YAY! After a terrible heat wave, I am back and feelin' motivated to write! And... so I did! Here is the latest chapter of Found, for your reading pleasure! I hope you like it!
Found (Chapter 36)
by
Elite Shade
Kirin was sitting at his fancy desk, scribbling out his signature on some forms, when the door to his office opened on the newly well-oiled hinges.
"Thank you for showing our guest in, Bandile," Kirin said, dismissing his bodyguard without looking up. His smile grew on his face as he heard the sheriff take a seat opposite him.
"So," Dorian said, practically spitting out the word. "Ya said ya had some important information on this Silas fella?"
Having finished the last of his paperwork, Kirin quickly whisked the documents away and into a manilla folder that then disappeared into a drawer of the desk. He looked up to regard the sheriff, steepled his fingers as he did so.
"Indeed I do, sheriff. But first, may I offer you a drink? I just had imported some delightful Kartakkan wine that came from the wine cellar of a rather wealthy aristocratic family that has since fallen into financial ruin. I swear, you can just taste the sensation of impending doom in each sip!" Kirin chuckled as he ran his black leather gloved thumb over his silver human skull cane, the rubies set in its eye sockets twinkling with a dark mischief similar to Kirin himself. Dorian had to suppress a shudder, though his hackles stayed raised.
"No thanks, Mr. Dice," Dorian said with a low growl to his voice. "I'm just here fer the information on Silas Curo. Ya said he'd be comin' fer my grandpup, and I wanna know why."
"... I take it that you've seen the video of him taking the whip to the young master's back, then?"
Dorian's claws dug into the fancy wooden arm rest of the chair. The snow-white law wolf nodded.
"And what of that interesting little docuseries on Petflix? I find it rather intriguing myself, and I was there!" Kirin let out a laugh, the sound making Dorian want to slap the cuffs on the mammal across from him and just look for anything incriminating to charge him with. "That 'Cruelty in Kartakka' episode was rather comprehensive about Mr. Curo's origins, or what scant information there was to be discovered about them. Though I have learned a little bit more in my own investigation..."
"Why even bother investigatin' him? I would imagine a mammal like you would rather he'd just disappear, and stayed disappeared."
"Why, sheriff, if I didn't know better, I'd think you'd thought me a scoundrel." Kirin dramatically draped an arm over his forehead for a moment, clearly enjoying himself. Returning to steepling his fingers, Kirin smiled wide. "I like to do my research on business partners, potential business partners, and those they associate with. Back with some minor dealings in Kartakka, I had some trusted friends do some digging on Mr. Curo. ... Some returned with little clues and fragments of clues I then had investigated properly. Others... never returned... at least not alive. Young Mister Sheltly's brother was not the only body to be fished from the canal."
Dorian grimaced. "Any of it of substance?"
"I suppose it depends. As an academic study in the field of psychology, most absolutely. Though it is rather difficult to separate fact from myth. I have hints at his early formative years, but the majority of what I unearthed came from his teenaged years. And what a halcyon time for the young Silas that was! Working as freelance muscle, and quickly gaining a reputation for sadism and overkill. However, he also gained a reputation for killing the very people who would pay him to kill others. He had no support by the time the police picked him up. Then, somehow, he not only survived a rather 'grueling' experience during his imprisonment, but he put on a rather entertaining show for those that were there to witness his skills at survival as well as his sense for blood sport."
Dorian let out another growl, having a good idea that Kirin was referring to his infamous labyrinth.
"From there, he was noticed by a rather powerful patron, the Duke himself, who made Silas his right hand mammal."
"Parts o' that were covered by the documentary. What's this got to do with Marcus?"
At that, Kirin raised a single eyebrow, still grinning like before. "In all cases where he... inflicted harm on others, he always, and I do mean always, expressed great enjoyment from listening to their screams of terror and pain. Taking things nice and slow. And, during his working for the Duke, he seemed to fixate on Marcus and the lovely Rose. When Marcus was publicly... disciplined for his insubordination, Silas relished being the one to mete out the punishment. He claimed he had been wanting to listen to Marcus' screams. Yet, as you had seen for yourself, Marcus proved to be stronger than Silas had been expecting. Not once during each lashing did he let out so much as a single yelp, even right before he passed out from shock and possibly blood loss. As they neared the end of the lashes, Silas was quite annoyed, and even downright frantic since Marcus never screamed. I do believe that he plans on rectifying that."
"And what makes you certain he's here in Kartakka and not dead in some back alley in Kartakka?"
