Guardian Blue: Season 2

by sarsis

Judy is still reeling from the events of the last month, and she is very much ready for things to calm down so she recover and also come to terms with how she feels about the fox she nearly lost. But, when it rains, it pours. They will take an assignment that challenges their comfort zones, and they will uncover a plot that may go beyond Zootopia itself, and out into the world.

15. Chapter 15

Author's Note:

I appreciate the feedback I get about the 'feel' of the story. I know that this season takes a pretty deep change in direction from the first season and the plot is more situation driven whereas the first season was definitely more character driven. Quite a few folks made it clear they prefer the character-driven arcs, and I want to make it clear, there will still be plenty of that. I was worried that the last chapter was too sappy, but I wasn't really chastised for 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 don't own Zootopia or the characters, or Disney. There's not even any self-insert OCs I can claim. They all exist for this world and this world alone. And for parties. Motti would be all about a good dinner party.

Also! A HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 2! He's my go-to for editing until a computer algorithm comes along to replace him. Until then, he's shielding you all from my rampant over-use of the word 'seemed'.

Guardian Blue: Season Two

Episode 15: Mine

Jack held still as the understandably curious Motti pushed around at the fur along the bunny's cheek. She used her dull, keratinous claw tip to sift the fur back and forth and find that the skin underneath was actually a different color, if only slightly. The stripes were real. Nick flicked his tail about happily, entertained by the hyena's reaction to their relatively odd circumstances. Judy was finding that messing with everyone's head was of particular interest to her fox, and she worried a little about how much fun he'd have if their relationship ever became common knowledge. She did not suspect he would make a spectacle of it, as he was considerate to her feelings at least, but could he really resist the temptation all the time? Judy remained seated in the shady grass where they had moved alongside the trail to recover from Jack and Skye's short but ugly fight.

Motti spoke up, finally. "I don't understand all the medical things you speak of, but your mother was really… I mean… Like… you were actually born from a…" Jack nodded at that. That part was definitely true.

"I was, yes. Not a fully natural thing though, again. Lots of medical science involved and even then, it wasn't literally a combination of the two. Not in the, uh… traditional sense," he explained. Motti finally stopped sifting through his fur, which made a grumpy-looking Skye relax a bit. Judy glanced back to her lady vulpine friend and wondered if Nick was the jealous type. The doe hadn't really been in a position where someone was trying to get that close to her. Certainly no one had touched her like that in front of him.

Motti resumed walking again toward their destination, saying softly, "I was thinking that I was to be having some difficulty on the trip for what we might find." She looked over her shoulder warily at the immediately following mammals. "I was not thinking I would struggle just knowing who you all are. I worry I have made a terrible mistake. No turning back now." She laughed a bit at that, instantly dispelling the idea that she was really upset.

Nick nodded as he took Judy's paw, "Yeah, crazy seems to follow us around. I will admit that." Judy punched him in the arm. She didn't want to be labeled as causing any of it, and it often felt like she was. Her job just made it likely that she was going to be where the crazy was happening, regardless of whose fault it was. She shook her head and Nick laughed with a good-natured tone.

The police officers walked right behind Motti quietly a bit, and Jack and Skye lingered a couple dozen meters further back. The latter couple was obviously softly talking, perhaps reassuring one another after that emotional outburst. Judy nodded to herself, ears back so as not to listen to them inadvertently. They needed that time alone.

Judy had originally suspected that they were getting close to the mine at the point that Skye and Jack had their fight.

She was so very wrong.

There was over an hour of hiking left to their destination. The wider trail made for a lack of shade. Judy found herself hugging the edge of the path alongside Nick to get what relief she could from the hot sun. Motti didn't seem to care if she was in shadow or not. She was really used to travelling in this place.

After suffering a frustratingly hot hike, the forest rather abruptly became denser. The trail narrowed a bit before they came to a very large brown-colored rock-face. Judy found that the rock face formed kind of a 'V' that they had walked into, making for a sheltered area. There was only one direction they could even go at that point, and the little valley they were in became narrower as they continued on. The hills on either side went up steeply at least thirty or forty meters. Massive trees capped the steep hillside to cast dark shadows down over the valley, making it feel almost like a cave in and of itself.

Finally, they reached the focal point of the valley. It was a bare and grey-toned sheer rock-face. It looked like some of the cliff itself had been cleared away. Inside that indentation, there was the gaping maw of a cave. There was a heavy-looking iron gate that made it nearly to the top of the easily five meter tall cave opening, but not quite. It was very large. Nick panted a bit, leaning over. The last roughly quarter mile had been pretty much all up hill. It was tiring. Jack and Skye had fallen further behind, so Motti and the officers waited there a bit for them to arrive.

Nick asked breathlessly, "That's it then?"

