Author's Note:
Poor Judy. She wants to be portrayed as a helper, a trustworthy friend, and an inspiration to do the right thing and to reach for your dreams for mammals young and old. But it seems like she can't go anywhere without shouldering the brutal bunny bouncer image. It's okay, Judy, everyone who gets to know you learns the truth. You are still that, sure, but you are a good friend too. And a fox-lover. Definitely that.
If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first timeyou will want to check out Season 1 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^
I have not been given any compensation or support by Disney for my efforts to portray their characters in this way. I'm doing it all for fun, and I am doing it for free. Please direct all your cash at the limited merchandise for the franchise so the corporate goofs can wrench their heads out of their backsides and see there's a market for high quality figures and memorabilia! .
Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 2! When I am writing at full steam, he has a lot to do. And that can be hard, since it's a lot of writing to go through and my writing can be a mess since I do it most typically late at night with too much coffee and not enough sleep! So thanks again, Squire, for all that you do!
Guardian Blue: Season Two
Episode 12: Poisonous
Judy managed to shake herself from the desire to just spend the rest of her time in the forest, holding, kissing, and cuddling her fox. However, they did have something to do. They reluctantly continued up the path through the very dense forest to where the hyena was supposed to have gone so she could wash up after her fight with the visiting ZPD officers. They took their time, and Judy was pretty sure it was because Nick was slightly more injured than he wanted to admit. His back was sore after being used as a wrecking ball. He didn't complain; they merely took longer to get there.
The sound of birds that could not even be seen was a constant reminder of how pristine this place was. The rush of wind over trees occasionally unsettled them, and shadows could be seen flitting through the treetops. The sheer size of these behemoth trees made Judy feel smaller than she already was, but she was getting a little more used to it.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, they came to a slight clearing. It was still shady, with a dense canopy overhead, but enough light filtered through the slightly less dense treetops to allow them to see a picturesque, crystal clear lake. It was not terribly large; maybe the size of the Munch field in Bunnyburrow that Judy and Nick had played on. They did not see Motti anywhere near it. Nick padded to the edge and sank to his paws and knees and put his muzzle into the water.
"Nick, I'm pretty sure they bathe in that," Judy informed.
The thirsty fox lifted his head after gulping down a bit more, "Look how clear it is, Judy. It's pure, natural, unpolluted mountain water. It's fed from a stream coming from that cliff. See? The water I get in our apartment's not as clean as this, even with hyenas splashing around in it, I assure you." His head went back down and Judy continued to look around. It was odd not to see anyone near this place. As beautiful as the scenery was and as cooling as the water must be, she expected it should be crowded. Judy looked at her partner. He was still face down in the lake.
"Did you drown?" the bunny asked.
"Mpaahh! Oh Judy you have to try this." he huffed. "It tastes great. And it's so cold!"
"I will remind you that Jack wanted Aggie to drink the unfiltered water from The Interior. I suspect this was not for her health." Judy crossed her arms. "You just got over a mess inside you from drinking bad water, remember? They had to give you antibiotics at the hospital from drinking 'natural' water."
"That was really bad water. This is really good water. I'd not be much of a mammal at all if this was gonna be what gets me." He stood up, wiping his muzzle on his forearm. "Suit yourself, Fluff! Leave all the neat experiences to your partner." Nick wiped off his paws and his knees, and then he looked around. "Maybe she took a different path down? Or she didn't actually go? We can check back by her hut." Judy nodded to that, considering having a drink of the water because Nick was so excited by it. She ultimately decided that if there was something wrong with it, she would prefer that at least she remain healthy enough to get help if it was needed. She turned and headed back down the path.
There was a soft thump ahead of her and she looked ahead, having been peering up at trees for a moment when she heard the sound. She thought that perhaps Motti was up ahead, but instead her heart froze at what she did see. It was a spider. The arachnid was very furry with bright blue legs and body with a lemon yellow abdomen. It would have been strikingly beautiful if it were not also about the size of Nick if he were curled into a tight ball. The thing was ready to jump by the looks of it.
"Nick…" Judy said as she stood utterly still.
"I'm seeing it. Don't move. Maybe it hunts things that run."
"I can't move, Nick. I'm not moving." Judy felt a deep and primal fear unlike anything she'd ever felt around a predator. There were warning signs about these spiders on the path. She wished she had asked more questions when Jack was clarifying the size. He had not been exaggerating. It remained right in the middle of the trail for a moment, its many shiny black eyes appearing to be locked right on the two mammals.
