Hey there, readers! I am so excited to bring to you chapter twenty-four of Found! This took quite a bit to finally get out, the motivation took a big hit. But I got a burst of it and rode it like a wave! Please consider taking the time to leave a review and let me know what you think! And also, please consider taking some time to check WastedTimeEE's blog a : / / w w w . askthebellhunters (remove the spaces). Thank you!
Found (Chapter 24)
by
Elite Shade
"Alright, what's goin' on here?" Dorian said, stepping out of his cruiser, putting his hat on. He glared through his aviators at Mr. Dice, standing at the top steps to the manor, with construction mammals moving about, still working on the renovations. At the foot of the steps was Mr. Dice's lynx valet, Bandile Palaver. Said lynx had a serious look on his face as he was holding down a struggling figure. Dorian was surprised to see that it was another human, this one not much older than Marcus.
"Ah, sheriff," Kirin said, his slippery smug lightly Brayjun accented voice making Dorian's hackles rise a little as per usual for their interactions, "so good of you to show up personally."
"I got wind of a break-in," Dorian said evenly, looking at the blonde teen human on the ground, still squirming, "but now I'm worried that I might be looking at an assault." The boy was wearing a white button-up shirt with a light tan vest with matching slacks.
"Not at all, good sheriff," Kirin said, casually stepping down, his lanky and wiry frame dressed in a black pinstripe suit with red stripes, cane in hand, the silver skull glinting in the sunlight. "Just a misguided miscreant looking to work out some teenaged angst."
"You lying monster!" the boy cried, tears running down his tear-streaked face. "You're a monster! And you murdered my brother!" His voice became a choked sob. Dorian's paw naturally shifted to rest on the butt of his tranq gun.
At that moment in Savannah Central...
"All right, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Leodore Lionheart, former mayor of Zootopia, lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the mammal who's going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm going to get some engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!" Lionheart's heavy coughing can be heard coming from the speakers on the coffee table in the living room. Dawn was sitting on the couch next to her mate, her hooves clamped over her muzzle to prevent outright laughter. It didn't help that Vernon was snickering right alongside her. Eventually the two succumbed and burst out laughing outright.
"Geeze, honey lamb, where'd y'all ever hear of this thing?" Vernon asked, holding up the cheap-looking CD case sporting a picture of the lion in question standing proud on the front in a suit and tie underneath the title. Roar Like a Lion: A Guide to a Better You.
"From my editor! She has a friend who was hired to help Lionheart edit and publish his self-help book. But halfway through, he decided it needed to only be an audio book because, and she quoted him directly 'Nobody who matters sits down to read a book. If it's important, you put it on a CD'," Dawn said, removing her glasses to wipe away a tear as she caught her breath.
"Wow... and he actually had these made?"
"Over five thousand copies! He apparently took out a loan to fund it... and hardly any sold!"
"It sounds like he's lost his marbles," Vernon chuckled, hitting pause amidst the ramblings of the former mayor.
"Well, from what I understand, he had a really bad cold for a good portion of the recording and, instead of rescheduling, he downed a bunch of cough medicine and went in to record it anyway." Dawn smiled up at her mate with a smile on her muzzle.
"And his editor just let this go through?" To that Dawn nodded.
"Apparently, he was still very much a jerk who ran the poor badger ragged with his dumb ideas, so she finally gave up on trying to salvage it and simply let it be."
"Huh... I guess that you can say that he's got a bad habit of badgering those he tries to work with," Vernon said, letting out a belly laugh despite the groan and eyeroll of his mate. It was then that the two heard a giggle coming from behind them. Turning to look over the back of the couch, they saw Lily standing there, dressed in some nice play clothes and her wolf coat.
"You're silly, Daddy!" she said running around the couch to leap up into Vernon's lap, nestling and giving him a hug.
"I'm glad someone thinks so, Sugar Plum," Vernon said, giving a smug look to Dawn, who simply rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Are y'all and yer brother and sister all packed and ready fer a fun day with Uncle Wade and Aunt Giselle?" Vernon asked in his drawl.
"Uh-huh, Daddy!" Lily responded in the exact same drawl, which seemed to have stuck. "Trevor is bringing his new story he's been writin', and Alice is bringing the hockey stick Uncle Wade got her!"