Motti answered, but did not appear to be so out of breath. "Yes, but I not really knowing how we get in. It's locked. The gate I mean." She pointed out the heavy industrial-looking padlock. It was almost as big as Judy's head. Even as far back as they still were as they approached they could see the obvious bulky, defense of that gate. For how huge the gate itself was, it would have been difficult to open even without the lock, Judy thought. As Nick and Judy's breathing caught up with them, the other fox and bunny arrived, plodding wearily past Motti.

"Well, that's certainly imposing." Skye huffed as she trailed her bunny boyfriend. "The doors must way half a ton each."

Panting, Jack asked, "Why do we even need to go in, anyway? I mean, you guys searched it already and they weren't down there, right?" However, before Motti could answer, Skye cried out loudly and snatched Jack by the ears, jerking him back rather violently. He lost his balance and ended up on his back with an understandable protesting cry. Judy cupped her muzzle, holding her breath. What the hell brought that on? Everyone stood still, glancing back and forth between the fearful-looking Skye and a stunned striped buck on the leaf-littered ground.

Nick regained the ability to speak first. "Skye, what was that for? He didn't do anything!" Judy nodded at that, agreeing with the question entirely, if not so tactfully delivered. What could have warranted that? The vixen didn't seem to be listening, gazing fixedly at the ground ahead of them, eyes wide, ears perked. She looked fearful. Motti began to walk toward it.

"Stop!" Skye commanded.

"What?" Motti looked on the ground. She then backpedaled a little, suddenly sharing that look of fear. Judy's senses were heightened by her tension and the sound of birds high in the canopy was oppressive, as if even they were calling out in anxiousness.

"I… don't understand…" Jack said as he sat up, rubbing one of his yanked ears. Skye moved forward achingly slowly and got onto her knees on the fallen leaves. They were a little thicker right there, but otherwise didn't look strange. She slowly moved them away, side to side. She was barely touching them. As she did, Judy saw what, somehow, the vixen had spotted. There was a brown wire that led to something under the leaves, over to a pile of small stones beside a tree.

"What… is that?" Motti asked.

"Oh no…" Nick murmured, obviously catching on to what Judy was considering the same moment.

"Nobody move. Just stay… exactly where you are." Skye said, her tone heavily stressed. She took a small folding knife out of her pocket and cut that single wire. A strained squeak came from Nick, who had gripped both his ears in his paws and pulled them back in horror at the vixen's careful cleaving of that line. Skye then more eagerly scooped the leaves away, revealing what looked like a hinged clamp set in the leaves on the ground. There was what looked like a small battery in it. When stepped on, the mechanism would make contact for the battery. Skye pushed it to the side, out of the path, exhaling deeply.

"Is that… a booby trap?" Judy asked, knowing the answer even as she said it.

"Skye!" Nick hissed with palpable distress, "I don't think you should be cutting wires or touching anything!" He then cried out again as Skye dug into the pile of small stones to reveal a black tape-wrapped square with a little cylinder set into it. The wire that went to the battery-powered mechanism led into the cylinder. Nick let out a stuck breath and then cried, "Are you trying to send us back to Motti's village as rain?!" The doe's eyes fixed on the taped block.

"Oh my God…" Judy murmured under her breath, her body suddenly feeling like it weighed as much as a hippo. She was absolutely horrified. A bomb. The booby trap wasn't a simple pitfall, a hanging fish-hook or anything like that. Whoever set that had wanted to kill literally anyone in that general area indiscriminately. Judy felt ill. They almost died. The bomb would have sent those little stones outward all around and that would have shredded everyone in the vicinity of the trap. Everyone almost died in a flash and she never saw it coming. Her chest hurt. She gritted her teeth, working suddenly to get her fear under control.

Jack looked exactly like Judy thought she would under the same realization.

"How did you even know… how did you see that?" Jack managed before just hugging his arms around his middle. The vixen sighed heavily, seeming to recover quickly from the stress that Judy herself was having a lot of trouble surmounting.

Skye finally answered as she stood and dusted off her knees. "We're in a shielded valley, Jack. Leaves don't blow around into clustered piles on the path because there's no wind in here. The trees over us are too thick to allow that. It looked wrong, so I looked closer." Nick, wide-eyed, looked to Judy, a paw over his obviously racing heart. He gave a slow nod that indicated he shared Judy's immediate thought. That was a very fortuitous thing for Skye to have been watching out for.

"We take this as evidence, yes?" Skye asked, opening her pack and dropping the little square explosive into it. The chuff of it falling into the bag made Jack visibly jump.

"What? No, we leave that crap here!" he protested.

"N-No, Skye's right," Judy stated a little blankly, starting to get over her shock, "We have to have it."

Nick stated the obvious. "I don't think going into the mine is an option anymore."