"It's not wandering off." Nick noted. "I'm going to try to lead it toward the lake. Maybe I can trick the thing into jumping into the water or something, and we can get away from here." He backed away slowly, and it sidestepped a little, changing its intended target. Her fox seemed to be right. The hairy arthropod was attracted to moving prey more than one holding still. He continued to back away. The spider began twitching in his direction. It would have been interesting to learn about it from observation if it were not for the fact that Judy was pretty sure it was hunting her partner. She got over her initial alarm, and moved very slowly toward the edge of the path to get out of the way and give it room to go past her.
That turned out to be a mistake. It flipped to the side and zeroed in on her.
"No!" Judy whined. "Over there! Not me!" She held as still as she could. The spider suddenly trundled rapidly in her direction. Nick bolted to his lapine lover's side and put himself almost between the bunny and spider right as it jumped hard enough to make a little puff of dust and leaf-litter behind it. Nick intercepted, grabbing it by several of its back legs with one hand and turning his body to hurl it over toward the water with a grunt. He was obviously still sore from his hyena adventure. With his strength reduced, it did not make it into the water. The arachnid tumbled a few times and stopped before turning and scurrying rapidly back toward the pair. Nick was shaking his hand rapidly, wincing.
"Good gravy! Ngah! It stung me or something with the hairs on its legs!" he hissed. Judy began backing down the trail, not wanting to just turn her back on the spider. There were a few thumps behind her that froze her heart. The bunny immediately dreaded the thought of several more spiders showing up. Were these things pack-hunters? Did spiders do that? She turned and saw Motti race by. She was holding a crude club with a gnarled and spiked root-ball intact. It might have been a broken tree simply ripped out of the ground.
The hyena circled to the side as the spider turned to face her. She snarled at it and looked very much the part of a stone-aged mammal. Her dark, woven skirt was short and tattered while her top was made of a band of cloth that was wrapped around her chest a few times and tucked. It was obviously made to help her to dry herself more than to look elegant.
"Motti been looking for you, Buibui!" she laughed. "Village is forgiving me for sure when I done with you!"
"Are these everywhere?" Judy asked frantically. She heard a chuff as saw Nick go to his knees in the leaves. He was clutching his wrist.
"Did he touch buibui?" Motti asked loudly. "No touching! All of it is poison!"
"Yeah, I grabbed it!" Nick shouted. "It burns! Oh cripes it burns!" He shook his hand frantically again. Judy looked back to Motti in time to see her dodge the spider as it jumped, taking a swing at it. It looked like she might have tagged one to he legs since it rested weird behind it, but the limb might also have been damaged when Nick gripped it.
"You going to regret that you did this thing!" Motti shouted.
"I'm regretting it!" Nick yelled.
"How bad is it?!" Judy cried, more deeply worried for her partner.
"Not dangerous, is only painful. We get him-" she was interrupted by having to dodge again. Judy wondered if all spiders of this size were so aggressive. Motti jumped at the arthropod and swung her club. It slammed down but missed the spider by inches, putting a deep divot in the ground by the lake. The hyena lady was obviously very strong. The club looked like it weighed about as much as Judy did. "Grah! Kuwa ilipigwa!" She looked back to Judy, "We get him back to village… We have medicine what makes it stop hurting."
"Yes! Oh my God yes, that!" Nick shouted. Judy jerked her attention to her partner and saw he was clutching his arm as if trying to decide whether or not to just gnaw off his paw at the wrist.
"Do not lick!" Motti panted.
"Not a chance!" Nick barked.
"We have to get rid of the spider first, Nick! I'm sorry!" Judy leapt up. She understood now why Motti was doing this. Having this thing so close to the settlement was dangerous. Her killing it would help her standing in the village, and make the little community safer. Also, with Nick in pain nearby, Judy was not feeling particularly sorry for it.
"Stay back!" shouted the hyena. "Motti survives a bite, cute little bunny does not!"
Judy grimaced at that. She made it to the side of the little lake and used all her strength to pull a huge rock out of the water's edge. "I'm… not a cute... little… bunny. I'm… Sungura ya Shetani!" She hurled the rock at the attacking arachnid. The heavy stone landed beside the spider, and Judy worried that she made herself look foolish because she missed, only to find that a few of the creature's legs had been pinned.