"That's wonderful, sweetie," Dawn said, reaching over to gently squeeze Lily's hand. Lily smiled at her, before starting to look troubled. Spotting this, Dawn was quick to worry.
"What's the matter?" Dawn asked.
"Uhm... nuthin', Mommy," Lily said, looking away. Not looking impressed at her youngest lamb's skill at deception, she reached over and, with a grunt of effort, picked her daughter, who was now a little bigger than herself, up and settled her into her lap. Gently wrapping her arms around Lily, she nuzzled her like her own mom used to do when Dawn was feeling down.
"Are you sure, honey?"
Lily continued to look troubled before looking her mother into her eyes. "When you go away... sometimes I get scared you won't come back."
Dawn was speechless for a moment, feeling a pang in her chest. She tightened her hug and cuddled Lily close. "Of course, sweetie. No matter what, I will always do everything in my power to come back to you and your brother and sister."
"We both would, Darlin'," Vernon said, reaching over to ruffle Lily's headfur. Lily's doubt seemed to melt into a smile and she wrapped her arms around Dawn's neck, hugging her as tightly as possible.
"Promise?" Lily asked in a whisper.
"With all my heart, baby," Dawn said, sitting there hugging her daughter tight. Despite Lily's best efforts to always seem happy and cheerful, Dawn had noticed that from time to time Lily would seem troubled. She would always try to smile and be bubbly, usually changing the subject to potential tea parties and princesses. "And you can always talk to us about anything," Dawn said, giving Lily one more squeeze.
"Really?" Lily asked, after Dawn shifted her into a more cradled position in her arms on her lap.
"Of course," Vernon said, smiling reassuringly.
"Even... if it means I'm not a perfect princess?" Lily asked, looking troubled again.
"You'll always be our princess, sugar plum."
Lily looked unsure before seeming to steel herself. "So would it be okay if when I grow up... I become a detective?"
Vernon's ears went flat, the large wolf aware of his mate giving him a sidelong glance. He gulped but, looking down at his pup, he gave a smile despite his misgivings. "If that's what you really want... when you're all grown up."
"Even if it means I can't be a princess professionally?"
"W-well... it does take a lot of work to be a princess, but-" A pinch from Dawn made Vernon stop trying to steer Lily away from law enforcement. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the look she was giving him, telling him that he needed to be supportive. With an internal sigh, he nodded, still smiling. "Of course."
Lily smiled back and reached over to hug her Daddy. Despite the worry in his gut at her interest in law enforcement, his tail started to thump the couch nonetheless. "Darlin'... why do ya wanna be a detective so badly?" he asked, genuinely curious, wondering who perhaps was the influence.
"Well, when I become a detective, I can find my old mommy, and ask her why she left," Lily said, matter-of-factly. Vernon felt a pang in his heart. Looking over to his mate, he could tell that she felt the same.
"Oh, Lily," Dawn said, before Lily continued.
"I don't wanna make you leave too, Mommy, so until I become a good enough detective to learn why, I try to be the best princess I could be!" At that, Dawn doubled up her efforts to hug Lily.
"There is nothing you could ever do to make Mommy leave you, ever. Understand? Your father and I love you too much to ever do something like that." It was at that point that Dawn noticed Trevor and Alice also standing near the couch.
"Like it er' not, yer stuck with us Darlin'..." Vernon chuckled, and then beckoned for their other two children to come closer. "We'll always be here fer ya, Darlin', we'll fight tooth and nail to make sure y'all..." Vernon pulled the other two pups into a hug. "All of y'all, will always have us to rely on."
"Now, who's ready to spend the day with Uncle Wade and Auntie Giselle?" Dawn asked, giving Lily one last nuzzle.
"We are!" the three chorused.
Meanwhile, back in the North Meadowlands...
"So y'all are sure about enrolling Marcus in school?" Audrey asked her daughter-in-law, the tigress helping to carry the large bags of pumpkin seeds.
"Well, we've still got a couple months before the next semester. And he already has had some schooling, so with the new tutor to help him in areas he might be lacking in, Zach and I feel confident that he'll academically be ready to start the sixth grade..."
Audrey frowned a little at the anxiety she could detect in Vanna's voice. "But?"
"But... we are a little worried about... him being the only one of his species in the entire school. Zach's worried that he'll be gawked at or bullied... and I'm worried that it might be too much for him." Vanna said, setting the sack down with the others.