"We have to!" Motti shouted, actually spooking the explosion-wary group with her loud outburst. "We have to know what they hide! No one protects unsafe mine with bombs!"

"I agree, Motti," Judy said sternly, "But we can't help anyone if we get killed." Judy didn't move a muscle. The whole area could have more of those bombs, or any other kind of trap. The mammals who put those there might even still be around. "We have to get back to the village. I need to call this in. I need to tell Chief Bogo. It has to be escalated at this point. This needs to be investigated by the ZBI directly, Motti."

"No!" shouted Motti. "It gets ignored like it always does!" Nick held up a paw, trying to get the distressed hyena to lower her voice. Jack wasn't moving. He looked like he was still in shock.

Skye spoke up, her tone reassuring. "Motti, they can't just ignore missing mammals and booby traps. Not with what all that suggests. They just can't. Let us help you the right way… the way we know none of us ends up dead, okay?" Judy actually felt impressed with Skye's demeanor. Nick might not be the only fox here who was ZPD material. The hyena sank a bit, sighing and looking at the ground. Judy loosened up a little as well as the hyena relaxed.

"We won't just let it go, Motti…" Nick offered in a gentle tone.

"No!" This time the cry came from Skye, not Motti, as the hyena just bolted toward the gate.

"Oh no!" Judy cried.

"Get back here, don't go near the gate!" Skye shouted angrily, and the white fox bolted after her, earning a deeply horrified cry from Jack. He got to his feet shakily and seemed to want to chase her, but he was rooted right where he was. He was still too shaken from almost being blown up. Judy looked hard at the ground between them. There were a few other leafy patches where a bomb could hide, but Motti and Skye were avoiding them as they both rushed the cave. Nick began to scurry along the edges of the path where roots, rocks and the like gave him what appeared to be a safer path. Judy followed suit.

Only a few meters before the gate, Judy watched as Skye caught up to the reckless Motti. Judy actually had to stop in place a moment with what she saw next. The vixen pulled in front of Motti and grabbed her wrist, jerking her hard to the side and hooking a leg behind hers in mid-run. The motion worked with the hyena's momentum like a swift lever and sent Motti tumbling on the bare, dusty ground. The area before the gate was slightly sheltered by the carved away rock face, leaving it perpetually dry. The vixen stood between her and the gate, panting.

Motti scrambled back to her feet from the grey, powdery ground and moved to push Skye away. "Stay out of my way! My family!" As Motti's paws reached Skye, the vixen crossed her arms against the larger mammal's own and then turned and pulled the heavy Motti hard over her shoulder, launching her to the side, right off the path. Judy's jaw went slack at that.

"Don't touch the gate, Motti!" cried Skye. "Damn it, stay down!" The doe resumed moving as quickly and carefully as she could toward the scrapping pair, still stunned at the vixen's unexpected fighting prowess. She acted as Jack's body-guard for the purpose of getting to join him on this trip, but it hadn't occurred to the doe that she actually had any combat training. Nick arrived first and helped to corner Motti who sat up as if she'd make another go for it.

"Why?!" she screamed, "Motti is not your responsibility! You go away! I need to find my family." Tears left dark marks over the hyena's dust-coated face. Skye panted a bit and the other fox looked at the gate, his ears perking a bit.

Nick spoke breathlessly, "Because if you touch that gate, you'll die." Judy stopped short, looking at the massive iron barrier. It looked normal, but she finally realized what the foxes had both seen. The plants around the gate were stunted and small, curling back from it a little, and a few that had at some point been in contact with it were actually damaged or even obviously dead. Judy's sensitive ears finally caught the dull, soft, constant and droning hum.

"It's electrified," Judy stated flatly.

"They don't want us in there! Why!?" cried Motti, punching the dirt furiously. "What are they hiding!?"

Judy shouted back, having trouble restraining her anger over Motti's recklessness. "We can't go in the mine right now, Motti! We just can't! Trust us, we will still help you, but this is foolish!" Motti just sat down with a dusty thump, hanging her head. She wasn't crying. She just looked completely despondent and dejected. Judy looked back to find Jack still fixed in place on his knees where he was. He hadn't moved from his spot at all, and hadn't even been able to remain on his feet as his vixen fought the larger mammal a few dozen meters away. Suddenly, he pointed at the gate with an expression of alarm.

"Look!" he cried. Everyone looked to see that the cave wasn't empty. There was a hippo and a familiar rhino. Pembe stood before them, dressed in shorts and a pawaiian shirt that looked like something Nick would wear, though it would have been large enough to stuff about ten of Judy's partner into it.

"Gaudby!" cried Motti. "Don't touch, gate is dangerous!" Pembe sighed and reached up to the wall, opening a metal box. Inside was a keypad. He tapped it a few times, the pad beeping in different little tones that sounded like an old touch-tone phone, before the dull hum from the gate stopped. He then used a key to open the lock, exiting the cave with his suit-wearing hippo companion.