"Bahati!" cried Motti, who then jumped an impressive distance to clear the range between her and the spider before it could wrench itself free. She brought the club down with a rather horrifying crunch in the middle of the beast and the deed was absolutely done. The legs twitched a bit, but what remained in the middle of them didn't resemble a spider much anymore. The hyena jumped away from it, quickly rinsing her legs and hands off at the lake before bolting back toward Judy.
"Shetani! Jasiri sana!" She patted Judy on the back. "Impressive! Motti is helping your fox, now! We go quickly."
"Club! Club!" Nick cried. "Club me next! Oh please oh please oh please!" He curled up around his hand. "Why does anything have to hurt this bad?!"
"Calm down Nick! We'll get it taken care of!" Judy said. The fox grunted as he was casually slung over Motti's shoulder. He seemed so very light to her.
"Why didn't Jack warn me not to touch them?! He's out of the will! No used Pawpsicle stand for him!" Nick groaned. Judy followed rapidly behind Motti, a little surprised to find that she had no trouble actually running with Nick over her shoulder. He tried to hold on.
"No touching Motti with paw!" the hyena warned.
"I wouldn't dream of it, this paw's spoken for!" Nick barked as he held it away from Motti.
"Where's the medicine?" Judy asked as she ran ahead, ears burning a little at knowing who that paw was reserved for, despite the panic of the moment.
Motti called up to the running bunny. "In the inn! We use it as a hospital when is empty!"
"Why is it always me?!" Nick whined unevenly as the act of being carried by a running hyena was not gentle. His tone was not making for a formidable fox right that moment. "I gotta get flushed down toilets, nearly drown in a lake, fall through the jungle canopy, jump from a crashing, exploding train, get head-butted into a pit, shot in the neck, and get sent to Hell! Can't I just turn my ankle or get a paper cut?!"
"Shush, you! I got hit by a bus!" Judy called.
"What?! Sent to Hell?" Motti shouted, ignoring Judy's bus incident for obvious reasons. The bunny rolled her eyes. She would explain all that later, maybe. The trio continued to race down the hill back toward the inn. At least it wasn't an uphill climb to get him back to the village. Something important suddenly occurred to the bunny.
"Hey, is there any way we can downplay Nick being hurt by buibui?" Judy panted from ahead. "If Skye finds out…"
Nick gasped at that. "Oh yeah, we can't tell Skye, we'd be headed back to the airport immediately!" he grunted.
"Being quiet is up to you!" Motti huffed as they cleared the forest. There was still no one outside. It was just as well, they certainly did not make it a secret that they were in Motti's company at that point. They quickly made their way to the inn. Nick whined softly, trying to keep quiet as Motti dumped him unceremoniously on the couch with a chuff. He winced, his back sore from his fight earlier, but he then looked at his hand. It was obviously puffy and swollen.
"Is it supposed to be like that?" he whispered, grimacing in pain. "It's like a damned balloon animal."
"Mostly, yes." Motti answered in an unconvincing whisper. She then quickly unwrapped her top and grabbed Nick's arm, wrapping it tightly from the elbow to nearly her wrist. Because of how long Judy had spent hanging out with Nick in the naturalist's club this didn't really faze them. Motti certainly didn't seem to care about modesty. The hyena headed for a room in the back that Judy supposed must have the medicine. The bunny stroked Nick's ears encouragingly, comfortingly.
"Smother me with a pillow, I'm ready." Nick whispered.
"Shush!" Judy shook his muzzle a little with her hand playfully, knowing he was just being dramatic. Motti came back with a white stone jar and a latex glove.
"Good news. We have plenty," she stated. That made it seem like they might have been out and Nick would have been suffering a while. She was glad Motti had not made that more apparent before.
"What can I do to help?" Judy asked.
"Shetani helps keep Janga still. It feels worse first, then better." She whispered. Judy pondered the nickname used for her partner and tried to commit it to memory to ask Jack about it later. Nick's eyes widened as the hyena poured the contents of the jar into the glove. The thought of having to be held still made it obvious that this was not going to feel good. He squirmed suddenly as Judy nodded and moved over to sit right down on Nick's chest. She put a leg on either side of his ribs, her back facing him to put her in a good position to hold his arm. He put his good paw on her back and whined.
"It already feels like it's on fire…" he growled. Judy could actually feel his poor heart racing where she was sitting on his chest. He was in such distress. She would have to really dote on him later to make up for this. He got hurt saving her from a spider bite that Motti admitted would have been fatal to her.
"It's gonna be okay." Judy whispered.