"Because of the dead humans that have started turning up in the back alleys of the Lower Nocturnal District and the Nocturnal District," Kirin said, pulling out another folder and opening it, showing some candid pictures taken of several dead humans. Dorian winced as he looked at them, all of them with their faces twisted into silent, permanent screams. Looking at all of them, Dorian quickly spotted a similarity beyond their species. All of them had a letter S carved into their cheeks.
"And I doubt that yer tellin' me all this outta the kindness of yer own heart."
"Oh, sheriff, how you wound me yet again!" Kirin chuckled. "A number of the humans before you I had dealings with. Others, I can only guess as to why they were specifically targeted. Anyways, sheriff, I felt that being a proud citizen of this fine city, it was my duty to report my findings to the proper authorities. As well as this picture I have of him." From another drawer, Kirin pulled out a snapshot, passing it to Dorian. The law wolf examined the picture, and felt a chill creep up his spine. Here in person, Kirin set off all his instinctive alert signals. Yet this photograph of a tall, possibly six foot, human male with long blond hair, grinning at the camera... it sent a genuine chill of fear up his spine.
"And I take it that if ya knew where he was exactly, ya wouldn't be gettin' me involved, correct?"
Kirin tilted his head and chuckled. "Oh, sheriff, while 'what-ifs' can be rather fun, they aren't necessarily conducive for this conversation. As it stands, there is a very dangerous mammal on the loose here in Zootopia, his presence here is most inconvenient for myself and is especially inconvenient for your happy little family. Being as civic-minded as I am, I have done my part in alerting you to his presence and given you all the relevant background information that I could find. Therefore, unless you have any further questions, I must really get back to work. The date for the opening of the Zoodoo Lounge is ever approaching!" Kirin spoke with a chipper voice that just dripped with a taunting tone.
"... Thanks fer yer cooperation," Dorian said, getting up and not at all surprised to find the lynx Bandile standing silently behind him, ready to see him out. "I'll take all of what ya said under advisement." As Bandile was leading him out, Dorian paused as he recognized two mammals being led in by a large elk dressed in the same nondescript black suit and tie as the lynx was. Dorian paused as he found himself looking at a vampire bat and tasmanian devil, both professionally dressed in pinstripe suits and ties, and both sporting faces he was all too familiar with, due to how often they'd appeared in the news. Egor Ussuri, the District Representative of the Nocturnal District, and Harrison Sarccoson, his Assistant Rep.
"Well now, if it isn't the good sheriff Hunter," the vampire bat said, holding out a clawed hand for Dorian to shake. The law wolf frowned and simply nodded in redturn.
"Fancy meetin' you here, Egor," he said to the district rep. "Mind if I ask what brings you two here today?"
"Actually, we minds it very much," Harrison said, cracking his knuckles as he looked up at Dorian, trying to look intimidating.
"Now, now, Harry," Egor said, placing a paw on the tasmanian devil's shoulder, "no need to get so defensive. Everything our business venture with Mr. Dice is all above board and perfectly legal." At that, Egor gave Dori a wink.
"And what business venture would that be?"
"Why, the special project Kirin and we are working on down in my lovely district!"
"Wait... yer the mammal that owns the land Dice is buildin' his casino on?" Dorian asked while scratching his chin, filing that information away in his mind.
"Of course. The Ussuri and Sarccoson families each own both halves of the land being used for the Zoodoo Lounge! It's some prime real-estate, actually. We were planning on some new condominiums until Mr. Dice invited us up here for a little... get-together that was also surreptitiously his business pitch."
"Ya don't say..."
"Hey, he does, and so does I!" Harrison said with a huff, his Manehattan accent coming out.
"As nice as this chat was, we really don't want to keep Kirin waiting. Although, sheriff, have you given any thought to my offer to 'donate' some additional funds to your department so that you and your deputies can better serve and protect the fine citizens of this district?"
"Sorry, Egor, but as it stands, that would be unethical," Dorian said with a flat tone.
"Hey, what's so unethical about it?" Harrison said, looking like he was about to square up to Dorian. The Assistant Rep. had been known for having a bit of a temper to him.
"Gentlemammals," Bandile said, interrupting the tasmanian devil, who was now eyeballing him. The lynx motioned down the hall. "Mr. Dice will receive you now."
"Have a pleasant afternoon, sheriff," Egor said with an insincere smile. Dorian soon exited the manor and made his way to his cruiser. He had some calls to make.
Elsewhere...
Vanna let out an amused chuff as she read the book in her paws. A Human Study of Non-Human Mammalian Society was the title on the front of the plain-looking maroon leather-bound cover. Dawn had recommended it to her for some of the insights into human culture that she and Zach could use to help better connect with Marcus. And also partly due to the unintentional comedic nature of the project. The documents converted into book format had been written and collected by human scientists and researchers from Kartakka, who had traveled to Zootopia, due to it being an amalgamation of more mammalian cultures and species than most other cities or nations around the world as well as due to the humans to Cavernicia having tapped into security feeds and local internet during the time for their own observation purposes... and later so as to steal cable, satellite, and even internet access.