"What's going on here?" Nick asked sternly, Judy for the moment speechless. "We're with the ZPD. We are investigating a crime."

"You are investigating nothing," stated the hippo, drawing out a huge, gleaming firearm. Judy recognized it immediately. It was the gun that had been found in Ukweli's locker at the Mystic Spring Oasis. This was… really, really bad.

"No. No, no, no." Jack whined.

Judy crossed her arms. "You do understand that by doing anything to us you are guaranteeing a much larger investigation." She would not be intimidated. She had to keep her head about this and get them out of here. They were trespassing and did not really have jurisdiction to force the issue. They could be forced to leave and there was nothing that Judy could do about it but report this to the chief. Something was being hidden here and it would be investigated. For the moment, however, just leaving and making her report was the only thing on Judy's mind. The next words spoken shattered Judy's plans and sent a chill through her veins that rivaled the reveal of that bomb moments ago.

"Come on, in you go," Pembe said, seeming sad more than anything. He indicated the cave. "I had hoped we would not cross paths like this." The gleaming silver ornate sheath over his horn made him seem just as imposing as the giant hippopotamus with the heavy, shiny gun.

Motti whimpered. "Gaudby, why are you doing this? We were your friends! Did you kill Ukweli?" she asked plaintively.

Pembe shook his huge head slowly. "No. I am sorry. I could not keep it from happening. Any of this really. It's too late. Please. Go inside." At gunpoint, Nick and Judy and Motti were ushered inside.

"You, join them!" the hippo bellowed to Jack. His voice thundered through the valley-turned canyon. The buck was still on his knees, stunned at what was happening, holding his ears.

"There's traps! I'll get blown up!" Jack shouted back.

"A shame you weren't already. You're clear up to the gate, dumb ass," the hippo grunted. Jack shook his head fearfully, looking warily at anything that looked like more leaves than there should be.

"You just want my friends to watch me get exploded!" Jack shouted.

"Oh for… I'll get him," Pembe grunted in frustration.

"Please," his companion responded. Jack stayed put as the rhino moved purposefully to him. Judy's heart raced. They could not let themselves get locked in here, but the danger of a massive firearm made the situation very one-sided. Pembe grabbed Jack pretty roughly by the paw and pulled him toward the gate. Jack resisted at first, and then began to stumble along more willingly. He likely got his little paw crushed a bit to get him to make him comply. He was hauled and practically thrown through the gate. The huge iron barrier was immediately slammed shut, the boom of it echoing through the cave behind them. Judy watched as Gaudby slowly dialed the code into the number pad on the other side of the gate. He seemed genuinely reluctant to do this. The hum returned.

"Why?" cried Motti. Judy backed up with the others away from the gate. The cave mouth was as large initially as a cathedral, but narrowed quickly to a more typical cave deeper in. It was inky black inside, though. Judy looked back as Motti growled at Gaudby Pembe.

"Kuwa salama, Motti," the rhino whispered, shaking his head. "Usiende nyumbani." And with that he turned and walked away.

"Wait, you can't just leave us here! Are you serious?!" Nick cried.

"Well, I suspect that the foxes will live longer than the rabbits, if you know what I mean," laughed the hippo.

"Jonas," the rhino turned and growled, "…that's not called for. Come on, we need to report this. This… complicates things a lot. We have less time now." The hippo put his gun away and fell into slow and heavy step behind Pembe and they eventually walked away.

"Well, we're in the mine," growled Skye. "Thanks for that, Motti." Motti sat down, hugging her knees and simply began to cry. Judy didn't know what to even say to console her. Her recklessness cost them the chance to go back and report this and not get trapped in here. There was no other way to spin it. The hyena might very well have gotten everyone killed. Judy inhaled deeply. They would figure something out. They had been in fixes like this before, the bunny and her partner.

She looked back to Nick for reassurance and her heart just sank. The look on his face was absolute terror. She had not expected him to look like that, but his chest was rising and falling rapidly, his eyes wide and pupils so large she could hardly see the green in his eyes at all. His paws were shaking and he looked completely panicked.

"Nick?" she asked gently. Nick jerked away, giving a slight shout. Judy stepped back a little. That… wasn't normal for him.

"Uh…" Skye looked at the suddenly the bunny's shaking partner.

"What…" Judy backed up a little.

"No!" snapped Nick. "I don't want this. I don't want to be here. This can't be happening!" His voice was suddenly raspy and scratchy. The look and the change in his voice made it instantly clear to Judy what was happening. Nick was stuck, and if they couldn't get out, he'd starve. Just like before. Only, this time, fish were not the option. Judy felt a flash of emotional agony over what was going through her beloved fox's head. This was the absolute worst possible situation for him.