"Eventually." Motti murmured and just climbed up on the couch as well, sitting over his middle to help hold him down. Judy's heart sank. Was it really going to hurt that bad? Nick grunted a little as the hyena grabbed his wrapped up arm. Judy realized suddenly that the wrapping was there to keep Motti from getting any of the poison on her own hand while working to neutralize it on Nick's paw. It looked like she had actually done this before. The fox groaned loudly as the medicine-filled latex glove was pulled with awkward difficulty over his paw. He then struggled, arching, grunting, growling, whining… Judy was sure that Jack and Skye would be able to hear this racket and dreaded having to tell the poor arachnophobic vixen what happened.
"Nnnnh! Gah!" Nick cried, "Please, it's like a freaking oven!" he barked loudly.
Judy snapped at him, "Quiet! Hold still, it's already nearly too tight, it needs to go all the way in!" Judy scolded the fox as he pulled and struggled, managing to get his head over the arm over the couch, but being held mostly in place by the larger hyena.
"Hahhh! It's so hot!" Nick whined. "Faster, oh please work faster!" he panted loudly. Motti pushed back down on him to shake him a little to get him to hold still, which he did. He groaned as the glove finally went on completely over his paw. Nick was shaking a bit, muscles taught as he struggled against the pain. There was obviously a reaction with the toxin on his skin that made it burn worse. He was being good about not crying or yelling with how bad it obviously hurt. Mostly he grunted, huffed and groaned. He was trying to be quiet at least, but it was not terribly effective restraint. The vulpine tensed up again and Judy and Motti both held him down tightly.
Suddenly, a voice was heard along with quick stepping down the stairs of the 'inn'. It was Skye. "Oh my God, you two! This isn't a honeymoon, and this place hasn't got actual windows; everyone can hear you! Oh shit." Judy looked up, seeing Skye standing stark still at the bottom of the stairs that led to the room where she and Jack were staying. Her bright blue eyes were so wide. "I… I was just… I... Hoh…" Skye's ears folded back tightly in shock. Judy looked blankly at the vixen, and then widened her own violet eyes, realizing suddenly what the vixen's point of view showed her.
The white fox could only see the back of the couch and Nick's head draped over the arm of it. Judy was sitting on her lover's chest and Motti was straddling his hips. With only the hyena's top-half visible from Skye's point of view, Motti likely appeared to be naked with a panting, squirming fox pinned under her. There could not possibly have been a more suggestive and compromising position Skye could ecounter.
"Uh…" Judy tried to figure out the best way to make this not what it looked like, but also not about spiders.
"Nnngaaahhh!" Nick groaned in a suddenly deep, satisfied tone, oblivious of the vixen's presence. His eyes rolled back and tongue lolled out as he sank into the couch, relaxing. "Oh yes, there we go!" The medicine apparently was working and Nick gave a long, rushing and grateful sigh. Motti looked back down and smiled at Nick, apparently unaware of what any of this must have looked like to the stunned vixen.
"There! Is so much better now, yes? Like Motti promise. It stays swollen still longer, but we keep it in here and you are resting a bit. You forgive for earlier and now we are friends!" Nick closed his eyes, panting breaths heaving as the pain subsided. He did as requested, panting heavily. Skye cupped her muzzle. The bunny shook her head emphatically.
"Oh it's not… It's really…" Judy stammered.
"Thank you so much…" Nick puffed. "Never gonna forget…"
Skye backed up, falling onto her rump on the stairs before turning and scrambling back up them. She said in an apologetic manner, "Sorry, gonna just… check on stuff. Upstairs! With the things!" Nick looked up at that, having only then realized someone was downstairs.
"Oh that's not good. Skye came down." Judy said.
"Did I say spider? I hope I didn't say spider." Nick said curiously, eyes wide with concern. Skye had just bolted up the stairs after all. She certainly seemed alarmed.
Judy pinched the bridge of her muzzle. "Uh, no, I don't think she got the impression of what was really going on Nick." The red fox, panting as comfort returned to his blazing paw, looked up at the half-bare and confused-looking Motti.
Nick widened his eyes and put his ears back, murmuring, "Oh. Uh… Yea, that maybe looked… Kinda…"
A shout, Jack's voice, was heard from upstairs.
"They're what?!"
"Why does this keep happening to us?" Judy sighed, covering her face.
"Janga is really been to Hell?" Motti asked obliviously. Judy slumped back a little. Somehow it seemed like the most appropriate question that could have been asked.
