A/N
Greetings reader.
As I have found out a while ago, during my more active times in text roleplay, I am not that good at action scenes. Thus, they take me much more time to word in something to at least partially satisfy my demanding standards (even with me being "understanding" to myself).
Anyways, hope that everyone who read it found it a pleasurable spending of his/ her time.
As for the song for further immersion, I suggest listening to Judy`s wake-up alarm. Now, on to the main course.
Chapter 2
*Previously: ZPD has knocked down, apparently with a force consisting of one small bunny, a notorious Raubtier gang. Her fellow dayshift officers are dying to hear the story behind this, and so they drag her with them to a restaurant, where no one can save her from spilling the beans…*
Judy's Thursday morning that day has started as many others did.
The beeping alarm of her radio-clock went off, and she eagerly jumped out of her bed to be greeted by the emptiness of her closet of a flat. She then silenced the alarm, went out to the communal bath she shared with other habitants of her floor, put on her uniform and then went out to the precinct. Just like her first day on the force…
The calmness of a violin and a piano, carefully transgressed into a fast paced yet melodious thrashing of drums and guitar, followed by a beautiful voice, woke Judy up from her dream of that day. The day she had first felt the elation of helping others out as a cop, only to have that elation crushed and trampled under merciless words of a certain red furred vulpine. Never in the course of the almost two years that have passed since that time did she want it to go any other way. Of course, the press conference she gave after she and Nick have found those missing mammals was the biggest disaster, but had that not happened, things would have surely turned out much worse. Nick, being the wizened one, as he called himself after one of their particularly serious conversations that usually ended in him giving Judy some piece of advice, has made it abundantly clear to the bunny, that everything has happened the way it was supposed to and it all has turned out in the best way possible. Bellwether might still be a mayor if she did not make her mistake under public pressure. But most of all, he made sure Judy stopped dwelling on the what ifs and concentrated on what is.
Nick was also the reason her playlist has constantly been growing to include more "interesting" music bands, especially in the, what the red fox insisted to not be confused with rock, metal genre. At first, Judy thought the fox was into that awful kind of music. But when out of curiosity she allowed him to "properly introduce" her to the genre, the country bunny was surprised that not only could she stomach it, there were even bands that she liked and even listened before, like Guns and Rodents. Being one to enjoy good female vocals, Judy hungrily scourged her partner`s playlist for anything he had on paw. Which is why her todays morning rise was accompanied by Dawn Of Destiny – Angel Without Wings.
The fox even got her a new dock station for her iCarrot phone (as a birthday present) with some decent speakers, so that she could use it both as an alarm to wake to something beautiful in the mornings and to listen to while lounging in her new apartment. Much more spacious than the closet she started out in, this one contained a bedroom, a kitchen/ dining room, and a small living room. While her new apartment was still sparsely furnished, she continuously kept adding to it. Nick helped her much with this, first in finding a good deal to improve her living arrangements, and then in making the bare-minimum environment to fill up and start feeling more homey to Judy.
It was an interesting thing she learned about her red furred partner during his stay at the academy and later at the precinct – he was proactive in helping others. Nick didn`t wait for others to ask him for help. If it was at all possible, he came with a possible solution to the mammal in need, subsequently referring them to his already existing contacts that he knew he could trust. Though many mammals saw foxes as untrustworthy, Nick`s natural charm and plausibility of a ready solution to a question or problem posed in front of mammals usually allowed the fox to at least gain another acquaintance. Most times though it resulted in a new favor owed to Nick and a lot of gratitude.
Yet, regardless of his sly, confident attitude and a helpful nature, Nick himself remained a mystery. A very guarded one at that, though most mammals could not perceive the masterfully crafted walls behind the outward façade. Judy considered herself lucky, being among a very sparse circle to actually see the red fox without his shields. But even to her, his partner and closest friend that he claimed to have, opening up was a long and tedious process. Though she believed she could understand Nick and his reluctance, give him his much needed time and space to open up to her, and to others he slowly learned to trust again.