Judy embraced her shaking partner. This was a nightmare for him. She had to shake him out of it. "Nick, it's okay, we'll get out! It's not like when you were in Hell. Help me think! I need you."

"Guys…" Jack said, trying to distract attention.

"Don't go home?" asked a confused-looking Motti. "Why does he say 'don't go home'? He locked us up!" The last part came out as an echoing scream.

"Seriously, everyone, look…" Jack said again with some insistence.

"Judy, if I start to get hungry…" Nick whimpered, still shaking. Judy grabbed Nick's muzzle roughly, giving him a shake.

"It's not coming to that! Stop it, Nick!" she said sternly to her actively hyperventilating partner. She had to get him under control. Carlisle had been dead wrong to clear them for duty. Then again, the duties they had been assigned were not at all likely to lead into something like this. It was never supposed to be anything much more intense than desk-work. Bogo would never have suspected such an outcome. He had, by not putting them back onto regular patrol, perhaps wanted to ease Judy and her partner back into things.

"Guys!" shouted Jack. Everyone looked at him.

"What?!" Skye shouted back, obviously also stressed about Nick beginning to absolutely freak out.

"I… I think Pembe may not be a willing bad guy here," the buck said a little more meekly because of the severity of Skye's tone.

"Are you kidding?!" Nick cried back to him. Judy made note of the fact that absurdity shook Nick from 'that mood'.

"Seriously, he just kinda left us here to die, Squeaker!" Skye said with a huff.

"Why is he being called Squeaker?" asked Motti. Judy looked back to her, ears folding to her back again. This hyena fixated on the oddest things in times of stress.

"I guess it's the sound he makes when he…" Nick started, going right along with her. Judy covered her face in her paws. This was better, but not useful.

"Look!" Jack shouted, interrupting Nick before he could reveal more. He held up, in his little paw, a dark-colored key. It was the one for the heavy padlock on the gate.

"What?" Skye asked, peering at it as she moved quickly over to it. "Oh you quick, sexy bunny, how did you get that?!"

"Is that…" Nick asked, also approaching.

"Hey, I didn't filch it," Jack said, as if anyone would hold it against him if he did, "Pembe pushed it into my paw when he grabbed me and pulled me to the cave."

"He told me to be safe… and don't go home." Motti said in a curious tone. Judy's mind reeled. What was going on? Why did he do that? Was he working against whoever was behind this, or was it merely conscience over Motti? He said he hadn't been the one to kill Ukweli, and Judy knew he'd saved the departed lycaon at one point. Was this some kind of penance for everything?

Nick shook Judy from her musing. "Well, we can unlock the gate, but we can't turn off the electricity," he clarified. Judy inhaled deeply and sighed as quiet as she could. He was acting more like his thinking self, at least. There was a new path to him that didn't involve the unthinkable thing that had played itself out in his mind. She was glad. Nick paced. "We need to figure out a way to hold the lock and put the key in it without getting zapped, and then open that heavy gate without actually touching it." Nick glanced over to Judy and Skye. There was a measured pause.

"Not it!" Skye shouted.

"Not it!" Nick repeated.

"Really?" Judy said flatly. She sighed and then moved over toward the gate. "Well, guess it's gotta be me, huh?" she asked.

"Oh cripes, Judy!" Nick bolted, snaring the back of her shirt. "I was kidding, jeeze! Let's think first!" Judy smiled at that and perked her ears up. She was as far as she needed to go anyway. She moved her little paw up to the keypad and struck a combination of eight numbers. The hum stopped.

"Oh wow…" Skye murmured.

"Judy…" Nick said, voice soft and stunned. The doe secretly relished the tone of awe in her partner's voice. She loved to impress him when it really counted.

"The phone dialer keypad." Judy said, nodding to it. "Pembe entered the code extra slow. I thought it was a mistake, but with the key and all, maybe it wasn't. I listened to the sounds carefully."

"I was unaware that you could do that," Nick stated with disbelief. "Why can you do that?"

Judy smirked smugly and answered, "I used to guess phone numbers that my sisters were calling when I was worried about where they were going, what they were doing, all that. I uh… I might have threatened a few of their boyfriends with certain harm if they were unkind to my sisters." She rubbed the back of her head. It sounded less like the moral high ground when she laid it out like that.

Nick grinned, shaking his head, "You? Using fox-level cunning and nearly unethical coercion? I'm shocked." Judy rolled her eyes as Jack stood in front of the gate with the key.

"Go on, open it." Judy said.

"What if there's like, residual charge or something?" he asked.

"Here…" Skye took the key and used it, the buck cringing heavily.