"I feel like I maybe preferred thinking the other thing happened." Skye said uncomfortably. Judy and Nick came clean with Skye about the spider. They had to, given what she understood to have been happening when she came down. Her ears were pinned way back and Jack held his entire face, trying unsuccessfully to stifle the strained high-pitched giggling. It was terribly uncharacteristic for all of his very masculine characters he'd played over the years.
Judy had called Jack and Skye down and they reluctantly arrived to find everyone sitting normally as Nick nursed his injury. As predicted, Skye nearly bolted upstairs to pack her bags with the mention of why Nick's paw was twice its normal size. It was getting better though. Motti helpfully assured the vixen that these spiders were uncommon in most of the Interior and the village of Siri Shamba only started having problems with the one she'd just killed a few months before.
It then took a while to explain to Motti that the scene Skye walked in on had appeared intimate at a glance because of the circumstance. It was uncomfortable for Judy to try to explain that, but the hyena did not seem to be embarrassed. She also remained topless which was making the scene a little more awkward for the vixen, but Jack didn't seem to care. The garment she used to bind Nick's arm was likely contaminated by the poison. She would not be putting that right back on. Jack was actually highly entertained by the entire situation, despite being scolded about laughing by Skye. He found the misunderstanding to be, in his own words, 'sitcom gold'.
Motti looked back and forth between the two couples as she reflected on what the misunderstanding had been about. She asked seriously, "So, is confusing though… This is a thing Skye thought could actually be happening? Is it a thing she sees before with her friends?"
Judy put her ears back, hiding the rose tint inside them. "Oh no, certainly not!"
Motti nodded. "Lady fox has the very interesting imagination then."
Skye looked suddenly indignant. "Now hey, I'm not just running around thinking weird things! At first I thought, with how it sounded and what was being said, it was only Nick and Judy together! I didn't expect… the rest."
Judy's eyes shot open. The vixen over-shared.
Motti was quick on the uptake. "Then it is expected for Shetani and Janga to be found this way?" Jack went wide-eyed and burst out laughing for some reason and actually got up and went to the back. Judy looked after him and then sighed, seeing Skye cover her muzzle, likely realizing that she was not supposed to really say that.
"We do not discuss this secret." Judy offered. Nick looked surprised that his bunny said it like that. If the village could have their secrets, so could Nick and Judy. This should not interfere with what they were doing. Not if this hyena wanted their help. The grey doe looked up at a very surprised-looking hyena.
"Why were you at the lake, Shetani?" Motti asked, willing to absolutely drop the subject the moment it was deemed a secret.
"We were looking for you, actually." Nick said, apparently grateful that they could move on from that rather cringe-worthy moment.
"Motti was at the lake, but she was finished with her task. She heard Shetani and came back." She nodded at that.
"Getting washed up in the lake, you mean?" asked Judy, wanting to drive that point home to Nick again.
"Yes, that first. Then is… giving Ukweli to the lake also. It was his favorite place in the entire world. It is where we become a family. Ukweli belong there."
"What." Nick blurted in the ultimate deadpan.
Judy gritted her teeth. She didn't want him to pay quite that big a price for not listening to her, but there it was. Jack returned finally, having regained his composure. He flopped on the couch beside his own fox.
"Why did you look for me, though?" Motti asked.
Judy took a breath, deciding that Nick's brain would be occupied a moment and so she started talking. "Motti, what can you tell us about the mine, and what you think may have happened to your family?" The hyena perked up immediately.
"You… You will help us? You will help my family?" she asked breathlessly.
"We can only try." Judy stated calmly. Skye nodded as well, making it more apparent that it was a group decision.
Motti spoke quietly, looking down. "I can take you to the mines. I have been forbidden, but the village is kitu. I have no reason to obey."
"Don't be upset with your village," Judy requested, sitting up a little. "They are afraid. They see nothing to gain and too much to lose. I do not want you to endanger yourself. A map or directions would be enough. Is the mine close to here?" Judy asked.
"We take a boat on the river and it is close, very fast." Motti explained. "The boat is there, no one is allowed to take it. The mine is off limits." The hyena wanted to make it clear that they were not supposed to do what they were going to do.
"So…" Nick interrupted, "… When you put Ukweli into the lake, did you just… put his urn into the water… or, did you like… pour him out into it?" Motti looked up, roundish hyena ears flicking in uncertainty. Judy sighed at her partner's quiet distress. Poor Nick.
