Childhood meeting

Martin didn't have any friends when he moved into the suburbs of Zootopia. It was a upscale neighborhood like what the other rich kids had, his mother called it a dump, but nicer than the actual dump. The houses were small and shacky looking, the white picket fences, which were once new and nice, were now broken with their paint dull and peeling. The front lawns were more dirt than actual soft grass and the streets were clunky and full of potholes.

Whenever his mother got sick of his reckless behavior from inside the house, which involved a broken thing, he was kicked out and told "go play outside!" and he would stay out for hours until dinner time. He usually go exploring in the junkyard, find a stick and bang it against windshield of a broken car, anything to keep his eight year old mind entertained. Sometimes he wished he had some animal to play with but the other kids either avoid him or pick fights with him. Even though he was small, he can put up a fight, that would make a group of bullies run away, but that didn't stop them from coming back to pick on him again. Like, today.

He was absentmindedly hitting a stick against the metal frame of the rusted out car in the junkyard, slow to realize a group of foxes sneaking up on him.

"Hey runt!" Yelled out the ring leader. Martin turned boredly at him. Ricky was his name, he was a red fox, who always wore a dirty tee and ripped shorts because his family couldn't afford new clothes. He was ten years old, just a couple years older than him. In his mouth he had a cigarette which Martin knew he probably stole off his dad. Behind the scratchy fox was five other foxes, close to his age, ready to see the fight or join in.

"What do you want now, Ricky?" Martin asked, tossing the stick aside. "Another black eye to show to your mommy?"

Ricky growled at him. "You should respect your elders, Runt!" He said, putting his thumb against his chest, trying to use his "advanced" age as an excuse.

Martin wasn't really a runt, he was just a little short for his age, his mother said he'll have a growth spurt soon and he believes her. Ricky wasn't even that big against him, only by a few inches. He wondered if the runt was actually Ricky.

Martin snapped his overalls against his body and spit on the ground. "You just turned ten, Ricky, that ain't nothin' special."

"It sure is! And I'm going to show it by scraping with you, Runt!" He said throwing the cigarette to the side and cracking his fingers. Martin eyes narrowed and stood his ground. He wondered if today Ricky will play fair and fight him one on one but seeing the five other fox kids, he knew it wasn't.

He put up his small fists and narrowed his eyes. Like always, when the fight began, Martin had the upper claw. He punched Ricky fast and hard, making sure to fill his body with bruises. He jumped around and wrestled Ricky to the ground, kicking him on his arms as an attempt to lessen Martin's hits but before Martin could relish in his victory, he was jumped by the group of foxes, like he predicted.

Martin covered his head and curled up in a fetal position. He gritted his teeth as he was pounded upon by their fists and kicked in his gut and legs, leaving him twice as hurt as Ricky. After about a minute of cowardly attacks, Ricky delivered the final blow by using his claws to scratch Martin on his arm. The black fox gave out a shout and clutched his bleeding arm.

"You should learn not to mess with me, Runt!" Ricky yelled out, sporting a fat lip that Martin gave him. His "friends" laughed with their ring leader as they turned their back on Martin, heading out of the junkyard. Martin sat up, bleeding and bruised, he laughed at him.

"And you should learn to fight your own fights!" Martin said. "You jerk!"

Martin saw his face contort in annoyance and as Ricky walked away, he responded in a bitter tone. "At least I don't have black fur!"

Martin's eyes narrowed and slowly leaned against the ca and licked his wounds. He rubbed his sore body as he sat silently. He supposed what Ricky said was the reason why the other kids avoid and pick on him. The other foxes had red fur and he had black fur. He inherited that trait from his mother, but he didn't hate the color of his fur. He actually likes it. Yet, he felt alone. He sighed heavily at the thought, he didn't have any brothers and sisters to play with, his mom is always busy and everyday has become routine. This was the third time this week that he got jumped and now he had to come up with another excuse to tell his mother, would she believe he fell down a ditch?

He spit at his cut and rubbed it in, he hissed under his breath from the stinging pain before lifting himself up. He walked out of the junkyard, heading back towards his home. He sniffed as he kicked a van on the way back, crossing the broken sidewalk. He kicked the can again, making it fly into his neighbor's lawn. It was empty and he really didn't have a neighbor until he saw the moving van. His ears went up in interest, wondering why would any animal move into a dump like his neighborhood. In a large van, ten bunnies ran out, immediately screaming and playing with each other. He noticed they all had brown fur, he saw their parents next who were dressed his strange clothes. The mother wore a long dress of many colors and a piece of shiny fabric was wrapped around her head. She wore gold beads and had shiny blue eyes. The father wore the same colorful clothes but did not had a fabric around his head, but had a beard which was woven into golden beads. His brow arched at the sight of them. He sniffed and walked into his own lawn, leaving behind his can. He glanced at the neighbor's again, through the fence that separated them and saw a pair of red eyes staring right at him.

He jumped back in alarm when he saw a white bunny with ruby eyes staring blankly at him. She was wearing a bright blue dress with a gold dash around her waist. He took a step back from the bunny and narrowed his eyes at her as she kept staring at him.

"You're creeping me out." He said, which made her finally blink. He noticed that she was completely different than the other bunnies and was actually dressed more nicely than her other brothers and sisters. His ears went up in surprise when her head jerked, after being pelted by a rubber ball. She turned around, rubbing her head slightly as he brothers and sisters pointed and laughed at her. Martin immediately felt very annoyed at them as she wasn't doing anything to provoke them. Her mother immediately went over and slapped one of them over the head, the thrower of the ball, and shouted at him angrily.

"Get inside! You should learn to respect your sister, all of you! Inside!" With their heads low and murmuring they entered their home without another word. Her mother strolled over to her daughter and Martin watched her gently pat her head.

"My sweet gift, have you met another miracle child?" She asked sweetly, tilting her head at Martin. He sniffed at her. Her daughter stayed silent but nodded. "Wonderful, stay outside as long as you wish, my gift, I shall have your lunch prepared soon."

She walked away, leaving Martin even more confused. He turned back to the bunny when he heard her sniff and rub her head again.

"Your family is strange." He said again.

She blinked at him and whispered something to him. He leaned in.

"What? Speak up." He said, crossing his arms.

Her head went down shyly and kicked the dirt beneath her shoes. "My family are gypsies." She said again, softly but more louder than the first time. "My mother is a psychic."

"Sure she is." He said, rolling his eyes, but it explains the weird clothes. "I'm Martin Declawe."

She gave him a small smile. "I am Malaska White, but you can call me Martha."

"So what are you? You don't have the same fur color like the rest of your family." He asked bluntly, which made her put her head down.

"I'm an albino, my mother calls me a gift because I was born lucky for my family. She says I bring wealth." She said in a low voice.

"Is that why your brothers and sisters pick on you?"

She nodded sadly and sniffed. "I'm different."

Martin felt his eyes soften at her and he rubbed his arm, still feeling the sting of his cut. He looked back up at her and put his paw in between the fence, holding it out to her. She blinked in surprise and glanced up at him.

"Me too." He replied, she smiled at him and took his paw. Her head moved to the side when she noticed his cut. She let go of his paw and put her own paw over the cut. He jumped slightly expecting to feel pain but instead felt a warmth emitting into him.

"I hope you feel better." She said gently. "Marty." She pulled away and walked back inside. As he watched her, he touched his arm again and felt no pain but he did felt the same warmth he felt before, reach to his face.

im really liking Martha and Martin, they get me out of writer's block and also this is all leading to something in the future so I hoped you enjoyed these two.