"Stop doing that!" he cried, visibly upset. She looked back at him, eyes wide. "First running through the damned minefield after Motti and then grabbing a possibly electrified gate… I can't lose you, Skye! Please!" The vixen appeared a bit surprised by that, and just scooped up her bunny, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Squeaker, I just… I couldn't let her get... cooked in front of us." She pushed her cheek against his, an obvious fox-marking given. That elicited a flood of happy emotion in Judy.

Jack chuckled. "You're just gonna keep calling me that, aren't you?"

"You can call me something silly too, if it helps." Skye chuckled, a grin on her muzzle as she nodded to her lover.

"Don't tempt me. I'd call you Magic," Jack said, seeming to actually be near tears. The expression on Skye's face started as a blanch, but then quickly shifted, her ears going back as she perhaps remembered more clearly the conversation they'd had just over an hour ago.

Eyes wet, Skye touched her nose along Jack's jaw as she whispered, "I might actually like that…" The Buck's eyes widened.

"Really?" he asked. He was answered by a soft bite where his jaw met his neck, making his muzzle part involuntarily.

Judy reluctantly intervened, knowing from plain experience where that was likely to go. "Okay, you romantics. We need to get moving. We have absolutely got to call for backup at this point."

"We can't go." Motti said.

"We have to stay." Nick agreed. Nick's statement stunned Judy more. This was a fate worse than death to him a minute ago. Why was he dragging his feet now?

The doe threw her paws up. "What are you talking about?! We just got kidnapped at gunpoint and left to die!" Judy fairly shouted.

Nick replied in a softer tone, "Motti said that Pembe told her not to go home. I think she needs to check here."

Motti nodded emphatically. "He… He said that, yes. You are thinking…" she looked pleadingly at Nick. The red vulpine shook his head slowly.

"I don't know, but I feel like we were supposed to. Also, we'd be better to wait a little while anyway. We don't want to leave with Pembe and that hippo close by. The rhino's not gonna be able to help us a second time." Nick turned to head into the mine.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Motti said. Judy sighed. Of course she was. The doe pulled the gate closed again so at least it looked like it was secure and looked at Skye and Jack. "You can stay here, if you like… This could be dangerous. I can't ask…"

"We're coming," Jack said shakily. "Right, Skye?" The vixen nodded at that.

"We're all safer together," she replied. With that, the group began to descend in the mine. The first bend or two in the mine were nearly pitch black to Judy, but after that, little lights began to come on every time the group drew near them. They were positioned every fifty feet or so.

"How are they powering these?" asked Jack, touching one curiously.

"Battery, it looks like." Skye said, actually casually prying one off the wall. Judy wanted to tell her not to touch them because they were not hers, but she could not think of a better reason why. They at least had something like a flashlight to walk with. "I think it has an infrared sensor on it so it only comes on if someone walks past it. It's efficient."

Also efficient was the fact that they did not put out much light, but this didn't matter to the two foxes and the hyena. They had great night vision. Jack and Judy both gripped a fox tail as they moved quietly along. The movement was slow because a lot of care went into making sure they watched for traps. Nothing of the sort was found inside the mine, however. Motti, as promised, was familiar with the mine and moved swiftly down a few corridors, each ending in an expected dead-end. She was being thorough about her search, but Judy was increasingly nervous about how long this was taking. After three such results, she wondered if they were wasting valuable time. Pembe and the hippo might come back, and they said they had to report this, so others might be with them. Being trapped might not even have been their final disposition in all of this.

"Wait…" Motti said in a whisper, shaking Judy from her quiet concerns. "This… This wasn't here." They were at another dead end, but it terminated in a heavy-looking solid wood door. She pulled at the handle. It was locked. "This wasn't here! It's new! It's new!" The hyena's excitement was paired with frustration. She clearly expected answers on the other side which the door was denying her access to.

"Hold on, Motti…" Skye murmured, "Don't just…" The vixen was cut off by the heavy, suddenly furious hyena shouldering the door as hard as she could. Judy winced sympathetically because that obviously hurt the larger mammal's shoulder.

"They're here! I know it! I know!" cried Motti, hitting it again. Skye snatched Motti's shorter tail and jerked her back.

"Stop! Geeze! I'll open the door!" the white fox growled in frustration. Motti backed up, rubbing her shoulder. Judy took the hyena's paw, comporting her. She knew the feeling. The knowledge that the one they wanted was just behind an impenetrable barrier paired with shoulder trauma was an experience they now shared. It was all too real to the bunny. Skye opened her folding knife again, pushing it into the top of the hinge of the door.

"Woah…" Jack marveled.

"This door's meant to lock someone in, not keep us out," Skye stated.

Jack released a long sigh. "Skye, every minute I'm with you makes me lament every day of my life I spent without you," he positively purred. She laughed meekly and shook her head, pulling the pin up through the hinge enough to yank it free with her paw.

