh I'm sure y'all would love it there!" she said happily as she grabbed her two new companions by the paws and started pulling them towards the jungle. Despair overcame Nick as he was dragged along, trying to fight back the pulling. Judy fought less so, rather just wanting to walk at her own pace.

"Lynn, Lynn! Wait!" Nick finally yelled out.

The cat stopped to look at the fox. "What is it sugah?" she asked while walking backwards towards the dense thicket.

"Just…just hold on a second, alright? Carrots, a word if you will," Nick growled out while dragging his partner away. Once he was certain they were out of ear shot of the cat, he turned to Judy. "What are you thinking?" he asked angrily in a whisper. "This girl could be leading us to our deaths! We can't just trust her like that, we've only known her for like twenty minutes, tops! No, I am not going to count the half hour we spent watching her sleep," he hissed, his concern for their wellbeing evident in his tone.

"I know, but don't think I haven't thought it through!" Judy whispered back. "As of right now, she might be our best bet on surviving out here, and besides, if she turns out to be psycho we can take her, there's two of us, and only one of her!" she added whilst pointing to the cat…who was now next to them.

"One of who?" Lynn asked while looking at the finger pointed at her.

"Did no one ever teach you about privacy?!" Nick shouted, flailing his arms around in frustration.

The cheerful feline merely snickered at the fox's reaction. "Sugah, I live in the middle of a jungle with no one to talk to other then some bugs that don't even talk back, I done forgot what privacy is," Lynn pointed out with her paws on her hips, even her sass was cheerful. "Now y'all done chattin'? cuz it's gonna take a bit of a hike to get to mah place," Lynn added while walking backwards once more.

Nick looked to Judy, the rabbit in turn nodding to him as she took off her sling. With a defeated sigh he too nodded. "Fine, I guess we're doing this," he huffed flatly.

"Then stick close y'all! That there jungle is no walk in the park, if ya lose me you might get lost fer good!" she warned, still just as cheerfully but not making the thought any more pleasant.

With apprehensive stares, the two looked towards the jungle. They gulped as they began their trek, following Lynn closely. The day was only beginning and they were entering foreign land that was more than likely to be bristling with danger. In the confusion of it all, the pair completely forgot their S.O.S. marker, leaving it behind as their forms disappeared into the overgrowth.

The pair did their best to try and keep up with their new cat guide. They were left moderately surprised at how long she went without talking. The spell was broken as they made it about a mile into the thicket.

"Now y'all said y'all were cops, right?" She asked while looking back, skipping along the network of thick roots. Neither one of the two officers had the chance to confirm her claim as they climbed clumsily along the uneven terrain. "Funny, I didn't know that rabbits and foxes could join, let alone be partners and what not!" she exclaimed, getting an annoyed glare from the pair.

"Yes, well, we proved ourselves a year ago with a pretty serious case in the city," Judy claimed proudly.

"You might've heard of it, the infamous missing mammals and Night Howler conspiracy?" Nick added with equal pride as he puffed out his chest.

"Nope, can't say I have!" Lynn claimed back while somersaulting over a root arching off the ground.

The two looked at the cat in disbelief. Judy, however, took note of this and kept it clear in her mind. Whoever this cat was, she had been out here before her and Nick had solved the Night Howler case one year back. One year. Judy couldn't even think about what surviving one month on this crazy island was like.

"Seriously?" Nick asked with genuine surprise.

Lynn dropped herself upside down on another root arching out overhead, dangling from the thick root with her legs hooking over it. "Yep! I don't get any news out here!" she proclaimed before swiftly leaping off the root and onto a vine, subsequently swinging to a nearby boulder.

The two sped after her, even Judy's agility faltered in the unfamiliar territory. Nick looked up to the cat who was casually strolling atop the boulder and back down to the mossy jungle floor. Lynn turned to them as she continued walking backwards. "But I believe ya, y'all don't look much like liars," She said while cartwheeling along the trail.

Nick found himself getting dizzy trying to keep up with energetic cat. Not just in the sense of following her, but also in his wasted efforts on trying to comprehend anything she told them. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a sudden noise.

Thoom!

The pair turned to the sound, seeing the cause with wide eyes. They were so enraptured in trying to figure out the strange ocelot that they had forgotten where they were. Atop the boulder they were next to moments ago sat a massive Hercules Beetle, easily the size of Judy's family tractor. The rabbit and the fox backed away slowly and quietly…

"BOO!"

Again the pair screamed, jumping at the sudden spook. They turned to find a laughing Lynn rolling around on the ground. "Ah ha haaa! Y'all should see the looks on y'all's faces!" teased the cat, struggling to breathe.

Nick was fuming. "What is your problem?!" he snapped as Judy tried to hold him back.

Lynn got up while wiping the tears that had formed from laughing so hard, sighing as she looked at the furious fox. "Oh don't get yer britches in a bunch sugah, that there beetle is harmless," she assured them. As if to prove her point, she walked up to the beast with a large rotten leaf picked from the ground. She gave it to the beetle and watched it munch away at it slowly. "See? It don't mean no harm!" she exclaimed, resuming her walk.

Nick would've been lying if he had said he wasn't impressed by the gutsy ocelot. Still he could only be angry at her. Here he was, genuinely scared for him and his partner, and this cat was making it a joke. "Ok then little Miss Jungle Queen, what SHOULD we be worried about?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, that there might be a good place to start," Lynn stated while pointing behind Nick. To which he shook his head.