"I pour him, and make him one with pretty waters there. Why do you ask this thing?" Motti stared at Nick curiously.
"No reason." Nick said, suddenly looking pretty glum. Skye covered her muzzle again, perhaps actually piecing together a valid reason for Nicks' question and sullen mood.
Motti looked back to Judy. "It is what he would want. He would not want to be in scary fire all alone. It is why I was so mad."
Judy looked up with interest. She actually wanted to know more about what had happened, so she murmured, "I had wondered about that, actually. I understood that the pyre was not uncommon as a ritual out here. We certainly did not expect that you would become so upset."
Motti sighed and shook her head. "I'm… so sorry about that. It was not right. I should not have, but… You could not have known. It was personal. Ukweli's family… They died in a fire, his hut burned. Ukweli would have died too if Mr. Pembe hadn't been there."
"You know Mr. Pembe?" asked Nick suddenly. "The rhino?" he clarified.
"Yes, you know of Mr. Pembe too?" the still-shirtless hyena asked.
"We've met him, yes." Judy said with a nod.
"Does Mr. Pembe run the mine where your family works?" Nick asked. Judy was aware that her partner did not trust him, and he was obviously trying to see if there was a link.
Motti answered, "He did long ago, when Ukweli's family was alive. But he was very sad when they died. He wasn't able to save them, only Ukweli. He sold the mine soon after to village elders. It was not good for fortune, he only own it to be friends with this village."
"How did Pembe save Ukweli?" Nick asked.
The spotty female leaned forward on the couch, seeming to hate thinking about it. "The hut had collapsed. Mr. Pembe used his horn to pull the burning wood upward, off of everyone. Ukweli's mother and father, they shield him with their bodies and died, but Ukweli didn't die. Mr. Pembe's horn was damaged by the fire and never got better. He covers the marks with a metal thing. My family took Ukweli in. He was like a brother after." Judy reflected on that a bit. If it was true that Pembe had injured himself, disfigured his horn, saving the lycaon, it was extremely unlikely that he was responsible for his death.
"Are your parents the only ones who haven't come back, or are others missing?" Nick asked. Judy was glad that he seemed to have gotten over accidentally drinking the hyena's adopted brother. He had at least recovered enough to continue the interview professionally.
"My parents and my other brother are all missing. Only them. They were the only ones still working the mine. We do not go there as much in the rainy season. Much of it is flooded and not accessible. But what we do have access to is safe enough."
"What do they mine for there?" asked Skye.
"Probably gold." Jack said, finally speaking up again.
"Gold?" the vixen asked, suddenly a lot more interested.
"There is almost none left there. It is… not our village's treasure anymore. We have not seen gold there in a long time, but the mine is so old… It has many secrets, so we continue to tend it. We do not so much now mine it. We care for it, my family." Judy wanted to ask if the secrets in the mine were what the professor was asking about, but thought better of it. They were secrets.
"Has anyone from the village gone to the mine to look for your family?" Judy asked.
"Yes, on three occasions. No one was there on the first two, but the third time, a few mammals were there, putting up a gate to close the mine. They say it is not safe, and The Interior is closing it. It is for safety. We ask about my family and they say the mine was abandoned, no one was there. It was true that two times before, it was empty, but I know the mine better. I wanted to check. They would not let me."
Judy looked warily at Nick. The Interior department was involved. That was not a good sign, and he looked just as distressed about that.
"Do you know where these Interior mammals were from?" Nick asked.
Motti answered with a sigh. "They was from Dhoruba. Is city further down river. We should not go there. They are not liking our village. We got into fight with them before. We want less visitors and they send more. Our elders got mad and fight about it."
"We will check out the mine." Nick said with finality. "We might have to visit this Dhoruba place too though. If it comes to that, we will not make you go."
"Do you… Do you think there's a chance for them? For my family?" the hyena asked, her throat sounding tight. Judy laid her ears back, feeling sad for what she must be going through.
"I don't know, Motti." Skye said softly. Judy had not expected the vixen to answer. "… I will say that you won't find a better bunny to try to find them, though. Don't give up hope yet."
"We can only try." Judy repeated as she'd said before.
"Thank you, Sungura ya Shetani." The hyena bowed her head.
Despite knowing what it meant, Judy had begun to feel attached to the name these mammals had for her. It might have seemed a negative connotation before, but it seemed used almost affectionately by that point, and she did not feel the need to correct them. The name filled her with a sense of purpose in this place, and the feeling that she had to succeed no matter what.