Her reflections have seen her through the morning routine, started with a good soak under a hot shower (sometimes being small had its privileges), breakfast consisting from a light salad, brushing her teeth and finally going out to meet up with her partner on their way to the Precinct One building.
However, today she was to arrive on her own, since Nick had a day off. Sometimes their shifts didn`t match, if one or another had plans, or they were on mandatory partner shift day. Not having Nick by her side to distract her meant she arrived almost half an hour earlier than usual, giving her ample time to catch up with Clawhauser and some other of her newfound friends at the precinct. At the roll-call for day-shift at eight thirty, she was paired up with Whitefang and sent out on a car patrol of Rainforest District quadrant three.
Judy didn`t know Duran Whitefang that well, since he has graduated only half a year ago and was the newest addition to Precinct One. Somehow, the white wolf and her red fox partner got along pretty well right off the bat. This intrigued Judy, and the bunny cop tried her best in order to befriend the always calm and collected mammal, which proved to be quite easy. Very open and non-judgmental, the wolf was creative, knowledgeable in many different areas and hungry to new knowledge (meaning Judy could talk non-stop about farming and dealing with her two hundred and seventy five siblings). He and Nick shared a very interesting detail though – they were not very forthcoming when it came to their past.
Regardless, the day was uneventful and barely after seven in the evening, the wolf and one zealous bunny found themselves back at the precinct. Checking out their autoprepared reports and confirming them (thankfully, the ZPD has hired PawsWaterhouseCoopers to help established automated reporting system, which helped drastically reduce officers' paper duty), after slight edits, temporary partners bade goodbye and were on their ways.
This time, Judy took back her car, a small Fiat 500 hatchback (surprisingly, it was orange, often dragging out Nick's most devious smile, but the fox wisely kept his thoughts on the subject to himself), seeing as she wanted to go on a bit of a shopping spree today. Thankfully, the rush hour was over, and she would be getting to the mall she frequented soon enough. That was Judy's plan, until she turned to Rowningston Alley in order to take a cut.
A small coyote suddenly ran out of nowhere in front of her car. Thankfully, she wasn't riding too fast, being a rule abiding and careful driver (at least while not on a chase), and so the hard slam of her foot on a brake pedal stopped the car before the poor mammal was hurt. At first the bunny thought the coyote was looking for something, maybe a ball or something like that, that could get into the lane. But then, ha ran straight to the driver's door, arms flailing and muzzle opening and closing way too fast for it to form any coherent words. Judy opened the window, to allow herself to hear what the coyote was saying, but the only words he was sprouting were: – "Help, help, help, please help!" – Seeing the distress, Judy's cop mode instantly turned on and she went out of her car, badge flashing in the face of the coyote in order to try and get him to calm down. – "Sir, please, calm down. I am Officer Hopps, what happened?" – The seemingly panicking coyote appeared to be relieved for a second before his anxiety resurfaced full force. – "My friend got stuck in a warehouse, please, help!" – And with these words, the bunny cop found herself running after the other mammal into a rather plain looking, maybe a bit worn out, two-storey warehouse. The inside was rather dim and Judy found herself struggling to see clearly. The coyote though, seemingly noticing her discomfort, had taken a hold of her right paw and was urgently leading. – "This way, maam. Thank goodness you were outside, I don`t know what would I have been doing if you didn't show up, I have no phone and the neighborhood is not actually the one that I live in so I don't actually know anyone here… – The coyotes air supply seemed to be endless, judging by his non-stop jabbering. Finally, they were approaching a room with light spilling out from the open door. It was apparently the place the coyote and his friend were playing at when the other mammal had the misfortune of falling down and being stuck in one of the barrels. Stupid situation, really. Thankfully the bunny cop happened to be nearby, and it was just a miracle, and now they were saved. Judy didn`t know whether to feel flattered of the confidence placed in her, or irritated at how stupid these guys were. Fortunately, the moment they entered the lit room this little dilemma was solved for her. A loud "swoosh", and the first bunny cop of ZPD was welcomed by the all encompassing darkness of unconsciousness.