"I need your help with this one, Motti, I'm not tall enough," Skye asked, not responding to her lover right then. Motti had a little more difficulty getting into the hinge to work the pin up, but eventually got it free. Judy felt like maybe Skye had installed so many doors that something like this was simply second nature to her, but the vixen was thinking impressively clearly. It made Judy suddenly glad they brought her along. With the pin out of the top, Motti immediately went to open the door.

Skye instructed her carefully, "No, it's still locked there. Just give the hinge-side a little kick. It'll come out a little…" Motti did that, a hard thump echoing in the cave from her kick. As planned, the door was shaken a little from being level with the frame. Motti caught the edge with her hard claws and ripped the whole thing out, actually throwing it to the side noisily.

There was another tunnel on the other side. There was also the smell of food which struck Judy as odd. However, if there was food, there was likely someone there to eat it. Motti gave a strangled cry.

"Someone's here. Please. Oh please…" she moved into the darkness.

"Wait, careful!" Skye went in with her, and through the winding tunnels downward they went. It did not take too terribly long before a greater source of light was evident.

"Hold up, I hear voices," Jack warned.

"I do too…" Judy halted, holding Nick's tail. "Shh…" They were still a moment, and then crept through the tunnel. The doe wanted to be cautious in case the voices belonged to someone affiliated with that hippo and rhino, but Motti immediately strode forward. Her movement was quiet, but she did not hesitate.

"She is so gonna get us killed." Nick sighed.

"Quiet, Janga." Jack hissed.

"What does that even mean?" asked the fox.

"It means 'disaster'," Jack replied, following with Skye because he was still holding her tail, and she'd gone after Motti.

"Wait, really?" asked Nick. "Seriously? Come on, it's not that bad. Come back!" he hissed, and Judy and her fox were in motion. The next thing they heard was an exclamation from Motti.

"Momma! Papa! Kijivu!" Judy's heart raced, knowing what it must have meant. Nick sped up. She couldn't blame him. They rounded the corner that lead to the source of the light and found a much larger, more open area. It was a natural part of the mine, an actual cavern. The low hum of a generator somewhere in there was accompanied by brighter electrical lighting. This put light on a camp with six fairly large tents. The camp was populated by three lycaons, two lionesses, and originally three, now four hyenas. Motti was surrounded by what was obviously her family. All of them were sobbing. Judy had to fight back tears herself. They helped Motti. They actually helped the hyena like they had hoped.

The other mammals in the area looked surprised and alarmed, none of them trying to move. The lycaons looked like they were wearing drab grey prison uniforms. One of the l lionesses was wearing a tattered robe or some kind and the other was nearly naked, wearing only shorts and no top. They all looked under-fed and very dirty. The half-dressed lady lion had an obvious injury with brownish bloodstain along her midriff. Judy gave a wary glance to Nick. He looked… okay with all of this. He was peering intently at all of them as they all inspected the hyena that had suddenly arrived. No one appeared to even notice yet that she wasn't alone.

Crying wrestled under control, the older female hyena finally cried, "You should have stayed away, Motti! Now you'll die here too! Why did you let them catch you?!" This was probably her mother, Judy thought. Clad in a black and red shirt and dark colored trousers, she was actually larger than the already pretty massive Motti.

"You aren't gonna die here," Motti growled. "You aren't. We're leaving!"

"What?" the older male hyena asked. He was adorned in some kind of brightly colored robe that was reminiscent of the village he was from. Nick, Judy, Jack and Skye stepped forward from the narrower part of the cave where they had been standing.

"We are here to save you," Motti said, more than a little bit of pride evident in her voice.

"We? Who's we?" asked the younger male, obviously Kijvu. He was a shirtless grey and charcoal colored hyena. He was a little smaller than Motti, but a little bigger than her dad.

The doe stepped forward slowly. "I'm Judy Hopps. We're with the ZPD."

"Really?" asked Kijvu, suddenly stepping back, his eyes wide. He looked suddenly excited. "Wait, are you serious? It... It's over? It's just… over?!" A cheer went up from the other mammals, all immediately on their feet.

"Hold on! Quiet down!" called Nick. They listened, suddenly appearing fearful. The fox took a breath and spoke again. "Nick Wilde, ZPD. Look, we aren't out of danger yet. The guys who put you here are still out there."

"What?! You didn't take care of them first?!" cried the uninjured lioness. "You're crazy!" She didn't even have an accent, so Judy felt as if she might have actually not been local.

"We have to hurry." Judy said, joining her partner in trying to get the situation under control. "We won't stand a chance if we stay. It's dangerous out there, but we can get to a safe place at least. Here, your fate won't change." Judy folded her ears back. Yeah, they were in it deep now. This was not at all what they were here to investigate, but they would have to report it. It was a nice result, but they were going to have to explain why they didn't bother actually investigating Lupin. At least they would have something to show for it. The mammals in the camp grabbed a few items, including the food they had been eating. Given that it had just been cooked, Judy felt like maybe it had been delivered by the rhino and hippo. After gathering what they intended to take with them, they quickly joined Motti as she headed for the exit.