"I imagine Zach wants to wait longer," Audrey mused, noting the nod from the tigress.
"Yeah... he's also considered spying using observation equipment back at the station... and a bush disguise... and even dressing up like a teenager for a few weeks and pretend to be another student," Vanna said, her mouth quirking up in a smile at the ideas her silly mate came up with from time to time, while Audrey snorted and chuckled.
"That sounds like somethin' Zach would come up with."
"Anyway, we asked Marcus about it, and he said that he would like to try... with our permission, of course."
Audrey stepped forward and placed a gentle paw on Vanna's shoulder. "That's the part of parentin' that no one but another real parent ever actually understands. The worryin'."
"We're going to make sure that he understands that we will always be there for him, and if there's any trouble at all, to tell a teacher, as well as us." Vanna turned to smile at the she-wolf, noting the puppy-bump that was very apparent through Audrey's flannel jacket.
"Marcus is a sweet boy, and a strong one at that. I'm sure that he'll be making plenty of friends," Audrey assured Vanna.
At that very moment, the boy in question was smiling as he 'walked' his pet woodpecker, Bruno. Bruno was kitted out in a blue bird harness attached to a blue leash. Marcus was sure to be careful, making sure to only give gentle tugs as a sign to correct Bruno's course. Presently, however, the young bird was letting out quick excited chirps, and tugging forward on the leash, leading Marcus in a specific direction. As they continued on their course, Marcus started to recognize the path that they were on.
"Woah, slow down, boy. Huh... this is where I come to practice my violin..." he thought aloud, "are you tracking my scent?" Marcus smiled at the excited bird, having adored Bruno from the very moment he had gotten him. It was then that Marcus' ears started to pick up snatches of voices and what he started to realize was singing. A wave of unease settled over him; he was still unsure about being around other mammals without his Mama or Papa with him, and so Marcus started to gently try to tug Bruno away. "L-let's go home now, boy."
Not to be deterred, the little bird tugged back, the leash slipping from Marcus' wrist. Bruno chirped and continued on, a stunned Marcus scrambling to follow behind. "W-wait, Bruno! Heel!" Without any care for himself, Marcus burst out of the underbrush behind Bruno, tripping and falling as he just grabbed ahold of the leash again. Marcus landed on his chest just inside the clearing, letting out an OMPH! The singing came to a sudden stop and there was a short silence in the clearing.
"Are you okay?" asked a female voice, sounding genuinely concerned, the owner of said voice jogging over, followed by several others from what Marcus could hear. Slowly looking up, Marcus was surprised to be looking up into the face of a red panda girl, dressed in jeans and a tank top, standing right next to him. Marcus felt his heart beat faster, having a feeling that this girl was around the same age as him.
"I th-think so?" Marcus said, blushing, now feeling foolish. It was when a hoof was offered to him that the spell was broken and Marcus became aware of the others. The owner of the hoof was a deer boy, wearing a white t-shirt and khaki shorts. Carefully, Marcus accepted it and was pulled to his feet.
"Hey there," the deer buck said, "I'm Travis." Still holding Marcus' hand, the buck simply started to shake his hoof, smiling.
"M-Marcus," came the nervous human boy's reply.
"Woah," a female grizzly bear said, towering over Marcus, a purple stripe in her headfur. She had on a black t-shirt with a full moon on it and a pair of camo shorts. "That's the weirdest beaver I ever saw!" She was elbowed in the stomach by a nearby goat girl, who then adjusted her glasses as well as her light green blouse and matching skirt.
"Lizzy!" the goat girl in the flannel shirt and jeans hissed. "That's rude! And also, he's clearly not a beaver... I'm guessing he's some kind of hairless bear!"
A nearby raccoon boy in a light grey shirt and jeans rolled his eyes. "Way off," he said, "how have you guys not heard about the newly discovered species, the humgoblins?"
"Close, they're called humans," Travis said with a chuckle. The red panda girl started to giggle, drawing everyone's attention. Nestled right on top of her head was Bruno, sitting, looking content.
"You've got a cute woodpecker," the red panda girl said with another giggle, "I'm Aiko, by the way."
"I'm Lizzy the Grizzly!" the grizzly bear girl chimed in, looking proud.