"Ha, you think I'm gonna fall for-"

The fox was brought to duck down at the last second by his screaming partner. He was interrupted as a large blur of yellow and black zoomed by, kicking up dust on its path. The pair looked up to see the large beast continue its flight. A bee-like creature the size of a full grown camel.

"What the hell was that?!" Nick asked wide eyed.

"That there was a hornet," Lynn replied as she continued walking along. "Meanest of the bunch, them hornets, they like to pick on smaller critters, see, and not just other insects, but anything that moves really," she added while picking up Nick and Judy off the ground. "Don't get stung by 'em neither, I'm pretty sure just one of 'em suckers are enough to kill someone."

If Nick wasn't certain that this cat was trying to kill them before, he certainly did now. "Ok, we are turning around!" he stated while grabbing Judy by the arm. "Carrots, we are gone, we are outie, we are no longer in the building. Lynn, it was nice meeting yo-"

"Nick, stop that!" Judy protested, pulling her arm away. "We knew exactly what we were going to be getting into when we started following Lynn, and the fact of the matter is that we probably won't live long without some guidance which she can clearly provide," the rabbit pointed out while pointing to the aforementioned ocelot.

"Carrots, I get that we need help, but do we really need it from someone who would willingly put us in danger like this?" Nick barked, getting an incredulous look from his partner and an amused look from Lynn. "Ok, maybe she isn't putting us in danger on purpose, but still, she's dragged us into this jungle filled with literal GIANTS!"

"Oh and we would've been so better off on the beach?! After yesterday's fiasco, I think it's pretty clear nowhere on this island is safe, Nick, but if you want to go back and take your chances at being torn apart by crabs or what have you, then go ahead! I bet you'll get lost on your way back anyways!" Judy shouted back.

At this point, Lynn couldn't help but laugh again at the scene unfolding before her. The pair both looked at her, their irritation at an all-time high. "What're you laughing at?!" they shout in unison.

"I'm sorry darlin's, but…y'all just seem so much like a married couple!" the giggling ocelot blurted out, rolling on the ground once again.

Nick's anger faded immediately, as did Judy's. The rabbit drew her ears back to hide the pink tinge they were getting. Nick coughed into his paw, rubbing the back of his head. They did admit they loved each other at one point, but were never able to bring it up with one another in front of anyone else. They wanted to keep things strictly professional for the time being and maybe keep any hints at a relationship under wraps. Especially out of the fact a predator-prey interspecies couple was a highly frowned upon thing despite how progressive Zootopia was. Upon seeing the looks on their faces, Lynn stared at them with a wide grin, gasping as she stood.

"Y'all ARE a married couple!" She blurted out.

"Wh-what! No, no, definitely not!" Judy corrected her misunderstanding.

"Yea, w-we're strictly professional partners," Nick attempted to add.

Silence fell with Lynn merely staring at the two whilst biting her bottom lip. Her ever beaming gaze whittled them down.

"…Well…I do admit though, I do like her," Nick said quietly, his voice trailing off.

"And, well, we did sort of humor the idea of…being a thing," Judy said quietly as well.

"Oh shut up you two and KISS!" Lynn blurted in excitement paired with impatience.

"Ugh, just…please, forget about this?" Judy whined.

"Why? Y'all are adorable together! Besides, I won't judge!" Lynn assured her, resuming her path. "Love is love darlin's, and if y'all love each other, then hey, live and let live, right?"

With a heavy sigh the pair resumed their hike with Lynn. Despite the many irritating things she brought upon them, they were at least glad to know she wasn't the judgmental type.

The journey went on with Lynn breaking into songs, many of which were country classics about traveling. Their path was filled with danger as expected. Several close calls with a multitude of varying giant insects filled their eventful afternoon.

Admittedly, it was nowhere near as bad as they thought, especially with Lynn acting accordingly to diffuse their encounters into minor nuisances at worst. The scenery wasn't anything to scoff at either; the land was certainly a sight to behold. The plant life was equally large with giant flowers of vibrant colors filling the dense green and brown. And not all of the insects they encountered were all that bad; some of them were even pretty, such as the butterflies.

Nick maintained his vigil, recalling the nightmare he had last night. He kept his eyes peeled for spiders specifically, finding it odd he had yet to see one. Nevertheless, the possibility was there and he knew it.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, the party came upon a particularly dense area of trees. The trunks and branches of the gargantuan trees seemed to connect into a labyrinthine network of natural bridges. It was a breathtaking sight. The pair was so taken aback at the sight that they didn't even notice when the ground had transitioned into wood and bark.

Lynn turned to the weary pair, still somehow full of energy despite only having thirty minutes of sleep that day. "Alright y'all, my place is just ahead!" she exclaimed, bounding off along the massive branch they stood upon.

The pair followed suit, following the cat into the canopy above. When they made it through, the place which Lynn called home could be seen. They stared in shock, wide eyes scanning the clearing. Entangled in branches and vines…were the remains of a plane. The group stood beside a wing, missing several plates of metal. The tail end was ripped asunder and the torn opening covered by a massive tarp. The cockpit hung off the edge of the network of branches, held in place by thick vines. Written across the side of the hull were three simple words:

Home Sweet Home.

A/N: phew, this one took a lot out of me. Next few updates will slow down more now that I will be having other people proofread and edit my stuff. Thank you all for reading, a few reviews for pointers will still be appreciated.