The group wasted no time as they hurried through the tunnels. The new one that Motti had never seen before wound downward nearly a half kilometer, one of the longest by far, and then there was the main tunnel of the mine itself.

As they walked hastily through the darkness, Judy could hear Motti several mammals ahead as they moved. She asked loudly, "What were you all doing down there? Why were they keeping you?" she asked.

"Oh Motti, they were destroying it," her mother said. "They were making it like it was never there! They were having us dig out to the aquafer to flood the whole hall of stories!"

"What? Why would they do that?" asked Jack loudly.

"This is secret." Motti's brother replied in a cross and warning tone. Judy felt a sudden wave of apprehension. The secret. It might all have something to do with the professor after all.

"We will worry about all that later," Nick said, "I need everyone to be quiet. Our ears should be up front, we're near the exit." Judy moved with Jack into the light that spilled through the open gate. The sky bore hues of orange and gold as the sun sank lower in the sky. It was getting late. Judy heard nothing. She looked at Jack and nodded.

"It's clear, come on." Jack stated, "Be careful though, don't walk anywhere with thick leaves. They had traps set."

Cautiously, the mammals all emerged. Judy felt a tug at her heart as she realized all of them were crying. They had been down there for weeks, some of them possibly longer. Maybe they had never expected to see the sun set again. There was hugging and quiet rejoicing.

"I don't think we're all gonna fit in the raft." Nick observed.

"We can't take the raft anyway; we have to take the path back to the village." Kijvu said warily.

"We can't go back to the village yet. It's not safe." Motti said. "Pembe said don't go home."

"Pembe's with them, bunga!" Kijvu exclaimed in a hoarse whisper.

"He's not. Not completely, at least. He gave us the key to get out." Jack said. "If nothing else… he's regretting something. I don't know." The buck shrugged.

"No way…" Motti's father said.

"I was so sure he was rotten, too." Nick added, shaking his head. "I mean, his first name literally anagrams to 'bad guy'."

Jack stopped walking and tilted his head. "Huh…"

"C'mon, keep up." Skye prodded Jack a bit and they resumed.

"I can't believe they sent bunnies," the shirtless lioness said, falling into step behind Judy. She didn't seem to be trying to be offensive, she was genuinely surprised.

"Sungura ya Shetani," stated Motti calmly.

"Uh, no." Kijvu said firmly.

"You'll see." Motti said. Judy shook her head and followed along, her ears focused for any sounds outside of the group. She was actually surprised that they were not immediately besieged as soon as they exited the cave. It felt almost too easy. However, if Pembe really did intend for them to escape, he'd not have given Jack the key if it was certain they could not have left unchallenged.

"We need to listen around us," Jack interrupted.

"Sorry." Motti whispered. The walk continued in silence. Judy trailed at the back with Nick, and Skye and Jack walked with Motti at the front. The rescued mammals spoke with Motti very quietly. It was found that they from three separate villages. The lycaons were arrested for theft in two different villages. They didn't speak the common tongue, so Motti translated for them. The hyenas, of course, were all from Motti's village. The lioness pair was from the same village as one of the lycaons. They had grown up in Zootopia but moved to the Interior five or six years earlier. They had been drugged at a celebration and brought to the mine the same night at the lycaons. Everyone was forced to dig day and night toward what they all assumed was going to be death by drowning.

Judy was absolutely appalled that such a thing was being done to them. It did not help her opinion of Pembe, even with his apparent change of heart that he allowed this to go on at all. He had to have known. There would be little leeway for him in the courts when Judy got this report to the chief, she would make sure of it. This was absolutely unconscionable.

Once introductions had kind of been exchanged, everyone kept close together and quiet. After a good two miles of hiking into the darkness of night on a trail that went up into the mountain, Motti had everyone go off the trail along a less obvious older path that went down into the valley. She said that it would be safer because the valley offered better shelter, and they could follow the stream at its bottom out to a fairly large village that would have more modern structures. This allegedly included, to Judy's absolute elation, a cell tower. They could go there and call for help without ever actually going into the village itself. Risk would be minimal.

One thing was very clear to Judy by that point, and that was the thing that was terrifying her most of all. The Interior Department was involved. They gave that gun back to the hippo. It was the same gun and Skye had been clear it was a rare and expensive weapon. The government was involved in this conspiracy yet again, whatever it was. Judy and Nick needed help from someone they could trust. They had to contact Bogo and make sure he knew. Even the chief could be in danger if this went higher than him.