"I'm Mina, and it's nice to meet you, Marcus," said the goat girl with a friendly smile. "And the raccoon with the perpetually rolling eyes in my little brother, Ty."
At that, the raccoon boy crossed his arms, looking cross at Mina. "I'm only younger by a week!" Marcus smiled, feeling a little less nervous thanks to the casual banter of the group of young mammals.
"Want to hang out with us?" Travis asked, motioning toward the tree logs in the center of the clearing set in a semi-circle.
"Uhm... s-sure," Marcus said, following the group back to the trees, following their lead in taking a seat. Since Bruno had no inclination to hop off Aiko's head for the time being, she sat closest to Marcus. As they settled into a comfortable chatter, Marcus learned that this group of friends were all in the same grade as him, and all five of them would be going to North Meadowlands Middle School as well. What's more, Marcus learned that they had recently formed their own band, which they had yet to think up a name for. Travis played the guitar, with Aiko on an acoustic guitar, Lizzy on drums, Mina playing a bass, and Ty on piano and keyboard. As he sat there with them, Marcus started to relax, smiling and joining in, telling them about his talent with the violin and piano.
"That's awesome!" Lizzy said, the most excitable of the group, "Aiko plays the violin too! OH! Maybe you can join us!"
"Lizzy, don't go pressuring the new kid!" Mina scolded.
"Uhm... I guess I could..." Marcus said, feeling a little nervous.
"No pressure, bud," Travis said while Aiko got out her guitar, sized for species around her size, and started to play it. Bruno instantly hopped down and started to peck at the log in perfect tune with each note she played. That brought forth some laughs at the display.
Later, Back in Tundratown...
Vernon and Dawn walked in a trance, bundled up against the cold. Dawn's hoof was in his paw, the two sporting grins as they stopped to look in each other's eyes.
"Puppy Love," Dawn said, breathlessly.
"Honey Lamb," Vernon rumbled back.
"We're going to have a puppy," the ewe whispered, her free paw rubbing her belly.
"I don't know how this is possible... but I'm so excited, Lamb Chop," Vernon said, choking up a little. His free paw went to scratch the back of his head, causing him to wince when it brushed against the bandages. Dawn giggled before smiling sympathetically.
"Oh, Vernon," she said. The large wolf smirked down at his mate.
"It gives us a funny story to tell later on down the road, Darlin'."
Giving his paw a squeeze, Dawn resumed leading him back up the steps to Wade and Giselle's front door. They could hear excited giggles and laughter coming from inside, and smiled brighter, before Vernon rang the doorbell. Wade and Giselle had been so excited to be able to find a house for rent in Tundratown that had spacious rooms. Giselle still had to bend her neck a bit, but the giraffe was much better off than keeping her neck perpetually at a 45 degree angle. In just a few seconds, the door was cast open by Wade, with a giggling Alice in his arms. Whatever Wade was about to say tapered off when he saw Vernon with his head partially bandaged but the goofy smile on his muzzle and a radiant glow emanating off of Dawn.
"Hey there, you two," Wade said, "y'all look like ya've had yerselves quite the day."
"Hehe, yeah," Vernon said with another wince, before regarding Alice. "Hey princess, didja have fun playin' ice hockey with yer Uncle?" He held out his arms to her and, without thinking, Alice leapt from Wade's shoulders into the hug Vernon offered, still giggling.
"You bet! We played one-on-one, and I beat him six to two!" Alice puffed out her chest proudly.
"Oh, really now?" Dawn asked, looking over to her brother-in-law.
"Yeah! At first, I was worried that Uncle Wade was just letting me score, until I saw how badly he was trying to block my shots!" Alice's tail was wagging practically a mile a minute.
"Hey now, you wanted to play a fair game, so that's what we played," Wade said, making room for them to enter, "so no slap-shots from me. 'Cause of the height difference."
"Right... the height difference," Vernon said with a knowing smirk. Wade rolled his eyes, but still looked a bit sheepish. Entering the warm hallway, they walked underneath the vaulted ceiling into the living room where Trevor and Alice were sitting on Giselle's lap on the couch. The giraffe was looking a little nauseous, while Lily was bouncing in excitement... until she saw Dawn and Vern enter.
"MOMMY! DADDY!" she shrieked before hopping down and running over to them, practically bowling Dawn over, wrapping her mother in a hug. Remembering their conversation from earlier, Dawn squeezed Lily tight, giving her a nuzzle.