Despite the general dryness of the writing, the reason the book had been published and was gaining popularity was partly due to the wild misconceptions humans had formed about other species. The secondary reason appeared to be that, due to the isolation of the individual scientists and researchers as they had observed the daily lives of surface mammals, each report soon slowly began to devolve into rather... raunchy observations. Starting with a female human researcher who was watching a logging company at work; she went into great and very colorful detail about an apparently large, muscular reindeer buck lumberjack, having taken very detailed notes about him working shirtless.
The report that followed hers was one of a male human researcher who described how important establishing dominance was for female wolves, and how if a human male were captured, they could play the situation to their advantage, though not in any way to be repeated in polite company. While getting a few chuckles and blushes from other such reports, all of which were censored from the greater human scientific community, Vanna elected not to tell her son about this book. She also made a mental note to keep an ear out for her sister possibly trying to get him a copy as a gift.
"KITTEN!" Vanna looked up to see Zach frantically burst into the living room.
"What's wrong, Goofball?"
"I went ta go check on li'l Rose, and she wasn't in her crib! I dunno how she got out again, but she couldn't have gotten far this time, right?" Zach whined, whipping his head around before running up to the couch and looking under it.
Vanna sighed, and gave her mate a tired smile. She walked over to him and put a reassuring paw on his shoulder, before she planted a kiss on his cheek. "I think I have a pretty good idea where she is."
"Huh?"
Vanna pointed out the window where Marcus was sitting nearby, under a large oak tree that was growing right next to the house. He had apparently fallen asleep in the mid-afternoon sun. And sitting there in his lap, reaching up and pawing his face in pure curiosity, was little Rose, wearing the bright pink legless onesie Zach had dressed her in that morning. The wolf/tiger hybrid cooed and giggled as she pawed her big brother. Marcus shifted a little in his sleep, and encircled his arms around the baby, making her squeal and clap in delight. Her fur pattern was the same orange with black stripes as her mother, with a long sinewy tail that ended in a fluffy tuft. Rose's muzzle was certainly more pointed and wolfish than a tiger's, as were her ears.
"How'd she get outside?!" Zach exclaimed, running to the window and trying to scramble out it.
"She crawled down the stairs, looking for her big brother while he and I were making a late lunch, and made a beeline right for him when she spotted him. He asked me if it was okay to watch her outside for a little bit, and when I said yes, he carried her out there. We both knew that she woulda just performed another one of her escape artist tricks to try and get to him again if we'd just taken her back up to her crib. Besides, she seems a little too energized for a nap right now." Vanna was amazed not only at how quickly Marcus had taken to being a big brother, but also how quickly Rose took to him. It was just so sweet how much he doted on her, and how even when she or Zach couldn't get her to stop crying, Marcus was able to either just by holding her, or even playing a lullaby with his violin.
"Oh... well... ya coulda told me!" Zach huffed and crossed his arms.
"I tried to wake you, but you were out like a light, and I've been checking on them every few minutes."
"Oh... okay, I s'pose," Zach said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head before looking back out the window. "Though, while Rose is still too awake fer her nap, it seems that the same can't be said fer Marcus."
"I think he's been getting up in the night whenever Rose cries more often than we do, just so we can get some more sleep," Vanna said.
"And here I thought that we had him startin' ta understand that he's a pup, not some kinda live-in servant," Zach said with a sigh, feeling a pang of guilt. "He was so proud when he ran up to us and said that he was about to do his laundry... but decided instead to do it the next day."
"I think it stems more from him worrying about his baby sister than thinking he needs to do chores." Vanna's ears twitched as she and Zach turned to look back out the window. Marcus shook himself awake and briefly looked around, confused. Then he looked down to Rose and smiled, scooping her into his arms for a gentle hug. The little wolf/tiger squealed and made a sound that reminded both Zach and Marcus of Vanna making her happy chuff noises.
Zach, now with his tail wagging and a smile on his muzzle, began walking for the nearby door to the back porch. "I'm gunna go relieve our boy from his sentry duty," he said with a relaxed chuckle. Vanna rolled her eyes, picking her book back up. It had been a week since little Rose arrived, and despite being the one to have given birth to her, Vanna still could hardly believe it. She had never expected to find her mate out here in the Northern Meadowlands after she first transferred from the ZPD, nor did she ever expect to find her first kitten either. Looking out the window in the late afternoon night streaming down through the leafy branches above the two, her heart melted as she watched her goofball of a mate and her son doting over her little girl.