"Hi, Princess," Dawn said.
"Mommy! Trevor's been tellin' us the story he wrote! And it's really good! Even Auntie Giselle said it was so descriptive!" Lily drawled in her Meadowlands accent.
"Yeah," the cockney giraffe said, with a worried look on her face. "That it certainly is... for a story involving an autopsy..."
"Auntie Ada taught me about how an autopsy is performed!" the little black sheep ram said in excitement. "So I got to use it in this story about an alien species of parasite that burrow under the flesh and appear to be tattoos that move when you don't look at them, before they take over the hosts' brains and eventually consume them!"
There was a silence at that, with Vernon and Dawn sharing a mildly worried look.
"That's great, honey," Dawn said. Trevor hopped down and ran over, joining Lily in hugging her. She ruffled his head floof, and returned his hug, aware of Lily having not let go of her yet. She took note of how Lily was clinging to her, and made plans to reassure Lily.
"It actually made Giz throw up, which... is an ordeal for a giraffe, Vern, as y'all can probably imagine," Wade whispered in Vernon's ear.
"We're plannin' on havin' a chat with Ada later," Vernon whispered back. Wade nodded and chuckled.
"When we get home, we've got some big news to share!" Dawn said to the pups.
"OH! Is it more undercover tooth fairy work, Mommy?" Lily asked.
"Undercover tooth fairy work?" Wade asked, confused. Vernon sighed but chuckled.
"There was a bit of a mishap with explaining who the tooth fairy was to Lily," Vernon whispered while Alice, who had climbed down, joined Trevor and Lily in trying to guess the news from Dawn.
"She somehow got it into her head that the tooth fairy was a burglar who would break in to steal the fallen out baby teeth under pillows. This was on the heels of us callin' up Zach and makin' sure from Marcus that huemons normally lose their baby teeth as children after... well, after a little scare Lily gave us..."
Wade snorted and nodded. "Okay, so I take it that y'all were the one to try and explain the tooth fairy then? What with how mixed up Lily seems to have gotten it so far."
Vernon growled a little and frowned. "It ain't my fault... my little princess' just got an active imagination... and my other little princess decided to egg her on because she thought it was hilarious." Wade snickered but let Vernon continue.
"So anyway, Lily took it upon herself to catch this tooth fairy. Called it her next big case. And, well, after Dawn waited for her to fall asleep to make the swap, after we remotely turned off the 'hidden' camera she had hidden under one of her teddy bears, we thought everything was good. Until the next morning when she said that the tooth fairy had evaded her hidden camera and tried to bribe her with $100."
"$100?! You guys are givin' yer pups that much per tooth?!" Wade asked, eyes wide in shock.
"'Course not! My honey lamb just kinda got the bills mixed up in the dark. She thought it was a $10... and, well, we couldn't just take it back... and now Trevor and Alice are expectin' the same price fer when they lose a tooth in our house..."
Wade snorted again, trying hard not to burst out laughing while Vernon glared at him.
"Anyway," Vernon continued, "it turns out that that detective kit Pa got Lily fer her birthday also included some paw print powder. So she lightly dusted it and, well, compared it to the booklet of paw and hoofprints she's collected so far from her friends and from us..."
"Wow, she's really good!" Wade said with a chuckle, meaning it.
"Yeah, well, she then started crying, thinking that Auntie Judy and Uncle Nick were gunna have to take Dawn to jail... which she ran in crying saying that while Nick and Judy were over for a visit. Once got her calmed down and had her explain herself, I came up with the idea to tell her that Dawn was just workin' undercover for the ZPD ta help catch the tooth fairy, posing as one of her workers. The problem now is that she thinks there's a criminal tooth fairy organization."
Not able to hold back anymore, Wade burst out laughing.
"Yeah, that was Nick and Judy's reaction after Lily walked back to her room with Dawn, to get her witness statement..."
"I'm sorry Vern. But there's no way she's not gunna be a cop when she grows up," Wade whispered, wiping away some tears while Vernon stood there looking at him with a half-lidded glare.
And there you have it folks! I certainly hope that you enjoyed the chapter! And please, take the time to check out the gofundme for WastedTimeEE and his mother, and maybe to also pass along any moral support you feel comfortable giving them.