Just before she turned her eyes back to the open page, she stopped. She felt something, almost like a tickle on the back of her neck. Realizing that her hackles were raising, she looked around, having the briefest moment of feeling like she was being watched. She looked out the back window, carefully scanning the tree line. She shook her head.
"Ulric's paranoia can be contagious," she said aloud with a chuckle, remembering how the wolf in question had theorized that Rose was actually a shape-shifter from beyond the stars when he'd first seen her. Just then, the doorbell rang, making Vanna jump a little. Walking to the door, she smiled in relief when she saw that it was just Marcus' friends.
"Hi, Mrs. Hunter," Travis said, the deer buck boy looking excited.
"Is Marcus home?" Aiko asked, hugging her big bushy tail to her chest, a blush under the fur on her cheeks.
"He and his father are around back with his new little sister," Vanna said. She winced a little as the energetic grizzly bear with the fauxhawk let out an excited SQUEE.
"OMG! He's already shown us pictures of her," Lizzy said, holding up her phone with a picture of Rose, asleep in her crib. "She is just TOO CUTE!" With that, Lizzy began hurrying around the house, accidentally causing Ty to tumble off and onto the grass with an audible OOPH!
"Geeze," he said, getting to his feet and brushing grass off his jeans, "a little warning next time, Lizzy, eh?" The raccoon boy looked annoyed, but quickly had his phone out, tapping away at it. "Hi, Mrs. Hunter, is Marcus home?" he asked, still looking down at his phone. Mina rolled her eyes and reached over to flick his ear with a hoof. "What was that for?"
"Ty, we already asked that, which you'd know if you were actually paying attention," the goat girl said to her brother. Now it was Ty's turn to roll his eyes. Vanna smiled warmly at the young mammals, glad that her silly mate had actually taken the time to start getting to know them... and had only been caught spying on them a few more times recently.
Meanwhile...
"Alright, pups," Vernon said to Alice, Trevor, and Lily as the trio looked up at him from where they were sitting on the couch. Dawn was resting in a nearby easy chair that had been turned to face the couch, her doctor having suggested that as her pregnancy continued onwards, she might need to be put on bedrest. As such, the diminutive ewe found herself spending more and more time laying on the couch or reclining in the big plush chair. Presently, she was rubbing her swollen belly.
"Now, y'all have probably heard about a new Petflix documentary about Kartakka, where yer cousin is from." The trio nodded, prompting him to continue. "Well... while yer Ma and I aren't gunna go into any specific details..." Vernon trailed off, rubbing the back of his head and looking uncomfortable.
"Something bad happened to Marcus," Dawn chimed in. "And the docuseries covers it. Now, we don't want you three watching it anytime soon, because of how... graphically it details some things. We know that you three will more than likely hear bits and pieces of it from your friends, and even possibly your aunts and uncles." Vernon grumbled about that, but Dawn elected to ignore how he was muttering about putting Ully in a headlock for mentioning the Duke while in earshot of Lily. "And, after discussing it, your father and I feel that later on, with us supervising, we'll let you three watch it if you wish."
"Much later on," Vernon said with a note of finality to his voice.
"But for now, we wanted to bring it up so that you know not to talk about anything you might hear in front of Marcus. Doing so could make him... relive certain things that hurt him before. Do you understand?"
The three nodded, looking a little troubled. "What happened to Marcus, Mommy?" Trevor asked. Dawn and Vern shared an uncomfortable look.
"Well... that's fer him to talk about when he feels more comfortable about it. What's important now is that he's safe and a part of our family, and just needin' lots of love," Vernon said.
At this, Lily raised her hand. "Yes, Darlin'?"
"Can we still give Marcus hugs?" Lily asked innocently. Vernon let out a chuckle at that, noticing how relieved Alice looked.
"O'course ya can, Sweetpea. Ya just gotta mind what ya say around him, that's all." There was a sudden noise next to him, and Vernon looked down to see Princess Callibrie curled up around Dawn in the chair. The large kowmodo dragon was hissing contentedly as she rested her head on Dawn's belly.
"Uh... Puppy? A little help? Remember how the last time she laid on me like this, my legs fell asleep?"
"Right... Allie, can ya go and open up a can of lizard food next to her bowl?" Vernon asked, looking towards his oldest pup.
"On it, Dad," Allie said, jumping off the couch and sprinting towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, Trevor and Lily were both snickering as Vernon kept trying to coax the large reptile off the chair and his mate.
"Still better than a dang raven," Vernon said with a sigh, Dawn nodding emphatically to that.
And there it is, folks! Please consider letting me know what you think!